Several days had passed since Echo had stormed Point Gaines. They waited for reinforcements to come, but as far as they could tell, nothing was coming. The days that had passed were excruciatingly slow, but everyone was trying their best to keep themselves as busy as they could.

Black was doing pushups with Kelly watching him. He kept a close count of how many he had done in his mind as he went up and down. Black didn’t pay much attention to it at first, but he noticed a different sound coming from the radio. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shaw lean forward and frantically mess with the knobs, trying to hone in on the signal. Black stood up and made his way over to Shaw when the static turned into a muffled voice. He couldn’t quite make out what the voice was saying at first, but Shaw tuned in and the voice became clearer.

“... I say again, this is General John Randolph broadcasting to any friendly units still in the area. I am pinned down in the pine forests north-west of the main airport, grid reference 105-553. PAF forces are converging on my position. I’m requesting urgent support.”

Shaw picked up the radio. “General do you read me? This is Lieutenant Shaw, my squad is hiding out in a cave on the western cliffs, about 2 klicks north of your position. We’re on our way to assist, over.”

“Thank god Lieutenant. I’ll hold on for as long as I can, out.”

Hughes kneeled down next to Shaw. “You’re staying here,” he told him.

“What? But Randolph needs us. We have to go,” Shaw protested.

“You need to keep that wound from opening up again, for at least the next day or two,” Hughes ordered. “Black and Kelly can take care of it.”

Shaw turned to Black. “Take the truck, get Randolph, and bring him back. It’s imperative that we have him here.”

Black nodded. “You can count on us Lieutenant. Come on Kelly, let’s go.”

Kelly nodded, falling in behind Black as the two made their way up the slope of the cliffs. They slammed the doors to the truck, and Black shoved the key into the ignition. He pulled out his map and compass to orient himself and figure out which way he needed to go. He took them out of the villa towards the forest. The drive to the edge of the forest was uneventful, but also short.

“Come on Kelly,” Black said, taking the key and putting it in one of his vest pouches.

“What’s so important about Randolph anyways?” Kelly asked.

Black picked up the pace, going to a light jog. “He’s the highest ranking NATO officer on the island. Getting to him will turn this whole mess around.”

Pine needles crunched underneath Black’s boots. The closer they got to Randolph’s position, the louder the sound of gunfire got.

“Stay low,” Black said to Kelly. “Stick to cover and watch the trees. There could be contacts anywhere.”

Kelly crouched down behind a tree trunk, and pointed at something ahead of him. “Over there,” he whispered. “Bearing 160, two guys.”

Black nodded. “I see them, I’ll take the one on the left, you take the one on the right. Fire on my lead.”

He fixed his dot sight right on the enemy’s back. He waited for his breathing to steady before firing a three shot burst into the soldier’s back. Kelly did the same to his target. Two more PAF soldiers came over to their fallen comrades to check on them, scanning the treeline for Black and Kelly, who shot them before they could get a word out. A bullet came whistling past Black and buried itself into a pine tree, sending tiny pieces of wood in all directions. Black instinctively hit the dirt. His heart started beating faster as he frantically scanned the treeline, trying to find where the shot came from. More shots rang out, and they kept getting closer and closer to Black. He heard Kelly fire off a few shots.

“I’ve got him, you’re clear,” Kelly called.

Black stood up and nodded to him. “Move up, watch your flank,” he said.

They positioned themselves where the PAF soldiers had fallen. They scrupulously scanned the treeline, but they found nobody else, but they did see a puddle of blood behind a tree.

“No no no no no,” Black started panicking as they went to investigate.

He peered around the trunk, and his fears were realized. General Randolph lay under the pine tree, clutching at a hole in his chest.

“Come on General, you’ll be ok,” Kelly said.

Black started taking out a first aid kit, but Randolph stopped him while coughing up blood in the process. “W- wi- win…” he stammered before his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he went limp, drifting off into eternal rest.

Black looked down at the ground and took his helmet off. Kelly did the same. They sat in silence for a moment before putting their helmets back on. Black pulled Randolph’s dog tags off and put them in his vest.

The whole time Black and Kelly headed back to the truck, Black felt like he was being watched, but when he turned around, he saw nothing. It was like he was being followed by a ghost. He felt like a bullet would pierce his skull at any moment, but no matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t see a soul. He turned the key into the ignition and drove off. Neither Black nor Kelly said a word the whole way back. There was nothing to say, or at least, neither of them wanted to say it. They parked the truck in the villa and climbed down the slope to the cave. Shaw and Hughes turned their attention to them, the excited expression on their faces slowly turning into one of concern.

“Where’s Randolph?” Shaw asked.

Black pulled out his dog tags. “There was nothing we could do,” he said in a somber voice.

“Dammit. Those bastards will pay for this,” Shaw muttered, curling his hand into a fist.

“What’re we gonna do now?” Kelly asked Shaw.

“Perhaps I can answer that question for you,” a voice behind them said.