Damsel in Distress

Jess POV:

Salcedo was pitch black, but the cheap street lamps provided enough light for us to see its dark transformation. Trash cans were knocked over, burnt tire marks scarred the streets; no one seemed to be home. As we got closer to the base, we heard screams, mixes of manic war yells and fear-filled pleading. That's when my steady heart beat quickened as if I had just run a marathon. And I jogged ahead of the boys, knowing that something was definitely not right.

Please don't be what I think it is, I thought as I sprinted during the last 5 minutes.

It was.

The first thing I saw was people lined up, their hands on their heads and facing a wall. Then I heard the rumble of bullets tearing each of them apart. Lastly, I saw a group of Cinco Reyes members, holding AK-47s and standing over the dead bodies. It took some serious willpower not to charge them right there.

"What is it?" Barney whispered behind me.

"Cinco Reyes," I replied plainly.

"And your friends?" Gunner asked.

I didn't reply. Instead, I led them through alleyways and dark streets, knowing Cinco Reyes wouldn't care about checking them. Once we were out of earshot, I began to speak in whispers.

"If there's no gunfire, there was no fight. But this place is destroyed...the fighting is over. Cinco Reyes won." I deduced as we crept into the dark city.

"I just want to know what happened to the losing party. My party," I continued as I led them through a maze of tight side streets.

"They never bother to sweep these parts of the city, so we should be under the radar for now," I assured them as we advanced in pairs: me and Barney, Toll Road and Gunnar, Yang and Hale Caesar, and Lee covering us from behind.

"Unless…" I halted behind a small apartment building so the guys could catch up to me.

"Unless what?" Lee whispered.

I looked around, searching for a familiar little white light hidden in the shadows.

"Shit," I froze when I found it a few yards to our left. The rest of the guys looked confused but stood still when they sensed my alertness.

"That's one of our surveillance cameras. If they're in the base…"

We all stared at it for a moment like a pack of terrified deer until I began to move cautiously around the corner of the building, away from its line of sight.

"They know where we are." Toll Road finished as they followed. I nodded and crossed the street towards a few small stores. We rounded towards the back where we were hidden by some trees and bushes.

"This should help get a better view," I said as I leaped on a garbage can and hauled myself up the roof of a store.

"Don't hurt yourself, princess. We already healed you up once, it would be a pain to do it again," Lee quipped. As if on cue, I winced from the sharp pain in my leg wound as I reached the top. Nevertheless, I rolled my eyes at the 6 mercenaries below me.

I looked up into the horizon, where I could see several bright lights posted in the shape of an octagon—my base. Now it was overrun by Cinco Reyes, no doubt.

And Los Pistoleros?

I just hoped by some miracle that they were still alive. I saw that a few men were posted up on the sentry tower, passing by each other with rifles held firmly in their arms. I spent about a minute studying their movements. Each one stood at the corner opposite the other person, so their backs were facing each other. After 30 seconds or so, they switched places. Every once in a while, they would respond to a call on their radios. They seemed calm at the moment.

At the front of the base, there were at least 4 armored vehicles stationed there and about 4 times as much Cinco Reyes members. And they all looked pretty suited up for a battle. But many didn't seem very focused or attentive.

Must be new recruits.

"Okay," I breathed nervously. I cracked my knuckles and hopped off the roof, joining my new acquaintances.

They circled around me as I filled them in on what I saw.

"So the north and south of the base are guarded," Gunner summarized.

"What about the east and west?" Barney asked with his arms crossed and his rifle slung across his back.

"Wait a minute…north is where?" Toll Road asked as if they were speaking alien.

"North is our direction, idiot." Hale Caesar thumped the back of his head.

They began to argue in low voices but they were wise enough to shut up when Jess threatened to kick their balls in if they didn't stop.

"Thanks," Barney nodded to her. "You just saved me from one more headache."

"I have kids on my team, too. I know what it's like to have to deal with them," she returned the gesture with a small smile. The rest of the Expendables regarded her comment with irritated looks, at which Barney and Jess chuckled. "Anyway, let's get back on topic; there are lives at stake here, both civilian and mercenary." They nodded at her and she continued on.

"I didn't get to see the east and west because it was too dark, but if I were to take a guess, I'd say they're probably guarded lightly, since the masses are mostly out wreaking havoc in the city," she tapped her chin in thought as she stared into space.

For some reason, Barney found that look on her remotely intriguing. He allowed the corners of his lips to lift a centimeter before he realized that people were around and might notice. He forced that odd, half-giddy feeling in his stomach to die down and he composed his lips back into their normal, parallel state.

They all fell into silence as they tried to think of ways to sneak into the base. After a few minutes, Jess suddenly leaped back onto the garbage can and onto the roof.

"She's quite a hopper," Lee muttered to Barney.

"I heard that!" Her voice from above made them all chuckle. Minutes later, she returned with them once more with a determined look on her face.

"Alright, here's the deal. The slope on the southwestern side, near the watch tower, is the shortest one of all. That's why we put the watch tower there—so that there was extra protection on that side. Maybe if you guys give me a lift…or there might be a tree I can climb onto nearby…" she muttered, "I can get to the watch tower and take those guys out. From there—"

"What do we do after you're up?" Yang asked. A confused look spread across her face.

"You go home," she said in a 'duh' tone.

"You alone against 100 guys?" Toll Road asked as if she was insane. She shrugged.

"This isn't your battle. It's mine. You shouldn't get caught up in this. Mess with Cinco Reyes, and you're in deep shit."

Barney scoffed, his arms still crossed. "How bad could they be?"

"They've got some experience, but numbers and equipment is also a big advantage. But the dangerous part is when they cry 'help' and Mama Bear, Mexico's largest drug cartel, comes to defend them. That's a whole other deal. One that is tiring, bloody, and fatal."

"All the more reason why you shouldn't go out there," Lee reasoned.

"You can't seriously think you'll save your friends alone. Be realistic." Gunner added.

"It's the only plan I've got. I have to try—I owe them that much." She sighed. "Your plane is more or less northwest from here. If you're not too scared of heights, I recommend using the roofs as your travel guide, just be quiet," she told them as she pulled out her pistol and cocked it.

And just like that, she raced off towards the base. Soon enough, she disappeared into the dark night, moving quickly but cautiously with silent footsteps.

Minutes after she was out of sight, Barney still held his gaze towards her direction.

"You alright?" Lee asked him.

"I don't know…" he muttered, not once breaking his stare into the shadows that ate her up.

"Girl's got some balls," Hale Caesar commented. The Expendables all chuckled for a moment in agreement.

"She's up against some bad odds," Yang added to the conversation.

"Yeah," Barney dropped his head slightly.

"Wonder how she'd do if she had some assistance?" Lee grinned at his best friend. He knew that look on his face before, when he wanted to rescue Sandra. Now that he thought about it, Barney hadn't smiled much since she told him of her marriage. Today seemed to be a different story. Today he smiled, he chuckled…even if he thought no one noticed.

"You heard her—" Barney began, though he couldn't resist a little smile.

"Hear what?" He feigned innocence. He turned to Hale Caesar.

"You hear her say something?" He asked.

"Nope." Hale shook his head nonchalantly.

"How 'bout you, Yang?" Lee turned to him.

"I heard nothing," he shrugged with an equal casual air.

Lee turned back to Barney, who was now donning a grin.

"What do you say?"

"I say let's go save the damsel in distress," he smiled as he retrieved his rifle from his back.

"Round two," Gunner chuckled as he armed himself as well.

The rest of the Expendables followed suit, and off they went in the direction Jess had gone to. After a few minutes of blindly running straight, they were relieved to see the base's view getting larger, which meant they were closer.

Using Jess's advice, Gunner had climbed on top of the nearest building and hopped from roof to roof ahead of the guys so he could guide them. His long legs and stature made their travel time much shorter than their previous blind-running attempt, and soon enough, they had reached the east wall of the base.

Using the small but densely packed clump of forest-like trees as cover, they managed to bypass the few guards stationed at the east. Jess was right; there were only about 5 men idling about and chatting with each other.

Next, they had to get from the southeast to the southwest areas of the base. This was tougher because there were fewer trees to cover them. There were also some more vigilant guards walking by here and there. Still, there was no sign of Jess. Gunner looked up at the watch tower.

"They're calm. Nothing's gotten them suspicious. Just talking on the radio like it's a normal day."

"She hasn't taken them out yet? Then where the hell is she?" Toll Road muttered.

They kept their eyes on the guards. Soon enough, only seconds later, Jess swiftly hopped from the darkness and onto the platform above the tower. To Cinco Reyes, in the midst of the night air, she was a barely visible shadow.

To the Expendables, she was a woman who was risking her life to save her friends. She was walking straight to her death armed with a pistol and a fuck-you attitude.

They watched as she moved to one corner of the platform, pulled a knife from a sheath strapped to her shin, and waited. When she heard one guard finish his radio conversation with another, she hopped into the tower and made quick work of him and his partner with her blade.

"Let's go." Barney said. They moved as one unit quietly until they reached the short slope Jess had mentioned. They chose to haul up Yang, since he was the lightest, and then Gunner, the second lightest. The rest would move via the east wall, since it was the least guarded, and make their entrance from there.

At the tower, Jess wiped her blade clean on one of the dead guards' bodies and moved to the ladder below when she heard odd sounds from the outside of the south wall.

Her heart pounded loudly in her ears as her anxiety grew, but she tried to ignore it and focus on neutralizing the threat instead. Pulling out her gun and flicking the safety off, she pointed it at the direction of the noise.

Up popped a small head with short black hair, then up came the rest of the body. It was small too, but also agile. The next head was larger, with dirty blonde locks. The owner was like King Kong compared to his partner, with long legs and arms. Both men looked very, very familiar.

"What are you guys doing here?" She whispered sharply as she lowered her gun. "I told you to go back!"

"We decided to take a detour." Gunner told her as he and Yang collected the dead bodies' guns and ammunition.

"To help a friend in need," Yang's smile looked almost childlike and innocent if it weren't for the rifle held snugly in his arms. Jess chuckled at the sight and gave them both a relieved smile in return.

"And the others?"

"Making their own entrance. You know, guns blazing and fireworks and shit," Gunner chuckled. "Let's save some fellow mercs. Lead the way."