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Just as I slid into the water, I reached up, and with Moore’s nod, I gave the rope a sharp tug at the same time as he threw a rock as hard as he could in the opposite direction. It hit farther up on the side of the mountain. The diversion worked, and the men fired their weapons in the direction of the sound. I prayed they didn’t hear the rope as it smacked hard in the water. The last thing I needed was to have them discover the rope that would lead them right to us. It sank under the water, and I quickly gathered it to me. I held my breath and kicked toward the direction where the men hid in the wet plants that grew up from the muddy bottom. I slowly coiled up the rope as I went so none of us would get tangled in it and looped it on my belt.
I led them in a slow, measured swim away from the cliffs. I was sure the others struggled as I did as we moved through the dark, awful water, concerned that something would either grab us and pull us down or we’d hit a booby trap hidden underneath somewhere. It played on your head, and I could feel the sweat burn my eyes as I tried to push back the thoughts. Finally, I found a ledge where I could get my feet under me. There was a spot where the brush grew out over the rocks, and we could get ourselves under it. That was where we spent the night. If it wasn’t for the cover of the brush, and the dark water to conceal our whereabouts, we’d surely be dead.
Hours later, the sun lined the mountaintops, and we drank in what was waiting for us if we dared move. There must have been at a least seventy Taliban members crawling over the mountainside we’d rappelled down. They scoured the hills looking for any sign of us.
I glanced at Brown, who’d barely moved all night. His eyes were cast straight ahead, and he seemed to be in a trance.
I slipped back into my head, too. It was all we could do. That, and pray they’d move on soon.
I remembered my parents’ faces when I Skyped them on the night I got word that our special “volunteer” mission was about to ship out. They’d thought I was about to return home with the rest of the US troops. They had music on and held sparklers when the call connected. I felt horrible when I shared my news with them, but I knew their life just wasn’t for me anymore. Not now, anyway. Maybe never. They’d respected my decision to stay and tried hard to hide their disappointment and fear. My sister, Shelly, was the only one who allowed herself to show she was pissed. She held up her daughter who was now nearly a year old and shook her head at me with tears in her eyes. She told me I’d missed so much of her life already. I promised her this would be the last mission, but I knew the truth. If I was offered another, I wouldn’t hesitate to take it, and I thought she knew it too. I was a soldier. I was meant to make a difference here, there was no end date on freedom for these people. I stayed because that was all I knew how to do. I just had to survive.
Shouts pulled me from my thoughts, and we watched as the Taliban started to cheer and hoot. They held their weapons in the air and jumped around. A few ran back up the slope.
“You think they found Flex?” Hill hissed to Rivera, who shook his head. I hoped to God they hadn’t found the other team, but they’d found something, and it was time for us to move.
We were used to all types of elements as soldiers, but it didn’t help that wet boots and slippery rocks made your ankles and knees ache. Mind over matter was what kept me going, but two hours in and Brown was dragging, so I drew back and checked in with him.
“How’s the hip doing?” Brown had taken a pretty bad hit to the hip a few nights back when we were outed, and I noticed he now had a bad limp.
“Fine.” He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment like his head was in a battle.
“Four days from now, I’ll buy the first round at some dive bar with greasy burgers and fries.” He nodded, and we walked a little farther in silence. His eyes twitched when I looked over at him, and I decided I should give him a little reminder. “Whiskey.”
“Alpha,” Moore huffed over his shoulder.
“Tango,” Brown answered in a low voice, and I felt a little relief come over me.
“Good.” I squeezed his shoulder. “Not much farther.”
Hill glanced back at me with a scowl. He and Brown often seemed to butt heads. I knew they’d gotten into it back in the States over some girl. Hill was used to getting the women. I never asked about it because, frankly, I didn’t give a flying shit as long as they did their jobs.
A while later, something in my gut warned me we weren’t alone. I held up my hand to warn the others to get low.
My heart pounded in my chest and my fingers flexed on my weapon when I heard the pounding of horse hooves.
“Dammit,” Moore groaned, “there’s got to be at least seven of them.”
“Possibly eight.” I squinted at something slung over the back of one of the horses. In a last-ditch effort for help, I cupped my mouth and sent our signature signal through the mountains in hopes my echo would find the ears of our fellow soldiers. It was a deep wolf howl that went high at the end to ensure my team knew it wasn’t an actual wolf. The idea was to stand out against nature without drawing too much attention from the enemy.
“Should we drop?” Hill hesitated, and I glared at him. He looked at me then turned away and did his annoying habit of combing his hair with his fingers. Moore called it his Kenickie move. Moore’s thing was to always reference movies. I guessed everyone had something. I shrugged it off and concentrated on Hill.
“If you drop your weapon, I’ll shoot you myself,” I snapped. We would never surrender, especially to such animals.
The men pointed their guns at us as they approached and circled us with whistles and shouts. We moved into a circle, backs to each other, and kept our weapons held high. If this was it, we’d go out swinging.
“I will soon live like a king,” the leader of the pack said in Pashtu. “Round them up and bring them back to camp,” he ordered.
“We won’t be going anywhere with you.” I let him know I spoke Pashtu as well. They warned us not to let the enemy know if we could speak their language. That way, we could eavesdrop if captured, but today I didn’t care. They wouldn’t get their bounty because we’d fight to our death.
“Ah,” he smiled and tilted his head at me, “you speak my tongue?” He spoke in English. “Good. You should know I always get what I want. So, do yourself a favor and get moving.”
One of his men pointed a gun in my face, and I shoved it upward so hard I could hear the crack as his nose broke. He fell backward and flew over the horse’s ass, tumbling to the ground. The leader shook his head and nodded at another man who went to stab me, but I stepped out of his way and grabbed his arm, twisting it at the elbow. It snapped, and he cried out as his knife fell to the ground.
“Enough!” the leader ordered, and they all pointed their guns at me. “Fire!” They hesitated for a split second, I’m sure because of the bounty on our heads that was about to be lost, and then fate suddenly was on our side.
Bullets whipped through the air, and the men jolted in their saddles then fell to the ground near our feet. I popped two in the leader’s head as he tried to ride away. I raced after the horse and grabbed the reins. We could use the horses to give our feet a break. As I circled back, I grinned at the familiar face.
“Heard your call.” Captain Flex stepped out of the shrubs. He signaled for the others to join him.
