Chapter 5
Jumping from a plane and plummeting twenty-seven thousand feet to the ground wasn’t nearly as terrifying as Liz thought it would be.
The moment their boots touch soil, Mikey releases the clip holding Liz securely against his chest. She brushes off the embarrassment of having to tandem jump while all the others have been trained and jump alone.
Mikey expertly unhooks his harness, dropping it behind him, and picks up his rifle in one swift movement.
Meanwhile, Liz embarrasses herself further while she struggles to get everything unhooked as fast as possible.
She sucks in a sharp breath, trying to steady herself.
This is not the time to break down and she knows it.
She forced them to let her join the mission, and she needs to prove to not only them, but to herself, it wasn’t a mistake.
After three miles of walking through the dense forest, Mikey signals for the team to slow.
Gunshots begin to ring out ahead of them, echoing through the trees, signaling the other squads have made it to the hideout.
Sticking close to her battle buddy, Liz walks through the trees with her gun up, keeping her head on a swivel, just as Riley had shown her.
The gunfire lasts only a few minutes before ceasing.
Something has either gone right for once, or really wrong once again.
As they approach, Mikey radios the rest of their squad to break off. Two head in one direction, two more in the opposite, while Liz and Mikey continue straight.
The trees thin, opening to a wide expanse of tall grass and wildflowers.
Giant rocks and flower-filled bushes dot the field, perfect for cover as they trudge forward.
Another half mile from them sits the small, seemingly abandoned town Dmitri has taken over.
They keep pushing forward. The closer they come to the town full of shacks, the more everything feels off.
There are no alarms blaring, no voices shouting.
Gun fire no longer rings, the only noise is the sound of two sets of feet moving through the foliage.
The pair exchange silent glances, keeping pace with the rest of the team.
They make it to the edge of the town where half their unit is waiting.
Mikey spots Alex standing in the front, talking to a small group of soldiers.
A handful of bodies litter the ground, but it’s clear they have not used this location to hide for a while.
“Where the hell is everyone?” Mikey asks, approaching the group huddled together.
“I don’t know. The intel we got from the general said he was here. There should have been more than twelve men on guard. I don’t like this,” Alex says, intently watching his portable radar system.
When it doesn’t detect movement from anywhere in the town, he turns to the group to reorganize. “Alright, listen up. Our intel is bad. We need to find anything we can and get to the evac point. We are clear, but keep your radars on. Radio if you find anything or anyone.”
The moment he is done speaking, the soldiers scatter.
Liz still isn’t sure what she is supposed to be doing, but she promised to follow orders, so that’s what she does.
Grateful for all the long days of forced training, Liz runs through everything in her mind as she goes from shack to shack in the abandoned town.
She moves slowly, keeping her rifle in a low, ready position, making it easier to navigate.
Meticulously, she clears every room in two buildings, on her way to the third, something behind it catches her eye.
A bulkhead door, nearly covered in grass and debris, is tucked against the back of the house.
It’s too perfect, like someone was trying to hide it without making it look hidden.
She creeps over, checking the coordinates on her MGRS.
Moving closer, she radios to the team and informs them she is going in to check it out.
Nothing but static comes back over. The heavy metal door groans, dirt sprinkling onto the crumbling stairs as Liz pulls it open.
She flicks on the light attached to her gun and slowly descends the stairs, ignoring the crackling voices coming over the radio.
Doubt and anxiety flood her body—she is not ready for this. Refusing to admit to being a failure, she pushes on until she reaches an open door leading to a room at the bottom of the steps.
The overwhelming smell of must hits her before the scene.
Maps and charts cover the crude cinder block walls, photos of Riley and other familiar faces dotted amongst them.
An old computer sits atop a small desk on the far side of the room, while a makeshift table filled with papers sits in the middle.
Metal clinks gently with each step she takes, bullets scattered all over the dirt floor.
She tries to radio the team just like she practiced in her head to no avail, her radio still not working.
The hairs on the back of her neck stand up seconds before she hears the slow, careful footsteps.
Alex had said the area was clear, but she won’t take chances.
Liz positions herself in a darker area, clicks her light off and raises her gun, waiting for the owner of the footsteps to show themself. She takes a deep breath, finger resting next to the trigger, when Matt steps into view, shining his own light in her face.
“I found the honey badger. I’m with her now,” he announces into the radio on his shoulder, adding, “You may want to come see this, commander.”
Trying her best to ignore the awful name, she prays the rest of the squad didn’t hear.
They silently look around, Matt taking pictures of the mounted maps while Liz grabs whatever folders she can, shoving them into her pack.
Footsteps approach from the door, Alex strides in, followed by a very angry looking Mikey.
“Why the hell did you take off?” he seethes. “You were supposed to stay with me.”
“You guys told everyone to look for anything we can use. Literally, everyone else took off. I assumed I was supposed to do the same,” she shoots back, unsure of if she actually did something wrong or not.
“If I wasn’t, maybe you should have said something.
” Papers crinkle behind her as Alex loads up the rest of what is spread across the table into his bag.
“Has anyone else found anything?” she asks, terrified to hear the answer. She watches as Alex claps Matt on the shoulder, nodding his head toward the stairs. Her heart sinks. Neither one speaks until the sounds of the receding footsteps go silent.
Then, and only then, does Mikey dare speak. “I’m so sorry, darlin. I don’t think he was ever here.”
She blinks away the tears threatening to form, breathing deeply through her nose, and letting it out slowly through her mouth.
She can’t react, can’t break no matter how much that tiny bit of information is crushing her soul.
The moment Alex announced their intel was wrong, she should have known they would not find him, but she so desperately wanted to believe she would.
Not only did they not find Riley, but they dedicated a week to this mission for nothing, a week that could have been spent traveling anywhere else he may be.
Liz knows it’s stupid to think like that. She knows he could have been here, and there is no guarantee they would have found him if they had gone somewhere else, but she cannot stop herself from thinking it was all a waste.
“We should probably get back.” There is no emotion in her voice, completely numb to her world falling to pieces around her. She turns on her heels and climbs the crumbling dirt stairs, marching right back to the group gathered together and waiting to start the long trek to their evac point.
The hours blur together, aimlessly following her leaders across miles of terrain to an old airstrip where the plane waits to bring them home empty handed.
Liz holds it together, blocking out anyone who tries to speak to her.
She runs through the motions until she is back home, and she can throw herself into bed and let out everything she is holding in.