The Bullet's Mark (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Fanfiction)

Chapter 18

    "Soap," Price's low snap came into the comms, "radio check." 
    "Copy," Soap responded, glancing at my determined face. "Dug in with line of sight." 
    "Right," Price acknowledged. "Kamarov's our eyes and ears inside the hotel. Once he gives us the nod, we'll kick this off. What do you see?"
    "Makarov's late for his own funeral," I commented. "He could hustle up a bit." 
    "Sit tight until we can get a clean shot," Price reminded. "Then you can put as many rounds on him as you like." 
    "It'll only take one," Soap replied darkly, his voice full of loathing. 
    I nodded once, putting a counted and fully-prepared clip into my sniper rifle. Soap adjusted his on the edge of the broken church barrier. I leaned to the left, allowing my rifle to settle on another ledge for stability; I trusted my shot but I wanted to make sure with this one. 
    "The meeting will be on the second floor." 
    "Makarov's convoy has arrived," I commented, seeing the vehicles pull in. 
    "Convoy has arrived," Price reported. 
    "We see it," Roach came into the comms as well. 
    Four armored vehicles was all that stood between us and the blood of Makarov. Oh how my adrenaline was rushing and my finger twitched near the trigger. 
    "They driving up to the hotel," Soap reported. 
    "Do you see him?" Roach sounded just a little too excited. 
    "There's the bastard," I caught the dark-haired, rat-faced man in my scope and stayed put there. "Third vehicle."
     As if on command of my comment, Makarov turned his head from speaking to his guard outside the door and looked up toward Soap and I, then glanced further down in the direction of Roach and Yuri. My gut flared in disbelief. 
    "Shit. I think he's looking right at us," Soap was the only one to speak aloud. 
    "Thought I was seeing things," Roach responded quietly. 
    I tracked the vehicles in my scope, watching them pull into the parking garage. "They're pulling into the garage now." 
    "Kamarov, you're up," Price paused for a response. "Kamarov, do you read me?" 
    "Probably forgot to switch it on," Roach huffed in lightheartedness. 
    "Doesn't matter. Makarov's here," Price was determined. "We move forward with the plan. I'm in position. Ready?"
    I shifted my line of sight to where Price was flashing his muzzle our way. The light reflected it perfectly and I nodded to Soap to signal I'd found him. 
    "We see you," Roach came into the comms and then Soap repeated the same. 
    Price attached repelling gear together and turned, beginning to repel downward. He went down to the bottom of the clock, waiting for more signals to continue. Four guards on the balcony below paced back and forth.
    "We'll each take one," Soap commented. "On your shot Yuri." 
    Yuri took the furthest one, Roach following with the second next to him. Soap and I took out the remaining two as Price flew down the rest of the way. He swung onto the balcony guns blazing and breached the room, throwing the window blinds to the side and breaking through one of the many panels of glass. 
    Price shot at every Russian he could and we backed him up. It wasn't thirty seconds later that the main room on the second floor Price was in was clear. I swayed back and forth with my rifle, searching the room for the bastard we'd breached for. 
    An elevator directly in front of Price swung open, revealing a man strapped to a chair with C4 attached to him. I drew closer to my scope, realizing the man was Kamarov. 
    "What the hell? Price, who is that?" Soap demanded. 
    "Kamarov," I whispered at the same time Price spoke into the comms. 
    "I'm sorry Price," Kamarov's apology could be heard as he rocked his head back in dread. 
    It was going wrong, I realized immediately. Makarov hadn't been to the meeting and hadn't shown his face for a reason. The bastard set up Kamarov that way as a trap—a way to kill Price. As if on command to my thoughts, I heard a snarly, bitter Russian voice interfere into our comms. 
    "Captain Price," Makarov spoke in Russian afterward, translating to: "Hell awaits you."
    "Get out of there now!" I shouted, into the comms. "Go Price!" 
    Price darted out of the room, disappearing in time for the explosion to occur. It rocked the room, the blast causing resting pigeons nearby to fly in a spook. I drew away from my scope, looking at Soap. There was a momentary silence before a low beeping sounded below us. 
    "Get out now!" Soap didn't hesitate to fling me off the edge of the tower. 
    I put my forearms in front of my face as I barreled into construction and debris, falling floors upon floors down toward the ground. Soap was right next to me, merely missing the explosion of C4. I rolled across plywood, groaning as pieces of debris scratched and stabbed me. Soap rolled to a stop ahead of me, a piece of wood crushing his left arm. He screeched, the sound dull and wavy in my ringing ears. 
    "Samantha...if you want to know more about Blackjack, come to me," the rat-faced bastard came into my comms, hacking them like he had before. "You never should've brought them here. This is your doing." 
    "N-No," I groaned, rolling to my stomach in a coughing fit. 
    I pushed myself up from the debris and cobblestone, looking through the dust and floating rubble. Soap was shoving the piece of wood off himself, grunting in pain and disapproval. 
    "Soap," my words were weak and the man snapped to me in concern, "the other—" 
    Before I could finish, the other tower Yuri and Roach were situated in erupted into an explosion as well. I flinched and forced myself to stand, sore and bruised up but not bleeding. My thigh was aching though. 
    "Sam, your thigh," Soap managed, looking at the old wound reappearing through my uniform. 
    "Don't worry about me!" I coughed and picked up my rifle. "Roach!" 
    The two of us managed to half-run, half-gimp over to where the other tower was almost completely decimated. Yuri was struggling to stand, stunned by the blast, and reached out to a pile of rubble. 
    "Roach!" I screeched and closed the distance within seconds, tearing at the pile of fallen objects. 
    The frozen, lifeless soldier didn't move even as I rolled him over. Yet in a sudden breath of surprise, Roach coughed awake. His eyes were wide and then narrowed upon focusing on me. 
    "Sam..." 
    "You're gonna be all right son," Price sprinted up, firing a grenade from the under-barrel of his rifle. "Yuri, get him up, we've got to keep moving." 
    As Yuri groggily stood and moved over to the fallen comrade, I looked over to Soap. He was watching Roach like a hawk, his blue gaze shifting to my thigh in concern. I glanced down, seeing droplets of blood staining my pant leg from the inside out. When I shifted my gaze to where Roach was being heaved upward by Yuri, my heart dropped to my stomach.
    Blood. So much blood...

    "Roach," I croaked out. 
    "Yuri..."Roach was muttering, his gaze blank and twitching as he tried to stay conscious. "Makarov..."
    We pushed across the square, Price in the lead and Soap holding the rear. I stayed right behind Yuri, keeping an eye on Roach and firing at the incoming force of Russian soldiers; they were bold and pushed hard in their motions. 
    "Don't stop! Keep moving!" Price shouted over the destruction.
    Rockets flew our direction from the clocktower, the building where Makarov was likely sitting with a triumphant smirk on his face. I struggled to keep up with my leg, but continued to push for the sake of Roach. 
    "Hang in there Roach," I pleaded, throwing a grenade into a crowd of pressing soldiers. 
    A rocket flew into a building next to Price, the blast blowing debris and papers into the air. Price stumbled from the shockwave yet didn't fall. 
    As we banked to left, Yuri lost a grip on Roach. The two stumbled to their knees, both grunting. Roach was breathing heavily, his head limp as he stumbled into unconsciousness again. I heaved Roach up from the other side, Soap coming to push Yuri up as well.
    "Sam..." Roach sputtered out, blood appearing at the corner of his lips. "Yuri..."
    "Save it Roach," I demanded. "We gotta get you out of here!" 
    A helicopter was descending down on us from the new street, firing sporadic and unaligned bullets. Price threw a smoke grenade behind us, waving the four of us along. I released Roach as Yuri gained composure and continued to hustle after Price. Soap caught me as my right leg gave out. I let out a moan of surprise, looking down to see more blood gushing from the reopened wound. 
    "Don't worry about me," I panted as Soap fired back at enemies and propped me up against him, moving after the group. 
    We moved through a building, curving around hallways and walls. They were beginning to grow blurry to me. I blinked twice as we exited into an alley. Yuri set Roach down against a dumpster for the moment of zero calamity. 
    "Patch me up," Roach breathed heavily, his gloved hand holding his abdomen. "I-I'm fine." 
    "We can't stay here," Soap took over carrying his long-time comrade. 
    I stood on my own, reaching to squeeze Roach's arm as Price breached the door next to us, entering another building. I followed in last, reaching down to feel my throbbing outer right thigh; when I brought my hand up, my fingers were coated with a bright, pulsing red color.