Unfinished Business

Soon, like the other times, the fighter jets went away for a while. Marco signalled for the recruits to start running again.

Most of them were too tired to even move a limb. The fear and horror of seeing their companions who, just this morning, were still breathing, smiling and talking was enough to make them lose all hopes.

The attack came from nowhere and it seemed like these attackers were hell bent on wiping out the recruits. It took them an even greater courage to move out from under the tree that barely gave them a cover.

Others ran as fast as they could, others could barely limp while the others had to be dragged along. Marco was faring really bad. His wounded arm was getting worse and he was losing blood. His vision was becoming blurry and his legs wobbly.

Soon, he felt the weight of his gun too much to bear. He threw it away and stumbled along the forest, behind the recruits. If they could get to the trucks then they could get out of there.

As he walked forward he heard several gunshots from deep inside the forest. He paused and listened. 'Colonel Brad is still in there…' his thoughts were becoming slow as well.

After an inner debate whether to go back or not, he finally decided to leave and bring the recruits to the trucks and try to get reinforcements as soon as possible.

It took them twenty minutes to come out of the thick forest and arrive at the clearing where the trucks had been parked. Marco's smiled slowly froze as his brain registered the situation in his head. The trucks were now a mass of broken glass fragments, charred metallic frame and dust. The ground beneath the three trucks was charred black as well and there was still a small flame dancing inside the damaged trucks and the jeep.

"So…" Marco leaned on a nearby tree as he tried to catch his breath. "This was what the first waves of explosions were all about. They destroyed our only escape route."

"What do we do now?" one of the recruits asked.

"I don't know."

"Bullshit!" Edwin cursed. His body was slightly black and trembling too. He had small cuts on his face. Marco avoided their eyes. He felt like a very big failure right now. These people looked up to him as an instructor yet he couldn't do anything. He couldn't even hold a weapon right now.

As they stood there with lost expressions, a buzzing sound came from the far end of the forest as two fighter jets emerged from the other side and rushed towards them. At this angle the fighter jets had a really clear view of them.

Arianna felt her arm ache. She had never held a gun for this long before and they were yet to do a comprehensive shooting practice. She felt drained and burned out but compared to the rest she was doing better.

This could be as a result of always getting to do over time during the camp's training sessions. She had become a little bit tolerant and able to push her body a bit yet she knew that she couldn't go on for much longer.

The fighter jets loomed over them and the machine gun aimed at them, ready to fire. Everyone closed their eyes as they prepared to embrace death. Edwin on the other hand was frantic. He thought of many things that could go wrong.

If he died here today then he would never get the chance to prove his father wrong. He would never get to fulfil the promise he made to his sister. If he died…

'fuck! If I will die then I'd better die with the last shred of self-esteem I have left. I will look at my killer as he sends me out of this fucked up world!' he thought.

His thoughts had raged through in barely a second and what followed next surprised him. The first jet fighter that had aimed at them wasn't aiming anymore; instead it turned sharply just in time to see the trailing fighter jet.

The latter unleashed its missiles against it and at such a close distance, there was no escape. The first fighter jet exploded into countless fragments leaving a trail of smoke in the sky.

Marco and the rest quickly opened their eyes in time to see the explosion. He was bewildered so much so that his tired mind began to pick up speed. Did the fighter jets turn on each other or was that reinforcement?

He was more inclined to believe in the latter since the chances of the first happening was akin to finding a unicorn with a sack filled with gold under the rainbow.

The new fighter jet flew over their heads and returned back to the forest.

….

Richard heard the explosion and waited for a while before dashing out again. His waist wasn't the only part of his body that hurt. He struggled along the path till he also arrived at the first clearing which led back to the trucks.

As he approached the truck, hurried footsteps approached him. It only took a glance to see their uniform. It was then that he realised that this was an all-out attempt on the military. Richard raised his hand gun.

Just at that moment, more gun shots sounded all over the area. Richard looked over and saw Arianna leading the others. In just a few seconds they killed over ten Zeros and took their guns. The rest scrambled in different direction when they saw that the tables were turning.

Just when Richard was about to slump to the floor, someone pushed out from the group and shot towards the fleeing terrorist like a rocket.

"Lily…" Richard smiled and could now finally have a rest. He pushed himself up and gritted his teeth to manage his pains. "Why aren't you guys out of here?"

"The trucks…" Edwin pointed at the charred metal frame that was once their trucks.

"Where's Lieutenant Marco?"

"He passed out, sir!" Arianna said. Richard nodded gently before moving into the forest again. "I will go back in case there're survivors."

He was still feeling like crap and his waist and legs hurt to no end but he mustered all the energy he had left to rush back in. he had some unfinished business to take care of.