- A D A R A - K O N S D O T T I R -

     "How did you know?" Suri exclaims, panicking as he tries desperately to open the window to our room. Just down the hall, I hear the floorboards creak as militants scramble to flee the open sightline I have. Lying on the ground, I aim my pistol right at the doorframe, waiting for an overconfident man to peek my way.

     "What, that it wasn't pizza delivery?" I tease, laser-focused down my iron sights. I see the tip of a pistol poke out, and I instantly land a shot on it. The barrel caves in as the gun breaks apart, frightening the man half to death.

     "No, I know it wasn't pizza delivery, Adara!" Suri screams incredulously as I hear the window squeal open. "That people are after us!"

     "Experience," I declare, firing another shot. This one lands on the shoulder of a man peeking around the counter, sending him sprawling back in pain. His rifle drops to the ground with an unceremonious thud as he squeals.

     "Come on!" Suri exclaims, and I retreat to the room. Pulling out my sniper, I launch a single alarm down the hallway, watching as it drills itself into the side of the reception counter. The men engage in panicked chatter before I detonate the concussion charge, muting every other sound as I vault through the window. Suri glances back, frightened by the noise. I usher him along, and he quickly hops into the SUV as I get behind the wheel.

     "Glad you're on my side?" I smirk, firing up the vehicle and immediately shifting into drive. The tires squeal as we peel out of the alley, blasting onto the main road.

     Suri doesn't respond, probably trying to process everything that just happened. He's no stranger to violence, but I doubt he's ever been in a situation like this. I glance into the lobby as I roll past the place, seeing the soldiers beginning to get their bearings straight. There are at least five of them in the lobby, and one of them notices us.

     'Pizza delivery,' I think to myself, grinning. Did they really think we're that dumb? Hopefully, they don't know who we are and are just trying to rob or kidnap foreigners. If they know what's going on, it'll be a long trek to Al Kamara. Suri's value as a prisoner would be astronomical right now.

     I glance in the rearview, seeing a pair of headlights emerging from the town. Under the clear, desert night sky, they were impossible to miss. Weighing my options, I decide shooting their way would be too risky. One random full-auto shot would be enough to derail this situation in multiple ways. This would be... difficult.

     Looking forward, the headlights dart around the desert, illuminating dunes and old road signs seemingly at random. I glance at Suri, who notices the vehicle following us and is visibly flustered. Then, shortly up ahead, I see what looks like a ruin. My suspicions of bombing are confirmed when the road seems to take a serious hit in quality. This will do.

     I swerve the SUV behind the ruins, quickly turning the vehicle off and looking at Suri. "You do exactly as I say, okay?"

     "Yes, ma'am," he worrily huffs, hopping out quickly as my boots strike the fractured concrete below. In the total quiet of the night, all I can hear is an engine loudly approaching from the west. 'Time to host a party,' I sigh to myself, running into the building to see what I'm working with.

     The structure is three stories tall, but only two look to be accessible. I pull out my rifle, firing an alarm into the roof, tucked behind a dusty support beam. "Suri, upstairs, now," I command, and he quickly nods. I quickly load another, firing towards the far side of the building. I mess with the underbarrel launcher as I make my way upstairs, firing one more into the landing's roof.

     "Miss Adara, give me the pistol," Suri asks, looking at me with much more resolve than I anticipated. I'm taken aback for a second, cocking my head to the side.

     "You won't need it," I wink, and I see him turn from anxious to annoyed as the vehicle draws closer. I notice the light of its headlights reflects against a fallen road sign next to the road.

     "I need to defend myself!" he protests, looking at me almost angrily.

     I fish my combat knife out of my sheath, sliding it across the floor to him. "If you need to defend yourself," I begin, steeling my resolve. "We've got bigger issues."

     He grunts, hunching down and hiding as the vehicle pulls over next to the ruins. No doubt we'd come here, I guess. With such high visibility in the desert, they must not have seen us driving and decided we'd stopped here. Their suspicions are seemingly confirmed when they see the tail end of our vehicle parked nearby. I duck under the empty window frame, crouching over to a desk and watching the stairs landing.

     I glance one more time at Suri, seeing him attempt to control his breathing. He's a curious one, huh? Guy has had one of the most harrowing formative times of anyone I've met, and this is what scares him to his core? Militants must not be very active in that area of Lebanon, I guess. Maybe because they're so needed towards the east by Syria.

     I'm snapped from my brainstorming when I see the alarm warning pop up on my rifle screen. They must've tripped the laser. I lay down behind the desk, aiming my rifle behind the old, gapped wooden paneling. My finger hovers over the trigger as I look through a tiny crack in the desk.

     The second alarm lights up, and my finger grows closer to the trigger. I breathe in as I hear boots step onto the stairwell. My third alarm triggers as I see two men inch their way up slowly, checking all around the edges of the desk.

     Got you.

     A thunderous sound erupts from the rifle as I fire, sending my round straight through the desk paneling and into the first man's abdomen. It tears a massive hole as it then enters the second man's chest, finally driving itself through two of the concrete walls with incredible force. The gunshot elicits screams from the first floor, as the two men's bodies fall lifelessly to the middle landing in a heap.

     I quickly stand up, getting away from the desk and backing up against the concrete wall next to the top landing. Footsteps roar up the stairs, and a hail of gunfire emerges as the desk is torn to bits. A bullet streaks by my left shoulder, grabbing my attention as it nearly singes my uniform. I breathe out as I detonate the stairwell's concussion charge, deafening everyone in the vicinity as I peek around the corner with my rifle. The third man earns the same fate as the first two, his body ragdolling into the aged concrete wall.

     More screaming erupts as I hear footsteps racing away from the stairs. I follow them towards the side of the building, looking out at the ground below. One man, stumbling through old wreckage, exits the side of the building as I capture him in the sights of my handgun. The fourth man falls with two well-placed shots, and I duck down to retrain my eyes on the stairwell. Hearing noise, I aim my pistol, wired on nothing but focus and adrenaline.

     I realize quickly, though, the noise is not someone rushing up here to shoot me; it's fighting. My eyes go wide as I instinctively look for Suri in his hiding place, realizing he's not there. I scramble to his spot, seeing a hole in the floor and a melee raging below. Sweat drips down my brow as I race to the stairs, a rare moment of panic setting in.

     Coasting on adrenaline, my eyes dart around the first floor until I see Suri attacking the fifth man. My knife is lying far from him on the floor, and the two are going at it with their hands. I can't help but notice Suri's fighting style: raw, street-inspired, and fearless. Too fearless. He gets kicked hard by the militant, throwing him off his rhythm and putting him on the defensive.

     Suri takes another big hit, right across the chest. I pull my pistol up, noticing my hands are shaking as I aim at the man. It's enough that the shot is questionable, spiking my worry even more. I become hyperaware of the sweat dripping down my cheek as my mind begins to freeze.

     This is not Baghdad.

     I'm unsure if I said that aloud, but it seems to calm me slightly. My hands settle a tiny bit, enough for me to take the shot. The man receives a bullet to the head as Suri bounces back, startled. He looks back at me, and I feel the adrenaline quickly flood out of my system.

     "Suri!" I exclaim, holstering my pistol and looking at him with a hint of rage. He looks at me, wiping some of the man's splattered blood off his right cheek. "What the hell were you doing?"

     He looks down at the man, his eyes wide. "Taking him down," he mutters, seemingly processing what just happened.

     "I told you to stay put!" I counter, ripping a patch from one of the man's uniforms. Not recognizing it, I stash it in my pocket and walk towards Suri.

     "I can take care of myself!" he retorts, seemingly wincing at my frustration boiling over to anger.

     "My job is to protect you!" I yell, pointing my finger at him in fury.

     He looks at the ground, clearly frustrated as well. Neither of us speaks for a moment, both of us locked in the uneasy room as I pick my knife up off the ground and sheath it. The combat focus wears off as I sigh, walking towards the SUV. "Let's get out of here," I mutter, ready to leave the ruins in history.