Welcome To The Nightmare (Book 2)

Chapter 71: No Time For Mourning

The Dreamcatcher was deep in their slumber, swimming in their own dreams until the carrier did an evasive maneuver with explosion ringing around them.

"What the fuck?!" Siyeon shouted as she grabbed the seat to balance herself.

"We're blown! Take her up! We're changing the DZ!" JiU gave her order to the pilot.

"The camo's still up. I don't think they are shooting at us." The pilot responded as he pulled up to a higher altitude.

"Any aircraft in our vicinity?"

"Negative. I think that was just a stray missile. But we're approaching the DZ, and from the look of it you girls are dropping at the heart of the inferno." The pilot added. JiU flicked on her AR and pulled out the map of the area.

"Get us 30 clicks south of the original DZ. We'll HALO jump and proceed on foot to the resistance encampment. Ladies, change of plan. We're HALO jumping down to the DZ and will be moving on foot. Ready up!" JiU gave her order, checking her parachute.

"What about these crates? Most of our equipments are in there!"

"We're dropping them with us. The crates have their own chutes and camo so we'll recover them later. Check on each others' chutes. Dami, you're jump master. Ryo, ETA?" JiU inquired.

"5 minutes." They all lined up single file, their nanotech masks on. With the improved design, now their mask has a capability of a gas mask, supplying them with oxygen and sealing them from any toxic gas or pollutant. The ramp opened and Dami looked around for the new DZ. She put her fingers up, in pinching form.

"30 seconds!" They signalled the person behind them with the same sign, and as the last person SuA tapped on Gahyeon's shoulder. Dami waited for the time, and pointed out. Handong was the first to jump, while the others following behind her short after with Dami jumping last. Their crates followed after, free falling in the air.

HALO; or High Altitude Low Opening is where the parachutist opens the parachute at a low altitude after free-falling for a period of time where aircraft can fly above SAM engagement levels through enemy skies without posing a threat to the transport or load. In the event that anti-aircraft cannons are active near the drop zone, the HALO technique also minimizes the parachutist's exposure to flak.

"Keep it tight, people. Don't let the sticks scatter in the wind." Dami ordered them. They adjusted their angles, creating a tight formation.

"Holy shit this is scary!" Gahyeon gritted her teeth.

"Thank God we completed our jumping before the base got attacked. Over my dead body I'mma jump from the C 17!" Yoohyeon screamed.

"Yoohyeon, no need to scream. The comm isolated, you're bursting our eardrums!" Siyeon sighed.

"5000!" Dami pulled her chute, and the rest of them followed. But Siyeon's chute did not open. She pulled the ripcord again, but bag locked. She immediately cut the cord and went for reserve.

"Shit... I thought I was a goner!" Siyeon let out a nervous laugh.

"You okay down there, Siren?"

"From now on, I'll never slacking off in packing my canopy again!" Siyeon sighed.

"Lesson learned the hard way, sister." Handong laughed.

Once on the ground, they quickly gather their canopies and regroup. They marked their crates' location and activated their camo, until Yoohyeon saw something peculiar in the crates' GUI on her AR.

"Crawler? What's this?" Yoohyeon tapped on the icon. The dots suddenly blinked, getting closer to their location.

"What was that?!" JiU shushed them up as she heard rustling came from the bushes behind her. Weapon at ready, they hugged the deck only to find the crates crawling towards them.