CHAPTER 6:

"James? Wake up; we've got to get going. The damn Taliban won't wait around forever." Jen shook James by the shoulder. He mumbled something and rolled over. After last night, and a restless sleep in the 'roach motel', he really didn't feel up to going out in the middle of the desert to see if his former enemies had contract work. Jen scowled at him, and went to use the bathroom. James stayed for another second and as he heard the door shut, he reached over and looked at his watch. It was 6:30AM local time. He grumbled, putting on his watch and clothes that were scattered on the wood floor. He started gathering his things and as Jen came out of the bathroom, he was all ready to reluctantly go.

"All right, so when we arrive, I'll do the talking. If you want, you can stay in the car." Jen offered as she started heading to the north-west, to the outskirts of Al-Jamaliyah. The Taliban were reported to have been stationed just south of the town. Jen was driving once more. The sand was just slowly whipping up around the sides of the road, nothing that would pose as a hazard to a driver.

"I guess so." James grumbled. Jen knew this was a big thing for him, considering that five years ago, he was ordered to kill the Taliban in Iraq. Now, he had to see if they were offering contract work. It did not make him a happy camper and Jen knew it.

A few hours had gone past, and finally, they had arrived at a besmirched set of tents at the base of a small series of hills. Jen pulled the truck to a stop just as two guards started walking towards them. James shrunk back in his seat, cringing. He badly wanted to pull out his M4A1 and blast them back to the hell they came from. Jen left the keys in the ignition and got out. The one guard, whose face was mostly covered by a lengthy piece of material realised who had arrived. He motioned for Jen to follow him. Then when they walked over to the main tent's flap, the other guard held his rifle across blocking Jen's way. She then realised that he was telling her to give him any guns. She scowled, pulling out the M9 she holstered on her leg. The guard finally let her in.

It was dark, only lit up by a few candles and oil lamps here and there. It was a complete mess with papers covering the tables, empty food cartons left out and half-full glasses accompanied them. She proceeded with caution further into the tent. There was a man sitting in the chair reading something. He looked up and put the paper down.

"Good evening…infidel." The man growled. Jen sighed, taking a seat.

"All right, let's get down to business here. What contracts do you have?"

"We have a lot. Now I know who you are, but you do not know who I am, do you?"

"No…I have no idea. I was not told who I would be dealing with exactly." Jen replied, folding her arms.

"You will only know me as Achmed." He said, tracing the sides of his black beard with his fingers.

"Right then. What are your contracts?"

"I have a lot of them. Mostly…getting rid of those American bastards. Along with the Chinese…and those cursed Saudis!" He slammed his fist down on the table, making Jen flinch slightly.

"Ah I see….and how much are you offering?"

"Ha-ha….air strikes. RPGs et cetera. And as for the money, I will give you fifty million for destroying each faction completely. I want them GONE!" Jen grinned evilly. This was something she could do; very, very easily.

"It sounds great. I just need to…" She stopped when she heard mass gunfire. She and Achmed ran out of the tent to see the two guards firing at the Humvee. "Tell them to stop!" He grabbed the gun out of the one guard's hands and then told the other one in his native tongue to stop. The guard did as he was told, and emptied the clip of his AK-47 at the hill side.

James slowly crept up, M4A1 in hand. As soon as the bullets stopped ricocheting past his head, through the window of the truck, he looked over to see Jen and some other Taliban guy talking. Jen nodded her head and fast walked back over into the Humvee. She entered in silence, starting the engine and roaring off, putting the pedal to the floor. A few miles later, she let a big breath of air escape her lips.

"Bastards, the whole lot of them."

"Now do you see why I really hate them?"

"Why the bloody hell did they start shooting at you anyways?" Jen snuck a glance over at her husband.

"Well…I was resting my arm on the window sill of the truck, and I guess they must have seen this." James showed her the American flag embroidered on the shoulder of his army fatigues.

"That wasn't smart. You're not hurt are you?" Jen asked, giving him a concerned glance.

"No, I'm fine. They all bounced off the side, and only went through the open windows."

"Good. Well, looks like we're camping out in this thing tonight." She sighed. They had a good hour of driving left if they wanted to arrive in the next town, but it was already getting dark. She turned off onto a side road, and then pulled off of it next to some trees. She killed the engine and got out. James followed and he started setting up a fire pit. He used a lighter on some twigs and soon enough, they had enough of a fire to cook the can of beans they had packed with them.

"It's not the greatest, but it's not the worst I've been through." Jen muttered, taking a spoonful of her beans. James sat down on the ground beside her.

"At least we're together out here." He reassured with a glint in his eye. Jen looked back at him with a tired smile.

"That's true." She set down her now empty can. "I wonder how Marissa's coping with Fiona and Cooper."

"She's probably fine. If there was something wrong, don't you think she would have called you?" Jen looked down at the half dead iPhone in her pocket. There were no new calls or texts or anything. She then started texting Fiona, saying that she and James were all right and were going to see one more faction before they started working and getting paid. She put the phone away, and leaned back on James' shoulder and looked up at the starry night sky. He leaned in and kissed her softly.

"So…are you over it now?"

"I think so. Just…never something like that again, all right?" She stared at him straight in the eyes. He winked at her.

"I promise..."