by George West
"Stay right there! Don't move or I will hit you again," threatened Clark as he continued to squeeze the handle of the shovel.
Jessica raised her hands in the air as she lay on her back. "Please, please, don't hurt me."
Clark looked around the room contemplating his next move. He looked up at the ceiling trying to digest everything that had just happened. He felt like he was going to have a heart attack.
Jessica reached for the pistol and fired several rounds. Clark collapsed on the floor and started to cough up blood. Jessica slowly picked herself up and trudged over to the dying man.
"Hard drive, now!" ordered Jessica.
Clark stared at Jessica for a moment and coughed up another spat of blood. "How...How long... with Global Alliance," murmured Clark.
"Long as I can remember. Now, please hand over the hard drive," repeated Jessica.
Clark tapped his jacket pocket.
"You better not be lying to me this time," warned Jessica.
She reached into his jacket pocket and felt a metal object. Jessica smiled as she gazed at the hard drive she had waited so long to obtain. Clark then reached into his other pocket.
"Is there another hard drive?"
Clark nodded.
Jessica aggressively felt around inside his pocket for the other hard drive. She became puzzled as she held the object. She noticed something around Clark's finger. He smiled as he twitched the safety pin.
Chapter 18
Adam and Kat flew down the dirt road leading up to the old farmhouse where the Special Forces compound was located. The sun climbed over the horizon, revealing the morning dew that covered the grassy hills leading to the compound. Adam turned around to check on Kat, who rested her head on his back while she slept. Adam figured this was the first time she slept in weeks. Her hands remained wrapped around Adam's waist as they traveled on the dirt bike. Being close to Katherine produced a sensational feeling. They hadn't been this close in months. He didn't want her to ever let go.
The beautiful house that sat on the hill was in Adam's view now, but something was wrong. Adam noticed soldiers meandering around the perimeter of the house, which was odd since everyone should have been ready to evacuate the premises. Adam pulled up to the group of soldiers standing outside the house and noticed structural damage on the side of one of the walls.
"What's going on?"
Several soldiers rushed over to Katherine and helped her off the dirt bike. Adam continued to gaze in confusion at the gaping hole in the side of the farmhouse.
"Brother, we got played," announced John.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Adam looked around and saw Hunter and Major Gandler examining the grass near the house. "Where is Stevenson?"
John shook his head and cleared his throat. "He's gone."
"I... I don't understand."
"It's better if I show you."
The two brothers walked into the farmhouse. Adam looked around the living room that used to serve as their tactical operations center. He noticed 9mm bullet casings scattered across the floor.
"What the hell?"
Adam shot a confused expression at his brother. John waved him over to the armory. Adam immediately took a step back after witnessing the horrific scene.
"Is that...?" Adam trailed off.
John nodded.
Adam just stood frozen in his tracks gazing at the burned corpse on the floor.
"It looks like the work of a M67 fragmentation grenade," informed John.
Adam just remained standing in the same place staring at the corpse in front of him.
John crouched next to the corpse and lifted up its hand. The fingers were stiff from rigor mortis. "Check this out, what do you see?" asked John.
Adam squinted his eyes. "Is that the pin to a frag?"
"Oh yeah, it looks like he set this off intentionally," stated John.
"This doesn't make any sense," said Adam.
"Actually, it does." John picked up a metal box covered with burns and fragmentations. "This is the hard drive for the Icarus Satellite," continued John.
Adam finally understood. "He wasn't about to hand Icarus over to our enemy," stated Adam.
"Bingo. Clark Stevenson sustained critical GSWs to the abdomen and knew he was finished, and he decided to take the only connection to Icarus with him," explained John.
"This still doesn't explain who tried to kill him and steal the hard drive," asserted Adam.
"After your little jail break, there was only two bodies at the compound. And the sergeant we left behind for security has a fire poker impaled in his neck," explained John.
"No way. That's ridiculous," said Adam, realizing who John was referencing.
"She was the only other person at the compound," asserted John.
"This is bullshit. She saved our asses...multiple times."
"She embedded herself in our mission to get close to Icarus. And I know you don't want to hear this, brother, but she probably provided the intel that burned Kat and got her captured."
Adam rushed outside the house and ran over to Katherine. She was being treated by the SF medic with an IV infused in her arm. Adam grabbed Kat and kissed her.
"I am so sorry," pleaded Adam.
Kat remained silent and started to cry as Adam held her.
"Hey boys, we got company!" yelled Staff Sergeant Byron as he sprinted up the grassy hill. He stopped and took a breather before continuing. "I spotted three technical vehicles with DShK's coming this way," announced Byron.
"How long do we have?" asked Major Gandler.
“Five to ten minutes, max," replied Byron.
"All right, I want guys on the M240s. Set up defensive positions. I need sniper overwatch on the roof. We are going to send as many rounds down toward the front entrance until we figure out an exfil route," ordered Major Gandler.
"Sir, if you and your men can hold down the farm house, my team can flank their position and hammer them with AT4s and M320s," assured Adam.
"Roger that, Dawkins, but your men better move fast or those technicals are going to shred our position," replied Gandler.
Adam and the rest of Reaper team jumped onto the bed of the pickup truck and tore open several wooden crates. John and Hunter grabbed various launchers. Reaper team ran down the hill towards a patch of woods just west of the dirt road that lead into the farm. Several minutes later, Adam heard gunfire erupt from the farm. Reaper team stopped their approach and scanned for enemy troops.
"I hear heavy machine gun fire. They must be hammering the farmhouse by now," said John.
"We need to get into position now! Gandler and his men won't be able to hold off for much longer," announced Adam.
Dawkins waved his team forward, and they rushed through the forest, making sure they didn't fall into an ambush. Adam moved among the trees and brush with his M4 raised to his shoulder and a M320 grenade launcher slung around his back. After ten minutes of trudging through the thick brush, he soon spotted the muzzle flashes from one of the technicals.
The heavy machine guns were mounted on to the beds of the pickup trucks. Adam and his team were approximately 100 meters from their attackers. Reaper 1 lay prone on the ground while the rest of his team followed suit. They started to crawl closer to the G.A. troop position until John heard several branches break in front of them.
"Contact! Twelve o’clock!"
Adam and his men started to fire bursts of rounds at the squadron of soldiers that attempted to thwart their advance. Bullets whizzed past Adam's head while piles of dirt erupted next to his body. Soon, an enemy machine gunner swung the mounted heavy machine gun and opened fire into the patch of woods. Adam and John Dawkins laid against the dirt mound as bullets nailed the barrier that provided them protection.
"Popping Smoke!" screamed John. He pulled the safety pin to the smoke canister and tossed it between the dirt mound and the enemy machine gunners. Within seconds, the patch of woods was filled with red phosphorus. Adam sprinted farth
er along the wooded area until he found cover behind a group of trees. Fortunately, the machine gun fire didn't follow Adam to his new position, but now he couldn't see his enemy. Dawkins waited hesitantly with his grenade launcher aimed towards the enemy convoy. Adam held a launcher loaded with a 40mm cartridge tightly against his shoulder. The anticipation started to overwhelm him as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.
The red smoke started to dissipate, and Adam could make out a large silhouette. He slid his index finger to the trigger and took aim down the iron sights. The heavy machine gun fire continued to hammer his team's position, but he was outside of the line of fire. Adam steadied his aim and exhaled. He pulled the trigger and the 40mm grenade impacted the engine block of the machine gunner's truck.
The explosion destroyed the vehicle and sent the enemy machine gunner flying off the side of the vehicle. The rest of Reaper team realized their window of attack and advanced closer, systematically firing bursts of rounds from their M4s to provide cover fire for their teammates with grenade launchers. Other projectiles launched into the air and bombarded the other armored vehicles. Without heavy fire support, the SF team mowed down the rest of the Global Alliance from the farmhouse.
Reaper team advanced on the decimated convoy and made sure every hostile was neutralized. The members of Reaper team and ODA 596 regrouped at the farmhouse. The old structure had taken a beating during the brief firefight. Bullet holes covered the walls of the wooden building. The front porch no longer had a screen while chunks of the roof were missing.
"Major, any casualties?" asked Adam.
"Negative. One of my guys took a round to the chest plate but he's good. What about on your end?" continued Gandler.
"We are good to go."
Guys rushed around the farmhouse finishing their cleanup. Men continued to load the pickup trucks with gear and weapons. John and Sergeant Byron were the last ones left in the farmhouse. Only a moldy shag carpet remained in the living room. A couple of empty crates were left in the armory, but the shelves were clear of any weapons or ammo. The two men rushed through the rooms, carrying canisters of gasoline. John and Byron went down the stairs shaking their canisters to allow the flammable substance to rain down on the wooden surface. Once they finished filling the house with gasoline, John and Byron stood outside the house, taking in one last image of the beautiful place. John flicked open his Zippo and tossed the lighter. Within seconds, the flames erupted through the roof of the farmhouse. John and Byron were forced to close their eyes and jump backwards to avoid the intense heat from the flames.
Reaper team and the SF soldiers sat on top of the crates of weapons in the bed of the pickup trucks waiting to exfil. Katherine laid in the back seat of one of the trucks with an IV in her arm. She was still dehydrated and fatigued from weeks in captivity. Hunter sat in the back of one of the trucks staring at the body bag next to his feet. The person he was responsible for protecting had died.
"Is everyone accounted for? Are we ready to proceed with exfil?" asked Major Gandler.
"Yes, sir," replied several of his soldiers.
"Okay. We are going to stay on route Charlie Echo and head north for 10 klicks. Three Blackhawks will be waiting for extraction. They can only stay on the ground for ten minutes. We have a narrow window to make it, so we have to punch it," announced Major Gandler.
"Wait! Where's Adam?" yelled his brother.
The soldiers looked around and didn't see him. John spotted a figure at the edge of the tree line. Adam was crouched near the ground, examining blades of grass. He checked his M4 and loaded a round into the chamber. He ignored the approaching sound of an engine and continued to stare into the forest.
John jumped out of the truck. "Brother, I know you aren't going to do what I think you’re going to do."
Adam ignored his brother and started to walk into the forest, pass the tree line. John sprinted after him and tackled his brother. The two brothers wrestled each other, rolling in the dirt. Hunter jumped off the back of the truck and ran towards the fight.
"Get the fuck off of me!" screamed Adam.
"I'm not going to let you do this. She's not worth it."
"I have a blood trail. I'm going to show that bitch, justice!"
John was on top of his brother, now. "Justice? This is revenge; don't try to bullshit me, brother."
Adam punched his brother in the throat and John fell in the grass gasping for air. Hunter rushed at his team leader but abruptly stopped in his tracks. Adam raised his sidearm and pointed it straight at Hunter.
"Easy chief, you don't want to do this."
Adam remained silent as he kept his weapon raised.
"Chief, if you go after her, you will die. There are enemy soldiers scouring the countryside looking for us. We need to make it to our extraction point."
"Clark died because of me. I should have seen it," said Adam.
"Chief, please...."
Adam fell backward as the sound of a gunshot echoed throughout the forest. Hunter turned around with his M4 but froze once he saw the shooter. Katherine lowered her Glock 17 and dropped to her knees. John and Hunter ran over to their team leader to stop the bleeding. Adam was unconscious, but then opened his eyes and gasped for air once again. His body armor stopped the bullet from penetrating his chest. Then, Adam felt himself being dragged away from the forest.
Chapter 19
3 days later...
"And here I thought all civilization was dead," said John.
Members of Reaper team were 30,000 feet in the air in route to Central Command. Agent Reyes and several other DHS personnel were also on the Gulf Stream G650.
"Hey, Reyes, do you mind pouring me another glass of this fine bourbon? I can't find the flight attendant," said John.
"How about I throw you out of this plane?" replied Agent Reyes.
John and Hunter bursted out in laughter as they continued to refill their glasses with bourbon.
"Wait, is this real crystal? Because I'm pretty sure I ordered the first-class package!" announced Hunter.
Agent Reyes jumped up from her seat and headed towards the front of the plane to escape their aggravating presence. She strolled over to their team leader, who was not enjoying the celebration.
Adam was focused on the computer screen at his desk. He was typing away and opening different files. The only drink he had in front of him was coffee.
"Dawkins."
Adam didn't even look up from his work. "Reyes."
The DHS agent plopped down on the couch directly behind Adam's chair. "You know it is illegal to hack into the DHS database. It's even punishable by death during a time of war."
Adam continued to look through different files he had found. "Good thing I'm using your laptop."
Reyes shook her head and then strolled over to the mini bar. "Do you like it neat or on the rocks?"
"I'm good," replied Adam as he raised up his cup of coffee.
"I'm thinking neat," said Reyes.
The DHS agent poured the bottle of bourbon into two glasses: one with ice and the other without. She walked over to the couch and sat down sipping on her drink. Reyes continued to stare at Adam as he worked. She finally had enough and leaned over his chair and shut the laptop on his fingers.
"Really?"
"I have scoured the entire database with a team of trained analysts, and we didn't find anything on Jessica Boudreaux. Trust me, you won't find anything either. When will you learn to stop and enjoy a win?"
"A win? We lost Icarus. Clark Stevenson is in a body bag. I let a Global Alliance spy into our compound. This is not a win," replied Adam.
"You know what, you're right. She played you. She played you like a fiddle and then killed one of your men, but she played us all. We are all responsible for what happened. Stop telling yourself that it's all on you…because it's not."
***
Katherine Shaw continued her work out on the treadmill. She was on the last stretch of her ten-mile run. She was the only one in th
e training room back at their compound in D.C. The speakers blared heavy metal as she continued to stride toward the finish line. Once she made it to her goal, Kat jumped off the treadmill and chugged a bottle of water while performing a few stretches. She grabbed some tape and started to wrap it around both of her wrists. She never stopped moving and continued to bounce up and down to the music, making her way over to the punching bag.
Katherine bounced around the bag, striking it with all her strength. She kept throwing punches left and right. Sweat dripped off her body forming a pool of liquid beneath her feet. Flashbacks of her time in captivity would periodically appear in her brain; brief images of the jumper cables burning her flesh and Odin's smile. That smile had melted into her skull, leaving a permanent cast of a memory.
Katherine stepped closer to the bag and continued her relentless attack on the defenseless sack of grain and leather. She started to strike it with her knees and eventually lost her rhythm and just whaled on the bag. She kept attacking the punching bag until she collapsed to the ground. Katherine breathed heavily for a while as she kneeled below the bag in a puddle of her own sweat. She decided to get back up and throw one last punch before leaving the training room.
Kat strode down the hall to the armory. She spotted the man in charge of maintaining the weapons. The man was busy at work sharpening some of the tactical knives.
"What's up, Leon."
"Ms. Shaw, it's good to see you! How was your time in the field?"
Katherine bit her lip as more flashbacks surged through her brain. "It was tough, but I survived."