Brad laid his pack and bedroll out on the bed on the second floor; he saw the bundle of letters from his men. He picked them up and felt the weight of the stack before stuffing them back in his pack. He wished he knew how the group was doing at the compound. He wished there was a way to contact them to let them know what was going on. He made a mental note to again ask the colonel more about them.
He visited the stream. Stripping out of his uniform, he stepped into the water and was finally able to clean the days of dirt and grime from his bruised and tired body. He knew he wasn’t supposed to drink the local water, but after being chased by monsters and eating shit from cans, he barely cared anymore. He dropped his head deep into the cold water and took a long, refreshing drink. He lowered his full body into the clear water and lay against the bank, finally relaxing for the first time in days.
He heard a noise behind him and quickly stretched across the bank for his Sigma pistol sitting atop his small pack.
“It is okay friend. It is only me, Hasan,” Hasan said, walking from the shadows.
“Shit Hasan, I thought you were a primal, buddy,” Brad said.
“It is okay, I will not disturb you for long. Take these clothes, the women have volunteered to wash our clothing. They will have it back for us in the morning,” Hasan said.
“Oh, okay,” Brad replied as he saw a woman pick up his clothing from the bank and replace them with a white shirt and pajama pants. Brad blushed at the sight of the woman and sunk deeper into the water.
“Damn, Hasan! You could have told me she was there,” Brad said.
“Sorry friend, I was not aware that you were afraid of women. They will have our clothing cleaned and ready for us in the morning. Brooks already retrieved your other uniforms from your pack. You and the others can rest tonight; I will stand watch with the villagers. Good night Brad,” Hasan said, walking away.
Brad climbed out of the cool water and stood on the bank, letting himself air dry before putting on the clean cotton shirt and pants. The light material felt good against his skin and was a welcome treat from the dusty uniform. He slowly made his way into the house and through the empty room.
He walked up the stairs and found bowls of rice, vegetables, and dried lamb sitting on a table. Sean was wearing a similar pair of white pajamas and was already digging into the food. “The elder said as welcome guests we were entitled to a good meal,” he said.
“What happened to that guy?” Brad said, pointing at Brooks snoring away on his rack, also dressed in the pajamas.
“Looks like a full belly and clean clothes knocked him out,” Sean said laughing.
The next morning they found, as the women had promised, all of their clothing had been cleaned and folded. Brad found his uniforms in a neat stack at the foot of his bed when he woke up. He sat himself up and also found the food bowls from last night had been replenished with bowls of dates and nuts. There was also a tray of foot bread and a pot of tea. Brad was starting to feel guilty that these people were giving up their valued food stores for them, but he also knew it was the way in their culture and it would be rude to not accept the gesture.
He found Sean and Brooks already stuffing their faces. “Try the tea, it’s not bad,” said Brooks.
Brad ate while he dressed. He was overjoyed with the clean uniforms, especially the socks. He repacked his bags and loaded all of his items in the appropriate places. It would be a half-day’s walk to the hiding place of the man they called Aziz, and another two hours to climb up to the cave complex where he was known to be hiding. The colonel said that satellite photos had confirmed that Aziz was still there, so it would be up to them to grab him.
When Brad finished dressing, he carried his gear down to the large entry room where Brooks and Sean were waiting. “Have you seen Hasan?” Brad asked.
“No, not all morning, he slept in the main house last night,” Brooks answered.
They carried their gear outside and into the street. They were dressed in full battle rattle ready for the day’s march. Hasan was outside waiting for them. They went over the plan and Hasan drew them a large map in the sand. He described to them how to reach the base of the mountain, and where the most likely approaches to the cave would be found.
“Hold up Hasan, are you not going?” Brooks asked.
“No my friends, I cannot,” Hasan said.
“What do you mean you can’t? We need you Hasan,” said Brad.
“Look around you, Brad, these people need me. The elder asked me to stay, to help him protect his family. I fear my family is lost after seeing the dead city in the valley. I will stay and help to protect these people, they are my mission now,” Hasan said.
“I cannot argue with that Hasan, and I don’t blame you,” Sean said, reaching out to shake the man’s hand. “If we ever have the means, I will contact the compound and give them your location. Maybe one day they will have the ability to come for you. We won’t forget about you, Hasan.”
“And I wish you all good luck in your travels … Now go before you lose the light,” Hasan said, obviously trying not to choke up on his words.
The men exchanged hugs and handshakes before lifting their heavy packs to their backs and turning to face the road. They solemnly started their journey without the assistance of their Afghan guide. Brad turned around to look at the small group of homes one more time before they faded from his view. He saw Hasan standing in the middle of the square and he waved to him one last time before turning to walk away. Brad knew Hasan had made the correct decision, but he was still sad at losing a valued friend.
It was late in the afternoon when they reached the highway again. The mountain trail, as Hasan promised, had taken them around the dangerous primal-populated valley. The men sat in the shade eating a light lunch as they consulted their map. It was another two miles to the trailhead that led to the mountains, then at least a mile’s climb to make it to the mountain trail that would bring them to the cave. They wanted to reach the caves just before dark. They still had night vision and that would give them the edge over Aziz.
The team moved along the last two miles of the road in a staggered column. Brooks was in the front taking point and Sean was on rear security. Brad walked in the middle of the column on the opposite side of the road. Now that they were back on a mission, they felt themselves become more tactical again, and with the presence of the caves, who knew if there would be enemy nearby. The colonel had misled them before and they didn’t want to take any chances.
Brooks put his fist in the air and signaled a halt. They had reached the beginnings of the trail that would lead them to the mountains. It wound up steeply away from the road and cut into the side of the rocky terrain. They still couldn’t see the caves, but they tightened their formation and slowly moved up the path. The trail was very rugged and cut steeply up in several locations. Eventually it leveled out high in a plateau-shaped formation near the base of the mountain.
They took a knee while Sean scanned the rock face and stone slopes ahead with his binoculars. “I can see the trail leading to the cave, and I believe I can see the mouth of the entrance,” he said. “Let’s hide our heavy gear here. This is a good open spot for a helicopter landing or whatever the colonel sends to extract us.”
“I was thinking about that. If the colonel could send a helicopter to get Aziz out, then why didn’t he use that to bring a capture team in?” Brad asked.
“Maybe they have more helicopters than SEALs,” Brooks said. “You know what, bro? We’re already committed, so let’s just keep our heads on mission okay?” he said, smiling over at Brad.
They hid their heavy rucksacks in a crevice in the rocks and covered the opening with brush. All they carried now were their light day packs filled with ammunition and water, and all of their weapons. Brad missed his armored plates for his vest. It had been a while since he had faced a human foe. He didn’t know what scared him more—a terrorist behind a gun or the primals.
“Let’s go silent and stay concealed,” Sean said as he indicated for Brooks to move out.
Brooks again led the way on point, with Brad close behind them. They moved with stealth now, pausing often to just watch for movement and listen for the faintest of sounds.
The going was slow; even though the distance was short, it took them another two hours to get within view of the cave’s entrance. They pulled up into a hide in a broken rock formation just as the sun was beginning to set. Brad estimated they had less than an hour of daylight left. He looked through his binoculars, scanning the cave entrance while Sean looked through the powerful scope on his rifle. Brooks was a few feet away in charge of rear security making sure someone or something didn’t sneak up on them.
“There! I have movement,” Sean whispered. From the mouth of the cave they saw a man and woman walking together. They passed the entrance to the cave and kneeled in the late sunlight. Two men came out from behind them and took up a position to the left of the cave entrance. Only one of them was carrying a rifle slung across his back and looked very relaxed. The two men looked to be joking with each other, as one stopped to light a cigarette.
“Let’s assume the male with the female is Aziz. The other two playing grab ass and catching a smoke are the bodyguards,” Sean whispered. “Male wearing red is our target. Bodyguards are in blue. All three are bearded; this should be fun in the dark. OK, let’s get comfortable, we have confirmed the cave is occupied. We should be getting a call from the colonel just after dark with the go order.”
Brad adjusted his pack in front of him to pad the rocks that had started to cut into his elbows—it wasn’t perfect, but it helped. He scanned all along the face of the mountain with his binoculars but saw nothing else of interest. The rock face was jagged and worn, but the trail itself looked well-traveled and shouldn’t be very difficult. Brad hated walking on busted trails at night with his night vision; the lack of depth perception always made for a clumsy trip.
As the sun dropped behind the mountain, the cave entrance was quickly consumed by shadows. They had to switch to night vision to see anything. Brad pulled down the optics on his helmet to look at the cave; it was still too far away to get a clear image. Sean had advanced optics on his rifle, and it was now his responsibility to watch the entrance.
Right on time the phone buzzed. This time Sean answered with an ear piece to observe noise discipline. “Go for Chief … we are only three, Hasan opted out … we are locked and cocked … yes, we have verified that the cave is occupied. We had a visual on four individuals: one female and three males. I believe I have confirmation of Aziz … Roger that, we will obtain the package and return to flat ground … Roger, we will signal the aircraft with IR strobe … Roger we have sixty minutes … Hooyah, Chief out.” Sean finished the call and stowed the phone back in his pack.
“Okay let’s move. Brooks, you have point. Brad, you have the rear security now. Keep it tight,” Sean whispered.
They moved quickly and quietly up the trail. There was a full moon in the sky and the night vision was functioning perfectly. The trail was well-traveled and they could see that it had even been improved with stone steps.
When they approached the cave entrance, Brooks raised his fist and they took a knee. He tossed up hand signals indicating he was going to scout the entrance and he moved ahead. Brad watched him walk slowly and hunch low near the entrance of the cave. He stepped just inside the mouth and turned on the IR headlight attached to his goggles. He sat and listened patiently before waving the rest of the team forward. Sean and Brad fell in just behind Brooks, then they slowly made their way inside.
They found themselves in a long tunnel. The ceiling was just high enough that they could stand straight up, even though they were already walking at a crouch. There were benches at the base of the tunnel walls and old and battered ammo crates, probably long empty. They moved cautiously down the corridor until they reached a corner. They saw a dim light coming from around the bend. Brooks again called a halt as he grabbed his goggles and tipped them up and away from his eyes.
Brad watch Brooks slowly move his way to the edge of the corner and peek around it. He pulled his head back and let his silenced MP5 relax on its sling as he drew his fighting knife. He looked back at Sean. Sean nodded and Brooks rounded the corner. There were no sounds of struggle, but within minutes Brooks came back into view dragging one of the guards behind him.
Brad moved past the downed bodyguard and fell back in line with the two SEALs. They stacked up on a battered plank door. There was a light coming from inside so they removed their night vision optics. Sean peeked inside between the boards and confirmed that the other three targets were there. Brooks removed a small charge from his pack and placed it on the door. He looked at Sean and Brad and held up ten fingers, then dropped to nine. They moved away from the door and looked away, covering their ears.
With a thunder clap and a bright flash the door exploded in. Sean and Brooks charged in after the blast before the smoke had cleared. Brad was momentarily stunned but quickly got his bearings and followed them into the dimly lit room. Brooks had already taken down and was flex cuffing the second bodyguard. Sean had Aziz in a headlock. Brad scanned the room and saw the female on her feet running for the bodyguard’s rifle. He dove across the room and caught her in a flying tackle that crushed her into the floor. He lifted himself off her while maintaining pressure and put a knee in her back while he flex cuffed her hands behind her.
In under a minute it was over. They had Aziz cuffed, blindfolded, gagged, and lying face down on one of the beds. The female and remaining bodyguard sat against the wall with their hands behind their backs. The female was screaming hysterically and there was no calming her down, so Sean put a strip of duct tape across her lips when she refused to be quiet. Brooks lifted Aziz into a fireman’s carry and started heading out the door.