“Move, go, go, Go!” I called.

The patter of feet along solid gravel echoed down the alley. Nearly 100 feet long, the alley had been overgrown by vines and shrubs from the houses lining it. A light rain, bitter in the December weather, rapped against the raincoats and ponchos of the men.

Two men took cover in a small driveway, one leaning around the fence to look down the alley.

“Set.”

“Bounding.”

Another man, previously taking cover in another alley, called this out and began jogging from his current position to behind a large pile of trash and broken wood.

I tighten my grip around the handguard of my AR-10.

“Set.” The man dropped to a knee behind the trash and called.

One of the men hiding in the driveway stood. The other scooted closer to take over his position.

“Bounding!” He yelled, jogging down the alley.

The footsteps splashed water from small puddles caused by the rain.

BRATATAT

The man tumbled over mid step. Automatic fire from a Machine Gun or SAW sent rounds zipping down range. The tell-tale snap of bullets passing close by caused me to duck back behind the fence that concealed me.

“FUCK! LEON’S DOWN!”

More gunfire erupted, this time from somewhere closer. I swapped my weapon to my left shoulder, and cautiously peered around the fence.

Ahead of me, the man taking cover behind the trash had perched his rifle on a piece of 2x4 and was firing wildly down the alley. To the left, the man still in the driveway was firing rounds from a bolt action rifle down the alley.

More automatic fire came from down the alley. I heard someone cry out in pain behind me. Before I could turn, I saw several flashes from behind some overgrown shrubbery. Lifting my rifle, I leveled the crosshair of the LVPO on the bush.

BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG

I fired off 4 rounds in quick succession. Just as the SAW went quiet, more gunfire came from a hole in the fence just across from where I’d seen the muzzle flashes. Ducking back behind the fence, I turned to see who’d been hit.

On the ground lay a woman with ginger hair, partially hidden by a beanie and ComTacs. My heart sank.

“Amelia!” I turned to face back down the alley.

“Amelia’s hit! Covering fire!” I yelled at the top of my lungs, switching my rifle to my right hand and throwing the sling over my head.

“Got it!” I heard someone yell from down the alley, followed by an increase in fire from the two ahead.

Quick as I flash, I darted into the street. Reaching down, I grabbed her under her arms and dragged her toward the fence I’d hidden behind. Immediately, I noticed an increase in the amount of incoming fire. To my alarm, the SAW continued firing.

“ohfuck. ohfuck. ohfuck.”

A sharp pain shot through my right leg. I collapsed, just feet from cover. Against my will, a scream of pain exited my lips. My body began working off adrenaline. Without thought, I grabbed her by the hood and pulled her to safety.

“Nathan! You alive!?” I heard from down the alley.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Yeah.” Gritted through my teeth in reply.

I reached down to Amelia. With haste, I unclipped the chest rig she wore and pulled it over her head. The rain was seeping into her clothes. It's only competitor was the blood, sinking into the hoodie she wore from several holes in her torso.

Her breathing was ragged. She didn’t have much time.

“Fuck!” I muttered aloud, slamming my fist into the dirt.

“Through here, go!”

I heard an unfamiliar voice from somewhere behind me. Turning, the voice clearly came from the house on the opposite side of the fence.

Unslinging my AR-10, I rolled onto my ass and pointed the rifle at the door. A click came from the latch of the fence door.

BANG BANG BANG

I fired wildly through the wooden fence. A scream issued from somewhere behind the fence. Several rounds flew through the fence, impacting randomly on around me.

“FUCKER’S ARE BEHIND US!” I yelled as loud as possible.

No response came, only singular shots with long pauses between each round.

My left hand darted to my plate carrier. With my right index finger, I depressed the magazine release. The sound of the plastic hitting the ground was quickly overtaken by the sound of a new magazine seating. With the same hand, I slapped the bolt release.

Firing off several more rounds, I noticed the gunfire from the other side had halted. Turning and inching myself backwards, I only saw the man in the driveway firing. Behind the trash lay a corpse with half its head missing. A tear rolled down my cheek.

thump

Quickly turning, I noticed the round shape of a M67 fragmentation grenade laying beside me. Before my brain thought of what to do, I’d grabbed it and tossed it away up the alley. Rolling back and covering my head with my arm, it exploded.

My ears rang. Shrapnel ricocheted off the gravel. The fence door in front of me swung open again. Lifting the rifle with my left hand, I fired at the man standing in the doorway. He dropped to the floor, the round he fired skipping off the ground a foot from my head. The second leaned to the right in an attempt to not shoot his friend.

BANG

I watched the man’s head pop. Little bits of skull and blood flew everywhere as the body hit the floor.

Nobody else followed.

Going to a knee, he peered out down the alley. The man in the driveway was loading rounds into the bolt action’s internal magazine.

“MARK! AMELIA’S DEAD, MY LEG’S FUCKED! WE GOTTA GO!” I screamed, not caring if whoever we were fighting heard.

Across the alley, Mark looked towards me and nodded. Switching shoulders, I aimed down the street and fired until the magazine ran empty. Beside me, the sound of feet crushing gravel and splashing up puddles blazed past. Looking over, Mark had already slung his bolt action rifle and held his M9 pistol in his right hand. I stood and ran after him. He rushed past the house, through the open front gate, and into the front yard.

I nearly tripped as I bolted over the bodies at the fence door. Mark, seeing I’d made it, turned and began running past the houses. He reached the intersection between the drive with the houses and the main road going through the neighborhood.

I hustled to keep up with Mark. Voices were audible somewhere behind me.

“Mark! Take the alley to the left and go towards the creek.” I called, turning my head to look behind me as I ran. A figure pied the corner of a house, aiming his rifle in our direction. I dropped to a knee and raised my rifle.

BANG

The figure stumbled backwards and fell over. I fired another two rounds as somebody blind fired around the corner. Standing, I ran to the right of the building on the corner of the street. Across, Mark was waiting at the alley.

I waved my arm to him, signaling for him to go. He shook his head, clearly hesitating. A bullet snapped by, causing me to jump backwards. Raising my rifle and putting the crosshair on one of the figures rushing from in front of the houses.

“FUCKIN’ GO!” I screamed at Mark. Regretfully, he turned and sprinted down the alley.

Turning, I began sprinting down the street. Passing the alley we’d been ambushed in, I sprinted past the figures moving towards me. As I looked down the alley, I could see the body of Amelia lay dead in the mud and gravel.

I ran. The rain poured harder. Tears streamed down my face, hitting the floor. Going through the open door of a white-brick modern house, I shut it and began moving room to room.

As I felt I’d escaped danger, the pain in my leg began to swell. Realizing I hadn’t patched up the bullet hole through my calf, I reached back and pulled the IFAK from my plate carrier. Carefully rolling up my blood-soaked pant leg, I exposed the wound.

The bullet had passed clear through my leg. Grabbing a compression bandage, I tightly wrapped it around my leg in hopes to stop the bleeding. I could only hope it hadn’t hit an artery.

Pain shot up my leg. I bit my lip until it started bleeding.

whrrRRRR

I turned my head to the direction of the noise. A drone hovered outside a cracked window. Wearily, I reached into my waistband and pulled out the Colt Python in my belt. Aiming it at the drone, the drone quickly buzzed to the side and away from the window.

I dropped the revolver to the floor.

My eyes drifted up to the ceiling.

whrrrRRRR

KABOOM

James' eyes flew open and his body shot up.