Price, Yuri, and MacTavish slowly moved along as they fired at the scattering guards, who, in seeing their armor, began to retreat since they knew they wouldn't be able to stop them in that armor. Some still fired on them in attempts to weaken their armor though it led to an easier target for the three. Clearing the road, they began to slowly make their way towards the hotel.

"We've got their attention. Second wave of responders will be coming any moment." Price said to the two beside him.

As he said this, a hidden mercenary came up to Yuri, but before he could make a move, Yuri beat him down and shot him once, releasing dozens of bullets into his body. Price looked up as he heard a low rumble then saw the large and bulky forms of two SUVs onto the road.

"Here they come, right on schedule. Shoot the cars!" Price ordered.

The three of them raised their heavy guns towards the vehicles and began releasing hundreds of bullets at them. After a moment, the vehicles finally took fire and blew up before them and caused havoc on the mercenaries. They fire on the three, but their armor protects them from the small caliber bullets flying towards them.

"Makarov's got a small army in there." Nikolai said after a moment of continuous firing and abandoned cars catching fire and exploding.

"It won't help him. Take control of the lifts so he can't escape." Price said.

"I'm on it.

They continued to fire upon the mercenaries and guards both, completely determined to reach Makarov and finally end his reign for everyone. Clearing the area, they moved closer to the turnaround at the base of the hotel. They looked up to see more SUVs drop off more mercenaries.

"Don't let up!" Price called out to the two.

"RPGs! Second floor!" Yuri called out after Price.

Spotting the men with the larger weapons on their backs, they quickly took them out and continued to push through the surrounding enemies. Then a flood of civilians came running from the hotel and out into the base of the hotel.

Once the civilians scattered away, Price then contacted Nikolai. "Nikolai, where's Makarov?" He asked glancing up towards the sky then back on the guards inside the hotel.

"Still in the atrium, but he's on the move!" Nikolai said showing them another video feed of Makarov beginning to leave the atrium above them.

Price nodded and turned to the two. "Don't lose him! We're almost there." He said to Nikolai.

They slowly made their approach towards the escalators, passing the clear glass walls revealing tons of water and fake fish behind the glass. The hotel was like another five-star hotel you would guess to be. Clean –except for the newly added splash of blood and empty magazines and dead bodies- spotless and waxed floors that you could almost see your reflection in and tall columns holding the upper floor above you straight. Though, it would've been much nicer and inviting minus the fact that once again, the dead bodies and blood and the shouting guards and the three tall men with menacing juggernaut armor on and without ease, taking out the mercenaries and the guards. Yuri spotted a group of hostiles began to approach them and sprinted down the escalators.

"Hostiles by the escalators!" Yuri advised the other two behind him.

They easily took them out and began to move slowly up the unmoving escalators.

"Up the escalator! Nikolai, we need control of those lifts!" Price said glancing at the two.

"I've almost got it!" He said in a voice that was almost impatient and stressed.

Price could easily pick out the emotion in his voice and scoffed slightly to himself as they approached the floor above them and met the large group of hostiles ready for the armed and dangerous men.

"Push forward!" Price yelled as they began firing upon the mercenaries.

After a moment of continuous gun-blazing and screams from the mouths of the hostiles, both orders and dying screams, they heard Nikolai's voice appear in their ears.

"Okay, I've got control of the elevators. Sending them down to your floor." Nikolai said with a slightly relieved tone. He felt a small burden off his shoulders that he was able to bypass into the controls of the elevator and send them down to Price and the other two from his location.

There was no reply to his advising as they began moving towards the lift across the room; with the room clear of Makarov's men or guards. The three enter the lift on the right, which began to make its way to the atrium above them and closer to Makarov. Each of the three shared a deep passion to finally end the monster of a man, Makarov. Not just because they lost Melody and many other brave team mates to him, but what he had done to the world. The White House sent in flames along with the whole capitol, millions of innocent people, even children like the one they had found on the camera in London, killed in cold blood, the Eiffel Tower broken and fallen, and the most memorable day when he led a terrorist attack on the airport just months earlier. All he had caused and all he was going to be ended for. Once and for all.

Their thoughts were interrupted when Nikolai began to show them a video feed of Makarov with a group of hostiles above them. He knew they were coming for him.

"Makarov's moved to the restaurant, same floor! He's got a large security detail with him." Nikolai warned in a slight wary tone.

"What kind of opposition is waiting for us?" Price asked noting the wariness in his voice.

"Forty-plus foot mobiles! SMGs and Assault Rifles." He said as if he was reading them off with a stern voice.

Price nodded then turned as they all heard the distant sound of helicopter propellers in motion outside the glass walls of the elevator, where you could see outside the dark sky of the hotel and the many lights of the town far off from their location.

"Enemy choppers closing on your position." Nikolai advised looking at the feed from his screen.

Price saw one chopper as it caught his attention, from the corner of his eye. He saw it begin to fly in a different direction then the other. He noted that it was flying higher above them and out of sight.

"One is heading for the roof, probably going for Makarov." Price though aloud as Soap and Yuri watched one fly up and began firing at the three. Soap cursed under his breath and pulled his gun from underneath him and towards the chopper.

"Shoot it down!" Price yelled as he pulled out his own gun and began firing upon the chopper that was leveling in with them. "Keep firing!" He yelled again.

They slightly tense as the chopper began to fire its rockets but misses them on account that the bullets flying at it slightly messed with his aim as the chopper resisted to obey the pilots control. Price aimed at the chopper and fired, taking out the heli's rotor. Unfortunately, the uncontrollable helicopter began to veer towards their lift.

"Look out!" Price yelled as the wild chopper collided with the elevator, resulting in slamming Price and Soap onto the floor. They were then engulfed in flames that licked up and down their armor. A slight scream could be heard by Yuri as he immediately went to ripping off his pads and helmet. Soap crawls out from the debris and follows the action. But, Price was unable to get out from the armor so Yuri came over and started to remove the armor from his body. Once they were all in their regular clothes and armor, Yuri placed a finger to his ear to contact Nikolai.

"Nikolai, we need another lift!" He nearly yelled at the man.

Nikolai was somewhat surprised at the voice instead of Price, but nodded to himself and immediately began to send another lift towards them; glad they had actually survived the chopper attack. "Copy, on its way." He said watching his screen.

The three then gripped onto something as they feel the elevator floor beneath them shake under their feet. Soap glanced between the two and looked over at the lift that had stopped beside them. Yuri looked at the same lift having the same idea as the Scottish man and pulled his gun from his side and shot the glass of the other lift, took a step back, and jumped to the other lift. Soap followed along with Price. Price wasn't as accurate with his landing as the other two as he held onto the edge of the lift and slowly pulled himself up with the others. They watch the burning lift beside them began to fall from the rockets and missiles and the fire damage. Price then pulled out his M4A1 w/ ACOG Scope as the lift continued its way up to the top floor.

"Makarov's chopper just touched down! He's heading there now!" Nikolai suddenly said loudly in their ears from his video feed beside him on another screen.

"He's not getting away!" Price said with a glare as he thought of the coward trying to escape.

"Be careful, they're setting up barricades." Nikolai warned, matter-of-factly.

The only noise between the three was the small ding from the elevator as it counted down from 27 to T. They tense as the doors began to slowly open and Yuri reached for his vest and pulled out a frag grenade and tosses it from the doors. A moment later the grenade exploded and they then sprinted from the elevator to the group of hostiles meters away from them. Price watched as Yuri ran around without going for cover. As if he was still in the juggernaut armor.

"Watch yourself, Yuri! Your armors gone." Price said to the man.

Soap couldn't help but scoff at Yuri then broke off into another part of the floor to clear out the room as the same with Yuri and Price.

"Multiple threats to your right." Nikolai advised as a group of guards appeared.

"Keep pushing forward." Price yelled as Soap disappeared from the two as he went through a different room from the two clearing out the hostiles there.

The three, scattered in different directions, clear out each room full of Makarov's mercenaries and made their way around the atrium as they rapidly came to the hotel restaurant.

"He's still there! You've almost got him!" Nikolai called out from his location.

Price looks out towards in the restaurant and almost immediately spotted the inky, messy black hair and form of Makarov begin to sprint towards a stairway. Price felt a snarl pull at his lips at the man, if he could be considered one.

"There he is!" Price called out, the hatred for the man evident in his voice.

Just as said this, a helicopter appeared from outside the restaurant windows. Price wondered then where Soap had gone to as he called out to watch out for the chopper.

"Rockets!" Yuri yelled as the chopper then began to fire upon the hotel side of the restaurant floor. In result of the blast, the columns that supported the floor blew up and caused the floor to begin to tilt and cave in. They watched as everything in the restaurant, tables, chairs, décor, and all began to tip over and roll out of the building. Price then felt his feet become unstable with the floor beneath him and he stumbled and began to slid down and roll out with the rest of the décor. He looked for anything to grab ahold of and spotted a steel reinforcement pole sticking out from the fall and hung on as he felt his weapons fall from his vest and out of the building. He cursed under his breath then attempted to crawl up from the debris as the chopper began to leave for the roof. He knew he had to get moving and immediately if they were going to end him. One second could be one second too late. He then again wondered what happened to Soap, but then let the thought dissolve as he spotted Yuri before him, wounded by a piece of rebar impaling his chest. Price looked at the man for a second. Months ago, he would've been fine to find the man in such the predicament, but now as he looked at him. He couldn't help but pity him and found himself wanting to help him. He had remained loyal to him even though he was so cold to him and harsh. He watched as the thoughts swirled around in his head that he thought of Yuri as a friend now. Yuri struggled to pull the bar from his chest as he lay in his own blood, grunting at the pain at each tug.

"Yuri…"Price then said after a thoughtful moment.

Yuri just shook his head at the man's words and the arm that reached out towards him. "Leave me! Don't let him get away!" He said waving him off.

Price nodded once, collecting his thoughts and stood up and began to sprint towards the roof.

"Makarov's heading to the roof!" He heard Nikolai suddenly in his ear, penetrating his thoughts.

He ignores a reply to him but continued to run up piles of rubble and up the stairs after that, taking every amount of strength he had to push himself forward to his desired target.

"He's dead ahead. Keep running!" Nikolai screamed, tense with the scene before him.

Price then scrambled his way up another pile of debris and made it to the helipad on the roof. He looked over and glared as he saw Makarov swiftly boarding the chopper as it began to take off. Price then used every inch of strength he had and sprinted towards the leaving chopper. Just as he reached the edge of the roof, he forced himself towards landing skid of the helicopter and throws his arms under it for better support. He then pulled himself up and climbed up to the cockpit where he could see the pilot and the co-pilot looking over at him. The pilot attempted to kick him, but Price quickly blocked his blow and reached up and punched him and gripped his collar as he launched his body out and he saw it fall towards the ground beneath them. He then climbed in the cockpit as the co-pilot quickly pulled out his pistol but once again, Price blocked it, causing the shot towards the control panels. Price then pulled out his knife and stabs him in the throat and pushed him out the side as his blood came from his neck and onto his hands. Remembering the blasted control panels, he grabbed ahold of the joystick and began to yank on it, hoping to gain control of the wild chopper. But the chopper resisted and refused to respond to his command. The chopper began to spin out of control and Price prepared for impact as it crashed onto the roof of the hotel.

A moment after the crash, Price slowly opened his wearisome eyes as he looked down at his reflection on the cracked glass of the roof, also looking down to see the hotel below him. Remembering what had happened earlier, he looked up to see the crashed and burning chopper meters away from him, then out of the wreck, stumbled an injured and broken Makarov. As his hear picked up a pace, Price reached out for the pistol and crawled towards it. Makarov also saw the pistol and began to move towards it, but stumbled from his injuries. Price finally reached the pistol and placed a hand on top of the handgun, but Makarov managed to stand up and stomped his foot on his hand. He slowly bent down and took the pistol. He pointed it at Price's face and looked up at him.

"Goodbye, Captain Price." He said with a smug smile.

Before Makarov could even pull the trigger, two shots rang out and hit his left shoulder. Price looked over to see Yuri, one arm across his chest where he had successfully pulled the bar from his chest. Makarov reacted differently to seeing his former friend stand before him. He turned the Desert Eagle on him and shot him three times, once in the right shoulder, another in the left, and finally ending him with a shot to the head. Price then felt all his anger boil up inside him and cause him to snarl at Makarov. With an amount of time, he heaved himself from the ground and threw himself on Makarov, causing him to fall to the ground. Price was sick and tired of losing his friends and team mates to this monster. He knocked the Desert Eagle from his hand and began to punch him twice in the face, causing blood to escape from Makarov's mouth. He punched him once more than spotted a cord lying beside him on the glass. He took the cord and wrapped it firmly around Makarov's neck twice. He then pressed his hands harder against his neck to the glass, struggling a bit more, then he hooked the cord around into a noose and with one final, forceful push, he pushed Makarov through the glass, resulting in breaking the glass as they both fall into the hotel once again. Price stares at Makarov in the face with a delighted grin as Makarov yelled out in anger. Price then let go of his shoulders and fell down to the atrium floor. AS the broken glass falls down with him, injuring him some, he looks up as the cord began to tighten around Makarov's throat and he hangs there, instantly choking the murderer. His legs uselessly swing about as he struggled around the cord on his throat, but then he grows immediately limp. Price, exhausted but triumphant, watches as Makarov's body swung around in a circle lifelessly. He grinned uncontrollably at the sight and crawled away from the edge of the floor in victory. Though he knew it wouldn't last very long, but he could almost feel peace. Maybe it was just the triumphant feeling of finally giving justice to deaths of so many friends and comrades they had lost along the way in defeating Makarov. Kamarov, Melody, Sandman, Grinch, Truck, and now Yuri; he felt as though they had an amount of justice on their deaths with the ending of Makarov's life. For a moment, he couldn't help but remember a certain "conversation" he had with Makarov nearly a year ago.

"…I'll see you in hell." Makarov had said shortly after Soap and Price had learned of Shepherd's betrayal.

"Looking forward to it. Give my regards to Zakhaev if you get there first." He had replied with a cocky grin.

Price scoffed as he remembered the time. 'You win.' He thought as he looked once again at Makarov's dead body.

His thoughts were then interrupted as he heard Soap's voice via earpiece.

"Price? Yuri? Are you there? Where are you two?" He demanded in a wary voice.

Price chuckled at the man. "Price, here. Good news and bad news. Bad news; Yuri's gone. Makarov killed him when he was trying to kill me. Good news; Makarov's gone. He's finally gone, John." He said using his first name happily.

There wasn't a reply straight away from him, but Price laughed as he heard a shout of joy come a moment later from Soap after he processed the information he got from Price.

Price then pulled out his cigar from his pocket along with his lighter. He struck it once and again when the first attempt failed. As he continued to watch Makarov's body dangle in the air, he puffed on his cigar with a smile in victory. Maybe things will be peaceful. That is, until another psychotic man came along willing to take his place; and God forbid he be more dangerous than Makarov. He decided not to think about that at the moment and just let his mind blank and relaxed. He felt as though he hadn't done that in years.

End of Won't Back Down