by Haven, Leila
Halton had to know the truth so he could give orders to find her. I needed his cooperation – Ariana needed his cooperation.
“You’re certain the Taliban took her?” he asked.
“Yes, sir, I am. They ambushed me, leading me away from her so they could kidnap her without hassle. I left her vulnerable.”
“That doesn’t matter right now. We need to assemble a team. We can target the known Taliban hideouts and start there. Clean yourself up and report back here at six hundred hours.”
“Tomorrow? Sir, we need to start looking tonight,” I protested. Leaving Ariana out there for a full night wasn’t possible. We had to find her before they had a chance to do anything to her.
“My troops have just returned from a long mission. They will be no good until morning, just like I suspect you won’t be. Tired soldiers make mistakes, it costs them lives. I will not have any of that on my watch. Six hundred hours, soldier. Not a minute before.”
I opened my mouth to continue arguing, but he stared me down. Once Major Halton gave an order, he did not allow it to be questioned. As much as it killed me, I had to walk away and obey.
My first stop was the cafeteria. My stomach was growling up a storm and it wouldn’t abate until I got some food. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten. I forced the food down, even while I was sick with worry.
I’d almost finished my meal when someone slapped me on the back. Next thing I knew, Marshall, Rafter, and Simon sat down at the table surrounding me. Seeing my entire squad together, alive and well, was a relief in itself.
“Hey, Watson. We heard you were here. It’s about time you caught up with us,” Marshall said, grinning like a fool.
“I thought you guys were all dead. What happened to you?”
Rafter shook his head. “That explosion, man. It turned us all around. I made it back to the meeting point two days late, only to find these guys waiting there. We stole a car and hotfooted it to base. What happened to you?”
“I waited at the meet point for hours before deciding you’d all given up on the meet. We walked miles before finding shelter.” Images of Ariana and how we’d spent that night flashed through my mind. I would have given up everything if I could have relived them with her.
“It’s the woman, isn’t it? The reporter, she’s the one the fucking Taliban have?”
“Yeah. They led me on a wild goose chase and took her while I wasn’t looking. I take full responsibility for her capture.”
Marshall gave me another slap on the back. “Don’t beat yourself up, dude. They are slimy bastards that don’t play fair. We’ll get her back. If not, we’ll die trying.”
My squad had the best men around. We were a band of brothers, and knowing they were here with me to fight at my side made everything that much more hopeful. With them at my back we had a chance.
“What happened to your civilians?” I asked.
“We handed them over,” Simon said. “They should be at home, tucked into their beds, by now. Man, were they glad to be getting out of here.”
I bet they were.
Ariana should have been one of them. She should have been safely at home now, still cursing the bastard soldier who had fucked her over. Where they had all succeeded in their mission, I had failed.
The enemy had Ariana. Everything I did in Afghanistan was to protect our people, make the world a safer place. Now I had let the one person I cared about slip into their custody, and she was paying the price for my stupidity.
Ariana was never going to forgive me. I was never going to forgive myself. I’d seen what the Taliban were capable of. If they were doing anything like that to Ariana, she was going to be going through hell. She wouldn’t be the same person ever again.
I just hoped she could hold on until we found her.
Because I would find her.
* * *
Six hundred hours finally came after a very long night. I’d barely slept a wink, but I did have about eight cups of coffee while I waited for the time to pass by.
My thoughts were plagued by Ariana. No matter what I was going through, she would be suffering a million times worse. An infidel, the enemy, in the hands of the Taliban. They could have killed her already.
When my thoughts dared to venture there, I had to snap them back. If I didn’t have hope, then I’d lost everything. I wouldn’t be able to function, and that’s exactly what I needed to do right now.
Major Halton had finalized the plans before we gathered together and awaited our orders. He held up a photograph of Ariana. It looked to be from DMV records and held none of the sparkle I knew she was capable of.
I was teamed with my troop, the four of us working as a unit once more. We were lethal when together; this gave me the boost I needed to believe we would succeed. They would help me fulfill my mission, and I would return Ariana home safely.
We were loaded into vehicles and trucked out of the base. Everybody was reassigned to finding Ariana today. The fight was on hold until we got her back.
Each team was assigned a different known Taliban hideout. For every one we knew about, there were probably a dozen we didn’t. She could have been anywhere. They’d had enough time by now that they could even have taken her out of the city.
We moved with the skill and stealth of our training, spying on the hideouts with all the equipment we had. Heat sensors told us how many people were inside, and amplified sound gear let us listen in on conversations, but still there were no traces of Ariana.
It was a long and laborious search through the city. All teams communicated their findings, but there was no trace of the reporter anywhere.
Until, finally, a call came through on the staticky radio. “Potential sighting of target. Building Delta on the east side. Backup requested.”
There was no hesitation from my squad. We abandoned our post and radioed in our acceptance of the backup request. Building Delta wasn’t that far from our location; we could make it there quickly to join in the rescue effort.
Rafter drove like there was no tomorrow, maneuvering the truck around bends and flooring the accelerator as we lurched forward. We all held on, the familiar adrenaline rushing through our veins.
This was what we’d trained for. This was how we worked. We could do this.
“There it is,” I said, pointing to my comrades’ military truck parked on the street. The building would be a block away, ensuring we were as hidden as possible from the enemy.
I jumped out of the truck before it came to a complete halt and ran to the vehicle. They let me in and showed me the evidence.
The thermal imaging camera had picked up a group of people in the building. One was sitting while the rest were standing in another room. From the ghostly image, it appeared the one seated had their hands tied behind their back.
It could have been Ariana, or it could have been any number of people the Taliban was holding hostage. They kidnapped foreigners and locals alike, anyone that bothered them.
“We’ve got snipers positioned on the surrounding points,” a young recruit named McMahon said. “The first team is assembled and ready to go in. Do you want to join them?”
“Fuck yes,” I replied, already moving. My armor was on, and I clipped my helmet into place and checked the gun in my hands. I was ready to fight for what I wanted, and I wouldn’t be taking any hostages.
I lined up with the other soldiers, ready to storm the building. We were all waiting for the order to come through our headsets, our heartbeats racing with pure adrenaline.
I hadn’t had much reason to pray in the past. I always thought we’d either survive a mission or it was our time to be called and our deaths would come quickly. This time, with so much at stake, I felt like asking God for a hand. If I didn’t make it out alive, at least get Ariana to safety. That was all I wanted.
“Team One, go,” said the microphone in my ear.
Our time for praying and waiting was over. We moved as one, my squad and many other soldiers whom
I didn’t know by name. Today we were a team, and that person sitting down was our target.
The soldiers closest to the door broke it down, smashed right through it like it was mere splinters. We hurried inside, our guns ready to shoot and nobody there to stop us.
Except those inside. The gunshots were immediate, all coming from the men we encountered inside the house. We fired back, the house filling with smoke and the smell of gunpowder.
If it wasn’t for our armor we would have fallen as quickly as the enemy. They fought us viciously, sending more bullets our way than on a battlefield.
Our side threw down a smoke bomb while we pulled our night vision goggles into place. We could see fine, but they were swamped by the smoke and moving blindly. They continued to fire, determined to shoot us dead even if they couldn’t see us.
Something exploded in another room, making debris from the wall fill the corridor. I saw Marshall fall and my heart stopped for a moment. One of the other men saw it too and quickly took action. He recruited Simon and together they dragged him back to the front of the house. I would have to worry about him later. Right now, the mission was still too dangerous to turn away from.
More loud bangs ricocheted through the small house. They had it booby-trapped, making it even more difficult to find our way through. Around every door were not only men with guns but the potential for explosions, too.
No matter how much gear we wore, how sophisticated our technology, little could beat their bombs. I pushed my own safety to the back of my mind so I could focus on finding Ariana.
She was in the building; she had to be. I could feel her presence and it spurred me on. I couldn’t think of what condition I would find her in. Whatever it was, I would make them pay.
The smoky fog inside the small building was disorienting. I ran a hand along the wall, trying to make sure I wasn’t going around in circles. The gunfire was coming from all directions, impossible to tell whether it came from friend or foe.
A sharp sting cut across the bicep of my arm, momentarily taking all the air out of my lungs. It quickly turned to a burning sensation, letting me know one of the bastards’ bullets had grazed my arm. It hurt like a motherfucker, but it wasn’t fatal.
I continued on.
Yelling in two different languages punctuated the air. At least it was easy telling which side was throwing out the words.
My right hand found a doorknob and twisted the handle. There was no hesitation before I went inside. I had a small window of opportunity to see clearly before the smoke followed me in.
There were no members of the Taliban in the room, just one woman.
Ariana.
She was bound and gagged, but alive.
I ran straight to her, taking in her bruises for the first time. She was covered in them, along with bloodied cuts and grazes. Her eyes were closed as her head lolled back. If it hadn’t been for the gentle rise and fall of her chest, I would have thought she was dead.
“Ariana,” I said quietly, not wanting to startle her. “Ariana.”
She mumbled, groaned, but didn’t wake up. My gun was forgotten while I untied her. She slumped to the side, falling right into my waiting arms. I stood and crept to the doorway.
The enemy were still firing shots at my comrades. Simon saw me, took in the unconscious Ariana in my arms, and got to work. He, and the other soldiers closest, covered me. They took me right to the front door.
My eyes were streaming from the smoke when I burst outside. Instantly soldiers rushed up to me, trying to take Ariana.
“I’m not letting her go,” I growled at them. Over my dead body would I let her out of my sight again.
“You’re bleeding,” Corporal Cox pointed out. “We’ve got this. She’ll be alright.”
I ignored him and continued over to the truck. Climbing in, I settled on the floor with Ariana. She was still unconscious, warm in my arms, and badly beaten. If it wasn’t for my need to stay with her, I would have run back into that building and killed them all for what they’d done to her.
I hoped my fellow soldiers killed the motherfuckers.
Every single last one of them.
The blasts of the gunfire lasted a while longer before my comrades started to leave the building. We’d suffered injuries but lost no lives, thankfully. We headed back to base the moment it was confirmed we’d all made it out.
Chapter 15
Ariana
҉ ҉ ҉ ҉ ҉ ҉
I woke up in a hazy fog. The only thing I could focus on was Derrick as he stared at me with concern in his ocean-blue eyes.
“Hey, you’re awake,” he said. His warm hand was wrapped around mine. He was wearing a black T-shirt, tight enough to hug the contours of his muscles. The sleeves were also short enough to show me his bandaged injury.
“What happened to you?” I asked. Every word cost me more energy than I had to spare.
“Got shot. It’s nothing, really. How are you feeling?”
“Okay.”
“Liar.” I couldn’t get away with anything while Corporal Watson was around.
“Fine, I feel like crap. Happy now?”
“No,” he said seriously. “I’m so sorry, Ariana. I should never have left you alone. This is all my fault. I don’t expect you to forgive me.”
Tears were starting to brim in his eyes, but he wiped them away before I was supposed to see them. I would never have held him accountable for what had happened. He couldn’t have known they’d come for me. He was only trying to protect me.
“It’s not your fault, Derrick,” I said honestly. “I don’t blame you, so don’t blame yourself.”
“But what you went through—”
“I’m okay. That’s all that counts.” I tried to sit up, but it felt like every bone in my body had been run over by a tank. I didn’t remember anything of my rescue, but the details would have to wait for later, when my brain wasn’t so fuzzy.
“No, it’s not. I should have been there to protect you.”
“I’m not arguing with you about this. We’re both fine, and that’s enough.”
The doctor joined us then, pumping me full of morphine and taking me away into a blissful sleep as the pain seeped away from my body.
* * *
I was on the base for a week, half that time in the hospital tent while I recovered from my injuries. The worst part of my recovery was having to recount everything that had happened to the Major. I didn’t like reliving all the ways the men had hit me in order to elicit information I didn’t have.
Derrick visited me every day, but he had changed. His shoulders were slumped with the burden of what he had done. No amount of reassurances I gave him were enough to chase away those demons. He still blamed himself, and I couldn’t say anything to change his mind.
It was a Thursday when I was told the news that I was being moved. A helicopter was on its way and would take me to another base, where an airplane would take me home.
I searched for Derrick all morning but couldn’t find him anywhere. My search grew more desperate as the departure time drew nearer. He seemed to be nowhere, and nobody knew where he was.
“We have to go, ma’am,” the pilot said. “We can’t wait any longer.”
I had no luggage or possessions to take with me, just a paper bag with a change of clothes someone on the base had given to me. Physically I was ready, but mentally I wasn’t. I hadn’t said goodbye to Derrick, and it was tearing me apart inside.
“Ma’am.”
“Yes, okay,” I replied, reluctantly allowing him to help me into my seat. My eyes scanned the area the entire time, searching for the man I would recognize anywhere now.
He didn’t arrive.
He didn’t say goodbye.
Derrick had to have known I was leaving that day. He seemed to know everything that happened on base. But, for whatever reason, he had avoided me instead of seeing me off.
I probably reminded him of his perceived mistake. He was probably grateful that I was
leaving so he could move on. He wouldn’t have to apologize anymore, even though I’d never wanted him to in the first place.
As the helicopter took off, my heart squeezed inside my chest. A single tear slid down my cheek as the deep hurt of him not being there filtered through me.
* * *
Everybody wanted to know about my time in Afghanistan when I arrived home. They made it sound like I had been on the adventure of a lifetime, like I was Indiana Jones or something.