Brooks eased the Defender onto the hard-packed highway. He cautiously dropped back into two wheel drive and accelerated. They made it a good two miles into the valley before they started to hear the engine squeal.
“I’m sure she’s cooking. I think we punctured the oil pan, and the radiator is trashed. We’re running damn hot,” Brooks said.
“Understood. Try to find Hasan’s trailhead or at least a break in these mountains before you stop,” Sean replied.
Brooks continued to nurse the vehicle down the road; it was still screeching and had started to leave a trail of blue smoke. He found a deep cut in the rocks that led to a trail, and pulled the Defender over and ahead to the entrance. Brad watched Brooks reach down and turn the key, shutting off the Defender for the last time.
“Okay boys, dismount and 360 security. Let’s get eyes on this location right quick,” Sean barked.
Brad tossed his small pack out of the window and crawled out after it. He took up a hasty security position just to the rear of the vehicle. He looked around and saw that the rest of the men had equally spread out and were searching their sectors.
“Looks clear here, Chief,” Brad said, and heard simultaneous replies of the same from the rest of the team.
“Okay, break down this vehicle. We need to be moving into these rocks ASAP!” Sean hollered back and he turned to move towards the vehicle.
“How well do you know this area, Hasan?” Brad asked.
“I have traveled this road often, and I have had the misfortune of seeking shelter in these hills before to evade your patrols,” Hasan answered.
“Good! Then you take point,” Sean said, smiling at Hasan.
It took them several minutes to break down the Defender. Brad felt the weight of his overstuffed pack when he heaved it to his shoulders. They had evenly distributed all of the food, ammo, and water between their packs. Brad was beginning to feel like a pack mule with the crushing weight of his load. He walked to the rear of the Defender and leaned his pack against the rock wall to try and take some of the weight off of his shoulders. He watched as Sean made a quick pass around the vehicle to make sure everything usable had been removed. Brooks took the keys from his pocket and laid them on the seat of the truck. Then Sean pointed to Hasan and signaled for him to lead the way.
Hasan went forward with his AK47 cradled in his arms. He moved up the large crack in the rocks to a narrow trail that led steeply up and away from the road. Brooks walked directly behind Hasan, and Sean took up the rear. Brad struggled to walk the steep incline and almost fell several times.
“Do not lose heart, friends, the path will become easier at the top,” Hasan called back to them. They climbed for several minutes longer, carefully stepping over loose boulders. At the top, as Hasan had said, the path dropped over the face of the rock, then flattened and slowly snaked up the mountain on the other side.
“I want to get as much distance on this place as possible before nightfall,” Sean said.
“What about the colonel?” Brad asked.
“Don’t worry about the colonel right now. Our job is survival, and that means getting as far as possible from that valley,” Sean answered. “Let’s try and make that ridge before we look for a campsite, Hasan,” he said, pointing to a high piece of terrain far in the distance.
Hasan nodded, stepped off on the trail, and set a quick pace. Moving fast, Brad felt the burning in his shoulders where the weight of the pack’s straps cut into him. His feet were swollen and he could feel every stone on the path through his faded and battered boots.
It’s going to be a long day,
he thought to himself as he concentrated on just putting one foot in front of the other.
The trail wound in and out of the face of the mountain. The surface was well worn and dusty, made up of mostly packed gravel and stone. As the elevation increased, the air thinned but it was still just as hot. The trail was quiet and they took several breaks where they would take a knee and listen. So far nothing was following them and the colonel’s advice that the primals avoided traveling uphill seemed to be true. Even though they were exhausted, they made good time and pushed each other down the trail. After several hours, they had finally arrived at the approach to the ridge.
Hasan stopped on the trail and sat on his rear, leaning back against his pack. He pulled a bottle of water from his pocket and took a long drink. “I wanted to warn you, when we pass the top of this ridge you will see the way is packed with hundreds more ridges just like this one. The trail appears to go on forever, but do not be disappointed, friends, it is less than two days’ journey back to the next pass and to the highway. We will see a village on the way,” he added. The men nodded as they lay back on their packs and drank from their own supplies of water.
After several minutes, Brooks got to his feet and extended a hand to Hasan, pulling him from the ground. They turned and made their way up the path to the top of the ridge. At the top they found the path widened and twisted into a large rock overhang. Under the overhang they could see remnants of an old campfire, evidence that this place had been occupied before. In the distance, the path wound at a slow downslope away from the ridge before it cut out of sight. As Hasan had said, the ridges stacked up and seemed to go on forever.
The next couple days are going to suck,
Brad thought.
They made camp in the overhang. The men dropped all of their gear and Hasan went off to gather wood for a cooking fire. Sean made his way to the overhang and sat down heavily.
“We will stand watch tonight in two-hour shifts. Let’s stay in this hide until long after daylight.” Sean pulled the phone from his pack and turned on the power before resting it on a rock. “We’ll have to be careful with the batteries now that we don’t have the Defender to charge them,” he said, then pulled two cans of slop from his pack and tossed them near the fire pit. “Here guys, let me buy you dinner,” he said before he leaned back against his pack.
Hasan returned with the wood and built a small fire. Brooks stacked rocks around it to conceal the flames from anyone or thing that might be nearby. Then he pulled the cooking pot from his pack and started the evening meal. They sat without talking and watched the fire, mainly due to exhaustion, not from a loss of words. Brad had little appetite but knew he had to eat if he were to have the energy for tomorrow’s hike. He took his portion of the slop and settled back against his pack and ate in silence.
Just as he was finishing he heard the phone buzz. Sean let out an exaggerated sigh and pressed the speaker button.
“Go for Chief,” he said.
“Good evening, Chief, I trust your egress from the city went well. Could I get a status report?” Cloud said.
“We are four strong. We are packing heavy ammo and rations; probably enough water for two, maybe three days,” Sean said.
“Well gentlemen, the satellite shows that the river’s bank was nearly leveled by the bombing runs. What primals there are seem to be dead, or dying, based on thermals,” Cloud said.
“Would have been nice if you could have cleared the city before we went through,” Sean barked.
“Once again Chief, we have limited air assets and even less fuel. We are running off the strategic oil reserves right now and we have to be very careful with what we’ve got. Your breaching of the city was a risk we had to take; fortunately things worked out well,” Cloud answered.
“Screw you sir! We almost died out there and now we are on foot and who knows where the hell we are at,” Sean barked again.
“Let’s calm down. I can see from the last satellite pass that you have drifted from the road that we recommended you stick to. I’m going to need to you make course corrections back in that direction,” Cloud said.
“Not going to happen Colonel! We are going to stick to these mountains until we hit the next pass. Our guide on the ground is leading this exhibition and he has been more reliable than you at the moment,” Sean said, nodding to Hasan, who nodded back in recognition.
“Chief, you do understand that you and your men are still members of the armed forces and obligated to follow orders?” Cloud asked.
“Understood, Colonel, please send out the MPs to make my arrest; I’m ready to go to the brig,” Sean responded sarcastically.
“Very well, Chief, have it your way. If you stick to the mountain path you will find some very rough terrain. The trail will break near the village of Shurazar,” Cloud said.
Sean looked to Hasan, who nodded, indicating the colonel was correct.
“What intel can you give me on the village, Colonel?” Sean asked.
“The village is very small, not many details in the record. We don’t know the state of infection, but it is somewhat isolated off the main road so you may get lucky. We will run satellite recon on the site during the next window,” Cloud said.
“And what is your plan for us beyond this march?” Sean asked.
“We will talk when you reach Shurazar, Chief,” said Cloud, disconnecting the call.
“Wow, he sounded pissed,” laughed Brooks.
“Yes, but we have the leverage right now. He needs us for something, that’s the only reason we have him. Probably the same reason they waited so long to call,” Sean said. “Let’s get some sleep, we have a long walk ahead of us tomorrow.” He rose to his feet and grabbed his rifle to take the first watch.
It was dark now and the temperatures had dropped this high in the mountains. Brad leaned back against his pack and watched the fire; it was burning low but the coals still put out considerable warmth. The men knew it wasn’t a good idea to have a fire out in the open at night, and was completely unheard of in military operations, but they were going by new rules now. Brad pulled his feet close to him and undid his boot laces. He immediately felt relief as he pulled the worn leather from his feet. A hot shower would be nice, but they barely had water to drink, they couldn’t waste any for bathing. Sinking deeper into his pack, he rested and watched the flames lick at the rocks they had placed to conceal the light of the fire.
He didn’t know how long he had stared at the flames; he couldn’t see past the glow of the fire. He looked to his left and saw Hasan sleeping soundly. Brooks was next to him, out cold with his rifle in his lap. Startled, he saw Sean standing across from the fire, looking out at the mountains.
“What is it Sean?” Brad asked. He got no answer to the question; Sean just stood there silently. Brad looked harder to see what Sean was doing, but he couldn’t make out his face in the shadows. Brad got to his feet and walked around the fire.
Sean was still standing in the same spot looking out into the mountains, his face darkened by the shadows.
“Sean, what is it? Do you see something?” Brad asked again. This time the man turned and Brad found himself looking into the face of PFC Ryan. His face was contorted in a scream and his eyes were nothing more than shriveled black holes. Ryan grabbed at Brad’s jacket and pulled him close to his face, then pulled his head back and let loose the primal moan. Brad screamed and dropped to his back, digging his feet into the ground to try and escape. Ryan fell on top of him and began shaking his arms while making the primal moan into Brad’s face.
Brad woke to Brooks shaking him awake. He was covered in sweat and his feet were scraped where he had pushed himself back into his pack and against the rock ledge. Brad looked across the fire and saw Sean looking back at him.
“You okay buddy?” Sean asked.
“I’m fine, just another bad dream,” Brad said. He looked over at Hasan who was also awake now. Hasan gave him a knowing nod and rolled over and went back to sleep.
“I’ll take the watch now if you don’t mind Sean, I won’t be sleeping anymore tonight,” said Brad.
They woke early the next morning and prepared their packs for the day’s march. They opted for a cold breakfast since none of them were in the mood to build another fire. Brad volunteered the cans from his pack, happy to lighten his load. The sun was just peeking over the mountain and the valley was covered in an orange glow. The temperatures were still cool and Brad was wearing a heavy fleece he always carried with him.
“We should reach the village by late day,” Hasan said.
“What are we going to find there, Hasan?” Brad asked.
“I have been through this village several times. It is very small, only a few families there, shouldn’t be many more than a hundred,” Hasan answered.
“Taliban, Al Qaeda?” Brooks asked.
“Is there such a thing anymore? It is only us and them now,” Hasan laughed. “No friends, these were always peaceful people. They are quiet and keep to themselves; we will have no problems from them. Unless of course they have turned.”
They finished their conversation and hoisted the heavy packs to their backs. Hasan once again led the way, with Brooks close behind him and Sean in the rear. They walked more slowly today, comfortable that they were not being pursued by the primals. The team skirted a high ridge line that had several cutbacks lowering them deeper into the valley. It would have been a beautiful sight under different circumstances. The sun was all the way above the mountain now, and the light warmed Brad’s face. He frowned, knowing that the sun’s same warmth would later torture him with its heat.
Sean and Brad walked side-by-side, feeling more relaxed in the deep isolation of the trail. It was impossible to keep up the high mission tempo for days on end, and it would kill them if they tried. Back on base they would go run their missions fueled by adrenaline, but they would always have the safety of the base to return to. Here in this new war they rarely found down time; they were always on edge with no home to return to. They were feeling the burnout, the complacency that could kill a soldier on the front lines.
They put their trust in Hasan; they were in his playground. The man was a machine. He had grown up fighting wars. He had his rifle slung across his back and he kept a slow but steady pace. He would pause when going around a blind corner, and would halt the small patrol if he felt uneasy and need a closer look. The going was slow but had also been uneventful.