Turning Point?
Men popped up out of the sand all around us like the dead coming from their graves. I dropped as fast as I could to the ground as bullets flooded the air around us. I returned fire striking one of the men as screams and words flooded the radio. None of the words could be made out through the panic as I started to crawl out of the circle as slow and steady as I could.
"Get out of here now. Throw grenades at the enemy!" It was the platoon leader yelling commands to whoever will listen.
Shortly after the sounds of explosions and wave of shrapnel landing in sand came from all around. The sounds of shooting had stopped, but no one was speaking either. I stopped moving when I heard the word grenades so that I would seemed like I was dead. I rolled over and stood up to survey the area. The men who ambushed us all laid dead and most of our men had been either killed or injured as well. The ambush worked as much as we would hate to admit that fact.
"If anyone can hear us we need a medical evac at our current coordinates."
"Why can't you give us the numbers to help guide us?"
"Our GPS was destroyed in an ambush. I will drop an IR beacon to assist your landing."
With those words I pulled out an IR device. All that was needed was a tab to be pulled and toss it. With your normal eyes it would seem like the device doesn't work, but through a camera you can see the flashing light. The EVAC heli took so long to get to us that we had time to dig in and prepare defenses.
The amount of sand that got kicked up made me glad that I had a mask over my face and goggles over my eyes. It was as quick as we could make it to get the men out of here. The sight of the men being pulled out of the battle zone that fast was upsetting.
"They said that the general wants us to hold here while supplies are sent to make a FOB."
The order was one that I didn't like the sound of, but it had to be followed. We all stood guard for the night due to how many men we lost in the ambush. Night vision and thermals got passed out between everyone. I was glad to get night vision since everyone who got thermals said the sand was so hot that they couldn't see anything.
When midnight hit men started calling out figures they could see in the dark through thermals, but I couldn't see them in the night vision. Our eyes couldn't see them in the dark either. The spot lights didn't reveal anyone in the areas either. I remember when I was a kid they said the Middle East was filled with ghosts of wars past. I never thought I was going to find out, and I always thought that by ghosts they meant stories. That has all went out the window now. I am seeing what they meant by ghosts. Now I'm also seeing what the Middle East used to be like.
The silence here was something that could make someone go deaf from listening to it for too long. That is the strange thing about humans. We can go deaf from too much noise or too little. We can die from too much moving or too little. Same for too much eating or too little. Just like the balance in our lives we are delicate. I think these thoughts are coming to me after killing people for the past several years and being left in the quiet suddenly like this.
"Flare!" The words and the light left me blind as rockets flew into the base.
The battle was alive once again. I fired into the darkness from where the rocket came from. When the flare finally died out I could see figures all over the horizon. With flashes occasionally. Each one was paired with the hiss of bullets ripping through the air.
Words had been thrown at us in Arabic. I didn't know there meaning outside of them referencing God in the middle of their fire. I didn't want to be here as much as they didn't want me here. I had to be here. With that thought in my mind I kept firing back them dropping one after another, but each kill was met with the thought of taking someone away from their family. Each one brought another tear.
"Remember this is a fight for our survival!" I yelled to myself after turning my radio off.
I didn't want anyone knowing that I was doubting myself in the middle of a fire fight like this. I changed my mag as fast as I could. Each time you do it you never get over the fear of dropping it or taking too long. One man could mean that an enemy could break through your line. You can't let that happen or you will lose your friend or even yourself.