PART 10
Ava did not kill every enemy.
She didn’t need to.
She killed the ambush.
The commander fell while trying to signal a final push.
The launcher team never fired.
The men on the west ridge abandoned their weapon and ran.
The north element scattered when they realized their cover was being peeled away by someone they could not see.
By the time the extraction birds thundered toward the forest, the ravine no longer belonged to the enemy.
It belonged to fourteen Rangers who were still breathing.
When the helicopters came in low, Ava finally lifted her head from the rifle.
For a second, she looked older than she had that morning.
Not by years.
By names.
Holt stared at the empty casings in the grass.
“I owe you an apology,” he said.
Ava began packing her gear.
“For what?”
“For every joke.”
She zipped one pouch.
“You were scared of what you didn’t understand.”
“That doesn’t excuse it.”
“No,” she said. “But you’re still here to learn from it.”
Holt looked toward the ravine where the helicopters were lifting out the wounded.
“So why hide it?” he asked. “Why let everyone think you were just some quiet sniper who never pulled the trigger?”
Ava stopped.
The fog moved around them.
“My last unit kept score,” she said.
Holt frowned.
“What?”
“They remembered numbers. Confirmed shots. Unconfirmed shots. Distance. Difficulty.”
May you like
Her jaw tightened.
“They talked about men like they were not men.”
