The Ghost and the Shadow

Chapter 23 - Safe House

We run down the rocky path, and I try to focus on my feet to not trip or stumble over the rocks.

The army is right behind us, and they have numbers, which we don't.

"We'll lose them in the mountains. Fan out and stay close," Alejandro yells hurriedly.

Shots come from behind us, and I run for cover behind a tree. I look around for Ghost and see that he's done the same. I can feel the wood splinter behind me from the bullets hitting it. After a couple of seconds it stops, I look out and see the man reloading, I take this opportunity to take him out.

Once we're clear of enemy fire, we start running again.

"You know these trails?" Soap asks.

"Very well, but so does the army," Alejandro responds. I can hear him instructing a soldier to radio for extraction. I don't see how we're going to escape this.

We run through the tall trees and slide down the mountainside where possible. We're making good ground, but not enough.

"There's a bridge at the river, extraction will be there," Alejandro assures us.

More shots are fired in our direction, they're catching up to us. I take cover behind a boulder and Alejandro stops next to me, "You still good, Bella?" he asks.

"Yes, Sir," I respond.

He nods and smiles, "Good, let's get them."

We start shooting at the men coming over the ridge and they drop like flies down the mountainside. I look around briefly, but I don't see Ghost anywhere.

"Anyone hit?" Alejandro asks once we're clear again. We all confirm we're good and I'm glad to hear Ghost's voice over comms. I lost sight of him.

Alejandro tilts his head for me to follow him, we run over rocks and through trees until we reach the side of the mountain. A rock ledge comes into view, but there's a large gap in it, "We'll have to jump," Alejandro yells after him as he jumps the gap without a second though. I don't know how he made that; the gap is huge.

Soap passes me, "Come on, Lass," and jumps over the gap proceeding after Alejandro. They disappear around the bend. I hesitate, I don't know if I'll make the jump, it's a long way down.

"Jump, Y/n," I hear Ghost's command coming from behind me. I really don't want to but know there's no other way. I take a deep breath and jump over the gap, barely landing on my feet on the other side.

As I straighten up, someone bumps into my back, Ghost. He jumped right after me.

"You good, Sergeant?"

I nod and follow after the others, there's two more gaps ahead, but I jump over them easily as the gaps are a lot smaller than the first one.

An opening on the side of the mountain comes into view, and I'm thankful to get off this ledge.

The men ahead of us disappear into the opening and shots ring out again. I reach the opening and stop to peak around the rock wall, the army is in front of us, we'll have to go through them. Ghost moves past me and into the opening, firing at the army as he does. I shoot from my position, hitting three in the head.

Once clear we run uphill and over the ridge.

"There's the bridge," I can hear Alejandro saying ahead. I reach the top of the hill and look for the bridge.

"Fuck me, it's way down in the valley, how the hell are we going to get there without being shot?" I protest.

"Just keep running," Alejandro says and squeezes my shoulder reassuringly.