“I agree, but I can go. I need you here to guard the wounded in case the insurgents find our location,” Daisy argued.
“Oh no! You are not going to look for water by yourself,” Daryl answered, with a stern tone. “No way am I letting you go for water.” Daisy rolled her eyes before she tried again to argue her point. Did he seriously think he would win this argument? Daisy out ranked him. He would have to follow orders.
“Look, Daryl I appreciate your concern for me, but I out rank you,” Daisy countered. “I’m going. End of discussion.”
“No, you are not going to pull rank on me,” Daryl argued. “Besides, Dr Robertson, these men need you here. I would have no idea what medicine to use or how much to give,” Daryl explained to her. “Another thing, no offense, but I am much stronger than you and I will be able to carry more water. You are injured and I know it is hurting more than you will let on. It’s the only logical option and you know it.”
“Dammit, Daryl! I know you are right, but as ranking officer in this situation I feel it is my obligation to see to everyone’s wellbeing. Even though you aren’t injured I need to keep you that way. You could run into anything out there,” Daisy huffed out a breath at the unfairness of the situation. She hadn’t told Daryl, but she was certain she was getting an infection in her wound also. The wound was increasingly painful, red, and swollen. She was pretty sure she was starting to run a fever as well. She had felt achy all night. It was impossible to not spread the infection from the wounded soldier. They didn’t have enough water to drink much less wash her hands properly after every dressing change. Hence the need for one of them to go for water.
“I know that Dr. Robertson, but the same goes for you. I have seen first-hand you are not only a fine doctor, but a damn good soldier too. You have excellent marksmen skills and great intuition, but you would have to face the same stuff out there. I may sound like a male chauvinist, but no way in hell am I going to allow a female, soldier or not, out ranking me or not, to head into danger while I sit back and wait. My Grams would roll over in her grave, get up, and come kick my ass. Its. Not. Happening. Got it?” Daryl was almost growling by the time he had finished his tirade.
Daisy tried unsuccessfully to suppress a laugh. She had gotten him riled up. He reminded her so much of Ace in that moment. She could see him saying the same thing if he were here. She sobered at that thought. As much as she wanted to be rescued, there was no way she would wish for Ace to be here with her. This situation had become hell on earth for her. Sitting here caring for the wounded had brought her past back to her in vivid detail. The memories of Luke’s accident. The long days spent at his bedside waiting and praying for some sign that he was still in the shell of a body. That it wasn’t just his body that was alive, but his mind was still there. She shuddered as she recalled her feelings of despair.
“Alright, Daryl. I see your point,” Daisy conceded. “I wouldn’t want your Grams to disturb her rest to put you back in line. I will stay here, guard, and care for the wounded. You go find us some water and see if you can find any sign that they are even looking for us. I would have thought we would have heard a chopper before now,” Daisy told the soldier.
“Yeah me too. We must have veered off course when we were hit by that SAM. We did spin out of control for quite a while before we bit the dust,” Daryl concluded. They both nodded as they considered the fact that it might be weeks before they were found.
“I’m sure that’s what has happened,” Daisy sighed heavily. If they were very far off it would take several days before they widened the search. She knew the men under her care didn’t have that kind of time. She just had to keep praying for these men that a chopper would get close enough to risk them blowing smoke to get their attention. Daisy knew once they lit the smoke beacon, it would be only a matter of time before the insurgents found them from the very signal that was supposed to save them.
After Daisy had taken a short nap, Daryl woke her to take over watch once again while he headed out to look for water. After he left, Daisy took up her spot to keep watch. While she was scanning the terrain looking for any sign of movement, she again thought about her brother. Was he worried about her? Causality assistance had surely been in touch with him by this time. She usually skyped him every day. While Luke had survived the crash, he was left paralyzed from the waist down. His dream of becoming a Marine had never come true, and it was all her fault. Everything that had happened that night and since was squarely on her shoulders.
Daisy was still racked by guilt over the unfairness of it all. She knew she was to blame for all of it. If she had only listened to him and not gone to that party, he wouldn’t have been on that road coming to get her. He wouldn’t have been hit head on by a car load of teens from that party that were all so drunk they didn’t know what hit them. The driver and front passenger had both died on scene. The girls in the back were injured but not life threateningly. Luke was in a coma for weeks from the head injury and the fractures in his back had damaged the spinal cord too much for him to ever walk again.
Luke had recovered amazingly well, despite the severity of his injuries. He had suffered from some depression at first as was to be expected, but he threw himself into recovery. He worked very hard in therapy to build up his upper body strength so he would be as independent as possible. He went on to college and majored in computer science with a minor in criminal justice. He never once blamed Daisy or allowed her to voice her guilt in his presence. He told her it was just how things were supposed to happen. She needed to accept it like he had and move on, but she couldn’t let it go.
The guilt and need to make it right was what had kept her going. She had seriously considered suicide in the months following the accident. Every time she had seen Luke struggling with a simple everyday task that was now like climbing Mt. Everest for him, she was hit with a new wave of guilt and despair. She knew if she followed up on her desire to escape the guilt it would hurt Luke even more, so she instead channeled her guilt into making a difference in the world like he had wanted to do before he was no longer able to do it.
Daisy was brought out of her memories when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She remained still. No sudden movements to give her position away. Very slowly she adjusted her position over the next several minutes so she could get a better look in the direction of the movement. Did she really see anything? Was the fatigue, infection, lack of food, and water finally getting to her? She watched for what seemed like an eternity, but there it was again. There was definitely someone out there. She just had to stop them, before they could stop her.
Several long minutes later, she spotted movement again, though ever so slight. There! Daisy was certain she had seen movement again. Someone was definitely out there. Should she try to take them out before they had a chance to get her? But by firing she was giving away her presence and location. Perhaps they didn’t know she was there yet. If she revealed herself, she would be endangering not only her life, but the fellow soldiers in her care as well. Daisy decided to wait it out and see if they moved any closer.
After what seemed like an eternity, she saw another person move off to the right of the first person. She continued to scan. If her instincts were right, there were as many as 7-8 men out there moving toward her location, maybe more. This was bad, very bad. There was no way she could fight off that many. She only had 4 shots left in her pistol and a half empty clip in her M4. She was trying to decide on her best course of action when it seemed the enemy had decided for her. The group of men began to push toward her location in earnest.
Daisy quickly scrambled back inside the cave. She alerted the less injured men to the coming danger. Daisy positioned herself between the injured men and the opening to the cave. She had decided there was more cover there than at the opening. Here she might be able to better defend her position. She was hoping for a miracle. If she could take out the first couple of fighters, she could get their weapons and use them against their own men. She had her M4 raised and ready. She took aim at the entrance and waited.
Chapter 9
Ace knew they were getting close. They had found the crash site several hours ago. Once they landed a safe distance away, they hiked in. They found the wreckage of the craft, a lot of blood, but not much else. Whose blood was it? All the supplies had been carried off. The question was: who carried them away? Insurgents or the soldiers on the aircraft? They had begun to widen their search when, Straw signaled he had found something.
Ace hurried to Straw’s location. It appeared a firefight had occurred here. There was a faint dried blood trail headed up the mountain. They began to follow it not sure where or to whom it would lead. They followed it for quite a long time until it seemed to be headed for a small cave in the side of the mountain. Ace knew that was where he would have tried to make camp if he had been on the downed craft, but it could easily be the enemy as well. They would need to proceed with caution. They set up a perimeter around the cave and slowly, incrementally began to move in toward the site.
Ace wanted to storm the cave immediately. He felt certain she was here. He could feel it deep in his bones. Deadeye insisted they move with caution. When he finally gave the order to charge, Straw was the first to enter the cave. He was crouched down and slowly made his way inside. Ace was hot on his heels as the others followed them while Wallace and Bull took up guard outside.
Daisy saw a man slip into the entrance of the cave. He was moving slowly, and he was crouched low to the ground. She was taking aim, moving her finger toward the trigger when another man moved in behind him. She knew immediately who he was. She had not forgotten how gracefully he moved. She exhaled a trembling breath and began to shake violently as the adrenaline rush faded from her and relief washed over her.
Daisy slowly rose to her feet on trembling legs. She had her gun and hands raised in the air. She needed to look non-threatening, so they didn’t shoot her thinking she was the enemy.
“Don’t shoot. I’m on your side,” Daisy shouted to the men. Suddenly before she had time to react, Ace had closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. She melted into him as fatigue ran through her.
“Oh God, Daisy! I was so worried I would never find you. Are you ok?” Ace asked as he ran his hands over her back and arms looking for signs of an injury. When he felt the bandage over the left bicep, he immediately stopped and pulled at her sleeve to look at it. She tried to stop him. They didn’t have time for a dressing change. They needed to be getting out of this awful place.
“Ace, stop. I’m fine. It’s was just a flesh wound, through and through. No big deal. These men are the ones in need of medical attention,” Daisy turned to the wounded soldiers laying further back inside the cave. Ace looked over her shoulder to see the four men laid out on make shift pallets on the floor of the cave. They looked the worse for wear that was for sure.
“Deadeye, we need to get these men out of here ASAP. This guy doesn’t look very good,” Straw said as he kneeled next to the co-pilot with both legs amputated just below the knees. Daisy moved to step around Ace and kneeled at the wounded soldier’s side. She placed her hand on his head. He was burning up with fever. She had been pumping antibiotics and Tylenol into him, but he hadn’t improved at all.
“I’m calling in reinforcements as we speak,” Deadeye confirmed as he moved a hand-held radio to his mouth as he barked out coordinates. Movement near the entrance of the cave had everyone on edge, but it was only Daryl returning from his search for water. Daisy jumped up and ran to him. She was so relieved that he had been unharmed while out looking for water she gathered him in a quick embrace. She smiled at him when she pulled back.
“I’m glad you made it back. See any of the enemy while you were out?” Daisy questioned.
