Chapter 5

"So what time does Dante get here again?" Nic asked for the third time today.

"A couple of hours now shut the hell up." Anthony said muffled by the pillow he was trying to bury his head in. I looked over at Nic and motioned for the door.

As we walked out the door I looked at him and tried to work through what I was going to say. "I know you haven't seen him in a while but you need to calm down." He looked down and I walked away towards the General's office. I stepped inside and he looked up.

"Hello there" he said a little too enthusiastically. I reached down and pulled out a chair. It creaked as I took a seat. "So your new members arrive today."

"Yes sir, were looking forward to it."

"We have a mission for your team when they arrive. We need you to be ready tomorrow."

"Yes sir,"

"Here." He said as he slid a data pad across the table. "It contains everything pertaining to the mission. You leave for the bridge tomorrow at 1800. We need it cleared of vehicles as soon as possible.

We waited patiently as the Raven came down and the doors opened. Jake and Dante stepped out of the bay and carried their gear. Dante and Nic hugged and joked with each other about what their mom has been doing. I stepped forward and shook Jakes hand. None of us had met him before so I decided to start it off and get to know him.

"Names Cole nice to meet you." His eyes lit up and he looked up.

"You too sir." I looked at him for a long moment, and then Anthony chipped in.

"Did he just call you sir?" He erupted in laughter.

"First time that's happened in years!" Nic joined in.

I winked at Jake and turned to the Loudmouths who thought they were the best thing since sliced bread. "Yeah, I rather like being called sir; maybe you two should learn a thing or two from him."

I heard Jake laugh lightly behind me and said "Got it Cole"

I threw my hands in the air "Why don't I get any respect around here!"

"Because you dragged my ass out here because you couldn't handle the war yourself!" Dante chimed in.

I shook my head "let's get some grub and talk over our first mission together." I said

"And I thought I might have time to rest after that long flight" Dante moaned.

I laughed "good luck with rest around here."

It was the next day and we were preparing to roll out with the convoy towards the bridge. I was checking my gear to make sure I had everything. I looked over at Dante who was prepping his gear too. "Extra ammo." I said. He nodded and grabbed a couple of extra magazines. I looked back to my Dart rifle and decided that I was set. I traded out the SMG for the dart to conquer the ranges that would be on the bridge. Nic had likewise chosen the same kit because there was too much cover on a bridge full of abandoned vehicles. We were supposed to move most of the vehicles out of one side of the bridge so that the convoy would be able to pass. There was supposed to be a force of Alexi's guards here to bottle the only bridge to the other side of the river. We would probably need to move across the bridge fast so there were 2 more squads of Russian soldiers to help us move the cars. I looked over at Jake and saw Anthony slap him on the back and give him a couple of tips on his kit.

I heard a knocking at the door of the barracks and someone yelled in "convoys moving in five!"

I glanced around and saw everyone ready "let's go all aboard the train to nowhere!" I hollered and made my way out of the door.

The Humvee we were riding in pulled to a stop at the bottom of the hill with the rest of the convoy. I stepped out of the vehicle and grouped everyone around. The Russians quieted down quick and then I started. "Satellites confirm enemy resistance at the other side of the bridge." I looked around the crowd. "Team 1 and 2, I need you guys to be on your absolute best, I'm counting on you. Everyone will cover each other. We need to hustle across this bridge." I looked at my team now. "We won't be getting any support from command, it's us or nothing. Get it done." I started walking up the hill now and I heard the Russians organizing behind me and then they started to follow me up the hill.
As we reached the top I took my team down with the Russians following close behind. The first cover we found was the beginning of where the vehicles were abandoned. As Team 1 moved to push the first car to the side of the bridge, a burst of fire rang out and pinned the men. I looked out over the car I was behind and saw the nest where the gun was.

"Far side 2'o clock" I hollered "keep your heads down but move the damn car!" Anthony jumped up and threw open the driver's side door of the car and steered it while team 1 pushed. The car inched forward along the bridge and the pulled far enough to the side to let the convoy pass. The Machine gun quieted down now and no one was hit. We progressed for the next 50 yards without coming under fire, and then we came into the guns truly effective range. I heard the rattle of the gun and watched as it dropped the soldier who stood up a little too far.

"Medic!" I heard yelled over the comms.

We stayed pinned for about a minute until I saw the troops moving to flank us from the other lane. "Dante, squad coming up on flank!" I pointed towards the other lane.

"Got it." He moved over and set his bipod up on the median. I heard the gun rattle and a loud scream from that side of the bridge. Team 1 moved to push the next car clear and that's when I heard the Machine gun open up again and two more come under the line of fire.

I proceeded to drag one of them behind cover and watch his chest heave under his armor for a few more breaths, and then it stopped. That damn gun was causing us a ton of problems. I grabbed the leader of squad two and made things very clear. "Keep moving these damn cars while I take my squad up to the Machine gun. Got it?"

He nodded and said "we'll do it"

I came on over our squad's channel and got their attention. "If we don't take down the gun were going to lose too many soldiers. We need to get up there."

"On my way to you" I heard Jake say it took about thirty seconds for everyone to be grouped up then we moved forward. I heard the gunner take a break then a few seconds later it started back up accompanied by normal assault rifles. The assault rifles were firing in bursts trying to pin us down while the gunner stayed focused on the other teams.

"Shit" Nic yelled after a round deflected off of the side of his helmet.

"Get down!" I called out then aimed and fired through the window of the car I took cover behind. I hit the one who was firing on us but the other took cover when he saw his friend drop. We moved forward another 20 yards and took cover behind a large panel van.

"I can hit him from here" Dante said after a few seconds.

I looked at him for a moment than made up my mind. "Light his ass up." He dashed out to a pickup in the next lane and set the bipod on the bed of the truck. The gun rattled off a long burst of fire then Dante took cover.

Dante looked over at me and said "told you."

I smiled for a second then turned to Jake. "Cover that bunker and make sure no one gets back on that gun."

"My pleasure." He said and braced himself against the back of the van. I looked back and saw that the Russians were clearing cars much faster without the constant spray of lead raining down on them. I moved to the next car in front of me and with Dante's help, pushed it clear. The short cackle of Jakes rifle drew my attention back to the bunker. I saw the man Jake had fired at slump against the wall of the bunker.

"Nic, give me a hand." Anthony called. I joined them at the back of a Mini Van and heaved with all my strength. It slowly inched forward, and found its way to the side of the bridge.

"Hey, they have support incoming." I heard over the Comms. I scanned the sky thoroughly from behind my cover and caught sight of it.

"We got a damn Setak, get the hell down!" I yelled back to the Russians then turned and ran to the median. There was a 2 foot gap between the two barriers. I motioned to my team to follow me behind the barrier. The whir of the blades rung louder in my ears as it grew closer. "Dante, Hit the bastard." He leaned his back against the median and sighted it on the choppers right prop. He let go a quick burst and brought the gun back on target and repeated. The chopper banked violently to the right, then the pilot got it back under control.

"Shit!" Anthony yelled then made a break over the barrier followed by Jake and Nic. I leapt over and tackled Dante right as the gun on the Setak let loose. It ripped the barrier apart, and then he lost control again and banked narrowly avoiding the bridges support beam. I dragged myself to my feet and helped Dante up. I jumped the barrier to see Jake and Anthony targeting the chopper as it came around again. The chopper let another burst of fire loose, than released 2 of its side mounted rockets. They hissed ominously towards us. I turned running back towards the Russians taking cover. They hit the bridge and I felt the concussive blast hit my back and send me sprawling across the road. I felt the entire bridge shake violently, and then an earsplitting screech of metal grinding against metal. I saw Dante manage past me hunched over and unsure of his balance. Nic and Anthony started walking towards me when the bridge shuddered again and came apart underneath me. I saw Anthony open his mouth and run towards me but my ears still rang too loud to hear him. I started to slide down the part of the sagging bridge between the two supports. I grabbed for some hand hold and wedged my fingers in a crack in the asphalt and reached down and snagged the strap to my rifle as it slid past. I hung free for a second, than I glanced up and saw a SUV sliding down the bridge at me I hugged my body against the road and waited for it to pluck me off the side of the bridge. At the last second, the tires caught a crack above me and caused it to tumble over me, and crush itself on the bridge beneath me. I slung the strap over my shoulder, and brought my other hand up and grabbed the crack and got my bearings. I looked up and saw a couple of bursts of fire aimed at the Setak, and it careened out of control and crashed into the ice below, breaking through and dragging itself into the rushing current beneath. I looked up to see Jake and Anthony leaning over the edge looking for me.

"Can you climb up?" Jake asked through the comms. I looked around and found another crack that was about a foot higher up.

"I'll try" I managed through gritted teeth. I braced my feet against the bridge and pushed myself up and caught the crack with my one hand. A few feet higher I saw a part of the bridge where a piece of it had fractured under the suspended weight and hung by the rebar. I found another crack and scaled up to the fracture. That's when a burst of fire lit up the part of the bridge to my left. I threw my weight to the side and nearly lost my handhold. "Deal with that Asshole!" I yelled in anger. Jakes rifle answered my call.

"He's gone" Jake called down. I climbed the rest of the way to the top and hauled myself up. I staggered behind a sedan, and slumped against it. The Russian I had put in charge of clearing cars jogged up.

"I called up the Mobile Bridge Builder." He spoke quickly.

I nodded "Good." I dragged myself to my feet and surveyed the damage. There was about a 20 foot gap between the two sides of the bridge. The Russians were grouping up after the last car was pushed clear and had seemed to have forgotten they had been under fire less than 10 minutes ago.

I heard the rumble of the Mobile Bridge Builder as it came towards the crack. It was forced to back down the whole line of cars, because there wasn't enough room to turn around at the end. As they parked the truck and started to lower the bridge I began wondering why the Russians hadn't began firing again. A shot rang out over the sound of the machinery, and a Russian worker fell. "Sniper!" someone in the crown bellowed.

"Get your heads down!" Nic yelled over the shouts of the confused and panicking soldiers.

As everyone made for cover, I heard another shot ring out. "Hill on the right side halfway up!" I yelled to Nic. "Towards the road, behind two trees grown together."

"This is a long shot." Nic breathed. I watched him take two steady breaths, then fire. The dart would be lucky to hit the range, but Nic knew how to use the Dart better than any other soldier. He fired twice more, and the second and third shots hit the man center mass.

"Nice shot man." I said.

He snorted. "I missed didn't I?"

I shook my head and let him go; it wasn't worth arguing with him.

"Get that damn Bridge down!" Anthony bellowed. It took another ten minutes for the bridge to be securely laid, and for us to move across.

As we pushed forward we left the two Russian teams to move the rest of the cars out of the way. We approached the barricades the enemies had set up. "Nic, Jake Move to secure the bunker."

"Got it." Jake said as he started across the courtyard. Nic followed close behind. Jake reached the bunker wall, and cleared the inside quickly. As Jake exited the bunker, one of the remaining Alexi's guards popped out of his cover and pinned Jake down. Dante fired his LMG at the soldier, and I watched him fall down and yell in pain.

We spread out and cleared the rest of the small base at the end of the bridge. The convoy rolled across the bridge and we grouped around to hear what our next orders were. I approached the radio operator for the convoy and took the headset from him.

"Sir?" I spoke clearly as the headset slid into place.

"Ah good you're there." He answered. "Know that the bridge is secured we intend on using this position to advance. I need you and a squad of Russians to lead a recon mission farther up that road into a small town tomorrow. We believe there may be a strategic advantage to the town as a route for supplies. The specifics will be on your data pad. Understood?"

"Yes sir, we'll get it done." I answered.

"I know you will, Trite out." The other side of the radio crackled.

I sighed and handed the headset back to the radio specialist. "We don't get any good rest around here." I said to Anthony.

"We'll get used to it right?" He smiled.

I looked over at him "Hell no" I laughed and shoved him away.