Chapter 95

The further down the group went the more militants they faced. Not everything went as smoothly as the first one. Many of these groups had combat experience and at the very least knew how to utilize the home court advantage. 

Unlike the first group the subsequent ones used blindspots to their advantage and constantly hindered the group's progress. The group worked really well and adopted a strategy where they took turns as to who would be at the front and immediately after unloading a magazine that group would move back to let the ones at the back to shoot. This made the group constantly have firepower and did not have a moment where they had to take cover for reloading.

This allowed the group to not allow the militants to shoot at them despite having the terrain advantage, of course this strategy worked only because there were no militants attacking this group from behind. 

Meanwhile out in the carriage if one took a closer look they would find Sean curled up like a ball inside his blanket and kept groaning and kicking his legs while also twitching every now and then indicating that he was having a nightmare. 

Though these scenes of flashback have been explained from the author's POV there is no way Sean saw his dream like a scene from the movies. Inside his dream there were flashes of his team getting ambushed followed by intense firepower and blackout. It continued with scenes of torture followed by fear and pain. Flashes of infiltration and bombs being placed and finally chain of explosives being triggered and followed by intense gunfire against militants flashed past his mind triggering a deep hidden trauma which Sean had previously dealt with.

His brows and forehead were filled in sweat and his heart was rising at a rapid pace. His hands were in a clenched position forming a tight fist making his knuckles turn white from lack of blood flow but soon turned out to be fine as unlike his previous world this one was a world filled with Qi and he was a warrior and an enhanced human.

However the same could not be said to his mind world as things had reached a climax in his dream. After making a few turns, this time things weren't as simple as before. Rows of rooms were identified and the second they stepped at the beginning of the hallway, bullets sprayed towards them making them retreat hastily. 

"This is likely their last line of defense" said Sean as he looked towards his comrades and saw one of them bleeding from his left shoulder, obviously wounded from the exchange they had now. 

"Fuck!!" Hissed Sean's comrade as he held his shoulders in pain. This was not some graze but a full on blow drilling a hole on his shoulder. His sleeve was dyed red in blood and he found it difficult to raise his shoulder much less to bear the brunt of the gun's recoil.

However it was unknown whether it was his will to survive or due to his fighting spirit or simply the work of adrenaline, he shifted his gun position from left to right and his eye had a resolve.

Looking at this scene, the others in the group had a renewed resolve to survive no matter the cause and go back to their homeland. Despite the seemingly impossible task ahead of them, their fighting spirit became stronger than it ever was. 

Knowing the crux of the problem, Sean spelt it out for others making sure that their fighting spirit doesn't middle their mind and disrupt the clear thought process and impeccable teamwork they had previously showcased.

Not only in terms of willpower and fighting spirit but Sean seemed to be on a metamorphosis in all aspects be it gunfight, CQC or ability to quickly analyze the crux of the issue and having a clear thought process to come up with a solution and last but not the least his leadership skills.

Being able to quickly realize that the short adrenaline rush could become a bar to their thinking ability and make them hot blooded and spelling out the crux of the issue showcased all the latent hidden potential from Sean making him shine like a rough diamond which could be polished into something big.

Understanding the issue his team mates quickly calmed down and gathered to analyze the current problem and that was the group before them were professionals who had many years of experience in the battlefield and another problem of not being able to sense the presence of these militants gave a stifling pressure from unknown.

Sean took a peak from the right side only to have bullets fly past him and some even lodging onto the wall where he was hiding. "Fucking shit!! That was scary" said Sean in a rather sarcastic tone. From the exchange just now though Sean couldn't see the number of militants who shot at him, in that rather dark environment he could easily identify the positions from where bullets flew due to muzzle flashes. 

In that brief exchange a thought traveled through the minds of Sean & his mate. "These guys have terrific reaction speed. In such a dark environment they could quickly react the second Sean peaked out. Their aim is quite accurate as well. Judging from the muzzle flashes, at least 3 guys each from different directions are responsible to be on the lookout". 

Sean looked at his mates and gave his view on the thing which bothered him the most. "Why aren't they trying to push us? Though they are shooting at us, it feels like they are stalling for time and stopping us from making any progress rather than trying to kill us. Just now they could have easily pushed us with advantage over numbers and tried to finish us once and for all but all they have done is shoot at us from the dark".

Hearing his analysis the group wore a solemn look while each thinking of different scenarios for which the militants might stall for time and none of those scenarios ended on a good note for the group. The only way for the group to avoid such a scenario was to break through this obstacle and though this sounded cool, it was only cool when you put it in words and was tough to convert those words into action especially with the terrain advantage the militants had. Further there was something else which the group knew despite Sean not putting it in the analysis and that was the militants who were ambushing them from the three tunnels could retreat at their will and were possibly waiting for their men to give them the signal.

"The only way to breakthrough is through chaos" said Sean as he took out two grenades while giving the men in his group a look as if to say 'Back me up by shooting at the three tunnels and make sure to aim at the direction from where you saw the muzzle flashes'. 

The three who were going to back him up were extremely skilled at shooting while the other two which was the lieutenant and the only bomb expert in the group backed up so as to not stand in the way. Taking a deep breath the group of three gave out hand signals as if to say "We go on three" and the second they reached one, one amongst the three threw out a flash bang right at the centre to blind their opponents. However the second the flashbang flew out in the air towards the passage before the three tunnels bullets flew towards the flashbang ripping it apart. Unknown whether due to luck, one of the first bullets which flew towards the flashbang hit at its fuse making it go off prematurely.

It seemed as if the goddess of luck was giving the group some of her luck making the group accomplish their goal despite their previous error. At that moment the militants from the three tunnels were momentarily blinded and knowing what was to come after that, all three militants who were responsible for the ambush quickly took cover.

Just like the militants had predicted, a volley of bullets flew towards the place they had hidden and struck at the walls, boxes, rocks and trunks opening holes in them and splinters flew at all angles. Though none of it hit the three militants, they were unable to counter-attack and could only wait patiently while taking cover. They knew that patience was the key and them having abundant supplies and having the absolute advantage be it in terms of time or in terms of terrain allowed them to not be impulsive.

This was the major difference between amateurs who weren't used to the battlefield and Pros' like these were the level of stress they can handle and adaptability they showcase during combat. The precision in hitting the targets, body positioning, methods to clear the rooms all could be learnt through regular training but adaptability and stress handling capacity alone comes with experience.

Knowing well that they wouldn't succumb to stress and get out of their hiding spot, Sean's aim was to use this point to his advantage and light up their hiding spot with grenades. Using his full power Sean accurately threw the grenade at all three tunnels and made sure that they rolled up till the end of the curve inside the tunnel exactly where the militants hid.

During this process the three within the group never stopped shooting at the tunnel making it impossible for the militants to know of their schemes and even if by chance their bullets hit the grenade it would not screw up their strategy. In fact it would help them as it would blow up the grenade without fail. As soon as the grenade fell inside the dark tunnel the three along with Sean hid behind their covers while at the same time the three militants came out of their cover trying to utilise the brief pause to their advantage.