She lay in her bed, going over the lyrics in her head as the rest of the section dossed about. Her mind began to drift, she thought of the young girl she had grown close to in the village, Leila. She was even younger than Henry and yet she was promised to a man. Her father was definitely bad news but she felt that there was more to it than just that. She had a hunch that he was Taliban, she just hoped she was wrong for Leila's sake.
"Em?" Neal sat on the edge of her bed. "You okay?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'm just…" She started but he interrupted her.
"Thinking about that girl?" He could always see right through her. She nodded.
"It'll be fine, Em." She smiled.
"Thanks."
She turned over when Humbert stuck his head in to shout "Lights out, lads!" and closed her eyes, attempting to get a good night's rest before tomorrow.
"Swan? Swan?" He whispered. She moved her head and opened her eyes, focussing in on Jones stood over her. "Ops tent, now." He said again.
"Have I overslept?" She asked, jolting up, tucking her hair behind her ear and slipping on her boots. She stood and looked around, confused to find the rest of the section still asleep.
She moved the tent flap out of the way and crossed to the ops tent. Her football shirt and shorts were more than comfortable and she hated the fact that he had gotten her up at such a ridiculous hour.
When she moved into the small ops room, Jones already stood waiting for her along with Humbert and one of the more senior officers on the base.
"Sorry to wake you at such an hour Swan but we've received some new intel involving Leila."
"Is she alright?" Emma asked, now fully awake.
"She's fine for now, but we've had some new intel that her father went to a bunker in the town which is known to the ASF as a Taliban base." He said.
"I knew it!" She said, suddenly growing more concerned for Leila's wellbeing.
"We're going to raid the house tomorrow. Get Leila out and to a safe house. Then we can deal with Kazim. Since you're the only one who has actually eye-balled Kazim, you'll be vital to this op."
"Yes, Sir."
"Dismissed, Private. Sleep well."
"Thank-you Sir." She said, one last glance at Jones before walking out and heading back to her bunk.
"Right 5th Section. We go in as normal. Then, we split into two teams to raid the house. One lead by me and one lead by Humbert. We'll find Leila get her out and then it's up to Swan to ID Kazim. Got it?" Jones asked.
"Yes, Sir!" They shouted.
"Okay, let's get this done. Remember, Stay focussed, stay alert, Stay alive."
They climbed into the truck and made the usual short journey to the village. They filed out as normal and then on Jones' command, split into the teams to surround the house.
"Remember lads, no firing until we've got the girl out." Jones said into the radio. She was crouched behind him. "Okay, go, go, go!" He shouted. The front door was broken down and they ran in. She could feel the adrenaline rush going straight to her head as she looked around frantically for the girl.
"Sir, there's no-one here." Neal said into his radio.
"I've got eyes on the girl! Sir, something's not right, the locals are anxious." Graham's voice came over the radio. She looked to him, desperation in her eyes.
"Go!" He said to her. She ran back through the front door into the street.
"Where? Where?" She shouted. Graham pointed toward the vast open space that spread between the houses and the marketplace. Locals moved around the street, away from a narrow alleyway. She emerged seconds later, she wore a long scarf that covered her head and her chest, with a pink dress underneath. She stood staring at her as the rest of her section emerged from the house. They all shouted at her to raise her arms. She did so, Emma's heart stopping as she saw the bomb strapped to her small figure.
"Leila, don't move!" They all shouted, falling to the ground to protect themselves as best they could.
"Humbert, I want all cell signals blocked!" Jones shouted. She stood frozen to the spot. "Swan! Get down now!" He shouted at her. She ignored him and dropped her gun and rucksack, unclipping her helmet. "Swan! What the bloody hell are you doing?" He shouted again. She began to move towards Leila. By this time, everyone was shouting at her.
"Please guys? Just let me do this, you'll scare her." She said, tears falling down her face as she moved to stand in front of Leila. "Hello you." She whispered. "You just need to stand really still for me alright?" She asked.
"Am I going to die?" Leila asked.
"No! No, you're not gonna die." She could hear Jones behind her, asking where the bomb squad were. "We're gonna play Sang Chill Bazi and I'm going to beat you. We're soul sisters." She said.
"Sisters?" Leila asked.
"Yeah." She heard the ASF Captain tell Jones that the Taliban were trying to detonate the bomb and that he could hear them over the radio. Then, the bomb truck approached and the bomb technician moved slowly towards them, his bomb suit protecting him.
"Swan, move back now!" Jones shouted. She stepped back and let the man move between her and Leila.
"Just stay still, Leila, stay still." She said. The tech moved the vest slowly down Leila's arms and gently placed it on the ground, she stepped out of it. Emma smiled. Suddenly, an ASF soldier ran forward grabbing Leila and moving her to a pick-up truck on the other side of the truck where two other men stood waiting.
"SWAN! Get back now!" They all shouted at her and she ran back to her section, she hit the ground just as the bomb exploded behind her. Dust covering their bodies on the ground. Once it had settled, she stood and looked to the truck where Leila sat in the back, they drove off into the distance, and the section watched until it was over the horizon. She smiled, and let out a sigh of relief. Leila was okay.
She gently squeezed the small bottle until the liquid dropped into Jones' eye.
"You're lucky, Sir. Millimetre to the left and you'd have been blind." She said, wiping his eye with the small cotton ball she held in her hand.
"We were all lucky, Swan." He said, looking at her as she sat on the bench in front of him. The dust still covered half his face and she had a series of cuts on her face too.
"Do you think she's alright, Sir?" She asked.
"I don't know, I don't care." He said bluntly.
"No offence, Sir, but that's a bit heartless." She said, simply.
"It's not heartless, Swan, it's just I don't get emotionally invested."
"Yeah, I got that." She said a little harshly. His head jolted up and he looked her right in the eye.
"Sir! You ready?" Humbert shouted from outside. She stood and threw away the cotton as well as the disposable gloves she wore.
"Cheers, Swan." He said simply.
"Course." She said, facing the wall.
He moved out of the room and climbed into the armoured truck, Emma followed closely behind with her kit bag, slung over her shoulder. It had been a hell of a day and now all she wanted to do was get a shower and sleep it off.
"Ready for the concert tonight Swanny?" Neal shouted over the hum of the truck. She groaned loudly and slammed her head against the side of the truck.
This was so not going to end well.