Blood On The Sand: A Fictional Siege in Present Day Afghanistan

(All peoples used in this story belong to me.)

The desert sun flashed in my eyes. Another day of sunny war. Me and 5 other soldiers from different branches and countries were trudging along in the desert. The leader of our squad was one in dark tan fatigues, he was a major Russian Forces leading the group with a submachine gun slung over his shoulder. He had a cigarette in his mouth, and the wrinkles on his cheeks and forehead said he wasn't a young soldier. We all called him Vlad. Behind him, another Russian was trudging along with a semi-large machine gun. We called him Vince, apparently we weren't good at nicknames. Behind him was a pretty young woman with a sniper rifle. She was wearing light green and gray fatigues, a doggie, as we called the Army soldiers. We called her Ember, because of her eyes. She was laughing and talking with another in the same fatigues. They were twins, I could see it. They both had dark tan skin, and laughing gray eyes. Behind them, was a hefty figure carrying a grenade launcher. He was wearing darker but the same style fatigues as the woman and her brother. We ALL called him Smedley. He looked behind him, and said to me, "Hey Dee, you comin' or what? We gotta find the rest of the regiment." I was a lanky pale youth behind him, and I think I was the youngest there, toting a shotgun in my arms. I was wearing the same fatigues as Smedley, but I spoke with a slight Russian accent thanks to my dad, even though I'm in the USMC. "Yeah Smed, I'm coming." Behind me was a grim looking Hispanic Marine was talking to himself in Spanish. We didn't have a nickname for him, we called him by his name, Emilie. He looked up, and jogged to catch up with us. The reason for our mixed up squad, was we were put together by votes from our CO's. We were voted to form an International military squad, we were voted on by order following and sensibility. Vlad stopped, and placed a finger to his lips. He motioned for Vince to come up to the top of the sand dune with him. He went up there, and Ember and Twin, her brother, shut up. Pretty soon we could all hear the sound of voices speaking. Then, Vince said something to Vlad, then signaled for us to come up to look. We all saw the same thing. About 20, maybe 30 enemy soldiers, all armed, were walking pretty close to our dune. I gripped my shotgun tighter. If we were to fight, this would be my first battle. Then as if my thoughts had ordered it, Smedley sneezed, and dust blew up from the dune we were all laying on. About 15 of the soldiers turned, and pulled their AK-47's up to their shoulders. One of them yelled to the other soldiers, but before he could finish, a single bullet whistled through the air and landed right in the guys throat. Blood splattered the ground and his rifle clattered as it hit the ground. He crumpled down, and was still. I looked over, and saw Ember reloading her sniper rifle. Then, all hell broke loose. The other soldiers saw the death of their comrade, and all of them started firing at our direct position. The other 15 or so soldiers, ran for cover and began firing. We all ducked down, and Vlad was telling us a plan. "Ember, Smedley, and Emilie, lay down some cover fire. Dee, Twin, and Vince, go to the dune about 40 feet away, and lay more cover fire. I'm going to flank them and call in a air strike." He pointed to a blown-up building about 50 yards away. "When I give the signal, run to that place. There is a jeep in it, I will call in the air strike the radio you guys to come get me, and we will be out of here by the time the air strike comes in." Everyone nodded at his plan. Little did we know, it was going to go horribly wrong. Vince was the leader of our firing team, so he lead us to a run-down building, and set up his gun in a window. "Cover the upstairs windows, but don't get yourself framed into them." He said, and signaled for us to go upstairs. On the way up though, 4 enemy soldiers came to the top of the stairs and stared at us. We used their shock against them, we started firing, and killed 2 of them while one jumped out of the way, and another was hit in the leg and fell. I dragged him downstairs, and Twin said "I'm going to get the other one." I nodded, and bandaged the enemy's wound. We needed him to interrogate. I heard someone talk in a foreign language, then shots rang out, and I heard a thump above me. I thought Twin had killed the soldier, and I stepped on the stairs, and the enemy soldier peered up, and threw a grenade down at me. I started to jump away, but Vince tackled me through a closet door as the grenade went off. I shakily stood up, and Vince was already racing up the stairs. I heard him shoot a few shots, and another thump hit the floor above me. I ran up the stairs two at a time, and saw him holster his sidearm, and kneel down next to a bloody soldier. I realized it was Twin. I went over to the dead enemy soldier, and he had three bullet holes in his chest. He looked like a kid. I saw a bulge in his pocket, and took it out. It was a I.D. I asked Vince, "They have this here?" And he said "Yeah, they do." I looked at it, and it said he was born 6/27/95. He was 15. "Why they use kids?" I asked Vince. "Because they're messed up." I walked over to Twin and Vince, and he didn't look good. There was a nice sized hole in his stomach, and 2 more in his right leg. He was losing a lot of blood, and we knew he wasn't going to make it. But we made him comfortable, and I stayed up there and shot cover fire, while Vince was downstairs shooting his machine gun. A little while later, we heard "GO, GO, GO!", and we knew that Vlad was bellowing the signal. When Vince and I were all ready to go, Twin was dead. His wounds bled to much. Vince took his dog-tags, and placed his jacket over his face. We raced out into the sun, and saw Smedley carrying a limp and bloody body over his shoulders. It was Ember. Emilie, was right behind him, shooting as he ran. A burst of fire came from a building, and he fell with a spray of blood from his head. Vlad was running, his right arm bloody and useless hanging beside him. We got to the building first, and then watched with horror as a explosion ripped out, throwing Ember, Smedley and Vlad through the air. They all landed with a splatter of a little blood and weapons. Vlad got up, but Smedley stayed down. We later learned his brain had been squashed by his skull from the hard landing. He picked up Ember, and snipers started firing. Vince fired, and three of the 5 fell out of their places. While one dropped his rifle, and began firing with a pistol. I shot my shotgun, and after 3 shots, he fell dead too. Vlad made it to the building, and called the air strike. We all got into the jeep, and Vlad drove off. The air strike came in to early. They started bombing the area, and we were thrown out of the jeep. Vince broke his leg, so we put him in the back with Ember and Vlad drove off, with me shooting any enemies trailing us. We made it back to our position, and the death was over. Vlad tended to Vince's leg, while I kneeled by Ember, brushing her hair off her bloody face with my hand. She had several frag wounds in her breast area. They were bandaged, but a little blood was seeping through. Then, we heard it. The Pop! Pop! Pop! of mortars. I covered Ember's body with my own, while explosions broke out all around us. While things were exploding, I was splattered from head to toe with blood, and saw an arm fly off. I knew Vlad had been hit. I felt like something had bit my lower back and right arm, and more blood splattered the bed beside me and Ember. The last thing I remember was Ember opening her eyes, and smiling at me. Then everything went black.

I woke up about a week later, in a hospital in northern Iraq. I had a concussion and three bullets in the small of my back and a lot of shrapnel in my right elbow area. Or what was left of my arm. They had amputated it off at the elbow. I shot up remembering Ember, and groaned because I had irritated my lower back wound. A nurse came back, and helped me lay back down. I asked about Ember. She said look in the bed next to you, and I saw Ember smiling at me. She got up, her breast and neck bandaged, and leaned over me. "Morning sleeping beauty." Then she kissed me on the mouth, for a long time to. She got onto my bed, and laid next to me. I closed my eyes and smiled. I felt someone nudge my left arm, and I opened my eyes. There was Vince, with stitches on his forehead and chin. Other than that and a cast on his right leg, he was fine. He was smiling, and said "Fuck kid, you scared the hell out of me." I smiled again, knowing that nothing else had changed. I closed my eyes, with Vince sitting in a chair next to me, and Ember asleep next to me. I fell into a gentle sleep, knowing that we were safe.

The battle was called "the bloodiest thing since Khe Sanh" the 104 day siege of a American held hill in Vietnam. Vince left the army, and became a russian politician. Ember and Dee or Demitry got married and had three kids. They all stay in touch, and are proud of their service.

"Death teaches one lesson, enjoy life."

Walt Witman