Damn, that was close!
With only a few feet remaining between her and the remnants of one of the destroyed vehicles, she ran straight for it with plans of using the hunk of metal as cover. But just as she thought she was home free, something slammed into her thigh.
Raegan’s right leg crumbled beneath her, and she tumbled to the ground like a flailing rag doll.It took a moment for the pain to strike, but when it did…
Holy shit!
She gasped, her hand slapping over the source of the pain. Warm, sticky blood oozed up between her fingers and spilled over the back of her hand and beyond. It was only then that Raegan realized what had happened.
Her pulse spiked, and panic threatened to take over. She’d been shot. Fuckingshot!And if that blood was coming from her femoral artery?—
Move your ass, or your leg will be the least of your concerns!
The pain turned vicious in its intensity as it spread up and down her entire limb. A blinding, white-hot inferno doing its damnedest to take over and pull her away.
It would be so easy to give into the fire. To let the pain take over and to simply give up. But that wasn’t who Raegan was, and it damn sure wasn’t how she was built.
Life had thrown her all sorts of challenges along the way, and she’d made it through them all. True, this was the biggest, most terrifying one she’d faced yet, but there was no way in hell she was just going to roll over and die.
Not without a fight. And not without taking out as many of those bastards as I can, first.
Forcing herself to move, Raegan temporarily abandoned the wound and began half-crawling, half-dragging herself to cover. Small rocks and clods of dirt dug into her left forearm, side, and hip, but she ignored it and forged on.
Movement to her left caught her attention, and she didn’t hesitate before bringing her weapon around and pulling the trigger. Two to the chest, one to the head.
Exactly as she’d been trained.
Consistently coming out on top during her unit’s course of fire shooting exercises, Raegan always,alwayshit her target. Today was no exception.
The man’s eyes grew wide with shock half a beat before the blanket of death took over. Falling where he stood, Raegan didn’t bother waiting for the terrorist bastard to land before resuming her quest for safety.
More shots rang out, and another explosion roared throughout the base. Forced to duck and cover as best she could, she protected her face from the rainstorm of shrapnel as it plummeted down onto her body from high above.
And even with the cloud of dust and dirt impairing her vision, Raegan still managed to take out two more tangos before pulling herself around the back side of a pile of metal formerly known as a Deuce and a Half.
Positioned between the totaled truck and what was left of their sleeping quarters, Raegan gave herself a handful of precious seconds to catch her breath and assess her injured leg. She glanced down, her stomach nearly revolting when she saw the amount of blood still leaking from her body.
“Perry, what’s your status?” Chief Tupper’s voice filled the comms unit attached to her vest.
The familiar sound was oddly soothing, and one she’d desperately needed to hear.
“Took a hit to the leg, but I’m pretty sure it missed the artery!” she shouted into her mic. “Applying the tourniquet, and then I’ll head into the building to search for survivors.”
Please, God. Please let them have survived the explosion.
“I’m pinned down behind the drums and the chow hall!” her commanding officer informed her.”
“Air support?”
Chief Tupper offered the only bit of peace he could in the midst of hell…
“Already made the call! ETA five minutes!”
Five minutes, and the undercover reinforcements stationed not far from the base would arrive. Once they got here, the enemies would be efficiently eliminated.
A lot can happen in five minutes. Like, say, someone bleeding out from a bullet to the leg.
Springing into action, Raegan leaned forward and reached behind her to the small of her back. Once she’d yanked the personal first-aid kit free from her belt, she raced to get the damn thing opened so she could put it in place and get to her team.