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I ducked between two buildings and ran down the alley. Every goddamn structure looked the same in these desert towns—mostly three-story apartment buildings that’d always looked worse for wear—but this one was way behind enemy lines.
A dog barked in the distance.
I peered up at the moonlit sky and slowed down. Almost there.
“On the ground,” Danny said quietly.
“Copy that.” I snuck closer to the house wall as I approached the back of our point of interest. It was the kitchen entrance of a café, and the owner lived in the apartment above. According to our intel, he wasn’t home, but his wife and elderly mother were.
Come on.
I slipped a long pin between the door and the doorframe, and it never ceased to amaze me how these countries just didn’t care about simple things like home security. Especially these days. It was just a latch I had to lift, and then the door was unlocked.
I tested the door, and it opened soundlessly.
“I’m in,” I said under my breath.
“Starting the clock,” he replied. “Be careful.”
Nice. Scattering roaches on the tiled floor. Out of the kitchen, I looked into the café area and veered the other way. The office should be—right here. I snuck inside and hurried over to the desk.
I found the memory card in the third drawer, and I deduced I had enough time to take pictures of the rest of the contents. Documents, notes, most of them written in informal Dari, indicating that—
“Time’s almost up, Em,” Danny reminded. “Shift change at the bases soon, too. Come on.”
All right, all right.
I closed the drawer again and made my way out, avoiding thresholds and anything that might creak.
“I’m out.” I carefully closed the door. “Now we run.”
We were about a minute’s sprint outside of town when the sirens blasted through the area.
Sorry, boys, we already got the job done. Plus, we’d deliver a lot more than reports on collapsed buildings to our superiors. We could actually hand over intel. The military hadn’t even considered it with the risks since this was a stronghold, and that was when they sent us.
We kept running, taking cover in the darkness, until we reached a small valley. Not a place you wanted to get stuck in. The shrubs and low trees didn’t provide protection.
“Do you hear that?” Danny asked, out of breath.
I did. Now that he’d mentioned it. A helicopter. I looked up and scanned the sky, but it was impossible to see anything. Then we couldn’t hear it either, because the air raid began. We watched from afar as our jets lit up the town.
I would never get used to that sight.
It would never sit right with me either, even though… Nope, not going there now. We had to make it to safety.
Danny tugged on my hand, and I followed his gaze.
I’d be damned. Our pickup was actually a helicopter. We were used to rusty Jeeps from the last bloody war.
“Let’s go home, baby.” I squeezed his hand and picked up the pace.
We ran for the center of the valley, where the helicopter touched down.
I ducked for the blades and squinted as we kicked up a surge of desert sand.
“Holy shit,” Danny laughed over the roar.
He jumped in first, and I followed.
