Wildlands (rskde & BurningWillows)

[BurningWillows]

Hearing Kevin's radio go off she smiles, "Guess I have a day to break his sucker in. Want to go on a run? Or, jog...depending how fast I can learn to work my knee."

It still felt odd and detatched and yet somehow still hers. Taking his hand, she let him lead outside, grabbing her knife and glock off the bedside table so that she had protection before following him outside.

~~

The next morning she woke at 4am to get ready, slipping out of Kevin's comfortable and warm arms and tiptoeing to the showers. Moving to her own room, she dresses in black leather leggings, her bulletproof vest, then a black sweater under her padded leather jacket. Once a spy, always a spy. she thinks, knowing the rest would have Ghost gear on.

Tying her hair in a tight bun she slips a black beanie on to hide the blonde strands. Making sure her glock is on her, and her knife, she slips into the weaponry and grabs one of the military grade carbines she sees Em and Arya always carrying. Then she wanders back to Winters room, getting him up just in time so he can dress before they head out to the main area.

Em and Al wake up and dress in his room, giving up on secrecy for the morning. As they strap on the last of their outfits, Ember kisses his ear softly, humming as she does.

"I love you. Be safe today."

Then she's off, meeting Arya in the hall as the women wander and chat together into the main room, finding spots along the wall as they wait for everyone else to fill in.

Already up and ready before the rest, Red lies on the couch in full gear, rifle at his side as he tosses a ball in the air, waiting. The girls file in first, then Kat and Snowy. He sits up as the last three come in, waiting to here the whole plan, and where he's going to be positioned.

 

[Risky]

Shrake meets everyone in the main room, crossing his arms before speaking.

"Listen up, today is the day we liberate La Paz." He starts.

"Here's the plan ladies and gentlemen, we're going to drop a kilo out via the chopper, it'll be a landing, we're gonna take out one of the outposts on the outskirts of the town before going in and attacking the cartel HQ there, we'll push'em out and keep'em out, I don't care where you set up or how, just do it." He says to the men and women around him.

"Load up." He says to them, walking to the chopper.

He feels a spark of electricity as she kisses his ear, he walks out into the main hall and listens to the briefing before walking out to the helicopter, sitting in his usual spot with his rifle in his hands, ready to go.

 

[BurningWillows]

Everyone was quick to jump in the helicopter, Ember starting to up. No one really spoke or said much, some still wiping sleep from their eyes. Kat sat between Winters and Arya, munching on an energy bar as Arya passed them out, being wise to bring enough for everyone.

"Anyone else excited?" she grinned widely, turning to look at Kevin, "I sure am."

Hours later Emberly landed the helicopter smoothly outside of La Paz, shutting the blades off before anyone could jump out. As everyone else filed out and did last checks on their gear and weapons she did a quick check on the copter, making sure it would be ready for a heedy escape should they need one. Then, she too, jumped out and checked her carbine before joining the group half circled around Shrake.

 

[Risky]

Shrake looks around at everyone before nodding and gesturing to the sky. "It's still dark, we'll take the outpost quietly and we'll see what we can do about the HQ.. Actually, I have an idea." He says before looking around the group.

"Kat, if you have your laptop on you, Ember, Al and Snowy can get you into that HQ and download some info before we wreak havoc on the place, we'll take down the outpost and contact you once we're ready." He says to the four of them.

"Red will be setting up outside of the outpost, Al will set up once his infiltration is complete, split up into your groups and get walking, the targets should be marked on your maps." He says to the men and women around him before starting his walk to the enemy outpost.

Al listens to the briefing intently before nodding, switching to his silenced FN45 before starting to walk towards La Paz, they only had a kilometer to walk so it would be no big deal for the highly trained group.

 

[BurningWillows]

"I didn't bring my laptop, but I got this," she smiled, pulling out a small USB from her knife sheath, "Always have one of these bad boys on me."

It was standard practice for spies to carry them, and further more hers always had a program to decrypt computers once she plugged it in, incase there was a firewall standing in her way to collecting important files. Shoving it back in her pocket, she fell in line with Winters and Ember as the three of them branched off and caught up with Al.

Arya walked beside Derulo, Shrake ahead of them and Red in the rear. The four didn't speak, just walked in silence as the night pressed on and they snuck closer to the outpost.

 

[Risky]

Al does a quick sweep of the area around them as they enter La Paz, the city seems quiet, completely clear, the house curtains are closed and everything is.. Silent, nobody is anywhere it seems, which is strange for the large settlement.

Al shakes his head, on edge. "I don't like this.." He says quietly.

He moves towards the HQ, and finds it again, completely clear, he moves into the computer room, sweeping it with his pistol before motioning for Kat to walk in. "Download everything and let's get the fuck out of this ghost town." He whispers to her.

They find themselves outside of the compound, Shrake screws a silencer onto the barrel of his M16, moving into the compound quietly.

He spots several guards, none of them seem to be paying attention, he fires a couple of rounds and takes them down, but they don't.. Fall over like human beings, they disappear.

"What the fuck?" He mutters, looking around before spotting another guard, standing completely stagnant, he fires a shot at him, and he too, disappears.

Yuri Constantinov stands outside of Casper main, motioning for his squad to move in. They move at a walking past, sweeping throughout the main room and not leaving a trace. Each soldier has the picture of a ghost on their helmets, but the ghost has several bullet holes in it, it's eyes are crossed out.

They move around without moving anything until they find their target. "Be advised, we have the laptop." Yuri says, his thick Russian accent is clear over his walkie.

The squad moves out of the base and back into the jungle, they mount up into vehicles and speed off towards La Paz.

 

[BurningWillows]

Katerina gets stiller and tenser the more they walk into Bolivia's capital. Something isn't right at all. He can't know we are here though. There' no way he can know I'm even alive.

As they move into HQ she pulled the beanie completely over her face, with only two eye holes cut out to see in. It helps her blend into the shadows, as well as keep her anonymous. But its useless; no one is here either.

"Something is wrong," she hissed, pressing near Al as she pulled them all into a crouch, "I know Narcos. This feels...wrong. Call in Shrake. Make sure they are okay. And stay here."

Leaving the three of them crouched by the computer room door, all of them watching the hall, she kept the beanie down as she moved to the first computer. Turning it on she slipped the USB in, watching the screen come to life. It shone brightly, prompting her eyes to sweep the room in habit. And then she caught it: security cameras.

Fuck. FUCK I forgot!

Dropping down to her knees, she stole the keyboard, typing in a code without looking. She heard the beep, her USB finished with the hacking the firewall and stealing all the files inside. She didn't even look, her head flashing up to pull it out and pressing the power button. The code she inputed would wipe everything and anything in the computers, sweeping through it. Whatever she had downloaded would be erased.

Crawling towards them she pointed out the camera, her eyes hard, "We need to get those tapes and get the fuck out of here. This...this is a trap."

Red positioned himself outside the outpost, watching with eagerness through the darkness. After a few minutes of increasing silence though he began to worry. Where was the gunfire? The fight?

"Hey, everything clear in there?" he called softly through the radio.

 

[Risky]

The squad fans out into the HQ, their weapons aimed at the four ghosts in there. "Hands!" They start yelling, their guns trained on all of the Ghosts.

"Hands! NOW!" The obvious leader of the group yells at them, he also has a Russian accent.

Al scowls, aiming his pistol around, there was no way he was going to survive if he opened up on these men. He glances around him.

And if he shoots.. What about his team?

He feels himself lowering his weapon to the floor, there was no way out of this. He raises his hands in the air, Winters does the same as Al, following his example.

"No.. Something is-" He is cut off by the sound of explosions as the entire compound lights up in flames, he feels himself being propelled backwards, sliding along the road before resting his head back, coughing.

His lungs are on fire, the entire compound around him is completely demolished, the guards they had been seeing were balloons, the whole thing a giant booby trap.

 

[BurningWillows]

The explosion startles him and Red is on his feet immediatly, rifle over his shoulder as he runs towards the burning outpost and his comrades.

Arya fell back, falling into the grass with a scream, her pants on fire. It took her a few minutes to roll in the grass until it was out, still leaving burns in her skin.

"Fuck!" she yelped, limping to the trees only to look back at the fiery outpost, "Goddamn it."

Em lowered her gun, her eyes trained on the closest three as she raised her hands, whispering a curse under her breath.

​

Kat sighed, I should have known better. How did I not know better.

Putting her gun down she raised her hands, keeping the beanie down over her face.

 

[Risky]

Four men step forward, each smashing the butt of their guns into each of the Ghosts heads, making sure they are unconscious before dragging them to a transport outside, loading them in and securing them with bags over their heads and zip ties.

They drive for two hours before reaching a secluded mansion, one of Skull Face's hideouts. They bring each Ghost inside and they tie them to a chair each before leaving them alone, all of them cannot see as they have bags over their heads.

Skull Face stands in front of the four Ghosts, motioning for his guards to wake them up, which they easily do. He walks over to Katerina and rips the bag off of her head.

"Hello my dear." He says to her coolly, the anger in his eyes is practically the most visible thing about him right now.

"I saw your friends little stunt with my mansion, and I was not pleased.. So I tracked you, and I've found you.. I told you that nobody fucks with me, and now you're going to pay in blood." He says to the woman in front of him.

"My first question for you, what is the password to that precious laptop you never let me access?" He asks her. "Oh, and if it's incorrect I'm killing the one with tattoo's first." He says to her knowingly, as if he knew what was going on between them.

 

[BurningWillows]

Running up to the tree line, he caught sight of Arya, jogging to her.

"You ok?"

"No," she sighed, "I have some pretty bad burns. But don't worry about it. I can't see Derulo or Shrake. Leave me...find them."

Red paused, not competely comfortable with leaving her alone. It was obvious now that someone knew their plans. If they were still lurking, leaving Arya wounded could cause her life.

"I can carry you," he offered, dropping his bag. The only things left in it were extra magazines that he pocketed in his pants, and a med kit he didn't need if she had one.

Pulling her onto his back, he moved back into the trees, carrying her as they tried to remain as quiet as possible, two sets of eyes looking for Shrake and Derulo.

Em remained mute and frozen, feeling their hands on her arms, then shoving her into the chair. She could see nothing, and her mind continued to whirl over what was happening, how they got caught. She was unsure if the others were there until Narcos voice spoke, making her skin crawl. He was speaking to her left, making Em guess it was Kat beside her. Meaning Al and Snowy are in the room too somewhere.

At the request for the laptop's password, Em bit her tongue, fear lacing her. Katerina had only let one person look at the laptop when she'd woken from her unconcious state two weeks ago: Shrake. Meaning none of the rest of them knew, not that it would matter. If Skull Face decided they knew, failing to come up with the correct password meant death. The only way out of this was Kat telling him it, but at the risk of her own life.

We are fucked. No matter what...we are fucked.

Kat blinked at the harsh light, trying to adjust her baby blue eyes before she looked into the familiar face of the man she'd lied to for six years.

"Woah woah," she widened her eyes, looking scared, "I didn't know he'd blow up the mansion! I hired him as a bodyguard, not a bloody stunt double."

Fuck...if he'd tracked her and found her, it meant he knew about the Ghosts...which means he knew who they all were...but how? There was no way he could tell she was lying, not with how well she had perfected the skill. Still he had evidence against her, and she didn't have the time to think up a convincing story. What she needed was to buy time, but there was little of even that. He asked for the password and she blanched, unsure what to do. Not tell him, lose Winters. Tell him, and reveal just how much she had shared. The only advantage was even if he did see the files, he could never see who saw the information. The computer was designed that way, with another computer hooked up to it that her handler kept. Everything she saved or uploaded he could see, without revealing himself. Katerina had actually only ever met her own handler once, a week after she'd left Narcos, before joining the Ghosts.

He'd want that information too, and probably kill for it as well. If she wasn't already in the grave. He never left rats alive.

What am I doing? I know this man...I can do this.

She clamped her mouth down tight, watching his eyes grow with fury as the gun aimed down the line at Winters.

"Must piss you off that a woman tricked you," she hissed, his eyes shooting back to her, "A pretty dumb blonde you fancied turned out to be a damn good spy, secretly exposing all your little dirty secrets. Does it hurt?"

His anger grew. Narcos might not feel much, but he definitely got angry.

"You know what you really want Narcos? You don't want my laptop. You already know whats on it...what you'll see. No, what you want is me. You want me at your feet, begging for death."

Her eyes held his, her words worming their way in his head, "You won't kill me quickly. You want it slow...painful. You want to beat the bitch that beat you."

Leaning back, she rose her chin higher, looking cocky even as her stomach knotted, "But I won't give you that. I will die in silence, watching those eyes bulging at my defiance. I won't give you another second of my damn emotions. I'll give you the password, you egotistical ass, and let you keep me for your sick but pointless games. You just let the three of them go."

 

[Risky]

His anger is replaced with satisfaction, a grin growing across his face. "You are arrogant, which makes you fucking stupid, you'll give me that password, and then I won't kill you, because I don't want to." He says go her before leaning forward, his eyes staring straight into her soul. "I will break you by using the people you call your friends against you. If anything should kill you, it will be them.. If you are lucky." He whispers before backing away.

"Now, the password or he dies." He says, grabbing a forty four magnum from his waistband and pressing it against Snowy's head.

Shrake sits up and brushes off his pants, looking around him. He spots Derulo, who lays unmoving about five yards to his left.

Shrake jumps up and rushes over to him, feeling dizzy from getting up so quickly. He looks over the man, and his shoulders sag.. Derulo is dead.

"Arya, Derulo is KIA." Shrake says into his radio quietly, grabbing the smaller man's dog tags.

Derulo has a piece of shrapnel the size of a fist stuck in his head, his glassy eyes staring up at the night sky, blood running from the clogged wound in his head, running down and mixing with rain water from the morning dew.

 

[BurningWillows]

His words buzzed through the radio and Arya arms tightened around Red's neck, her breath stopping. Not another team mate...not another friend.

"O-okay," she replied quietly and luckily Red jumped in.

"Where are you Shrake? I have Doc. She's injured."

"Silivka!" she spat, closing her eyes at the defeat coursing through her, "It's Silivka you fucking bastard. Don't hurt them."

 

[Risky]

Skull Face motions for a man with thick glasses on to type in the password, the man with glasses looks up and nods.

"Excellent, and now one final thing before I let you free.." He says to her, grabbing her face and making her look at her friends.

"I will only allow three of you to leave, you must choose one to die, other than yourself of course.. Choose wisely, and if you don't choose.. They all die and you live, sounds fun, right?" He asks with a laugh that almost seems.. Maniacal.

 

[BurningWillows]

Katerina paled, trying to keep her confidence up but it cracking. How...?

"You monster," she breathed, glaring at him, "You can't expect me to..."

But he did. She could see it. And she was on a timer.

"I...I..."

Emberly wanted to cry. This was cruel, to all of them. Ghost protocol kept her quiet, but god did she want to scream at him. He couldn't do this, couldn't make her fucking choose.

But who would she choose? Em's mind whirled, counting Winters off. She already gave up the password for him, she wouldn't let him die. That meant either Al or herself. If she lost Al...

But then again, Katerina was always about surviving, about remaining alive another day. Logically the girl must know if Al or Em died on her account, the other would never forgive her. Narcos was right, she'd suffer as the Ghosts turned against her, or worse, on each other. That was the choice, Kat losing either way. She either lost Winters...or she lost the Ghosts.

"Me," Em blurted, closing her eyes as the word rang through the room.

I have no family...I have no one but Al. He'll move on. It's part of the job he always says. He'll be fine. I...I have to.

"No," Kat snapped, revealing a shred of loyalty, "I don't want any of you dead!"

"But you have to choose," Em whined, hearing a sharp intake beside her, "So I'm making it for you. Me."

"Ember please..."

"Katerina shut up for once and listen to an order! Just this once...before I..."

Katerina growled, her voice cold, "I will kill you Narcos. I will end your fucking life for this. You...I will never forgive you."

"Choose Katerina," through his voice the red head could hear he was enjoying this far too much.
Then in a almost broken voice, her cocky confidence cracking under the pressure, "Ember...it's...Ember."

 

[Risky]

"Em, no!" Al yells, he is immediately silenced by the butt of a gun into his stomach, he coughs and spits, groaning in pain, the wind knocked from him, preventing him from speaking.

On the inside he is panicking, he can't lose her.. Not again, not permanently, they were supposed to be alive together, to be strong, and now she was volunteering herself for death..

Skull Face shrugs before walking up to Emberly, the hammer of his forty four clicks back, and then a gunshot.. Blood flies from behind the fiery haired woman, the force from the magnum forcing her backwards, the bullet itself tearing her skull apart as it impacts, leaving her more than dead.

"NO!" Al manages to yell, he is knocked out again a long with Katerina and Winters, they are escorted back to the transport and dumped back in La Paz, all of them unconscious.

 

[BurningWillows]

Once Arya and and Red found Shrake, the three of them stared over Derulo's body.

"Should we move him?" Arya asked, her eyes still sweeping the area as she quietly mourned another lose.

"Has anyone heard from the others?" Red piped up too, looking at both of them.

They all tried their radios, and Arya's gut dropped further with the lack of reply. Not only were they waiting for them, but now Derulo was dead and four members MIA.

"We should go into La Paz," Arya's voice was restrained, "We need...to look for them. I just want the hell out of here."

~~ A few hours later Red's breath was slightly ragged from making the trek and carrying Arya. No one spoke, just walked into the Ghost town of a capital, surprised at the lack of noise.

"This whole thing was a set up, wasn't it?" Arya whispered, putting two and two together first, "We need to find them. Fast."

 

[Risky]

Shrake points over to the three team members on the ground outside of the HQ. "That's them, get them secure while I secure the HQ, La Paz is still under our control if we can take out their comm station." He says before running inside.

He plants explosives on the comm station inside before walking out, holding the detonator in his hand. "We need to get them to the helicopter and.. Where's Ember?" He asks, as if just now noticing there were only three.

 

[BurningWillows]

Arya and Red stayed with the three unconcious members while Shrake ran inside. Once Red had put her back on her blistered feet, Arya limped over to the first person, pulling the black bag off their head to reveal Winters. The second person also had a bag and the last was Katerina, her nose caked in blood but otherwise breathing. Red pulled the second bag off, revealing Al and the two of them stared in absolute silence.

Where's Ember? Why isn't she here?

"Wake up man," Red shook Al's shoulders, "C'mon guys!"

Arya flicked her flashlight on and waved it in Snowy's face, unable to bend over. As he woke Red moved to Kat, shaking her less roughly. The blonde woke with a gasp, her eyes wild.

"Where..." she sighed, looking alarmed at the other two, "I...I..."

Shrake joined them then, asking the question on the doctor's mind. All three sets of eyes moved down to the waking three Ghosts, waiting for someone to answer.

 

[Risky]

Alex looks up at Shrake before speaking. "She's dead.. Skull Face killed her." He says before getting up. "We're compromised, Skull Face got access to Katerina's laptop, and the fuckers who captured us know where our base is, we have to lay low and relocate.. I know a place to do it, if you allow me to, Shrake." Alex says to the older man, who just nods.

"We'll blow this HQ and get back to Casper, we'll pack personal gear, weapons, unit gear, and rations into the helicopter and I'll fly us to the new site, let's go." He says before walking off towards the helicopter.

They blow up the HQ and fly back to Casper, not a word passes between them, Alex is angry for the most part, the emotions failing to hit him so far.

They pack the chopper with everything but the furniture and leave Casper for the scavengers.

They fly to an abandoned hotel out in the middle of nowhere, they land the chopper on the roof and cover it with a large cover to conceal it before securing the building, it has multiple chunks missing from the walls and ceilings from bombings. They set up the stations, spreading out weapons into individual rooms and scavenging for food and other necessities, finding running water and electricity.

They set up a new Casper base, the chopper is unpacked..

Alex sits in his room, the door is locked.. He holds his head in his hands, Emberly is on his mind.

 

[BurningWillows]

Finishing up with unpacking, Red volunteers to take first patrol, wanting to keep their new base safe, especially from any wanderers who could pose a threat. He ends up taking the only watch. Arya is bedridden until her burns heal in a coupe days, enough for her to move freely without complaint. Al had locked himself in the room, and Shrake seemed to have done the same. Red was about to ask Kat to take the second watch before she went to bed, until he saw the look in her eye. Keeping his mouth shut, the sniper resigned to stay up all night.

"Just me, myself and I," he murmured, wandering aimlessly through the hotel, gun at the ready.

The minute she was free from her duties Katerina disappeared so fast even Winters didn't know the room she chose. It wasn't that she didn't want to see him, as much as she didn't want a soul seeing her cry.

Curling up in the hard bed with a moth eaten blanket over her, Katerina let herself cry for the first time in years. She hadn't known Ember long, but she knew the sacrifice the red head had made. She gave up Al...when I couldn't lose Winters. She made the choice I couldn't.

A part of her envied Ember. She died a hero at least. Another part wished she had that bravery, instead remaining selfish and wanting to keep not only her life but Kevin's, even over another's.

Silently she let the tears fall, her body shaking as her mind tossed between bitter rage at Narcos and sadness over Ember. She only dashed the tears when a soft knock echoed through the room, someone at the door.

"Yes?" she asked, trying to keep the shakiness out of her tone.

 

[Risky]

Kevin opens the door quietly, looking at Katerina on the bed. "Hey.." He says to her quietly, closing the door behind him before walking over to her, his HK416 still attached to his back.

He takes the weapon off of himself and lays it against the wall, sitting down on the bed next to her. "I know what you're feeling right now.. I don't know if you need me to comfort you.. Or leave you alone, but I can tell you that none of what happened was your fault." He says to her.

He places a hand on her shoulder, as if hesitant to touch her, unsure of how to help her.

 

[BurningWillows]

Kat looked up at him with puffy red eyes, dashing the last of her tears away, "Hey Kevin."

As he sat, his hand reached out and touched her shoulder. She paused, then leaned into him, nestling under the crook of his arm with her head on his shoulder.

"It feels like my fault. I spent six years...how did I forget the damn security cameras? I should have known better. I should have been more careful with you guys. None of this would have happened if we hadn't gone for more intel."

Pulling the USB out of her pocket she handed it to him, "We lost something for that little dumb thing. Like...we fucking lost someone over something so fucking minuscule."

She sighed, rubbing her face, "I can't even look Shrake in the eye now. I can't give it to him. Please Kevin, hand it over for me?"

Hiccuping, she sniffled away the last of her tears before continuing, "But not tonight. Please stay..."

 

[Risky]

Kevin takes the USB before pocketing it, wrapping his arm around her fully.

"Kat, Em and Derulo knew what they signed up for before they did, they knew that one day their time will come, and nobody here likes that, but it's not your fault." He explains to the woman next to him.

"Derulo died fighting, and Ember died trying to save me and Al, which I don't think she did very well.. Considering Alex isn't taking it very well." He says to her, rubbing the back of his head with his free hand.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that it wasn't fair that Skull Face made you choose like that.. But war isn't fair, people die and in order to focus on your priorities and your mission you need to focus on finding the motherfuckers who killed your friends and put a bullet in their head, make them feel the pain that the men and women around you that have fallen felt before they fell." He says, rubbing her shoulder lightly as he explains.

"You shouldn't try to talk to Alex too soon, I think Arya might have that one under control, just think about yourself right now, and he'll get help."

 

[BurningWillows]

"Arya was Ember's friend too. I won't be surprised if they both hate me."

She sighed, pulling him down to lie in the bed so she could rest her head on his arm, "I'm not going to just put a bullet through that man's skull. What he did...what he's done to me in the past six years. Narcos doesn't fear death, but I sure as hell am going to make him beg for it."