It was dark, pitch dark. The sky was covered with dark clouds, hiding the moons and stars behind them. It was silence of the dead.

We lay there on the damp ground with our customized G-3's held tight in our hands. Our bodies covered in mud and with the cold breezes, we would shiver and sweat at the same time. Sweat because there was fear. We knew we were going to die. At least almost.

The place was swarming with guards. The silence was broken often by the loud barks and howls of trained dogs and hounds. And we would just lay stiff praying not to get caught, which ultimately meant something far more worse than death. The search light was roaming all and around the distant boundary wall and within the perimeters, sometimes passing almost too close from us. Our hearts beat so fast at times that we would think, they would break through the ribs.

Minutes and seconds passed by like long years.

The five of us were equipped with time old customized gadgets, that we crafted ourselves with disposed electronics and old devices and arms.

With our breaths held, we had placed the radio magnetic transmitter - receiver (RMT) walkie in the center and were waiting for a long awaited signal that would decide our next move (give us direction).

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The static cracked and an hurried voice appeared,

"Morocco Antarctica 1313 here, Sine Rad! Can you hear me? I repeat. Can you hear me? Waiting for immediate response. Out!"

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We heard the voice in total silence. Our breaths still. And hearing that voice over the walkie almost brought life into us.

I huddled the walkie into my hand in a flash as soon as the voice disappeared to answer the call like the device or the person on the other end were going to vanish.

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"Positive, Morocco Antarctica 1313! Sine Rad here, Positive, Out!", I tried to calm my breath before answering back, afraid if the other side would even understand. The four of my allies had their eyes fixed on me, hands still tight around their G-3's and all ears.

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"Quiz Position, Quiz Position, Out!', the voice reappeared. And I could sense the relax-after-knowing-someone-is-alive in the voice clearly, even though the circumstances.b

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I raised my eyes and looked around in the hopeful yet feared eyes of my allies and spoke in the transmitter, "K-lite, O-zed 004 Ears, I repeat, K-lite O-zed 004 Ears, Waiting for quick response, Out!"

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"Embark Delta, Embark Delta, Bravo Upright, Ferrari Ferrari, Out!", the voice this time was more ordering and strong with soldiers directness.

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"Copy. Embark Delta. Copy. Morocco Antarctica 1313, Sine Rad, OT Moon , Out", I said with the same tone, my voice strong with new determination.

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"Sine Rad, Come Fly with me. See you on the moon. Over and Out!", the voice was rather encouraging.

I looked at my allies who were ready to move, their eyes glittering with the same determination. Hands tight around their arms as their newly wed brides, which they would never let go off.

I put the walkie in my waist holster and straightened my G-3. My allies were waiting for my order, I nodded in their direction and we all started crawling towards the boundary wall.

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TO BE CONTINUED.

We were crawling at the best speed we could manage, not raising any alarm and with our aching bodies, out hands numb from cold and backs aching for lying stiff for so long. But still we were trying our best.

Silently, we were crawling towards the DF-9 sector of the wall.

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"ArghHhhh!!!!", a loud scream broke the silence , leaving us all in another deadly, horrific silence which was then broken by the whistles of the guards and barks of their dogs.

The voice came from just behind me. My heart nearly stopped in that moment but I came out of that in a micro second. I looked back to find one of my partner slapping his hand on another's mouth, shutting it tight, while the other struggled with pain in his arms, crying and crumbling with pain, digging his fingers in the mud ground.

He was bitten by a snake. AB-51 grasped the little beast, pulled it back, smashed it's head with the rifle's butt and buried it dead with his DMS heel in less than a second and without a moment's hesitation dug his teeth in the victim's leg to extract the venom.

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Me and the other 2, who were unoccupied at the moment, formed a triangular formation around them and raised our rifles, looking around to find the guards alarmed, the search light was moving faster and on more length, just above us. The guards were coming towards our direction with their dogs sniffing and hearing in front. But they didn't know our exact position and we were quite camouflaged by the mud. Yet there was no denying of the fact that death was inches away from us. (That is always true in life.)

We were still a long distance from DF-9 sector. I estimated in my mind if we don't get moving, they will catch us in less than 13 minutes. I looked at our injured alley FA-25 worriedly. AB-51 had tightly wrapped some cloth on 25's leg and given him some painkiller aspirin. The struggling and determined look on 25's face told us he was better now.

Grabbing his G-3 and placing it upright on the ground, he took it's support and was now on one kneel, he nodded in our direction.

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"You good now?", 51 asked him but in a plain tone.

"Never been better.", 25 smiled.

"We gotta move guys. Take H formation. Let's do this.", I said and we started to move.

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I had the RMT walkie in my hand and I spoke into it, "Sine Rad here, Morocco Antarctica 1313, Can you hear me? Out!"

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No response.

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"Sine Rad here, Morocco Antarctica 1313, Can you hear me? It's priority H. Can you hear me? Out!"

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No response.

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"Damn it! What are we gonna do now!!!" I bit at the words, looked at the RMT and then my allies.

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"We're on our own guys. It's do or die. Let's go." I mustered up all my courage and said looking into the blank eyes of my allies. They all barely nodded. It was not like there were many options to argue. The enemy was on our heads now.

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The barks of dogs and the footsteps of guards were getting louder every second. The search light fell on us now and then but thanks to the mud, we were not yet detected. They didn't know our exact position. But the dogs were guiding them straight towards us.

There was a small raised dune kind of surface some 5 meters from us. We crawled towards that and lay behind it, deciding our next move, to reach DF-9 Sector faster and undetected (alive). The time was slipping out of our hands and we could not waste even a second or it was death for us.

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"What the hell are we gonna do now?" 51 growled angrily.

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"I think we shou..." I had just started speaking when I saw a shadow and we all heard a rifle loading. My heart almost stopped beating and even before I could react, a bullet was fired.

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BANG!!!

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(TO BE CONTINUED..)

'Headshot!' I heard 25's voice, speaking in some familiar tone and saw him looking at us with a sly smile under his lips. His eyes asking for appreciation. He was clearly admiring himself.

I came out of the shock and looked at the dead guard lying in front of us. His brains sprawled around and blood mixing into the mud. I looked angrily at 25 while he was still smiling.

"What the **** did you just do?" I almost shouted. I was losing my temper, the lives of 'many' were at risk and this fucking idiot was playing with our lives.

I could see around me, all of the others were also burning with anger and staring coldly at 25.

With a serious expression on his face this time, he said, " Call Of Duty instinct! Can't help it! "

"**** you!" AY-12 elbowed 25 hard in the stomach while at the same time 51 swung a punch at his face and shouted.

Next he was lying there with his face covered in blood and a painful expression on his face but it took him a second to again gain his composure.

The alarm was raised. Red lights blinking everywhere, search light fixed on us. Guards rushing towards us with their arms ready. And the barks on dogs! The air was tense and there was this eerie sensation all around. DF-9 sector was just meters away from us. A bullet passed just inches from my ear, making it numb. That was some sniper on the nearest tower. Thanks to luck or the blinking red lights, the atmosphere that he didn't just blow my head off in the first shot.

The next second, on my command, we were all running towards the DF-9 sector.

The guards opened blank fire on us. We were plainly at their aim.

51 threw a grenade towards the guards, their dogs and 'BOOM!', they all scattered but just for a moment and were again back in their formation, pushing forward, leaving the dead behind.

We ran faster than ever , ducking down, below the line of fire. And we reached DF-9 sector where the other enemy guards were already waiting for us.

Skilfully, I took out the two guards at the entrance to the block and threw a grenade behind the sand barriers behind which the other guards lay to shoot us. But with the grenade blasting, they were no more.

We were all on our instincts now. Doing things at inhuman speed. Not knowing if we were hurt or dying. Guess this is what happens when death is standing inches from you.

25 leaned behind a sand barrier and aimed towards the enemy, looking from the thermal scope that he almost crafted himself. He was taking the guards down, one by one. But the problem was that they were huge in numbers and now that we were cornered, they were coming from all directions, left and right. They were coming in massive amount in armored vehicles. We were being surrounded by all sides.

MK-04 ran towards the right side of the block where a DG was standing. Ignoring all the fire, he was playing with the DG, I saw him putting on some rubber gloves before tearing it's door down.

51 was out of sight, I could not see him anywhere but that was least of my worries. He was the best of us.

AY-12 was also shooting from a cover at the enemy and giving cover to 04 , he took a bullet in his shoulder but he didn't even budge. It was like nothing had happened. He kept firing at the enemy.

I blasted the door of the guard room with a C-4 and threw two stun grenades inside at once and with my thermal scope took out the five guards easily. In the sudden return fire, I caught a bullet in my arm and from the pain in my chest, I was sure I was hit twice if not thrice in the chest but thanks to the vest, I was still moving.

I felt a searing pain in that moment but somehow I had my wits with me. I sat on the system nearby where the radio and the electronic system were placed. I put the codes and spoke in the transmitter, hoping my best that my allies get the signal.

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(TO BE CONTINUED)