Chapter 5 - The Extraction
The mission was classified.
Only six people knew the full details.
I was one.
General Mitchell was another.
The team moved quickly.
Within thirty-six hours, we were airborne.
I spent most of the flight staring at Marcus's photograph.
I had spent seven months mourning him.
Now I was afraid to hope.
The extraction site was abandoned.
We found evidence of a struggle.
Blood.
Spent ammunition.
Footprints.
Then we found something.
A military identification tag.
Marcus's.
I picked it up.
My hands shook.
"He was here."
General Mitchell nodded.
"Yes."
Then a radio crackled.
A voice came through.
"Hayes?"
I froze.
It was Marcus.
"Marcus?"
Static.
Then:
"Don't trust the man beside you."
The transmission died.
Everyone looked at General Mitchell.
He looked stunned.
"That's impossible."
I stared at him.
"What?"
"Marcus was reported dead by the team commander."
"Who?"
He hesitated.
"Colonel Daniel Ward."
I knew the name.
The same officer who had signed Marcus's death report.
I felt something inside me shift.
"Where is Ward?"
May you like
General Mitchell's face hardened.
"Missing."
