Chapter 8: The scope of things

August 8, 1981, ThePeruvian Amazon

The trees swayed across the cool wind, the birds chirped as the sun shined through the foliage. The river was sloshing water violently as another truck came across a makeshift road. Both door swung open as a driver and a bald man in military grabs came out. They walked down to come across a large hut, a jungle fortress, surrounded by guards. The bald man gave a wry smile as he walked to the guards and gestured towards the truck. The man jogged to the back as they checked a large crate. They snapped off the wooden top to show a cornucopia of guns, magazine and ammo boxes. They took the boxes out like as if they went about it every day, but there was a difference this time. They weren't alone.

Deep within the flora, Wolf looked down from his binoculars. He placed it back into his pack and pulled out his hand gun. He turned on his radio and pulled out a silencer, keeping his eye on the base. "What do we have Raven?"

Ravens robotic eye was kept on his scope. "We have about ten guarding the front, seven inside, including the target by the looks of it."

"So what's our approach?"

"If we keep our takedowns to a minimum, there's a side entrance where you can take it from there. I can see the target by the window."

"Right, when I give the signal, you know what to do." Wolf tightened the silencer and took his way down, rustling through the tall grass and weeds.

Wolf still couldn't believe how fast things had escalated. First drugs, with a dead body on his hands, weapons now, but Shark's words still echoed through his head:

People. He's smuggling people.

He ended at the edge of the greenery. He tweaked his radio as he lifted his pistol, aimed at the few guards set at the front. "Now." He quietly said as he aimed down. In almost a moments instance, two bullets whizzes down into to the hips of the two guards, yelping as they came down. Quickly, Wolf fired a couple rounds out to the other two guards, collapsing onto the ground, writhing in pain. Wolf quickly circled around them as he came to the side of the hut, narrowly dodging the men and the truck passing by leaping behind a tree.

He ran back out as he pulled one of the soldiers into a headlock, choking him out. The soldier collapsed onto the ground, as Wolf stepped into the hut. The hut was dark and murky, light only coming in from the crudely cut windows, the edges of the walls lined with crates, some open, filled with rifles. Wolf reloaded as he stepped into the dark. Two soldier stepped out, only to meet the end of a gun, firing at their leg and hips. Wolf after prominently kicked them in the head, knocking them out.

Unfortunately, their cries attracted the attention of two more guards, ordered by the bald man, they stormed with rifle in hands to go where the men had cried out for help, found sprawled on the floor, with the attacker nowhere to be seen. In the midst of the confusion, Wolf jumped from the shadows of the room and grabbed one of the men from behind, shooting at the other one, hitting him in the shoulder. The soldier recoiled, losing his balance and falling out the window of the hut. He tightened his grip on his, who struggled before the bottom of Wolf's pistol striking him in the head.

As the soldier collapsed onto the ground. Wolf stepped back into a gun, pressing into him. He quickly turned and threw the gunman across the room drawing his knife. The bald man went to raise his gun, before Wolf in two quick movements, slashed his arm and plunged the knife into his leg. He screamed in pain as Wolf slammed him against the wall by the window.

"It's nice to see you again, Alvaro."

"como sabes mi nombre?" Alvaro whimpered.

"I know you're name because we've been watching you. You have a buyer," he yanked the knife out of his leg, turned and drew it to his throat. "Who's been paying people all over the world for resources, I see he payed you handsomely. Where's it going?"

"You're not talking about him, are you?"

"He's had you tucked under his wing since '76. Hopefully you'll remember me now." He pressed the knife further into his neck, before shoving him into the light. He staggered, his lip was quivering as he raised his hands. "Ok, Ok! I'll tell you."

"Good boy."

"There was a shipment, rifles and pistols mostly. The place it was sent to was disclosed, but it was stopping at a check point at-"

Bang. In an instant, Alvaro jerked as his blood was splattered against the wall. Wolf jumped back as his body limply fell onto the floor. Quickly, Wolf was on his radio.

"Raven! What did you do? I told you to wait for my signal!"

Only Raven's breathing could be heard.

"Raven? Respond."

"…I didn't make that shot…"

Wolf froze, and quickly glanced at the window. A glint of light could be seen from the trees. Wolf turned to jump out of the way, but was promptly knocked onto the ground as the next shot pierced into his shoulder. "Shit!" he exclaimed, clutching his shoulder. He sat himself against the wall as another shot whistled through the air. Meanwhile, across the forest, Raven had left his watch, sprinting by the trees. A shot pierced into his cloak, leaving a gaping hole in the fabric. Raven pulled it off his neck and took cover by a tree.

Raven gripped his rifle tightly. He went to look out, before another shot tore through the tree, throwing splinters and dust outwards into the open. As he kept himself to his spot, Wolf propped himself along the thin wall. He firmly pressed his wound, feeling the sting of the bullet pressing against his bone. He pulled out a thin knife, with a smooth edge and slowly sunk it into his shoulder. In a quick movement, he grabbed a broken piece of wood from the crate and biting down on it. An anguished scream came from him, as he dug under the bullet and popped it out of his wound.

He heard another shot come from the distance. He pulled onto his radio, calling to Raven, but all he could hear was his short, constricted breathing. Wolf look back to his knife again and an old idea sprouted in his head. He went back to the window, and slowly raise the bloody knife into the sunlight. Soon after, the enemy took the bait. And the plaster wall exploded with dust, Wolf recoiling.

The sniper hears another shot from his side, he pulls away to fire blindly. Sweat pours from his forehead as he becomes more anxious. He turned back seeing the glint again. He focused again before making a shot. However it was futile, as the glint appeared again. In a fit of anger, he fired three times at the glinting target. He grinned devilishly, lowering his rifle. Then, something poked the back of his head, in random with of something clicking. He darted his eyes back, to see Raven, looming above him, rifle against his head. Before he could plead for his life, Raven kicked him down and struck his head, knocking him out. He went to pick up the sniper's guns, disarming them and tossing them, just as his radio crackled.

"You get him?" Wolf questioned.

"Slippery bastard. Crazy on the trigger with a semi-automatic. Needless to say, he's an impatient crazed gunman, not a sniper by any means."

"Is he dead?"

"No," he tossed the sniper's empty rifle down a ditch. "We didn't need the unnecessary bloodshed. How're you holding up? You're breathing heavily from your radio."

"I'm fine, just a little shoulder wound, but Alvaro isn't gonna feel anything for a long time…"

"He got him? Shit…guess that leads gone." Raven said, but Wolf wasn't listening. A long pause insinuated. "…Wolf?"

"Let's… just get out of here."

The skies were black. Bodies were littered, blood stained the ground. The screams of adults and children alike echoed through this barren, crimson desert. Disembowelled men, Children missing limbs, women bleeding out, all casted under a grey man, blood dripping from his face like a red tear. It was too much, it became a nightmare, from which you couldn't…

Wake up.

Wolf sat in his bed, sweat pouring off of him. When he started LD, he slept in a vague darkness. Now these violent nightmares came more frequently, each one becoming more gruesome than the next, but the grey man remained the same, Wolf couldn't figure why. He jumped out of bed, throwing on his BDU, trying not to think too much about it. He stepped outside into the open, the sun enveloping his vision.

Wolf tracked his way down the base, he looked out to the sea, listening over to a group of his men. The group were unloading some cargo as they discussed the latest topic.

"You hear about that outer op team in that civil war?"

"The one in Ethiopia? Yeah, the whole base is talking about it. The revolutionary party didn't do shit for them. They let them get massacred."

"The problem was that the Dergue had too much control over that area. They were bound to be caught by the 'Red terror'." He said, setting down a crate, as Wolf frowns and looked down into the sea.

"At least one got out. What was her name?"

"Eh…. Widow, think that was it."

Wolf's eyes widened. He stepped up and walked back to his room, leaving himself to think.

A few hours later…

The bulkhead door creaked open. The light seeped into the room, as Widow stepped in. Her forehead was wrapped in bandages, a stitch on her eyebrow and her arm in a sling. She peered in. "Wolf, you there?" she whispered only catching wolf, hanging off a bar, sweating from his intense work out. "Oh, sorry. I didn't…I'll leave." She whimpered.

"No…. stay, just gimme a second." Wolf lowered himself onto the ground, leaning against the wall, putting his prosthetic leg back on. Widow stood there, staring at the numerous scars and scrapes on Wolf's back, giving her an uneasy feeling. After stepping his leg on, Wolf staggered to his drawer, panting heavily, and pulled out a box of cigarettes. "I heard what happened at Ethiopia" Wolf said, gesturing to the single chair there.

"Yeah…" Widow sat down, adjusting her injured arm "Not out finest moment."
Wolf handed her a cigarette and lit it up. The both took long drags before Wolf sat on his bed. "60 soldiers on that mission. 37 killed in battle, 15 who died of injuries, and 7 who were captured and tortured. Guess we can check that mission off." She said as Wolf laughed nervously.

The silence stirred as she looked at her cigarette. "6 missions I've been on… almost too perfect, then this… my whole team gone." She trembled.

"…I'm sorry…"

"y'know…" she nervously laughed, putting the cigarette down, beginning to tear up. "I thought… back when you put me on the combat team that it was going to be like the movies, mission impossible, or something like that. Campy music and adventures. But, all it is, it's just hell. Bloodshed, watching the friends you know, try to scoop their guts off the ground, cry in pain from their torture… I" Widow put her head in her hands, tears streaming down her face. "I just didn't imagine it to be this bad!"

Wolf put his cigarette in his ashtray and looked at the wall then putting his hand on her shoulder. She looked up, her face was flushed red, a crushed expression on her face.

"It's ok…. Stay calm. You never expected it, no one's ever expected it."

"…expect what?"

"The vision of war. Every movie and TV show warps it, like a campaign. It's always organised and colour coded, but behind the curtain… it's much worse." Wolf sat there, comforting her, thinking back. "I've seen it just like you, I've endured it. But I have to endure it, because if I ever want to right what disaster I have watched happen, I must endure it. You need to as well. If you ever want to right your friends who died for the sake of battle, you endure it. Ok?"

"…Right…" she sniffed and stood up heading to the door. "Thanks, Wolf…. For the cigarette. I'm going to train with Raven."

"Alright then, close the door after you."

The door slammed behind her as Wolf picked up his cigarette again and reflected. He never thought she would collapse like this, but if she needed it, he would help her. Any of his men he would help like they would help him. For her sake…