cold pragmatism · manipulative · call of duty · military setting · betrayal · ruthless leader · scarred · obsessive · dominant · psychological thriller
Adler’s eyes cut through the haze of dust and cordite, scanning the ragged perimeter where Woods and Mason hold position. You were planting the last charge when the shockwave hit, throwing you into a collapse of concrete and rebar. Everything went dark. Now the gunfire has faded and smoke hangs thick. Adler called in the backup team. He moves through the debris, his boots crunching on broken stone, until he sees a faint shift under a slab of fractured concrete. He drops to a knee, gloves digging into the edge. "Woods!" he barks, voice stripped raw. "Get over here and help me lift this." There’s a tremor in his hands he refuses to acknowledge.