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9-7
Sept 29, 2009 14:12:28 GMT -5
Post by Galio on Sept 29, 2009 14:12:28 GMT -5
"Agh! Dang! Dang it! Why!?" Jack stressed in disgust. Because of the bullet hole in his shin, his only remaining team member had to support him by the shoulder as they desperately scrambled through recently blasted hole in a wall and down a Fallujah alleyway. Jack raised his silenced Beretta with his right hand as he and his comrade carefully rounded the corner onto the street. "Clear" he confirmed. "We've got to get to the gulf fast" Jack said while forcing himself to focus. As they silently moved down the darkened street toward the Persian Gulf, he lowered his head in grief. But as soon as he began to think of what just happened to his team, a civilian closing his shop backed out onto the street. He looked to the side to see the two Navy SEALs, and Jack raised his weapon. They continued on, and Jack whispered, "He would've talked." A quiet answer came back, "I know, Jack." Jack asked, "You get hit, bro?"
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9-7
Sept 29, 2009 16:45:55 GMT -5
Post by NµKe on Sept 29, 2009 16:45:55 GMT -5
Derrik smiled.
"Ya kiddin'? I don't get hit."
Swiftly rechecking his ammo clip, Derrik checked the alley on their left and kept moving forward, his left arm around Jack, holding him up. Derrik checked his watch and said quietly to Jack...
"How far do you think the gulf is? A mile? Two?"
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9-7
Sept 29, 2009 16:59:14 GMT -5
Post by Galio on Sept 29, 2009 16:59:14 GMT -5
Jack chuckled, "You obviously weren't paying attention during briefing again. It's over three hundred miles to the gulf. We need to get to the Eufrat River, and that'll take us to the gulf. We're a good mile from the river now, and there's nothing but dense city between us and that. You're such a noob, Iks."
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9-7
Sept 29, 2009 18:09:26 GMT -5
Post by NµKe on Sept 29, 2009 18:09:26 GMT -5
"The instructor's advisor was cute, and I was bored. Why on earth would I need to know how many miles there are between Eufrat and Fallujah? Besides, I've got your brains to use, why should I unnecessarily tax my own?" Derrik smiled.
They moved on down the road a bit more when Derrik saw a child walk out of an alley, then quickly run back into it. He heard the child yell something in a foreign language... he then heard the scurry of heavy feet. He quickly kicked down the door on his left and pulled Jack inside, turning quickly to aim his M16 at the alley where the footsteps were coming from.
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9-7
Sept 29, 2009 18:36:48 GMT -5
Post by Galio on Sept 29, 2009 18:36:48 GMT -5
Jack cringed as Derrik more or less threw him over a counter-top. Jack was familiar with Derrik's strength from PT and wrestling, but with this new injury, he expected something at least slightly more nigh unto being treated with kid-gloves. He poked his head up over the counter and saw Derrik at the ready with his weapon. The room was dark, so Jack clapped down his night goggles to check it. Everything was clear, so he holstered his Beretta, pulled his SIG 552, custom trigger, IR scope from his back, and manned the counter-top for cover. He thought, "Stupid kid." Because his radio was damaged in the explosion, Jack clicked his tongue causing Derrik to turn his head slightly. Jack whispered, "What's happenin' out there? If I see that kid, he ain't seeing puberty."
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9-7
Sept 29, 2009 19:03:04 GMT -5
Post by NµKe on Sept 29, 2009 19:03:04 GMT -5
Derrik smiled but kept his aim. The child walked out of the alley, spotted Derrik, then turned and walked back in. Less than three seconds later a teenager, no older than seventeen charged out armed with an AK-47 shooting wildly. Derrik's eyes widened at the sight, but his reaction and aim were true and skilled. The teenager fell, face first, into the dirt that covered the street. Two bullets in his head and two in his chest. Derrik let out one breath but kept his sight on the alleyway, to be prepared for anymore.
"...young..." was all he could say.
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9-7
Sept 29, 2009 19:35:48 GMT -5
Post by Galio on Sept 29, 2009 19:35:48 GMT -5
Jack watched Derrik carefully. He had already had his fair share of having to kill children; he now feared for Derrik's resolve. Derrik just lay in his position quietly. Jack decided not to leave him to his thoughts, so he clapped his goggles down again and whispered, "C'mon, Iks. We're takin' this back door." Derrik didn't move for a moment, but then snapped into action and came over to help Jack. "Good boy" Jack commented. Jack leaned against the wall and pointed his weapon at the crack of the door. Derrik slowly opened it a crack further, and Jack surveyed the other side. He quickly popped back in and whispered, "One with an AK, and he's aware. You're gonna have to take him. I'll cover." Jack switched to his Beretta and prepared to fling the door open. "He's real close, Iks. Knife him quick and quiet."
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9-7
Sept 29, 2009 23:48:13 GMT -5
Post by NµKe on Sept 29, 2009 23:48:13 GMT -5
Derrik nodded. Jack pushed the door open quickly, but didn't let it slam on the other side. Within a split second, Derrik dove into the armed man, knocking him to the floor. Derrik's hand was on the enemy's mouth and his knife was already bloodied from the man's neck. Derrik looked back at Jack and nodded, then wiped off his knife and rose to his feet. Readying his M16, he began moving down the hallway towards the end of the house. A woman suddenly walked out of the room to his right, in front of him, completely unaware of his or Jack's presence. Derrik's mind panicked for a moment. He then snapped into gear and used the butt of his gun to hit her in the back of the head, knocking her unconscious. He then turned to Jack.
"...do we just leave her?"
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9-7
Sept 30, 2009 8:02:03 GMT -5
Post by Galio on Sept 30, 2009 8:02:03 GMT -5
Jack answered, "Yes." Derrik came back to support his comrade, and they moved off again. Jack added as they stepped over the woman, "We're gonna be in for a lot of this tonight." He looked at his watch and said, "Four hours till sunup. We can not be in this city when it comes." He glanced at his wrist GPS and frowned. "Iks, mine's broke. Check yours." Jack leaned up against the outer wall of the building they were in, while Derrik pulled back his sleeve. Just as Jack considered wrapping his shin in something to keep it from bleeding, a small boy walked out to see his mother lying on the ground. Derrik was facing toward the alley away from the door, and Jack was leaning right next to the door. The child got a horrified expression on his face and was just about to scream and run, when Jack landed a soft punch on his head. He didn't want to kill the child, but he didn't want him waking up before four hours was up. Derrik was facing Jack now, and Jack said, "Long night 'head of us." He did a quick wrap job on his shin and muttered, "It went all the way through, so I'll be fine. You know where we're goin' yet, noob?"
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9-7
Sept 30, 2009 9:22:04 GMT -5
Post by NµKe on Sept 30, 2009 9:22:04 GMT -5
Derrik checked his wrist GPS and looked out of the house, as if to see the gulf through all the buildings. He turned, saw the child on the floor, rolled his eyes and said...
"Yup. This way. There is no way that we can get there on foot in four hours though. We're gonna have to skitch. Especially considering your shin."
Derrik sat down for a moment, taking a drink from his cantine.
"I honestly don't even believe that they're all gone... I keep expecting to hear Sean come bursting through the door laughing, or Tyler, cussing his head off."
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9-7
Sept 30, 2009 10:42:51 GMT -5
Post by Galio on Sept 30, 2009 10:42:51 GMT -5
Jack added, "Haha! Then 'Father' gettin' on his case for the cussing. As much as it ticked me off, I miss is preachin' at me already." He paused for a moment before saying, "But look, Iks, we can't be thinkin' about this now. The mission was accomplished, and then there were casualties. It happens. We'll find out how they knew where we were, but for now, we just need to report in. And with Nickle gone, it's my responsibility to get your sorry, green butt back to the US." Jack lowered his head and said quietly, "We're both learnin' a lot in a hurry today. 'Just never lost so many at once." He raised his head and finished, "Let's get outta here, bro. We'll be back for these suckers."
They continued through the filthy alley and crossed a darkened street. They passed through another alley and crossed another street. This was a grueling routine for a good half hour until they came across an old Ford pickup truck.
Grinning ear to ear, Jack said, "Dang. That is a thing'a beauty."
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9-7
Sept 30, 2009 12:28:08 GMT -5
Post by NµKe on Sept 30, 2009 12:28:08 GMT -5
Derrik smiled.
"Step aside, Cuz. I got this one."
Practically skipping to the truck, Derrik quickly opened the driver's side door and began to hotwire the truck. In under two minutes, the truck was running and Derrik was helping Jack into the truck. As Derrik hopped into the driver's seat he heard something which caused his excitement to very swiftly drain away. Voices.
The first was a confused sort of call. The man must have been wondering who was in his truck. The second was a call for help, and it was an angry call. The rest of the voices involved a lot of shouting... Derrik looked to Jack and said...
"Looks like we won't have to come back for at least some of these suckers. Make 'em pay."
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9-7
Sept 30, 2009 12:52:19 GMT -5
Post by Galio on Sept 30, 2009 12:52:19 GMT -5
"I hear that." Jack answered. He used the stalk of his SIG 552 to break the back window, and aimed it back at more than five men with guns. "This is for Muddy!!!" He shouted as he began firing full auto. He chose to leave the silencer off. For one, it was more powerful that way, and two, it was no strange thing in Fallujah for there to be automatic rifle fire in the dead of night. He finished his barrage and shouted, "Step on it, Iks!" The old Ford, roared as it accelerated down the city street.
As they rounded the bend, Jack said, "OK, slow down, man. Slow down. I got 'em all back there, so we don't want to draw any unwanted attention by driving a hundred miles an hour." Derrik smiled and energetically laughed aloud. Jack grinned and looked over at him, "You're enjoying this way too much, Iks."
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9-7
Sept 30, 2009 14:54:02 GMT -5
Post by NµKe on Sept 30, 2009 14:54:02 GMT -5
Derrik simply continued to laugh. He hadn't felt this alive for quite a few hours... in fact he had felt, what he imagined, was worse than dead. It as revitalizing as a fresh, cold shower in the morning. He was alive. He could feel again. '...driving a hundred miles an hour.' Derrik only caught the end of what Jack said, but he understood the meaning. Slowing the truth down a bit, Derrik took a deep breath to calm down. He took off his wrist GPS and tossed it to Jack.
"You get to be Direction-Man. Which way are we headed?"
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9-7
Sept 30, 2009 21:05:32 GMT -5
Post by Galio on Sept 30, 2009 21:05:32 GMT -5
Jack fumbled around with the device and held it up. "OK there's a turn coming up... and that was it. Iks! Slow down! You'll need to turn right on the next possible street."
Derrik, jerked the wheel to the right causing the seatbeltless-Jack to slide into him. "Dog dang it, Iks!" On the verge of laughing, Jack scolded Derrik, "You're gonna draw attention. If you don't slow down, I'll shoot your shin."
Then something caught Jack's attention. A child was walking on the road next to a street light. "What the heck are all these kids doing out of bed this late!?" Jack said as he leaned out the window with his weapon. He fired several rounds near to the child's feet. This greatly startled him, and he turned to run inside, not completely watching where he was going. He ran full speed straight into the light post, and apparently knocked himself out. The truck roared by him, and laughing, Jack said, "Serves the dern kid right. Just hope he stays out for another three and a half hours. The Euphrat river is at least a mile or so down this street; just hope we don't run into any Arabs... or frickin' children."
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