Under Attack:
'Have you been hit Molly?' he asked anxiously as he saw the dark red liquid curling through the sand. He sat up and gently rolled her away from him so he could check. 'Nuffin 'urts, but there's bleedin' blood everywhere' she said. 'Looks like the insurgent took the shots and fell on you. It's his blood, thank God' said Cpt James. He then caught sight of her neck and the deep red weals made when the insurgent grabbed her. 'You gonna have some bad bruising Dawsey' he said lifting her hair. 'I can 'andle that. I fought I was a goner an' I couldn't believe it when I 'eard your voice. I'd been praying for you to come an' get me, and suddenly you was 'ere. She reached up and stroked his cheek and they both looked into each other's eyes. Qaseem crawled over ' dear Molly, I'm so glad to see you'. Molly reached out and touched his hand, he covered her hand with his and his eyes smiled at her. They all looked at the body of the insurgent and then at Abdul. Qaseem covered Abdul's face with his head covering. He bowed his head' Tashakor, thank you'
'Captain James, Captain James, prisoners sir' Dangles shouted. Satisfied Molly was ok, James assumed command. 'Dawes, Qaseem, keep low'. ' Kinders over here'. Kinders crawled over. 'Sir' 'On my count of three keep low, we're going to check out the prisoners' 'Yes sir'. 'Three-go'. They ran towards the rubble of a building twisting and turning as they ran watching for any snipers. 'What have you got lads' he pushed through and saw 2 insurgents lying facing down, hands bound behind their backs. 'We found them like this Sir' 'Looks like an internal power struggle between warring factions of Taliban' said James. 'Ok let's get transport in and get the fuck out of here before the cavalry come in and try to rescue them'. Kinders radioed for support and at the same time rapid fire started to come from the trees where 2 Platoon had been holed up.
'Take cover' James shouted. 'Take cover' screamed Kinders. James saw movement out of the corner of his eye and raised his weapon. 'Don't shoot Boss it's us' screamed Molly as she and Qaseem zigzagged through the sand and threw themselves down with the others. 'They surprised us from behind. They're well undercover in them trees Sir'. Kinders radioed through to support and told them where the insurgents were. 'It'll be at least 15 minutes before we get back up so let's dig in where we can and 'eyes on all round', shouted Cpt James. 2 Platoon spread themselves around the ruins of the buildings, taking circular positions so that they had 'eyes on from all angles'. James and Qaseem remained in the area with the prisoners. 'We may have to use them to barter with the insurgents while we're waiting for back-up', he said to Qaseem. 'Talk to them and find out if we have anyone of importance'. Qaseem moved towards the prisoners and started talking with them. He eventually turned to James.
'Appears there is a leadership battle going on and it has split them down the middle. These men are loyal to someone called Aashif and the others to someone known as Majid, 'the glorious one'. Majid's soldiers captured them after they blew the truck up. One of them is Number Two to Aashif and a good bargaining tool for Majid.' 'So the insurgents holed up in the ditch by the trees are Aashif's men, but where the fuck are this Majid's men' James said. Rapid fire coming from 10 o'clock, met by rapid fire from 3 o'clock answered his question. 'Keep your heads down and take cover. Don't fire until I tell you' yelled Cpt James. 2 Platoon were surrounded by fire in the midst of a power struggle. 'Foot Locker was never like this' Mansfield Mike said. 'You better keep that ginger 'ead out of sight. It's like red rag to a bull. A sitting duck' shouted Fingers to MM.
'Qaseem, which is Aashif's Number Two?' 'This one Sir', he pointed his weapon at the one on the left. 'Right we need to get him away from here, he could be our passage out of this situation'. James and Qaseem took one arm each. 'Cover us' he bellowed to 2 Platoon as they dragged the prisoner through the sand towards the only building that had half of it still standing. A bullet whistled pass James and hit the wall of the building they were heading to. They dragged the prisoner behind the wall and threw him into the sand, diving down, weapons ready to fire.
'Is everyone ok Kinders' he yelled out. 'All present and correct Sir' Kinders replied. 'Good. About another 12 minutes before back-up arrives' he shouted. 'Give them our position and situation Kinders' 'Yes Sir'. Suddenly all hell broke loose. Screaming, shouting, weapons being unloaded indiscriminately. The opposing factions were storming the area in a face off.
'All of you get the fuck over here now' screamed James. 2 Platoon raced through the sand covered by Cpt James and Qaseem with Dangleberries and Nude Nut covering the rear as they zig zagged towards the wall of the building. They all hit the deck, sweating, breathing rapidly, fear coursing through them. 'Form a circle so we are covered from all points' ordered Cpt James. 'Insurgent in the middle of the circle' Baz Vegas and Brains dragged him into the middle. 'Keep your eyes on him'. 'Sir' they yelled.
From their vantage point they could see the insurgents racing towards each other. Thank God we're not in the middle, thought James. 'Sir' screamed Mansfield Mike, 'they're coming up behind us' Cpt James turned to see two insurgents heading towards their cover position. 'Rapid fire now' he shouted to MM and Fingers. They unloaded their weapons scoring direct hits. 'Well done lads' James shouted. Firing came from his left, Brains and Dangleberries had eyes on two more insurgents trying to storm their position. More firing from the right as Dawes and Brains halted the advance of yet two more insurgents. 'Shit, where's the fucking back-up' he shouted to Kinders. 'We're surrounded'. 'I've lost contact Sir, there's no signal' Kinders yelled back. 'Fucking brilliant' James shouted. 'Sir' Qaseem screamed. James turned to see a group of 12 insurgents had surrounded their position and were pointing their weapons at 2 Platoon. They were well and truly ambushed. 'Don't make any sudden moves lads' he said. They looked at him and then saw the insurgents, weapons at the ready. He stood up, hands raised. Qaseem spoke to them and he too stood up. One of the insurgents raised his weapon and pointed it at Cpt James, finger on the trigger. It was too much for Molly and she screamed out 'No don't shoot him please' the anguish in her eyes plain for all too see.
Suddenly the insurgents weapon was knocked up in the air, out of his grasp and a masked man walked forward. 'Molly Dawes, we meet again' It was Brit speaker. She stared in surprise. 'You escaped that mortar attack ' she was shocked. What was happening. She was terrified and could feel the fear of everyone in 2 Platoon.
'Yes Miss Molly I did and you and your fellow soldiers have rid us of our enemy and we have a hostage we can use to suit our purposes' he said kicking the leg of bound up insurgent. Molly shivered as she remembered when he had done the same to her.
He said something to his men. Majid, Majid, they chanted and dragged the insurgent on the floor to his feet. A shot rang out. He shouted pushing Molly to the floor. Everyone hit the deck. There was a lot of screaming and shouting. Two of Majid's men ran out into the open firing rapidly. Silence.
Everyone was face down. 'Molly' Cpt James called out. 'I'm okay Boss Man' she shouted back. For the second time he thanked God. Suddenly the noise of the back-up helicopter broke the deathly silence and Kinders radio sprang back into life. 'Come in 2 Platoon, give us an eye on your position' came the command. Kinders looked at Cpt James. Majid's gaze swept around the area and he eyeballed Cpt James. 'Go ahead Captain, give them your instructions, but…..we will disappear first and you will not allow them to pursue us' he ordered James. James looked at him suspiciously and hesitated. 'We took Molly Dawes to kill her but she saved the life of my brother, therefore I will re-pay her with the lives of you and your men'
James reached over, took the radio from Kinders and spoke rapidly giving details of their position and advising that there had been a gun battle and in the main all of the insurgents were dead. He knew he should advise them about Majid and his men but the lives of his Platoon were at stake. Suddenly Majid and his men were gone in the swirling sand as the chopper put down.
'Everyone onboard now… go' he shouted. His men were in a semi trance absorbing the situation. 'Did you hear me, I said NOW' he bellowed. 'Sir' the trance broken, they jumped up and headed towards the transport. 'Dawes, I'll need a full briefing from you when we get back to base' 'You can 'ave that alright Boss Man' she grinned at him. Oh how he loved her. He and Qaseem were the last to board. The chopper lifted off and roared away.