Dead Straight (Lee Christmas Romance)

Part 11

I was casually sitting in the plane next to Toll Road as I cleaned my AR ensuring that the gun wouldn't jam. Yin sat quietly near the cockpit with his back leaned up against the plane. He seemed to be just meditating quietly in deep thought. Lee and Barney were talking indistinctly in the cockpit. Toll and Hail were talking abruptly right next to me and I was just listening to their conversation as well. Call me an eavesdropper but it was something I always did.

"The enemy is terrified of noise especially shotguns, and' when this big boy's spittin' out 250 rounds a minute, you tell me what's toleration' that?" Hail asked with a certain craziness in his voice. Toll looked at him expectantly.

" Absultutly Zero.Meet my girlfriend." Hail introduced showing off a large gun that looked like a cross between a mini gun and an automatic assault rifle. Toll rose a brow as he looked at the gun. Hail took out a bullet about the size of my pinky finger showing it off with an air of pride. " Omaya Kaboom" Hail said.

" You lost me there" Toll said with and hand underneath his chin.

"When Omayas primers struck, she really gets off and a miniature warhead that does arm itself and' when that event happens, anything standin' in my lady's way will become instant red sauce and Jello" Hail explained further with a broad smile causing as everyone just looked at him funny.

Toll took a moment before replying.

"You should meet my doctor" Toll stated sarcastically.

" To late" Hail replied causing Toll to laugh. Hail also broke out in a grin and chuckled deeply. I smiled, I actually smiled. Something I hadn't done in a long time. It felt good. Toll looked at me a little surprised.

"I don't think I have ever seen you smile like that before" Toll stated nudging my shoulder.

" See I told you girls like the funny guys" Hail claimed with a smirk.

" No sorry Hail, it's just, I haven't had a reason to laugh in a while" I told them continuing to smile. " And you just remind me of a man I once knew" I added. It was true, he acted exactly like Hudson. With that insane affinity for guns that could chop up humans like a hoard of turkeys on Thanksgiving.

" Really? That's cool" Hail said but I saw the corner of his smile falter. I had a feeling he had an idea of who I was talking about.

" They were good men" I said looking at Toll Road who had known Melbourne. It was odd how they were both so incredibly similar. "You know I never really told anyone about how they really died" I blurted out randomly. The plane went entirely silent when I said those words. Even the loud noise engine of the plane seemed to subside.

" Ferris you don't have to-No, I might be dead in a couple hours from now so someone should know. All you guys have probably only ever heard rumors" I claimed matter of factly. Judging by the looks from Hail, Toll, and Yin I suspected I was right.

" It was a mission in Somalia. We had to kill a man named Sharlto Musou, we had already killed his brother Djimon. They were human and drug traffickers. It was supposed to be an in and out job, a clean kill. But someone sneaked on us. We got set up" I began as a familiar cold feeling settled over my body. Like ice in my veins. But I needed to tell someone.

" We walked straight into a trap. There must have been 4 dozen men just waiting for us. We got pinned down bad in a ditch, surrounded on all sides. Hudson died first, a sniper shot to the face. I got shot soon after that on my arm" I said turning my left arm over showing the bullet wound that scared in the under side of my arm. I felt my eyes begin to water but held it back.

" We tried to get out of there but Hudson stepped on a landmine. His legs were blown off. He bled out quickly. It was just Royce and I who were left. Royce had been our leader. We had always been something more than friends.He had been shot in the leg and twice in the chest. One of the bullets was stopped by his vest but the other had hit his shoulder" I continued as all eyes were still trained directly on me. I figured Barney and Lee were also listening.

"But do you want to know what the sickest thing was?" I asked looking Toll in eye before looking down. " I didn't get out there by myself, Royce made it out too. We got him back to the U.S. And he was in critical condition for about a week. I remember we used to make fun of Royce since he seemingly could never die. He had survived too much already. I don't think I left his side for anything during that time. He woke up a few times but for just minutes at a time. When he was stabilized the doctors said they wanted to move him to a specialized military hospital so he could rehabilitate easier. I followed right behind him as the ambulance drove him to the other hospital. But a Ford truck slammed into the side of the ambulance. The driver had been texting. Royce was gone" I finished not able to look at anyone. It was so quiet as my words settled in that you could have heard a paper clip drop.

" So that left me as the lone survivor" I told them and Toll Road put a rough hand on my shoulder in a friendly, comforting manner. Hail was looking down at his shoes.

" May they Rest In Peace" Yin spoke up and I looked at him with watery eyes but still not a drop fell.

Hail nodded " They Rest In Peace" Hail stated sincerely and I looked at him. He looked saddened as well.

Only one tear fell

Lee Pov

Lee listened quietly as Ferris told her story. He felt an immense wave of sadness for her. Pity that she wouldn't have wanted from him. Lee couldn't believe that had actually happened. Right when she thought she was safe, and that that man Royce was going to live through it. He ended up dying in the most wrong way ever.

Lee had never even met any of these men but the story made it feel like he almost had. Ferris was a strong girl, that was for dang sure. To push through all that and still be in the killing business was not something Lee would have been able to do. He consciously wondered if she was still going to officially leave her Mercenary life behind her after this mission.

Barney, who sat next to Lee stared stoically ahead as she told the story. While others may not have been able to see it Lee could. He had been Barney's friend long enough to see that he was entirely upset even though he was hiding it very well.

The only word to truly describe Ferris's story was Cruel.