Survivor | S. Ghost Riley

Cold as ice

The sound of footsteps approaching was unmistakable and familiar, I didn't even have to look up to know that it was Simon. I continued to lace up my boots as his footsteps came to a stop at the entrance of my room.

"Guess I'm not a good enough sniper to roll with you and Farah, huh?" I asked with a tone that let him know I was joking.

"You are a good sniper, but with your pilot training, you're also a pretty good diver." Simon said.

My bed dipped as he took a seat beside me. I sat up and turned my head to look at him. The first thing I noticed was that he was in all white and gray for blending in with the snow covered location we were going to. It suited him greatly. The second thing I noticed was that he was clenching and unclenching his fist as it rested on his thigh.

I placed my hand over his clenched fist and gave a gentle squeeze. "You'll have to help me warm up after this mission. I'll be freezing."

Simon chuckled quietly, and the sound made me smile. "Don't want you to catch hypothermia." He mused

"I came close the first time we met." I said with a smile

"I remember that very well. You were shaking like a leaf...guess you shouldn't have been kidnapped in your pajamas." Simon said, his voice laced with amusement

I laughed at his comment. "I'll keep that in mind next time."

"Hey, there won't be a next time." Simon said with a certain sternness to his voice. His humor had left him at the thought of something bad happening to me.

"I hope not." I mused

"You won't. Not while I'm around." Simon said firmly

I smiled gently and lent my head against his shoulder, pressing my side against his. Simon turned his hand over so he could lace his fingers with mine.

"You look good in white." I mused quietly

"It's not really my color." Simon said

"I dunno about that..." I stated with a small smile on my face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The cold water caused me to take shallow breaths into the oxygen mask. I glanced up at the light blue, thick ice that kept us from the surface. A normal person would panic, claustrophobia would kick in and they would want to escape. But I kept myself calm and gradually began to slow my breathing, letting it even out softly so I wouldn't use up all of my oxygen before the mission was over.

Johnny, Price, Gaz and I were all underneath the ice in the freezing water, waiting for the convoy that was supposed to be transporting Makarov. Simon and Farah were above us on the ice with sniper rifles.

The four of us swam up to the bottom of the ice and began to place the detonators, shoving them into the thick ice so they wouldn't float away at the last minute. Once they were all in place, we quickly began to swim back down to the bottom of the frozen lake. I grabbed onto one of the tree branches that was sticking out of the ground and held tightly to it. The others did the same thing.

Ghost to all Bravo, how copy?" Simon asked over the comms.

"Solid. Here they come..." Gaz trailed off as the silhouette of the convoy began to come closer. I could see the outline of the black trucks and the bright headlights through the thick ice.

Once the convoy was in the right position, Price pulled the trigger and detonated the bombs. The ice exploded above us and the four trucks came tumbling down into the depths of the lake.

"Fire in the hole." Price stated

The explosion was bright and the shockwave pushed against me, causing me to tighten my grip on the branch I was holding. The water that was once still was now restless. The current moved away from the explosion and kicked up the dirt from the lake floor at the same time.