Author Note: been a while since chapter two came out, but never mind, here is chapter three.
-21:50-
MacTavish rappelled down the high concrete walls of the prison. He reached the right floor, and cut the bars away. Price came down next. Aqua followed last. They went into the opened window, and MacTavish stunned a guard with a dartgun.
These people weren't really the enemies, they didn't need to die.
"All ok your end?" Price asked into his radio.
"All fine." Nikolai replied. He was in his helicopter on the roof.
Price and MacTavish stood each side of a door, counted down, and ran in. Aqua followed to see three stunned guards.
MacTavish tied them up in the corner while Price got on a computer.
Aqua had to admit they were professionals.
"The 141 would be in cells about four rows away." Price informed.
Aqua looked at the screen, checking out CCTV camera positions. Then she slipped into an air ventilation shaft. The vents had alarm security, but going the right way, Aqua could avoid it. She landed silently in the control room, firing darts to stun the guards. Once they were tied and gagged, she disabled this sector's CCTV and vent security.
Using a chair, she pulled herself back into the vent on the ceiling.
"Price! MacTavish!" Get in now!" Aqua hissed into her radio, sliding the vent panel back into place.
MacTavish and Price would be getting into the vents, and would meet Aqua en route.
-21:54-
Predator was dragged out of the back of the van towards a huge, imposing, concrete building with bars on the windows.
The other prisoners with him were Roach and four of Makarov's people. Predator recognized one as Viktor, one of the men in the airport killings.
Predator looked up at one of the windows. Was that… Soap? His mind was playing tricks on him, surely.
"Makes a change of scenery." Roach murmured to Predator quietly.
The heavy metal front doors opened, then shut behind them. An alarm sounded and the man at the desk nearly dropped his newspaper.
Predator seized the moment, kicking his guard in the crotch before running for cover.
Viktor was using his handcuff's chain to throttle one guard. Roach and the other prisoners were throwing stuff at anyone who approached them. The emergency alarms still sounded.
Roach passed some keys to Predator and he undone his handcuffs.
Grabbing a gun and a stun rod off of a winded and wounded guard, he checked a CCTV terminal.
"Well, what do you know." Roach muttered from over Predator's shoulder. "Soap and Price."
As they ran up the nearest staircase, Hollow entered the lobby with a grenade launcher. "Captain fuckin' MacTavish." He growled, tearing off down the nearest corridor.
-22:02-
While Soap was checking for the relevant three cells, Price and Aqua fended off the guards. Aqua asked a question that had been nagging her.
"Why Soap?" She asked Price.
"Pardon?" He replied.
"MacTavish's name." Aqua said.
"It's just that." Price told her. "A codename."
"Yeah, everyone needs one." Soap called down the corridor.
"Price, what's yours?" Aqua asked.
"I don't have one." He mumbled.
Aqua opened her mouth in mock shock. "Everyone needs one!"
"We'll sort him out later." Soap grinned slightly. "Bingo!" He cried out energetically.
Three doors opened and three prisoners slowly walked out, as if surprised by their freedom. They were Worm, Liquid and Angel.
"You saved us!" Liquid cried joyfully.
"Only fair after you got me from the Gulag." Price replied, clapping Liquid on the shoulder.
Just then, large amounts of soldiers and prison guards rounded the corner.
"We're screwed." Worm said.
Someone let out an angry yell and came smashing through the enemy lines with a stun rod.
"Predator?" Soap muttered incredulously.
Another man came up behind.
"Roach? You're dead!" Price yelled.
"Couldn't be better timed!" Angel said. Then he was blown apart by a grenade. Hollow came forth from the crowd.
-22:10-
Predator ran up the roof access stairs. Soap and Price were next to him, Roach and Worm were ahead, Aqua and Liquid behind.
Another grenade from Hollow's gun exploded next to their feet, blowing sharp shrapnel into the air, cutting into Predator's legs, but he couldn't afford to stop or even slow down.
Worm wrenched open the roof door and charged at Nikolai's helicopter.
"Who's in the front?" Soap asked.
"I call shotgun!" Aqua yelled.
A shotgun went off behind them.
"Just get on!" Price yelled, and the eight 141 members and allies piled into the helicopter and flew off.
As they lifted away from the ground, Hollow emerged onto the rooftop. He aimed his grenade launcher one handed and shot them.
-22:23-
The grenade exploded in a ball of bright blue light and rocked their craft. Everyone was thrown around.
"Nikolai?" Soap yelled.
"We're still airborne!" Nikolai informed him. Then he laughed.
"Still airborne!" Soap repeated. As the helicopter steadied, everyone joined in cheering and laughing. They had escaped the prison.
Soap quietly addressed Roach.
"What happened to Ghost?" Soap asked.
"Dead." Roach replied. "Sheperd…"
"What happened to Sheperd?" Worm asked. "In the end."
"Soap killed him." Price said.
"I hope it was slow and painful." Predator said. "And I don't wish that on many people."
Worm nodded in agreement. "Who's Nikolai?" He eventually asked.
"An informant for the SAS. A friend on Price's." Aqua told him.
"You know and you're not even in the 141." Liquid noted.
"She's good enough to be." Roach muttered to himself. An odd observation considering he had barely seen Aqua in combat, but it was truthful enough.
"Is it me or are we shuddering?" Predator asked.
"Probably just you." Aqua told him, putting her feet up.
"We're crashing." Nikolai said, "But I'll try to do it gracefully."
There was a sudden bone rattling crash and a grinding of steel on stone. Smoke poured in.
Soap checked everyone was ok, and that was the case for all but Nikolai, who was slumped against the helicopter's controls.
"Soap…" Nikolai groaned as Soap pulled him from the wrecked vehicle and into the cold night air.
Predator helped Liquid to his feet as everyone exited the crashed helicopter.
"Nikolai will be ok." Soap announced after a quick check. Several people sighed with relief.
"Transport won't be ok." Nikolai grunted in pain.
Predator looked at the burning helicopter. They would be on foot. It looked like Hollow's EMP grenade had done some serious damage that they hadn't realised at first. Scanning their surroundings he saw only miles of sand and mountains in the distance.
"I underestimated Hollow's grenade." Nikolai sighed, as Soap helped him walk along.
"We can shelter and camp under that rock over there. Then in the morning, we can go North-West to an abandoned shopping mall I remember is in this area." Price decided, clapping his hands together.
-22:36-
The quiet talk of the group was only punctuated by Soap clacking two stones together in the hope of lighting some wood.
Roach strolled over to where Aqua was sitting a small distance from the group and sat down beside here.
"I recognized you instantly, Bell Cloud." Roach said.
"Didn't think I'd see you again either, Mr. Sanderson." Aqua replied slightly coldly, emphasising his name. "Not after what happened back in Germany." She sighed and shifted her sitting position.
Soap grumbled something behind them as he and Liquid failed to light a fire and Soap went to get some flames from the helicopter wreck.
"Did what happen back then make you join the military?" Aqua asked.
"Yeah. Sort of." Roach replied. He grabbed a handful of sand and let it run through his fingers. Behind him a fire sprang into life and warmed the cold night. Worm sighed happily.
"What did you do after I was trapped in the inn by those mortars?" Aqua asked quietly.
"I tried to go back, of course." Roach told her. "But Ramoz stopped me."
"Typical Ramoz." Aqua slowly shook her head, and yawned.
"I think you need to get some sleep." Roach said, grinning slightly.
"No… Don't think I can yet…" Aqua rested back against the rock and fell asleep. Roach looked at his old friend for a bit and silently walked back and joined Soap and Price.
"What'd you do? Sing her a lullaby?" Price teased.
"Hey I think we're all a bit tired. Roach said in his defence, pointing at the snoring Worm. "How's Nikolai?"
Soap looked over at him. Nikolai was chatting with Liquid and Predator by the fire. He looked quite lively.
"He'll be fine." Soap decided after a pause.
"What about the long run?" Roach asked. "For all of us."
"We'll need to find a good place to hide." Price said. "One quiet and secret."
"Hey, everyone!" Worm called out. He seemed to be awake now, and was holding up four bottles of alcohol "Something I smuggled into my cell in the prison. I was saving this for a special occasion… How about drinking to a great escape?"
Everyone who was awake agreed.
"Aqua will be pissed to miss this."
-23:21-
Hollow stood on the prison's roof. The red alarm lights on the building reflected off his bulky silver grenade launcher.
He grenade had kicked in late but better late than never.
Now, he could trap them. The only two nearby buildings were the prison and the abandoned Ruby Mall.
"Unless they forgot their hats and come back to the prison they'll be at the ruby mall. We need to go to the Ruby Mall and ambush them.
Hollow threw his sword up into the air, where it spun, red lights making it glow red like it was covered in blood.
You'll get plenty of that, Hollow thought, as he caught his sword.
Author Note: Review if you liked my story! And, if you didn't like the story but could be bothered to read this far, review anyway, I need to know my mistakes! Constructive criticism and crazy praise is all welcome!