Eagle Talon Files (3)

Part Three:

Cp1:

            I woke to a medic, whose call-sign was Griffin, that was injecting a medicine to my side; I let him finish before asking if I’d be back at the base soon.  

            He grinned and replied,” Not sure, we won’t yet have an estimate on when you are going to be well enough to go back to your base for year or so.”

            “I’ve already been stuck here for who knows how long,” I said, standing from where the medic had laid me down on the floor to do the usual check on my condition.

            “Yes, and it looks like you’ll be here a while longer if you keep stressing your back,” it was just like Griffin, he was firm, wise-cracking, and rather forceful.  If Echo had been there, Griffin wouldn’t even have been allowed into the room but Echo had to stay at the base and make sure the rest of the team was ok and to keep Akito from running off in attempt to find me.

            It had been at least five weeks since I had been able to stand and walk on my own again, and now it seemed he was determined to keep me in the recovery building.   I just rolled my eyes at his comment and went over to my bed and sat down, my head in my hands.

            This was around the time Griffin would have injected a sedative to the back of my shoulder but instead I heard murmuring outside the room, though I couldn’t tell what the voices were saying.

            Griffin walked back in looking surprised,” Looks like you’re going back to the base tomorrow,” he informed me.

            He laid me back in the bed and said that until then I had to rest.  When I tried to get up, saying I was fine, he injected a sedative to my shoulder; this was my usual day ever since I got to the recovery room.

I woke with Griffin standing over me.  When he backed away I sat up and realized I was in my cabin back on the Eagle Talon Division Thirteen Base.

“What the heck are you doing here?” I asked, surprised.

“Echo’s been demoted to a sub-medic,” he responded coolly.

‘What!? How could Echo have been demoted?!’ I asked myself angrily and surprised.  I was so shocked I fell back in the bed without being able to hold myself up.  I just stared at the roof of my cabin in a daze. ‘So, who got promoted?’ my eyes widened with shock, ‘Griffin!’

Cp2:

I got up from the bed angrily grabbing Griffin by the shirt, “Where is Echo?!” I questioned.

Griffin just said,” I have him in the west wing, helping Akito.”

“What? Akito’s hurt?!” I asked, dropping him.

He chuckled and said,” No, she’s got a kid to take care of.”

I was shocked, when did Akito get a kid? I ran off in the direction of the West Wing Infirmary to find Echo.  When I got there I saw Akito holding a small child and I paused.  Echo saw me come in and looked at me with a depressed, worried look on his face.

“How on earth did you manage to get demoted, Echo?” I asked.

“I got stripped of my rank after handing you off to Griffin to take to the recovery building, no one told me why and the rest of the team tried to support me and stop them, but they did it anyway,” he said looking me in the eye.

“I’m goanna have to do something about that,” I said, turning to Akito I asked, “What’s his name?” I nodded at the small child that she was still cradling.

“Ryan,” she replied softly.  The kid opened his eyes and looked at me.  His eyes were like mine, deep grey-blue.  His hair was also jet-black.

I asked with curiosity, “How old?”

She replied with a smile, “One year.”

 I just stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do next.  I all of a sudden, felt dizzy and started to collapse, as I did Echo rushed to help me so that I wouldn’t hit the ground too hard.  He lay me gently down on the floor and Ryan started crying.  Echo ran out of the room and soon came back with Griffin hot on his heels.  He bent down beside me and started to examine me, as he did so I stared off into the distance.  Though I heard him calling my name and asking me questions, I didn’t answer, nor did I think I could.

“He’s unresponsive, Echo, get him to the East Wing, now!” he ordered in a hurried and forceful tone.

 I heard Echo reply, “Yes, sir!” as he picked me up and then ran me across the field to the East Wing Infirmary.

When he laid me down on a cot, I saw Griffin hurrying in behind Echo with an equipment bag though, considering this was an infirmary, it was odd.  Echo backed up and let Griffin get to my side so that he could try to get me to respond.  I was staring past Griffin and saw Echo standing at attention behind him, obviously trying hard not to shove him aside and take care of me himself.  Then I felt as if someone where holding me underwater because I couldn’t breathe. 

            I heard Griffin shouting to me, “Breathe, Ghost! Breathe, come on!” he shouted worriedly as I felt random applications of pressure to my chest and a mask placed over my nose and mouth that was forcing air to my lungs.

            Then Echo lost his cool, he shoved Griffin aside and began doing the same thing Griffin had except he was gentler and calmer, “Come on, Ghost,” he said calmly urging me to breathe.  Though it was pointless because even if I had been able to try, I wouldn’t have been able to.

            As everything I saw slowly faded to black I felt Echo being dragged off of me, and a harsh voice yell at him though I couldn’t make out the context or who was yelling.

Cp3:

            I woke, taking in a sharp breath and gasping for air as I saw Echo standing over me; I was still in the East Wing Infirmary.

            “Take it easy Ghost,” he said calmly, “It’s been a few hours but you’re fine now.”

            I slowed my breathing and asked, “What happened to Griffin?”

            “He didn’t know what he was doing but he thought he did,” Echo responded turning around as if to gesture to Griffin who was lying, out cold, on a cot across from me, “I had to knock him out just to get close to you so I could help.”

            I chuckled, “You know you’re probably goanna lose another rank when he wakes up, right?” I was half joking, half serious, Griffin didn’t take any fooling around and he would demote anyone that tried to mess with him while he was trying to take care of someone on the team.

            Echo chuckled in response, “Yes, but I was still doing my job, as long as I know that he can demote me back to a recruit if he wants too.”

            I didn’t trust Griffin with my life, let alone the life of my team.  He was one medic that I preferred would leave for the Vipers.

            “You should get some rest Ghost,” Echo said, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder as Griffin woke up.

            I grinned and gave a swift nod.  I then put my head back on the pillow and faced the ceiling, closing my eyes and trying to drift off into sleep.

             I heard Griffin yelling at Echo, “What were you thinking?!” he yelled as I heard a grunt and the clatter of metal against metal, “What’d you do to him?” he asked, he must have been looking at me because his voice seemed harsh but still softer than it usually was.

            Echo replied back in a hoarse voice as if he had been choked and were still getting his breath back, “I did my job,” he got each word out between gasps for air.

            There seemed a long pause then Griffin eventually replied, “Alright, you’ve done good, for now, but if you ever do that again, so help me I will kill you where you stand!” his voice hardened and I heard another grunt from Echo.

            I opened my eyes and tilted my head to see Echo lying on the floor, bent over in pain.  I got up and helped him up, he put a hand to his head and said that he was fine and I let him stand on his own.  He looked up at me and I noticed a small cut above his eye and there was blood trickling from it into his eye.

            “You alright, Echo?” I asked, putting a hand to his shoulder.

            He looked away as if he was ashamed of himself because of the demotion and beating he had just taken.

            “Fine,” he said softly.

            His eyes seemed fixed on one place on the floor, I followed his gaze and saw a small pool of blood.  I looked back at him and it seemed he was trying to hide something on his face by turning away from me.

            “Echo, you may have been demoted, but it doesn’t mean I’ve accepted Griffin as the new medic, nor will I allow it,” I said, trying to comfort him, “I don’t trust him and I know you don’t either.”

            Echo turned his face back to me to where I could see his whole face.  There was a large gash right under his chin, and there was still blood pouring out of it, but not to where it would kill him.

            “Echo, you need to take care of that before it gets worse,” I said, I wasn’t a medic nor, did I know anything about being a medic, but I did know that the wound was pretty bad and that Echo needed to get the wound seen to.

Cp4:

            I woke with Griffin standing over me, checking old wounds and making sure I didn’t have any new ones.

            “Get off me,” I said pushing him to the side and standing.

            “Ghost, you’re sick, lay down now,” he responded walking back over to me and trying to push me back on the bed, his voice firm as always.

            “I’m fine,” I said sternly shaking him off again, “and I know what you did to Echo,” I added with a cough.

            “What are you talking about, Ghost?” he countered, “I’ve never hurt Echo, though I’d love to.”

            I just glared at him before starting to exit the cabin but Griffin stopped me before I could get out.

            “I told you, you’re sick you have to rest,” he said his voice getting harsh and more forceful with each word.

            “No,” was all I said before shaking him off, though it was to my regret, because soon afterwards, I wished I had someone supporting me because I fell to the floor, dizzy.

            He slowly walked over to me and helped me up, looking me in the eye as he did so, “Told you to get some rest,” he said it as if he knew it would happen.

            He placed me on my bed and spaced my arms and legs from my body and through fading sight I could see that he fastened the restraints before he left the cabin.  After he left I started coughing violently after about five coughs I started to cough up blood, I saw the scarlet drops splatter on the restraints and the parts of my body that weren’t covered, and my breath grew quick and heavy.

            I saw Echo run in after my sight cleared up.  He detached the restraints and sat me upright again, “It’s alright Ghost, calm down,” he said, calmly urging trying to get me to slow my breathing, “you’re goanna be alright Ghost, just breathe.”

            I tried to slow my breathing and when I did it was still shaky and uneasy.

            “You’re alright Ghost,” Echo said, checking me over to make sure I wasn’t hurt, “you just need to rest right now.”

            I noticed Echo had a scar where there had been a large gash the day before; he must have treated it himself.  I gave him a brisk nod of acknowledgement as he helped me lay back again, he lifted my side up a little to reveal the back of my shoulder and injected a sedative to help me sleep. 

            I heard Echo say outside, “And that, is how you make him rest.”

            Then I was soon asleep and my breathing had returned to normal, though I heard an aggravated snarl from Griffin.

Cp5:

            I woke to the sound of many guns being fired off outside my cabin, I dizzily got up and saw Griffin, Cody and Echo standing at the door, firing at an unseen enemy.  At first I figured it was Adam, escaped again, but we hadn’t caught him yet, what reason could he have for attacking the base?  Then again, what reason did the Vipers have for doing anything?  I looked around for my equipment and remembered I had my pistol and knife still in my belt.  I stepped outside the cabin and pulled out my pistol and knife, holding the knife in such a way where the blade was facing in the twelve ’o clock position and bending my arm at a ninety degree angle, and I held my pistol in my free hand which I rested over the wrist that held my knife.

            I was a little unsure about standing next to Griffin, though I held my ground and kept firing.

            I heard Echo shout from behind me, “Ghost, you need to get back!” he sounded as if his reasoning was that I was still sick but I felt fine, so I just ignored the comment.

            Griffin came in next, “Ghost, get back inside, now!” he tried to push me back but instinctively the hand holding my pistol thrashed out and hit him in the head, knocking him back.

            Then there was a sharp pain in the back of my shoulder and everything went black.

As I regained consciousness, I saw Cody standing over me; the Vipers were still on attack.  I tried to pull out my pistol again but it was gone, so was my knife.  I had been disarmed and had no means of defense against the approaching Vipers. 

I got up and heard a ringing in my ears and I felt dizzy.  Then I felt the stock of a rifle being slammed against my head and blood stream down my head, the force of the impact knocked me to the ground again and I saw Griffin standing in front of me with an AK-47 that had a small amount of blood on its wooden stock. 

I heard Slick shouting for the Vipers to hold their fire and the buzzing sound of the gunshots faded.

  I put my hand to the wound and drew it away shakily, when I looked at it, it was covered in scarlet blood.  The end of the rifle must have had a hidden knife because when I felt the wound, it felt more like a slit than a scrape caused by the stock of a rifle.

            Echo looked as if he was helpless but furious, Cody was a little less helpless looking, and he attacked Griffin head on, apparently without thinking.  Echo charged over to where the two were now wrestling on the ground, and yanked Cody off of Griffin.  Cody fought back but stayed off of Griffin and didn’t dare attack Echo; both of us trusted him so he wouldn’t have anyway.  My head was throbbing and I was starting to black out as Echo let go of Cody and rushed to me to help me. 

            “Cody, get over here!” Echo called over to Cody who was now obviously trying hard not to attack Griffin again.

            Cody hurried over and knelt beside me, “Hold him!” Echo ordered as he prepped a needle.

            Cody pushed my shoulders down, carful to make sure my chest was still exposed.  Echo injected the needle to my chest and quickly pulled it out; causing a rippling pain that dulled and numbed the pain in my head.  My breath grew heavy as I slowly blacked out. 

            I heard Echo yelling to Griffin to come and help him get me inside and I felt someone lift me and carry me somewhere, though I couldn’t tell where.

Cp6:

            I woke in the West Wing lying in a bed.  My head felt as if I had been hit by a truck.  Echo was standing over me, cleaning the wound.   He helped me to sit up and asked if I felt ok.

            “Yeah,” I replied simply, “How long have I been out?”

            “Only a couple minutes,” Echo said, a door slammed behind him and he turned to see Griffin coming in, he looked rather frustrated.

            Echo did as he was supposed to and stood at attention, facing griffin yet still at my side to where he could help me if he needed to.  Griffin ignored him and shoved past him and brought me to my feet.  Without a word, he motioned for me to follow him.  I looked at Echo who just stared after Griffin, looking confused.

            I followed Griffin reluctantly and he only led me to my own cabin he stopped in front of it.  He turned to face me and ripped the patch that signified my rank off.  When I tried to stop him, he countered my attack by shoving his knife into my shoulder; I fell to my knees gripping my shoulder around the knife, screaming in pain.  He pulled his knife back out of my shoulder, leaving a gash and pools of blood seeping out, and grabbed me by my shirt, dragging me to the door of my cabin.  He opened the door and threw me in.

            “By the order of Division five, you have been demoted,” Griffin said with a snarl as he slammed the door closed behind me, clicking something into place as he turned to leave.

            My eyes widened with shock, ‘Division five has been missing for years, when they weren’t missing, their word was law, and they were the most respected of all twenty-five divisions.’

            I lay motionless on the floor, shocked at the return of the most respected and honored division.  I passed out after a few minutes.

            I woke, still lying on the floor, but this time in a pool of dried blood.  I put a hand to my shoulder and felt more dried, crusty, blood covering the gash I had gotten from Griffin’s knife.

            There was no one in the cabin and my muscles were so stiff I could’ve been out for maybe three days.  I stood and looked around my cabin, I tried to open the door but it had been locked from the outside. 

            I saw Ryan outside, his back was turned to me and he acted as if he didn’t know the cabin were there but I paid no notice and kept fumbling with the door.  I eventually gave up doing so and fell to my knees.  Only a few minutes later a woman walked up, it wasn’t Akito; in fact I had never seen her before.

            She bent down and whispered something to Ryan but I couldn’t catch what it was.  He nodded and ran off in the direction of the training hall and the woman stood and looked at me, then she grinned.

            She had long, brown hair and soft blue eyes.  She unlatched the door and opened it; stepped in and brought me to my feet, for a small person she was pretty strong.

            “Name’s Allia, I’m the new heavy-weapons specialist,” her voice was soft as she steadied me, “Cody told me to come get you out of here.”

            There was a sudden, sharp pain in my stomach and I fell to my knees again, grunting in pain.  Allia caught me before I fell to my side, and gently laid me down on my back.

Cp7:

            “Wake up, Ghost!” The words came rushed and urgent as I slowly woke up, my sight clouded at first as my eyes adjusted to the glare of the Infirmary lights, the voice sounded firm, and harsh, it was Griffin.

            Then I heard Echo, “No, Griffin, he needs to rest.”

            I grunted vaguely and sat up a little, I saw Echo and Griffin at my side and Cody leaning against a wall not far away.  If Echo had gotten his rank back then he’d have been able to say that to Griffin, but he hadn’t gotten it back yet, he was standing at attention behind Griffin.  Cody was staring at Griffin with an unmistakable gleam of anger.  Griffin helped me up to a sitting position and the pain returned to my stomach, I flinched from the pain as it worsened.  Echo shoved Griffin aside and Cody grabbed him as he was about to counter attack on Echo.

            He examined the shoulder wound and called over to Cody, who was still holding Griffin, “It’s infected, get over here and hold him!” He called as he pushed me back to make me lie down.

            Cody shoved Griffin against the wall he had been leaning on and rushed over to me to hold me as Echo injected a syringe to my chest.  I darted upward against Cody, who pushed me back firmly, as Echo pushed down on the top of the tube, letting the medicine leak into my blood where he had pushed the needle into my skin.  I kept struggling against Cody until Echo injected something else to my left upper-arm.  After that I just laid still, breathing heavily under Cody’s firm grip.  Cody slowly loosened his grip and eventually just backed away.  I saw Akito walk in with Ryan behind her.  I grinned up at Akito as I tried to sit up but stopping abruptly with a sharp pain in my stomach and grunting.  Echo carefully forced me back down as Akito came to my side, leaving Ryan standing with Cody.  Apparently no one but Division Five trusted Griffin; Cody had forced him out of the building.  Echo pulled up a sheet up to where my shoulders where still exposed and put a hand on my shoulder, telling me to get some rest.  He walked away to let Akito come to my side.  She rested her hand on my shoulder and grinned at me, I grinned back at her and she walked away as Echo came back to my side and I closed my eyes to fall asleep.

            I woke slowly in the same room, with Griffin standing nearby with his back turned towards me.  I felt strangely hot considering the room felt like it was almost thirty below zero degrees.  I was breathing heavily and could hear Echo and Cody.

            “Cody, you’ve got to do something about Griffin,” Echo said, he sounded exasperated, “He’s not letting anyone near Ghost, who is not doing well, the infection is spreading and I can tell he’s sweating with fever.”

            “What about Ryan, do you think he could get close enough to Ghost to get some medicine into him?” Cody asked pointedly, “I can’t do anything about Griffin; Ghost would’ve done it before his demotion if he could’ve.”

            “Doubt it, even when I can get close I can’t do anything to help him, only examine,” Echo sighed.

            I was surprised Griffin hadn’t heard any of this, he just stood still for a moment then walked out for a moment, I heard nothing after he disappeared behind the wall and he walked back in moments later, nothing changed.  The ear piece I had could’ve been switched on without notice.  That did seem most likely since the sound came from what sounded like right next to me.  Cody and Echo could’ve been anywhere and I’d still hear them if our ear pieces were on. 

Cp8:

                   I woke to Echo standing over me; he had a pleased look on his face as he backed up to let me sit upright.  I looked around the room and noticed Griffin wasn’t there.

            “Where’s Griffin, he’s goanna be pretty mad if he finds out about this,” I asked, half joking. 

            “Griffin was transferred back to the recovery building,” Echo said with a grin but it slowly faded into a more disappointed look as he said, “I got my rank back, but Division Five is still refusing to give your rank back.”

            I remained silent as Echo dropped two small, powder-white pills into my hand and gave me a glass of water then instructed me to swallow the pills to help get rid of the infection.

            As soon as I had swallowed the last pill, Echo pushed the needle of an empty syringe to my arm and drew blood into the small, glass tube.  When I flinched he glanced at me briefly and curiously but continued his work.  Echo turned and began doing something, but I couldn’t see what.   He soon walked out and I heard a whisper in the hall, though I couldn’t make out the context of the conversation, I knew it was Cody and Echo talking.  Echo walked back in moments later with Cody behind him.

They stood on opposite sides of me, I just stared at Echo. I had a feeling about what was coming. Cody held my good arm firmly to the bed and Echo positioned himself over me to where his forearm was resting on my neck and his elbow was putting a little pressure on my stomach. It made it hard to move my bad arm.

I felt an intense pain in my shoulder and I started to struggle which made the pain worse.  Echo increased the pressure on my stomach and neck, making it hard to breathe. I stopped struggling and Echo released the pressure and I was able to breathe again. After a while he moved his forearm from my neck but kept his elbow on my stomach and nodded towards my head. Cody used his free hand to force me to turn my head away from Echo and held me like that.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence and intense pain Echo spoke up, “Alright, I’ve cleared what I can but the fever will have to run its course.”

Cody let go of me, I didn’t bother sitting up Echo would just push me back again anyway.

“Get some rest, Ghost,” Echo said.

“Ghost, huh?” I heard a familiar voice, I knew it was the Division Five leader, Tray, “Thought you would’ve figured out his name by now.”

Echo turned around with a questioning look and I managed to sit myself up. Tray was leaning on the door frame watching us. I hadn’t seen Tray before, but he looked familiar with ivory eyes and black, shaggy hair.

“I don’t know my own name, how’s my team supposed to know?” I said, stopping Echo before he said anything.

“You don’t know your own name,” Tray repeated sarcastically, “Well, I can’t say I’m not surprised, but it’s not that hard to believe, given what you’ve been through.”

Everyone was quiet.

“You don’t recognize me do you ‘Ghost’?” Tray said questioningly.

I just stared at him blankly. ‘Yeah, he looked familiar but I didn’t recognize him and here he was, acting like he had known me my whole life.’

“Given your medical reports, it figures you wouldn’t.”

Tray acted as if he really had known me but, I had no idea who he was, I stared back at him, saying nothing.

He chuckled, “You’ll figure it out, get some rest, ‘Ryan’” he said, emphasizing the word ‘Ryan’.

I knew there was a gleam of recognition on my face, I tried to hide it but failed in doing so.

Echo gave me a suspicious look, “Ryan?”

I sighed, ‘The truth comes out,’ I thought to myself, though I didn’t say anything.

“You knew the whole time!?” Cody seemed shocked and aggravated.

Echo seemed to figure it out, “It was that dream you had a few years ago wasn’t it, ‘Ryan’,” he was aggravated, I could tell, he said my name with sarcasm.

I sighed again, “Aye,” my Scottish roots were coming through for the first time since I was little.

Tray stayed where he was looking on with a smirk. I started to recognize who Tray really was; only one person could know my name: my dad. I lay down and tried to sleep, wanting to avoid the accusing stares from Cody and Echo. I felt a sedative go into my shoulder and I fell asleep immediately.

Cp9:

I woke in the same room I had fallen asleep in. No one was in the room and I couldn’t move, didn’t feel like it either, I felt extraordinarily dizzy. Echo walked in moments later, looking at a clipboard.

Without looking up he said, “Before you say anything, you are not ok, that sedative was a weak one and it put you out for a full twenty-four hours.”

I just laid still and didn’t respond, though my shoulder was killing me.

“You can sit up.”

I groaned in pain in response.

Echo looked up and came to my side, “Come on, Ryan,” he said, helping me up.

He was still on that, if I knew him, he had already told the rest of the team. I groaned again as he sat me up and leaned me against the back wall for support.

“Are you feeling alright?”

“I… I’m fine,” I managed to get out, though it wasn’t very convincing, seeing as I grunted in pain as Echo drew his hand away from my shoulder.

He pulled his knife out and slipped the blade under a layer of the bandages that were wrapped tightly around my shoulder. He turned the blade up and I suppressed a scream of pain as Echo brought the blade up, tearing the bandage. He gently took the bandage off of it and examined the shoulder.

“Relax,” he said pulling something from behind him and injecting it at the base of my neck.

The pain dulled slowly and I rested my hand on the wound. I could feel a ridged scar where the knife was pushed into my shoulder.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be back to the field within a few days, and when you are back on the field, try sticking to the firing range so you don’t stress your shoulder.”

I drew my hand off of my shoulder and a sharp pain darted down my arm. I flinched and looked down at the injury; blood was starting to well up at the corner of the wound, close to my neck.

“Carful, the slightest amount of pressure could make it start bleeding heavily again.”

“I noticed,” I said, slightly aggravated that he had called me ‘Ryan’ earlier.

I tried rolling the shoulder forward as if I were barrel rolling. A dull pain resulted and blood slowly leaded down my shoulder.

Echo rewrapped the injury, making sure it was tight.

The next few weeks came with more pain and pain killers. I was eventually able to move the arm without get a sharp pain in response. I’d be returning to the field soon, though I wondered how the team would take it, learning that I had known my name for awhile and not told them.

“Hey, Ryan,” Echo said, getting my attention.

            “I know, I know, ‘get some rest’,” I said pointedly, “and you don’t have to call me Ryan, my call sign’s Ghost.”

 Cp10:

            When I woke up Echo said I could go back to the field, I did just that. I started toward the agility course, but of course, Echo stopped me before I got there.

            “Unless you want to end up back in the infirmary for another week, you should stay off of the course and stick with the firing range.”

            I rolled my eyes and left to the firing range. I took a UMP 45 and knelt down behind one of the make-shift barricades. I took aim and the targets popped up and I fired at them, taking each one down quickly.  No matter where you hit the target it’ll go down with one shot, but in a real fire fight, if the bullet hit the outer white ring, you would completely miss.

            I checked the targets, all outer ring hits, all misses.

            “Ghost, you never miss those, you sure you’re alright?” Domino came up behind me.

            I sighed, “I’m fine, just a little shaky.”

“If you were ‘just shaky’ you would’ve hit at least one of those.”

Of course he would say that, he’s the best marksman on the team.

“Domino, if there’s a point to this what is it?”

“Your shoulder is still messed up.  You may be able to fool Echo, but nothing gets past Akito.”

“What does Akito have to do with this?” I asked awkwardly.

“She sent me over here in the first place,” Domino shrugged.

I looked over to where Akito was sparring with Cody. I noticed she was keeping an eye on me and Domino.

            “Don’t worry about it, I’m fine,” I said, turning back to the targets.

            Domino walked away and I glanced to Echo, it seemed everyone was watching me. He kept a close eye on me as he went through a few exercises.

I kneeled at the barricade. Considering I was seeing three of everything I was surprised I hadn’t tripped over it. I took aim and readied my rifle, waiting for the target to pop. When it came up, I adjusted the cross hair over the center of the target and fired… nothing.

I glanced discreetly toward Echo, now in the middle of doing ten-rep push-ups, he was still watching me. He got up and came over to me when I tried to hit the target again. He took the rifle and leaned it against a wall. I sighed and sat on the barricade.

“What now?” I asked somewhat aggravated sounding.

He slowly waved his hand in front of my face.

“Run the course,” he said, helping me back up.

I shrugged and walked to the course and ran for the first obstacle, a wooden hurdle that I had to jump over. When I got to it I quickly vaulted over it, using my hands to push off of it, my foot caught the top of it and I fell into the mud. I got up quickly and ran for a tire that was suspended in the middle of an iron frame. I had to get through the middle with my hands landing on the other side, we always barrel rolled after landing on the other side, to make it easier to get up.  I jumped through the middle and my hands landed neatly on the other side, I got the rest of my body through and then my shoulder gave out; I fell, again. I shook it off and kept running, next I had to use a rope to swing over a shallow pit of muck, easy enough. Except I was still seeing triple and let go about mid-way over the pit and I fell in. I got up, stumbled, and fell face down in the muck again.  Echo helped me up and out of the pit.  I stood on my own and leaned on the support for one of the obstacles, catching my breath.

I saw that Domino, who had been at the shooting range, had dropped his rifle and ran to the barracks. By then I had caught my breath for the most part. I coughed a little while Echo was checking me over.

“I’m ok, Echo,” I said, I still sounded out of breath.

I leaned against the support more casually than I had been. I saw Ryan coming out of the barracks with Domino. Ryan went straight to Cody and Domino came to me. I noticed Cody’s rank patch, I had forgotten I was demoted, Cody had the captain’s patch, I looked at my patch, and I was a first lieutenant. I was ranked lower than Cody but I still had a position of command over the squad. 

“Chrono wants to see us in the hanger,” Domino snapped me out of my thoughts.

I sighed, “Alright, I’ll be there in a minute.”

Domino walked off toward the ‘fly zone’ which was near the hanger. Echo wasn’t standing far off, he was standing casually, his arms crossed, he was obviously waiting, and still in earshot.

“Alright,” I sighed, “Why am I seeing three of everything?” I asked, not moving from where I was.

“Minor concussion,” he answered, unfolding his arms and coming closer, “When you finish in the hanger, go back to your cabin, you need to rest.”

Cp11:

I stepped into the hanger and was met with a chill. It was always cold in the hanger, I had asked Chrono why once, and he said something that I didn’t understand in response. I saw Chrono explaining something to Domino and went over to them.

“Alright, I’m here, what’s up?” I said, coming up to them.

“Follow me,” Chrono said, turning sharply and leading us into a back room.

There was a large, black machine with two rows of numbered chambers, one on each side, and a set of switches, buttons, dials, and monitors on one end. 

            “What’s this?” I asked, gesturing to it.

            “A Tactical Operations Combat Simulator,” he said, walking to the end with all the controls and screens, “I’ll be out here while you two are in one of the chambers. I can control everything that happens from these set of controls and I can monitor your actions while in the chambers. Before you go in you’ll each put on one of those sets of armor and a helmet, plus a rifle, pistol, and a combat knife,” he explained, “if you put the helmet on before you go in the chamber you won’t be able to see anything, but while you’re in the chamber there will be a display on the face shield, it’ll give you technical and tactical information and a mini-map. Now, gear up and I’ll start the simulation. Ghost, you’ll be in chamber 1A, Domino in 2A”

            I put on a set of the armor, grabbed a helmet, a UMP 45, a M9, and a combat knife. The armor was bulkier than most armor, Chrono said it was because it had been outfitted with motion sensors so that when we moved in the chamber what happened on screen would coordinate with what we had done, for example: if we shot the rifle, we would see the effect on screen; if we turned, the field of vision would move on the screen. The chamber doors opened and Domino and I stepped in simultaneously. The doors closed behind us, I put my helmet on as the screen lit up to a desert scene, and it got really hot in the chamber.

            I could see on screen that I was cloaked in a desert camouflage guile suit. The scene changed to a forest in the middle of a blizzard and it was instantly freezing cold in the chamber. I could tell my guile suite had changed to a snowy white camouflage.

            “You two ready?” I heard Chrono asked, “Don’t worry about injuries, if you die in the simulation the screen will just go black.”

            I gave the ready signal and I heard Chrono again “Move out,” he said.

            I crouched and slowly walked in place, advancing deeper into the forest, then, on the mini-map I saw red dots as I heard automatic rifles being fired, then a sniper’s shot and a green dot corresponded with it.  Domino was cornered by AIs but was taking them out fairly quickly. I knew he couldn’t keep them all held off for long, not with a sniper rifle. I stood up and ran for what I guessed was a base, I soon came to a small cliff, overlooking the base, I could see the AIs and Domino, and so I readied a flash bang and threw it, stunning the enemies. I pulled out my pistol and knife and charged in. I soon ran out of ammo for my pistol and started taking them on with the knife, there was one left, he was about to take me out, one sniper shot later they were all gone, I should’ve noticed the green dot turn red.

            I turned to Domino after putting away my pistol and knife and started helping him up, he pointed his rifle at me, I reached for my knife but it was too late. One loud sniper’s shot later my screen was black.

            I took the helmet off and the door opened behind me. I stepped out and started putting the armor and weapons away. Domino came over and started putting his stuff away too.

            “That was…” Domino paused as if he were trying to think of the right word, “different.”

            “You two have been in there for about three hours,” Chrono said.

            “Three hours? It only felt like three minutes. Echo’s goanna kill me,” I joked.

            “You should probably go before he has you sitting out for another three weeks, you’ve missed enough action as it is,” Domino said.

            I finished putting my armor away and headed to my cabin. When I walked in I saw that Echo had fallen asleep in a chair. He had left the light on so I turned it off and laid down on the bed, no doubt if Echo were awake he’d be telling me to get some rest. I tried to sleep but couldn’t. Echo woke up about an hour later.

            “Huh, it’s about time you got back,” he said, getting up, “Get some sleep.”

Cp12:

It had been a few weeks since Echo cleared me to go back to the field; that is without stopping me from running the course. I went to the firing range and got direct hits all around. Though Domino was still quicker, but honestly, no one can match him. Chrono had the rest of the team try out the simulator.

I was told by Tray, if I could win a one-on-five fight with my team in the simulator, I’d prove that I could handle the captain’s rank and I would get my rank back.

I wasted no time gearing up and getting in the simulator with Cody, Aaron, Akito, Domino, and Echo on the other side. It was a rain forest setting; I was close to a river, almost standing in it. I scanned around me and guessed that my opponents were on the other side of the river. Knowing Aaron they were probably following the river. I found a tree with sturdy branches over hanging the river and climbed up to one. I looked back and saw an obvious trail in the mud, too late to hide it; Aaron was leading the team up the river, heading towards me.

Aaron signaled them to stop and pointed at the trail. I took him out before the entire team caught on. Domino figured it out though. He aimed at the wrong branch, limiting his field of vision. I popped up and took him out. Now Echo, Akito, and Cody knew where I was. I jumped up to a higher branch and they fired at me, one shot caught me in the foot. I took Echo out next then quickly took Cody. Akito reloaded and fired at me again. I took a hit to the shoulder. I jumped down when she had to reload again and took her out.

I just took my team out in a one-on-five match and got my rank back. I took my helmet off as the door opened behind me and the screen shut off.

I went over to where Chrono was and saw Cody already there. He was grinning slightly. I knew he didn’t want the captain’s rank.

            After I got back to my cabin I replaced the first lieutenant’s patch with the captain’s. There was something different about it. It was more brightly colored, more vivid than the usual patch. Apart from the blood that still covered my  name from when Griffin put the knife in my shoulder, you could hardly tell it was my old patch, I was pretty sure it wasn’t but I was too tired to think about it so I went to sleep on my side with my arms crossed.

            I woke up on my back with my arms by my side and freezing coldness all around me. I assumed Echo had come in to check on me while I was asleep. Despite the cold I could feel that I was sweating. I tried to turn my head, I couldn’t, then I tried lifting my arm, nothing; I felt weak. I started coughing abruptly and managed to sit up. I stopped coughing and looked down, ice packs had been pressed against my body and one was where it would’ve been under my neck if I had been lying down.

            I saw Echo walk by; he turned around and came in.

            “How are you feeling?” he asked putting a careful hand on my good shoulder.

            “Like crap,” I responded with a light cough.

            He checked me, when he got to the side of my head he had to move his hand off of my forehead twice.

            “You feel weak?”

            “Yeah.”

            He paused, sighed, then forced me back down, making sure I couldn’t get up on my own, and injected some kind of anti-biotic to my upper arm.

Cp13:

            I woke uneasily in my cabin again; Echo was standing right beside me.

            “How do you feel?”

            I groaned, “Like I was hit in the head with a helicopter.”

            “Well, that’s good, in a sense. Of course, that is what happened.”

            “What?” I tried to sit up, but was met with an intense, dull pain in my head.

            “Take it easy, Ghost.” He said, “Me, Chrono, and Cody were chasing down Adam and Slick,” he began his explanation and continued to tell me what happened.

            I was on top of my team’s humvee, we were going full speed. Adam and Slick were in a large truck in front of us, also going at full speed. Chrono got us close and I jumped on top of Adam’s truck. I was about to kill him, then not even one second later, a helicopter swooped down and hit me in the head, sending me flying through the windshield of the team’s humvee. After that I had been out cold for almost three months and it happened a few weeks after I had gotten my rank back.

            “When can I get back into action?” I asked.

            “Tomorrow,” he said leaving.

            I felt tired and I could tell it was late at night, maybe 2300 hours. I sighed and rolled over to my side and fell asleep quickly.

Cp14:

I woke up pretty early the next morning, an alarm was blaring. I got up and ran outside, the base was empty. Something or someone must have tripped a motion sensor outside of the base. I ran to the barracks and geared up. The team came in a little later.

“Pick up the pace!” I shouted to them as I grabbed a UMP .45.

“Ghost, wait!” Akito yelled, grabbing my wrist when I tried to run out of the door.

“No time,” I said shaking her off and running to the edge of the base.

I stopped there and scanned the wastelands for movement. I spotted what looked like a guile suit as my team came up.

“Cover me,” I said, not taking my eyes off of what I saw.

I inched forward slowly, keeping my sights on the target. When I got to what was obviously a viper, he tried to get me down, but I jumped back and killed him. Suddenly I was surrounded by viper snipers.

“Oh come on!”

Three of them dropped. The others exchanged a nervous glance and readied their rifles. One more dropped, leaving four. They were about to shoot. I dropped to the ground, just barely avoiding the bullets. I aimed upward and killed two, rolled to the side to avoid more bullets and killed the other two. The alarms stopped.

I walked back to the team, “Well, that was interesting,” I said, nonchalantly.

“Ghost,” Akito stepped forward.

“Yeah?”

She turned me around and pulled something off of my back, then crushed the device in her hand, “They knew where you were.”

I was honestly confused about how a tracking device had gotten on the back of my gear and how I hadn’t noticed it.

Later I went to the holding cells to try to figure out how Adam kept escaping. I was at the back of the cell when I saw movement behind me and turned around in time to see the guard try to knock me out, there’s my answer. I managed to block the attack.

“Cray! What are you doing?” I questioned, darting up and blocking another attack.

He kept trying to knock me out. He eventually managed to trip me. I saw the stock of a rifle coming down toward my head.

Cp15:

I woke up with Echo and Cody on either side of me, both had their hands cuffed behind the bars of the cell and their bare chests were chained to the bars. I was the same way except they had lash marks on their faces, arms, and chests.

Then I saw Cray step into view, I noticed something different. He had a distinct tattoo on his left upper arm, one of a viper. There was no way this was Cray, it was undoubtedly an imposter. He had pistol holstered and a whip coiled up in one hand. I started struggling, trying futilely to break free.

He smirked and let the whip uncoil itself the tip slapping the floor with a metallic click.

“Ghost.” Echo had woken up, “Stop struggling.” He seemed weak, his eyes were dull and his face made him look exhausted, as if he had given up.

I stopped struggling and looked at him, “Echo,” he cut me off with a weak stare.

I looked over to Cody who had also woken up, he had the same look. I looked back at Cray’s imposter with cold defiance in my eyes.

“I win,” he chuckled coldly as he opened the cell door.

He brought the handle of the whip behind him, Echo and Cody turned their heads, bracing for an impact. I turned my head back to him in time to be hit by the sharp metal tip of the whip. The force of the impact turned my head to Echo. There was worry in his eyes. I faced the imposter again; he kneeled down, resting the hand with the whip over his knee.

He moved his head closer, taunting me. I slammed my head into his and he shot up, shouting in aggravation as he brought out a taser. I kicked him in the knee and he put the taser on my neck and triggered it. I screamed in pain as the current shot through me, making my body jerk as it slowly and painfully disappeared. I stared back at him defiantly. He kneeled again, this time placing a firm and on my neck to hold me back.

He used his other hand to pull his pistol out and ready it, “There is nothing you can do to save yourself or,” he pointed the pistol at Cody, “your team.”

My gaze changed from defiance to worry. I began struggling, and the imposter tightened his grip on my neck, choking me. I kept struggling until I was about to pass out and couldn’t anymore. He aimed at me and I shifted my gaze to the ground beside him.

He got up and chuckled, “It was too easy to break you.” He said, turning and leaving the cell.

I looked back up with a glare, “I’m not done yet,” I said, catching his attention, “you can break my team, but you will find it impossible to break me.”

“We’ll see about that,” he said, turning to face me, “you may not submit so easily to physical harm, but if I threaten your team,” he chuckled, “well, you better break or your team won’t make it.”

“Who are you?”

“They call me Cobra,” he said turning his back, “Adam put me in charge of breaking you and your team and I will succeed.”

“No, you won’t” I said confidently, “you can’t break me.”

He unlocked a solid steel door, “The same way I couldn’t break Tray?” he said opening the door. I saw Tray inside, out cold and strung up by his wrists, “You will break.”

He closed and locked the door again and handed the whip off to another Viper, “He moves, hit him, he speaks, hit him.”

I knew he was planning to threaten to kill, and probably would kill, my team until I broke. I started struggling again and the guard turned around and entered the cell. He dug his heel into a pressure point on my left thigh; I suppressed a grunt of pain and kept struggling. He brought the whip up and brought it back down quickly. I grunted in pain as it struck across my eye.

“Ghost.” Cody nudged me, “Stop, don’t get hurt just to save us.”

“No Cody, I won’t stop,” I said glaring at the viper.

The whip came down across my chest.

“I won’t break.” I paused between each word.

The whip lashed across my neck, I grunted in pain and stared down the viper, breathing heavily. He dug his heel deeper into my thigh and I couldn’t hold back the grunt any longer.

I glared back at the viper, “Get off,” I said angrily.

He brought the whip up again and it came down on my hip. Cobra walked in with Akito, her hands cuffed behind her. The guard backed away.

Cobra chuckled, noticing the fresh lash marks, “You are a stubborn one,” he readied his pistol, “but by the time I am done with you, you will be at the viper’s mercy.” He pointed the pistol at Akito’s head.

“No!” I shouted and started struggling violently, though I couldn’t move my left leg.

“Stop or she dies,” Cobra threatened harshly.

I stopped struggling and stared in disbelief at Akito.

“Surrender and your team will be fine, refuse and only you live.”

I looked at Echo; he slowly, weakly shook his head.

I sighed and looked away, “I’m sorry Echo,” I relaxed.

Cobra laughed triumphantly, “Put him in the empty solitary cell, restrain him, and then whip him until he passes out.”

The guard stepped between me and Cody and unlocked the chains around my chest. Cobra sheathed his pistol. I glared straight ahead as the guard took the cuffs off, and when my hands were free I broke the guard’s neck and pulled myself up using the bars.

“No one threatens my team,” I said glaring at Cobra.

There was a metallic feel on my neck. Cobra held up a trigger button and pressed it. There was a strong electric pulse. I screamed in pain until it disappeared, and then I fell to my knees. I got up shakily and the pressed the button again. I stumbled but stayed on my feet. Three more guards came in. I turned around and saw Echo and Cody struggling. I noticed small metal collars around our necks. Cobra held up the trigger button and pressed again. They both screamed in pain and stopped struggling.

“You try anything and they die,” Cobra said, getting ready to press the button again.

Echo looked up at me, his eyes weren’t dull anymore, but I couldn’t let them die for my stubbornness.

I sighed, “Fine.”

Cp16:

I was strung up by my wrists in a solitary cell, and my back stung with all the whip lashes. I still hadn’t broken, I let Cobra do what he did mainly to protect my team; if I didn’t he would kill one of them. I partly didn’t resist because I didn’t have the strength to. I wouldn’t break until I actually gave up. I grabbed onto the rope holding me up and started pulling myself up. I had to get out of this somehow, and one way or another I was going to get my team out of this mess and get rid of Cobra. I had tried this before, I knew it wouldn’t get me out, but the knot had loosened just a little bit when I did.

I looked up at my wrists, it was obvious where the ropes were holding, it had started tearing at my skin, drawing a small amount of blood. Cobra walked in as I noticed the rope that was holding me was suspended on hook. I let go the rope and the blood started dripping down my arms. I had an idea.

Cobra chuckled, “You try anything and the medic dies,” he threatened, holding up the trigger button.

“His name,” I lifted my right knee, “is Echo.”

I kicked the trigger out of his hand, and it flew up toward my hands and I caught it. Cobra pulled out his taser.

“Try anything and I crush it,” I mocked.

He put the taser on my hip and triggered it. I screamed in pain and dropped it. It hit the floor and Cobra picked it up. He pressed the button and nothing happened. I dropped the wire I had taken out of it.

“Why you little,” I cut him off with a kick to his face.

Cobra stumbled, fell, and passed out. It wasn’t a very strong kick, he was apparently really weak. I pulled myself up with the rope and unhooked it. I fell to the ground and landed on my right foot, still couldn’t move my left.

“No one threatens my team,” I said looking at him.

I took the knife from his belt and cut the ropes binding my hands. Then I took the keys so I could free the team.

Cobra had closed the door behind him and locked it. I couldn’t open it in from inside so I knocked and hoped the guard outside was an idiot.

The cell opened and I killed the guard with the knife I took from Cobra. I saw Echo and Cody, still chained the cell. Echo looked up and smiled. He nudged Cody to get his attention. I had to hop on one leg to get the cell and unlock it. I managed my way over to them after I opened the cell. Echo seemed to know what was wrong, why I couldn’t move my left leg, he started struggling, trying to get free without the key. I freed him first. I had sat down; I knew Echo would’ve told me to if I hadn’t. Cody stood, rubbing his wrists while Echo kneeled beside me. I tossed the keys to Cody.

“You go help the rest of the team,” Echo said, “I’ll stay here and help Ghost.”

Cody started unlocking the solitary cells, freeing whoever he found. He only found three of the division five people, Tray, the leader; Jesse, the second command; and Kix, the medic. Tray was in pretty bad shape so as soon as Kix was freed he went over to him. Cody found a second set of keys and handed them to Jesse. They both grabbed a pistol and ran out to find and free the rest of the team.

I leaned back, against the bars of the cell, watching Kix try to wake Tray up the same way Echo would. I was worried, I knew for sure now that Tray was my dad. Echo noticed me watching them.

“He’ll be ok, Ghost,” Echo said, blocking my line of sight, “Where’s Cobra?”

“Left him out cold in the cell I was in,” I said, pointing to the only cell Cody actually closed instead of opening.

He looked back at the cell, “Good.”

I saw Tray start breathing, slowly and heavily; Kix seemed relieved.

Kix had put his armor back on. He and the rest of division five had painted their armor blue. Kix’s was lighter in color than the others; it looked good with the dark red arm band that all the medics wore. He was average height with cropped hair and light brown eyes.

“Kix,” Echo got his attention, “We need to get these two to the infirmary, but we can’t get them there ourselves and I don’t think we can wait for Cody and Jesse to get back.”

Kix stood up, “I’ll run to the east wing and take Tray with me.”

            “No, we can’t risk it,” Echo said, stopping him before he left, “We can’t get them there without being noticed. We wouldn’t make it.”

            Cody walked in with Jesse behind him, “Base is clear and the team is free,” he reported, “Those cowards gave up fast.”

            Kix turned to face Echo, “Thought you said we couldn’t wait.”

            Jesse stepped forward, “How’s Tray?”

            “He’ll be fine,” Kix said.

            “And Ghost?” Cody.

            “Same, but we need to get these two to the east wing,” Echo answered.

            “Then what are we waiting for?” Jesse asked rhetorically.

            Kix helped Tray up.

Echo helped me up and supported my left side, “We should take it slow.”

“What is it with you and slow and steady, Echo?” Cody questioned.

“He’s probably trying to keep his heart rate down, “Kix said jerking is head towards me.

“Well,” I tried to stand on my own, “no use in that, I already got tased in the hip and knocked out Cobra,” Echo didn’t let go, though I knew I probably would’ve fallen.

“You and your stubbornness,” Echo said with a sigh.

We all laughed at the comment. We stopped laughing.

“Alright, let’s get out of here,” I said, I was hurting and I could tell Tray was too.

Echo helped me forward though I told him I didn’t need the support.

“You two make quite the team,” Tray joked, “Seriously Ghost, just let him help you, you can’t stand.”

Echo continued to support me as we exited the building, just as we rounded a corner, we were ambushed.

“Cody, I thought you said the base was clear,” I said, pulling out my pistol and taking aim.

“I thought it was,” he responded doing the same.

Cody, Kix, Jesse, and Tray formed a semi-circle around me and Echo. He sat me down and put his hand out. I knew he wanted me to hand over my pistol.

I groaned in aggravation, “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” I handed him the pistol and stayed down.

He stood, turned around, and started taking out the vipers. I pulled out my extra pistol, I tended to dual wield them, and aimed between Jesse and Tray. I took out about four Vipers before a bullet came between Kix and Cody and pierced my hip. I dropped the pistol and the Vipers charged the team, knocking them out. I tried to grab my pistol again but the Vipers kicked it away and knocked me out.

Cp17:

I couldn’t open my eyes but I could still hear and feel. I was thrown into a steel cell and I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder.

“He’s fine Kix,” Echo said.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Kix seemed surprised by Echo’s laid back attitude, “he’s out cold.”

“No he’s not,” Echo explained, “This happens to him a lot, I’m sure he can hear us right now.”

I heard a snap in my ear and I could feel my face react, “See?” Echo tried to convince Kix.

 There was a moment of silence then the hand left my shoulder.

“We should keep up a watch,” Kix said, “In case something happens.”

“Agreed,” Echo sounded tired, “I’ll stay up, and you get some rest.”

“Echo, you’ve had it worse than me; you should rest first.”

“Alright.”

I heard movement and felt a hand on my shoulder, it quickly disappeared. I slowly lost consciousness. 

I woke up what seemed like only minutes later and tried to sit up but didn’t get very far. I saw Echo lying down, asleep. Kix noticed that I had woken up and helped me to a sitting position.

“How long was I out?”

“All night,” Kix said, sitting back, he looked tired.

“Did you even sleep?” I asked, pointing out that I had noticed.

“No.”

I woke Echo up, “Get some rest, Kix,” I said turning back to him.

Echo stood, “How are you feeling, Ghost?” he asked crossing over to my left side and kneeling by my side.

“I’m okay.”

Echo checked my injuries. I looked around as he did. Kix was now asleep in the corner. When I looked towards the front of the cell again I saw Cobra coming towards us with two guards. He opened the gate and stepped in, Echo stood defensively in front of me. Cobra pointed at me and nodded at the guards. They came in and shoved Echo aside, another guard stepped in and pointed his rifle at Echo. The two guards brought me to my feet and pushed me out of the cell. I still couldn’t move my left leg so when I was out I fell to the ground again. Cobra got me to my feet again. He closed the cell door, leaving Kix and Echo locked in.

He turned to me and the two guards pointed their rifles at me, the one that had aimed at Echo had left. 

I glared at Cobra as he cuffed my hands, “I really don’t like you.”

“Good,” he said, turning around.

Then I saw Cody. He was restrained and stood in the center of the room with ten guards on him; all of them had their rifles pointed at his head.

“I will give you an option,” he said, not looking at me, “seeing as you refuse to break, I will either beat you until you do, or kill your team until there is no one left. Your choice.” He said, looking over his shoulder

“Leave my team alone.” I said glaring at him.

He grinned and signaled a guard, the two guards from before grabbed me and held me in place as Cobra brought out his whip. He threw it to the side, along with all of his other weapons. He stepped up and was face to face with me. He looked pretty aggravated and ready to kill.

Cobra started punching me in the jaw and stomach. It didn’t hurt that bad and when he stepped back I just glared at him like his attacks did nothing. The guards tightened their grip and Cobra stepped up again.  He had the guards hold my full weight by kicking my foot out from under me. He started punching me again, it hurt this time, when he stepped back a spit a little blood to the side. Cobra grinned and picked his whip up again. I could tell the guards were having trouble holding me up. He raised the whip and the guards standing around Cody readied their rifles.

“No!” I shouted, starting to struggle fiercely, I knew they were about to kill Cody, or try to.

Cobra lowered the whip, “Drop him,” he said turning towards Cody.

Cody ducked just in time to avoid being shot through the skull in ten different places, instead of hitting him each of the bullets killed the guard opposite the one that fired the shot. Cobra went up to Cody and pointed his pistol at him.

“Leave him alone,” I said, I quit struggling, as it was useless.

Cobra lowered his pistol and glared at me over his shoulder. He turned around slowly and took a half step towards me. I looked him in the eye. The guards let go of me and I fell to the floor on my stomach, though I managed to get up to where I was practically sitting on my right knee.

I looked back up at him and said nothing. Cobra grinned and kicked me in the side. I was thrown against a wall by the force of the kick. I stayed where I was, on my side, my back to the wall, facing Cobra. My hands were cuffed behind me so I couldn’t do anything when he put his foot on my neck to keep me from getting up. I struggled against him until he pointed the pistol at Cody again. Then I realized I didn’t have much choice. I closed my eyes and sighed. Then I opened them again, when I did I stared off, with a somewhat depressed look, and relaxed.

I saw Echo staring at me in disbelief. Cobra took his foot off of my neck, I didn’t move. He still had his pistol pointed at Cody, and I was sure that if I moved, Cobra would kill him.

Cobra chuckled and holstered his pistol, “You Eagle Talon soldiers are so predictable,” he said, lifting me to my feet.

I didn’t look at him, I didn’t look at anyone as he and three guards walked me to a Viper helicopter. When they sat me down, they re-cuffed my hands around a bar to make sure I couldn’t try anything.

            When we got to their base, Cobra took my restraints off so he could take me in the base.  During the flight I had gotten the feeling back in my left leg and could finally move it. I hurt to move it but I still could. When Cobra took the restraints off I managed to knock him and the three guards out.

I ran east, at least I was pretty sure it was east. I couldn’t take the chopper; it could be tracked too easily. I switched my earpiece on and hopped my team had done the same.

            “Cody, do you copy?” I asked, still running,

            “Ghost?” Echo answered, “Are you okay?”

            “I’m fine Echo,” I said, breathing heavily as I came up to a small patch of woodland,” I’m somewhere in the Viper’s territory.”

            “Why are you out of breath?”

            “Long story,” I said coming up to a small, clear river, “I need you to send an evac, I don’t have a way out of here,” I added, kneeling by the river.

            “Copy that,” Echo said, “it may take a few days though.”

            “That’s alright, just get here.”

            I started making camp and around midnight I heard Cobra and his men looking for me. I got up and put out the fire I had made. I ran off into the night, hoping that they hadn’t heard me. I managed to hide most of the time but I was getting tired.

            After a while I heard Echo again, “Ghost, you still there?”

            “Yeah,” I responded, flattening myself against a tree and leaning over a little to see if I could spot Cobra, “Cobra and his guards are looking for me though.”

            “Keep going, Ghost,” Echo responded, “They can’t look forever.”

            “I hope not.”

            I kept running and eventually was too exhausted to go any further and collapsed.

Cp18:

I woke up in a stone cell and restrained. Only my hands were bound. I struggled against the restraints but I was still physically exhausted and couldn’t struggle for long. Soon after I stopped struggling Adam opened the cell door and stepped in with Cobra and Slick behind him.

“I hear you made a run for it,” Adam said, “in Viper territory too.”

I glared at him in response.

Adam chuckled, “You got guts, I will admit.” He said, turning his back, “But, no one has what it takes to not break when Cobra is the one in charge.”

“You sure about that?” I asked rhetorically, “I’m not broken yet, and I won’t be.”

“Sounds to me like you broke,” Adam said, turning back around halfway, “That is how you got here, isn’t it?”

I didn’t say anything, I just glared at him.

Adam chuckled again, “Good work wearing him out Cobra,” he said, “he will be much easier to dispose of now.”

‘Not good.’ I thought to myself, I looked at Slick and saw a flash of nervousness in his eyes, neither Adam nor Cobra noticed. I managed to get to my feet. Adam turned around in time to step to the side and avoid my charge at him. I fell outside of the cell. I was to my knees when I was yanked up by Cobra and Slick.

Adam stepped up shaking his head, “You aren’t going anywhere.”

I still glared at him. I looked to my left and saw Slick staring blankly ahead, paying no attention to what was going on. I had once trusted him, and he betrayed me. His grip was looser than Cobra’s; could he have wanted me to try to get away? I started struggling and got free of Slick. I elbowed Cobra in the stomach, making him bend over then I hit him in the face with my knee, causing him to let go of me and fall to the ground. By that time Slick grabbed both of my arms. I flipped over him, knocking him to the floor too. Cobra got up and so did Slick. I looked between them then to Adam; he stood there calmly, just watching.

I jumped over my hands so that they were in front of me and I could have an easier time fighting. Guards lined up behind me so that I couldn’t run. I glared at Cobra and Slick.

Slick stepped forward to fight me, and when Cobra tried to step up too, Adam stopped him. Slick started trying to kick me, but I was able to dodge the attacks easily. I slammed my hands against the side of his head, stunning him. I kicked him in the gut, forcing him back and on his back.

I stood defensively and looked at Cobra, “Bring it on.”

Cobra was better at fighting than Slick apparently. I either dodged or blocked his first few attacks; he dodged all of mine and hit me in a pressure point every time he hit me. I was getting worn out and wouldn’t be able to take many more hits.

Cobra stopped suddenly, “You’re a tough one,” he said, putting a hand on my shoulder, “but not tough enough,” he added punching me in the gut hard.

I fell to the ground, breathing heavily and sore. I was thrown in the cell again.

“I guess we’ll have to wait a little longer,” Adam said closing the door, “No one even looks at that door, for one week,” I heard him.

I sighed and passed out moments later.

I woke up again, nothing had changed, and I was still in the cell. I could hear voices on the other side of the door but I couldn’t make out the context. I didn’t move and eventually fell asleep.

It went the same way day for the next seven days, every day I grew weaker. On the seventh day, when Adam opened the cell I couldn’t even move. Cobra lifted me up and dragged me out of the cell, throwing me to my stomach. I tried to get up but could barely even tense.

Cobra and Slick held me up again. I couldn’t struggle; I couldn’t even hold my head up.

Adam stepped up as I was slowly regaining my strength. I managed to get to my feet and look Adam in the eye. I tensed and started weakly struggling. Slick’s grip tightened over a pressure point on my arm and made me stop. Adam went behind me and took the cuffs off. Slick held my left arm out from my body. I started struggling again, this time stronger.

 Adam put a hand on my upper arm and the other on the shoulder. He tightened his grip to where I could hardly move the arm. He forced the arm down with Slick still holding it. I heard a loud pop in my shoulder as I screamed in pain. Slick and Cobra let me go and I fell to the floor, unable to move my left arm. Then I heard gun shots nearby. ‘It’s about time Echo got here,’ I thought to myself.

Cp19:

I woke in the East Wing. I still couldn’t move my left arm and it hurt. It had been a few weeks since Adam dislocated my shoulder. Echo had said that he wouldn’t be able to put it back in place without causing me to completely lose the ability to move the arm. It sucked but he had also said that I’d eventually get used to it and be able to move the arm.

I sat up and sighed as I looked at the arm, dangling uselessly by my side. I wanted to be out on the field with my team, practicing. I could at least shoot a pistol with my good arm. I got up and exited the building. I saw Tray not far off. I noticed him look at me. Echo, Kix, Cody, Jesse, and Akito were standing with him. I decided not to talk to him just yet.

I went to the firing range and picked up a pistol. I took each of the targets out quickly. I saw Ryan walking up. He would be two years old now.

“Hey, kid,” I got his attention.

“Don’t call me that,” he said coming up.

“Why not? You are a kid after all,” I said kneeling in front of him so I could be eye level with him.

He just looked blankly back at me.

I chuckled and said, “Ryan, when you get to be the leader of this squad, try not to be as stubborn as I am.”

Ryan seemed taken aback, “What?”

“My stubbornness has nearly gotten me killed numerous times, Ryan,” I said, “If it happened to you…” I trailed off.

“Ghost?” Ryan seemed worried.

“Well, let’s hope it doesn’t,” I said, looking at Akito.

She walked off to the obstacle course, Echo and Kix went into the infirmary, Jesse and Cody just left and went about their business. Tray was left alone and he stood there watching me. I stood up and Ryan took that as a sign he could go, he ran off to the training facility. I went over to Tray.

“You figure out who I am yet?” he asked me.

“Yeah…”

“Well?” he asked, urging me to prove it.

“Where’ve you been, dad?” I said looking him in the eye.

We both smiled.