Chapter 3
Road Stop
Moving in a convoy can be very, very sluggish stuff; especially when you have to keep your speed around 40mph for the sake of a tank and an APC's engine. It was just over 240 miles to Ar Rutbah from Baghdad, but you couldn't just straight-shoot it. The vehicles would needeto be refueled from time to time, and that was going to be a slow process, but that wasn't even the worst of it.
After about forty-five minutes, the Joe convoy approached Fallujah. Signs of destruction littered the sides of the roads, and very few people braved the city streets. Near the outskirts of the city, a US Army blockade brought the Joes to a halt. An officer walked up to the VAMP, but Clutch pointed him back to the Hammer.
"What's the situation, Captain?" asked Flint as he lowered the window.
"Can I see your orders?"
"Absolutely." Lady Jaye handed them to Flint, and he passed them on. The Captain's eyes bugged out.
"Damn. You guys are them G.I. Joes we're always hearing about?" The Captain returned the papers.
"Yes, sir. We're on special assignment, and need to get through here."
Shaking his head, the Captain pointed to the blockade. "Afraid I can't do that. There's been a series of assaults on the northwestern side of the city. We've got the whole place boxed up and not lettin' a single soul in our out."
Flint began tapping his fingers. "What if we helped clean up the insurgents?"
"Flint, no…" whispered Lady Jaye.
Tilting his helmet back, the Captain replied, "You do that, I'll push your pretty vehicles through town myself!" Standing back up, the officer started directing his men.
"This could interfere with our mission, Flint." Stated Lady Jaye.
"I know, but we don't have much of a choice." Turning around, the Joe Warrant Officer directed orders to the Joe desert troopers. "Get back to the APC. Tell everybody to get ready for action."
"Yes, sir." Said Dusty, who quickly jumped out of the Hammer and ran back. This time, Scimitar seemed bothered.
"Are you all right, Scimitar?" asked Lady Jaye.
"Yeah. Yeah. Sorry, I'm on my way." The Joe newbie climbed out and walked to the APC.
Rock'n'Roll looked down from the turret and asked the Joes in the front seats, "What's eating him?"
1.
It took all of Dusty's emotional strength to run through the streets of Fallujah. The city was far different from Baghdad: it was a wreck, barely able to call itself a city anymore. Terrorists had been using Fallujah as a stronghold for so long that a common person could not live in piece any longer. Bullet-holes littered the sides of buildings, while the sides of those buildings often littered the city streets. No matter how many times the US Army chased them out, the weasels always seemed to come back, hungrier than ever.
The Joes walked through the streets, staying close to the sides of buildings, and occasionally hunching over. Following the lead of a pair of Army Infantrymen, they quickly made their way up to the heart of the conflict. Light gunfire echoed through the air, along with faint screaming.
The Joes came to a parking area that had a fairly hidden view of a worn-down office-building in the distance. Two soldiers were already at the parking lot, keeping an eye on the building with large rifle scopes.
"That is where the terrorists are hiding?" asked Spirit.
"Yes, sir." Replied one of the soldiers. "They've been caged up in that building for the past forty-eight hours, and shooting at anything coming within a quarter mile of it. There's a pretty thick ring of defense around that place in the streets. It's a hell of a fight to get near that building, and then once you do, you can't get in."
Dusty looked through the grates of a very heavy fence to see and examine the large, cubical structure nearly half-a-mile away. Thick as an ancient temple, it carried the appearance of a fortress rather than an office building. It was strewn with damage, and even leaked smoke from windows on the northern and eastern sides.
"Are there any US troops around there now?" inquired Footloose.
"Yes. They've been hiding themselves on the northeastern side of the building and staying quiet. We could use a little help getting them out."
The level of patriotism boiling in Flint's blood was obvious. Surprisingly, he turned to someone else. "Any ideas, Stalker? You've seen more of this kind of stuff than any of us." Flint's question referred to the G.I. Joe ranger's extensive work in Africa and Southeast Asia, as well as a brief run through Central America. He had seen it all, and if you didn't respect that, his stories would change your mind.
"Two teams, one for the troops, the other for the building. There's enough of us to risk it."
"Sounds a little too SWAT-like, Stalker." Remarked Tunnel Rat.
"It's the way I'd do it. We don't have time for a grand battle strategy here."
Flint thought for a moment, then nodded. "Okay. First team: Spirit, Lady Jaye, Dusty, Spearhead, Footloose, Hit & Run and me. We'll go after the troops. Second team: Stalker, Low-Light, Rock'n'Roll, Zap, Pathfinder, Scimitar and Tunnel Rat. You guys take the building. Any questions? Good. Stay sharp. We can do this if we work as teams. Yo Joe."
"Yo Joe." Everyone made sure to keep the battlecry quiet.
Agreeing to relay the plan to the captain, the Army Corporal moved off. The other soldiers remained at the parking lot.
2.
Despite the annoyance of red-hot, cracked concrete and broken walls spread throughout the city that impeded a straight run, the Joe team made good time northeast of the building.
Walking along through the street, Dusty checked his FAMAS. Pulling out the clip, he noticed that it wasn't quite full. Trying to not think about why, he pulled out another clip from his backpack and slapped it into place.
Footloose walked up next to Dusty, "A little too familiar, eh, pal?"
"Yeah. At least the crowd isn't a factor this time."
Footloose looked up into the sky with a smile, "Hey…we get through this, I'm gonna throw you the biggest party you ever saw."
Dusty put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "You don't need to be doing that. Just promise me something."
"Uh-oh. I don't like promises, bud."
"Then just give an agreement to try."
Footloose smiled in his cooky way once again. "Okay, I'll bite that. I'll give you an agreement to try….what?"
"Cover my ass out here." Dusty continued, "In turn I'll make sure you're okay."
The former hippie looked a little concerned, but gave a slight nod, "Okay, okay, man. I'll watch out for you."
"Thanks." The two friends were quiet for a few minutes.
Flint pointed to a street corner, "There's where we need to go, but it looks really damn scary. Let's get our rifles up and walk with caution. Choose your targets wisely, but choose quickly."
With their rifles now up to eye level, and every Joe wearing a helmet, whether it was their normal get-up or not, the team crept around the street corner and softly made their way west down the narrow, dust-covered street. The sun was in their eyes, and the short width of the roadway made this area a perfect spot to pick off any intruders.
"I don't like this." Said Footloose.
"Shut up, man." Snapped back Hit & Run.
"No, really, I mean I really don't like this. I can't shake the feeling we're walking into a trap."
"Shut the hell up!" snarled the light infantryman again.
Flint stopped walking. "You know, I think I actually agree with Footloose for once." He raised his hand. "Everybody stop. Let's get out of here, but we have to back up." The team began a rewind their movements of just a few moments before, moving as fast as they could eastward down the street...
Until screams of Arabic echoed through the air. Looking down the road, the Joes saw flashes of AK-47 machine-gun fire pop out from around a far street corner. Spearhead was hit and fell backwards to the ground.
"Spearhead!" cried Lady Jaye as she leapt behind him and began pulling his body off of the road. Flint and Footloose opened fire first on the distant shooter, but missed him as he ran back around the street corner.
Windows began to shatter as more terrorists revealed their firing positions along the road and opened up. It was a good thing that the Joes hadn't gone any farther down the street: most of the terrorists were set up at the other end of the city block. Their strategy was obviously to get their opponents farther down the road to a point of no retreat, then finish them off.
Amidst a rain of bullets, the Joes kept their cool and sprinted for the sidewalk. Flint grabbed Spearhead's arm, and in unison with Lady Jaye, pulled him off of the street.
The destruction in the city was actually a saving grace for the Joe team. A heavily damaged car sitting on the sidewalk provided a small amount of cover for the Joes to regroup and regain their senses—but the bullets were eating it up.
"Hit & Run!" called Flint.
"Yeah?" replied the light infantryman.
"I need you to draw their fire!"
Hit & Run looked nervous, but then drew upon the inner courage that made him a G.I. Joe trooper. "Where do I go?"
Flint nodded down the street. "Back where that first shooter was. If you run at him, they'll all chase you. If you see him, take him out, but be careful about rounding that corner!"
"Yes, sir!" Hit & Run swung his XM-15 sub-machine-gun into position and crouched onto his knees. As he said a quick prayer, a chunk of brick cracked off of the wall behind him, and acted as his cue to take off.
Hit & Run was by far the Joe's fastest runner. He was small, lean and packed with durability. His abilities revolved around his gift of speed; and today, the ability to fire a gun while sprinting let itself shine.
Scrambling down the street, no longer protected by the sidewalk, the Joe light infantryman ran the hardest that he had ever run before. Immediately, the terrorists began chasing him with rapid blasts from their AK-47's, but were always a step behind. Quickly, the temptation to hit the little Joe obsessed the hidden shooters, and they lost attention to the threats rising out from behind the pulverized four-door sedan.
Having the first clear shot, Flint nailed a hidden shooter still firing at Hit & Run. Lady Jaye quickly followed, hitting another terrorist leaning out of a window frame. His body crashed to the ground. Snapped back into reality, the remaining terrorists turned back to the Joes, but it was too late; they were picked off by Footloose and Spirit.
Hit & Run reached the street corner, and was met face to face by the first terrorist, who was surprised to see an American troop already at the end of the street. The infantryman laid him down quickly with a brief burst of fire, but the momentum from his running carried him around the corner. As he rounded it, he cried out in panic.
Dusty pointed down the street. "Something's happening down there to Hit & Run!"
"Move it!" ordered Flint. Lady Jaye stayed with Spearhead, but the rest of the team sprinted down the street. Just before they could reach the end of the block, the intersection exploded. Being closest to the explosion, Flint and Spirit were knocked onto their backs. Dusty and Footloose were shaken, but managed to stay up.
Determined to save Hit & Run, the pair of Joes rounded the corner, and found a pair of terrorists loading an RPG. Hit & Run was laying face-first on the ground with his hands on his head. Dusty carefully aimed his FAMAS at the panic-stricken terrorists…and started shaking. Squinting his eyes, the Joe desert trooper began to sweat more from indecision than the heat; but when the RPG was swung into firing position, the desert trooper's hand clenched.
After a few moments, Hit & Run looked up. "Did you get 'em?"
Dusty lowered his gun and reached down for his friend, thanking God that he was still alive. "Yeah. I got 'em."