CHAPTER 253: FALL

The next two hours passed in a nightmare blend of vigilance and agonizing stillness. The forest pressed in with its damp silence, every snap of a twig loud enough to set nerves on edge. Gray worked efficiently, administering strong painkillers to Cameron—who was shivering violently despite the mild hypothermia stabilization—and cleaning the smaller, yet still deep, glass shards from my head and the nasty blistered burn on my palm. The crude dressing on my back was bulky evidence of the near miss.

I had changed into an extra shirt that was with cam.

By 0245, the riverbank was a scene of coiled anticipation. The four remaining team members were spread out, rifles held loose but ready, scanning the darkness. The air was thick with the scent of pine and decay, overlaid now by the metallic smell of blood.

"Time," I stated, my voice a low gravelly sound. I ignored the throbbing on my back. The pain was now a familiar friend, sharpening my focus rather than dulling it.

Gray checked his wrist comm. "Reyes and Kael should be back. They’re running seven minutes late, Boss."

"Give them ten more," I said, though the knot in my gut tightened. Ghost or not, Reyes was meticulous. He didn’t miss mission parameters. "The vehicle is ready?"

"Engine warming, transmission fluids stable. We move in thirteen minutes, regardless."

Silence stretched, heavy and dangerous. I crouched low beside Cameron, pressing a hand to his forehead.

"Are you worried about me, brother?"

"Not funny." I replied after seeing he is stable.

Gray shifted behind me, scanning the treeline again. "Still no sign of them." His tone was all business, but the edge was there—fatigue and dread wrestling behind the words. The forest had gone too quiet, the kind of silence that pressed into the ears and made even breathing feel like a betrayal.

At 0255—five minutes to the ultimate deadline—a single, muffled crack of suppressed gunfire echoed from the northeast, near the primary road.

It was immediately followed by another, closer this time. One of my men—Jared—jerked violently, blood spraying from his temple. He dropped without a sound.

"Contact!" Finn shouted, dropping his focus from the river and leveling his weapon toward the direction of the road.

Suddenly, a figure burst through the undergrowth, tripping over roots, a silent curse catching in his throat. It was Reyes. He was running flat-out, his camo jacket torn, his face frantic.

"Am—ambush!" Reyes gasped, skidding to a halt among the team. "They were waiting for us at the perimeter. Kael is down. Confirmed hostiles, minimum six targets, utilizing thermal sights near the north wall."

Chaos exploded. Muzzle flashes lit the tree line like jagged lightning. Men scrambled, firing into the darkness. The forest erupted with gunfire, shouting, and the acrid stink of cordite.

"Move! Now!" Gray didn’t wait for my command, already scrambling the men toward the scant cover where the two escape vehicles were concealed. "Protect the Boss’s!"

I didn’t hesitate I raised my rifle and fired three precision shots into the densest shadows whhere Reyes indicated the hostile concentration was highest, immediately suppressing their fire. The movement sent a fresh, blinding wave of pain through the dressing on my back, making my stumble. I ignored it.

"Cameron," I barked. I grabbed him, hoisting him awkwardly across my shoulder even as my own body screamed. Using Cameron’s slumped form as a shield on my left arm, I fired with my right, staggering toward the waiting vehicles.

"MOVE!" I barked, my voice rough, raw.

We broke into a run, stumbling over roots and stone, gunfire snapping past us. The vehicles were ahead, black hulks in the shadows. Every step was a battle—my burned back tearing open with the effort, my head pounding from the concussion. Still, I forced us forward.

We piled into the vehicles—two black, heavy-duty SUVs stripped of all identifying features. I shoved Cameron into the back seat, tumbling in after him, while Gray slammed the door and threw the SUV into drive. The second vehicle, driven by Finn, followed immediately behind, spitting dirt and rocks as they peeled out onto the narrow logging road.

"We’re taking heavy fire," Finn’s voice crackled over the comm.

Leaning forward, I gripped the console. "Ring the support team! The backup we asked for an hour ago. Where the hell are they?"

Gray was already working the satellite comm unit, his knuckles white against the dash. The vehicle lurched violently as he fought the wheel, dodging a crater or perhaps a fallen tree trunk. The engine roared, punishing the transmission.

"I’m trying," Gray bit out, his voice sharp with frustration. Static hissed from the speaker, punctuated by the rhythmic drumming of incoming rounds against the heavy armor plating. "Nothing. They’re blanket-jamming the entire sector, Boss. Low-band frequency block. We’re blind and deaf."

My headache flared into sharp agony, the pain tracing the split in my scalp. Compromise. This wasn’t just an ambush; it was a targeted, professionally executed strike designed to eliminate the entire team and prevent any communication.

"Finn, status report," I demanded over the tactical channel.

Five heavy-duty jeeps, blacker than the night and armored like tanks, surged onto the road from a hidden access path, cutting off the escape route behind Finn’s vehicle.

CRACK-WUMPH.

The sound was not the snap of rifle fire. It was a dense, sickening detonation that swallowed the noise of the forest. Gray hammered the brakes, throwing me against the console.

"RPG!" Gray yelled, steadying the vehicle.

I twisted around, ignoring the blinding flash of pain in my shoulder and back. In the rearview mirror, where Finn’s SUV had been three seconds ago, there was only a rapidly dissipating plume of black smoke and fire trailing off the narrow road. The vehicle was gone, swallowed by the impact.

"Finn!" I repeated into the comm, though I already knew the answer. Only silence answered, thick and absolute.

"Reyes," I ordered, turning back to the dash. Reyes was crammed into the back with Cameron, rifle already pointed out the rear window, ready to provide cover fire. "Confirm second vehicle casualty."

"Confirmed destruction, Boss," Reyes reported, his voice tight but steady. "Heavy ordinance impact. No survivors visible."

The loss struck like a physical blow, cutting the team size in half within minutes. Finn, Jared, Kael. All gone. We were down to three functional personnel—myself (badly wounded), Gray (driving), and Reyes (fire support)—plus the VIP.

The road ahead was a blur of darkness. We were moving at eighty miles per hour.

The enemy didn’t slow. The five jeeps maintained a terrifying pace, their headlights illuminating the chaos. A second explosion rocketed toward my SUV, barely missing the passenger side door. The blast wave still caught us, lifting the vehicle entirely off its axles, tossing it sickeningly sideways.

Gray fought the steering wheel, his knuckles white, but the momentum was too great. The SUV spun, scraping agonizingly against the rock face bordering the road, before it careened off the edge of the cliff.