The Bullet's Whistle (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Fanfiction)

Chapter 24

    When it was well into the night, I sat up on the bench. The main room around the corner from the cell had gone silent hours ago, signaling Shepherd's soldiers had retired. While I'd seen a few guards pass by our cell on their way to nighttime posts, the base was eerily quiet.
     Roach slept soundly across from me and it pained my heart to wake him up. He blinked open his eyes in confusion at first and then sat up in determination. 
    "We're going to have to be careful with this," I warned. "Guards are posted." 
    "I'm following you," he nodded once. "I've got your back."
    And I've got yours.
    I crept to the cell door and glanced down the hallway. The rocky hallway was ghostly empty and silent. As quietly as possible, I unlocked the cell and slid open the door. Roach stayed on my ass as I headed left. 
    Knowing there was a hidden river underneath us from the introductory briefing—which felt much too long ago—I headed for the direction that generally led down. Roach's presence was on my heels as we came up to an opening. 
    Above, a soldier paced along the edge of a balcony. He was smoking as he eyed the ground in front of us through a sleep-deprived gaze. I crouched to pick up a pebble and then chucked it upward. It hit the connecting balcony behind him and, as he turned to examine the noise, I motioned for Roach to cross with me. 
    Back in the safety of the shadows, we continued down to the next, lower level of the base. Two guards exchanged pacing positions as we came up onto the river opening. They were watching the shadows a little too closely for my liking. 
    "We're going to do this a little different," I turned to face Roach. "You stay here and I'll sneak around to the other one. We'll take them out together." 
    "Roger that." 
    I left him in the crevice of the hallway as I backtracked. The second opening to the river was further down and a masked soldier stood with a weapon across his body in the opening. I cursed under my breath as I crept closer. As I did, my toe kicked a tiny pebble across the way.
    The man perked up to the movement and I quickly ducked behind an ammo crate. He stepped forward, examining the moved rock. The soldier then braced his rifle and started coming closer to my position.
    "Parker, report to the south. We need some extra hands." 
    The soldier suddenly backed away as the barrel of his gun disappeared. I peeked out to see him heading down the rest of the path. 
    "That was close," I whispered. 
    Continuing through where he'd been stationed, I found the two soldiers still pacing. I crept across the flimsy balcony. Roach caught my gaze and also started descending to his target. 
    I reached the backside of my man first and covered his mouth. He let out mangled moans as I clutched the knife at his hip and chucked it across his throat. He fell to the ground without another sound. 
    Roach was struggling with his soldier as he tried to keep him quiet. I watched him pull out the man's knife and slice his throat as well. He fixed his uniform top as the Shadow Company soldier fell. 
    "Very nice." 
    He smiled and then looked to the dock of zodiacs below. "There's our ride out." 
    I walked down to the docks using the wooden steps and stood in front of one. "Your ride, you mean." 
    "What?" 
    "If we both leave, it'll only make the situation worse," I explained. "Shepherd wants you dead, not me." 
    "You said we're in this together," Roach gripped my hands. "Come with me." 
    "I have to finish this."
    "I'm not just going to leave you here."
    "You will, that's an order." 
    I noticed his mental backtrack. "This is an order I won't follow." 
    "I need you to be safe, Roach," I released his hands and then forced him toward the zodiac.
    I could feel the reluctance all through his arms as he braced down into the boat. I knew he wished to lift me into the zodiac and kidnap my smaller self. He also knew what needed to happen and how right I was. 
    "I will find you after this," he promised through a clenched jaw. 
    I reached out to pick up the ore. "Don't start the zodiac until you're well out of the cave. When you get out of here, find Soap and Price."
    "What about you?" 
    "I'll catch up," I forced a smile. 
    Leaning forwards, Roach kissed my forehead long enough for me to embrace him in a tight hug. He sniffled when I released him, but took the ore out of my hands anyways. I watched him use the emergency paddle for silent means, him glancing over his shoulder in regret.
    I stood at the edge of the docks, holding my arms as I watched him descend into the darkness of the cave. He kept glancing over his shoulders as the muscles in them rippled to the rowing movement. 
    "Goodbye Roach," I murmured. 
    As I turned to head back to the cell, my eyes drifted up to where a soldier had wandered to the docks. His masked face twisted in horror as he noticed his fallen comrades. His blazing eyes met my narrowed ones as he let out a shout of alert. 
    "I need back up at the north docks! The prisoners are trying to escape!" 
    "Roach!" I cried out and turned. 
    It took the band of reinforcements no longer than thirty seconds to enter the premises. They began to fire sporadically where Roach was increasing the distance. With my back to them, I cupped my mouth with my hands. 
    "Start it and go!" 
    Roach glanced at the situation and then rushed to start up the zodiac. I turned to distract the rest of the soldiers for the time being, only to find two rushing my way. 
    I dodged the first clumsy swing of one of the soldiers, slamming into the gut of the second. He grunted and then went tumbling into the water beside us, his head smacking the corner of the dock as he went down. I spun around to deal with the second soldier in hatred. 
    Roach got the zodiac running and turned to sit to steer the ride out of the cave. The distance quickly began to grow between us and relief spread through me. As long as he got out...all would turn out.
    "Shoot the zodiac dammit!" 
    "No!" I growled and cautiously gained control of the first soldier's secondary. 
    I shot the bastard point blank and turned to off three more of the clueless soldiers. As three more of their comrades fell, more attention from the SC soldiers came. A whole horde hustled down to restrain me; they had to be under strict orders to not kill me by Shepherd. 
    "Locked on target!" 
    "No!" I screeched as the javelin fired and spun to watch the missile's impact. 
    The zodiac veered left, just making the corner, as the launcher's ammo reached it. It hit the escaping zodiac in a bright explosion. The narrow cave lit up as the zodiac burned into pieces, already obliterated from the impact. A shockwave blew the water in ripples of distress. 
    "Roach," I squeaked, falling to my knees as two SC men reached me. "No...ROACH!" 
    "You little bitch," one of the soldiers gritted out and began to restrain my wrists. 
    I only watched the burning scene ahead, tears brimming my lower eyelids. "Roach!" 
    "Get her back to the cell and make sure she stays restrained!" 
    I locked my knees to avoid getting dragged away from the scene. I didn't want to leave Roach. Not when it was my fault he was dead. I hadn't been paying attention...
    "Now you'll stay in there," one of the soldiers assigned to take me back to the cell spat as he helped shove me in. 
    I lost my balance and fell to the rough, rocky ground. My shoulder screeched in pain as I sat up with only abdominal strength. The two soldiers chuckled and then slammed the cell door shut. 
    "Roach," I whispered, seeing the explosion as a replay in my head. 
    Just like Ghost, he was gone forever.