Don't fear the reaper - Captain John Price

XIV

The nights around the base were quiet with the wildlife in the mountains becoming more active than it was during the day. Deer passed by the main gate, running along the unknown to anybody else way. The laughter of the guards echoed in the silence of the night, as the men tried to entertain themselves for the last couple of hours of the duty before the other team took over the watch tower. The air was cold, but with a breeze of freshness as it traveled further to the base. Cold, white light was falling into the green grass around the tall walls that were protecting the buildings. Some movement in the tall trees caught the eye of one of the guards before his body fell down onto the concrete floor.

The loud sound of the alert announced to everyone about the attack a moment later. Suddenly, a quiet evening was full of worry and the sounds of the people running from one place to another. There was no chaos, as the weapons were distributed among the soldiers ready to defend the base. Commanders knew how important the timing was. The commands were running from one unit to another, in the headsets of the men and woman.

Price was waiting. The dark uniforms of the captain and his team were blending with the dark nature of the forest. Sometimes, the greatest cover for the soldier can be nature, especially in the darkest nights. The night vision goggles were not catching any Konni's around the team yet, but no one in 141 was planning to let the russians get closer to the base. The birds rose up in the air with the loud explosion of a grenade, that finally announced the entrance of the enemy into the land where they were not supposed to be. Adrenaline was taking over the team after a couple of weeks of waiting. Finally, they were back to the duty of keeping the world clean. At the end of the day, a peaceful life is not for everyone, and John could feel the release of serotonin in his body as the bullet from his rifle hit the enemy. The gaze of blue eyes covered by the night vision googles traveled around, making sure that his boys were still around and fighting alongside him.

The captain was done with one war a while ago, and there he was in the middle of the night in the dark forest stepping his foot into the next one. There was nothing else the man knew better than the warfare, not even his own self. More than 20 years in active duty made John tough, and with each passing battle, the memories of the ordinary life were vanishing into the unknown. The feeling of gunpowder on the tips of his fingers felt like a part of him, as the tall grass was hiding the strong body of the man in the trees away from russians who were not planning on giving up their plan. One conflict after another, Price's skills were getting better and with each passing year, he could no longer see himself as a part of civilian life. There were threats to world peace in every corner of our large world, and someone had to take care of it. Suddenly, the captain realized that the weight of the world on his shoulders was lighter than trying to live a regular life on the rare days when the uniform on his body was replaced by civilian clothes. The task force was the only family he ever had, and John knew he would never need any other. His job was complicated, too risky to explain to someone who was not in the army, and too selfish of him to put any woman under pressure just for him. One-night stands were an easy way to release the needs of his body and the bits of human pressure. No one had to wait for him, worry if the captain would even come back home alive, or if the next person knocking at the door would make the fatal shoot. Price never needed anyone in his life to feel complete, if only to bring peace to it for a split moment.

The bullets were replacing the birds in the forest, as the bodies were falling into the ground just to cover them with the red liquid. The situation felt to be under control before the noise of the drone took over any sounds of the surroundings. One bombs after another were falling onto the ground. When the forest seemed silent, the captain let his eyes fall onto the place where the base was. Countless sprouts of flame surrounded the buildings, leaving the whole place in a mess. 

"Gaz, we move back to the base," John's voice traveled to the men through the headset, as the silence in the forest fell suspicious. It's been a long time since the team knew their enemy, and never in the past did russians give up so easily on their target. Something was wrong, and the captain was determined to find out what exactly. "Soap and Ghost, clear the area."

"Rog, captain," Soap's voice was the only sound in the forest, as the team divided and followed the different paths but with the same mission inside of the men's heads.

Price looked at the base through the gunsight, as the men in the dark uniform disappeared in between the orange flames. Something was telling him to come back, to check the area as if the intuition of the captain was screaming the commands at him just like the commanders did back in the old days. Two figures of the man were getting closer to the ruins of the base in front of them, ready for whatever was hiding in between the fallen falls of the buildings and the merciless fire that was spreading all around.