GHOST - No Man's Land

/CHAPTER 02

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My cheek hit the pavement as Jack pulled me down behind the sandbags. Everything happened in the span of a few seconds. So fast, it took me a moment to regain my bearings and realize the situation we were in.

The glint of metal caught my eye, as a sunray reflected off of Jack's drawn handgun.

Fuck.

Panic crashed over my limbs in increasing waves. I looked around frantically, unintentionally shifting myself above the sandbags.

Jack's rough grip pulled me back down.

''Stay down!''

This time, I didn't dare disobey.

The position I was in put increasing pressure on my lungs, struggling to keep up with my panicked breaths. As I risked a second attempt at resettling, my foot touched something heavy.

Looking down, I saw I'd kicked against the camera.

The camera discarded to the floor, lens shattered in the crash. Beside it, the microphone, seemingly unharmed.

Beside that, a limp human form.

My brain struggled to catch up with my eyes. I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Nothing coherent formed in my mind. Nothing registered as I vaguely heard Jack shout into his radio beside me.

''Aiden?''

My voice wasn't loud enough for anyone to hear.

It wouldn't be loud enough for Aiden to hear.

Nothing ever would be, again.

And it was my fault.

Unfamiliar voices shouted something in Spanish from across the street, followed by the clinging of something small and metal rolling on the asphalt.

Then, a deafening explosion.

It shook the ground enough to pull me from my daze. My panicked eyes found Jack's as his demands into the radio grew more desperate.

As the fog in my mind lifted slightly, my eye fell upon the blinking red light on the camera.

It was still rolling.

Clarity fell over me. This was exactly what we came here for. And now, Aiden died for it. The grueling reality of it all hit harder than an exploding grenade a few feet away ever could.

War was everywhere.

People died because of war, everywhere. All the time. And I was in it now.

Survival mode kicked in as my brain forced my body into an eerie calm. This is what I was covering. This is what the world needed to see.

I kicked out my leg. My backpack had fallen over in the chaos, most of our supplies strewn about. I strained to try and hook my foot underneath the strap. Another gunshot sent me quickly retracting my leg.

I cursed under my breath as Jack took aim, firing back at an unknown enemy. My heart pounded in my throat as I tried again, stretching my limb out as far as it would go.

An excruciating second passed.

Beside us, I heard another body dropping as one of Jack's men toppled to the ground. The pungent smell of metal overpowered my senses, followed by a warm liquid pooling around my hand.