Push for the exfil

There’s no time.

“OK,” you say. “Go. Go.”

“Fuuuck,” Colby moans, standing up and limping across the bridge. You follow, keeping your gun up and your eyes peeled. This game’s audio is brutal when it comes to footsteps on certain surfaces. These wooden planks are terrible. You feel like people will hear you from across the map, but you reach the far side.

Colby immediately begins to slog her way up the slope, through the bushes, but you hear her guy grunting in pain.

“Are you going to die of thirst before you get there?” you ask.

“I don’t know,” she replies tersely.

You turn that over in your mind, pulse pounding as you keep an eye not only on the bridge, but the hillside across the river. People or Scavs can come at you from almost any angle here.

“OK, keep going. Stay low and hug the outside,” you order Colby. That way, her groans of pain will be less likely to reach anyone and give her away.

“What are you doing?”

“Just go,” you tell her, feeling like you’re in a movie. There isn’t time for you to explain. You are still mobile. Colby can keep moving while you check the bridge. Unfortunately, you don’t know this game well enough to know where the loot drops are. Loot is everywhere, but it’s realistic; it doesn’t blink or flash or stand out, like in Fortnite. You might be twenty feet from the exact stuff that you and Colby need, and you’d never know it.

But that PMC that shot at you? He’s a walking supply drop for you.

You sprint along the bank; the closer you get to the bridge, the harder it is for someone to shoot down at you. Your footsteps are heavy as you crunch your way through the tall grass up to the bridge, raising your AK and leaning to peek. It’s hard to guess exactly where the shooter was, and the huge bridge is littered with cars and debris. There’s no shortage of cover, including busses that you can go into and plenty of waist-high barriers.

You made so much noise coming up the hill that if there’s someone here, they already know about you. With your AK up, you advance, covering as many angles as you can. Your time playing Rainbow Six: Siege has some value for you here. You have cautiously cleared a room or two in your day.

You like Siege so much more than you like this game. You wonder why it never clicked with Colby, but that’s a question for some other time.

About halfway down the bridge, you see a big splatter of blood on the side of a bus, but no body. That’s where your bullet hit.

This guy is still alive. The question is this: did he run off to heal and not look back? Or is he still here?

You keep still to listen, and there’s nothing. No distant gunfire. Just the wind and Colby’s breathing.

“How you doing?” you ask quietly.

“I hear Scavs near the checkpoint at the train. I’m going to prone and crawl through.”

Across the bridge, train tracks cross the road with a stopped train that acts as a barrier. You can go through the train or under it. You make a mental note: there are Scavs still alive on the other side.

“I think I’ll make it,” Colby reports. “I just started losing HP, but it’s slow.”

“OK,” you say distractedly. You’re on pins and needles. This is absolutely the game where there’s a guy two feet away and you have no idea. You grit your teeth and move, clanking up into the bus to check it. Nothing. You exit, checking left and right before making your way around to check behind. You move to the military jeep and check behind that. Nobody shoots at you, and you see no sign of anyone.

There was only the one bloodstain, so you did not cause a heavy bleed. That would leave a trail.

You must have spooked him. He’s run for it, wisely. Back when you started playing this game, how many times did you get near the end of a raid with a full backpack of loot, and you challenged someone and died instead of just getting out? This guy probably did the smart thing and decided not to bother with you. You breathe a sigh of relief, and loud, automatic gunfire erupts to your left: the direction of the junction. You drop to a crouch instantly, and the gunfire continues. You flinch as a grenade goes off.

You could run, but if the trouble is coming this way, you’d be presenting your back to them. So you run forward to a busted van and lean out to look.

A PMC wearing a truly massive backpack fires an AR-type weapon rapidly through the windows of the little convenience store place. Is that a PMC in there? A Scav? Doesn’t matter. The PMC throws a grenade into the building, then follows it up with a few more shots.

He reloads his carbine and you seriously consider attempting a cheeky headshot, but that would be risky at this distance, although you do have the drop on him. But then another PMC comes around the side of the building, this one holding some ridiculously huge gun, and they don’t shoot at each other. It’s another duo.

They don’t bother to check the body of whoever they just murdered in the building, and that makes sense: time’s short. You don’t need to stick around and watch to know that they’re heading for the Crossroads exit, same as you and Colby. These guys look healthy and well-equipped. They are bold, using unsuppressed weapons and wearing heavy armor.

They will catch up before Colby can get out. And that road is too narrow for her to keep her noises of pain away from them without water.

You’re alone. One against two is not good odds. You can’t warn Colby and tell her to evade them somehow; she’s not mobile enough, there are Scavs, and there’s no time. You have to make sure that these two don’t find her.

Engage them and try to lead them away?

Or try to let them pass, then attempt to hit them from behind?