Excerpt of Soldier's Woman by Megan Ziese

Chapter 1

The troop had been dropped behind enemy lines. As far as the government was concerned, they didn’t exist.

Nigel leaned against an old tree for support, being sure to stay low to the ground so that the bushes near the base of the tree mostly obscured him.

Sweat was beginning to stream down his face now. He had to resist the instinct to mop at it, knowing it might take off some of his face paint. He ignored the discomfort of the heat and the mosquitoes whining in his ears. His life and the life of his fellow troops were in jeopardy if things didn’t go according to plan.

He heard a bird call, the signal to proceed toward the package. Just as he rose up, though, he heard rapid gun fire and return fire on his left.

Then, all hell broke loose.

The enemy started running from the undergrowth on the other side of the forest opposite his troop, whooping and hollering like maniacs, firing at everything and anything that moved. Men shouted and screamed in agony as they were gunned down. His nostrils stung with the smell of gunpowder as he raced forward from his hiding place toward the package, but it was too late. The enemy was bearing down on it and all the rest of his troop were in mortal combat. Static broke through on his shoulder com, and then he heard his commanding officer yelling for all of them to fall back to the extraction point.

Cursing, he left the package, to heavy for one man alone to carry, and headed for the deep cover of the woods, stopping to fire at the enemy as he ducked behind trees here and there. He kept going, trying to keep up with the rest of the troop, most of which were further ahead. Thankfully, they weren’t far from the extraction point.

Firing again at the enemy hot on his trail, he broke away from the protection of a thick tree and made a run for it. He heard the crack of a gun from behind him, heard the sound of it as it continued to fire in his direction. And then he felt the heat of the bullets as they tore through his flesh. He grunted in pain and fell forward, whether from the force of the bullets or the pain he wasn’t sure.

He couldn’t stop. He had to keep moving. If they caught up with him, he was a dead man. He got to his feet and willed his body to ignore the pain. Thankfully, adrenaline was kicking in and it wasn’t too unbearable. He ran as fast as he could through the thick undergrowth of the woods until he stumbled upon another member of his troop on the ground leaning against a tree. He leaned down and pushed the man’s head back so that he could see his face. It was Sgt. Wilmont, a good friend.

Wilmont moaned when Nigel pushed his head back.

Nigel could see why. He’d been shot through the neck and there was a massive amount of blood coating his camouflage.

Grabbing Wilmont by one arm, his slung it over the back of his shoulders and helped him to his feet. He was like a dead weight against him, but he wasn’t about to leave him. He set off as quickly as he could, more urgent now that he could see the break in the tree line.

They knew they were fucked, but he wasn’t going to let that knowledge stop him.

As he ran from the coverage of the forest, he was almost blinded by the light that met his eyes. His breath left him in short bursts. The pain shooting through his arm and leg from where the bullets had gone through him were almost too much to bear, but still he continued to carry Wilmont. The smaller man had long since passed out from loss of blood from the gunshot through the side of his neck.