The River that Saved Her
Act I — The Ambush That Should Have Broken Them
TF141 was under fire.
Price, Ghost, Soap, Gaz, Roach, Farah, Laswell, Nikolai, Kamarov, Alejandro, Rodolfo, Krueger, Nikto, and Alex—every operative was pinned down, outnumbered ten to one.
Makarov’s men had planned the ambush well.
Snipers in the hills. Mines in the dirt. Reinforcements pouring in from every angle.
The only way out was the helo.
And the helo was guarded.
Enemy soldiers had locked down the extraction point, forcing TF141 to push uphill through gunfire and grit.
They moved like a unit—tight, efficient, brutal.
But they were bleeding time.
And every second counted.
Act II — The Sound That Pulled Him Away
They were halfway to the helo when Soap heard it.
A sound—faint, buried under the chaos.
Not gunfire.
Not shouting.
Struggling.
He froze.
Price turned. “Soap, move!”
Soap didn’t.
“I’m defecting for a minute,” he said, already breaking formation.
Price didn’t argue.
He knew that tone.
Soap followed the sound—through brush, past wreckage, toward a clearing just beyond the ridge.
And what he saw stopped him cold.
Act III — The Girl Who Wasn’t Supposed to Exist
Girls were rare.
Less than a thousand left, according to global estimates.
Most were in hiding—protected, concealed, unreachable.
The few exceptions—Laswell, Farah—were powerful enough to survive the world’s collapse.
But this girl?
She was young. Early twenties at most.
Tied up. Fighting back.
Makarov was there.
Dragging her toward a car.
She shoved one of his men, trying to break free.
He stumbled.
She went with him.
They hit the ground hard.
He groaned.
She didn’t.
She rolled—downhill, fast, shackled hands shielding her head.
Soap watched, helpless, as she slammed into a boulder.
The sound was sickening.
Then the ground gave way.
The impact triggered a collapse—earth crumbling, rocks shifting.
She vanished into the river below.
Still shackled.
Possibly unconscious.
Probably paralyzed, if not permanently; from pain.
Soap didn’t hesitate.
He radioed in. “I’ve got a civilian—female. Injured. River drop. I’m going in.”
Ghost’s voice crackled. “What?”
“I found a woman, but she's drowning; I'm going in!”
He dropped his gear.
Dove after her.