I startled awake and braced my feet on the metal floor beneath my boots as the plane shuddered around me.
“Yeah?”
“Hold on!” he shouted. “We’re headed into it.”
Outside the window smoke billowed, obscuring the blue sky beyond.
I grasped the straps holding me to my seat as we tilted right, rocked back and forth, then tilted left, the sound of gunfire closer than I liked.
“We need to get out of the air,” Mac said. “I’m gonna get us down fast. Gonna be a rough landing. Hang on!”
I yelped and squeezed my eyes shut as a loud bang erupted outside the aircraft, the metal beds clanging loudly, the sound echoing through the cavernous fuselage. Mac let loose a string of expletives as he maneuvered the plane, my ears popping at the sudden change in pressure. A couple minutes later we hit the ground hard, my body pressing into the straps holding me in my seat, and we came to an abrupt stop.
“Come on!” Mac shouted, as the ping-ping-ping of bullets sent a shudder through the plane. “We have to go!”
I unfastened the straps and grabbed my bag as he ran past and threw open the door. I squinted, blinded momentarily by the sunlight, and jumped down behind him into water. It took me a second to realize we’d landed on a beach, white sand stretching out before us, gunfire ringing out from our right.
A handful of soldiers appeared, running toward the trees. “Go!” Mac pushed me to follow. “Keep your head down!” he shouted as a bullet went whizzing by. I ran faster, my heart galloping in my chest, breath coming hard.
Ahead of us, the soldiers were hurrying into a trench, dropping to their knees and sliding out of sight. I heard someone cry out behind us and slowed, but Mac grabbed my elbow and kept me going.
“Nope,” he said.
A moment later we were at the trench. He jumped and I followed, landing hard as more men clambered in after us and Mac looked around frantically.
“We need to get out of here,” Mac said, looking up and down the trench as if trying to determine which way would be best.
“Now?” I asked incredulously, pressing myself into the dirt wall behind me as a nearby explosion sent a spray of dirt and rocks over us.
“As soon as there’s a break in the fighting.”
“Down!” someone yelled and I was pushed to the floor of the trench, a body laid out on top of me as the ground around us shook.
Hands over my head, ears ringing, I breathed into the dirt pressed against my lips, tears, smoke, and sand stinging my eyes.
“Kate?” I heard someone yell. “Kate!”
I was pulled roughly to my knees and stared into Mac’s eyes.
“You okay?” he asked.
I nodded, swiping at the tears running down my face with shaking hands. I wasn’t. I was terrified. Dying while saving men I was prepared to do. Dying trapped in a trench or pulled out and made a prisoner was not something I was ready for.
“We need to go,” he said and pointed to a man. “He’s going to get us out. Are you armed?”
With trembling fingers I grabbed my duffel and pulled a pistol from a pocket inside.
“Good,” Mac said. “Few minutes. Be ready.”
I watched as he ducked and weaved through the men to the soldier he’d pointed out to me as bullets flew overhead. The two men had a quick discussion and then Mac looked back at me and waved me over.
“We’re going to follow the trench down,” Mac said, pointing. “And then climb out under the cover of those trees. Base camp isn’t far and the men will provide cover fire if needed, but keep your safety off just in case.”
I took in a shaky breath and nodded.
“Let’s go.”
Mac stood aside so that I could walk in front of him, sandwiching me in between him and the man leading us out. We kept low as bullets whizzed around us and I jumped at the sound of our own men firing back in response, the sound deafening. I had never been this close to the fighting before and I wondered with both respect and bewilderment how these men did it. How day after day they put their lives on the line, risking what was most certainly a painful and terrible death. It was terrifying.
