Photograph (camren)

Chapter 45 (Part One)

It had been hours since the last shot from the woods. But neither of the three moved from their positions. Each awaited with baited breath, feeling as though this would turn into a shoot out if they weren't careful. Another crunch of the earth's brush came from the same direction as before, as the lieutenant readied herself to take the lead.

"Showtime." Lauren repeated to herself before hurtling over the rock she had taken cover behind and moved up to the next. Towards the enemy. Towards what separated her from a warm cup of coffee and most of all, what separated her from returning home to Camila once more.

Within seconds she dove towards the next source of protection, a shot fired, skimming her already useless left arm. The stinging went unnoticed by the lieutenant as she took refuge for a moment, then set herself up with the scope on her gun. It was becoming cloudy east of where they were, enough that there wouldn't be a glare from the device. Enough to give them their first advantage of the entire mission.

Judging by how infrequent the time between shots was, Lauren knew that the enemy was only working with so many bullets. There was no way he'd waste anymore- well unless he was a complete idiot, at this point it wouldn't have surprised her. Shrugging to herself, she leaned into her scope and scanned the area. Finally, she caught glimpse of something. Faint, but still there.

The smallest movement between the bushes had caught her eye long enough to realize the enemy had also started to move closer- an act she'd caught him in.

As he inched closer towards her and her squamates, Lauren marked each target on his body. Praying to whatever higher power there may be, God, or the universe, or anything really, that her right arm would be enough to help her finish this.

"Gotcha, bastard." She whispered, as she put her finger on the trigger, inhaled, and counted to three.

One.

Two.

The man in her scope had crouched down. A terribly wrong move on his part. Yeah, she thought, completely stupid.

Three.

The bullet fired through the air, followed by two others. The first hitting the man's shooting shoulder, the second targeting the opposite, and finally the third- between the eyes. The moment the metal tore through his skull, the lieutenant lifted her hand from the gun and singled for the others to move forward as well.

The three waited.

Private Young had finally passed out from the pain with Harris by his side. Johnson and Kent had taken out two others, while Lauren took it upon herself to continue scoping the area. They stayed behind their shelters, following their Lieutenants lead and scanning their designated area, Donte taking another enemy down, while Kent added to the casualties with two others shortly after.

Lauren had her eyes locked on a bush that kept moving slowly, as if a creature of somekind was inside, but nothing had emerged from it within their shootout. Something that was considerably odd, while multiple birds had taken flight the minute the bullets had left her gun. Surely some squirrel like thing would do the same. With that in mind, she hyper-fixated on the bush as the sun became present once more behind her as it started to set. If there was one enemy left, the sun would be on Lauren's side.

Surely, moments later a glare had reflected off of something in her scope, her right hand going behind her and signalling to the others to stay where the were and then to stay low. Taking another breath, Lauren placed her hand back on the gun and began to count.

One.

Two.

Three.

Shots ripped through the air once more as did the blades of the helicopter nearing them.

This time coming from both sides, Lauren had made the mistake of raising herself up just enough that her left shoulder was exposed during the time it took for her to shoot. She hit her target, but so did the enemy. Two bullets entered near Lauren's left collarbone, tearing through her left breast pocket, each about a centimetre from each other. The marine grimaced in sheer agony then fell backwards, dropping the riffle immediately. She bit her tongue with the urge to curse aloud.

Johnson and Kent moved forward despite their orders, Donte's placing Lauren's good shoulder under his, while Ryan continued to scope the area, zooming in the general direction that his 1st had shot in. He waited, taking a better look at the body, and then over to his teammates.

"What Kent..." Lauren sputtered with gritted teeth. "S-spit it out."

"Lieutenant, he's down."

The raven-haired lieutenant chuckled. "W-well, thank-thank, f-fuck for t-that."

The noise from the helicopter had made its way overhead, dropping near Young and Harris, securing Jackson first before pulling him up into the copter. The three looked up as their rescue team hovered above them, a ladder with two medics propelling downwards. Lauren grunted, before she faced Ryan.

"Kent, you keep eyes on that b-body, until we're secure, then b- book, book it.Got it?" He nodded and set back up as Donte took initiative to carry their superior to safety, Lauren dragging her legs behind her as she began to become aware of her injuries.

As he kept eyes on the body, he noticed another movement in the bushes near it, as if another had found him, and wanted revenge. Ryan waited, perhaps too long, before he noticed the scopes glare and where it was aimed. He yelled out, trying to signal to the lieutenant what was coming. But as soon as the words were out of his mouth another bullet tore through Lauren's skin, this time in her right hip. She cried out in pain as Kent killed the man responsible.

The medics ran towards her, doing their best to stop the bleeding. Just enough to get them to safety. It was a rushed job, but it worked. Kent took off running, as Lauren was lifted into the craft with Donte shortly behind.

Between Johnson, Kent, and Harris, there was no telling which one had let out the biggest sigh of relief. The general had ordered them to take a seat and prepare for take off, before taking a seat himself, next to the 2nd Lieutenant.

"How long exactly have you been looking for us General?" Ryan asked, taking in every single one of the injuries that had been sustained during the mission. From Young's hearing and vision loss and possible amputation, to Johnson's concussion, the laceration Harris endured, and their squad leader's head gash, broken left arm, and bullet wounds.

"We've been looking for you all for about a week."

Lauren caught a small bit of what the General said, her eyes opening and closing repeatedly as her wounds continued to bleed through their bandages. It was rushed and messy but should've secured the injury until they could operate.

Operate.

Camila.

The lieutenant's eyes stayed hooded for a moment as she reached for the pocket she kept the doctor's picture in. She was barely able to notice that there were bandages covering it but wanted to reach out to her love in some form of comfort. Lauren described each of the doctors features to herself as she drifted in and out of consciousness, Camila and the fear of being unable to keep her promise, creeping itself into her mind, being the last thing on her mind before it completely went blank.

A/N: SORRY SORRY SORRY.

ENJOY PART 2 COMING SOON, I mean it, I'm so sorry but my inspirations back.