Ghosts Broken Mask

54 - 'You'll live Princess'

A couple minutes pass before you gather enough courage to head down the ladder, you grip the handles and peer down.

You knew it was a bad idea to do so but you did it before you could stop yourself. Ghost had disappeared, no doubt under the cover of the trees.

Both of you having been 'distracted' during the mission left the targets to pass point. You weren't actively listening to the exchange between Ghost and HQ.

But he'd said he'd handle it and it was safe to assume that's where he'd gone. You looked over your shoulder, grabbing the sniper rifle and tucking it under your arm as you started down. 

You went slowly, holding the cold bars with a tight grasp. A sigh of relief brushed past your lips as you felt your boots on the dry dirt of the ground. The suns beams bouncing off the reflective materials around. 

You squinted, looking up and taking note of the suns position in the sky. You made your way back to the vehicle, putting away the sniper after pulling off the attachments. 

The location was oddly far from base, so it made sense when Ghost revealed Laswell was trying to introduce you to the stretched-out mission they'd been chipping away on. 

You open the doors to the vehicle, the heat suffocating the closed in air, your eyes catch sight of Ghost's gun, perched up on the back seat. Had he left it behind? you looked out into the dense forest. 

Your vision only getting so far before the darkening shade stopped you from seeing past a point in the trees. You pursed your lips and stood by the bonnet, checking your watch every so often. 

You took note of the fact you had heard no gunshots, but there was always chance they had silencers. Worry was not something you allowed yourself to feel openly, selfish as it was, you didn't really care much about others. 

Unless you had to, which in this case, Ghost was a teammate so there was concern. At least you told yourself that, masking over that dwelling in your stomach and the anxiety in your fiddling fingers. 

Ghost held more information on the task at hand, you didn't know the complete detailed objective other than to eliminate several targets, specifically picked for reasons unknown to you. 

You tapped your fingers impatiently on the vehicle, leaning against it and feeling the slight burn from the heat having an effect on the lead. You inhaled deeply, releasing it more as a sigh. Another look at your watch before turning to the forest. 

It was still and dark, the deeper it went the more the shadows eliminated any sign of light. You didn't have a way to communicate with him, not wearing your helmet nor carrying your walkie talky. 

You scolded yourself as your hands fiddled, this wasn't boredom, no. The slight shake indicated anxiety, genuine worry trying to gash at your barriers. You didn't doubt his abilities, you'd seen him at work. 

The minutes ticked by, and the sounds of nature was the only thing you could hear, there was no sign of life within the trees, and you started back around the vehicle, muttering to yourself as you closed the doors. 

You reached over, grabbing Ghost's gun and holstering it onto the straps on the back of your vest while muttering nonsense to yourself. You wrapped a banded compass around your forearm and tapped at it, checking its directions were right. 

You stood a few meters away from the forest, the sun casting golden rays across the ground immediately disappearing at the trees line. You didn't want to enter into something unknown, but the dreadful anticipation was eating at you. 

You sighed, shaking your head as you stepped forwards. Your boots crunched against the scattered pebbles before stepping onto the dirt, you'd seen the size of the forest from the watch tower.