Fire Force(66)

Seven of the ten men had been taken down in the first assault, five of them killed instantly, two more wounded, their blood seeping out of them, and washed into the streams of water running across the parade ground. Two men had started to run towards Steve’s position. A third had turned, slamming his finger on the trigger of his rifle, but only managing to get off one poorly aimed shot before Ganju calmly put the man’s chest in the sights of his AK-47 and punched a bullet clean through his heart.

‘Break-out,’ snapped Steve. ‘The reinforcements are here at last.’ He stepped out from behind the wall, his gun tucked into his chest. Two men were running straight towards them, their faces contorted into expressions of pure hatred: they were charging with the fury of soldiers who knew they’d already lost the battle. With Maksim and Dan, Steve formed a small unit, crouching down and unleashing a volley of fire that ripped straight through the two troopers, stopping them as if they’d been hit by a truck. For a brief moment, they were motionless, before tumbling towards the ground.

Steve raised a hand.

There was no point in using up any more ammo.

The soldiers defending the fort were all dead.





Twenty-Four

STEVE CHECKED HIS WATCH. IT was only eight minutes since they’d dropped out of the chopper, but it seemed like hours had gone by. The fort had been smashed to pieces. There were bodies lying everywhere, their blood spilled out over the parade ground, but already the fierce rain was washing it clean. The stench of gunpowder and charred metal lay heavy in the air, and yet the howling wind was blowing that away as well.

Ollie walked across to where Steve was standing.

‘Christ, man, I was trying to get you on the radio to tell you to abort,’ he said. ‘There was no way we should have tried this in such bad weather.’

‘And I tried to get you . . .’ Steve laughed, the relief at finding himself alive and his enemy vanquished suddenly flooding through him. ‘And I decided you’re such an awkward bastard you’d press on anyway, so I’d better help you out.’

Ollie grinned. ‘I’d do the same for you.’

‘Don’t count on it, mate. Next time, I’m pissing off.’

Within a minute, all the men had assembled on the parade ground. Newton had dislocated his shoulder, and Ian had a sprain to his ankle that would leave him hobbling for a couple of days. There were cuts and bruises on all of them, but it was nothing that wouldn’t heal up. For the risk they had run in attempting the assault in this weather, they were in far better shape than they had any right to be, Steve told himself. Even without the chopper, it had better be a smooth run home.

Because we’ve already used up our full quota of luck on this job.

Ganju quickly sorted out Newton’s shoulder. He ripped a vial of morphine from his webbing, and injected it into the man. Then Chris held him down, while Ganju skilfully wrenched his shoulder back into position. It hurt like hell, even with the morphine, but Newton had the strength to take the punishment. Nick had already told everyone how the man had risked his life to take out the machine gun, and Newton was starting to be accepted as part of the unit. It was only when you were plunged into the ferocious heat of combat that you found out who your mates were, decided Steve - and Newton had proved himself as much as any man. Maybe more so.

‘What happened to David?’ asked Steve, looking around the parade ground.

Already, he was fearing the worst. He’d seen the chopper catch fire out over the lake, but he hadn’t seen David bail out. Maybe he had been trapped inside? Or maybe he’d drowned after hitting the water. It was very easy to lose consciousness bailing out - and if that happened, you were dead.

‘I’m right here,’ said David, walking across the parade ground to join them.

He was wet through, but then they all were. His clothes were torn, and his eyes looked bloodshot. But he was alive, that was the main thing. He was holding a boy by the torn collar of his shirt. The lad was aged about twelve, with huge frightened eyes.

‘This little sod was trying to scarper out of here,’ said David.

‘He’ll raise the alarm,’ said Dan anxiously. ‘There could easily be reinforcements stationed nearby. The kid goes to get them - we’re done for.’

Maksim stepped forwards, his Uzi machine pistol in his hand. ‘Then we finish him right here,’ he growled.

‘No,’ said Steve.

‘We haven’t got time for prisoners.’

‘He’s just a kid.’

Maksim stepped forwards, raising the Uzi level with the boy’s head. The child looked bewildered, too confused even to be afraid.