RedViper
November 3rd, 2012, 07:41 AM
READ THIS ONE FIRST >>>>> http://www.virtualteen.org/forums/showthread.php?t=143165
Bamyan
Kristal sat in a Humvee as it bounced over the sandy hills. She and her unit had been out all day in Bamyan. The Afghan city was famous for its statues of Buddha. It had been a relatively quiet day. Over the last few weeks it had seemed like the attacks against Bamyan had been getting more frequent, but today there was nothing but a drunken man with a knife. He thought his wife had been cheating on him. Kristal wondered how he could tell her apart from any of the other women. Although most didn’t wear the full burqa it was still quite difficult to tell them apart.
The Humvee came to a sudden halt
“Jeez, Anderson, could you drive any rougher?” complained one of the men in Kristal’s unit.
“I could if you like,” replied Anderson with a smile.
“Very funny.”
“You two are such children,” Kristal said with a laugh.
They got out and went to report to their CO.
“Captain,” said Kristal as they entered the command post.
“Masters,” replied the Captain, “what’ve you got?”
“No Taliban attacks or civilian casualties, Sir.”
“Maybe they’re starting to back down, Sir,” said another member of Kristal’s unit.
“I wouldn’t count on that, Lawes.”
“Just what we need,” said Anderson sarcastically.
“If that was all you can go back to your quarters.”
Kristal nodded and followed the others out.
Kristal sat on the bottom bunk and looked at a picture of her and Steven at a Marilyn Manson concert that was blu-tacked to the bed post. Steven had surprised her with the tickets the day before she was being deployed. She smiled.
“Thinking about Steven again?” asked Cassandra.
“How could you tell?”
“You always get a big smile like that when you think about him.”
Kristal forced a blank expression to her face and looked back at the picture. Feeling herself starting to smile again she looked away.
The next morning when she woke Kristal got out of bed and put on her clothes. She fixed her side-arm to the right side of her belt and a sheathed knife to the left side. She headed outside into the blistering heat and went towards the Humvees. Anderson, Lawes and most of the rest of her unit were waiting.
“Who are we still waiting for?” asked Kristal.
“Cassandra and Sherriff,” replied Lawes.
As he finished his sentence Kristal spotted Cassandra heading towards them. She was a tall woman of about thirty. She had her long blonde hair tied back and her head held high. She knew the guys were watching her and she loved every second of it. Despite Cassandra’s love of attention Kristal got along quite well with her. She was a reliable member of the team and an easy going person. She was also one of the few females there that she could tolerate.
“It’s not a catwalk you know,” joked Kristal when Cassandra got within earshot.
Cassandra just smiled and sped up.
Duncan Sherriff was a man of few words. He had broad shoulders and a piercing gaze. No man dared to speak ill of him.
Although he was her superior, Lawes acted more like an equal and rarely voiced his superiority. He’d earned Kristal’s respect, which wasn’t easy.
As they drove into Bamyan, Kristal admired the statues of Buddha, as she had every time they entered the city. They stopped at a small cluster of homes and got out of the Humvee. Lawes started to pair people up to patrol the area, he paired Kristal with Cassandra. They began walking towards the eastern side of the city with Lawes and Sherriff.
“We’ll take the north-east side, you take the south,” said Lawes.
Kristal nodded and turned south, Cassandra not far behind her.
Once they got to the south-east section of the city Cassandra noticed a slightly disfigured doll on the road.
“Kristal, what do you make of that?”
“It would appear to be a doll, Cassandra.”
“No, I meant do you think it could be an IED?”
“I know. I’m just screwing with you Cass. Call it in to Lawes.”
Cassandra got in contact with Lawes with her radio.
“Just stay put, we’re moving to your position,” instructed Lawes.
“Copy that.”
After five minutes had passed a young girl ran out onto the road to grab the doll.
“No!” shouted Kristal.
The girl hesitated, then looked back to the doll. Kristal could see her about to go for the doll again.
“No, stay back!” she shouted again.
The girl kept going and Kristal ran towards her.
“No!”
The girl grabbed the doll and ran off. Kristal stopped and bent over to catch her breath.
“Shit,” she panted.
“I guess it was just a doll,” said Cassandra.
“Lawes,” said Kristal over the radio, “false alarm. It was just a doll.”
“Copy that, we’ll head back north.”
Just as Lawes finished his sentence a massive explosion blew a car into the air about a kilometre ahead of them.
Kristal tried to get Lawes over his radio.
“Lawes?”
There was only static.
“Lawes?” she repeated with panic in her voice.
She changed the frequency on the radio.
“All units, car bombing on the eastern side of Bamyan. Repeat, car bombing on the eastern side of Bamyan. Requesting immediate assistance.”
“Heading towards the explosion now, was anyone injured?” asked Anderson.
“I don’t know, I’m not close enough,” she paused, “I can’t get in touch.”
Once they got to the explosion site Kristal looked around and shouted:
“Lawes?”
“Masters?” replied a strained voice.
Lawes looked out from behind a wall.
Kristal ran over to him, Cassandra stayed put. There was another explosion nearby.
“Rawlings, take cover!” shouted Lawes.
Cassandra ran and ducked behind a nearby car.
“What happened?” asked Kristal, “where’s Sherriff?”
“He was walking about ten yards in front of me and the car blew up. He’s dead. I took some shrapnel to the shoulder. It took out my radio.”
They heard vehicle approaching fast. There was another explosion that took out most of the building behind Cassandra; the flying rubble barely missed her. Civilians were scrambling to get away amongst the smoke and rubble. They could hear the sound of gunfire getting closer.
“Anderson, how long will you be?” called Kristal over the radio.
“At least five minutes. Did you find Lawes?”
“Yeah. Sherriff’s dead.”
“Shit.”
Another explosion hit the car Cassandra was hiding behind.
“Cass!” shouted Kristal.
There was no reply.
“Cass!”
As the smoke began to clear she could see Cassandra’s singed body lying on the road. She went to run over to her body, but Lawes grabbed her arm firmly.
“There’s nothing you can do Masters.”
A vehicle pulled up and half a dozen men got out, weapons in hand. More civilians scrambled away. Kristal and Lawes opened fire and took down two of them before the rest took cover. The Taliban returned fire. They continued to fire, killing at least two more of the gunmen. Lawes grabbed a grenade from his belt, pulled the pin and threw it towards the enemy. After a few seconds it exploded and there was silence. Kristal looked out from behind the wall, seeing nothing but flames and smoke. She took several paces. She could see the silhouette of a young boy behind the smoke. The child raised a weapon towards her. She hesitated, then fired several rounds. The boy collapsed. She walked through the smoke and inspected the dead: six Taliban and the child. His toy aeroplane clutched in his hands.
Bamyan
Kristal sat in a Humvee as it bounced over the sandy hills. She and her unit had been out all day in Bamyan. The Afghan city was famous for its statues of Buddha. It had been a relatively quiet day. Over the last few weeks it had seemed like the attacks against Bamyan had been getting more frequent, but today there was nothing but a drunken man with a knife. He thought his wife had been cheating on him. Kristal wondered how he could tell her apart from any of the other women. Although most didn’t wear the full burqa it was still quite difficult to tell them apart.
The Humvee came to a sudden halt
“Jeez, Anderson, could you drive any rougher?” complained one of the men in Kristal’s unit.
“I could if you like,” replied Anderson with a smile.
“Very funny.”
“You two are such children,” Kristal said with a laugh.
They got out and went to report to their CO.
“Captain,” said Kristal as they entered the command post.
“Masters,” replied the Captain, “what’ve you got?”
“No Taliban attacks or civilian casualties, Sir.”
“Maybe they’re starting to back down, Sir,” said another member of Kristal’s unit.
“I wouldn’t count on that, Lawes.”
“Just what we need,” said Anderson sarcastically.
“If that was all you can go back to your quarters.”
Kristal nodded and followed the others out.
Kristal sat on the bottom bunk and looked at a picture of her and Steven at a Marilyn Manson concert that was blu-tacked to the bed post. Steven had surprised her with the tickets the day before she was being deployed. She smiled.
“Thinking about Steven again?” asked Cassandra.
“How could you tell?”
“You always get a big smile like that when you think about him.”
Kristal forced a blank expression to her face and looked back at the picture. Feeling herself starting to smile again she looked away.
The next morning when she woke Kristal got out of bed and put on her clothes. She fixed her side-arm to the right side of her belt and a sheathed knife to the left side. She headed outside into the blistering heat and went towards the Humvees. Anderson, Lawes and most of the rest of her unit were waiting.
“Who are we still waiting for?” asked Kristal.
“Cassandra and Sherriff,” replied Lawes.
As he finished his sentence Kristal spotted Cassandra heading towards them. She was a tall woman of about thirty. She had her long blonde hair tied back and her head held high. She knew the guys were watching her and she loved every second of it. Despite Cassandra’s love of attention Kristal got along quite well with her. She was a reliable member of the team and an easy going person. She was also one of the few females there that she could tolerate.
“It’s not a catwalk you know,” joked Kristal when Cassandra got within earshot.
Cassandra just smiled and sped up.
Duncan Sherriff was a man of few words. He had broad shoulders and a piercing gaze. No man dared to speak ill of him.
Although he was her superior, Lawes acted more like an equal and rarely voiced his superiority. He’d earned Kristal’s respect, which wasn’t easy.
As they drove into Bamyan, Kristal admired the statues of Buddha, as she had every time they entered the city. They stopped at a small cluster of homes and got out of the Humvee. Lawes started to pair people up to patrol the area, he paired Kristal with Cassandra. They began walking towards the eastern side of the city with Lawes and Sherriff.
“We’ll take the north-east side, you take the south,” said Lawes.
Kristal nodded and turned south, Cassandra not far behind her.
Once they got to the south-east section of the city Cassandra noticed a slightly disfigured doll on the road.
“Kristal, what do you make of that?”
“It would appear to be a doll, Cassandra.”
“No, I meant do you think it could be an IED?”
“I know. I’m just screwing with you Cass. Call it in to Lawes.”
Cassandra got in contact with Lawes with her radio.
“Just stay put, we’re moving to your position,” instructed Lawes.
“Copy that.”
After five minutes had passed a young girl ran out onto the road to grab the doll.
“No!” shouted Kristal.
The girl hesitated, then looked back to the doll. Kristal could see her about to go for the doll again.
“No, stay back!” she shouted again.
The girl kept going and Kristal ran towards her.
“No!”
The girl grabbed the doll and ran off. Kristal stopped and bent over to catch her breath.
“Shit,” she panted.
“I guess it was just a doll,” said Cassandra.
“Lawes,” said Kristal over the radio, “false alarm. It was just a doll.”
“Copy that, we’ll head back north.”
Just as Lawes finished his sentence a massive explosion blew a car into the air about a kilometre ahead of them.
Kristal tried to get Lawes over his radio.
“Lawes?”
There was only static.
“Lawes?” she repeated with panic in her voice.
She changed the frequency on the radio.
“All units, car bombing on the eastern side of Bamyan. Repeat, car bombing on the eastern side of Bamyan. Requesting immediate assistance.”
“Heading towards the explosion now, was anyone injured?” asked Anderson.
“I don’t know, I’m not close enough,” she paused, “I can’t get in touch.”
Once they got to the explosion site Kristal looked around and shouted:
“Lawes?”
“Masters?” replied a strained voice.
Lawes looked out from behind a wall.
Kristal ran over to him, Cassandra stayed put. There was another explosion nearby.
“Rawlings, take cover!” shouted Lawes.
Cassandra ran and ducked behind a nearby car.
“What happened?” asked Kristal, “where’s Sherriff?”
“He was walking about ten yards in front of me and the car blew up. He’s dead. I took some shrapnel to the shoulder. It took out my radio.”
They heard vehicle approaching fast. There was another explosion that took out most of the building behind Cassandra; the flying rubble barely missed her. Civilians were scrambling to get away amongst the smoke and rubble. They could hear the sound of gunfire getting closer.
“Anderson, how long will you be?” called Kristal over the radio.
“At least five minutes. Did you find Lawes?”
“Yeah. Sherriff’s dead.”
“Shit.”
Another explosion hit the car Cassandra was hiding behind.
“Cass!” shouted Kristal.
There was no reply.
“Cass!”
As the smoke began to clear she could see Cassandra’s singed body lying on the road. She went to run over to her body, but Lawes grabbed her arm firmly.
“There’s nothing you can do Masters.”
A vehicle pulled up and half a dozen men got out, weapons in hand. More civilians scrambled away. Kristal and Lawes opened fire and took down two of them before the rest took cover. The Taliban returned fire. They continued to fire, killing at least two more of the gunmen. Lawes grabbed a grenade from his belt, pulled the pin and threw it towards the enemy. After a few seconds it exploded and there was silence. Kristal looked out from behind the wall, seeing nothing but flames and smoke. She took several paces. She could see the silhouette of a young boy behind the smoke. The child raised a weapon towards her. She hesitated, then fired several rounds. The boy collapsed. She walked through the smoke and inspected the dead: six Taliban and the child. His toy aeroplane clutched in his hands.