The other Marine sat back in his seat, his eyes wider, and an edge of uneasiness written over his face. “Fuck. Poor bastards.”
“Sad thing is, they were all on their way home. Eight died, and fourteen were wounded. Man, that sucks.”
It left a bad taste in Gray’s mouth, and along with the other twelve Marines, she was saddened by the useless loss of life. A quiet gloom fell amongst them, and only the noise from the engine gave comfort to the fact they were still alive. Tired from traveling, Gray closed her eyes, and allowed the vibrations to rock her to sleep.
•••
In the darkest of night skies, the chopper safely landed within the walls of the base camp at Jelawur.
Chapter Twenty
As the Marines piled out of the bird, Gray hesitated to leave, and looked around. She slowly unfastened her seatbelt and emerged from the chopper, and with her shoulders slumped and her eyes cast down to Zabba, she tried to keep the memories of Iggy to a minimum. Even Zabba seemed to give off a sense of unease in her opinion. This is the path I chose. Iggy, I know you’re looking down on us all, keep us safe. Fuck everyone who tries to take us down, and—
“Gray?” Blake called out from behind her. He jogged over to her and gave a friendly smack across her upper arm. “Hey, Zabba,” he said, while patting Zabba’s head. “So, how are you?”
“Yeah, I’m okay. I’m glad to be back, to be honest. Yeah, that might seem strange to you, but it’s what I know and do. I felt lost back in Seattle. I dunno, maybe it was too soon after Iggy?”
“Yeah, I get what you mean. It’s been tough here. But, right now, we have another issue to deal with. There’s been a few rogue strikes on the base. The Taliban have been active, and having you and a few new recruits will definitely help us out.”
“Shit got real?”
“Yeah, it went down three days ago. A unit went out on patrol and were attacked in the green zone. There was a firefight, two Marines were killed, and at least a dozen insurgent fighters were taken out.”
“Fuck. So, they meant business.”
“We managed to rescue the unit, but our sources have informed us that there have been rumors the Taliban are planning an attack on the camp at any moment.”
“Fucking idiots.”
“You got that right.”
“Sir! I’ve got eyes on movement to the west,” a Marine called from the watch tower.
Blake immediately ran over to the wall and climbed up the ladder leading to the tower. He grabbed the binoculars from the Marine and looked through them, searching the long grasses and treeline. “Got you, you bastard,” he grumbled.
“Sir, there’s more movement coming from the east,” another Marine informed him. “I’ve got eyes on more movement in the treeline, sir.”
Marines carrying their rifles scrambled to the walls and took their positions, ready to take aim and fire at the enemy, while Gray ran to her room and left Zabba in the safest place she knew. She then ran back outside with her rifle and ammo, and set herself up at the wall, ready to shoot.
Movement from all sides of the base grew closer to the wall, and while the marines remained silent as they waited for the command to shoot, tension cultivated like a silent presence.
What seemed to look like a small bird flying over the camp, was soon realized to be a grenade. The explosion went off when it hit the ground, a wasted effort in an attempt to attack the Marines. It was all Blake needed to command the Marines to shoot to kill. This was when all hell broke loose, and both sides engaged in a firefight.
Thousands of rounds of ammo were used in the first moments of engagement, and all Marines were being battle tested as bullets zipped past them, or hit the wall, displacing shards of mortar and plaster into the air. Two casualties were soon reported, and in great need of medical attention, but while they were locked down in battle, no one was able to be air-lifted out of the camp.
Bullets fired from both sides, giving off sounds of what could be determined to sound like firecrackers on a night of New Year’s Eve celebrations, but intensified a hundred times over. Bullet casings piled up on the ground, Marines called for more ammo, and reported their sightings of enemy targets hiding behind trees and rocks, who fired at them like cowards.
While keeping her exposure reduced, Gray held the butt of her rifle firmly to her shoulder, and the optic to her eye, while she laid down rounds in short bursts on full auto.
Wisps of smoke visible from the muzzles of the enemy’s rifles gave away their positions to the Marines, and enabled them to fire back and kill their targets. Marines called bearings on treelines, and killed anyone dumb enough to poke their head up.
Gray’s heart beat in her chest, pounding like a jackhammer, as bullets hailed into the camp, puncturing walls, vehicles, and tearing through tent canopies—the entire base had become engulfed in warfare and shrapnel. Her mind was disconnected from the truth of the situation, she knew death could come at any second, so acting as a mechanical entity had become second nature to her. But every time an explosion went off, bullets zinged over, or a call for help from a fellow Marine became significant, her adrenaline spiked just a little higher. She rested the bi-pod on the sand bags placed on the ledge of the wall, and fired continuous rounds at the oncoming fighters, brass casings from the magazine cascading to the ground like metal confetti. There’s no way in hell I’m going to let one of those monsters get close enough to smell their disgusting odor. She hit a target, then another simultaneously, both dropping their rifles and falling to the ground, their faces buried into the grass and earth they’d trampled over. Their deaths fed her dark emotions, motivating her to unsympathetically kill more of their comrades.
“Get the fuckers,” Blake yelled from the tower, whilst firing rounds down at the enemy below him.
“No problem, Sir,” Gray mumbled under her breath.
The fighters weren’t giving up. They pushed forward, holding the butts of their rifles to their shoulders, and fired at the camp without precision.
Gunners fired from the Tactical vehicles, their rounds sending thunderous drones through the air, and two Marines fed ammo to riflemen who called out for it.
Sanderson had been on the radio, talking to the pilot flying an Apache Guardian, and giving him targets’ coordinates. Above the mayhem of gunfire, smoke, and yelling voices, a powerful four-bladed armored bird flew in to battlefield action. Fitted with an updated Longbow Radar System, the bird fired anti-tank missiles into the group of insurgent fighters, ending the attack on the camp. With smoke billowing into the air, the Apache circled the camp a few times, ensuring the safety of the Marines had been met, then flew off to the West, to continue the mission the team were on.
“Cease fire,” Blake yelled out as soon as the incoming fire had stopped.
Gray slowly edged away from the wall and turned around, and met with a vision of havoc. She endured a sense of bravery and fear in the faces that only her brothers could share. Holding her rifle across her chest, she trod with stilted movement, keeping every step light. It was eerie. A warm breeze touched her face, as though a perfectly calm day had replaced a mass of disorder.
“Holy shit, that was insane,” Sanderson sang out, high-fiving another Marine as he passed him.
Blake stepped onto the top rung of the ladder and slid down to the ground by holding onto the side rails. He marched over to Sanderson and patted him on his shoulder, then turned his attention to Gray. “You okay?”
Her perspiration making her fully aware that her armpits were damp, and her mind still buzzed with sounds of gunfire and explosions, Gray lowered her head slightly and gave a single nod, while giving him two thumbs up.
“Welcome back to hell, Gray,” Blake said, then gave an encouraging smile as he patted her upper arm. He walked past her to assess the injured Marine. “We need medivac to take this soldier to the hospital,” he called out to Sanderson.
While taking a moment to process the all too familiar situation, she realized Zabba was still in her room, an
d after running inside to check on his well-being, she crouched down and tenderly put her arms around him. “We got through another day, eh, buddy.” Zabba nudged her chin with his muzzle, and placed his paw on her knee. “Yeah, we got this,” she whispered, then kissed the top of his head.
To be continued in Marine 2…
List of Shiralyn J. Lee books published
Piece by Piece
The process
The Crucifix Murders
Silent Killing
A Wartime Love
Captain Caiterina O’Creagh
Paige Bleu Series
Touching Gloves
Chasing Yesterday
Tell Me What To Do
Erotic Spirits
Pink Crush
Loving the Pink Kiss
She’s on the Ball
Vampire Changeling
The Dark Cully’s Mistress
The Submissive Scullery Maid
A Victorian Romance
List of Wicked Publishing books published
Hero by Ronni Meyrick
Shattering Rainbows by Ocean
Cricket by Barbara Dennis
Clicking Stones by Nancy Tyler Glenn
Lioness by Kristin Kennedy and MJ Politis
Flashback by Dawn Carter
* * *
[AW1]We never have “gritted teeth”!! We either grind them or clench them, but never grit them!
Marine Page 12
