When Jay opened the envelope, he felt like his past had caught up with him, everything he thought he had left behind was coming back to him. It was never easy for him to talk about his time in the army. But the content of this envelope released in him too many memories, but above all: shock, and fear. He couldn't believe what the envelope contained. It was a photo of a little girl with a message on the back.
"Do you remember her Jay? I have not forgotten anything. J.R." - Jay read the message in the photo in a low voice.
Reading this message Jay brought back a memory that he never thought he would have again.
We go back in time to Jay's last years with the army.
Jay was in Kabul, Afghanistan. He was on a mission with his team. They had to extract a CIA informant, who had been kidnapped by a group of Taliban. What seemed like a simple extraction mission turned into a nightmare for Jay.
The informant was in a compound, protected by a medium group of Taliban. Jay was in charge on the mission. He ordered his men to enter the compound, while he and another of his men took care of the Taliban from afar.
His team consisted of four men: Arthur Bradley, Frank Hoffman, Ian Duncan, and James Ray. Or as Jay called him "J.R." James was Jay's best friend, since camp they had been friends. The two were inseparable. Jay was the best sniper of all, and James was his observer.
"Are you ready" - James asked Jay.
"Always. let's start with this. " - Jay replied to his friend, while he placed his rifle and got ready.
"At my signal you enter from the Bravo side of the complex." - Jay ordered to Frank and Ian, who were already prepare.
James started giving him the wind and degree data so Jay could complete the shots. Everything was going according to plan. But Jay decided to go ahead with a shot, and without hesitation unloaded his rifle on a Taliban.
"What are you doing? Wait until the shot is clear and accurate. Do not rush." - James tried to stop Jay from shooting.
"I gave him, right? Don't worry, nothing happens. " Jay calmed James down as he waited for confirmation of his next shot.
Jay and James had finished removing all the Taliban from the compound. They were closing in on the compound to catch up with the rest. While James waited for Frank and Ian to come out with the informant, Jay was checking that there were no more Taliban. In that, he enters in a room and finds a small body lying on the floor, with a gunshot wound to the head. His face was covered with a cloth. In his left hand what looked like a rifle was a broom. Jay began to doubt himself and decided to remove the cloth from the face of the body. She was a little girl; she was about 8 years old. She had been the so-called Taliban Jay went ahead to shoot.
Jay couldn't believe it. He had killed a little girl. Jay wanted to vomit, his head was spinning, he was doubting all the decisions he had made on that mission. Jay's face showed his fear and sadness, James decided to see what was happening with his best friend. As he entered the room Jay was in, he saw the same and felt the same as Jay.
"What's up Jay? Who is she? " - James asked him.
"James is a ... is a girl." - Jay replied with a trembling voice
"I kill a girl; I kill a girl. What have I done? It's my fault." - Jay repeated it over and over again while he saw the body.
"Jay is not your fault, you made a decision, you thought it was a weapon, you did it to protect your team. I would have made the same decision. It's not your…" - James said to his friend trying to comfort him.
"Exactly, I thought I saw something, and I was wrong. If I had not anticipated. This would not have happened." - Jay interrupted his friend as he fell apart.
"Guys we have the informant, it's time to go." - Ian informed his teammates.
"Let's go Jay, there's nothing you can do. Let it go." - James took Jay's shoulder pulling him towards him so that they left the place.
As they returned to the base, the image of that girl was in Jay's head. He couldn't get her out of his. He couldn't believe it; she just was a girl. Jay was trying to keep his emotions hidden, so his men wouldn't see him as he was falling apart inside. This mission was going to remain in Jay's memory for his entire life. But the image of the poor girl shot to the head and was going to have engraved on his head forever.
I hope you like this chapter. Tell me what you think.