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IT WOULD'VE BEEN EASIER IF SHE'D DIED, Kristen thought as the excruciating pain had started to overtake her body when her eyes fluttered open. She was inches away from the burning pile of her aircraft, clawing at the snow for a cold release and some sort of grip on the ground.
There was blood seeping into the white of the snow but she couldn't quite tell where it was coming from. She made a disgruntled move to get up, letting out desperate scream that felt like it was ripping her lungs; remembering she was in enemy territory, she'd covered her mouth trying to hold it all back. The tears though, they didn't matter anymore, there was no stopping them.
"Shit, shit, shit. Shit!"
Kristen needed to run, she needed to get out of plain sight. She heard the sound of an enemy chopper nearby, sending her into fight-or-flight. Kristen detached herself from her parachute and had thrown herself upward, it hurt like hell to move but the sound was coming closer.
Kristen barely threw herself into a run, somehow crossing over a couple logs to hide. Iceman must've been looking out for her, she thought — the enemy helicopter stopping by her jet and turning the wrong way to search.
She curled up for the minute, patting down her body to find wherever the hell the blood was coming from beside whatever was dripping from her nose. Her ears rung at the sound of more missiles being flown, and the girl couldn't help but stay put. She didn't want to fight, she didn't know where the fuck she was.
Her curiosity was struck at the louder sounds growing consistent and closer to her, managing to look up and see an US F-18.
Lieutenant Bradley Bradshaw.
The F-18 had closed in on Kristen's wreck, blasting past the enemy missiles. He'd made it about a half mile away before being shot down too, despite his best efforts.
Kristen picked herself up with the help of the log in front of her, hiding behind the trees and using them to push her past when feeling weaker as she ran in the direction as best she could.
Eventually her eyes had found her comfort pulling himself from the ground and brushing the snow off of his body. Bradley had noticed her limping, so he dropped everything to run to her, making sure to wipe his own sprinkle of tears before she could see anything.
"You alright!" She first checked before they'd met, a scream coming from Bradley, "Yeah! You?"
"I'm in one piece," She grunted, slapping him right across the face as their bodies came close, "What the hell are you doing here!"
His eyes widened as he remarked, "Okay, ouch! What am I doing here? Don't you mean-"
Kristen had cut him off, "I didn't take that fucking missile for you to be down here right now! You should be on the hanger, leaving! Going home!"
