Author's note: description of violence

Chapter 19

After Red left Minty's room he had a heavy heart and felt like his emotions were all over the place, which was difficult for a guy who was taught to ignore and surpress his feelings and focus on his 3-foot world. He always felt sad leaving her, but he had the peace of mind knowing she was safe. This time however, he had to leave her in dangerous circumstances. The camp was only guarded by a handful of soldiers and rebel militia was closing in. He knew that he would do anything in his power to stop them from reaching the camp and tried not to let his mind think of scenarios of what would happen if he failed.

He sighed. He was always told not to get emotionally involved during deployment. Of course, he had relations with other female staff members but those were solely sexual. Initially, he thought this would be the case with Minty as well. However, he fell in love with her quick and hard.

He joined the others and forced himself to focus on the task at hand. They reached the location their government intel provided in half an hour. No rebel groups were in sight yet, but Slo's radar indicated that they will reach in an hour. He set up the explosives in the key locations and took his position. He had a bad feeling. The radar showed a much smaller troop than expected. Maybe the intel was wrong. When the troop finally arrived, and they overtook them easily. Too easily.

- Where are the rest of you motherfuckers? – he heard Lake saying next to him. They remained in position for another hour, but nothing happened so the captain called them to regroup.

- Talk to me Slo – he said.

- There is nothing on the radar.

- Something doesn't add up. Fuck – the moment Captain Rhodes said that, Slo received a video signal.

- It is from the camp.

- Broadcast it – Captain Rhodes ordered. The screen on the computer showed the inside of the camp's church. There were several nurses seated, guns pointed at them by rebel soldiers. Then Terwase appeared on screen. When he started to talk, Red could feel his stomach slowly dropping. It was all a decoy! He demanded that their troop surrender and leave Nigeria. If not, he will kill a hostage every 10 minutes. Red never experienced such fear and terror in his whole life. He was about to watch the woman he imagined the rest of his life with being executed on camera.

But he knew he was not going to let that happen. Without thinking, he started to collect his gear.

- Atkins, what do you think you are doing? – he heard Captain Rhodes.

- Captain, you heard what Terwase said. He will execute all of them.

- We are waiting for orders, then attack.

- That could take hours. By that time, they will all be dead!

- That is the nature of war SEAL – Rhodes raised his voice – They all came voluntarily, and I am not risking the whole operation to save a handful of civilians.

- Araminta is there – he shouted.

- Listen to me boy – Rhodes came up to him – I don't care who you are fucking back in camp. But let me remind you of your duty. You are a soldier at war, serving your whole country. So set your fucking priorities god damn straight before I discharge you – Red was about to punch the captain when LT and Zee grabbed him by his shoulders.

- Easy, easy – said LT – Zee, take him to calm down.

Then they heard the first shot. One of the nurses was executed and he saw the head of the priest on the floor. His whole body was frozen in panic. He held his breath until he saw her still sitting there. She had tears rolling down her beautiful face and his heart broke into a thousand pieces. But she was still alive and that was all that mattered right now. Rage took over from sheer terror and he knew he will have to get back to the mission to save her. There were no two ways about it, even if he had to massacre everyone in the camp by himself. No consequences mattered. He would gladly welcome dishonorary discharge or even losing his life in the process to save her.

If she was not next or the one after, he might actually make it. Please God don't make her next. While everyone's eyes were on the screen, he gathered his gear and disappeared in the jungle. He was running as fast as he could when he heard Lake's voice.

- Red – he stopped in his track, turned around and saw his whole team.

- You can't stop me – he said.

- We are not stopping you. We are with you – he looked at all his teammates, his brothers. He could not form words to express his gratitude. He nodded his head instead and he knew they understood. They continued in the jungle and when they reached the mission, Silk and Flea took their positions as snippers and at LT's orders started to take down the rebels. Him and Zee put the silencers on their guns and quickly but quietly made their way towards the church. He killed everyone in his way. No one could stop him from getting to her. He became an absolute beast. Red kicked in the church door and stormed inside with Doc, Lake, Slo and LT. He personally shot Terwase in the chest. When he went up to him, he saw that he was still alive. When Terwase tried to crawl away from him, he kneeled on his chest and pressed his knee into the bullet wound. When he cried out in pain, he smirked. He took out his knife and mercilessly slashed his throat open. He could feel the warm blood spurting on his face, and he watched him chocking on it. He wanted to tear his body into a million pieces and although he was dead, he started to punch him in the face several times. By the time, Lake put his hand on his shoulder, and he finally came back from his blood-filled rage, Terwase's face was almost unrecognisable. His face, fists and uniform were covered in blood. He looked around and there were dead bodies everywhere. And then he saw her. Lying on the floor next to Lena. She was unconscious and his brain barely registered that her clothes were torn. He dropped onto his knees, gently put his hands under hear head and gingerly lifted it up. He thought she was dead, and his word started to collapse. His chest felt so tight that he could barely breath.

- She is barely holding on. We need to give her medication immediately – he heard Lena who was kneeling next to him. Red could barely process her words but picked her up and shouted for Doc. They ran with her to the camp's hospital. It was a sight from a horror movie. There were dead people and blood everywhere. But Red didn't care. He kicked in the door of a clinic room and laid her down on the table.

- Both pulse and blood pressure are extremely high. Cocaine overdose – Lena said, and Doc nodded. They were running around to gather supplies while Red was holding Minty's hand. Her body felt like it was radiating heat.

- Please don't leave me baby. Don't leave me behind. Come back to me, please – he whispered to her, pleading.

Lena put an oxygen mask on Minty and Doc covered her in a cold, wet towel. They started an IV and monitored her on an ECG and Red could hear them talking to each other, but he could not focus. He was not sure how much time passed but it felt like a lifetime. Doc and Lena were continuously monitoring Minty's vital signs, and they were finally going back to normal. He felt Doc's hand on his shoulder.

- She will be fine.