Pappa Zulu – Chapter 34
“Fear attracts attack.”
-Edwin Louis Cole
The M2 emerged at the far end of the street. Half a dozen foot mobiles, an entire infantry squad, flanked it. They were moving together in close formation, moving with a purpose. And their direction was certainly indicative enough.
“Someone definitely spotted us,” said Whitman. “They’re trolling for us.”
“Only a matter of time, really,” replied Jones. “We;re not a special ops unit, we’re not cleared for this kind of shit.”
“Speak for yourself, kid. We cut our teeth on this kind of play a long time ago.”
It was Mill offering this insight. Saunders finally decided to intervene. The bastards were making far too much noise and they still had a job to do.
“Shut the fuck up, boys,” she said. “Just like stalking a deer or a Whiskey. Keep your head low, your mouth shut and don’t do anything to give away your position.”
The others nodded and lowered their heads some more. Up ahead, second squad was eying the convoy from the ground and training their weapons on the foot mobiles. And off in the distance, third and fourth were taking aim with their AT-4s while father one, the remainder of their platoon kept watch on the road for any stragglers or reinforcements. The line was baited and hooked, all they needed now was proper execution to made sure only the right people got snared.
One well-placed shot with a rocket would take care of the armored vehicle, they knew. But once it went up, every enemy grunt in the region would know where they were. But unfortunately, it and its compliment of infantry were between them and their Humvees. What’s more, there was no way they’d be getting out of the east end of town without alerting them, not since the enemy squad began going over their tracks.
IR imagining, TOW missiles, twenty-mil fire, she thought, taking stock of the vehicles offensive capabilities. Hell, the moment they turned their keys and started up their trucks, they could expect to be lit up in an instant.
As usual, part of the squad was providing eyes on target, the rest laid in wait and prepared Saunders keyed her comm. “Viper One One to Viper Actual. Enemy unit is proceeding u p Fairview to our location. Spot six foot mobiles providing cover. Armed with Mike Four Alpha Ones and Hotel Kilo four-one-sixes.”
Braun’s reply came back a second later. “Spot any Mike-two-oh-threes?”
“Negative on two-on-threes, sir. No grenade launchers, over.”
“Roger that. Standby to engage…”
Saunders released the mike and looked to her boys. Pointing to her eyes, jabbing two fingers at the enemy formation and then issuing a closed fist, she wordlessly instructed them to pick out their targets and wait for the go order. They nodded and took aim behind from the bushes, the balance of them training their SAWs and rifles while Jones kept their AT-4 handy. Picking out her spot at the left side of the hedge, she knelt down and positioned her SCAR in front of her nose, her sights trained on the grunt who was farthest left in the squad.
All other things faded from view within seconds of picking her target. All the other men walking along the course of the road, the vehicle behind them… everything. All she could see was this one, helmeted soldier and all the vestments they carried. In his hands, he bore an HK416, a pretty standard issue in the old days.
For just an instant, it seemed like an absurdity that she was aiming the red reticule of her sight on the man’s head. In a moment, she would shoot to kill, but the unwanted thoughts remained. What was he thinking? Who exactly was he? What combinations of things had he been told to bring him to this point in time, to this confrontation between herself and him? Did he even know what he was fighting for? Did she for that matter?
All questions which never came up when dealing with the Whiskeys. Aside from how they were going to secure their next meal and avoid the sun, they didn’t seem to hold much in the way of thoughts in their heads. At times, they could surprise you, she knew. But never did they show the slightest signs of loyalty to anything other than herd instinct. Not once did they exhibit the slightest trace of betrayal.
One could always trust them to go with their gut. On that, they never disappointed or strayed…
“Hold up,” said Braun over the link. Saunders shook off her thoughts and instantly became aware of everything around her. “Ah, standby…” he said a second later, and she felt suddenly nervous. The enemy was getting closer. The only reason to not pop them now was because something else was happening beyond them.
Saunders let go of her stock and reached for the mike. Out the corner of his eye, Mill saw her moving and looked in her direction.
“Sarge… What’s going on?”
“Don’t know… keep your eyes on them. Anyone spots us, we got no choice but to start shooting.”
“Few more seconds, it won’t matter either way,” he said, and went back to his sights. She could hear his breathing becoming short. She knew how he felt. It was never comfortable letting live enemies get too close. No one could tell when exactly they would get wise and react. It was much the same with the Whiskeys, but live soldiers had far better reaction time.
And they were armed.
Mercifully, Braun came back within a few seconds. “All Vipers, be advised. We have enemy reinforcements proceeding up from the church.”
Saunders sighed. Braun was referring to the Mormon church from the intersection ahead, where fifth squad had taken up position. As the nearest cross-road, it was the perfect place to spot the armored columns. From the sounds of it, more units were heading their way. Perhaps Whitman was right, somebody had called in a sighting. How stupid of them to think they could avoid detection until now.
“Viper One Five has eyes on a Mike-One-Alpha One, and Lima Alpha Victor and twelve foot mobiles.”
Saunders felt her breath go even shallower. The enemy squad was almost upon them, and from they were being told, they had a Abrams tank, another armored vehicle and two more squads behind them. Ideally, they might be able to contain that amount of troops, but there simply weren’t enough rockets in their platoon to deal with that kind of armor…
“First squad, interrogative, can you and second disengage?”
Saunders keyed her mike, shaking her head even though there was no way Braun could see her. “Negative, Viper One Actual. Enemy is upon us, we are immobile.”
“Stay seated and wait for them to pass,” he said cautiously. “We cannot risk an engagement at this time.”
Saunders released the mike and motioned to her squad to go prone. Up ahead, second followed them and laid their weapons down, hugging the ground and hoping the enemy would mistake their camouflage for foliage.
Few kept their heads up, fearing their eyes and goggles might give them away. Saunders, for her part, kept her head up. As the Bradley neared and the ground rumbled, she had to keep her eyes trained. She watched her target saunter by, talking idly to the other men as if he hadn’t just experienced a close shave with death. The sound of the Bradley’s treads drowned about everything out, but she thought she heard the sound of laughter.
The rumbling passed slowly as the squad and their vehicle passed their position alongside the road. She felt that itchy, vulnerable feeling again. Having the enemy in their blind spot was known to do that, one’s entire backside feeling exposed until they were safely in the distance.
Only when the rumbling was gone did she feel safe enough to raise herself into a crouch. Up ahead, she could see the formation Fifth Squad had spotted, and it was presently moving their way. Seeing it for herself, it looked far worse than the described. The LAV was menacing enough with its twenty-millimeter cannon and compliment of machine guns, swiveling back and forth, surveying the street. But the real impression came from the Abrams located just behind it. Every angle on its turret looked like an impenetrable wall, impossibly thick and sharp looking. And to make matters worse, the cannon extending from the front was a menacing bastard, a single shot enough to take out any one of their vehicles.
Roll past, she said silently. Head on past and bother us no more.
She ducked her head this time and waited for the terrible rumbling to cease. The ground shook beneath her and she could the muffled complaints coming from her left. Some of the boys were hugging the ground extremely hard, and she felt sick with worry for them. No doubt they were feeling the same nervous tingle, running up and down their spines. Just waiting and wondering if the rumbling would cease and be replaced by the terrible hail of automatic fire.
But in a sense, the rumbling was also quite soothing. Under different circumstances, it might have been reassuring to feel war machines that bore friendly insignias rolling by. And evening the rumbling itself was kind of nice, its rythmic vibrations providing a certain…
Oh fuck you! The feelings of worry were dashed when she realized what her squad mates were doing. She had heard about this before, but being a girl, it was not spoken of openly in her presence. She knew now why they were hugging the ground so tightly, why they were moaning, and how it had nothing to do with fear. Were it not for the twenty ton war machine passing them by, she might have smacked them in the head.
Oh well, something to do if we make it out of here in one piece.
Keeping her head down, she breathed slow and waited for the rumbling to pass. She waited and noticed a change before long, but it was not the one she desired. Instead, of rolling off into the distance, as the M2 had, it stopped completely. That could only mean one thing. The second convoy, with its armored fist and its many grunts providing cover, had stopped in the middle of the road.
Braun was on the comm a second later and confirmed her worst fears. “Viper One One, this is Viper One Actual. Be advised, enemy victors have stopped ten meters from your position. We got eyes on foot mobiles, beginning to reconnoiter, over.”
“Oh shit,” she muttered. She wanted to look up, but dared not. At ten meters from their current location, there was no telling what they’d see. Even a few inches of movement could give away their position. Looking to her left, she spotted her boys who were suddenly looking very nervous themselves.
“Hold your position, Viper One One,” he went on. “Standby…”
Saunders rolled to her side and breathed very slowly, in and out, in and out… Her breaths came shallow and she could feel a burning sensation in her chest now. She could barely bring herself to worry about her squad anymore. Mill and Whitman were both looking in her direction and were registering total panic. It was then that she realized she hadn’t even given them any orders.
“Stay low,” she whispered. “Just hold still and don’t make any noise.”
Her heart leaped when she heard a branch crack not far away. The reconnoitering grunts were coming in their direction, spotting long the hedges. Within seconds of hearing the footfall, she spotted a helmet too, the muzzle of a HK pushing through a bunch of sprigs.
She grabbed her rifle and pulled it close. Sliding her hand underneath, she took hold of the trigger and stock and aimed it gently in the direction of the approaching soldier. He inched forward another foot and she saw got a good glimpse at his entire head, helmet, goggles, and the lower half of his face.
In her mind, something clicked as she realized it was her target. Their was no point in questioning who he was or what he was doing here. She now knew with grim certainty that this man was marked by some power greater than herself.
She was going to kill him. There was simply no choice in the matter.
She took hold of the trigger and eased the muzzle in the direction of his face. One shot was all it would take to bring him down and set their entire world on fire. She had her finger ready and began to pull…
The LT’s voice sounded in her ear. “Viper One Four, weapons free!’
The head turned ninety degrees to the rear. Cracks and thunderous roars opened up and his body tensed, the sound producing a convulsion in his body which attempted to lower him out of harms way. It was too late. Saunders finger closed the remainder of the distance and fired a slug clean into his cheek. Blood sprayed out the hole in an aerosol mist and he fell to the ground.
A cacophony of noise filled the air. More cracks of gunfire, more burst of flame, and more pounding explosions. She felt everything through the ground and some of it felt like it could lift her clear from the earth. And yet, above her, it felt like a solid wall had settled in. A sheet of noise and exploding air that made it impossible to look up without losing her head. And all around her, men were screaming as the chaos exploding in their ears and filled their sense. One was even screaming to her, though she couldn’t make out the words.
The world had indeed caught on fire. It’s foundations crumbling around her…
