Lincoln located his assault rifle and snatched it from the ground. He scrambled to his feet and created a safer distance between himself and their armed opponents. With Cam and Peaches, the playing field was almost even.
Lincoln holstered his pistol and fired with his rifle. He took a quick look around. His soldiers were bruised, but still standing on their own two feet. It was the momentum he needed. The momentum to kill. That was, until his enemy unexpectedly stood in front of him in the form of a child. The boy couldn’t have been more than ten years old, the rifle he was wielding nearly bigger than him.
“It’s a kid!” Bean shouted over the noise. “It’s a goddamned kid!”
Bean’s tone was saturated with indecision. He was hesitant to do what needed to be done. Lincoln, however, was not. He lined his sights and fired right between the little boy’s eyes. He turned to Bean and grabbed him by the collar. “He ain’tyourfucking kid! Stay focused!”
Lincoln surveyed his surroundings. Thanks to the extra manpower, he and his men had successfully cleared a path to the downed chopper. Since there was no time to waste, Lincoln took off running.
“Move! Move! Move!”
Cam and Peaches maintained their positions as Lincoln and the rest of his men bolted toward the helicopter on a path created by the blood of their enemies. Since they were already so close, it didn’t take long to reach the chopper.
Lincoln readied his rifle.“Go!”
With his rifle trained, he scanned from the left to the right, covering his soldiers as they assisted the injured out of the helicopter. Once everyone was evacuated safely, Jake and Rabbit began placing C-4 strategically throughout the chopper.
Lincoln noticed movement in the dark. He looked through his sights, discovered a large group running in their direction, and immediately keyed his mic.
“We got action to the East!” he warned. It was a relatively small crowd, but they were still outnumbered.
Lincoln glanced over his shoulder to assess Jake and Rabbit’s progress. Thankfully, they’d hopped out of the chopper and were hauling ass toward him. He and his men took off in the dark. Since they were carrying wounded men, they weren’t moving as fast as they should have been.
“Blow it!” Lincoln shouted to either Jake or Rabbit. He wasn’t sure which one was holding the detonator. Turned out, it was Jake.
Without slowing, Jake pushed a button which set off the explosion that destroyed the chopper. Unfazed by the blast, not one Ranger looked back.
In order to cover his soldiers, Lincoln slowed and fell to the rear. It was only seconds later when a volley of shots rang out in the air. He and his men hooked a right down a narrow street where they used a concrete building as cover while they returned fire.
Lincoln keyed the mic and instructed Peaches and Cam to abandon their positions and return to the Humvees. With any luck, the rest of them wouldn’t be too far behind.
He peered around the wall, fired a succession of rounds, then ducked back behind the building. The insurgents were getting closer and just as he was getting ready to grab a handful of Rangers to take up position across the road, he heard the familiar whirl of helicopter blades.
Lincoln peeped around the building just as Major Stonebridge’s voice interrupted the silence on the radio.
“Queen Mary 5-2 to King 6.”
Lincoln clicked the mic and responded. “This is King 6. Over.”
“Queen Mary 5-2 in position for a gun run, but we’re flying blind. What’s your fix? Over.”
“Flare!”Lincoln yelled over his shoulder. “Queen Mary 5-2. We’re about a quarter click away from the crowd. Standby. Lighting a flare. Copy?”
“Copy that, King 6.”
“Keep your eyes open, Queen Mary 5-2. RPGs in the crowd. Copy?”
“Copy that King 6.”
Lincoln rested against the wall while Ghost activated a flare.
“Queen Mary 5-2 to King 6. I got your position. I’m locked onto your target. Gonna lay down a little cover fire. Copy.”
“Queen Mary 5-2, that’s a good copy. Go ahead and clear the field. Over.”
“Copy that, King 6! Queen Mary 5-2, over and out!”
Lincoln clutched his rifle tight and waited. As soon as he heard a barrage of what sounded like mini-cannons, he took off around the building and waved for his men to follow. They ran along the side of the building, cautiously scanning for threats along the way. In order to cover his men, he fell to the rear.
He looked back. To his relief, Queen Mary 5-2 was mowing their enemies down like wild grass. By the time they made it to the Humvees, they were no longer being pursued by armed insurgents.
Queen Mary 5-2 hovered as they loaded their injured into the vehicles. SFC Peters hopped into the driver’s seat and started the engine. Lincoln stood by the Humvee and hurried his Rangers.
“Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!”
Once the last man was on board, they took off in the dark and burned rubber to the Command Center.
