Chapter 4

Unknown location- Kandahar Desert.

-"Aden hurry up. How hard is it to jig up this stupid car?"- Luna could hear the sounds of gunfire.

Someone must have hidden from them during the first assault and was now taking advantage of the pinned-down friends. Luna hovered over Aden while he did his thing with the engine. They needed transportation back to the base and so far all available vehicles seem to have been tampered with; either they had no engine or they had a mysteriously clean cut to the gas lines.

It looked to Luna like someone had prepared to ambush them and she was pretty sure that person was the one with the sniper rifle taking shots at her team.

-"Luna I think if I can just give this battery the right boost it will work but the problem is I can't find another working engine in the vicinity to hot wire it. Nothing is working Luna... maybe we should just call it a day and try and get that sniper".

-"No Aden, Woods would have my head if something happened to you while she gave us strict orders to get a vehicle and stay away".

Aden was like a little brother to them all, but especially to Lexa who took the extra step to train Aden and teach him to become a better operator. They needed to figure out something else.

-"Aden what about the comms? Did you get Titus on it?"

-"No... Last I tried he wasn't responding. It's like the channel has interference." Aden looks at Luna worriedly.

-"Gus was left behind with it, but he hasn't responded to any of Lexas' calls. You think the sniper got 'em?"- Aden asks with a deep sense of dread in his stomach, it felt like someone punched him in the gut and simultaneously squeezed his lungs making it harder to catch his breath.

Luna felt the same.

They all loved and appreciated Gustus. He was like the mama bear of their group. He took care of them, guided them and was a mentor to the younger ones and more wild members of the squad. He was also one of the main things that kept the Capt. grounded. Although he was several years older than their leader he never showed any signs of frustration or resentment towards his commanding officer. Instead he was the most loyal of them all. If Gustus was dead... The thought proved too horrible to keep entertaining it.

Shaking her head as if to dispel the morose thoughts, Luna turned to Aden and grabbed him by his shoulders and made him focus on her.

-"Look lad, you are a great asset to this team. Not only because of your mental acuity but because we have taught you all that we can in such a short time. I know you are new to being in the field in extenuating circumstances but muster up your wits and get it together. I need you to think with that big brain of yours and fix this radio. The lives of your squad members depend on it."

Luna lets him go and preps her gear, making note of her ammo and grenade count. –

-"I'm going to make sure you reach Gus and that radio Aden, you make sure you do your damdest to get it to work... Do you understand mate?"

-"Yes ma'am I do" Aden looks at her with a resolute expression. If it's the last thing he does, he will get a message to someone out there.

-"Come'on then. We're wasting time".

Luna trudges on, making sure there is only one sniper threat. She stays away from the zone of danger thanks to Woods' call pin-pointing the snipers location and makes their way towards Gus's last location.

Almost at the entry point of the abandoned village, marked by arched walls in that orange brick color so popular in the middle east, Luna and Aden can see the slumped over form of Gustus.

Gus was leaning heavily on the wall with blood soaking through his shirt and his right thigh. Luna and Aden run towards him and frantically try to pry his eyes open and assess the damage, praying, hoping that they can make him react and they are not too late. The need for medical attention is blatant and so is the obvious fact that no one in their group has any medical training that can help Gus. They can try and keep him alive but there is nothing Luna and Aden can do beyond pressing down in the wound and stop the bleeding.

-"Aden!, hey!... Aden!" Luna tries to pry Aden away from Gus and make him concentrate on the only thing he can control right now.

-"Aden! Listen to me!... I know mate, I know how you feel, I love Gus too but right now I need you to get the comms to work. Lad, if we stay here the sniper is going to pick us out one by one and we are all going to die. Please mate look at me... I need you to do your best to get comms back up and I promise you I'm going to keep him alive until you can get us some help ok..." Luna knew she was most likely lying to the younger lad, Gus was probably beyond saving but she couldn't think of anything else to say to keep Aden going.

-"We need you to keep it together, for us and for our three mates stuck in a wooden cabin getting pinned down by a sniper..." Luna tries again…

Aden keeps looking at Gus and shaking him intermittently, trying to get his friend and father figure to respond. Gus's slow and shallow breathing the only sign of life he can see. -"Please Gus, don't let go... "Aden looks to Luna and nods, understanding that the lives of his teammates rest upon his inexperienced shoulders.

-"Don't let him die Luna" Aden says fiercely and gets up to run towards the comms' radio. He starts inspecting the frequency and waves of communication but cant see any patterns or hear any difference between stations.

Switching from a secure US radio station to an unsecure one that anyone can tune into is not the proper protocol but at the moment all secured stations are either down or being blocked by something emanating from a large relay station or tower.

Someone must have tampered with their towers at the base and made it impossible for anyone to radio in. Aden makes the decision to record a message and leave it on a loop in case anyone at Polis figures out the interference and fixes it.

"Alpha station, this is Corporal Blackwood, with Trikkru Squad. We are in need of immediate Evac and medical support. We have been pinned down by an unknown sniper and have a man down. Our coordinates are 109' 654' 33'."

Aden logs in the recording and makes sure it works before switching to an unsecure radio station to try and patch into them. Even if he can get the local FM or AM civilian station he can maybe garner enough attention to get the NATO base to notice them. He just has to make sure no 'undesirables' can tap into their location. Last thing they need is to give it away to more terrorists and get more in trouble...

Aden finally finds an FM station broadcasting a soccer game… -"Shit… Yes! I can work with this". Everyone likes soccer, or at the very least there is always someone who is listening in on the radio to hear the scores and the news. Aden remembers the mess hall back at base and how most soldiers who have European, Arab or Latino heritage are always tuning in to see how their respective countries are doing in the tournaments. This would be an ideal station to tap into and get people to notice them.

-"Luna! I got it man! I think I found a way… All we need now is a little bit of luck". Aden looks to Luna who is still with Gus. She has his head on her lap and he can hear her singing what sounds like something you'd sing to a fretting child to get them to calm down.

-"Luna?"

-"He's still here mate…" Luna looks up with tears in her eyes. It takes a lot for the seasoned soldier to cry but Gustus' condition is getting worse and honestly…she doesn't see him getting out of this one alive.

-"Get back to it lad, I'm sure any second now Woods, Wolfe and Forrest will be here shortly". Once they dispatch that sniper…If they dispatch the sniper…


Lexa Woods was not going to do die today. Her team was not going to die today. But that sniper trying to kill them was.

Every time Lexa, Anya or Lincon had tried to switch positions, to move out from behind the shack they were in or to get a better bearing on the sniper they would immediately come under fire. And since they had no locations for the sniper but a general direct all they were currently doing is losing rounds shooting at a random.

Currently she felt Like a shag on a rock

-"Stop! Both of you stop wasting ammo!"- Lexa shouts frustratingly at Anya and Lincoln. They need to get the snipers location narrowed down or they were indeed going to die today.

-"We're just shooting at random shit guys, we need to know where he is or at least get a bearing on him". –Lexa explains to her friends.

-"A distraction should pull him out of his space"- Anya suggests.

-"What the hell are suggesting Forrest?! A distraction?... you mean a decoy" –Lincoln shakes his head no.

A decoy for a sniper was sure to be dead meat before he or she got ten feet away from their location. It would certainly attract the sniper and give his location away but the price was just too high.

"Something else, anything else but that" Lincoln says with an angry scowl at Anya.

-"What do you suggest pretty boy? If you're too afraid to go for it fine but don't look at me like I'm barmy when I don't see you giving us any bright ideas". Anya says.

Lexa stays silent considering everything while her two best mates bicker like siblings or a married couple. Anyas' idea is good and would definitely work but the thought of losing either of them is too devastating to even think about. Just the thought of a silent Gustus and her heart constricts tightly in her chest. She feels slightly faint and has to take deep breaths to not let the thought of her friend dead overpower her mind.

-"We need to search the house better…" Lexa looks pointedly at Lincoln motioning him to explain his train of thoughts. "Maybe they have contraband tunnels or even a false wall to hide away or for prayer rooms. Hell, maybe well luck out and find an escape route used to hide families from the Taliban"- Lincoln rambles on, thinking mostly scenarios better suited for movies with happy endings or action novels where there is always an escape route for the heroes.

Lexa knows better...

And so does Anya by the looks she is giving Lexa...

Lincoln is too much of an optimist and an all around good guy to see that their situation is not one where they will end up all happy and safe.

Maybe they will die today... That's all Lexa can think about. Will we, wont we… How many friends will I lose today?

No, not anyone else. Not if she has anything to say about it.

She looks to her friends and can remember the things that endeared them to her when they first met.

Anyas' wit and seriousness. That look of total disdain she gives people she considered wankers, but to those she likes she gives the brightest grin with so much mischief in it that you think it can't possibly come from the same person who can glare so strongly at you.

Lincoln is like a brother to her. Their families go further back then she can remember and his mother has always been Lexas' biggest confidant and sponsor in the military. Lincoln is mighty and strong but tender hearted and fair. He has a willingness to see the best in everybody and is so loyal sometimes she thinks it might be his downfall.

Lexa can't stomach the thought that either of them will no longer be alive after this.

Lexa mentally shrugs and says "fuck it". She always thought shed make it to coronel and maybe have kids someday... guess shell have to settle for having Lincolns' kids named after her.

-"Your right Lincoln, we need to find an alternative exit. But Anya is also right in that we need a decoy." Lexa pats down her bullet proof vest and twitchily checks her mags and helmet.

Both her friends look at her with weary faces.

-"I'll hold the rear and provide backup for both of you while you and Anya use one of the compression bombs to blast a hole trough the wall all the way in the back. Make sure you both get the hell out of here as fast as you can once that blast has cleared. The sniper will immediately know what we are doing so he will change positions and try to cut you down. I'll stay behind, cover both of you so you make it out alright and take the bastard out." – "Am I clear?"

What was not said; what Lexa refused to let them consider, was that as soon as the sniper saw them run and the wall blew up, he would have at least one free shot to take at them before Lexa could locate him and return fire.

And because she was taking the anchor position, Lexa will be the one in the back, the one who instead of running for cover will stop dead center in the middle of the street and become a blaring target for the sniper.

Basically, she probably wasn't making it out of this…