"If your attack is going too well, you're walking into an ambush." — Infantry Journal

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Jessica lay staring at the blood pulsing out of her face. She was rapidly losing consciousness, and soon it went dark. Slowly, her blurry vision returned until it finally settled on a cruel face, snarled up in disgust, distorted by red and orange tongues and waves of heat. His eyes were blazing gold, and he made a loud, falcon-like screech as his mouth unhinged and opened, swallowing the world around them. Terror seized her as she realized she was being swallowed as well, and by her side, Price and Soap, battled frantically to escape the black maw. Price was wailing for Soap as the mouth closed and its teeth clamped shut and severed the Lieutenant in two. Soap's upper half fell beside her, his blue eyes wide and mouth twitching in death spasms, she felt bile rise in her throat.

"SOAP!"

His eyes snapped onto her suddenly perfectly focused and she stepped back, frightened by his alertness. "Why did you sacrifice me?"

Her brows furrowed uncertainly. "What? Sacrifice you... I didn't..."

"Why didn't you save him, Gal?"

Jessica looked up at John, his eyes blank and glowing white. "I-I didn't know! I didn't..." She did a double-take and looked back down at the severed torso in front of her.

It was Gaz. She bared her teeth in disgust as a fly landed on his pale face, crawling over his open eyes and she shooed it away, desperately picking up his face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do this!" Tears flooded her eyes and she held him close, burying her face in his shoulder. "I didn't mean to let you die, Gaz, you weren't a sacrifice."

"If you had the chance to change your actions... Would you?"

She lifted her head to look at Price again, but this time she saw an open space, glowing warm like a candle flame, and in the middle, she was holding Gaz, wearing a radiant white gown, a veil flowing behind her; he tilted her chin up for a kiss and leaned in and she felt a warmth in her chest.

Her fingers passed over the divet and she felt an ache. Someone was standing in the distance, shaking his head as he walked away and she felt a deep sense of loss for him. As she took a step forward to see who it was, she heard a raspy voice- a voice she'd never heard before- and the click of a hammer being pulled back.

"Or would you let someone take a bullet for your happiness?" 

She turned around and in a split second, she saw the barrel of a pistol. 

BANG!

The scorching heat of the bullet tearing through her knocked her back to the ground and she fought to get back to her feet.

BANG!

"Wait... No!" She shielded her face as the black silhouette of a man stood over her, crushing her neck under his foot. "NO!"

TAP!

Jessica aggressively started awake and winced when another pebble bounced painfully loudly off her window. She hadn't been this hungover in a long, long time, and she regretted every moment of it. Wearily, she looked at her clock, hardly able to make out the blurry numbers on its face.

It was 08:00.

She heaved in a horrified gasp. "No!"

"Jess!" 

"Shit..." She walked in a wobbly line to the window and opened it, squinting against the headache-inducing sunlight. Price was standing in the drive below.

"Were you planning on coming to formation this morning?"

"... Were you?" she asked, hoping her retort might throw him off a little.

"Already been; everyone's in training right now with Soap, and you're the only one who didn't show." He chuckled despite his ire. "Even Ghost made it on time, splitting headache and all."

Jessica rolled her eyes shut. How had she missed her alarm and by that much? "Ach... alright, I'll be down in five."

"Standing by until you do."

With haste, she slammed the door and locked it behind her, running past Price to her car. Her head was pounding and everything was so bright and loud; she could barely find the ignition with her key.

Price tapped on the window as she started the car. "You want to ride with me?"

"Why?" 

"Because Ghost tells me your head should be pounding this morning after six bloody shots last night..."

Jessica thumped her head against the steering wheel. "Damn, he told you?"

He laughed. "Of course. Pushed you right under the bus, not even an ounce of hesitation."

She gritted her teeth and sighed heavily. "... Fine, I'll take the ride, but please, can we drop the subject? Last night was stupid, and I don't want to talk anymore about it."

"MORNING, JESS!" 

She winced when Ghost put an arm around her shoulder and bellowed in her ear. "Why do you hate me..?"

He patted her shoulder, nudging her forward toward a descending stairway. "C'mon, Roach was just looking for a sparring partner."

Roach's head shot up. "What? No I wasn't..."

"Yeah you were, remember? You were hoping to spar with Gal. Y'know, 'cause she's all hungover this morning?" Ghost narrowed his eyes in a cheeky smile as she pressed her middle finger against her cheek at him.

Roach got a devilish look on his face. "No, Ghost, you wanted to spar with her because you're still mad she stole your mask last night, remember?"

"I am not..."

"You were sulking like a child this morning." Roach hopped down from his perch on the wooden fence and landed with a solid thump. "And then after formation and she didn't show up, I distinctly remember you saying, 'I'm gonna kick her ass when she gets here today'."

"Alright, ladies." Price walked between them to redirect their attention and firmly gripped her shoulder. "Jess, find a partner; Roach, Ghost, shut up."

Jessica looked at Ghost and gave his tough shoulder a shove. "Pikachu," she said as brightly as she could manage. "I choose you!"

He made a face. "Haven't heard that reference in a while..." He walked down to the sandy arena at the bottom of the stairs. "You gonna take my balaclava again?"

In a swift movement, she kicked the back of his knee and pushed him to the ground, one foot planted perfectly between his shoulders. "I might if you keep up your attitude." A twisted smile crossed her face as she leaned closer to his face. "By the way, are you just letting me beat you, or do you actually suck this much?"

"Sod off, I wasn't ready!" 

She stepped off him and extended her hand to help him up, realizing her mistake when he grabbed her by the wrist and threw her into the dust. With a painful wheeze she slowly picked herself up. "Alright... Fair enough." She rubbed her pounding temples and stood across from him. "Who's reffing us?"

"I am." Soap clapped his hands and rubbed them together vigorously. "Alright, on my mark, you two are gonna fight for 60 seconds or until there is a clear winner; winner and loser are decided by me. Ready?" He nodded and stepped back, blowing a chirp on the whistle around his neck.

Ghost's fist split the air by her head and she ducked, jabbing him in the stomach. He recoiled, clutching at his gut as he raised a hand to catch her other fist in front of his face. His leg came up and kicked her in the ribs, pushing her backward. She gagged audibly and fought to keep her legs under her. Ghost advanced quickly and she crossed forearms with him to stop his blow. She reached across his torso, but he grasped her wrist, his other arm coming down on her shoulder to drop her to her knees. 

He howled when she hit him between his legs. When he doubled over, she grasped him around the neck, clasping her hands behind his head and squeezing him so her shoulder pressed into his throat. He struggled to get free, but her vice-like grip wasn't relenting. He scrambled backward and she clung tighter until he fell. 

She winced when his knee came up into her side, but she refused to let go. He kicked her again, harder this time and she kicked him back, this time planting her foot on his thigh.

Soap chirped the whistle again and she released him. "Winner, loser," he announced, pointing to Jessica and Ghost respectively. "Well done, Gal."

Ghost coughed, rubbing his throat. "I could've held her off for another minute!"

"I didn't want to take a chance she was gonna kill ya, mate." Soap snickered. "Ghost, go to the penalty box, Gal, get take a minute, get a drink- water, no spirits- and I'll assign you your next partner."

She laughed and sat beside Ghost outside the penalty box as he finished up a set of pushups. "Not gonna lie, I kinda thought I wasn't gonna win that one."

"You shoulda taken my mask again, then we'll see who'd win."

"You're still mad about that?"

He scoffed, shaking out his arms. "No, I'm not mad... Drunjk me just isn't good at managing his temper... Not that I was terribly happy about it anyway." Ghost sighed and folded his arms. "Why did you take it off anyway? Curiosity killing you that bad?"

She shook her head, wishing she could laugh, but couldn't find the energy for it. "You just remind me of someone I lost; drunk me kind of hoped you were him." She finally managed a laugh, but it sounded sadder than entertained. "Kind of a silly notion, eh?"

He nodded, a sense of understanding overtaking him. "I heard you lost some guys in Russia not too long ago. Not even been a year, right?" She was silent and he continued. "I know how hard it is to lose people; lost some myself... How many?"

"Just four." She shrugged her shoulders as if to dismiss it. "We could have lost a lot more."

"You're not supposed to lose any on mission." His golden brown eyes turned to her as if to pierce her through the heart. "Four is four men too many."

Though she knew he was trying to validate her loss, she couldn't help but feel a stab of guilt and she took a sip from her canteen. "Yeah... I suppose you're right..."

He pursed his lips and sighed. "... I heard one of those men was your late Lieutenant."

She shook her head, starting away. "I don't like to talk about it, Ghost, can we drop it?"

His brows furrowed, but he nodded, falling silent. Before he could think of something to say to break the tension, his attention snapped onto Roach as he leveled Stevens with a single punch. "Holy shit!"

Jessica's eyes were round, too. "Nice shot!"

The Corporal smiled. "I'm not called Roach for nothing." Ghost and Jess cockled a brow and he reached out to help a dazed and dizzied Stevens back onto his feet. "Roach, after Freddie Roach, the boxing champion. I grew up around the sport."

"Holy hell..." Price made an impressed smile at him before shooting a glance at Jessica. "Hey, Jess, think you're brave enough to challenge Roach?" He chuckled when she vigorously shook her head. "Wouldn't be the first mistake you made the last twenty-four hours."

But instead, she opted for an even worse mistake. "I might not be stupid enough to fight Roach, but unlike the rest of these boys, I'm brave enough to challenge you, Captain..."