The bullets came like the rain, fierce and unending. Cameron held his crouched position holding his rifle close to his body, ready to fire at a given chance. The enemy ceased fire as they approached closer to where he was hiding. Cameron calmed the heavy beating of his heart, preparing for what was to come. He gripped the rifle tighter before bringing it up in a shooting position and finally stood up from his crouching posture to shoot whoever was out there.

Cameron estimated about four people slowly approaching his location in a semi-circle formation. He knew that the group had already split off; they were most likely to find the rest of his team. But Cameron had already given them a warning, so they should all be ready for the ambush that was about to come. He knew he had the upper hand now that they were out in the open field. It was game time, and he intended to win.

He took a step out from his hiding spot, but he made sure to maintain most of his cover. Although he had the positional vantage, he was still outnumbered, so he needed to be cautious. He took a deep breath when he turned his body towards the enemy and exhaled; he took the first shot at the man closest to him.

The single loud bang of the gunshot interrupted the steady rhythm of the sputtering rain. It was like a scene from a movie as if Cameron could see the bullet in slow motion before it pierced the man between his eyes. One down, three more to go; these fuckers harmed one of his men. They weren't getting away with it. In his heart, he was hoping that Rogan was still alive, but he had been in this business before he knew very well how things went. And sadly, he knew in his mind that Rogan was most likely dead and gone.

With that grim thought, he mercilessly shot anything that moved in front of his eyes. Only ducking so often to avoid the retaliating bullets of the enemies. He no longer had the element of surprise after firing out that first shot, but somehow he has managed to shoot one of the other men on the thigh. So while the other two started retreating into cover, one of their men was left out in the open limping for his life. Cameron lifted his gun once more; he was determined; this meant that whoever this man was, he wasn't going home tonight.

Cameron took one shot at the man, and it was all it took before he fell listless with eyes wide open. It was as if death came and claimed him far too soon that the shock of it all has not registered. Cameron has killed a few times before tonight, during his other missions. It wasn't something that he liked doing, so he has never justified them with mere reasoning. Cameron simply accepted that it came with the job, and although it sometimes kept him up at night, in these situations, it is an eye for an eye, a life for a life. He knew that one day, that life would be his.

The two men left were furiously firing their bullets in all directions. It was good that the full moon was behind Cameron, which helped conceal him while highlighting where his enemies were hiding.

"Where the fuck are you hiding you American fucker!" One of the two men shouted in English with a thick Brazilian accent.

"You're dead there are many of us and only a few of you guys!" They continued to shout in Cameron's direction. They didn't know that this only helped Cameron locate them and start his approach closer to them to take a better shot of them.

"You and you're buddies will be dead soon we know where you fuckers are hiding. They are all probably dead like that one there," The man said while he took a shot at where Rogan lay. His stiff body vibrated in a jolt from the bullet.

Cameron was infuriated, but he knew that this was their game plan to distract him and weaken his resolve, which would then diminish his defence. So he gritted his teeth and ignored their baiting words and focused on creeping closer to them.

"Hahaha", booming laughter sounded from the same man that has been lacking away, "are you scared little boy?" the man mocked and snickered. But Cameron knew that all of that was a front, this man was scared for. As he should because he was about to die. "Come out you fucke-"BANG!

The man's last word came to an abrupt. Blood spewed out of his mouth. He dropped his rifle on the ground, and a loud thud was sounded. The man's hands grabbed at his necked as he gurgled out to his partner for help, while blood continued to flow out from eh gaping hole on his neck. Even now, while he died, he won't shut the fuck up, Cameron thought.

One more, Cameron thought. His breath grew heavier and heavier, all that dodging, running, hiding, the hiking from the previous day and not to mention he hasn't had a wink of sleep yet. All of it has started to catch up to him. But he pushed through, knowing that his team's status was still unknown to him. Besides, there was the stray to take care of.

The man panicked with every sound of nature, unnerving him further into a frightened state. Good, Cameron thought. It was his turn to taunt and bait the man out.

"All of your friends are gone", he repeated the words that the other man had used to provoke him. There was no verbal response except for the man turning around in multiple directions. His eyes were wide open, scanning the surrounding area for Cameron. Cameron was hiding only a few meters away from him, so he could clearly see the man and how he was profusely covered in sweat.

"It was pretty easy to take them out, so the others you sent to kill my team are probably dead too." Cameron continued to gibe at the petrified man. He didn't want to admit it, but he did relish in the man's fear.

"Please let me go, I wasn't the one that killed that man'" the man nodded towards where Rogan was lying. "Please, I didn't do anything wrong." He continued to plead to the darkness, hoping that Cameron would hear his pleas.

They were all the same to Cameron. Death always had a way of exposing human nature, and it showed him several times how self-centred humans are. They will happily kill someone one moment and act as if they are the victim. He was sick of seeing this behaviour over and over again. It was the same with this man. So with that, he pulled up his rifle, aimed and took a shot, putting the man out of his misery.

Cameron let out a long sigh as some of the tension released from his body. He knew that this wasn't over, there were others out there, and he first needed to check out Rogan's body.

His body felt heavy as he tried to make his way towards Rogan. It was as if his body was refusing to acknowledge what he already knew to be true. And it was that Rogan was gone. He won't be going home to his family, and he definitely won't be proposing to the love of his life like he intended to. This made Cameron feel bitter. But deep, deep down, there was a feeling he refused to recognise as his own. It was a relief. A relief that it wasn't him dead, relief that he could be with his brother a little longer more.

He reached where Rogan was and finally saw his comrade and friend, and from there, he was forced to accept the truth. He crouched and saw that Rogan's eyes were opened, so he closed them gently with his hand. He also noticed that along with multiple gunshots to the chest, they had also slit his throat open. It was as if three bullets weren't enough; it seems that they made sure to hold him down to slash at him. He knew that Rogan had struggled to his last breath by the deep gashes along his arms, probably what he used as a defence.

Cameron knew that this would be a piece of unfortunate news for the squad. He took a moment to gather his own emotions before he braced his legs and crouched to pick up his fallen comrade and place him over his back.

As Cameron trudged through the muddy trail, he was cautious of others that may ambush him. He still didn't know the situation with the others, so he whistled out to signal his arrival when he was close enough at their site. To his surprise, the squad signalled back that it was safe, so he made his reveal himself. He wasn't surprised because they were incapable but instead surprised that it seemed like there were absolutely no casualties nor any injuries on his men. It was as if they were built to do precisely this, kill.

The group had gathered the fallen bodies of their enemies in a pile in the middle of the site. It made for quite a large hill; the sight was a gruesome pile of mangled bodies covered in blood. All the men looked pretty grim; it was as if they also didn't revel in the feeling of taking another life. They looked visibly happy to see that Cameron had come back.

That brief happiness quickly turned into sombre when they finally saw that Rogan was slumped onto Cameron's back. Almost all of them knew that he wasn't alive from the expression that Cameron was wearing on his face. Only Jake refused to believe what he saw and knew; if he denies it, then it could not be true, was what he thought.

"Cameron? Rogan?" It was said so quietly that it could have been lost among the surrounding sounds of nature. "Come on now what's with the grim face, y'all are fucking with us right?" He asked again with an incredulous smile looking at all their comrades.

Cameron ignored his questions and slowly put Rogan's limp body to the ground. With that, Jake stepped back to give himself time to process what had happened. He was slumped over a tree with his face in his hands; he looked to be the most distraught.

The men crouched around him, and Rogan formed a circle. They were all men hardened by years of experience; this was part of the job, so no tears were released. Although this was the case, they were all still grieving not only their comrade's death but also their dear friend.

"What happened Cam?" Jake, who has finally calmed down, approached the formation. His steps came across apprehensive. Rogan, Jake and Cameron had been part of the same training squad. They have known each other for such a long time they were practically brothers.

"He was ambushed while doing the perimeter check," Cameron said quietly before finally adding, "It should have been me, I was supposed to do the check." He didn't add that he thought he was undeserving of being their leader. There was no need for him to say this out loud. He already knew that this was probably what they thought of him.

The group of men didn't have any rebuttal, and instead, they quietly dealt with Rogan's body. Jake and Thomas carefully carried it into one of the tents while the others stayed behind to clean up the bloody mess.

Silence fell over the group, and after a while, the task to sort the bodies was delegated. Cameron had another job; he would have to report to his superior about this incident and tell them that he would reject the job promotion, although he thought that he probably no longer had that promotion.

While sorting through the bodies, they did a headcount and came up with seven men. Along with the four men, they knew that their leader had killed; eleven men were killed overall. Cameron was about to call his superior when he stopped in his track. Eleven? Somehow he felt alarmed at hearing that number. As he recalled from when he saw the group, he spotted at least twelve to thirteen, maybe even more.

He dropped the transmitter and turned towards his group to warn them, but he heard the chilling sound of a gunshot before he could. BANG!