Warm sand stung John's face as the cool wind whipped and howled through the windows of his Humvee, sending an eerie shiver across his skin. He watched the reddish blue-sky fade into darkness as they neared their location. The plan was to wait until "eyes" got into position over a mile over a mile away, where he would watch their backs with his sniper rifle. The rumor was that he could shoot the wings off of a fly at a half of a mile away, making him like a god in battle. John was a get in the enemy's face kind of guy, shooting them a mile away seemed safe and boring,
"Hey, does anyone know what our mission is?" John asked the men that now stared at him.
"The rumor is we are here to recover an ancient rune that some archeologist found during a dig. The one that found the door got ripped in half by an invisible something, leaving a bloody mess for us to follow." The soldier shrugged his shoulders, "I guess we will find out when we get there."
John shook his head, what did he get himself into this time. No wonder the bonus was six figures, it was a suicide mission, compensation for his death.
"Hey, who are you anyway?" a man with a snake tattoo asked as he loaded his fifth clip with armor piercing rounds.
"My name is John O'Neil and god willing this will be my last mission."
"They call you Grizzly, right?" a man wearing a shaggy fur vest asked.
"Yeah!" John laughed. "They haven't called me that in years, do I know you?"
"I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for you saving my Paw's life." The young man stood up and shot his hand out. "Name's Hyena and you are a hero in my eyes."
"I only got lucky and killed them before they killed us, son." John said as he grabbed Hyena's hand, squeezing firmly.
"Chill man, oww. Now I know why they call you Grizzly, you're strong as a bear."
"Sorry." John let go and looked out the window toward their unknown fate.
"Grizzly, your family in my book and I got your back." Hyena said as he pounded his chest with his fist.
"That's good to know. Hopefully we will be in and out on American soil by morning."
John felt a nagging sense that something was entirely wrong with either the mission or the intel, either way, a mission had been given and it was his job to finish it and bring all of these men back to their families. A shiver ran down John's back as his saturated shirt cooled under his fleck vest in the arid night air. He could feel the lump in his throat as he tried to swallow the fear that came with this job. The Humvee stopped and John checked his M-4, chambering a round as he stepped into the sandy darkness. A few buildings were near, so he ran toward their protective covering, "Follow me." John whispered to his team. It was go time and there was no going back now, their ride to the states had left hours ago and the only way home was through the enemies to the L2.
John slowly neared the corner and noticed a blur move twenty feet in front of him. He stopped and crouched down, waving at his team to stop and watch, while he ducked behind the adobe building. John knew that "eyes" watched his back, so he continued forward. His teammates, Frog, Snake, and Hyena crept up beside him, covering his flanks and rear, while the rest of the squadron scattered in different directions, positioning themselves in tactical formations, surrounding the area.
"Has anyone spotted any movement?" Frog asked as he looked around the building, barely poking his nose around the bend.
"There are hostels in the distance, just behind that wall," John pointed toward the left as he got down on one knee, searching the area through his inferred crosshairs.
Two figures darted into view, allowing John to see that they both wore robes, they both had AK-47's. One of them turned and looked into John's direction, giving him a chance to see the face of a beautiful mid-eastern woman. Her lips were pouty and something about the expression on her face gave him the feeling that she was in trouble. She didn't stop or pause, telling John that she either didn't see them or wasn't looking, either way, they were safe for the moment. He exhaled and watched the woman and her counterpart as they opened a door that was hidden in the side of the mountain's face.
"Alpha two. This is Bravo one, do you read?" John said softly into his headset. Static silence was all that came through the earpiece.
"Alpha two, I found an entrance. Do you read?"
"...static…"
"Eyes, can you see them?"
A moment later John's answer came in the form of shots and screams as the alpha squad were in full retreat mode. John's headset came to life as multiple soldiers screamed, trying to be heard despite their panic. "They got… They got… run." Gunshots and screams were all that he could hear until the silence filled his ear. John heard his sergeant scream; fear covered his words. "Holy shit, what the fuck, help… Noooooo…"
"Eyes? What the fuck! Where are you?" John said as the fear and frustration of the situation blended together.
"Calm down, John." Eyes' voice spoke softly, "Alpha two is dead, your team just got smoked."
"All of them?"
"Our enemy is bullet proof, and I can't get my crosshairs on them long enough to identify what they are."
"They? There's more than one… thing?" John said as his confidence began to fade.
"What do you want to do? I can call it in and get help here in forty minutes."
John looked at his men, there were five men including Eyes. Hyena and the others looked ready to fight. "We have a mission, so let's get it done. I have snake, frog, and Hyena with me, watch our backs. We are heading toward the mountain's face. There is a door leading inside."
John retraced his steps and followed the footsteps of the woman as his men followed behind, watching intently. John noticed carnage and gore thirty feet from where he stood, where his team had been slaughtered by an invisible enemy. John crouched down to one knee and his men followed his lead. "There is a secret door around here somewhere. We have an enemy that just smoked Alpha two and we are sitting ducks if we don't hurry. Oh yeah, our enemy is bullet proof." John's words only worried him, for his team looked as if they didn't hear a word he said. "So, are we ready for this?"
"Let's get lookin'" Frog said as he began to search the rocks and face of the mountain. "If we die tonight then it was a pleasure serving with you all." Frog stopped for a second and loaded his M-203 grenade launcher." "Let me see them fucking dodge a grenade." He tapped and kissed his gun.
"Let's split up, two by two, Snake and Hyena go left. Frog, stay on my heels, don't fire that noise maker unless I say so."
"Eyes, keep our escape route clean. If we are not back by sunup, call it in. Then get gone." John said as his hand pushed in a rock nob that popped open a metalish door right in front of him. "How did I miss this?" He said to himself as he waved at Hyena. "Eyes, we're going in. See you on the other side." The line turned to static as he entered the tunnel.
"Good luck, John." Eyes said as he scanned the area looking for an enemy to kill. Anxiety tried to gnaw at his resolve as the static hum of the headset got louder the longer, he listened. He turned the volume down and waited for the sun to rise, hoping that he would once again see all of his brothers again.
"Did they see us open the door?"
She lowered her hood and faced him. "They saw us. I could see the lust in his eyes as the man they call Grizzly saw my beautiful face. All of you men are the same, guns and sex." She laughed as the young man blushed, "We must make sure that they complete the mission, the world depends on it." He looked at her and nodded than turned to leave,
"Kaleb, be careful and only use your power in emergencies."
"I will be careful, Livianna. I will see you soon." He raised his hood and ran off into the distance. "I will not fail the order, I promise,"
"I know…" and before she could finish her thought a burst of evil energy slammed into the wall next to her. "Run, Kaleb, run." She climbed a set of stairs and ran into a dark room for cover and noticed the cauldron of shadows swirling. "Oh no, we're too late." She heard footsteps and turned just in time to see a shadowy ball of energy slam into her, throwing her into a wall. The room began to go dark, and she felt the cold ground as she hit it hard, "Help me…"
John stopped as he heard the distress for help. "Did you hear that?"
"Yeah, it sounded like a woman's voice, where?" Frog said as he looked down multiple hallways.
"Let's go, eyes open," John said as he continued walking as he continued walking as he raised his M-4, looking through the inferred sights. Soft whimpers tickled John's ears as he turned the corner, finding a woman knocked unconscious and leaking blood from a nasty gash on her forehead. He crouched down and checked her pulse. "It's weak but she's still alive. Whoever did this is close, fan out."
Frog took a hallway as the others did the same, creating a parameter around the wounded women.
"Who is this woman to you, John?" Frog asked as he turned around in time to see Snakes head explode from a sniper's bullet, killing him instantly. "What the fuck, man." Frog ran to Snake's dead body. "Snakes down, medic… Medic…"
"The medics are all dead, man. What the fuck was that?" Hyena said as he kissed the gold cross that hung around his neck.
A snap and a hiss from more enemy rounds put Frog in a compromising position. "I'm pinned down. They are flanking us. I can't see where they are shooting from." Another snap sent debris flying into Frogs face. "What the fuck, man. Find the shooters before they kill us." Frog checked on Snake and started screaming, "Snake's dead! My brother is fucking dead." his voice cracked as the anger and fear mixed within his scream. Frog grabbed a grenade and threw it down the hallway toward the shooters, or where he thought they were. A moment later an explosion shook the walls, making dirt and rubble fall on them all. I think I got them. I can see something on the ground." Frog said as he began to slowly move toward the blast area.
"Stay put, soldier, that's an order." John shouted as he checked on the woman's wound. "We cannot split up Frog!"
Frog had tunnel vision and didn't hear a word that his commanding officer had said. Both Snake and Frog had been in the same boot camps, were stationed at the same bases, and had created a brotherhood that surpassed bloodlines. Frog was now on a mission of his own revenge. John knew that chasing his friend would only cause more problems, so he turned to his sergeant and said, "What do you see, Hyena?"
A small mirror poked around the corner," Nothing boss, I think whatever that thing was is either dead or ran off."
A moment later Frog's scream echoed throughout the hallways as an explosion followed. Within seconds multiple explosions had shaken the underground bunker as Frog's grenade launcher continued to thump and explode, shaking the hundred-year-old dust from the wooden rafters," Run John, run!"
John neared the corner to see an eleven-foot blackish semi-translucent being holding his friend by the throat. Frog aimed his M-203 at the demonic looking monstrosity and began to fire round after round, exploding fire and debris behind the huge creature as the grenades went right through the demon. A moment later, Frog was torn limb from limb, spraying blood against the walls that began to cave in around him," Run!" John said as he backtracked to where his friend waited. John picked the woman up and threw her over his shoulder and began to run toward the nearest room, closing the door as soon as Hyena came through.
"What did you see, John? You're as white as a ghost."
"Holy shit, man! Holy shit, man!" is all John kept saying," I don't know what that thing was. One minute Frog was shooting his grenade launcher and the next something tore him into pieces. I don't know what… What that…'' John stopped speaking and couldn't help but think about his daughter's warning," It's a demon, it's gotta be a demon." John shook his head. He had lost so many men tonight, he looked at the bleeding woman and his friend and said," We need to abandon the mission and get the fuck out of here, now!" He looked at Hyena and whispered," demons are real." as if trying to convince himself.
"John chill, if it was a demon then that means that God is real, too. He will protect us, right?" Hyena said as he checked the ammo within his weapons.
John looked at his friend and said,'' I don't think that God lives in these parts of the world." he said, doubting what he had just told his friend. He turned and found a room full of candles, crimson and black that lined the walls. Each candle burned an eerie red and black colored smoke, creating an ominous hue that cast shifting shadows on the buried skulls that lined the circular walls. Above each skull, ancient words that were etched into the old brick and adobe red rock.
A thunderous blow struck the door, shaking the walls and disturbing the black liquid that swished and swirled within an ancient cauldron. Both John and Hyena turned when a robed man burst into the room through a secret passageway, pointing an AK-47 at them both, "where is she?"
"Whoa!" John put his free hand up and directed Hyena to do the same. Hyena lowered his gun slowly and raised his hands.
John placed the woman on the floor next to the man and backed away, "who are you and why are you pointing your gun at us?"
"I'm Kaleb." he said lowering his gun, "I'm in your debt, I didn't know if she was in danger or not. It seems that we have a common enemy by the sounds of it." he pointed toward the door that still shook as something large continued to beat on it.
John and Hyena exhaled, grateful that they didn't have to kill the young man," What are you doing here and who is this woman to you?"
"We are demon hunters from the order of Elijah, we have been hired to protect this place and your lives."
"Hired!?" John looked at Hyena, the woman who lay unconscious, and then back at Kaleb, "You're here to protect us?"
"Get the hell out of here, boy!" Hyena said," You're not even old enough to drink." The burly man laughed and slapped John on the shoulder, rousing John's sense of humor, "I bet you're still a virgin."
Another hard crash slammed against the door, reverberating an eerie echo within the room. Next the door began to crack and splinter," We gotta go, now!" John said as he lifted the woman over his shoulder, "we will follow you, Kaleb."
"There is a door this way." Kaleb said as he pointed to a rock that pushed open when he touched a rounded stone. A moment later a symbol rotated and popped up next to the opening of the door, protruding out toward the men," Let's go." Kaleb said as he handed John a sheathed dagger and a scroll," meet me in Harvest Hills in a week! Find Jake, I will find you." he turned and faced the door that was now nearly completely broken and began to mumble some strange words and a blue energy began to materialize around his arms and chest," I will stop the demon!"
John headed down the secret passageway as an explosion of both wood and debris shook the room. John realized what Kaleb had said about Jake, did he mean the same Jake that was dead? It wasn't a coincidence that Jake had been killed, probably by a demon. What the hell was going on and how did he get tied up in a battle against demons? If demons were real then that meant that angels were also, he had to get home and talk to his daughter.
The demon bull-rushed the door, crippling it and rearing its ugly head that had fangs and sunken eyes that burned with rage into the room, pieces of the broken lock and wood stuck to its sharp curved horns. Hyena began unloading his M-4, hitting the wall behind the demon," Run John, Run. Get the fuck out of here!"
Kaleb threw his energy ball at the demon, hitting it in the chest, causing the demon to scream a horrific howl. A moment later the demon roared and pointed at John, his massive jowls salivating. The demon then roared again, yet this time a shock wave followed, knocking both Kaleb and Hyena backwards.
"Save the scroll and the dagger, John!" Kaleb yelled as he gathered another energy ball, throwing it at the demon's massive head," Go John!"
"Run John, It was an honor meeting the man who saved my paw's life. Now it's my turn to return the favor, see you in the next life." He said as he threw two phosphorus grenades followed by two shrapnel, behind the demon, hitting the wall in front of the main hallway," go my friend." Hyena pulled two more pins and threw them on either side of the door where John was standing," You have three seconds to get gone, bye." The first round of grenades blasted the main hallway into piles of rubble and then the phosphorus grenades began to burn bright white, blinding the demon, Kaleb, and Hyena. Finally, the last grenades went off, shaking the hallway where John carried the woman and his gear. The snap and hiss from the grenades going off sent shrapnel in all directions, following both John and the woman as they barely escaped into the darkness of their escape tunnel. As John neared a bend, he heard the ceiling and walls begin to crumble, collapsing the room and entrance to the secret passage.