Counterattack - Ending Explained

The plot of "Counterattack" is set in motion when Captain Guerrero's team is betrayed by Secretary Arvizu, a corrupt government official who has made a deal with cartel leader Josefo Urias. Arvizu provides Josefo with a means to track Guerrero's team, leading to a deadly ambush on a remote highway. Forced to flee on foot, the soldiers are relentlessly hunted by Josefo and his sicarios. During their escape, they kill Josefo's brother, Roman, which turns the cartel's pursuit into a personal vendetta for Josefo.

The surviving soldiers—Guerrero, Tanque, Pollo, Toro, and Combo—eventually find refuge in a cartel safe house, where they discover and rescue the two women from the beginning of the film, Lucia and Carla, who have been held captive. The safe house becomes the location for the final siege. During the intense battle, the team suffers significant losses. Tanque, severely injured and out of ammunition, sacrifices himself with a grenade to stop a group of cartel members from entering through a secret tunnel. In the final confrontation, the youngest member of the team, Pollo, is shot and killed by Josefo on what was supposed to be his birthday.

Ultimately, Guerrero's team, with the help of the now-armed Lucia and Carla, manages to eliminate Josefo's remaining men. Josefo surrenders, but then makes a final attempt on Guerrero's life with a knife. Guerrero overpowers him but refuses to kill him, stating that death would be too easy a punishment. He chooses to hand Josefo over to the authorities for legal justice. The film concludes with the surviving members of the team—Guerrero, Toro, and Combo—being evacuated by helicopter along with Lucia and Carla, having successfully stopped Josefo but at a great personal cost.