Mike jumped down over Hoatk’s body. Fortunately, the bad guys hadn’t checked the burnt out helicopter or anything else in the hangar. Dumb asses. Hotak wasn’t moving. He looked dead. Blood from the dent he put in his head seeped onto the floor. He wasn’t sure. His nemesis could have been alive. Hopefully, he was. Mike wanted to savor this moment. Let Hotak stare down the muzzle of the man who would kill him. His head lifted his eyes, focusing on the outside. An Afghani on the pad yelled out orders. The rifle fire intensified. No time to gloat, he slung Hotak’s AK over his shoulder and ran to the edge of the hangar door. The Afghanis were getting close. Maybe half were down, but they kept pressing.

Two rifles were over the lip of the pad firing back. Whoever they were, they knew to keep their heads down. His team fired more misses than hits. It would be long until the Afghanis were on them.

Mike aimed in on those closest to him. One went down. He shot the next man. He fell in a heap. The next Afghani he only wounded. He dropped screaming.

The change in noise, from gunfire to high pitched screams, alerted the others. They all brought their weapons around. Mike dove back into the hangar as bullets snapped over him.

A rifle fired, and another man screamed. Mike peeked out and saw Tom’s head drop down under protection. The Afghani's distracted, he aimed in and shot another man.

They all twisted and fired on him again. Tom popped up in another spot, shot an unwary Afghani, and ducked. The machine gun fired at Tom then turned, and bullets flew past him into the hangar. None of the Afghani’s spoke. They knelt and wheeled to their front and rear, unsure what to do.

He shot another. Tom shot one.

As a man, the Afghanis jumped up and rushed him. Mike hid behind the corner, put his weapon on auto, and started spraying. Tom and Julia rose and fired into their backs. The last man went down at Mike’s feet.

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He stood, realized he’d been holding his breath, and let it all out at once. Not thinking, he ejected his spent mag and started toward his people.

Tom dropped his mag. It hit a rock, bounced off another, and slid off down the side of the mountain. In another second, it could have been him sliding down into the valley below.

“That was close, boss.”

“Yeah. Fish in a barrel.”

Mike kneeled on the edge. Randall was on his back, a red hole in his head. The rock under his head was dripping dark red onto the rocks below.

His head shook; it was not what he wanted. He felt terrible for Randall. Maybe he could have saved the man if he had acted quicker. They had lost Al, now Randall. That would haunt him. He’d been the one responsible, even for Randall. He was their leader, and getting everyone home was up to him.

Everything had changed since the mission started, which felt like a million years ago. He had been willing to do anything to kill Hotak, but in the end, it was more about saving the people with him.

Below him, Niki sat next to the boys. They were in the fetal position, scared out of their minds, but alive. Niki had wanted Hotak dead as much as him, more so. Somewhere along the fight, she had lost some of that drive just as he had. Living had become more important than killing. But, the suffering from their loss was almost over. Hotak’s day of reckoning was at hand; she would be there to see it.

Mike helped her up while Julia and Tom got the boys onto the pad.

“Where’s Hotak? I want to see him.”

“He’s in the hangar.” Mike lifted his wrist, the watch face covered in dried blood. His mouth pulled back, lips tight across his teeth. He hated to do it. He spit on the watch and used his shirt to clear it enough to see. He somehow felt the watch, in a way, was a part of Al, and he’d wiped it away.

“We got time. Let’s go take a look.”

Mike let Niki go first while he took Randall’s charge. He wanted her to see the body alone to have her moment.

They all turned at the noise. A helicopter was flying up the valley.

Tom ran to the edge. “Look like it’s going to land in the valley.”

“Mike!” Niki was pissed.

He spun his weapon ready.

“Where is he?”

An adrenaline surge hit him. No. The hair on his arms lifted. No. Everything tingled. No. No. No. He ran by Niki and stopped. Hotak was gone. He ran for the steps, vaulted the tractor, and kept going.