In an abandoned underground base in Afghanistan—Site Hotel Bravo, once a hiding place for Lieutenant General Shepherd and the operational hub for his elite unit, Shadow Company—stood two men: Captains John "Soap" MacTavish and John Price.
"We're now in the Endgame, Soap. You and me, we'll drive the final nail into the coffin and kill that son of a bitch once and for all," Price declared, holding a tape intended for broadcast to the world and any surviving Task Force 141 members in hiding. His profile, along with the criminal charges resulting from Shepherd's betrayal, was displayed.
"You're right, Price," Soap replied, his thoughts drifting to Roach and Ghost.
"This is for the record. History is written by the victor. History is filled with liars. If he lives and we die, his truth becomes written and ours is lost. Shepherd will be a hero, 'cause all you needed to change the world is one good lie and a river of blood. He's about to complete the greatest trick that a liar ever played on history. His truth will be the truth. But only if he lives and we die."
Following the destruction of the main command base of the Site Hotel Bravo that involved a "danger close" artillery strike, Captain John Price and John "Soap" MacTavish chases after Shepherd down the underground river using a Zodiac boat. Soap controls the boat as Price shoots at the Shadow Company's mercenaries, Zodiacs and helicopters as well as the OpFor militia.
Price and Soap chase Shepherd through a cave, a lake with many rock formations and the rapids, dodging all the enemies in their path. Near the end of the rapids, Shepherd boards a Pave Low waiting for him in the river. Price tells Soap to hold the boat steady while he tries to shoot the helicopter down, succeeding at the third attempt by hitting its rotor.
As the helicopter spins out of control, Soap tries to stop the Zodiac from the fast-moving current of the rapids, but he doesn't succeed in doing so and both him, Price, and the boat go over a large waterfall.
Soap wakes up on the shore near the waterfall, but Price is nowhere to be seen. He gets up with a knife in his left hand and moves slowly towards the Pave Low's crash site.
The two pilots of the Pave Low are alive when Soap reaches them. One crawls away from the destroyed Pave Low and Soap kills him by a slash on his neck. The other pilot is found on some rocks. He pulled his pistol out and tries to shoot Soap, but he ran out of bullets. Soap goes near him while the pilot begs to not kill him, but Soap did not deign to listen to him and stabbed him multiple times in the chest.
Soap hears footsteps and finds Shepherd escaping from the crashed helicopter and ran from Soap into the sandstorm. Soap follows him and finds him leaning against a wrecked car.
Soap seized the opportunity to kill Shepherd with his knife, but Shepherd blocked the stab and slammed Soap's head against the car, causing him to fall onto his back. Shepherd then drew his knife and stabbed Soap in the chest, causing him to briefly black out. As Soap lay there, Shepherd angrily explained his motivations for betraying Task Force 141:
"I lost 30,000 fucking men in the blink of an eye," cried out Shepherd. "Remember the nuclear explosion that killed the 1st Force Recon when Makarov ordered the strike? And you know what happened next? The world just fuckin' watched!"
He then loaded two rounds into his .44 Magnum and aimed it at Soap's head.
However, before he could pull the trigger, Price intervened, tackling Shepherd and causing him to miss the shot. Price and Shepherd exchanged a series of punches. Price attempted to kick the revolver away but failed. Shepherd aimed the gun at Price's head and yelled, "The last bullet is for you, Price!" He then pulled the trigger.
BANG!