Thanks again to MasterDerp5885, WheresDaBeef, and CaptainHall, you guys rock, loving the constant reviews! Well that chapter was boring… Aside from the gang action… Yes, I am planning on doing something with that; don't yell at me about it just yet! Hopefully this chapter is more 'interesting'. I have big plans for The Gulag, which this chapter is going to be for. I really need to get more chapters in… Coming up on Loose Ends too quickly… Anyway! Sorry if I switch the POV too much… It kind of happens when I do action sequences, I tried not to, but I couldn't get the right parts of the story told… At least it won't be as bad as it was with the last mission (The Only Easy Day mission)! I won't keep you from Chapter Six any longer!
Thanks for Reading, Fly High Aim Higher
~Spitfire out
*Dash's POV*
The Gulag. It was the single most guarded prison in the world and we were going to break one person out of it. Prisoner 627. This prison was full of living casualties from the last war and everyone the government didn't want but couldn't kill. We were here for one man and one man only. We didn't know what his name was, what he looked like, or where he was in the prison. We were really being sent into the meat grinder on this one but it'd be worth it if we made it out with 627. The assault wasn't too hard. A close call or two with the bombers.
Ghost had made a quip about it, "Bloody yanks," he had muttered, "thought they were the good guys."
We were now assaulting inside the Gulag, heading towards the control center. We came up to it quickly.
"Ghost, Dash, get on the computers and find 627, the rest of you, with me, we're on cell duty," 'Tavish called over shouting, gun fire, and alarms.
I hurried to one of the computers and brought up security feed, checking cell after cell and monitoring the team's progress. Ghost was hacking through door controls and what not. I pulled up a separate window on the computer in case he needed help hacking into something.
"Ghost! You opened the wrong door!" I heard MacTavish call.
"I got it," I said calmly, clicking in a command into the prompt.
Within seconds, the door was open.
"Show off," Ghost muttered good-naturedly.
I smiled over at him and locked my eyes back on my screen as Ghost pulled up the same camera feed.
The operation went rather smoothly. The team had to go down to the center armory, then rappel down to the bottom floor, breach into the showers, clear it out and jump down a hole in the floor. Then it went to hell. A Navy bomber blew a hole in the ceiling and rubble started falling. It was calm for a bit. The team breached a wall to get to 627's cell. Roach was attacked. It turned out that it was 'Tavish's old CO, Price, and that 'Tavish used to be called Soap… Weird name…
Then the bombers passed again and the tunnels and the roof above Ghost and me started going down.
*Roach's POV*
The tunnel was collapsing. I remember having the biggest adrenaline rush of my life and running for the chopper at the end of one tunnel before it collapsed and we had to double back. Make a turn, it was a dead end but there was a hole in the roof. I stood, almost panicking. Then there was a pain in my head like I had been pistol whipped.
Next thing I knew, a guy I didn't even know and who had attacked me just a few moments ago was pulling debris from on top of me.
"Whatever you're gonna do, Soap, do it fast!" he shouted, turning around to face MacTavish.
I groaned and put a hand to my head, feeling something warm, sticky, and wet. I looked at my torn glove to find it and my hand covered in dark red blood. 'Tavish fired a flare through the hole in the roof and a rope was dropped down. Price lifted me to my feet and I stumbled over to the rope, clumsily hooking up to it.
The chopper quickly throttled up and lifted us out, away from the explosions as I passed out.
*Ghost's POV*
Things weren't looking good. Roach had been caught under debris and had a minor concussion but was still out. He was okay, but that wasn't what worried me. Dash was down too. After the bombers made their last run the roof started collapsing down on us but Dash had been in the middle of hacking into something, probably getting some intel. She quickly finished what she was doing and handed me a flash drive. I didn't question it; I just put the drive in my pocket as the rope was dropped from a hole in the ceiling.
"Let's go! Hook up!" I shouted, the adrenaline getting the better of me.
Just as Dash was about to come forward and hook up, the roof collapsed. I saw rebar falling vertically. They had pointed edges from breaking off. She started running forward but one of the bars went through her leg as she moved, pinning her to the ground. Another one went through her shoulder.
"No!" I heard myself shout as I ran over to her.
I was in a panic, trying to carefully lift her up off of the two rebar that had her pinned. I gave up on that and carefully pulled them out. There was blood, a lot of it. I quickly picked her up wrapping her arms around my waist and making sure she was holding on as I hooked up to the rope. I held onto her as tight as I could as Archer pulled us up.
Once I felt the cold steel underneath me the adrenaline faded from my body and I just lay there with Dash in my arms. I was vaguely aware of Archer talking to me, patting me on the shoulder. I assumed he was trying to get me to let go of Dash but I just held her closer. I felt like it was my fault she had been injured and I wasn't going to let it happen again.
I could feel something cold going into my blood at my neck. I was sure I had just been injected with something. I slowly relaxed even though I was still trying to keep my hold on Dash. Muscle relaxant. I was rolled onto my other side so that I couldn't see Dash. Next thing I know, we're back at base and Dash is being rushed to the infirmary. Doc has her in and me locked out before I even knew what happened.
Now I was pacing restlessly. It had been hours since we got back and Doc was still working on Dash. 'Tavish had tried to get me to get some sleep but I refused without saying a word. Doc finally came out with a rather pleased look on his face. I couldn't help smiling. I stopped pacing and faced him. He smiled at me and gave a swift nod.
"She's okay, it'll be a week or two before she's on her feet again though," Doc said happily.
I sighed in relief. Then realized something. I'd never gotten so worked up over anyone getting injured. When someone died, someone died, it didn't bother me. So what was so different about Dash that got me so worked up? Yeah she was pretty, she was tough, and she was very well rounded. She had a temper and had this look of depression, like something had happened to her that had left her scarred. Much like my past. She wouldn't talk to anyone about it if something was wrong and she was stubborn as hell. There were so many things about her that no one knew. I could tell because I was the same way. No one knew my past, my face, or my family. All they knew was my rank, my name, my call-sign, and how I acted.
I wasted no time going in to see Dash. She was still asleep, the rise and fall of her chest was so slow and steady. I smiled to myself and sat down in a chair beside the bed and waited.
It was hours later when she woke up.
"Hey, you okay?" I asked as she sat up slowly.
"Damn it…" she cursed, "med-bay? What the hell happened to land me here?" she asked.
"You got speared in the shoulder and leg by rebar," I answered, with my head down.
Maybe I was feeling too guilty about it, maybe I was over reacting. She just gave an aggravated groan and leaned her head back. Everyone knew she hated downtime and being out because she was injured was even worse. We had lost count of how many times she had tried to escape the infirmary while she was injured.
I wanted to make it sound better but hell; I hated downtime too, so there was nothing I could say.
Dash had closed her eyes again and I assumed she had fallen asleep so I stood and left, closing the door quietly. I sighed to myself and went back to the barracks, it was getting late and I was running drills in the morning. I went into my room and flopped down on my bunk. I got up after a few minutes and changed clothes, locking the door and taking my mask off. I put the mask and glasses on the table beside the bunk and lay down. I got comfortable and fell asleep slowly.
I woke up before the sun the next morning; I checked the clock 0400 as per usual. I jumped up and changed into a short-sleeve t-shirt and uniform pants, sliding my mask and glasses on before heading out to the mess. When I was done it was time to start drills so I jogged over to the drill field and saw that the team had already lined up. 'Tavish stood to the side, waiting for me.
"Alright you muppets, let's see what you got!" I shouted, signaling for sparing practice.
It was me against MacTavish; Roach against Royce, almost felt sorry for the bug, almost; Meat and Archer; Toad and Jayhawk; Rook and Worm; Bishop with Chemo; Robot and Peasant; and Scarecrow and Ozone. At the end of three rounds the winners for each team were me, Royce, Meat, Jayhawk, Worm, Chemo, Robot, and Ozone. For the next round I paired with Royce, the top in hand-to-hand, Meat was with Jay; Worm with Chemo; and Robot with Ozone. Three rounds later I was still standing along with Meat, Worm, and Ozone. I took on Meat next, and Worm was with Ozone. Again I was standing and so was Ozone.
This would be easy; I wondered how Worm had managed to lose to Ozone. I made the first attack, a high fake and low hit. Ozone blocked both hits and landed a light punch to my arm, making it go numb. Right, I forgot Ozone knows pressure points better than anyone. I was careful in making my attacks and set on blocking all of his attempts to take me down. Then I made a fatal mistake when it comes to sparing with Ozone. I tried to butterfly kick, which left my back exposed long enough for Ozone to make a hit and make my legs go numb and give out from under me.
He got me pinned and I struggled. At the last second I managed to get him off of me and jump up to my feet. I made attack after attack, he blocked most of them but I landed a few good hits. Then he countered a right hook by ducking and sweeping my feet from under me. He placed one knee across my chest to keep my arms down and put all his weight on me to keep the rest of me down. He raised his elbow and brought it down towards my face. I felt the impact on the side of my head and the hit sent me into a daze. Before I knew it I was out and Ozone had won. Damn it…
I shook myself from the daze and saw Roach offering me a hand up. I shook my head again when I almost fell back into the daze and got up without help.
How could I let myself loose to Ozone? I was too distracted I guess; Dash was on my mind and I couldn't stop thinking of what I could've done that would've prevented her getting hurt.
I wasted no time calling the next drill. Time to run the pit. Then target practice. Finally we'd do a real PT, pushups, pull-ups, crunches, and everything in-between. It was going to be a long few weeks before Dash was up.
