Page 79

ATLAS

I signed off with the team and made my way back through the trees. I planned to head towards where North had dropped the pack for me and then make a plan from there. Being here with the enemy until the storm died was not ideal, but it was the reality of the situation so I’d have to make it work.

Darkness was already falling, faster with the storm clouds sitting heavy in the sky. I looked around and jogged deeper into the woods. I hated to admit it but this was where I was in my element.

Alone. Working off adrenaline with only my training and instincts to rely on for survival. The thought of Nyx crossed my mind—I knew he was probably freaking out and livid at having to leave me behind but it would have been worse if they’d tried to stay. Much worse. In fact I’d probably be the only one still alive if they’d stayed.

Pushing Nyx out of my head, I focused on the present. I couldn’t afford to slip up here and be distracted when I was vastly outnumbered.

I made it to the area North said the pack would be and after searching for a few minutes, found it snagged on some branches ten feet up in a tree. I looked around carefully before slinging my gun across my back and scaling the branches. Once back on the ground I took inventory. I had my rifle and plenty of ammo thanks to the supply drop. The pack also had a water filter, a few energy bars, a first aid kit and a tarp. In one of the pockets was a compass and one of our terrain maps.

I studied the map briefly, orienting myself and then took off through the trees again, headed west towards the new drop zone. For the first few miles I didn’t run into any issues but then my luck ran out.

I don’t know what made me duck down, instinct or something else, but a bullet bit into the tree where my head had been. I rolled behind a stump just as another few peppered the ground around me.

I’d barely made my feet again when two men rushed me. I shoved the first one past me and wrapped the second in a choke hold. I twisted just in time to have him shoot the first one, then snapped the other’s neck.

I knew it would take me most of the night to reach the new pickup spot, but I also didn’t want to lead the enemy to it. To avoid this, I headed back towards the guardhouse we hit first, hoping to pick off a few more and get me on more even footing. It was on the way to the new extraction point anyway and I’d be able to raid their guns and ammo in the process.

The rain was still pouring down, making my hearing untrustworthy and visibility in the dark was nearly nothing. I needed to find a place to hole up until morning. I found a shallow cave under some tree roots and wedged myself back in the deep shadows, hoping it would be enough. I ate an energy bar, drank some water falling off the leaves and settled back to wait for daylight.