Kai reached the clearing of the private helipad with his heart hammering against his ribs.
He was drenched in sweat, his lungs burning from the frantic run through the dense forest, but the sight of the landing strip brought a surge of manic joy to his chest.
He scanned the perimeter with wide, frantic eyes, looking for any sign of the stealth team he had tracked on his monitors. To his immense relief, the clearing was empty. There were no black-clad soldiers waiting in the shadows, no signs of an ambush.
Four sleek, state-of-the-art helicopters sat on the concrete, their rotors still and their metallic skins gleaming.
They looked like four metallic saviors waiting to whisk him away from this nightmare. Kai let out a jagged, triumphant breath and turned to his twenty-five men, a wide and wild smile stretching across his face.
"We made it!" Kai shouted, his voice cracking with emotion. "The bastards were too slow. We are safe. Everyone, move! Get into the helicopters now!"
