The Secret War

The Secret War -- Chapter One

I feel my eyes slowly shutting, and I realize, this is the end for me. My world is crashing down around my ears, my life’s highlights flashing before my eyes. The room around me, although black and dreary, spun madly, as nausea took over my body. Four days of not eating, tied to this chair, being tortured for information, and this was finally the end.

I had just fully welcomed death, longed for it, when I heard a racket outside. God, can’t you let me die in peace, I thought. What the-! The door blew off it’s hinges, and four heavily armed commandos strolled into the room slowly.

“You! Are you Sean Childs?” The taller soldier questioned.

“Ye- yes,” I stuttered slowly, my eyes dragging over they’re bodies. He was wearing all black, with an armored utility vest, filled with all assortments of gear.

“Good, we’re hear to get you out,’ the soldier explained, pulling off their face mask. To my surprise, he, was a she! “My name’s Zoe, and this is Michael, Nate, and Claire.” She said whilst pointing to the other three people with her.

With one hand, she motioned towards the gaping hole, that was once the steel door, and asked, “You coming with us, or you just gonna wait in this dreary little cell?”

Michael left the room first, Desert Eagle pistol, raised at shoulder height, ready to fire upon any enemies. Zoe went through the door next, and the other two waited for me to follow. They ushered me down the dark corridors of the interrogation block, and toward the sunlight, beaming through a hole in the wall ahead of us.

“Big Bird, bring her down in the courtyard, we’re coming out now,” Zoe said into her throat mike, signaling for another of her companions.

We stepped through the wall, into a dull courtyard. It was empty. I thought someone was meeting us here, I wondered to myself. Just as I finished the thought, I could hear a long woosh sound in the distance. Unmistakably a jet plane. I recognized the plane as it came into view, as a Harrier Jet. One of the few planes in the world that could take off and land vertically. It was painted black, obviously to avoid detection whilst flying at night.

The Harrier landed on the grass in front of us, and sirens began sounding all over the complex. The watchtowers around the large, fortified walls, all suddenly filled with soldiers, and were all looking at us. Zoe quickly grabbed the Serbian-made, M-21 sniper rifle off her back, and began pointing it at the towers.

“Get in the plane, Sean!” She yelled ferociously. Nate instantly turned  around, pulling out his German-made H&K UMP, and began firing into the swarm of soldiers exiting buildings nearby, rushing towards the group.

Wow, I thought. They must be an individual group, those weapons aren’t both used by any countries’ Special Forces.

Zoe rushed past me, barging her way into the Jet.

“Sean!” She roared. “Get in here! Now!” I dove into the cargo hold of the plane, and turned to see Claire and Michael rushing in behind me. Nate was still outside, firing madly at the enemy. I saw his gun run dry. He threw it on the ground, drawing his pistol, firing madly at the unseen enemy.  I went to step out, find a way to assist him, when I saw his head snap back, blood flying everywhere. Shit, I thought. He’s dead, because he’s trying to save me. His body fell lifelessly to the floor. I went to rush out and grab his pistol, going to fire at the enemies, when Zoe grabbed me from behind.

“Sean. Can you fly one of these? Your file said you were a pilot.” She informed.

“Uhh, yeah I can. Why do you ask?” I replied politely.

“Our pilots been shot. We need you to fly us.” Without even waiting for my reply, she began shoving me into the cockpit.

I sat there, in the cockpit of a Harrier Jet, staring at the controls.

“Go Sean! Go now!” Claire yelled from the cargo hold behind me.  I pressed a button on the dashboard, closing the cargo hold. After pressing a few more buttons, lights began flashing all around me. This is it, I realized. It’s now, or never. With that thought in mind, I lent on the accelerator,  and the rocket thrusters at the bottom of the jet, began boosting, forcing the plane off the ground, into the air.

Once I had the hang of my new vehicle, I began maneuvering it, so I could fire onto the watch towers of the prison. There was explosions and smoke everywhere, as rockets crashed into the concrete walls, knocking over towers, killing the guards instantly.

After a few more seconds, there was lights flashing wildly in front of me, and a beeping noise. I looked towards the lights, and under them, there was a panel that said “Incoming Missile.”

Shit, I thought. We’re about to be hit with a missile. I swung the jet around, so I was facing the incoming missile, and launched a line of tracer bullets at it. The bullets hit the missile, causing a massive explosion.

The explosion launched our plane backwards, momentarily disabling the thrusters. As the ship fell, I struggled to keep it level. We were hurtling towards the ground, when I managed to turn the thrusters back on.  

The thrusters barely stopped the planes descent before it reached the ground. My world had barely stopped spinning, when enemy soldiers began shooting at the Harrier.

“Sean! We need to get out of here!” Zoe screamed at me from the cargo hold.

“Yea, I’m working on it.” I replied urgently. I look around the cockpit at the multitude of flashing lights, levers, and buttons, searching for one in particular.

Moments later, I found the button I was looking for. It was the button with ‘Vertical Take-Off’ written in small writing beneath it.

I slammed my hand down on the button, and felt its reaction immediately.  The plane lurched upward, away from the incoming enemy fire. The buildings around me were a blur as we rushed twenty-five metres into the air.

“Sean! Let’s get out of here while we can,” Claire stated bluntly. I lent on the control lever, and felt the plane lurch forwards.  I pushed harder on it, and soon, the ground below us was rushing by in a blur, the mountains rushing up to meet us.