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

Chapter 16

    I reached the command room in a very short time. General Shepherd was debriefing with a few younger soldiers who eyed me when I entered. Upon seeing me, Shepherd wrapped up what he was explaining rather quickly.
    "Sam," he greeted.
    I walked up to his side table, ignoring the quiet exit of the three other men. Shepherd sat in a rolling chair across from where I stood, his hands clasping together.
    "You look rather upset."
    "I want to resign my position with the 141."
    His curious dropped to one of shock. "I've given you a second chance and this is what you're doing with it?"
    "Dad," I breathed, swallowing. "I can't explain—"
    "Lieutenant Riley," Shepherd leaned around to peer at the man who'd entered. "Here to explain why Lieutenant Hall has decided to resign?"
    Ghost walked all the way up to the desk beside me. He was panting...he'd been running. "Here to be a part of it, sir. It's her decision."
    Shepherd patiently turned back to me, his eyes full of curiosity. I felt a pang in my heart when I truly realized what I was about to say. Ghost also watched me, his look pleading.
    "I..."
    "Those drugs for your arm might be messing with your head," Shepherd countered. "I'm also very tired and very impatient. So get it out or wait until later."
    I slowly rocked my gaze over to Ghost, who was still watching me with a sadness in those bright blue eyes of his. My gut clenched in unpredicted horror from the amount of plead in his expression.
    "Well?" Shepherd demanded.
    "It needs to be in private," I blinked, biting the inside of my cheek. 
    Shepherd gave Ghost a silent look of dismissal. The soldier stifled protest, but backed away to give privacy. I waited until he exited through the doorway. 
    "Why do you want to resign?" 
    "The team isn't working out," I spoke plainly. "I gave it some time." 
    "Very little time. Do you mean to say that you aren't working out with them?" he stood and came around to sit back on the table. "I put a lot of effort into getting you here, knowing you wouldn't fail me." 
    "I haven't failed you," I pressed in the calmest voice I could muster. "Sir, I told you another task force was going to be difficult." 
    Shepherd let out a low sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You have a major flaw Samantha and it's holding onto the past too long." 
    I bristled. "Those men meant everything to me!" 
    "What happened was a risk all of you knew upon joining." 
    "Betrayal? You think we were risking betrayal? No one knew about that," I argued, glaring him down. "No one saw it coming." 
    "You did, but you never spoke up about your feelings," Shepherd was only making my mood worse and my decision easier. 
    "You weren't even there!" I raised my voice enough that Ghost could hear. "You never have been!" 
    "Sam—"
    "No!" I stopped the older man from saying another round of bullshit. "I've had enough dad. I'm going back again." 
    "Back where? To being a lone wolf?" Shepherd narrowed his eyes. "You'll get yourself killed." 
    "There's no one in this damn world who would even care!" I blurted, panting from the rising anger in my chest. 
    Shepherd's face faltered, his lips opening and closing once. I clenched my fists, enjoying the pain of the muscle underneath my shoulder wound from flexing. His dark eyes traced over my entire body in one quick, cautious glance. 
    "I ask that you reconsider," Shepherd sent a subtle warning. "This is the last chance you'll ever get. I barely let you back in after your attitude that night."
    I was determined. I wanted to get out and be alone again. The freedom was liberating. I would have all the time in the world to go after Makarov in my own way. There would be no one holding me down to any titles or responsibilities. 
    Then a cloudy image came into my head. 
    There was a tall and strong man hauling me over his shoulder like a sack of beets. Next to him was a smirking masked man with deep amusement in his wise blue eyes. There was shared laughter as the three of us were back at our first meal together. Even a man with a mohawk and a fluid Scottish accent joined us. 
    They were the Task Force 141. 
    My entire confidence for resigning went out my legs. Suddenly, I was lost and without back up in the middle of a war. My radio was dead and there was no one around to pick up the task for me. My leg was gushing blood with a wound so deep, it was killing me. 
    My fingers subtly traced the scar going laterally across my thigh. I felt a second scar against the fabric of my dark uniform, a twisted blade in my lower abdomen, an impossible chance that it missed vital organs.
    "Blackjack was a fucked up situation, Samantha," Shepherd drew me from my thoughts and I moved my hand away from the thigh scar. "It scared the hell outta me when I heard my only child was in an ICU. Over what? A damn betrayal?"
    "You still won't ever understand."
    "Perhaps not," his eyes averted to the ground temporarily. "It was unexpected and left everything in chaos. I can promise you, that isn't a worry anymore. Blackjack is long over with." 
    "I know that," I cleared my throat. "My worry is that I'll get attached again." 
    "You have the skills to not," Shepherd reminded. "Even if you do, loss is a part of this job." 
    I raised my chin. I didn't need to be reminded of the simple shit. "Once Makarov is killed, I'm resigning. It will make it a shorter amount of time I'm with those men." 
    Shepherd nodded in agreement. "Very well. Until then, I still expect nothing less than the best from you. Get your head out of where it's at and focus. You know as well as I do, you'll need it."
    I nodded. "Yes sir." 
    "One more thing," his voice made me pause in my turn. "Remember that those men are your comrades. We are family." 
    "How many times must you reiterate this?" I spoke softly. 
    Shepherd held a foreign emotion in his eyes. "Just remember, Sam. For me." 
    We were making progress, but I still didn't like him very much. "Fine." 
    I left before he could, exiting the command room with a more calm-headed attitude. Ghost was leaning against the hallway a little ways away, his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes raised in hope when I stopped nearby. 
    "I'm staying until Makarov is taken care of," I spoke lowly. "Then I have other plans." 
    He looked relieved. "About your other comrades, what happened with them?" 
    I felt a tug at my throat when I thought about the lost men more and more. Bruce, the medic, with Joey, the youngest, rabbit-faced source of amusement, and Jon, the oldest of us with two kids and a wife. They weren't innocent by any means, but they were pure. They didn't deserve to die how they had. 
    "We were betrayed by someone in our inner forces, a man named Erek," I swallowed tensely. "All of them were killed except for myself. I barely made it to the hospital in time to be saved." 
    He was a man I'd once swooned over. One of strength and of gorgeous eyes. He had always seemed loyal and protective. That's why it was easy for him to become my secondhand. 
    "I'm sorry," Ghost sounded sincere. 
    I gave a frown. "I need to do what my father said to and move on. I can't do anything about the situation now that it has passed." 
    "Did you hunt Erek down?" Ghost questioned as we began walking to our quarters.
    I couldn't help but smile to myself. "Without a doubt. I didn't even wait until I was completely healed. Shepherd didn't like it very much, but I didn't care in the moment. Erek suffered and that's all that mattered." 
    I could replay the gory scene in my head over and over with triumph. He'd been trying to escape the African country after hiding in it for weeks. I trapped him at the airport, not exactly dressed as myself. The look on his ghostly face had been something to chuckle at.
    I got on the same flight as him and made sure he didn't escape my line of sight. He was trying to flee dearly as we landed in Italy. I got him in a taxi and took him out to the middle of nowhere...some place with a lot of trees. 
    He lost limbs individually as I tortured him slowly. After the smell of blood became so heavy, a pack of wolves became too curious. I was quick to find a place of safety and watch how the wolves finished the job...
    "Sounds like you," Ghost huffed as we continued through the halls. "What made the task force so special?" 
    "Ghost, I can't even explain what we had," my vision clouded with memories once more. "We were like one big family, a big pack. They are the reason why I swore to never join another group. I'll never find something like that again."
    "What if you did?" 
    "Then I wouldn't let it be ruined like the last one." 
    Ghost smiled to himself. "I'd say this one was on it's way, but you don't like Price too much." 
    I rolled my eyes. "Don't remind me." 
    "Don't limit yourself," Ghost nudged me. "Every group has a chance to be the best." 
    I huffed and squeezed his shoulder. "Thank you Ghost." 
    Ghost playfully grabbed my hand and pressed a kiss on top of it. I let out a laugh and dramatically played the part of a blushing receiver. He squeezed my hand sincerely. 
    "I'm glad you've decided to stay." 
    "Yeah, well it's going to be rough," I muttered and then smiled. "Goodnight Ghost." 
    "Goodnight Sam," he released my hand and then left me in front of my room's door. 
    I stepped into the lamp-lit room and closed it softly behind me. My knees almost buckled as I leaned back against the steel. I let out a hefty sigh of disbelief as I began to take off my right boot.
    "Took you long enough." 
    To the voice, I chucked my removed boot as hard I could.