Terra took her turn on watch. Sam’s patrol had been gone for hours, which was apparently normal for them. She wisely stopped herself from daydreaming about what it was they could be doing; it was either far too violent or she just didn’t want to know. Billy and Grace had gone to sleep, Machine and Irish were still arguing about something while the Boss stood at the edge of their perimeter. Terra looked down to see Zero clambering up the hill.

“Mind if I join you?”

Terra gestured for him to sit down beside her; she had been looking out over the horizon trying to see what Sharpe had supposedly been watching earlier.

“You won’t find it,” Zero croaked as he scanned the treeline. After a few seconds he shook his head in defeat.

“Ya’ll are looking for the shimmer, but you won’t find it.”

“Why not?” Terra asked.

“Because it’s not really there… we’ve all been here for a long time, the things we’ve done and seen in this place alone would be enough to break any man. And Sharpe has always been a little off; best just to give him a wide berth.”

Zero shot her a smile.

“He’s a killer. I see that,” Terra mumbled.

“We’re all killers, Terra,” sighed Zero. “Every one of us that you’ve met has taken lives. Some more than others… Sharpe is no exception, and now he and all of us are here probably because of that. I don’t know about you but to me, that’s enough reason to be a little off, don’t you think?”

Terra looked away from him; despite knowing he was right she still tried to find a counterargument.

“It begs the question though, don’t it?” Zero suddenly asked, snapping her attention back to him. “Why are ya’ll here, Terra?”

Terra met his gaze with a cold glance.

“Do you think I’m a killer as well, Zero?”

Zero smiled briefly; he looked out at the opening where Terra had been scanning.

“I’m not sure. But you must be here for a reason, right?”

“Is there a point to this?” Terra snapped.

Zero met her displeasured gaze and held his composure almost perfectly, just a little satisfaction crawling across his face. He decided it best to retreat rather than pry any further for now.

A pair of voices exchanged a few short words at the base of the hill. Terra felt more than a little surprised to see the Mohawk soldier Machine appear atop of the hill beside her.

“Did you come here to accuse me as well?” Terra solemnly asked.

Machine shook his head and grinned.

“Nah, I’m just here to take over the watch.”

“Do you agree with him?” Terra asked without realising what she was saying.

Machine thought about it for a moment.

“We don’t know you. You’re a person, which means you’re a complex mess of emotions, experiences and some other shit that hurts my brain to think about.”

Machine paused as a new thought wormed into his mind.

“Zero forgets who is sometimes, he hasn’t been second-in-command long and to be fair, the only reason he got it was because his dad owns the company. I don’t know what you did, Terra, I don’t know if you did anything. What I do know is that you’re yet to show me any reason to distrust you. So innocent until proven guilty, right?” Machine winked and Terra couldn’t hold back the smile.

“Thank you.”

“Go get some rest, kid, we’ll be moving soon.”

 

***

 

“All right there, chaps, take it easy, let’s not do anything we’re going to regret.”

As the man finished the sentence his words twisted from a cold attempt at humour to a sinister snarl. Sharpe took a few steps to the side, increasing the distance between himself and Sam just in case the man tried anything. The man looked to Sharpe as he opened his mouth again, choosing wisely to stop five metres away from the soldiers.

“Now, now, easy there, son, I ain’t here to cause trouble. Who’s your commander?”

Sam looked to the building directly to her left. Though it was faint and obscured by glass, the tells of uneasy movement were there.

Had they been there the entire time?

“I am,” Sam called out.

Sam lowered her weapon; she made an effort not to break eye contact with the man. Sharpe kept his rifle raised and at the ready, his finger slowly caressing the trigger and its guard.

“Forgive my intrusion, heard the shots and, well, your mate looks like he needs a little help.” The man looked over at Sharpe. “Your arm’s not getting tired?”

The man’s attempts to sound friendly left Sam’s skin crawling. His eyes wandered far too much for her liking; they felt heavy as they stayed at Sam’s chest for a painful few seconds.

“Name’s Bruce. I know, typical Aussie name, ain’t it?”

Sam rolled her eyes, not believing him for a moment.

“Pleasure,” Sam snarled with a cold glare.

Bruce’s grin crept back onto his face; the corners of his lips slithered back showing a set of pristine teeth, save a large silver filling near the corner of his smile.

“What’s your name, gorgeous?” Bruce asked half mockingly.

Sam held her glare; she unenthusiastically waved her finger to the members of her team as she called their names.

“Sam, Sev and Sharpe.”

“A name so perfect for the sniper he probably chose it himself,” Bruce chuckled.

“I earned it,” Sharpe growled.

Bruce winced. His smile left his face. He slid a disapproving glare in the direction of Sharpe. Bruce’s and Sharpe’s eyes locked with each other; they held that gaze for a long moment, silently battling for supremacy. Bruce turned back to Sam when Sharpe’s ferocity proved a little too much.

Sev pulled himself up to his feet. He coughed and spat blood on the floor as his legs began to cave under his weight. Sam moved closer to support him.

“Look, your friend hasn’t got long, I’d be surprised if he even makes it back to your camp.” Bruce paused to make sure the soldiers were listening. “My associates and I happen to have some medical supplies; in exchange for some equipment, we might be able to help your friend.”

Sam shook her head slowly; she began to back away with Sev. Bruce tutted loudly in disappointment.

“I wasn’t really offering, ya know. So why don’t we avoid the nasties and you guys just drop your gear? No one gets hurt and I’ll even throw in a bit of morphine for the Russian.”

Sev dropped two smoke grenades onto the ground making sure one rolled forward and the other behind, covering the soldiers. Sharpe kept his rifle fixed on Bruce until the smoke engulfed Sam and Sev; he listened closely for the sound of them leaving.

“You’re going to be an issue, aren’t you?” Bruce moaned.

“Only if you follow us,” Sharpe warned.

Sharpe stood motionless. He didn’t even blink until the smoke from the grenade engulfed him as well.

 

***

 

Terra could feel a slight breeze in the air and it felt cool on her skin. She had found herself on the roof of the petrol station this time, sitting cross-legged with her notebook open across her legs, busy sketching the landscape in front of her. Terra made sure to leave a large space in the middle where she worked meticulously on the outlines of several people. There were ten figures in total huddled together as if posing for a photo.

“Not going to draw yourself?”

The words came from Billy. Terra jumped and gasped. Billy chuckled.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. What’s the inspiration for this one?”

“There isn’t any… I just need something to concentrate on.”

“Would you like to talk abou—”

“No Billy! I really, really don’t want to talk about it,” Terra snarled.

Images of the men in the cabin flashed before her eyes, followed by the screams of the people in Moi Airport. Terra rubbed a hand over her eyes as she recomposed herself.

“I’m sorry. This has been a lot to take in. The only reason I’m not crying is because I’m too dehydrated to generate tears.”

“You know I cried for like a week straight after I got here. I’d say you’re doing well,” Billy smirked.

Terra couldn’t help but smile slightly; she leant towards Billy and rested her head on his shoulder. She noticed he thought about putting an arm around her but stopped himself. Aware of his lack of confidence, Terra smiled inwardly at Billy’s hesitation.

The soldiers around the camp snapped into action as the Boss’s voice called out to them. Terra and Billy looked up from her notebook to see Sam and Sev emerging from the hills. Sharpe was nowhere to be seen. Sam staggered forward; Wolfman rushed over to help Sev. Together they helped the injured man to the station and leant him against the outside wall as carefully as possible. This allowed Irish to get a better look at his wound. Boss jogged over; he beckoned Sam and Zero over to the side. Machine took up a position guarding the entrance.

“What happened?” Boss wasn’t his usual warm, welcoming self.

“We found a survivor. He was held up in a house with a rifle. This guy let us walk halfway down the street before he fired. Sharpe took care of him pretty quick but then things got weird.”

Sam recalled the events of their patrol, making sure to give a detailed description of Bruce and his men.

“And this guy in the house who ambushed you, was he with them?” Boss questioned.

“I don’t think so,” Sam explained. “My guess is this Bruce bloke was hunting the guy in the house, I wouldn’t be surprised if he mistook us for some of Bruce’s men.”

“Guy goes crazy so they hang around waiting for him to drop himself or someone else so they can swoop in and grab the gear, that’s kind of clever,” Zero added.

“What about Sharpe?” Boss added.

Sam shook her head.

“He tried to draw them away from us. I don’t know where he is now.”

Zero jumped into the conversation.

“Boss, I can go back and get him, with Wolfman’s tracking skills…”

“And leave us half the team down if they hit us?” Boss retorted.

“But Sharpe?” Zero questioned.

“Isn’t worth risking more soldiers,” Boss bellowed. He moved in close pushing his face to within an inch of Zero. “If he wants to get himself killed then let him. Protecting the kids is our priority,” Boss growled.

Boss turned away, putting his hands behind his head trying to think of what to do.

“Boss!” Sev yelled.

Boss and the others all turned to face the wounded man. Sev held an open bloody hand by his wound, his head tilted back against the wall with a forced smile across his bloody lips.

“Leave me my weapon and get out of here.”

Terra and Billy came down from the petrol station’s roof in time to hear Sev’s last comment. Terra threw her hands over her mouth and Billy stayed very still beside her.

Zero moved towards them but Boss cut him off with a hand. Boss knelt down in front of Sev. Despite the immense pain, Sev managed to hold his conviction. Blood trickled from his mouth as he tried his best to say something to the Boss.

“You need… to keep a better eye on him if she’s here; he’s becoming more unstable… you have to… stop…” Sev slouched forward, choking on the blood in his throat. Boss nodded in agreement. He rose back to his feet to meet Terra’s frightened gaze.

Terra looked down at Sev who was panting heavily; he noticed she was looking at him as he tried his best to smile. Boss gave the order for the others to gather their things and move out. Terra sat down beside Sev; she recoiled slightly realising that she had put her hand down in a puddle of his blood.

“Whatever you’re thinking, forget it,” Sev whispered. He looked out as the other soldiers ran around frantically gathering their equipment and setting up landmines. Terra looked at him, confusion written across her face.

“I… I was going to ask why you’re here. We all did something to get us here, right?”

“Ha, and you think what? If I get it off my chest I’ll pass in peace? Why are you here then, Terra? Do you believe it is because you’re too young to have lived a life?”

Terra didn’t answer him; she stood back up and walked over to Billy and Grace who were waiting at the edge of the camp for her while the others finished packing their gear.

“You’ll have to face it sooner or later, Terra. This place has a strange way of bringing the past back to haunt you.”

With that, Sev fell very still; he managed to take a hold of his rifle before he finally lost consciousness.

Terra forced herself to turn away; the other soldiers had finished packing and were beginning to move out at a jogging pace into the hills beside the petrol station. The three students struggled to keep up as the soldiers ran. Periodically one of the PMCs would drop to a knee and cover the rear; they’d wait until the rest of the group had passed then turn and follow as the next covered them. Fatigue weighed in on the students, their movements slowing as their muscles ached and burned, until a bullet whizzed past them. Rifle-calibre round crashed into the dirt, kicking up a cloud of dust with a loud snap as it broke the sound barrier. Instinct forced the students into a full sprint. The soldiers at the rear of the formation stopped and began unhurriedly returning a few carefully aimed shots.

Pushing herself forward, Terra forced her burning legs to continue. Before she knew it, the hills closed in around her, forcing everyone into a single-file line through a very tight passageway that seemed to have been carved out of a wall of solid stone.

“Tight corners, stay close!” Zero yelled back.

Terra found herself in the middle of the group following Billy. The canyon seemed to be more like a maze, splitting into several different paths. Terra stayed close to Billy; she was being closely followed by Sam. Luckily for Terra the soldiers seemed to know the way. After a few minutes of light jogging through the canyon, the walls began to widen out leading into a small flat area. Terra and her student friends collapsed to the floor, heavily panting.

“Pfft… kids,” Machine moaned to the side.

Boss barked something inaudible about a perimeter as Terra struggled to get her breath back.

Zero and Boss turned to the edge of the canyon. The ground gave way to an immense open drop. The canyon seemed to descend for miles. A thick layer of grey mist slithered its way steadily through the canyon. The air was uncomfortably warm around the edges of the ground; it licked at the faces of the soldiers, creating beads of sweat and a need to adjustment more private areas.

Across the open gorge the ground gave way to an open plain mostly devoid of cover save for a few large rocks that looked as if they would once have belonged on this side of the gorge. Way in the distance the clear silhouette of a large town could be seen, the buildings stretching high into the sky in tall apartment structures. The problem, however, continued in the form of a very precarious-looking rope bridge. The wooden planks mostly looked stable, except for the few that were hanging loosely from frayed stretches of rope.

“Age before beauty, right?” Zero joked.

Boss looked at him with a straight, unamused face. He smiled as Zero shrugged cockily and approached the bridge. The silver-haired soldier took a cautious step onto the first plank, gripping the ropes firmly for support. Boss turned his attention back to his other soldiers.

“Anything that comes down that path gets very dead, very quickly,” Boss yelled.

“What about Sharpe?” Billy asked.

Boss had almost forgotten the students were there. Terra had managed to get to her feet.

“He’s trying to lead some of them away. He’s a smart kid, he’ll throw them off his scent and come and find us when he’s ready.”

As Boss finished, the canyon through which they had entered exploded into a mess of rifle and machine-gun fire. The thuds, cracks and snaps of bullets hitting the stone walls filled the air, drowning out the sound of anything else. Terra stumbled to the ground, pushing her hands against her ears, trying to stop the noise. Closing her eyes in a futile attempt to block out the firefight, she felt the presence of someone touching her. A pair of hands reached around her, forcing her back to her feet, beckoning her to move. Terra followed. She didn’t open her eyes; she felt the ground beneath her feet change from the firm dirt to the loose wooden planks of the wobbling bridge.

Feeling the pressure of the air change, her skin crawled as the thick, humid air engulfed her. It swayed past her then pulled back as though the canyon below was breathing.

A plank gave way from under her. Terra’s foot slipped into the empty space. She cried out in blind panic, still refusing to open her eyes. Something beneath called to her, in a warm whisper of air that wrapped itself around her legs, clawing her down to the depths of the canyon.

“Come on!”

Terra was pulled back up onto the bridge by the arms of the man holding her.

Terra felt as if she were thrown at the last step as a new set of arms guided her across. She fell to the ground, once again feeling solid earth as she hit her head. Terra lay dazed on the ground; she opened her eyes.

Zero was standing beside the bridge with his weapon in hand watching the open ground on the other side as the soldiers one by one began to peel away. Billy was sitting leaning against one of the larger rocks panting heavily beside her.

“Th-thank you!” Terra stuttered.

Billy gave her a thumbs up.

Machine hastily but cautiously made his way across. Grace had fallen behind the other students, as she slowly began to make her way across the bridge after being screamed at by several soldiers. Grace made it halfway across the bridge before a bullet ricocheted off a nearby rock and took a lock of hair off her head. Grace fell to her knees, putting her hands to her head and praying out loud in a tear-soaked panic. Zero moved to cross the bridge to get to her, but Terra grabbed his ankle to stop him.

“Your suit is too heavy, you’ll collapse the bridge!”

Zero looked up at the bridge and smiled. Wolfman was sprinting across the fragile planks as quickly as he could with Grace comically slung over his shoulder. Wolfman’s foot cracked one of the boards, forcing him to one knee a few feet short of the safety of the ground ahead. He recovered quickly and handed Grace over to Zero with the smuggest smile Terra had ever seen. Sam crossed next leaving just Boss and Irish covering the canyon. Irish’s machine-gun belt was down to its last twenty rounds; he wouldn’t have time to reload.

“So, ‘rock paper scissors’ for it?” Irish mocked as he fired the last of his rounds.

Boss looked over from the other side of the canyon’s opening and smiled. He nodded to his old friend.

“See you on the other side, brother,” Boss barked.

Irish slung his weapon across his shoulder. As Boss stepped out firing his weapon down the canyon entrance, Irish made a dash for the bridge, moving as quickly as he could. Boss emptied his magazine then started falling back to the bridge himself. As he turned, a bullet sliced through the bicep on his right arm. The bullet felt more like a hammer as it ricocheted off the bone. The impact almost threw Boss off balance. With his arm now rendered completely useless Boss switched to his sidearm and began firing at the canyon entrance. The attackers had begun pushing up the pass; some even climbed the walls to fire down at the soldiers on the opposite end of the bridge. Irish was slouched behind a large boulder as he struggled to feed a new belt of ammunition into his machine gun while the other soldiers did their best to suppress their attackers.

The team’s fire was becoming more and more dispersed and ammunition wasn’t infinite. Boss managed to make it halfway across the bridge before another stray round skimmed his leg. Boss grunted, shifting his weight to the rope railing of the bridge. Wolfman took a bullet to his chest, the force of the round causing him to lose his footing and fall back into the rocks behind him.

Wolfman made the mistake of standing up to cover the Boss. A bullet slammed into his chest plate; the impact knocked all of the air out of his lungs and forcefully pushed him back down behind the rock. Machine dashed out of cover to pull Wolfman away from the action. Zero moved to the end of the bridge to reach the Boss. His fire took the face off an attacker who was either brave enough or stupid enough to leave the safety of the canyon’s opening. But not before he was able to fire a burst of fire at the Boss.

The rounds missed Boss but severed one of the lower ropes holding up the bridge, which drooped to one side. Boss gripped the remaining rope tightly while the rest of his body dangled above the bottomless canyon.

“Boss! Give me your hand quickly!”

Boss looked over to see Zero lying at the edge of the canyon reaching out to him. Bullets were flying back and forth between the PMCs and their attackers, most of whom were simply poking their weapons up above the ridgeline and firing blindly. Boss smiled. His exo-suit and gear were weighing him down too much, and only being able to hold on with one arm didn’t help either. Maybe a few years ago he might have been able to pull himself up and use his legs to crawl the rest of the way, but not this time. Not with too many of his best years behind him.

“Zero!” Boss bellowed; he met Zero’s horrified gaze with a smile. “Keep them safe.”

Boss closed his eyes as the rope slipped through his fingers. The old warrior felt numb; the firefight around him seemed to fall silent. He opened his eyes again to see his second-in-command. Boss could tell by Zero’s face that he was screaming, but he couldn’t hear much as he fell. It was as if his body was being put to sleep; his vision, his hearing and all his other senses faded away.

As one final salute of respect to his men, and to maintain his fearsome reputation, the Boss smiled as he dropped into the canyon.