Page 118 of Tactically Acquired

Slider walked past me carrying bags, blatantly ignoring me as he stowed all the luggage. That was okay. I knew he had things to work out and took no offense to his attitude. I could see it coming on from the moment he saw me burn my hand. He was freaking out. Imagine if I told him I was going blind?

I chuckled to myself at how much he would freak out.

“Well, I’d have to say the most thrilling thing I ever did was when I was in Russia,” FNG continued.

“With Boris?” Fox asked, taking a seat and tugging me down beside him.

I allowed it, lifting my arms as he strapped me in, my attention one hundred percent on FNG. I couldn’t believe he had been to Russia.

“Ivan,” he corrected. “Geez, you’ve met the man. Anyway, we were hunting for food in the dead of winter. It was a cold, bitter day. Just a single breath could freeze your lungs if you weren’t careful.”

“Then why the fuck would you go outside?” Thumper asked, taking the seat across the aisle from me.

I spun around, looking for Spencer. “Hey, come listen to this!”

“Nope, I’m good back here.”

Rolling my eyes, I turned back to listen to the story. It was so exciting. I made movies, but he lived this.

“Anyway,” FNG continued, “The snow was hard, crunching beneath our feet as we crossed the frozen tundra in the early morning light. Not a single creature dared move when they heard Ivan moving. It was as if they already knew he was there to end their lives.”

I heard a muffled dismissive noise, but ignored it, fully enraptured in his story.

“We hiked for miles into the forest until icicles were stuck to our noses and our limbs burned from the exertion. The climb was not for the faint-hearted. We set up post in a tree, waiting for hours for any sign of wildlife. I was so cold, I nearly fell into a dreamless sleep.”

I frowned at that. “A dreamless sleep?”

He snapped his gaze from drifting off to meet my eyes. “I would have been dead.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway, I could feel my heart slowing with every minute that passed, and then, as if a sign from God that I needed to hold on, gunfire sounded in the distance. I forced myself to move. Blood started to flow again just as two men raced through the forest below us, followed by an army of soldiers. I knew instantly what I had to do.”

My eyes were wide as my heart thumped in my chest. Of course, that could have been from the plane taking off, but I chose to believe it was his story. “What did you do?” I whispered.

“I climbed down, dropping into a crouch beside Ivan. We had the same idea. We needed to save these Freedom Fighters.”

I felt like I was missing some information, but I listened intently, not wanting to miss anything else.

“Ivan and I snuck up behind the army, taking out a few of the soldiers on foot before taking over two of the snowmobiles.”

“In the army?” Thumper asked.

“It’s a thing,” FNG snapped. “Have you ever been in the tundra of Russia? This is how you get where you’re going! Anyway, I got on the snowmobile and took off, grabbing the machine gun that was strapped to the back. I was firing as I flew through the trees, just barely avoiding the bullets flying back at me. I hit a snowbank and went airborne. My body hurtled through the air, catapulting me onto a nearby tank. The hatch opened and a Russian stuck his head out, yelling at me as a rifleappeared. I ducked just as I thrust my arm forward, shoving the barrel of the rifle away. Shots pinged off of trees as we broke into the clearing. The guns were firing at the Freedom Fighters, and I knew I had to do something to stop the tank, so I slammed my fist into the soldier’s face and hauled him out.”

“I was about to toss him from the tank when I saw the grenades and knew what I had to do. I grabbed one, pulled the pin, and?—”

“Wait a minute,” IRIS cut him off. “You were on a tank in the middle of Russia, in the forest, and you just cut through the trees with no problem?”

FNG narrowed his eyes at him. “Are you calling me a liar?”

“I’m just saying, a tank driving through a forest would be quite a sight to see.”

“Then maybe you should have been there to see it,” he snapped. “As I was saying, just as I pulled the pin, another soldier burst through the hatch, grabbing me by the throat. I struggled with him, fighting for every last gasp of air, knowing if I didn’t kill the men in the tank, those Freedom Fighters would die. I flung the grenade down the hatch and prayed I survived the blast. It was just my luck that another man was climbing out as the grenade went off, blocking the worst of it from us.

“I heard Ivan shouting as my vision dimmed. I was losing air fast. This guy was choking the life out of me. But in the distance, I heard Ivan telling me we were approaching the cliff. I slammed my fist into the man’s jaw and twisted just in time to see we were just yards from falling over. I slid my knife from my boot and thrust it into the man’s gut just as we started to tumble over the cliff. And just as I went airborne?—”

“FNG, get your ass up here and take over while I puke!” Max called out.

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