War Dog

Chapter 20

I kept my head low as I ran on all fours across the courtyard that had seemed so slim from the window but now felt as wide as a football field. The gunshots echoed through the area, arms and legs pumping to get me to the access gate. I saw the gate approaching closer and closer. There! My hand reaches out to push it open and I slam face first into the gate. My head rings with the reverberation of impact, feeling almost instantly nauseous with a concussion. A pause in the shots above me and I can feel the stares and open mouths before the raucous laughter peels out. 

God almighty save me. My fingers fumble with Ghosts lock picking kit as my vision begins to waver. I pull it out and while the guards above are distracted pissing themselves laughing at my misfortune begin to pick the lock. It takes me longer than it should, my fingers shaking as I fight the rising urge to puke. Click. The gate pushes open easily now that it's unlocked and I stumble through. 

I make my way to the other side of the wall and begin my mad sprint again, relying on my sense of smell and hearing to guide me away from the compound. I manage to make it to the closest bit of cover I can find and collapse behind it. My head is pounding and I start to feel wet. I bring my hand to my lower stomach right where the vest ends and it comes away covered in blood. A lot more blood than I should have had pouring out of me. I can feel the slick wetness coating my hand, I can scent the metallic base of fresh blood. As if the smell  and the feel of the blood connected the dots in my brain a searing pain began to emanate from the wound. Did the soldiers from the wall get me? I struggled to comprehend how they had managed that when I'd been running on all fours. My brain moved sluggishly. It slowly back tracked to before I jumped out the window. The third soldier. He hadn't missed like I'd assumed, I'd just been too high on adrenaline to feel the impact.

I fumble for the button on my comms. "Ghost," I mumble weakly.

"Wolf." Instant concern in Ghost's voice over the comms. "I'm coming to you, where are you?"

"South of compound." I gag as the nausea rises up my throat. "I'm shot, and I have a concussion." My voice peters out weakly as  I fight to remain conscious under the concussion and blood loss. The loss of the adrenaline fuelling me only heightened the growing need for the darkness at the edges of my vision to drag me under.

"Wolf!" Ghost growled in my ear. "You damn well better be conscious when I arrive or so help you."

I snicker weakly. "Trying to LT. You know me, I aim to please." My voice is a whisper, the ringing in my ears growing louder.

"Shit." I can hear the ragged harshness of his voice as he moves quickly through the city to find me. "Wolf, I'm coming as fast as I can. Listen to my voice, yeah?"

"Ceri, remember that time when we were kids, and you convinced Shane and I that playing hide and seek in the forest down the road from our house was a good idea?" Bryces voice comes over the comms. "Ghost, you focus on getting to her. Ceri, tell me, when did you start freaking out that you'd lost us?"

I chuckle ruefully and close my eyes against the pain lancing through my head and stomach in matching waves. "About twenty minutes in. I had been expecting the pair of you to refuse, you'd always both been so scared of that forest."

"Truthfully, we'd never even gone in." Bryces admission has my eyes flying open. 

"What?"

"While your eyes were closed we snuck back to the house."

I'm silent for long enough in shock that Ghost's voice crackles over the comms. "Wolf!" 

"I'm still here. Damnit Bryce. I'm going to kick your asses!"

"I see you Wolf. Almost there. Our evac is on the way." He clicks off his comms and I soon after that I can feel Ghosts hands on me. I shoves my hand away from the bullet hole easily and pulls out the medkit again. He pushes gauze and bandages into the wound pressing hard enough to leave me whimpering in pain as it shoots through me. I finally give into the nausea, leaning away from Ghost as I throw up bile and water, the heaving making everything swim and hurt more.