The sounds of explosions echoed in the distance as the wind bellows across the empty landscape of the Saudi Arabian sands. The pale blue sky's crystal clear galore begins to smear with the dark gray smoke clouds from the afar battle in the distance beyond the mountain range. Leering into the distance is a group of soldiers clad in digital-pattern camouflage uniforms cluttered with dirt and rocks in a small blast hole in the ground. The four soldiers are weary of battle and the smell of death creeps past their nostrils as the wind carries the distinct carrion stench of war.
"Wood… Wood! Wake-up Wood!" Sergeant Murphy silently spoke aloud into Private Alex Wood's ear.
"Wha- What? Sorry Sergeant Murphy… It's difficult to keep my eyes open any more." Alex struggled to speak as he shifted his prone body on the ground.
"Hey Sarg, we need to move as soon as we can. As soon as night falls you too will be cold as death; and screaming into Wood's ear will be a faint illusion." Corporal Cunningham mocked silently.
"Can it Corporal I'm already on it." SGT Murphy went back to peering through his binoculars for a route and a safe place to hide his troops from the ensuing battle.
Around the present battle field, that has seemed to be left abandoned several hours earlier, there were destroyed tactical vehicles and remains of tanks strewn about the landscape. In a single glance across the battle zone you were able to see several High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV/Humvee) and Light Medium Tactical Vehicles (LMTV/5-tons) broken and in disarray; some were still burning from the napalm used from enemy combatants. In a horrific visage to which even SGT Murphy cringes; upon sight and smell were the roasted bodies of dead soldiers all around him and his 3 remaining survivors. Many bodies lay around their fox-hole some burnt some missing limbs all of them corpses with no hopes.
With the whisper of dying cries in the air SGT Murphy struggled to push on and keep a tangent look out for a cave or an abandoned hut of some sort to keep his soldiers alive for the cold night that was approaching. The ground trembles every couple of minutes, but each tremble feels less and less which indicates the battle in the distance is getting further away. Chances of rescue keep dwindling. SGT Murphy looks over slowly to his fourth soldier who was knocking on death's door already, but only being kept alive by Alex's Combat Life Saver (CLS) training.
"Dammit! Cunningham! Get up here and help me look for shelter… I don't think we need to worry about enemy soldiers any time soon." SGT Murphy's voice got quite as he spoke.
"Moving Sergeant." Cunningham recited calmly as he felt the same way Sergeant Murphy was.
Straining his eyes CPL Cunningham used his hand to block out the drowning light rays from the setting sun and squinted as hard as he could trying to make out a looming shadowed figure in the distance; but as quickly as he noticed the figure vanished and he discovered a cave in the mountains several hundred yards above through the rocky terrain. Looking around quickly Cunningham managed to see a steep cliff path they could use to scale along the side of the mountain before it got dark if they were to start now. Shifting his weight slightly so that he could move down further into the make-shift fox hole Cunningham gathered his thoughts.
"Sergeant, I think I found a place we can hide in for the night."
"You have now? Show me." SGT Murphy's voice sounded hopeful and disappointed.
"Over there." Cunningham points to their northern position to a range of mountains; "See that ledge? It'll make an easy climb for us and if we leave now we can make it to the cave entrance before night fall." Cunningham inhaled quickly after holding in his breath to speak.
"Alright, Corporal, good eye let's get a move on soldiers! Wood pick up the PFC and let's go. Corporal you help Wood get Mann up the cliff side. I'm going to climb ahead and scout the cave."
"Yes Sergeant!" Both Alex and Cunningham quickly recited as they moved to pick up Private First-Class Mann from the bottom of the fox-hole.
SGT Murphy was the first to grab his rifle and crawl out of the ditch and make his way towards the mountain's base which was well over a mile distance from their entrenchment. Following behind was Alex and CPL Cunningham carrying between the two of them was PFC Mann. With no immediate threat in the vicinity that was noticeable SGT Murphy began climbing the cliff side, that Cunningham had pointed out previously, with little ease; however Cunningham and Alex were having more troubles than they thought with carrying up an injured person in their grips. Mann's arms were wrapped around Alex's shoulder in a sideways grab with an improvised fireman's lift.
Using all his strength Alex carried Mann over his body reaching for one rocky ledge and the next. Cunningham was behind him a short ways in case he needed to catch Alex or Mann. They spent over thirty-minutes climbing the cliff's side and darkness began to fall Alex had looked up shortly to see how much further they were from reaching the cliff cave entrance when he noticed there was a bright light emanating from above. Assuming this was the sergeant's doing Alex grieved a heavy sigh and pushed on pulling his heavy body with Mann clasped around him further up the mountain's side.
Inside the cave Sergeant Murphy turns on the lamp attached to his kevlar so the cave's entrance area would light enough for him to see deeper into the dank darkness. With his vision engulfed with traces of light from his head lamp Murphy flips the weapon's safety switch to semi-auto and slowly walks towards the rear of the cave to secure their temporary living quarters. Glancing side-to-side with his eyes as he kept the weapon pointed straight ahead he gradually walks deeper into the cave. Noticing some planks of wood blocking a hole in the cave's rear he figured this used to be an old mine emergency escape shaft while peering through the cracks in the planks.
With the limited field of vision SGT Murphy could only see a couple of feet in front of him and all the cave dust floating around made it more difficult than it already was. There was some sparkling material embedded in the walls, but he ignored them. With a sigh of relief he turns around and begins to walk back towards the entrance again to greet his soldiers warmly. Suddenly without a moment's notice SGT Murphy feels a cold draft pass through him.
"Iiiiiiinfffffffidel…" The dark raspy voice crept passed SGT Murphy's ears. His vision blackens.
Struggling with each gripping rock after the next Alex realizes after grabbing a cluster of rocks in his hand that he finally made it to the cave entrance's ledge. Pulling himself up as fast as he could he struggled slightly from the exhaustion that his body has been though carrying Mann's body over the top of his shoulders. Cunningham pulled himself up next and pleaded to Alex to help by grabbing all the gear on his back. Pulling Cunningham up into the cave's mouth Alex stood up and looked around only seeing the Sergeants Kevlar pointing outwards from the cave. Walking over to the Kevlar he switches the light from the white lite setting to a lower red light setting used for tactical operations that would allow you to see just as fine, but with less noticeably from outside the operations area.
"Hey I don't see the Sergeant anywhere I'd figure he'd be here to help us get settled and work out the second part of our... uh- plan." Alex grew weary again and sat down softly against the cave's wall.
"He's probably scoping out the cave to make sure it's safe for us to sleep. It's the least he could do since he didn't help pull up the gear or Mann here." Cunningham pulled out a canteen with a quart of water left in it and drank a little to keep himself hydrated.
"I suppose so… But does he have another light with him? His Kevlar is here and-"
"Enough, Alex, don't worry about him he didn't get to the rank of Sergeant from just sitting around and eating donuts all day you know… Mann, open your mouth." Cunningham leaned over PFC Mann and poured some water into his mouth for him.
"Ahg- thanks… Corp-" Mann stuttered the words.
"Hey, don't talk, you need to rest. Your wound is deep. You're lucky Wood here had his CLS pack on him or you'd be dead too." Cunningham put away his canteen in his rucksack that he intended to lay on as a cushion and pillow.
Alex pulled out a sleeping bag from his rucksack that Cunningham carried with him up the mountain's side and placed it over Mann's body to keep him warm for the coming night. Cunningham leered at Alex and knew what he was thinking and turned his head towards the cave's dark abyssal end. Alex too looked to the back of the cave and felt a dark sensation in his gut. Sitting back down, on the opposite side of the cave from Cunningham, Alex began checking his ammo magazines to make sure the spring assist jack still worked and that he had a full clip of thirty rounds in each of his remaining three magazines.
"Hey, Alex, give him ten more minutes. If he isn't back by then and you rested enough we'll both go down there and look for him okay? We're still in enemy territory. It doesn't matter if we're in a cave or a limousine nowhere is safe when you're trapped in the middle of a dessert with low supplies. We don't know who or what lives or lived in this cave. It'd be just our luck if it was a bear cave or a terrorist camp." Cunningham gently leaned his head back again and sighed.
"I don't think bears live in the desert Cunningham." Alex smiled and also leaned back; "Okay… we'll give him ten minutes." There was a sweet sickly smell in the air Alex didn't like, but unarguably he began nodding off into a deep sleep.
"Ten… minutes then…" Cunningham laughed lightly and slowly drifted into a rooted trance too.
Wearily Alex's eyes slowly open unaware that he is no longer in the cave where he thought he fell asleep. Alex's eyes scanned his surroundings with out thought and once he looked at a unconscious CPL Cunningham strung up by his wrists to a metal wall Alex's thoughts snapped to reality. Becoming anxious Alex could feel his heart pounding to what felt like someone was taking a hammer to it. A second glance around the room he noticed PFC Mann wasn't anywhere around. Now beyond all reason Alex's heart rate begins to slow down and he gathers what little courage he has and began struggling to get his hands free from the the ropes that have him tied up to the wall.
"That is unwise, child." A cold breathe echoed from around the seemingly empty room.
Alex jerked his head around to see where the voice came from, but there was no one else or anything else in the room besides Cunningham and himself. There was no glass window or speaker systems. Not even a door way that he could see in the walls. Alex's heart began to thump again, but he mustered a swallow of courage and calmed his heart again. Alex's thoughts raced to his training trying to figure anything that could help him, but his mind was blank.
"You know... Fear and Courage are one in the same attribute." The voice called out to him again. "One cannot be courageous if there was nothing he feared. Because how can you have courage if you fear nothing? So be afraid it will only help you."
"Wh- who is there? What... Where am I? Where is Sergeant Murphy!" Barely rasping out voice Alex coughed. He didn't realize how thirsty he was. He throat so dry. He then felt a thump on the back of his head. His eyes began to drift downwards over his sight again like before, but he struggled to keep them open. Another thump to the back of his head. Alex couldn't keep his eyes open any longer.
Vague sounds muffled into Alex's dreams that blanketed his unawareness. The muffled sounds became more clear slowly and louder he began to interpret them into words. Words by a voice he could recognize. A face began to become clear although blurry he could make out the face to be Corporal Cunningham and next to him was Sergeant Murphy. The sounds began to fade again, but as they did Alex reached out and as he did his eyes shot open.
"What...", gasping Alex looked around he found himself on both his knees and hands no longer tied up to a wall.
"Alex, hey, Alex! Dude you're finally awake! I've been sitting here for what felt like hours scared out of my mind; alone! I don't know where we are, but..." Cunningham looked down then looked over his shoulder. "We're definitely the only two in here..."
Alex then looked past the Corporal's shoulder to see a dark corner of the room where it seemed the light escaped but didn't come back from. Squinting Alex could make out some shapes in the darkness. Struggling to stand up on his own Cunningham helps Alex to his feet. Quietly they both walk over to the dark corner of the room where Alex could still barely make out the forms in the dark, but they looked like bodies.
"You just said we're the only two in here, but these look like people..." Alex realized now what Cunningham meant. As he shuffled closer he could make out two bodies. One was mangled a hole through the chest and the other seemed to be untouched other than a few scuffs; however he can tell they're both lifeless bodies.
"I guess that explains the smell..." Alex's legs wobbled for a second and he began to fall back, but Cunningham caught him. "Is that... Private Mann?"
"It looks like him. While you were asleep I went over their bodies and even though all their personal information is gone including their Common Access Cards... Their CACs. I determined that this is indeed PFC Mann." Cunningham quietly announced loud enough for Alex to hear him.
"And the other body? He's wearing our uniform..." Alex knew the answer already, but he didn't want to really know.
"It's the Sarg." Cunningham let Alex hold himself up again. Then went back to sitting on the floor where Alex woke up.
"What... what could have made that hole in his chest? It doesn't look like a gun wound." Alex then too returned sitting next to Cunningham on the floor.
"I don't know. When I awoke in here I found them both like that. I don't think Mann was going to make it in the first place... His injuries were more than what we could handle it was only a matter of time I suppose, but what ever killed SGT Murphy... Had to have incredible power in order to deal that much damage and leave such a huge hole." Cunningham waved his hand around for a moment then put it back down.
A loud noise echoed into the room the sound was so intense both Alex and Cunningham held their hands over their ears. With all the disorientation and ringing in their ears they could barely see who was coming out of a concealed door way across from them in the room. Tall men dressed in blue uniforms with white helmets stormed into the room and picked them both off the floor and dragged them out. Their mouths were moving but Alex couldn't hear what they where saying. All he could hear was the ringing in his ears.
[Authors Notes]
This is only the first 3 parts of the first chapter. I got excited and wanted to hear feedback as soon as possible before I continue on. I will update the rest of the chapter after I finish it. It's late and I am tired. I hope you all enjoy this story. Its something I've been working on for a long time now and have constantly thrown parts away and rewrote whole sections... As you can tell that only the first 3 parts of the first chapter are all I have to show for right now.
I also been busy with life and have been wanting to write again for a while, but never really had the time to. But recently I started getting back into my audio books and it has reinvigorate my desire to write! :D
So again I hope you all enjoy and I hope I can update this again soon then finally start working on Chapter 2 again. Thank you.