GRIM, s. mactavish

Chapter 6

Location: Las Almas, Mexico

     "We gotta move! Go!" Alejandro demanded his team, running further down the steep hills. Carmen followed her brother, almost slipping on the rocks as they rolled underneath her boots. She had caught herself on the nearby boulder and it had ripped her thin long sleeve.

     Soap quickly pulled her to her feet by grabbing ahold of her arm and pulling her in front of him. Carmen continued to move her way down the mountains, keeping an eye out for any of the Mexican Army.

     Using the trees and boulders to her advantage, she scoped the army that had been waiting for them to appear. Keeping count of how many bullets she shot, she would snipe any enemies that would come down the hill or were stuck at the top of the hill. They had to move or more was going to keep coming. 

     The Mexican Army that had followed them down the mountains had caught up with them. They were surrounded.

     Carmen's ears rang as Soap shot the army from behind, killing them instantly. She tried to block out the noise but it didn't work. All she could hear was ringing, but it didn't stop her. She was in a shoot out with the Mexican Army for the past hour. It wasn't like she could really do anything about the ringing. 

     The group continued to move once a majority of the corrupt Army had been killed but it seems that it was never-ending for the group. More and more soliders kept appearing and even surrounded the small group.

     "Contact! RPG!" Ghost spoke through the coms.

     Carmen shot as many enemies as she could before taking off after her brother until they reached the mountain side. They were going to jump and slide along the mountain. She didn't know if she was up for that, even with her adrenaline still rushing through her body.

     She took a glimpse behind her to see more of the Mexican Army running down the hill.

     "Carmen! Let's go!" Alejandro said from his spot, training his gun above her.

     She felt her fear of heights kick in, overriding the adrenaline. Fuck. 

      "I can do this. I can do this." Carmen muttered to herself, trying to stay calm. Her fear of heights was overtaking any will power in her body. She accidentally looked down and got nauseous from the height difference. They were so high up and yet, no one else was afraid. She was in the army, she could jump out of planes with a parachute but it was a completely different story at the moment.

     "How are you in the army and afraid of heights? You used to jump out of airplanes! Pull yourself together!" Alejandro spoke in spanish, getting frustrated with being held back by his sister.

      Carmen wanted to do desperately punch her brother but she couldn't and she wouldn't.

      "Life or death!" Soap yelled, standing next to Alejandro. They couldn't wait for her any longer.

      The Army was gaining ground on them by the second so Carmen had a decision to choose at this moment, jump and follow orders or risk being tortured for a second time for information, and being murdered by the enemy. 

     She let out a mixed emotion grunt before running and jumping onto the mountain, sliding down the first part.

     Her heart rate was racing. Carmen's whole body was shaking from her fear.

     Another jump down onto the ledge but instead, they made it up, going more on land rather than ledges. She jumped and pushed herself up to climb over the rock.

     More shooting is what she was met with until it stopped. The group was more than capable of killing the army which is why it didn't take long.

     Carmen went up the hill and saw the way down. Her heart rate increased, her body was shaking, and she felt sick to her stomach. She had to be strong. She couldn't be like this right now. She had a group with her and she wasn't going to let them down. 

     She already let her brother down by not hurrying to jump onto the mountain ledge. She couldn't upset her brother, her boss, any more.

     Glancing at the small ledge she had to maneuver across, she was going slip. She knew it. Everyone had crossed except Soap and Carmen.

     Soap cautiously went across the small ledge and waited for Carmen to cross. He could see her visibly shaking, making her almost fall. However, Carmen made it across, not with ease.

      Alejandro lead the four to a dead end until he jumped into the lake below, holding his gun to his chest.

     Ghost crouched beside the ledge, waiting for Soap and Carmen to jump down. Soap didn't hesitate before jumping. Neither did Carmen. She knew the water below was deep enough for everyone to jump down. Unlike the other parts of the mountain, you fall and instantly die.

     Her body met the water and she felt her skin burn from the impact of the water. She pushed her body up from the water until she was met with air. Taking deep breaths, her and Ghost swam beside each other. Against his will.

     "You good hermano?"

     "Affirm." Ghost responded.

     "Soap?"

     "Breathing."

     "Grim?"

     "Fine." Carmen was in fact, not fine. Her ears rang and her gear was weighing her down in the water. Her body was in so much pain that it was already starting to hurt with how much pressure is on her body. However, she trained for this. She knew that she had to swim through it.

      "Move down the river to the bridge. Use the ricks for cover." Alejandro called out.

      They went underwater while Carmen, stayed above. She could not hold her breath for long nor could she risk drowning.

     She held her gun above water as the river pulled her along with Alejandro, Soap, and Ghost. She shot a few of the enemies before hiding behind a rock.

      Her gun needed to be reloaded.

     Carmen pulled the magazine off her bullet proof vest and replaced the old one, pushing it hard to make sure it was completely in before shooting the enemies in the woods behind her.

     "Vehicles on the bridge!" Ghost shouted as his head was the only thing that was out of the water.

     "They're not ours!" Alejandro continued to eye the vehicles on the bridge, "Fuck! It's the army!"

     Carmen crouched behind a boulder where Soap and Ghost had been hiding behind. Fixing her scope, Carmen felt tiny pebbles hit her head as the army had bad aim.

     She fastened her pace before aiming at the enemies on the bridge, but before she could take a shot, she had to duck. A bullet hit the water behind her.

     Adjusting her grip, she set her gun on the rock and aimed for the army before an explosion hit the bridge, killing the enemy instantly.

     The bridge broke under the pressure of the missiles. Alejandro made his way to the land and waited until Carmen got close to help her up due to her leg. He could see the wound was bleeding and physically in pain. She was limping while using her gun as a crutch to hold herself up. 

     The group had cautiously walked to the nearby truck and got inside. Carmen sat behind Alejandro while Ghost sat beside her and Soap took the passenger.

     "You boys good to roll up Hassan with some fire from the sky?" A voice in her mic spoke. She looked at Ghost confused, "Shadow Company. Phillip Graves."

     "Let's wrap this fucker up, Graves."

     "Solid copy. We pushing to the target di-rectly. Shadow - 1 out."