Reborn by Melody Anne
Chapter Nine
Eyes was on his belly, his rifle secure and in position. His eye focused through the scope, his fingertip on the trigger, and the target five-hundred yards away was steady. He took in a breath, then let it out and pulled the trigger . . . and didn’t come anywhere near the target let alone hit the bullseye.
“Miss. What in the hell is up with you?” Green asked while keeping his focus through the spotting scope. “You aren’t me, but in all of our time together you’ve been very consistent at five-hundred yards.” He paused and looked at Eyes’s target. “This, however, is terrible. To miss completely — something’s definitely wrong. Let me get on there a second.”
Eyes let out a frustrated breath as he rolled onto his back and gazed up at the cloudy sky. For once he was happy to have no sun as he was in a dark mood anyway.
Green took a couple of seconds to ensure the rifle was lined up correctly, fired, and hit dead center. He said over his shoulder, “It isn’t the rifle, brother. So, what is it?”
“I don’t know. I’m off,” Eyes said. It was rare for any of the men to admit they weren’t at peak performance. Even if the other team members could see they weren’t themselves, they’d still act as if it was their best day ever. For Eyes to say he wasn’t performing at his best, stopped the reply Green had been about to say.
“Talk to me,” Green demanded.
“Women!” Eyes said, letting out another long-suffering sigh.
Green laughed. “Yep, they’re the reason the world goes round,” Green told him as he sat up from the rifle.
“And they’re the reason men suffer,” Eyes grumbled.
“Yep, more than one war has risen because of the opposite sex,” Green said.
“It’s frustrating the amount of power a woman can have over our lives. She can make us fight, put us in a great mood or a terrible one. She can make us lose focus. She can completely upend our world . . .” He paused. “And the worst part is that there’s absolutely nothing we can do about it.”
Green laughed hard at those words. “Well, we can stop fighting it,” he suggested.
“Stop fighting what?” Eyes snapped.
Green looked at Eyes thoughtfully. “Every situation is different, but we can stop fighting what we’re feeling and just go with it.”
Eyes thought about that for a minute. “I’m not fighting what I’m feeling for Courtney. I don’t know exactly what it is, but at least I’m not running from it like she is.”
“We all have a different timeline,” Green said. “I didn’t know what in the hell was going on with me when I met Mallory, but all logic went out the window. I finally had to go with the flow.”
It was rare for Eyes to let down his guard and talk seriously to any of the men. Sarcasm had been his protection for a very long time. But it felt good to talk to a friend, to try to figure out what in the hell was happening with him. After all, all of his team had gone through a hell of a lot women trouble over the past year. Maybe it was his turn.
“That worked out for you, but it doesn’t always conclude with a happy ending,” Eyes said.
“What would your happy ending be?” Green asked.
“When in the hell did you become a therapist?” Eyes asked with a roll of his eyes. He couldn’t completely erase the need to be cool and collected.
Green laughed, not at all offended. “Probably about the time a sexy undercover FBI agent snuck beneath my skin and changed everything I’d ever believed about how life was supposed to go.”
“I don’t want to change. I love my life, love that I’ve had no restrictions. I don’t know what I’m going to do when this gig is up, but I don’t want to have to consider someone else’s feelings when making those choices. I like women, but I like bachelorhood. The only sure thing right now is that I’m confused as hell.”
“Then you won’t have a shot with her. Relationships are about compromise. The thing is, we don’t care in the end because we love the person we’re with enough that their happiness is more important than our own.”
“I see how happy you and the other guys are, but I still don’t get it,” Eyes said.
“Well, let’s see if you can hit the wide side of a barn, and if firing the gun doesn’t make you feel better, then maybe you should just go speak to the woman. I know a lot of women will find a weakness and poke right into it until you’re bleeding, so be strong and confident and see if that changes her attitude,” Green suggested. “Maybe she’s enjoyed being single as much as you have, and maybe she’s fighting it just as much. It might do you both a hell of a lot of good to let down your defenses. Then you might actually get somewhere.”
“Are you trying to get my ass kicked?” Eyes asked.
Green laughed hard. “That would be a bonus for sure,” he said.
“What’s the hold up?” Smoke asked as he jogged up to them and dropped down. He looked at the sky, trying to find what they were seeing. “Did a UFO fly by?”
“Eyes is love struck,” Green said.
Smoke laughed along with Green. “Been there, done that,” he said. “But this is guy time. Let’s blow some shit up and forget about women for a while.”
Sleep approached. “I have that on video. I’m sending it to Amira right now.”
“If you attempt that, I’ll have you tied into a pretzel so fast you’ll never use your fingers again,” Smoke said, lying back with his hands beneath his head, staring at the same brooding clouds as Eyes. The funny thing was the man could be up so quickly the rest of them wouldn’t stand a chance if he really did want to take their phone away and tie them into a pretzel. It was strange how such a large man could move quicker than the brain could process the movement.
“Are you ladies done sharing your feelings? We have a course to finish,” Brackish said as he joined them.
“Yeah, I’m more than done. I don’t need advice from Neanderthals,” Eyes said. He sat up. He needed to pull himself together.
“Okay, we’re going through the moving target range. Get your head in the game,” Chad said, the last of their team to join the knitting circle.
“Let’s do it,” Eyes said.
He rose to his feet and followed Chad to the warehouse that was all set to go with a maze they had to get through, lights, smoke, and moving targets. They got a point for every bad guy they killed, and docked for every victim, animal, or inanimate furniture they hit. There were also hidden mines and bombs they couldn’t set off. This was the kind of game Eyes normally loved. Today his head just wasn’t in it.
“Let’s go,” Chad said, then stepped through the doors.
The men geared up for the scenario. This was set up as a nighttime rescue operation in hostile territory that held multiple families within the compound. Chad would be watching their movements via CCTV screens, and give a final point tally. The operation would be considered a failure if the men set off any of the paint bombs hidden throughout the warehouse.
“Eyes, I know you’re a bit off today. Do you want someone else running point?” Green asked as he fastened the strap of his helmet to his chin.
“No. Same formation as always. Me, Sleep, Smoke. Then you and Brackish. Stop busting my balls, it’s over with. We now have a mission to focus on,” Eyes replied with a hint of irritation.
One thing that was great about this warehouse was how easy it was to move module walls around to make different sized rooms, different hallways, and new situations with each operation.
They could be working with natural light, office light, random small LED lights, or in pitch black. There were almost an infinite number of layouts that could be created so it was perfect in helping the special ops team keep their tactical minds engaged and sharp. This scenario was one in which they didn’t know the layout and would have to be cognizant of non-combatant individuals. It meant that someone with a keen eye, a sense of the situation, and clarity of mind would need to be the point guy. Green knew they were doomed before walking through the front door.
When they moved into the first room it was a purposeful transition to complete darkness, making them slide down their night vision goggles. The room came to life in green hues and the images shocked the team. Chad had brought in a bunch of mannequins and dressed them up like the creepy ass clown from the movie IT.
“Oh, hell no!” Smoke said and shot every single one of the dummies in the face within seconds. They were using paint tipped bullets in this exercise so the explosion on each of the faces just gave them a creepier look. Smoke fired off three more shots at each head just to get the faces covered and the creepiness factor down a bit.
Chad’s laugh came over the intercom and all Smoke could do was raise his hand in the air, flipping off the cameras he knew were focused on them.
“Whoa. Wait! Did you check the door?” Sleep asked Eyes as he started to pull the first door in the compound open.
“All good,” Eyes grumbled at him, but he knew he’d just screwed up the very first thing he’d touched. He told himself to get in the game and focus. He wasn’t actively thinking about Courtney, but his focus was utterly shot.
Slowly the men filtered into the room, each man fanning out into their tactical positions, ensuring the area was secure. The men were as quiet as mice. The microphones placed in each room were connected to sensors, and if the decibels reached a certain limit there’d be a reaction. Sometimes it was a cat scurrying across the room, sometimes it was a person waking up, and sometimes it was enough to trip the alarms and the men, and their presence would be known to the enemy inside the compound. If that happened the special ops men were in serious trouble.
In this room, not a single reaction happened. The men went unnoticed.
“Smoke, Green, take the left room. Brackish, watch our six. Sleep and I will take the right room,” Eyes said in a whisper.
The five men slowly crept down the dark hallway toward the two rooms that needed to be cleared. They all knew there’d be additional rooms as the warehouse was massive and they’d only covered about four hundred feet of it. How the split from those rooms happened was an unknown.
“Thank God, I’m with you. Eyes is a mess today,” Green said to Smoke as soon as he knew they were far enough away from Eyes to hear them.
“Who knew our fearless leader was a thirteen-year-old boy who just got his first kiss and now doesn’t know what to do with himself,” Smoke said through a chuckle. He and Green had conveniently forgotten they’d been acting the same way in the not-so-distant past.
“Just make sure the camera is off and you don’t get caught yanking it on a Zoom call when Courtney turns you down again,” Smoke said, loving to mess with his team leader.
Eyes shot daggers at the man. “I’m not a reporter from the New Yorker,” he replied. “Now get serious.” There were a couple of chuckles before they all grew serious again.
Eyes looked at Sleep, gave a silent three count and then ripped the door open. The two of them were met with an oversized room that was completely empty with a door on the opposite wall.
Sleep, ever diligent with his responsibilities, continued walking around the room, looking for anything that might be a trap. Eyes let go of the door, and instead of staying open like all of the others had in the exercise, it slid shut. A deep clunking sound was heard from the door, and as Eyes inspected it he realized there was no interior handle. He attempted to reach Brackish via their comms, but nothing came back — not even static. Eyes and Sleep had been completely cut off from the rest of their team.
Eyes gave three light taps on the door, and three taps came back. It was enough for Eyes to know Brackish understood the situation. The team of five was now two teams of two and three and they’d need to find their way back to each other.
“What the hell? There’s water coming in,” Sleep whispered as water began rising from the floor.
Within seconds the water was at their ankles. Both men started rushing for the opposite door where they’d entered, but found it flush with the wall, unopenable. Most people would shut down and lose their ability to think through the chaos of the situation, but these men were far from average people.
“Get your laser up, start scanning the walls,” Eyes commanded as he brought his long gun up, equipped with a laser, and started shining the wall opposite of him.
Sleep quickly slid over and started scanning his red beam all over the wall across from him. The water was now up to their thighs. The two men worked in unison, moving and scanning the walls with the small line of light tracing all sections.
“Got it!” Eyes called, keeping his laser pointed at the spot as Sleep pushed hard to get to the opposite side of the room to the location that Eyes had lit up. The water was at his chest by the time he was halfway across the room, the pressure from it slowing him down. He finally made his way to the red dot on the wall and smiled when he felt the material. It was glass.
“We’ve got it, Chug,” Sleep yelled out in the dark room. It was the call they were to make indicating they’d found either an escape, a bomb, or whatever surprise Chad had in store for them. That way they didn’t have to destroy or dismantle the item. Chad would simply stop the exercise from the control room.
This was the first time they’d ever been placed in a water tank, but Eyes knew that if there was glass, or any other type of reflective material, his laser would react differently to it than the module walls and that would be their way out. If they were in the real world, they’d have simply shot through the glass, shattering it, and then gotten the hell out of the room.
“Nice one, Eyes,” Sleep said as the water drained and the door they entered through suddenly popped open.
“Team, Check,” Eyes said over his comms, checking to see if they were operable now that the door was open again.
“Copy,” came back an instant reply.
“We made it out of the room and are coming up behind you,” Eyes said to the three men who’d moved on from them.
“Copy, we’ll stand down,” Smoke’s voice came over.
It only took a couple of minutes for Eyes and Sleep to make contact with the other team members. When they caught up, it was clear they were trying not to laugh at their team leader making such a rookie mistake.
“Nice time to go for a swim while we’re all over here working on the mission,” Smoke said, some of his laughter slipping out.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah — get it out now so we can finish this thing and get the hell out of here,” Eyes replied while walking up to the next door they needed to get through.
The next door they opened was the first big test with people firing at them. As soon as the door was ajar, shots rang out, paint splatter covering the walls and door.
“I’m going to kick this door open. I want Brackish firing right side, Green low middle, and Smoke high middle. Five shot sequence and then I’m going to send two grenades in. We’ll repeat with Sleep throwing two grenades in. Copy? On three,” Eyes called over the sound of the fake shots being sent their way.
The men did the sequence exactly as Eyes laid out, and after Sleep threw his grenades the shooting stopped. Eyes did a silent ten count and then indicated to the team they were going into the room. In overwhelming speed, the five men ripped into the room, at the ready to fire upon anything that might be operational. Everything in that room had been shut down.
“It seems Chad decided we did good enough for this room. Let’s push forward,” Eyes said.
The next area created hell for Eyes, as if he needed more thrown at him when he wasn’t at one hundred percent.
As the team walked down the hall, they heard something in one of the rooms. With a quick glance Eyes could see the props for the room. A mannequin was in a recliner, watching television. Next to him was an AK47 and on the side table was a pistol. A familiar voice caught his attention. Coming from the TV was a news report given by Courtney Tucker.
Eyes dropped his guard and stared at the TV, trying to see what it was she was discussing and when he saw that it was the clip from years past when she’d interviewed him in Germany his brain went blank. His lack of movement caused Sleep to give him a quick nudge, a quiet request for information.
“Clear the room,” Eyes absently said and started to walk in without any additional discussion.
The movements were well choreographed — the same formation they’d done what felt like a million times. However, one of them kept looking over at the TV while walking through the room. His team captured the mannequin watching the news report, but Eyes didn’t pay attention to the capture. He stood in front of the screen, watching a young version of himself, and how he’d been such a fool to not notice the genuine smile Courtney had been giving him or the flirty little laughs she’d made when he answered her questions. Well, he’d noticed, but he’d been so stuck in his own head, he hadn’t been in a place to do anything about it at that time.
“Clear,” Sleep said, indicating they could move on to the next phase of the operation.
Eyes snapped himself out of the daydream he was in and walked to the next door. Without saying anything, or talking to his team, he started to pull it open. He was only going through the motions while his mind was somewhere else.
“Eyes!” Sleep yelled, but it was too late.
An explosion of massive bright lights started popping off at random interludes and a cacophony of sounds encapsuled the men. Shots rang out from all directions and, for all intents and purposes, this was the end of the game for the five men.
“Out!” Eyes yelled as he ran for the hallway they’d just come from. Instead of turning down the hall they’d already been in, he went right and started going to the next room. He looked back to make sure his team was behind him, waited for them to get into position, and then busted through the next door.
Eyes found a door on the other side of the room, ran to it, and ripped it open. When he did a series of bombs went off in the room Eyes had just left. The first series was paint that all but covered the four men behind Eyes, and then less than a second from that was an avalanche of glitter that stuck to the paint and everywhere else on their bodies. Eyes didn’t have more than a drop on him.
“Damn it, Eyes. What in the flying monkey’s ass was that?” Smoke yelled as they stepped from the building.
Chad was laughing so hard he couldn’t speak as he approached the men who were all glaring at Eyes. Their team leader had been reckless and out of control the entire mission. None of them minded screwing up in a mission, hell it was how they learned to become better, but this wasn’t just bad, it was embarrassing, and worse, they were covered in paint and glitter. No way would their wives believe they weren’t at some crazy strip club all afternoon.
“There will be payback for this,” Smoke said, trying to brush the glitter and paint away. It was useless.
“Sorry,” Eyes said, knowing he’d screwed up badly.
“Don’t even bother. Get your damn head in the game or step back for the next training session,” Sleep said as he ran his hand through his hair, making the glitter and paint mix, looking as if My Little Pony had just farted all over him.
Eyes just walked away. He needed to get it together — and there was only one way he knew how to do that. It was time he upped his game where Courtney was concerned. It was time to step up or get the hell out of the way of the oncoming freight train.