Lost and Loaded

Prologue

Merry chistmas!

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Raining Lead

A cracked road buried in the sand has been coated in blood. "To the left, to the left move!" A voice struggled to break through the sounds of gunfire. Ten men rush to cover, desperately trying to avoid the hail of bullets coming towards them. One man yelled over to his teammate "Miller, they're in that restaurant, second floor!".

Miller was quick to reply "I'm on it!". Taking aim, miller took a second to steady his breath and fired his M320. An explosion shook the building, collapsing the balcony and killing the enemies on it.

More people came to the area, some with rifles, some on pickup trucks. All of them are intent on killing what they consider to be 'Invaders'. One of the men, a staff sergeant, gave no hesitation to his orders. "Everybody move, we'll head over to the rally point and keep going from there." His words were met with a booming "Yes sir.". As the squad moved through narrow streets and alleyways one of the local militia members managed to land a hit on one of the soldiers.

The soldier let out a yell, tumbling down as he tried to move forward. His teammate caught him before he hit the ground, then moved him to cover as fast as he could. The rest of the squad tried to give them cover fire, but with so many enemies from so many sides, only two to three were able to properly support them.

Luckily they managed to make it, and the one carrying reached for the others aid kit. "Dave, Dave! Look at me, look at me. Where's the wound? Tell me where it hurts." Dave tried to move his hand, but almost instantaneously recoiled in pain. "It's on my right!". To which the other soldier started frantically searching for the wound, and found it, right where his liver is.

Another soldier ducked behind a wall and shouted "Johnny! How bad is it?!" Johnny tried his best to put the gauze onto the wound but Johnny was still fairly young, and the constant fire made it hard to keep his hands from shaking. "I don't know, but he's bleeding a lot!"

Before another word was said, a little metal object landed next to them. Dave's eyes widened, "Grenade!" and used every ounce of strength he had to push Johnny away. The grenade didn't do much to the others other than to rattle them up, but unfortunately, a fragment hit Dave in the head.

"Shit, shit... Dave!" Johnny tried to reach him but was pulled back by his teammate. "He's dead, leave him before any more of them get here and kill us!".

"Smith, get your fireteam and cover that damn alley! This whole town is a shithole!". The soldiers yelled out "Yes sir!".

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After the fight, a few took a small break while the rest kept their eyes peeled for any stragglers. While the fighting may have stopped, they know that they're still surrounded. Their hearts still pumping hard from the adrenaline, and none of them plan on getting caught off guard. The staff sergeant took a minute to catch his breath "Alright, change of plans. We're to stay here and hangfire(1), get some rest. You all did well today." The room was filled with silence, the only noise being distant gunshots.

Miller sat by a wall when he was disturbed by a tap on his shoulder. "Got a light?" Smith asked. Miller reached into his pocket. "How long we gotta wait?" He asked as he handed over his lighter.

"Don't know, just..." Smith shook his head, changing his sentence. "Heard that the rest of the boys are making progress, pushing them back. We should be able to rendezvous in the market." Miller looked at him, then at nothing. Letting himself relax for a bit, he closed his eyes and told him "Alright... hope they come soon..." Smith responded by just walking away. "Thanks for the light." He said as he disappeared into the hallway.