some branches that had ended up inside and made my way to his side. Thank God Cole insisted we always wore our Spiritus Systems armor.
“This is going to hurt like a bitch, but we need to move.”
I carefully laid Daniel flat on his back and pulled out the handle of the armor which had a makeshift stretcher inside. I glanced around and spotted the inflatable life vests, knowing the stretcher didn’t float and the chance of being in water was high. It really was the quickest way to move without leaving a track. I hauled him to the edge. We need to get off the X. After I carefully splinted his broken leg, I jumped and eased him down as best as I could. My ribs burned like fire, so I figured they were broken, but that was the least of my problems right now. I got Daniel a safe distance away from the copter and hidden from view, then checked him over.
“Pilot?” Daniel’s voice was weak but clear enough, and I knew it was an order.
“I’m on it.” I raced back to the mangled Blackhawk and saw flames coming from the cockpit. Our pilot, Chris, had a tree branch jammed into his neck. There was no doubt he was gone. I raced around the chopper and grabbed the door gun, and I was about to grab the last gun when the sound of cheering and hooting had me taking cover away from Daniel in some brush. As I bent down to take cover, my calf burned, and blood seeped out of a rip in my pantleg.
Fuck! I didn’t have time to think before they came into view.
As the vultures came to pick the Blackhawk clean, I rubbed dirt over my face and arms and sat and waited to make my move. One had a GoPro Camera strapped to his head, and another had one on the grip of his gun. The sick fuckers recorded the crash, and I wanted to rip their eyes through their skull.
“Fuego!” a cartel yelled. Fire. “Darse prisa.” He ordered them to hurry.
I waited for most of them to step inside the chopper, and when two of them went for Chris, I pulled the pin and tossed the M15 light phosphorus grenade under the Hawk and hunkered down for the blast. A flash of heat hit the side of my body, but I was ready for it. When the dust cleared, I saw my plan had worked, and I took a half a second to mourn the loss of a friend.
“Sorry, buddy. See you on the other side.” Better this than what they would have done to him.
Panic swept over the vultures as orders were yelled into the chaos to grab any weapons from the dead and to quickly move out to the east. I gritted my teeth, knowing they knew my team’s location.
I watched a young boy, no more than twelve, scurry over to one of the dead cartel to take his weapon and clear his pockets. I had seen the dead man holding a phone earlier, reporting what was happening. After the blast, it had dropped not far from him, and I could see it on the ground. As the kid moved about, I prayed he wouldn’t see the phone.
“Come on, kid, move away,” I muttered under my breath. Luck was on my side for once, and with a sharp curse from their leader, he was told to get moving.
I stayed put until I was sure the coast was clear then army-crawled over to the dead cartel’s phone and grabbed it. As I did, I noticed the seven inside a spider web tattooed on his arm. Who the hell are you guys? I took one last look before I headed for Daniel.
“Still faking it,” I joked at Daniel’s unconscious body, needing a bit of comic relief. “Look what I’ve got.” I held the phone out toward him with a smile. “Let’s get the hell out of here.” Pushing the tiny buttons on the old flip phone, I dialed the secure line.
“Go,” someone answered.
“This is Recon John Black, ID 135241493.” I paused and gave my code word. “Clear.”
“Code word verified. Give your locations.”
I gave four locations, knowing only two would be used. I was told to get moving and meet them at dusk.
Once the line went dead, I lowered the phone and took a moment to focus on the journey ahead of me. But all that came was bitter hot rage. How the hell