“Jesus-fucking-Christ B2 what the hell did you get yourself into!” I skidded to a halt and dropped down onto my knee next to Trevor’s body. My right hand reached down and grabbed the back of his body armor and I vigorously shook him. Nothing. I gave him another forceful shake, his body rocked back and forth but Trevor still refused to awaken.

The gunfire cracked all around us as I yanked off my right-hand glove. I grabbed hold of his throat, trying to feel the jugular. My fingertips searched for a pulse, for any signs of life. For fuck sake Trev…give me a fucking pulse…Uhh, come on you stubborn fuck! I yelled inside my head as I was struggling to feel the beating of his heart.

Just when I thought I might have felt it, I was struck on my left side by an incoming round. “Shit!” I belted out through gritted teeth. I scrunched down onto my left side, my body contorting from the crushing pain the round caused as it smashed into my Dragonskin armor. I was thankful in that split second for Brian, he had devoted so much time towards crafting it and it sure as fuck had paid off now.

I bit down hard and reared back in pain as I gritted my teeth. It took everything inside me to withstand the storm of led rounds peppering the rooftop and all around us. But I wasn’t going to leave Trevor there, not now. Sasha would kill me herself if I abandoned him.

I adjusted myself and inched my knee further ahead, now using my entire body to shield Trevor’s head and neck. The incoming fire was becoming ever more accurate as they zeroed in on us. I adjusted my hand and fingertips just slightly, but still gently kept them clasped around his throat.

“I got it! I fucking got it!” I cried out in relief as I finally felt it. I immediately let go of Trevor’s throat as I grabbed hold of my rifle again with my right hand. I twisted my head and turned my attention to my left side and found the mother fucker who was getting dangerously close to our position. I squinted and saw that his eyes were zeroed in on us.

He had just cleared the wall of the compound. The impact from his landing brought him down into a crouched position. He staggered as he started to stand back up and regain his footing. I saw his quadriceps clench and flare as he pushed off and sprang forward towards us.

I raised my rifle up and steadied it. My eye watched as the cross hairs arrived directly over the bridge of his nose. My finger didn’t hesitate as it closed down on the trigger and joyfully squeezed backwards. My adrenaline surged through me that I hardly felt the recoil of the rifle. The muzzle roared to life and spoke on behalf of my spirit, as my eyes watched the red and pink mist surge into the air.

The 7.62 mm HAMMER round split the fuckers head apart like a watermelon. Before I had a chance to react, I watched another target come crashing down the wall at almost the same area as the first. He wasn’t as lucky as his friend had been though…I timed my breathe wrong, my round dropped low, but still hit the target.

I watched as the HAMMER round obliterated the fuckers right knee. Shards of bone fragments and chunks of flesh erupted and launched in all directions. The target collapsed onto the ground and landed on his chest. The piece of shit didn’t move right away, as my crosshairs hovered directly over his body. It was roughly only a few seconds though that I waited, but then saw his arms begin to move. He sprang back to life as he balled his fists and pounded the ground beneath him. He was close enough to our location that I could hear his throat fail him as he tried to scream out in agony. His leg had practically been severed off by my round.

He started to arch his back upwards and in a dazed and confused reality his mind was now trying to tell him he had a chance. I welcomed the recoil of the rifle as it thudded into the crux of my shoulder. A smile of delight on my face for the millisecond I had. My eye watched through my scope as my HAMMER round tore through his neck. The fuckers head fell forward and crashed back down onto the earth, lifeless.

I instantly opened up my communication channel in my HUD to my remote assistant, “Nate! Tell Terra that I am with B2…I have a pulse, but it is weak, and it seems to be fading!” That was all I could get out as the front of the building exploded. I dove over Trevor’s head and body, doing my best to protect my mate. My ears were now ringing in a high-pitched tone, and I couldn’t hear the gunfire cracking all around us for the next few seconds. My ear drums slowly began to regain their bearing on our surroundings as the dust and dirt from the explosion swept over and around us.

“Nate! Be advised, this is a hot landing zone! But if that fucking pilot doesn’t get that chopper in here, then we’re going to lose B2!” I cried out as best as I could. I did my best to warn the helo’s before they arrived, but my fear was that Trevor wouldn’t last long enough to get the medical attention he appeared to desperately need. I didn’t have time to patch him up myself. I brought my rifle back up, scanning the perimeter for a new target.

“Got it LDS! Informing the pilots now, be advised they will be onsite in 2 mike!” Nate replied within my mind through the communications link.

I don’t think Trev has 2 minutes left…I thought to myself. My eyes identified my next target as they narrowed in on the sight of a machine gunner up along the ridgeline. He was adjusting his bipod on the PKM so it would be more secure and stable when he went to fire upon us. The brass belt of ammunition shined in the light as it laid off to the side of the weapon. At any second he was about to pour hot lead directly over us as he had a direct line of sight on our position.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

I lifted my rifle up, practically at a 45-degree angle to cover the steep incline of the mountain side directly next to the compound. I pulled back on my trigger, my heart jumped with excitement as I watched the HAMMER round rip into the machine gunner’s head. The fucker’s jaw was completely torn off his face, his tongue was launched into the air and flung a few feet away. The target’s head dropped down and landed directly on the butt of the machine gun. I could see the red essence of life instantly start to pour over the metal frame. The red coloration beautifully glistened in the sun as it did.

“Not today fuck face!” I cried out loud as I leaned back on my knees and began to reload my rifle. I heard a commotion directly in front of our position as I did. My senses determined it was on the opposite side of the wall which protected our building. The noise sounded like multiple individuals were at the access gate. The screeching of metal grinding against itself pierced my ears. There was no doubt in my mind that they were not friendly and would soon gain entry unless I took swift action to counter them. Thank god that thing is braced shut. I said internally as I knew I had little time to spare.

I quickly looked over and saw two stun grenades and two high fragmentation grenades attached to the back of Trevor’s web belt. The olive and black satin-colored beauties could have smiled at me and said, ‘please LDS, let us go play.’ The timing of it was all too perfect. I reached down and yanked all four off and placed them directly in front of me.

I pulled the pins on the two stun grenades and heaved them over the wall, one to the right and one to the left of the access gate. I instantly retrieved the fragmentation grenades next and sent them soaring over the wall as quickly as I could. The ground reverberated as the stun grenades erupted first, almost instantly followed up by the explosions of the fragmentation grenades. There was a brief pause in the gunfight, and I was about to call out to Nate over my communication link. Before I had the chance to ask him where the fuck the chopper was though, the ground thudded to life and provided me an answer.

The thumping of the rotor blades pounded the air around me and shook the entire building itself. Though I was grounded on my knees I still leaned over and braced myself with my hand. The force of the helicopter’s rotors was so strong that my body was lurching back and forth. The strength of the rotor wash pounded away at me as dust, and dirt began to fly all around us. I quickly laid back over on top of Brian, trying to keep the shit from getting into his wounds. It was at that moment when I couldn’t help but notice Trevor’s blood was pooling out of him and onto the rooftop where his body now lay.

I watched as the pulsating pressure from the rotator blades started to press the blood out, forming into a larger lake all around his body. “Hold on Trev! We’re getting you out of here!” I tried to scream into his ear, with hopes that he could hear me. The ripping chainsaw sound of the minigun, however, buzzed to life and roared out over my words. The entire hillside and small area surrounding the compound was being pelted mercilessly with lead. The helicopter’s door gunner held down on the butterfly trigger and didn’t let up.

The clinking of hot brass dropped all around us as if the sky was raining it freely. I didn’t even hear the rope arrive next to us, nor the impact of our Arch Angel Sweep, who landed on the roof top as he directed the quick reaction force. All I heard was my name being yelled out over me, and a hand arrived on my right shoulder soon after,

“LDS! Let me get to B2!” Sweep bellowed out.

I arched my head around and saw the flight helmet standing over me like a space angel from heaven. Tony’s name tape on his flight vest caught my eye, and I instantly knew Trevor was about to be in the best hands around. “He’s barely hanging on Sweep! You got to get him out of here now!”

The litter was being lowered down from above as a second chopper arrived on location. The door gunner of the secondary chopper added to the rhythmic sound of hatred and chaos that crashed down upon the area. Tony and I picked up Trevor and placed him in the litter as fast as possible. Trevor was barely even locked in properly as Tony had the crew member start to hoist Trevor’s body up.

Tony then handed me the lead line on the litter as Trevor’s body ascended above us. I ensured to cling tight onto it, not wanting the litter to whipsaw Trevor around and make things worse. Tony went over and grabbed hold of the rappel line which was still hanging from the opposite side of the helicopter. He rushed back over to me with it in his hands, “We got him LDS! Get your ass out of here and stay safe! See you back at HQ!”

“Thanks Sweep! Keep that fucker alive!” I yelled back and watched in amazement as that small, yet monstrous beast began to climb up the rappel rope as if it was nothing to him.

The lead line fell back to the earth and dropped into a coil at my feet. Trevor’s litter was now secured inside the helicopters’ cabin. The first chopper didn’t hesitate once the litter was on board. It swayed, tilted to its right side, and then quickly drifted into a hasty departure. The secondary gunship began to float over to the rooftop and dropped a new line for me to evacuate on. I grabbed hold of the line and quickly jumped into the short-haul, human external cargo system that was already set up for me. I was lifted off the roof in mere seconds and soon arrived inside the cabin once the line was hoisted back up.

The pilot surged the engines to life and got us the fuck out of there. Our chopper glided through the mountain canyons towards a safe landing zone, far away from the shithole I had just been in. The wind whipped through the helicopter cabin, and I couldn’t hear anything. I didn’t have a crew headset on yet and to me, that didn’t matter. My gaze was focused on the valley floor below as we soared over the tree canopy. My notification icon flashed to life in my HUD and I focused on it. I mentally commanded the message to open. As soon as it did I saw it was from my remote analyst Nate. “B2 is alive…but his Neurochip is not responding. His vital signs are weak and faint, but... he just might make it.”