Page 1 of Rescuing Rebel

ONE

Ethan

“Breaching in 3... 2... 1...”My boot slams into the door, splintering it open. The smell hits me first, invading my nostrils. It settles deep into my lungs. Charlie team, my team, pours through the splintered door behind me, weapons sweeping side to side.

The thick, metallic tang of blood overwhelms my senses and hangs heavy in the stale air. Heavy enough to taste as it slithers down the back of my throat. Heavy enough to smell as the acrid scent settles deep into my lungs. Heavy enough to touch as if I could pluck the congealing liquid from the air.

It’s a sensory onslaught.

But we’re used to such things. Charlie team presses on, under my leadership, boots sliding grotesquely through the carnage.

Following the gruesome trail leads us to a closed door. My heart pounds, my rifle slick in my sweaty grip. We’ve arrived too late. The intel was bad.

This was a slaughter.

I nod to the team, taking position. Once again, I kick in a door. This time, I reveal a scene from a horror movie. Bodies tangled together, throats slashed, vacant eyes staring.

They killed the evidence and left a mess behind.

A child lays motionless on a blood-soaked mattress. I approach with a sinking dread. I check for a pulse I know won’t be there.

“Dead,” I call back to command. “They’re all dead.”

We’re too fucking late.

“Push forward, Charlie-One. There are others to save.”

I’d like to say the disembodied voice on the other end of my comms is dispassionate and heartless, except it’s CJ, lead for the Guardians. He wouldn’t have sent us here if there weren’t lives to save.

“Copy that.” I rely on the intel of our technical team.

I lead Charlie team down a dimly lit hall, assault rifles at the ready.

“Charlie-One, clear left.” My voice rasps low over the comms. Footfalls echo off the concrete as my team leapfrogs down the hall.

The resistance we met and destroyed, getting this far, lingers in the acrid stench of gunpowder coating the back of my throat and the sprays of blood staining my fatigues.

“Charlie-Two, clear right,” Hank’s gruff voice responds, relaying his actions to our team and those sitting at Command and Control.

Our boots thud dully on the cold concrete. They echo off the cavernous walls that have borne silent witness to unspeakable evil.

I spot the first cell, a heavy padlock sealing it shut.

“Cutters!” Reaching behind me, I open my hand, waiting. Jeb hurries over and slams the bolt cutters into my palm. I take the tool and snap through the rusty lock. The door swings open with a screech of rusty metal on rustier hinges.

A girl cowers inside the closet-sized cell, bearing the brutal handiwork of our enemy.

I crouch down, keeping my voice gentle. “It’s okay, we’re getting you out of here.”

She flinches when I reach for her but allows me to guide her into the hall. Eyes wide, she takes in my team of Guardians, unsure if we’re heroes sent to save her or devils intent on causing further harm.

Down the corridor, on both sides, small cells showcase the devastating impact of Artemus Gonzales’s cruelty, a man whose morals put the devil to shame. One by one, we crack the cells, freeing broken souls. Some sob in relief, some stay silent, but the message is clear—freedom is finally here.

I swallow the bile rising in the back of my throat and focus on the mission of freeing these women.

Charlie team moves swiftly with bolt cutters, methodically freeing each captive. With every lock snapped, the haunting images of these girls—cowering, shuddering, their eyes wide with a mixture of terror and hope—will forever be etched in my mind.

The condition we find them in is horrendous. Artemus Gonzales deprived them of the most basic of human dignities. The mats they sit on are soaked with waste because no buckets were provided in the cramped space. Their medical needs are clearly ignored. Each sunken face bears the indelible imprint of Artemus’s monstrous cruelty.

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