“He’s trying to speak to me, I know it!” Kodiak joked in his best Marlin voice from Finding Nemo.
“Well, do you have your exit, buddy?” Joker drawled in his best surfer accent.
“I guess we better radio for Maverick to translate. This dude seems to be getting impatient. If one of these women has an IED shoved up their twat, we need to know sooner than later.” Kodiak pressed the button on the mic speaking softly, “Maverick, come in.”
“Maverick here.”
“We need your assistance.”
“Negative, we are knee deep in a shit pond. Come join in the fun.”
“Roger that, in route with a friend for you.”
“Friend? Super. Roger.”
Kodiak turned to Joker and grinned. “Rock, paper, scissors?”
Joker rolled his eyes and replied, “First game decides. Go!” Both men played, ending with Kodiak holding paper and Joker on rock. “Fuck. You cheated. Okay, I will take gramps. Good luck with the cooty bomb. Be back in a few.” Kodiak slapped Joker on the back on his way out, snickering. He turned his attention back to the group, watching for any signs of threatening behavior.
Joker stayed low, edging toward the location of Maverick’s group who had made it along the perimeter of the town and had started working inwards. There was a few big buildings smack dab in the center of the small village, and if the bad guys were still around, chances were they were there on the upper floors to have a height advantage. He kept the old haji in the shadows, sealing tight against each hut for cover. With one open space about fifty yards across to go, his gut screamed a warning.
The old man tried to walk out into the open and Joker stopped him. Putting a finger to his lips to signal him to be quiet, Joker looked around and examined their surroundings. Everything was eerily silent and still. His eyes darted from the rooftops to the windows and ground, looking for any signs of movement. Nothing. Giving into his intuition, he whispered over the radio for cover. Hulk answered back, soon appearing in the distance ready to give cover fire if necessary. The go ahead was given into his earpiece, and he made a bolt for it. Unfortunately, the old man was slow. There was no hustle, and it cost them. The moment they got dead center in the clearing, things lit up like a damn rave party. Bullets buzzed from every direction, barely missing them. In a desperate attempt to get the hell out of dodge, he hoisted the old man over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and ran for cover, shooting with his right hand along the way. Hulk and the rest of his group all joined in the gunfight, still no match for the mob of insurgents they were up against. The radio buzzed with commands and calls for back up, only adding to the chaos. The other teams were on their way. He just needed to hold out only a few more minutes. Just before Joker and his armload made it to Hulk, a stabbing burning sting shot down his arm. He was hit. Another bit him in the thigh, and a third in his ass cheek. Fuck that hurts! I have to get the hell out of here before I run out of limbs and they move on to major organs! Determined, Joker sprinted the rest of the distance. Out of breath and bleeding everywhere, he slumped against the wall and slid to sit, tilted on his right side to avoid the injured ass and thigh wounds to be touched. “I’m hit.” Hulk turned and looked, his eyes growing bugged at the blood that soaked his clothing.
“Son of a bitch!” Hulk got on the radio. “Joker is hit! I repeat, Joker is hit!”
Dom’s voice came back. “Where? Is he conscious?”
Joker cut Hulk off and answered. “I am fine. I got one in the arm, one in the thigh, and one in the ass.” Hulk had tossed him his field first aid pack, and between the two, he managed to get all but his ass wrapped to stop the bleeding.
“I am en route now. Get pressure on them and stay low.” Dom’s concern was evident.
“I have my arm and leg wrapped, but need you to bandage up my butt. It hurts the most.”
“Yeah me.” It wasn’t long after Dom’s last far-from-enthusiastic comment that he showed up by his side. “Okay, here is the deal, boys. The rest of the team are on their way to help evacuate the civilians with Kodiak. Vice and Pop have moved to the outside and are awaiting signal to paint this area. The birds have been called in, so we have exactly sixty seconds to get your wounded ass out of here and clear before our friends upstairs blow these mother fuckers to pieces. Can you walk?”
“Kind of. Will you kiss my booboo, Dom?” Joker puckered up in a pout, batting his eyelashes.
“I think he just told you to kiss his ass, boss. That has to be good enough for extra guard detail.” Bud laughed over their earpieces.
“I will kick your booboo if you don’t get it moving, now! Let’s go. Bud, you can join him on third watch.”
“What? What did I do? He is the one that told you to kiss his ass, not me.” A few chuckles and snorts could be heard, but were soon cut off by the deafening boom of morters.
“Move! Move! Move!” Dom grabbed Joker and Hulk grabbed the old man, rushing them toward the safety zone and out of the heat of battle. Shit erupted in front of them, behind, and from all sides. The pinging of gunfire whizzed over their heads and hit around their feet into the dirt. After what seemed like hours but was only mere seconds, they had made it to safety. All of the civilians were being held for safety purposes until the rebels had been disposed of.
Before they could get in position, the fight followed them. Thankfully, the dumb bastards couldn’t aim for shit, and were shooting short. “Vice and Pop, get that shit marked. The birds are twenty seconds out and hauling balls.”
“Roger that. It is good to go. Get ready for the show.” Vice and Pop held the laser onto the buildings that the shooting was coming from. From the looks of things through their NBG’s, there appeared to be around twenty to twenty-five insurgents. Vice picked up on three snaking their way around the buildings and attempting to make a path that would come up behind them in an ambush. Without hesitation, she popped off three rounds, nailing each dead center in the head. The others all turned to look, finally noticing what had taken place.
“You okay? Feel better?” Romeo joked.
“Yep. I am now. Teach those fuckers to try to sneak up on us. What the hell. As if.” Her fake valley girl accent was almost as bad as a chick getting a diet soda to go with her McDonalds jumbo sized meal. Romeo snickered, shaking his head.
“Good, glad you are square. Maverick, any information from our master Shifu?”
“Working on it now. I am glad this one didn’t end up resembling Swiss cheese, he seems to either be full of horse shit or be wise in his six hundred years…” Maverick went back to conversing with the native, waiting patiently impatient on the ancient man to spit out each word. Before he could finish, the chopping sound of their air friends caught their attention. A gang of three choppers, two Apaches and one Kiowa, flew overhead and zeroed in on the target. When they open fired, the buildings that housed the evil fucks went up in a flaming ball of glory. A few hoops and cheers were sounded from the team, with even some of the citizens joining in with their ‘Lalalalala’ call. Radio communication confirmed that no one was detected left in the town. With their inferred and heat sensors, unless the bastards were buried beneath the earth a ways down, it was all clear.
After the excitement was over, Maverick called the group together in a huddle with Vice patching up Joker’s ass to stop the bleeding. “The old man has some interesting information. Whether he is lying or not, we have no way of telling. I don’t see why after all of the events from tonight that he would concoct a story to lead us on a goose chase given the leaders of this terroristic pack have no idea he exists. With the others scattered in chunks of hamburger everywhere, there is no way for them to contact him unless he works for them directly, which is unlikely.”
“He isn’t useful to them. I think you are right there. Okay, what’s the run down?” Dom asked.
“Well, from what he is saying, the group here tonight was the brains of the planned attack on the U.S. They were making all of the travel arrangements, weapons, docu
ments, passports, all of that shit. The actual bomber is with our good Senator, and we were right. He is in the town of Sangin, smack dab where we thought he was. But, there is more. Gramps here says there were two other Americans, who as he stated, ‘looked important’, that have been seen with Senator Nelson himself. They all had armed guards surrounding them even when no one was thought to be around. He likes to wander off into the great outdoors for weeks at a time, and has witnessed a few things. If these ‘important’ people are other governmental employees, we may be stepping into a whole new shit pile.” Maverick looked back at the old man who rattled something else off.
“What did he say now?” Juju asked.
“He wanted to add that if he understood right, we don’t have much time,” replied Maverick.
“Fuck. Okay, let’s get the hell out of here. The General has a group of grunts coming in to go through everything and look for evidence or survivors. I swear if the regular Army knew we existed all hell would be raised.” Dom moved to help Joker off the ground, propping his arm under to support the weight on his uninjured side.
Together, the team all made it back to the truck, sending the old man back to his house. If he was hiding something, the grunts that were only a few minutes away would find it. It had been one hell of a day at work, with a lot left to do before bed was an option.
Chapter Five
After a trip to Kandahar for a quick patch up, Joker was sent straight home on a flight to the hospital in Justice. The bullets had been removed, but there was still the fear of infection. His only saving grace was the bullet hadn't shattered the femur when they removed it from his thigh because that would have meant his leg would have had to have been set and casted. Which in soldier terms would have meant more time off work and out of the action, and that would have totally pissed him the fuck off. He needed to be with the team. They couldn’t afford being a man down at such a critical time. They were so close to bringing down the whole operation, and he was stuck being sent to a rinky-dink hospital thousands of miles away.
To his surprise, when the plane landed and they opened the doors to wheel him into the hospital, Alaina and Mrs. Sanders were waiting to see him in. Both women nearly smothered him in hugs and concern. It melted his heart, but crumbled his damn ego. They sat with him every day until he was released home four days later. With a suitcase full of prescriptions and orders to take it easy, Michael, Leland’s dad, helped him into the truck bound for the ranch. At least the ranch provided a safe, quiet haven for him to recuperate. The home cooked meals and pampering from Mrs. Sanders and Alaina couldn’t hurt either.
****
En route to Sangin, the dust and dirt rolled in the window of the Humvee, suffocating Jared. With another thirty miles left to go, the terrain was making it a long, rough ride. They were in a sticky position, driving with a mountain ridge on each side of them. The convoy trekked at almost stand still speeds. Kodiak was out in front, checking for IEDs to ensure a safe passage for the vehicles. Sweat dripped into Jared's eyes, making it hard to focus on the endless road ahead. He took a swig of the hot water in his canteen, wishing at that moment for an ice cold beer. Beer, he snickered to himself. Ol' Bud sat next to him in the driver's seat, looking as distraught as he did. This trip had been hard on them all, but if everything went as planned, this was an in-out search and destroy. Hot grilled burgers and beer waited for them back at camp. His stomach growled, threatening to eat itself if he didn't get food consumption soon. They had been on high alert and unable to do anything but keep a close watch for insurgents. Hulk was up in the Turret, wiping out anything that moved. They ran over a huge mound, rocking them pretty hard. Jared gripped the door for leverage, hollering up to Hulk. “You okay up there, big man?”
“Perfect. The view is amazing.” Sarcasm dripped with the sweat and dirt that trailed down his face.
“Get a good Polaroid for me. I want to go into the post card business when we get home. Vacation destinations NOT to go to,” Bud snarked.
“We could Photoshop a picture of the devil in there, add a few flames, and offer a free trip to hell. This place is the shithole of the world,” Vice grumbled.
"All units hold up. It looks like Kodiak found a little surprise, troops," Dom called over the radio.
"Roger that," Jared called back. Before any more radio contact could be made, gunfire erupted all around them.
“Incoming! Incoming!” Jared heard someone shout. They were right in the middle of a fucking trap. The bastards had blocked the road, wired it to blow the second their tires ran over the IEDs, and prepared for them to find them ahead of time with loaded guards surrounding the area. The ping of bullets pierced against the metal of the Humvee, sending Jared into full soldier mode. Kodiak let loose on the .50 cal, peppering the hills around them. The other two Humvees were getting hit pretty good too, and for the first time, Jared didn't know if they were going to get out of it.
The blast came out of nowhere. The distinct whistle sound of an RPG rang in his ears just before the explosion hit. All sounds went silent. His head pounded, and he was disoriented. He knew he had to get out before the truck was hit again, but he couldn't get his body to move. Reaching down deep, he growled and moved from the floor board where the blast had sent him. The Humvee had rolled over on its hood, upside down. Hulk was down in the back seat, unconscious, with Vice who was trying to move him. Bud leaned lifelessly against the window. He had knocked his head pretty good, and the proof ran down the mucky glass. He could smell the gas, giving them only a short window of opportunity before they went down in a flaming ball of fire. Jared slid in the seat to pull his boots up, kicking the windshield over and over until it popped out. “Vice! Get out of here now!”
“I am not leaving you! Hulk, wake your big ass up now!” she screamed.
“Vice, move your ass now! That is a direct order, soldier!” he commanded. She looked at him for a brief moment and nodded. She scooted out of the truck and ran to get Dom. Jared grabbed Bud by the arm and dragged him out next, stumbling and tripping to get him at a safe distance into a ravine. On his way back he saw the spark of flames start and begin to work its way across the bottom of the vehicle. If it hit the fuel tank, it was over for them. The whole damn thing would go sky high once it was engulfed in flames. Running the best he could, he dove back for Hulk. "Hulk, wake up, soldier," he said as he smacked both sides of Hulk's face, trying to get him to come to.
"Venus, what the fuck, man," Hulk spit out as he shook his head trying to focus in on his surroundings. With a strength he didn't know he had, Jared reached in and grabbed Hulk, pulling him to the opening them pushing him out. The moment Hulk hit the ground, Jared screamed, “Run! It's gonna blow!” Hulk stood and at a staggering pace, moved toward the ravine where Bud lay.
Jared turned toward the opening just as he heard the hiss of the flame as it hit its destination. He wasn't going to make it, closing his eyes, he pictured Bella and his kids’ faces as the three smiled at him and he mouthed the words 'I'll always love you', just as the explosion shook the earth and everything went black.
****
Two of the others provided cover fire when they spotted Vice running toward them. Dom jumped out and followed, hearing the words Jared had said, and had seen the flames. His heart pounded in his chest. There was no way he would make it in time! He ran as fast as he could, screaming, “Move! Move! Move!”
He watched as Kodiak stood from his cover spot when the shooting had begun and started toward Jared, but it was too late. The truck went up in a roar of licking flames. He watched as Hulk took off toward the ditch to take cover, and made it just before it blew up. The explosion knocked him to the ground, rendering him motionless. By the time Dom was able to get to the Humvee, there was no chance Jared could have made it. Gunfire rang around him, pelting the earth at his feet. He raised his M4 and opened fire with a vengeance. “You mother fuckers!” he yelled. The others went full battle, bombing and ripping .50 cal rounds at their attackers. It went
from a mission to personal in a split second, and it didn't take them long to eliminate all of the fuckers, but after the fighting had stopped, reality sank in.
Venus was gone.
****
The news came in exactly one week after his accident. The General himself had brought word personally, and seemed to be more distraught than Joker had ever seen him. When the General began to speak, he understood why.
Guilt, sorrow, anger, and every other emotion one could have, sickened his stomach. His brother was dead. He should have been there…maybe it could have been him instead of Venus. The dude had a wife and kids. Joker didn’t have anyone but the team. How the fuck could fate be so cruel?
General Ashburn and he entered the SUV and headed over to Bella’s house to give the news that her husband was dead. What the fuck was he supposed to do now? Bella was by herself with two kids to take care of.
****
The knock at her door had shaken her from sleep, sending her running in an instantaneous panic. When the General and Joker appeared in her vision through the partially opened door, no words were necessary to know the reason for the visit at such a ridiculous hour. Her hands flew immediately over her mouth, muffling, “Oh God, no nonono! Please, not my Jared!” Her body hurled backwards, stopping only from the wall that she slid down and fell into a ball of hysterics on the tile floor.
Joker rushed to her side, “I am so sorry, Bella. Jared was en route to the airport in Kandahar when their convoy was attacked. He managed to save three of the team by removing them from the Humvee before it was hit by a mortar during enemy fire. He didn’t make it out in time. He is a true hero, and died serving our country.”
Broken Battlefield, Mended Hearts (Breaking Protocol Series Book 2) Page 5