Guardian Angel

Chapter Eight

Andreas slowly made his way through the forest, checking every few meters for a possible threat. The last attack had made him a little paranoid, but he was rather safe than sorry.

He didn't have to walk for long, until he saw the forest clearing and the helicopters. He slowed down and raised his gun, while taking cover from tree to tree.

He slowly came closer to the two helicopters and when he was only a few meters behind them, he squatted down behind a bush and waited. There was no movement for now, but Andreas kept his gun up.

Not even two minutes later, a person stepped out of the helicopter that was closer to Andreas. The person had a hat and was smoking a cigar. He was looking around, scanning his surroundings

Andreas smiled to himself. He had heard from his captain, that Price loved his cigars and was smoking them almost always.

"Andreas? Are you here?", the captain suddenly called out

"I am. Are you alone?", he answered, not yet standing up.

"No. I have three more people with me. One medic and two of my unit."

Andreas nodded to himself, before he finally stood up. He whistled and Price turned around, while the Italian walked towards him. He had lowered his weapon and shook hands with the captain.

While shaking hands, the other three persons came out of the helicopters. The three shook hands and the medic immediately asked
"How are Roach and Ghost?"
"When I left them, they were stable. I had to break to perform CPR on both of them and broke some ribs in the meantime. Roach is awake, but can't talk at the moment. Ghost is still unconscious and his pulse is weak but stable. I couldn't get the bullet out of his body, so I temporarily stitched it. Both have lost much blood. I tried to get Roach to rest, but he wanted to wait until he knew that Ghost was safe, until he would rest. From what I saw he is pretty traumatized. We also had a incident a few hours ago. One of Shepherds men came back and wanted to kill them both. Roach shot him three times."

The medic nodded and they began to walk back to the house.

They could still see the blood trail on the dry forest floor and Andreas could see the worried look on Price's face.

"How did you find the house?", Price asked suddenly, catching Andreas off guard.
"By accident really. I was in this area for a while and was looking for fresh water and something to eat. Found a small stream and wanted to make camp. Wandered around for almost an hour before I found the house. The house itself looks like it would collapse in the next storm, but I am grateful that I found it."

Price nodded and took a drag from his cigar. The house was now in sight and he noticed how Andreas walked faster, the closer the house was.

When they arrived at the broken door, Andreas knocked in a specific pattern and said loud
"Roach, it's me. Price is with me, we are coming inside."

He kicked the door open and walked inside. He took a deep breath, when he saw Roach still sitting on the bed, the carved wood still in his hands.

Andreas slowly sat down on the old sofa and smiled under his mask. He could see how much they cared for each other and it reminded him of his own unit, but he was certain, that both soldiers would survive.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over to where Price now sat next to him
"What did the medic say? How is Ghost?", he asked the captain
"She said that he will make it. We all want to thank you for saving them."

"It's what I do. When I became medic I swore an oath that I would try and save everyone I could. I may have lost my family, but I have never lost my way. When Roach told me, that you are the captain, I had to think about my captain. He once told me that if I would ever encounter you or your unit, I could trust you completely."

Price smiled at him and seemed to think about something, before he suddenly asked
"Do you want to come with us? I would like to get to know you better. You would make a great addition to the taskforce. But I understand if you don't want to."

Andreas didn't know what to answer. He knew that he had to let go and wanted to go back to active duty, but he didn't know if he was ready to join another unit already.

After a while, Andreas sighed and answered
"I don't know if I'm ready to trust another unit already. I want to try it though. I have to move on, and I want to come with you."

Again the captain smiled and looked over to where the medic had put Ghost on a stretcher to move him.

The tall soldier with the mohawk had his arms around Roach. The exhaustion was prominent in the soldiers face, even through the mask.

With a nod, Price and Andreas stood up and Price gave the sign to move.

Andreas quickly grabbed his weapons and the things Roach and he had carved and then followed Price out of the house. He did not waste a gaze back at the house and looked forwards into a new future.