WRATH OF THE FALLEN

Chapter 2

POV
GABRIEL WESTON
SAS SECOND LIEUTENANT
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Jeremy and I took off, running as fast as our legs could carry us. We sprinted towards the town where the rest of our squad had spent the night. Multiple, if not hundreds, of unmarked black C-130s roared overhead.

As I watched the behemoth air formation pass right over us, I felt my very soul turn cold as the cargo doors opened on the rear of the formation; they were air-dropping troopers onto the town. It was a full-scale invasion, with hundreds upon thousands of airborne troops and vehicles descending from above.

God have mercy. With renewed vigor, we ran as fast as we could and finally arrived at the town's outskirts. At least the deafening roars of the C-130s had all but halted. As Jeremy and I started to sneak our way into town, we heard civilians screaming in fear. Moving from one backyard to the next, Jeremy and I eventually reached the same hotel where our guys were held up.

Gabriel: "Let's just hope our guys are still here."

Jeremy: "Agreed."

Staying crouched, Jeremy and I moved to the back of the hotel building. [Something about this feels wrong; we might be heading into an ambush.] Stopping near the corner of the hotel with Jeremy behind me, I raised my fist to signal him to stop. He looked at me inquisitively, so I gestured for him to flank the left side of the hotel and check the windows.

I moved to the right side of the building, which was, unfortunately, a tight alleyway. Trying to squeeze my one hundred-kilo frame through that was not pretty. [Thank God that fox can't see this!] An embarrassingly long time passed before I got to the other side of the "alleyway," more like a crawl space.

[Finally, that was agony.] After emerging from the crawl space and shifting to cover, I spotted Jeremy opposite me. He gestured to the hotel with his left hand, then held up five fingers and pointed his thumb downwards. Finally, he grabbed his own throat, signaling hostages.

I spotted a window on my side of the building and, after checking to make sure the coast was clear, saw a military truck parked right outside the building, though not ours. I moved up to the window and peeked inside. Five hostile anthros had our guys lined up, ready to be executed. [Oh, like hell that's going to happen.]

Trying to formulate a plan, I failed to notice Jeremy trying to get my attention by waving at me. I looked over and gestured, "WHAT!" He pointed toward the truck and motioned for me to follow him. I moved with him to the driver's side door, and he stopped me.

Gabriel: "Jeremy, what the hell are you planning on doing?"

Jeremy: "I'm going to sabotage the truck. Hopefully, that'll get their attention. Then maybe we can take them out."

Gabriel: "Good thinking, but what if more than two of them come out?"

Jeremy: "I Don't Know fucking improvise!"

Gabriel: "Let me think of something."

Maybe if he's able to set off an explosive or blow a gasket or something, that should get their attention and send someone out to check it out. Then, God willing, I could take out whoever they send from a concealed position. Yeah, from the hotel corner. After running the plan with Jeremy, I moved to get into position by the corner of the hotel. [I hope this works.]

I signaled to Jeremy that I was ready. I saw him disappear from the back of the truck, and only seven seconds later, I heard a loud bang followed by a horrible screeching noise coming from the truck. I then spotted Jeremy diving behind one of the many parked cars and lorries. As expected, they sent someone to find out what was going on. Sadly, this guy wasn't alone; a second anthro dressed in all black came out with him.