Ashes to Burn (Work In Progress)

Ashes to Burn - Chapter Six

***This story is intended for mature audiences, as it contains graphic violence, gore, coarse language and some sexual content. Viewer discretion is strongly advised. 

December 12th, 2015

21:00 hours

Starker's Shaft, Russia

I grabbed my rope from my back pack and harnessed myself against the crevasse. Andy set me up and I went down. The winds grew stronger as I reached the bottom, and it became harder to breathe against the current. I untied my rope and held my gun in ready position. My head was pounding, but I shook it off as the rest of the squad made their way down. Andy was the last to come down. I turned and looked at her as she gathered the rope into her backpack. 

“How long can we keep this up?” I asked, looking at the rest of the squad. Andy closed her backpack, looking up at me. 

“As long as we can. This is our last hope.”

It seemed as though we walked for hours and hours, days and days. My leg was on fire, but I knew that if I slowed a bit, the Nazis would have our ass’ on a silver platter within seconds. I tried to avoid limping, but I couldn’t help it. My head was pounding, and my vision was starting to blacken at the seams. 

We continued walking silently. Derek, who was at the front of the pack, threw his hand up, motioning silence. Up ahead, there was a wooden cabin. The door was cringed off to the side, and inside it looked black. The wooden roof was half torn, and there was broken glass surrounding the worn windows. That was not what made Derek stop, though. I looked deeper into the cabin, and saw something alarming.

Movement.

Derek moved silently back towards us, slipping behind a boulder. We all took cover and tried to strategize our next move. I slowly leaned over the side to catch another glimpse, this time seeing something different.

The person moving inside the cabin had an IRANR suit on, with military boots. But the thing that got me the most wasn’t the attire, but the patch on their left shoulder.

A Combat Action Badge with the American flag and Eagle gripping the center of the two shotguns in the middle.

They were one of us.

I ducked back down to interject Derek’s plan. 

“Derek, they’re one of us. Look at the patch on the shoulder.” I said to him. He looked over and then crouched again to face me. He remained silent though

“We need to gather intel, do you think that they could have it?” I asked. Andy growled, loading her assult rifle.

“Julie, are you stupid?! It could may also be a trap. We have to get there first, badge or no badge, and point the gun at them. We don’t know how many more are inside.”

“Andy, we need all the help we can get, if we threaten them, what would they think?”

“Andy's got a point.” Sarge spoke up. That was probably the first time Sarge ever defended my sister. I looked over at her.

“I say we move in slow, guns loaded, empty the room, ask questions, then shoot if they’re spies. How does that sound?” Sarge said briskly, putting a clip into her Steyr Aug. We reloaded, and Andy volunteered to lead us in on the barge. We got up and leaned against the back of the boulder as Andy slinked over to lean behind a steel crate. I took a deep breath as she flicked her fingers forward, giving the signal.

We slowly made our way to the entrance. There was no more movement, and the windows showed nothing but shadows. We were at a huge disadvantage. Andy and I made it to the entrance first. I stepped inside.