Chasing a Ghost

Chapter Four

Arid desert heat and an angry burning sun blasted your face, your feet digging heel to toe in grainy sand dunes. You and the team marched silently through the desert, the blistering sun forgiving no one. You'd already been warned that it was a bit of a walk from the drop-off, but you didn't realize just how tiring it was going to be to march through such an awful environment. Sweat beads formed at your forehead and threatened to dribble down your face, nearly everyone on the team panting from heat and exertion.

Finally, you all made it to the designated area at the top of a tall sand dune, overlooking a facility of sorts nestled at the very bottom of waves of sand. You thought to yourself that it didn't seem like the best place for a highly-wanted criminal to reside, and then realized that it's unlikely for many people to come out here. You'd also heard that this facility was quite new.

You, Soap, and Ghost all laid down at the top of the dune, using scopes to look down into the happenings below. You could see men loitering about, wearing headscarves and toting assault rifles in hand. You knew that at the other side of the compound, Gaz and Captain Price sat in wait for an opportunity to sneak down and infiltrate the base.

Finally, the time came to press down the banks of the dunes as a group of enemy soldiers moved inside the building, seemingly to relieve each other and set up the next post. Simon gave the go-ahead and the three of you rushed to your feet, guns in hand and began tearing down the sand dune.

Your feet sunk with every stride deep into the sand, your lungs beginning to burn as you pushed yourself amidst the heat. Adrenaline coursed through your veins as you approached the facility. You knew there was a chance the enemies would come back out at any moment, leaving the three of you completely vulnerable with no cover in sight. Thankfully all of you made it to the garage opening unseen. You followed behind Ghost and Soap, waiting for the Lieutenant to give the all-clear to dash inside. He peeked around the corner and waved his hand to push in.

The three of you fell into formation and pushed inside the building, hugging the left hand wall of the room and hiding in the dark behind some large metal box crates. Ghost gestured at you to continue down the left side of the wall while he and Soap pushed into the middle, Soap moving on even farther and taking the right hand side.

Silenced weapon at the ready, you peeked around the corner of one of the metal crates, spotting two soldiers chatting absent-mindedly. You glanced over to Ghost, crouched down behind a wooden box in the middle of the room, who nodded at you. You steadied your aim and the both of you took out the soldiers with perfectly aimed head shots, their bodies collapsing to the ground in deadweight thuds.

Then it was time to push forward again. You continued along the left side wall just in time to see a body that fell to the floor in the middle, and yet another one to the right. As you prepared to dash forward once again, you saw a soldier come from behind an idle vehicle, spotting the three dead bodies. He opened his mouth to shout before dropping to the floor, blood spurting from his forehead as he collapsed to the ground.

You were nearing the end of the large warehouse room now. You took down one last soldier just in time to see Soap drop one at the other end.

Whew, what a perfect start to the mission. The three of you regrouped in front of a gray metal door that was sealed shut by a keypad. Ghost approached it cautiously, you putting your back to him as Soap did the same, effectively guarding his back side while he tried to unlock the door.

"No stealth from this point forward," Ghost said into the radio. "Price and Gaz, get ready to go loud."

"Copy," came Price's response.

And with that, Ghost stuck a square-shaped C4 to the door, the three of you backing away before it exploded, sending pieces of the door flying about the room.

All hell broke loose. As soon as the door burst open and the smoke was mostly cleared, the three of you rushed inside to immediately take cover behind what was available. Enemy soldiers scattered this way and that, being rained down on in a hail of bullets. Some men were shouting and screaming in Arabic while others took position and fired your way. You hugged yourself to the corner of yet another metal crate as you heard Price come over the radio in your ear: "Pushing in now."

Bullets flew past your head, ricocheting off the metal walls and containers surrounding you. You saw from your peripherals that Ghost and Soap were effectively taking enemies down left and right. You popped out from behind one of the crates just in time to mow down two men barreling your way, shotguns in hand. By the time you were done, you could hear Soap shout "Clear!" from the other side of the room. You came from your hiding place and glanced over the two men, lying in pools of blood and wearing wide-eyed expressions.

You looked to their faces, feeling the defeat settling in. "We didn't accidentally shoot our guy, did we?"

Ghost surveyed the room, shaking his head silently. "No. He's not here." He radioed in to tell Price the news.

"Look around for what you can find," came Price's response. "There's got to be something here. Gaz and I are checking the vehicles in the garage."

The three of you got to work immediately, smashing open boxes and pinching open doors to the crates with the metal cutter Ghost had brought with him. You mostly found a random assortment of weapons - assault rifles, submachine guns, some explosives. Nothing truly impressive, though.

That is, until you cracked open one box to find some different loot inside. Instead of being full of weaponry, this box contained some papers and a closed briefcase. Upon further inspection you quickly realized the writing was not in Arabic as you'd expected.

"Guys, come here!" you shouted from inside a metal container, stepping out of it quickly and staring down into the documents. "I think I've found something interesting. None of these documents are written in Arabic... These are Russian!"

At that moment you heard the sound of more footsteps entering the room, and you were soon greeted by the concerned faces of Price and Gaz. They'd heard what you said. Price stepped forward, taking one of the documents from you. "It is Russian," he said quietly, sounding perturbed.

"They're distributing somewhere in Russia," Ghost said stoically. You looked up to see the two share a knowing look, and you felt like you were missing something.

"Hear that, Laswell?" Price asked into his earpiece.

"I did. Get ready to load up and head out. I have an idea where he might be."

------

"Oh, God. No, Captain. Please don't do this to me."

"You'll be safe, I promise. Calm yourself."

You stared back at him, wide eyed and upset. This was ridiculous. You had signed up with Task Force 141 to run around and shoot people. Infiltrate bases. Blow shit up. "Price... this wasn't in the job description!" You threw up your hands in exasperation. "I can't do this. This is too much for me."

He gave you a long, knowing look. He was well aware you wouldn't take this well. He hated to have to deliver the bad news, but he had no other choice. "You've got people watching your back. I think you would be great for this."

You stared at him once again, feeling a surge of anger swell within your chest. He could see the burning rage behind your eyes, fists clenched at your sides and jaw tightening as you tried to keep yourself from cursing him out. "I don't think you heard me. This is not something I want to do. This is not the type of job I signed up for."

"Well, sweetheart, you just happen to be a shoe-in for it. We need you to do this. This could be the next breakthrough in our mission."

You glared at him as he leaned back in his chair. His calm demeanor infuriated you even more. You breathed a heavy sigh, making sure to express exactly how unhappy you were with being thrown into this. Your fingers pinched at the bridge of your nose and you squeezed your eyes shut in frustration. "There's not anyone else who can do this?"

"No."

You pursed your lips, glaring into his eyes one last time. You held his gaze for a few moments, seeing that he truly did need you to do it.

"You owe me for this," you muttered, turning on your heel and stomping out the door.