We Who Serve

Chapter Thirty-Four

Grimes must not have blacked out for more than a few seconds when her eyes opened; she watched as Hassan rushed out of the room carrying a case. Hassan's men began firing at the marines that were far enough away not to be affected by the blast. Grimes watched Gaz lift his rifle and fire back at them, still disorientated. Grimes gazed at Soap, who was still in a daze. 

"Soap!" Grimes yelled as she twisted, pushed herself to her feet, and grabbed the back of his vest so she could pull him into the room where Hassan had just left. Price and Gaz moved to their knees to fire back at Hassan's men as they waited for the elevator. Grimes looked up and watched in horror as Price was shot in the shoulder. He was forced back with a loud and painful grunt.

"Price!" Grimes yelled as she pulled Soap further into cover. "Gaz! Get Price!" Grimes shouted as Gaz had already begun to move over to Price. He fired several shots before grabbing Price's vest and pulling him back. 

"You broken?" Gaz asked as he let go of Price. You could hear in his voice that he was struggling through the pain. 

"I'm good. Grimes, Soap go." Price ordered as Gaz pressed down on Price's wound. Soap and Grimes nodded and stood up to move towards the elevators. 

"Watcher, Hassan has the missile controls. Grimes and Soap are going after him!" Price informed Laswell down the comms, and Soap moved to the open shaft of the elevator. 

"Copy. Be advised. The missile is headed towards D.C. We don't have much time to divert." Laswell handed them the information they needed but didn't want to hear. 

"We'll get 'em," Grimes called out as she looked at Soap and nodded for him to go for. "Take point, Soap." He then jumped into the shaft while Grimes hung back, waiting for him to continue down.

"Hassan is in the last car; use the lift cars to get down there," Grimes told him as she jumped from the first car to the second. But out of nowhere, there was a large explosion. Grimes could only watch as Soap was thrown around like a rag doll. She watched him land on a car that was hanging by a threat.

"Soap!" That car won't hold! You gotta jump now!" She yelled at him as he turned and jumped through the hatch and on top of Hassan. Grimes watched as Soap grabbed the controls while Hassan went for the rifle on the floor. Do not take a second to think. Grimes began firing down the shaft into the elevator to give Soap a chance.

"Soap, what's your status?" Price asked down the comms for an update. 

"Construction floor. Control secure. Lost ma weapon." Soap answered him.

"Grimes?" Price called her name. Grimes, by this point, had already turned and began running down flights of stairs. 

"In the east stairwell and descending," Grimes called to him as she threw herself downstairs, jumping several of them on her way down. "Soap, I'm coming to you. No noise, eyes open." Grimes told him as she stopped at the door where the construction was. She pushed open the door as she moved her rifle to her back. 

She bent her knees to make less noise as she carefully entered. Soap and Laswell had begun to talk about how to deal with the missile while Grimes moved. She crept up behind one of the men standing guard before flicking her wrist for her hidden blade to come out.

"There we go, nighty night." She whispered as she reached up, wrapped a hand around the man's mouth, and drove her blade into the back of his chest through his heart. She guided his corpse down to the ground to make as little noise as possible. 

Moving forward, she spotted two men walking away from her with their weapons raised. She pulled out two blades, holding one in each hand; she lined herself up and threw them, causing them to drive into the base of their skulls, killing them instantly. She made light work of several more men before she appeared right behind Soap, hiding with the controls open. 

"Soap, on your six. Got you covered." Grimes told him as he continued communicating with Laswell to shut the missile down. It took him a few moments before he did what was needed. 

"Get safe. This next part will make some noise." Laswell called down their mics as Soap looked to Grimes. 

"I got your back. Do what you need to do and stay hidden." Grimes told him as she whipped around her rifle and checked the mag that was in. Half full, and she had only two more left. Soap pressed several more buttons before the controls made some beeping noises. This attracted Hassan's men as Grimes opened fire at them, dropping each one as quickly as she could while conserving ammo. 

"It's detonated," Soap confirmed while letting out a sigh of relief. 

"Copy that. Air force will confirm. Thank you, Sergeant." Laswell muttered; you could hear the relief in her voice, but that didn't make this any better. They were pinned down, and Grimes was running out of ammo fast. 

"Yeah, pleasure doin' business with ya, Laswell," Soap muttered to her with relief evident in his voice as well.

"Where's Hassan?" Laswell asked him as the bullets continued to rain down on them.

"Not alone, He's got AQ guards with him. We're going to kill every last one of them." Soap muttered as he looked at Grimes, who was feeding her last mag into her rifle. 

"And then we are going for that bastard!" Grimes called back as she pulled the trigger, sending lead down and into the bodies of AQ guards. 

"Fucking right! Out here." Soap called back.

"I'm out!" Grimes called as the deafening click of an empty mag struck. She looked at Soap as she pulled off the rifle sling and placed it on the ground; no use for it now. 

They both stood up and began to make their way through the building site looking for enemies to kill. Grimes pulled a dagger from her waist and passed it to Soap.

"Let's get this bastard and put him in the ground," Soap muttered to Grimes, who nodded at his words.

"Once and for all." 

"Well done, you two. Now for the hard part." Ghost's voice muttered over the comms.

"That was the fuckin' hard part. L.T." Soap replied to him as they ducked under coverage when they heard AQ's voices.

"Let's find out; you both need to stay alive, take out the guards and kill Hassan." Ghost told them as Grimes just rolled her eyes at him.

"Yeah, no shite." She muttered to him, "We are just playing hide and seek for the shits and giggles." 

"You're dealing with armoured AQ. Advise you stun 'em before going in for the kill." Ghost told them essential info about their opponents.

"Soap, do what you need to do," Grimes told him with a smirk. 

"What you gonna do?" Soap asked as he nodded and looked at her. The glint in her eyes told him she would be fine.

"This is my domain." She muttered as she took off her helmet and placed it on the ground.

"What the fuck Grimes. Put your damn hat back on." Soap hissed at her; she took off her vest and stripped it down to nothing but her assassin's wear. Grimes looked up at Soap and placed a finger over her mouth, signing for him to stay quiet as she pulled her hood up and over her eyes. 

"Grimes!" He yelled in a whisper as she just sunk back and disappeared entirely in front of his eyes. Almost like a magic trick, she was gone. 

"Fuck," Soap muttered before turning and looking around to find stuff to help him fight against AQ.