CAMMIE

Rushing towards the firefight, Cammie felt the world around her slow as she collected her breath to return it to a steadier pace. It wasn't the first time today she'd been caught in a firefight with these rebels, but this was something she wasn't trained for. Zach was trained for combat, the SAS forces were trained for combat, but she was trained in espionage. To covertly collect intelligence from enemies and allies alike. Finding herself caught up in a full scale war had left her shaken while also awakened.

It took her only seconds to reach the depot entrance. She brought up Zach's rifle, her aim true as the first shot connected, and the target dropped from her sights as she moved to find another. When she dropped a second consecutively, she realized just how much of a magnet she'd become as lead flew at her in rapid succession from multiple angles ahead. She was lucky that a stone wall still stood between her and the bullets.

"Don't keep your head up too long there, love," Doc's posh southern accent managed to creep above the sounds of battle.

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks," Cammie replied with a faint smile which was returned as they both opened fire again.

"We've got to move quicker than this," Anderson chimed in as he lay prone and opened up full auto, forcing heads to duck behind whatever cover they could find. "I'm on my last two hundred."

Cammie blew hair out of her face as fresh sweat rolled down her neck, the heat and exhaustion catching up to her as she felt her body's energy reserves quickly draining. It was only adrenaline and determination keeping her going at this point. She managed a glance back at Zach who was loading the last of the people aboard.

"The bus is ready!" Cammie yelled as the SAS men turned to confirm for themselves.

"About bloody time," Doc cursed out with joy as he shifted his position. Anderson continued to finish off the rest of his ammo into the masses now pushing towards them in force. It was enough to slow them and open up the possibility of a huge rush, which at this point would have worked. He had counted on them being too modern in their approach, which thankfully had paid off. No one thinks about charging into modern automatic fire. For good reason.

Cammie flicked her own rifle to full auto and sprayed towards her targets with little accuracy, the intent only to give the impression of more guns and bullets to keep them down longer. A few seconds was all that was needed, which was fortunate, considering she suddenly heard the rifle click empty. She kept her finger on the trigger for another second before finally releasing it.

"I'm out!" she called, and Doc took over as they chained their firing to keep it consistent.

"Need a lift?" Zach called from the open door, and Cammie leapt on first followed by Doc who was already reloading his weapon. Zach yelled for Anderson who was last, but as he climbed in, a few windows exploded as a hail of bullets smacked into the front. Anderson let out a roar as a round tore into his thigh, collapsing against Doc who quickly rolled him onto his back.

"GO, GO…DRIVE!" Cammie ordered. Grey didn't wait for her to tell him a second time as he revved the engine and pressed his foot hard and heavy down on the accelerator. The bus jerked and swung right, tossing the passengers roughly about inside. Everyone stayed low as more rounds struck the back of the bus. Dan fired back from the rear and was soon joined by Zach who had retrieved his M4 Carbine from Cammie.

Cammie knelt down with Anderson as Doc cut his trousers away from the wound.

"Is it bad?" Cammie asked as Anderson grunted and cursed under his breath. Doc turned on his small torch and leaned in closer.

"Stop moving, Sir. I need to check," he said, wiping his brow. "It's gone clean through." He glanced up at Cammie then Anderson. "No serious damage though, and it missed the bone. But it looks like you're going to have another scar to tell the wife." Anderson covered his face with both hands.

"You special force boys sure like your scars," Cammie joked with a smile.

"What other stories do we have to interest the ladies, right, Sir?" Doc responded as he tied a bandage quickly around the wound. Just as he finished, a loud thud shook the roof of the bus, drawing everyone's attention upwards. Right above Cammie a blade protruded in through the roof, startling everyone inside

"What the hell was that?" Anderson grunted.

WOLF

Wolf ran down the street towards the depot, but knew he was still a long ways off. The road was too straight, and the vehicles behind him could easily run him down before he reached the safety of the others. He kept running though, passing alleyways, noticing a few civilians hiding in their depths. His eyes scanned for stairs leading to a roof, slowing his pace. When he reached the end, a group caught up with him and opened fire with a hail of bullets. The alley was suddenly filled with rounds from the AK's in their amateurish attempts to hit him. It might have been his only saving grace that their aim was so terrible, but all it would have taken was one lucky shot with his name on it. He wasn't about to stand still and see if tonight was the night for fate to catch up with him.

He dove for the nearest cover and lay flat, waiting until the shooting stopped. The horrid stench of something rotten filled the alley, but it didn't deter him from staying still. He took a breath to clear his head, readying himself to move again then glanced up to see where his opponents were positioned. Two were reloading and using the end of the alley as cover. The other two stood in the open, blocking his way should he think of charging them, their weapons aimed and at the ready.

He considered chancing it as his mind continued to process all of his options in microseconds. The best scenario was to move. Now. Jumping to his feet, he charged straight towards them, taking advantage of the seconds they'd taken to register the action, aim, and pull the trigger. Timing it to perfection, he zig-zagged his body low to the ground as rounds whizzed past where he'd been only moments before. Running close to the wall, he was suddenly only a few feet from them.

He saw their eyes widen as they called to their comrades, realizing too late that they themselves needed to reload.

Wolf finally was in reach of his target.

Leaping up on the wall aided by the momentum of his run, he pushed himself high into the air, his arms stretching out as his fingers grasped the ladder rung. He didn't have time to check if they were aiming at him as he hoisted himself over on to the metal railing and paced himself up the stairs towards the roof. Only when he'd cleared two sections did he register the sound of the bullets clanging off the metal around him.

His breathing grew heavy and his muscles burned, an odd sense of dizziness emanating from his head wound. Something else was stabbing at his side, but he pushed passed it all when he finally saw the bus speeding its way down the road, a number of enemy vehicles in hot pursuit. He grit his teeth and pushed himself for one final effort. Running along the rooftop, he stayed ahead of the bus, hearing the gunfire grow louder. The bus engine strained as it tried to reach its top speed. He glanced over the edge just once more before leaping off. Through the hot air he descended as he saw the bus rush up to meet him.

He slammed down heavy on its roof and embedded his knife into it, the only thing preventing himself from rolling off the side.

THE BUS

Zac and Dan continued to fire at their pursuers, but the sudden bang on the roof pulled their attention away. All weapons were now trained on the knife and dent above them.

"Unwanted guest?" Zac mused as even Anderson drew out his sidearm and pointed it up.

"No one fire just yet," Anderson ordered as they heard someone moving across the roof. Cammie followed towards the front of the bus and watched as Wolf suddenly appeared in front of them, his body dangling across the front of the bus, working his way towards the door. Grey pulled a lever to open it.

Hopping inside, Cammie could only stare, completely astonished that he had survived. Anderson finally took the initiative and broke the momentary silence.

"What the hell, Wolf? You were supposed to regroup hours ago!" he yelled over the gunfire and screeching of tires. Cammie waited for Wolf to respond, but he remained oddly silent, his blue eyes staring at her just moments before his legs crumpled beneath him.

"Hey, hey...you ok?" Cammie asked as she caught him before he hit the ground. The slight nod of his head was all he could manage as Cammie felt a hot trickle of fresh blood on her arm. "Doc!" she exclaimed. "He's been hit." She quickly began checking him over despite his objections.

Doc ran over to them, grabbing his gauge and scissors. "Where you hit, son?" he asked, but Wolf kept waving them away.

"Quit with all the silent bullshit, will you? You're injured," Cammie objected, and his eyes flashed from the Doc back to her.

"I'm ok. It's not serious," he finally spoke. "Just a flesh wound and a little dizziness." He slowly undid his head covering, but maintained anonymity of his face as Cammie and Doc both shifted to position to check the wound. Using a small torch, Doc noticed some fragments of a bullet and what appeared to be where his helmet had dug in breaking the skin, but it didn't seem to be anything serious. The bigger concern was the blood coming from his ear.

"You have a concussion, you tit," Doc grumbled as he used tweezers to remove the fragments. "I honestly don't understand what the big deal is about not admitting when you're injured. You're still special forces and mortal," he added, scolding both Wolf and Anderson simultaneously.

Cammie assisted by checking over the rest of him, taking note where his other flesh wound was. His armour had held up through quite the beating, but it had cracked. He covered it with his hand, but he couldn't hide the obvious dark blood stain underneath. She met his eyes, and for a moment she saw something in them. Something innocent. Something pained and pleading. She used her hand to gently move his aside and found a hole where a small round or piece of shrapnel had broken through. Blood wasn't coming out and it seemed only a light wound.

"He's ok," Cammie said softly to Doc as he proceeded to wipe away the blood around the small wound.

"Good because we're going to need all the help we can get." He handed Wolf his rifle once he was through. "Better for you to be using it than me right now. I've only one magazine and half of another left though," he added almost apologetically as he helped Wolf to his feet.

The windscreen suddenly cracked as a round pierced through and struck Doc in the head. Cammie felt her body slam hard to the floor as his weight collapsed against her. Doc's lifeless and now colourless eyes stared into hers. Having them stare like that, almost as if seeing into her very soul, made her surroundings go blank. She could only hear the faint sounds of her breathing and register those eyes. Empty. She tried to crawl away, but those eyes kept following her, and she pushed hard against his body to get him off of her.

"Cammie! Cammie...CAMMIE?" Zach yelled, slapping her face to bring her back to reality. The sudden rush of noise made her cover her ears, but Zach tugged at her wrists. "Cammie, snap out of it. Focus on me. Focus on my voice," he said, guiding her attention back to him.

The tears filled her eyes again, and she buried her head against his chest until the overwhelming feeling passed. Zach held her there, even despite all the horrors of battle and death surrounding them. He held her tight and wasn't about to let go. Not this time.

Anderson crawled past Zach to reach Doc, checking him for a pulse. It seemed futile, but he had seen men survive head wounds before. Even serious ones. However, when nothing pulsed beneath his fingers, his heart dropped in sorrow. His friend, his brother, and his ally lay dead in a bus in some God-forsaken part of the world. He carefully shut Doc's eyes with his hand, and in a fit of rage, he emptied what was left in his magazine at the blockade of SUVs in front of them.

Rounds tore into the front of the bus, but Grey didn't slow down, and neither Anderson nor Wolf let up their fire at the sniper and the others ahead. They watched as some fell and others were thrown off their feet as the bullets hit their mark. Some took cover behind the SUVs, but soon they scattered as Grey continued ramming his way through them.

The bus strained and everyone was thrown forward at the point of impact. Dan fell backwards, but the seat caught him from rolling down the middle. Zac braced Cammie against himself so that when he fell, she landed safely on top, still in his arms.

The Prince, Macey, Bex and the Ambassador were all at the ready. Macey used her body as a human shield, protecting the Ambassador who gave a wry smile when she practically straddled him. The moment quickly vanished however when Macey gestured with her firearm.

The bus ploughed on as the pursuing vehicles continued to give chase. Holes shredded into the back, and everyone kept low. Grey and Anderson felt the whiz and crack of bullets fly past them, but remained unscathed.

"Everyone ok?' Zac yelled. "Call out!" he ordered, and one by one everyone gave confirmation.

Dan was the last to respond. "I'm hit," he groaned. "The bloody twats bloody got me."

"Where you hit?" Bex asked as she crawled towards him.

"Body armour took most of it, but I'm pretty sure I felt a rib crack. Nope wait. It still went through." He sighed, almost disappointed.

Bex finally made it over to him. Drawing his sidearm, she quickly peaked over and fired four rounds at their assailants. They hit their mark, the chasing truck too close to avoid being hit, and three of her four rounds hit the driver centre mass. Some screeching and yelling could be heard for a moment before the large crash that followed.

"Nice shooting there," Dan said approvingly, and Bex somehow managed a half smile.

"I lived in the States for a few years. Seemed the norm for everyone," she replied, checking where he'd been hit.

"Oh, gosh no! Don't be one of those Brits."

"Oh? What kind is that exactly?" she asked.

"The kind that's British born but American made." He chuckled and coughed up some blood. His breathing wheezed and Bex frowned. He'd taken another hit to the lungs. Her eyes held his as she used her hands to find where the wound was. A hot wet patch was all the confirmation she needed.

"Don't give me those sad eyes, darling. I've been hit worse," he chuckled again and coughed up more blood.

Bex felt herself give in to his joking nature and managed a small, genuine smile. "I believe you," she said, holding his wound tight. His wheezing gradually slowed as he struggled for breath.

"Do you…?" The tears welled in her eyes as she struggled to find the courage to ask a question. "Do you have someone...back home?" She gripped him tighter so he would feel more relaxed.

"I've a brother. Just the one. I haven't seen him in a few years. Work, you know." Bex nodded her understanding. "Not the most terrible way to go, is it? Dying in the arms of a beautiful woman?" Dan managed one last smile before his head drooped to the side. Bex just held him there. She didn't know what else to do other than hold him.

The bus trudged on as it approached the tower and the evacuation point. The sound of helicopters and Apache gunships overhead drowned out the gunfire, but then came a shout from Anderson.

"RPG! GET DOWN!" Grey yelled and forced the bus out of the warhead's line.

Rocket-propelled grenade, often abbreviated as RPG for short, is a shoulder fired anti-tank weapon developed by the Russians and modelled after German weapons used in both world war one and two. A favourite weapon among Middle Eastern and African countries like the AK47. Despite many beliefs of it being inaccurate it is still very much carries a deadly warhead.

Grey, Anderson and Wolf watched as the rocket screeched towards them at speed, it seemed like this was it, but then time seemed to slow to a crawl. Everyone else lay low. Pressing themselves close to the floor as best they could. It would serve very little if the rocket struck true, but there was still a chance and Zach kept his body as a shield for Cammie. Bex didn't register the warning while Macey used her body to protect the Senator and yelled at the Prince to get down.

Anderson leapt backwards as Wolf traced the rocket. It grew bigger and the trailing smoke behind it was oddly illuminated in the night fires of the city. Helicopter rotor chugged above, his breathing rising above the voices echoing around him. Grey screaming at the wheel as he tried to control the bus. The sweat stinging his eyes. It felt like an eternity, but eventually reality returned to its normal pace as the rocket whizzed off to the side and smashed through one of the side windows. The sudden sharp turns from Grey's driving tossed Wolf off balance that he collapsed on top of Anderson heavily.

Cammie yelped as glass rained down on Zach and her. The heat from its trail Zach felt briefly and then it was gone as it continued and flew out the back end of the bus harmlessly into the distance behind them. The few seconds of shock passed and everyone seemed to erupt in laughter and cheer. Cammie looked up at a smiling Zach who whooped. Standing up she watched him scream obscene words at whoever had fired the rocket. Looking around she even saw Macey managing a relieved sigh and chuckle. Clambering to her feet she moved to Bex who was still sitting at the back.

"Cheated death again." Cammie interjected Bex's thoughts. A faint smile was all she got as a reply, but before she could continue grey yelled from up front.

"We made it. I see the tower. It's up ahea-" the bus suddenly flipped and the deafening sound of an explosion filled the interior.