Chapter 1

The office was bustling. People were rushing around the room as if it were on fire, looking for something to extinguish the flames. They barged, pushed and shoved as they tried to help the situation despite it being something completely out of their control.

"Call in everyone we have! We need to track them down!" The manager, Roger, called out to everyone whilst he downed the last of his fifth cup of coffee. This had been a very long afternoon and it was about to get even longer. The faultless plan that the big bosses had put in place had failed and now Roger and his team were left to pick up the pieces. This is the way it always went when something went wrong, albeit that that didn't happen very often. The room fell silent as half the team exited to grab more staff members from other floors. They needed to track this team down and they needed to do it soon. If anyone was still alive, they needed to get them out of there as soon as possible. This was a team this business couldn't do without. Everyone was praying that they were okay and that the signalling from their radios to the base had just failed for some silly but unknown reason, like they were out of range or it was blocked by a large tower block, but anyone with two brain cells to rub together knew what had happened and knew the likelihood of any of the elite team surviving was next to none. They'd heard what had happened, they'd heard the infiltration and the gunshots, the yells of wounded soldiers falling to the ground, the heavy gunfire in return, explosions of grenades and then a deathly silence. If any of them had survived it would be a miracle.

"Here, a tenner bets that no one has survived." A boisterous young member of the team slapped a crisp ten pound note on the table in front of his colleagues and eyed them up to continue with the bet. They exchanged glances, knowing it was highly inappropriate but also wanting to join in with the end goal meaning they won a hefty sum.

"Tenner on one surviving." Another man plopped his slightly more crumpled note down. A few more made bets as they threw money down on the table and the young man tucked them into an envelope, hiding it in his drawer.

"Maybe if you put that energy into actually finding the team, we'd be getting somewhere?!" Roger was suddenly upon the group, his face strewn with anger as he glared at each one of them in disgust. "These are people's lives. Ones with families. This is not some dumb game." He rushed to the coffee machine at the side of the large room and ordered a number 31, Americano with a little milk and sugar. The machine whirred noisily as it put itself into action to make Roger his sixth cup of the day. If he wasn't too careful, he could be another life lost on this tragic day. He gripped the boiling hot cup with ease as he trudged over to the front of the office to make an announcement. He knew the reaction was going to be poor but he'd just be informed himself, hence the need for the coffee to pluck up the courage to tell them.

"Team, can I have your attention please?" Roger roared loudly over the hubbub of the room, silencing it almost instantly. Each member of every team poked their heads above their computer screens and removed their headsets for that moment. "Now, I've just had a meeting with the bosses and feel I need to just say it now before I over think it. I understand you've all got lives and families to go back to, but we desperately need some people to do overtime to check every frequency to try and find this team." The noise in the room increased again as everyone discussed it amongst themselves.

"How much?" One man shouted from the back, only wanting to hear the one thing Roger knew he couldn't give them.

"W-well..." he laughed nervously. "That's the thing. It would be free overtime." There were boos and laughs as his office began to turn disinterested. The teams started talking amongst themselves and after a few seconds barely anyone was paying attention to him. "But I could try and work something out in the long run? I just need about five people." No one in the office was listening as they began to make their ways back to their desks, noting the time and starting to pack up. People who finished at four began to log off, put their coats on and chat amongst their friends before leaving. Roger stumbled over his words as he watched his team leave without a care in the world whilst an elite team were still lost in a drug lords building possibly fighting for their lives. He was furious, confused, outraged. Did none of them care? These soldiers had families too!

"Roger, Ade has got one staff member willing to help you out." Another staff member called with his phone held between his ear and his shoulder. Roger immediately rushed over, his coffee nearly spilling in excitement as he got to the phone, snatching it from the person and putting it to his ear. Ade had one staff member willing to do free overtime to help the cause and as much as it was a fifth of what he needed, it was still one more than he had now so he gratefully accepted. Within a few minutes, a small dark haired girl made her way into the office, looking sheepish as she eyed up everyone in the room trying to guess who Roger was. Clearly Ade's description had been less than adequate. This timid girl locked eyes with Roger with a questionable look but he confidently strode over to her, his arm held out to shake her hand.

"Amelia?" He asked. She smiled as she shook his hand.

"Please, call me Millie." She tucked her brown hair behind her ear after letting go of his hand.

"Millie." Roger corrected himself. "Thank you so much for agreeing to do this." He could barely control his excitement and happiness. Finally, someone was willing to think about these people that were currently lost somewhere in a drug lords building, their lives in these evil peoples hands. He led her to an empty desk and she logged in swiftly. Roger quickly told her that she would need to go through the many frequencies on the list, asking if anyone was there and saying she was from base. She needed to be patient, listen out for any signs of life in the background and then report anything to Roger. If anyone was alive, they needed to order an extraction instantly. Millie nodded at everything he said, noting things down every now and again to help her. This wasn't her area of work normally, she dealt with ordering and procurement but after hearing what had happened, she could barely sit back and leave them there. She desperately wanted to try and help and by the look of it, she was going to be one of the only ones doing it.

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