{David POV}
"THEY'RE BEHIND US," Daisy shouted as she snatched her rifle to her torso, punching a barrage of rounds at the enemies ahead of us. She took a hit to her stomach in the process.
Cal was also hit as the rest of us moved to cover behind the crates, but I was unable to see where.
Waves of paint rounds like ocean currents, crashed over our position. We narrowly avoided being hit, thanks to the crates.
I lay down in a prone position near the edge of the cover. I counted to three as more shots poured in, and took a deep breath. Kicking off the ground, I slid myself just far enough out of cover to get a position to engage the opfor.
*SNAP-SNAP-SNAP-SNAP*
I wasn't worried about accuracy as I fired, due to the fact that there was no shortage of targets in front of my gun. I emptied my entire magazine in less than thirty seconds to the result of multiple shadows dropping. Only for those downed ones to be replaced by others in the distance.
I quickly spun around with my legs and kicked back behind cover as they lit up my previous position. Hitting the mag release, I caught wind of a conversation going on behind our cover.
"How the hell did they get behind us!" Daisy yelled over the barking of rifle fire.
"Maybe they were hiding in their tents?" Cal called back, firing a burst of shots and quickly ducking from incoming paint rounds.
Benjamin cleared a jam, "I doubt they were staying up for us in their tents like they were waiting for Santa Claus."
"That's not what I meant-"
"LESS TALKING, MORE SHOOTING," Sheila yelled, standing and dumping another magazine. She was forced to stop falling behind, covering red splotches on her arm and hip.
Cal hopped covers and crouched down beside me as I slammed a fresh magazine into my rifle, "We need to fall back, we'll be cut down in the open here."
"What!" My head turned as, surprisingly, Daisy seemed to have heard her over the discharging weapons, "We can't pull out! Not when we're so close!"
I peeked over the cover, taking a couple of bursts of rounds before rotating back behind the crates.
I paused, analyzing the stone building with the objective on top of it. The building in the spotlights was white, blindingly so, and smooth. There were no ground-floor windows, but there were a couple on the second floor. Looking carefully, I could only shake my head as I found no gaps in the rock, 'Can't climb it,' I told myself.
This time, instead of peaking over the cover, I stepped out while crouched and squeezed the trigger, rapid-firing another set of rounds. By some miracle, my head swayed to the side as a red dot screamed from the darkness passing beside me.
Back behind cover, I glanced in the space between crates just to see if we had put a dent in the forces, and to my dismay, they were closer. Now we could see them clearly. In all kinds of firing stances were men and women in dark green camouflage. I couldn't see any faces; they were covered in black balaclavas. I could now hear some distant shouting and yelling of orders.
*BANG*
Drops of paint landed on my face from a round that burst just above me, and I snapped to my right. One of those fuckers had gotten right next to us. He stood less than fifty feet away, gun held high with wide eyes in disbelief, probably because he was so close and still missed his shot.
I bit back a jeer and turned my weapon on him, emptying the rest of my magazine into his center mass. I released the mag, ready to put another one in, only to double over as a sharp pain erupted from the middle of my back, "Ergh," I gritted my teeth, grunting.
I reached down quickly, pulling the slide back on my pistol, and I shot three rounds into another soldier who'd done a similar thing to the first. Only they had gone around the other side of the building.
'We can't stay out here.' It was obvious we were being torn apart. By this time, everyone had taken at least one shot. Sheila had taken multiple, and it was obvious by the way her movements had begun to get more sluggish.
'...But I can't give up. Not now. Not when we're so close,'
I looked up only to see Benjamin take another hit. "Damn it," I cursed under my breath.
"Alright, we can't all stay in the same place," I yelled, getting everyone's attention, "One at a time, you guys are going to run like hell back to those crates we passed on the way in," I got a cascade of nods.
"What are you going to do?" Cal asked me as she slung her rifle on her back.
"I am going to lay down some covering fire. Then, hopefully, pull two of these crates close to a window and climb in. I'll shoot anyone inside and capture the objective, and we'll be done," I said while finally being able to reload my rifle.
"Just you?" she asked with a look.
I gave her a nod, "You're up first, wait for my mark."
I looked out from behind the cover, watching the firing line in front of us. They were no longer suppressing us with massive amounts of bullets. Instead, a couple remained launching sporadic bursts while the others waited for any of us to peek ourselves out from behind cover.
I clicked my tongue, checking my rifle. I gave a final nod to Cal, "GO!" for the first time in the firefight, I stood straight up, acting as bait.
At once, their attention was split. Some took aim with their guns pointed at me. I side-stepped, ducking and dodging to the side, evading the incoming barrage. The others turned ready to fire on Cal, but were met with rounds impacting their side; they were the ones I was interested in.
Cal seemed to make it without getting hit again, and so I dove behind cover. I traded out with Daisy; she'd be bait, and Benjamin would run. Meanwhile, I would catch my breath, and Cal would give support as best she could.
And we did as so, Benjamin made it safely, and now it was Daisy's turn. But I stopped her.
'They're getting closer,' my eyes narrowed as it was obvious and logical that they would begin applying pressure toward our position. "Change of plans. Daisy, both you and Sheila are going at the same time," they looked at each other and this time didn't argue, giving looks of acknowledgement that I was thankful for. "Do it just like the third test on the Foxtrot course,"
I stood up to gather fire, and both of them were off. Daisy hopped over a crate with the athleticism and grace of a gymnast, whilst Sheila took off like a track star. They had almost made it to the barricade when my heart dropped.
One of the enemy instructors stepped into their path, managing to grab a hold of Daisy. She struggled kicking him, which appeared to do some damage as he quickly let go, instead opting to shove her to the ground. She scrambled to get to her feet and behind the subsequent cover, but at the same time, the male figure, as I could see no,w quickly grabbed his rifle from his shoulder.
'GET DOWN,' I wanted to yell, but I knew it was to no avail.
He managed to hit her several times in the lower back as she ran before I could mow him down from afar. The two of them fell like sacks of potatoes, and I watched Sheila quickly step in and drag Daisy behind cover.
I winced as I felt two sudden jerks in my upper body and one more slam into my legs, causing me to crouch down low in recoil. With a glance, I found that I had been hit in the chest, shoulder, and right shin. The pain was agonizing, but I was thankful; the effects of the anesthetics appeared nowhere in sight.
I gritted my teeth, standing up and getting behind cover, 'Not yet, it's not over yet!' I told myself, smirking as I remembered they were the same words I had said after pulling myself out of the water after jumping down a waterfall.
My smirk was quickly wiped away as I began to hear yelling from the direction of my team. Giving a quick peek in their direction, I was horrified to find that they were being overrun.
I had thought they would give us split-attention or at the worst fully target me, but for some reason they focused on what was the bigger threat and least important target, 'They know they can't secure the objective so why are they so damn interested in them and not me,' I bet I sounded like a nagging kid looking for attention but it made no sense.
I glanced at the flag fluttering in the wind at the top of the building.
Then I looked back at them.
They were probably low on on-hand ammo, and the enemies just kept coming. By this point, they were getting within bayonet range; they were still being cut down like grass, but were still circling them like sharks who'd smelt blood in the water.
'All I need to do is get up there and grab that flag and it'll all be over,'
But how long could they hold out? A minute? Maybe ten? Would it be long enough for me to get to the flag?
'Would it even count as a win?' Mendez didn't specify whether the remaining team members' hands had to touch the flag to capture it. But before I could linger on the rules of the objective, a more important question seemed to enter my min,d stirring the pit in my stomach.
'Should it count as a win?'
Like a whisper from a demon, the thought crept into my head, and at once I was reminded of the Foxtrot course's test that we barely passed, 'I failed them then, but not now-not this time,' the knowledge of what I needed-what I should do came flooding in.
I made my decision.
I slung my rifle around my back and ran for it. For a moment, no shots came in my direction, a byproduct of the enemy's focus on my team rather than me. But like a cold bucket of water, their realization was swift and accompanied by a shot to my hip.
"Hrmmph," a short grunt escaped through my teeth, but I didn't lose my pace and powered through the pain. One female insurgent stepped into my path, back turned to me. Lowering my shoulder, I ran through, knocking her down and to the side, and I kept running.
I hurdled one more smaller crate and squatted down to get a read of the situation.
Red paint blanketed the entire area, and even the metal crates dripped crimson with their fresh coat. At the front in the direction of the oncoming fire, only Benjamin and Sheila remained active in the fight. The two of them seemed to have managed to only be hit once or twice more, from what I could tell, though the bottoms of their trousers were red from being crouched in a puddle of red.
"Fancy of you to drop in!" Sheila said with her signature smirk as she dropped behind cover.
Benjamin let off another rip of bullets, "Hey Sheila, I think I gotta be Daisy here for a moment and say that now's not the time,"
"Just trying to stay positive, Ben,"
Looking beside the two, I saw the prone form of Cal, unconscious, and to the left was Daisy, back against a crate. Based on the straining I could see around her eyelids, I was pretty sure she was still fighting to stay awake. Well, that and the fact I could see her mouth moving, mumbling something, but could not hear over the firefight.
At the sight, I couldn't help but stand up for a split second and try and drop a few of the shadows.
"So, why are you here?" Sheila asked while reloading as I dropped behind cover, "Weren't you supposed to get the flag?"
"And let you guys sit here and get turned into blood-themed modern art paintings? Not a chance," I said, firing a couple more rounds, trying to act nonchalant.
Her eyes widened for a moment, hearing my words before softening with a small smile, "See, he does care." Sheila bumped Benjamin with her elbow.
It appeared that they shared some kind of conversation before I came over, as Benjamin had a similar expression but kept his comments to himself. I thanked him silently, 'She's never going to let me live this down.'
I reached over and grabbed the back of Cal's pack and pulled her over. I checked all of the fasteners, making sure they were secured around her, and both of us moved over to Daisy.
"Daisy, are you still with me?" I got a half-cohesive nod and more incoherent mumbling. I sighed, "I'll take that as a yes."
I was halfway through prepping Daisy to be moved when her incoherent mumbling became somewhat decipherable, and she tried to push my hands away as I tightened various straps
"No No No NO. We can't. I wan-need to see them again," Daisy whispered deliriously. My eyes widened seeing a trail of tears trickle out of her eyes.
I moved to pick her up but paused as I bent down. My eyes caught the sight of a small bear key chain dangling from Daisy's limp hand. I couldn't help but feel a sense of deja vu looking at it.
I shook my head, no time to reminisce.
I pulled it from her hand and stopped myself from throwing it away. By Mendez's rules, it would be contraband and would lead to the entire team being disciplined harshly. Despite that, I just was unable to bring myself to throw it away, so I instead stowed it away in an empty magazine pouch.
I called the other two over. We were ready to move. "Ok, follow my lead," I hoisted Cal onto my shoulder and picked Daisy up by the waist. I was easily the strongest in the team, and it was better to have two rifles firing than a rifle and two pistols. Training had taught me that.
We peeled out from cover and pushed toward the back of the outpost. I didn't dare turn back, but based on the fact I could still hear the crunch of boots and the close *Bang*'s of two rifles, I felt assured that the other two remained on my heels.
Rounds still streaked past me, and I certainly felt another two land in my back, but the barrages seemed to have died down. Whether the enemy for the exercise was finally giving us a break, or we'd disabled enough to make a noticeable difference, I didn't know.
After another short sprint, I gingerly stepped back down onto the ledge we'd observed the outpost from before this shit show had begun.
I stopped trying to catch a breath as my heart pounded and my lungs worked overtime trying to compensate.
"Whatever your plan is, we need to do it quickly. They're right on our tail," Sheila said, hopping down behind me. To accentuate her point, I could hear distant yells that seemed to be becoming increasingly closer.
I took a glance over at the waterfall.
"Don't tell me that's our plan!" Benjamin caught my eyes looking at the flowing water.
"The pool should be deep enough at the bottom, and we can swim the river to get some distance on them. Plus, we'll get to wash off this paint."
" 'Should be'! Is that supposed to be reassuring!?"
"You got a better plan, Ben?" Sheila chimed in, eying the jump cautiously.
"THEY'RE OVER HERE"
My head snapped seeing a figure standing on the ridge calling over his shoulder.
*SNAP*
Sheila took the liberty of shooting him in the head as he wasn't paying attention to us.
"It's now or never!" I said, taking a couple of steps back. I adjusted my holds on Daisy and Cal, tucking both of them under my arms. I took a final deep breath before breaking into a sprint and leaping as far as I could, clearing the rocky cliff and beginning to plummet at alarming speeds.
"FUCK IT!" I could hear Benjamin yelling, surprising me. I guess he was just that scared.
"I DON'T WANNA DO THIS," Sheila's shout came after.
'I didn't think I'd be doing this again," I told myself, and for a second time, my world was turned into a washing machine.
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Welp first big shoot out of the fic so..... thoughts?
Anyway I don't have much to say I hope you enjoyed it. Drop any questions or thoughts.