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

Chapter 15

    The resistance didn't hesitate to start shooting. Into the air and then down onto the unexpectant Russian forces. Soap was quick on his feet to stand, shuffle right, and begin firing. I copied, mounting my rifle on the bars of the short fence I was using as cover. Roach and Yuri banked to the left, taking out Russians the best they could. 
    Shouts from Resistance echoed through the rain and the surprised Russian forces. Flares lit up the sky and grenades began to blow. The entire place became a battlefield, a bloody massacre of Russians and Resistance. 
    I moved from my mounted position, shifting to the right after Soap. He crouched to reload, shooting me a look as I picked up a fallen enemy's weapon. I nodded once and then covered Roach as he pushed. 
    Price came into the comms as he provided support from above. "Move with the rebels and get to the church. We'll cover you as best we can!" 
    "Copy that!" Soap covered my right flank as I pushed forward with Roach. 
    "Moving toward the statue," Yuri commented, further left from Roach. 
    The rain was grabbing my loose hairs, causing them to stick to my face. I wiped the vision-blocking locks and then shot at a charging-as-a-last-resort soldier. He screamed as my spray mauled him down. 
    "Pushing up," I communicated and jogged down some steps to a lower part of the courtyard. 
    A sign stood in the center, providing cover as the Russian fired at me. I glanced up and over to the left, noticing a particular sniper as he shot down onto the fight. Price took out three soldiers pressing me and then flashed his scope my way. 
    I nodded in appreciation and then propped up to give my fair effort into attacking the Russians. Roach pushed up next to me in a rush of a breath, the bullets just barely missing his rain-matted hair. 
    "They're consistent fuckers," Roach's accent was minimal as he shook his head, reloading. "They shoot until they're out and then are too obvious reloading." 
    "All the better to kill them where they do so," Soap mentioned as he passed us, taking a position to my right, behind a concrete barrier. 
    "Truck incoming!" Yuri shouted. 
    "They're bringing in armor," Price reported. 
    "Move to cover, now!" I reloaded, throwing a grenade as hard as I could manage toward the incoming, heavy assault. 
    "Yuri, I'll draw their fire," Soap shot at the rumbling BTR. 
    Yuri mantled the wall of the lower level, sliding to where an RPG had been left by a dead soldier. He picked it up, looking for ammo to fire it. 
    "I need ammo!" 
    I glanced to the left, seeing another Russian's loadout. Another RPG was thrown out into the open range. I let out a low sigh and scurried to reach the weapon. 
    "Get back to cover Yuri!" I shouted. 
    I reached the RPG relatively easily. Upon lifting the heavy weapon, I faced the roaring machinery. The driver barely had time to dial down on me before I let the rocket rip. The BTR exploded, sending tidbits of shrapnel out to nearby allies. 
    "Nice hit Sam," Price praised. "BTR and truck is down." 
    "More tangos inbound," Soap came into the comms. "Fall to back to the building!" 
    I was closest to it, glancing for clearance of flying bullets before racing across the open. A resistance soldier was already taking cover, lifting his rifle as I rounded the corner. I spun around, laying down suppressive fire as Roach, Yuri, and Soap made the dangerous trek to the cover of the building too. I backed away only as Soap crossed the threshold of cover. 
    We entered a gated alley, opened by courtesy of Yuri's kick. Soap led the way through the turn to the right, keeping his finger on the trigger. 
    "Soap?" Price came into the comms. "I've lost sight of you." 
    "Can't talk, we're busy," Soap reassured the old man and then spoke to only us. "Alright, we're going to cut through the buildings and find our way to the church." 
    "Making our way to the church," I relayed to Price as we entered a building. 
    "Copy, we're on the way to the hotel." 
    Soap led the way up stairs, followed by Yuri. Roach took third, glancing over his shoulder to the open window where some Resistance were firing at the Russians. I brought up the rear, keeping a steady eye on the turning stairs ahead of Soap. 
    "Hold up," Soap held up a hand and peeking around the corner of the second floor. "Roach, take point." 
    The younger soldier stayed at the ready as he led the way through the shaky and war-torn building. Resistance soldiers were dragging wounded away from exposed windows and holes in the building. Others were still fighting, narrowly avoiding our brisk pace as our group pushed through. 
    "A pity," Yuri mumbled under his breath as we passed a younger, dead soldier. Blood was dripping from his lower lip. 
    I passed without blinking an eye; unfortunately I'd seen worse things than a dead teenager. My days of the past were full of them and many others. It had become second nature to ignore and continue, no matter the body. 
    "The building's not going to take much more of this," Soap commented as Roach reached a second set of stairs. "Might get rough out there," he took point down the stairs to the group of Resistance charging out the doorway. "Let's go." 
    We exited the backside of the building, entering another battle on a Y-shaped intersection. A multi-story building was at one o'clock and in it were Russians set up to attack. I crouched next to Yuri, peeking out at the exposed corner piece of the building. 
    "Two gunners across the street. Take out those turrets!" Soap ordered, sending a spray at the opening to make the soldiers retreat to cover. 
    I pulled out my sniper again, using the concrete planter as a mount. The head of one of the Russians appeared as they moved to use the turret again. Before he had even the slightest chance, I placed a bullet through his forehead. 
    Roach took out two others on the same second floor. "They're down." 
    Soap didn't hesitate to continue his move forward. We curved to the right, taking down foot mobiles as the Resistance led the way. Yuri and Roach flanked to the left side of the wide street littered with cars and debris. I stayed on Soap's heels, firing to the right while he did left. 
    The sudden, ear-deafening pierce of a tank's round broke through the triumphant sounds of the Resistance. It fired a second time, splitting the group of charging Resistance like a banana. I dove to the right, bringing Soap down with me, and avoided the blast. Yuri and Roach were gone on the other side of the street as more chaos ensued. 
    My ears were ringing as I laid there in a daze. Soap shifted out of the trance, shaking me back to reality. His voice became clearer as I came to, returning to it's typical tone. I blinked, shaking my head and sitting up in a hurry. 
    "We need to get off this street," Soap hauled me to my feet and then took the chance of the tank's pause to cross the street of Russians; they rushed around in a daze as well, finding cover and comrades. 
    "Here," Roach motioned us over, shouldering his way through a glass window. He landed on the glass, gloved hands protected from the shards as he scrambled up. 
    Yuri, Soap, and I hustled in after him, just missing another blast from the tank. I followed Soap through the art gallery we'd entered. He ran to the first right, coming to another room and out to an exit onto a side road.
    "More armor on the road," Soap kept his voice low as he crept to the door of an office. 
    He took point through the dimly lit place and then moved to cover behind a pillar. "They don't know we're here." 
    "Let's keep it that way," I grunted lowly, preferring the silent and sneaky missions. 
    Soap stayed low and quiet as he led us back through the current building. As we rounded the corner into the next room, a civilian took off from cover. Roach opened his mouth to stop him, but the man rushed into the next room ahead. Russian bullets ripped into his skin, dropping the innocent to the ground. 
    "Fuck," Yuri spat in disgust. 
    "No getting past these guys quietly," Soap's voice was low as the lasers of the pressing soldiers appeared. 
    They came closer and more into view, their fingers on the triggers like inexperienced children. Soap casually tossed a frag out, giving the command for us to fire. As the grenade went off, the remaining Russians were taken out by the group. 
    We pushed the room, facing more Russians as they were entering the building. Using a flipped table, I crouched and reloaded in haste; the cover would truly do nothing with the right bullet. I rejoined the fight, finishing off the group of Russian soldiers in a short time. 
    "No time to clean up the mess," Soap reloaded as he moved forward in more of a hurry. "We'll improvise if we have to." 
    Soap exited and turned left, pushing toward a wide, decently open street. Resistance soldiers were running in a large herd, firing as they moved to the east. From the west, a BTR fired on them. 
     "Down, now!" I went prone and the rest of them did in seconds. 
     A chopper flew above, spotlighting the scrambling soldiers. One BTR charged forward, running a couple of Resistance fighters over. Another drove right over the burnt out car not ten yards to Soap's left. A third brought up the rear. 
    "They're just dying," I let out a mutter of disappointment. 
    "Resistance not army," Roach reminded wisely. 
    "Something like that." 
    "Let's go...now!" Soap took off across the open street, spinning around once to the cover of another car to make sure his comrades were accounted for. 
    Yuri continued into the open door of the huge building ahead: the church. I knew this is where we'd split, Yuri and Roach together while Soap and I stayed put. The instinct in me hated splitting up, yet I knew it was part of the plan. 
    "Price, we're in position," Soap reported to Price once we entered the nave. 
    Resistance was everywhere, scrambling and tending to wounded. It was both inspiring and pitiful to see the effort. I turned to face Roach and Yuri, knowing they would split and head west from where we were. 
    "Copy," Price responded. "We've got a few hours till the meeting."
    Soap faced the two soldiers. "You two have got to get there fast." 
    "We will," Roach held his typical adventurous gleam. "You two hold up strong here." 
    "We will," I responded evenly, glancing to Yuri. "In a few hours Makarov will be ours." 
    Though both men had their own reasons to hate the man, I knew I shared hatred with Roach more than anything. He looked at me with determination and then mindlessly touched Ghost's old watch on his left wrist. 
    "He'd be proud," I mentioned swiftly. 
    "I know," Roach raised his chin, hazel eyes narrowing. "I'll see you after this is done." 
    "We'll share a drink...if you're old enough," I teased. 
    "Physically yes, mentally no," Soap played into the joke temporarily; his mind was focused on getting to our position at the top of the church. 
    Roach smirked to our tease. "You both can fuck off." 
    "We need to go," Yuri reminded smoothly. 
    "All right," Roach paused before following after the more experienced soldier.
    He swiftly took the chance at the pause and hugged me. His thick left arm enveloped me into his chest and he took a deep inhale. The hug was over as soon as it had begun. Roach was rapidly following Yuri out of the church to their post on the rooftop of a building directly across from the hotel. He glanced over his shoulder once, the gleam in his eyes as strong and admirable as ever; it was the same one the day we'd almost had Makarov in the Caucasus Mountains....though heartbreaking it'd also been the day everything had changed for the sake of our team. We had become stronger and closer than ever before since that day. 
    As Roach disappeared with Yuri, I couldn't help but have a twinge of a bad feeling—that familiar, gut-churning warmth in the pit of my stomach. Soap looked at me, feeling the tension. 
    "Let's get up there." 
    I didn't look away from the entryway the other two Task Force comrades had gone through. "After you."