Blood in the Sand (BOOK 1)

-TWO-

-JASON-

Once I saw that AJ was up and running, I saw one of the captives try to escape, and I trained my rifle on him. I'll be damned if anything else goes wrong on this mission!

"Get down on the ground, or I swear I'll put a fucking hole through you!" I threatened.

The shepherd turned his back and me and fled, hobbling on a bad leg. I aim my rifle at him, but I don't shoot. I'm not sure why, but I let him go.

"Fuck," I spat. "Doesn't anyone speak English anymore?"

As soon as I lower my weapon, I hear one cock behind me. Son of a bitch.

"You better not miss," I warn him, taking a steadying breath.

Where was AJ with those throwing knives when you needed her? I've seen her throw them in the craziest ways. Hold on, why am I thinking of her with a rifle at my back? I'm not dying here. Not like this.

"No more killing," an accented voice decided.

Wait...what? I turned around to see the soldier that had me pinned lower his weapon. I didn't know what to think. The air was tense and thick between us. I can hear the battle go on a few yards from us. I risked a quick look around. I didn't see anyone else, and I couldn't read the expression under the Iraqi's helmet. Why did he hesitate?

Fuck...I decided to drop my rifle when he did the same. I guess we'll see who gets the kill first. I'm not buying that he called a truce. If he didn't want to kill, then why the hell is he in a war zone? This might be a tactic, but I have no choice except to play along.

Before I could figure out my next move, a violent tremor ripped through the ground beneath us! What the fuck was that? It was strong enough to bring my adversary to his knees, and I barely maintained my balance. When I thought it was over, it came back stronger than before. This time, the ground began to break, and we plunged into the darkness.

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...They're shipping me elsewhere...

Why?

The way that op went down...they think we saved each other because of...

They can't be serious? We couldn't predict a suicide bomber!

...They don't see it that way...

Jason...

"Jason!" an urgent voice hissed. "Hey-"

"Fuck," I groaned as pain radiated through every cell in my body.

Wherever I landed, it was dark. It looks like a cave of some sort. I coughed hard, seeing flecks of sand come up. Shit. I glance up at the ceiling of the cave, thankful that I haven't broken anything.

"There you are," Nick sighs in relief. "Can you stand?"

I took a couple of breaths through the pain before I moved to a sitting position. I give myself a few moments to get my bearings.

"Yeah, I'm good," I assert. "What about you, buddy?"

I stand after a few minutes, grabbing my rifle.

"I'm fine," Nick assures me.

"Where the hell are we?" I wondered.

This...doesn't look like an underground storage facility...this place looked hundreds of years old. There was a thick layer of sand on every surface here. We might be the first ones here in a long time.