Page 85 of Fade (Fighting Fate)

Studying him, I tried to find any sign of sincerity in his features, but the signals he was putting out were all over the place. I would’ve liked to believe him, but I knew him too well. He didn’t like it one little bit.

I just hoped, for Daniel’s sake, that Ryan got used to the idea before he made it home again.

Chapter 44

Daniel

Deployed time: 10 weeks

“Fuck!” Nelson grunted, diving forward. Bullets bit at the cement, sending chunks and dust flying.

Without a thought, I dived after him, managing to take cover behind what appeared to be the remains of an old shop front. Just ahead, the Kurds ushered the women through another abandoned building, managing to get them farther away, out of the firing line.

Through a gap in the wall, I checked the situation, ready to provide support for Sergeant Cooper and the others to catch up to our position. The second I saw the open gap between where they were taking cover and us, the world around me went still. To run it would be suicide.

“Dirty motherfucking assholes,” Nelson spat out beside me. “We need to take those fuckers out before Sarge becomes a fucking sitting duck.”

McAdams shifted his position, sliding to lie flat on the ground with his rifle at the ready. “I’m going right. Nelson, you go left. Stephenson, take the roof.”

As they both opened fire, I frantically scanned the rooftops, trying to locate the fucker trying to pick off my buddies. I knew only a few of the enemy would have night-vision capabilities, but right now, it didn’t matter.

“Stephenson! Find that fucker, now!”

Time was against us. My breath, harsh and labored, became my single point of focus. Then I saw him. Sneakily firing from a tiny murder hole-like window. Trying to tame the sudden rage that swept through me, I aimed and fired off half a dozen shots, relieved when I saw the guy fly backwards from the window.

Sergeant Cooper’s crew dug in, firing from their position, but it wasn’t enough. They had minimal cover where they were. If the enemy were to put any more power behind their attack, they were fucked.

Obviously coming to the same conclusion, the extremists let loose with an intense hammering of explosive shots that pierced the darkened blanket that now stifled the night.

“Motherfuckers!” McAdams bit out. “They need more cover! Do whatever you can to get them here without being blown the fuck up!”

Nelson roared. “Fucker’s got a grenade!” Launching himself up onto his knees further, he let loose with a serious barrage of fire.

Following suit, I fired on the first fucker I saw, taking him down with just one shot. Then another. But the attack didn’t let up. The grenade was thrown, and I watched with my heart in my throat as Sergeant Cooper and the guys dug their boots into the dirt and ran.

It wasn’t like any movie I’d seen or any story I’d heard before. Time didn’t slow down, and silence didn’t fall around me. Everything unfolded in very real time, and in a very adrenaline-induced way.

The guys were barely clear of their shelter before the grenade hit, disintegrating it and sending concrete and rock flying twenty feet into the air. The force hurled them forward, the shrapnel pelting their tumbling bodies.

Nelson swore, and McAdams jumped to his feet. Then, with a desperation I had never felt in my entire life, I joined Nelson and McAdams and sprayed those fuckers with enough bullets they’d be eating them for a week.

Adrenaline coursed through me like a tidal wave. I prayed with everything I had that they were still alive, but either way, I needed to bring them in.

Still firing, I rounded the wall, trying to find the rest of my team in the heavy plume of dust. I spotted Johns first, rifle still in hand, crawling over the pile of scattered rubble toward us, then I saw Sergeant Cooper. I watched him shift in the dirt, belly-down, and begin to shoot.

“Gardner!” he shouted, firing off a few shots.

I searched the area, trying to find Gardner in the mess, but I could still only see Johns. Bullets bit at the rocks around him as he frantically tried to crawl over the broken concrete. Fuck this shit. I couldn’t just stand there and watch them be picked off like fucking flies.

Moving out, I tried to focus on my breathing and use the skills I was taught in infantry training. Skills most of these extremists didn’t have.

Locating a number of targets, I concentrated on taking them out, while quickly moving toward Johns. He was still about twenty yards away, but there was large slab of concrete sti

cking out of the ground between us. If I could make it there, I could take cover and hopefully provide enough support to get all of them to safety.

“Stephenson! What the fuck are you doing?”

I heard Nelson’s voice, but I kept moving just the same, my concentration focused and on point. The gunfire never ceased, from them, from us, or from me.

---