SURVIVE PART 4

Part 4

Loss

5/12/2015, 1301 hours, Vardak Province, Afghanistan

            They sound of gunfire had echoed across the village for nearly half an hour. Krieger and the rest of Raptor-2-1 were still hunkered down when Krieger’s radio crackled to life once again. It was Hugo.

            “Krieger. Kareem is dead. He tried to run for it but the birds swarmed him. We opened fire then, but it was too late. I think he died before he hit the ground. T-rex isn’t doing too great either. He’s bled through all of my bandages and has a fever high enough I can feel it through his balaclava. Any advice on how to proceed?”

            Krieger took a moment to take in what he had just heard. “Shame about the local. What about my boys? Are any of them hurt?”

            “Excluding T-rex, we’re fine. I think we should regroup, but you’ll have to come to us. There’s no way we could move Clinton in his condition,” reported Hugo. “Our gunfire might’ve attracted unwanted attention though, so you so keep your head on a swivel.”

            “Got it, moving to your position.”

            “We’re on the west side of town, holed up in a small house. There’s a small mosque across the road from us, we’ll try to move there,” said Hugo.

            Krieger and raptor-2-1 stepped out of the building and onto the road. Even where they were, dust lingered in the air, knocked loose by the firefight and carried on a gentle breeze. He and his men donned their goggles and moved down the road at a quick, jogging pace. They ran past several alleyways, empty except for dust and the occasional vehicle. Krieger couldn’t help but wonder if all of the birds his squad had encountered could’ve really been responsible for the missing people and animals. After all, they were just birds, and surely there’d be corpses in the streets.

            He couldn’t help but feel that he had somehow failed the villagers, and Kareem. He hoped he wouldn’t have to feel this way about any others. His Mission had only just begun though, and at the rate it was going, he wasn’t feeling very confident. He had to do what he could to keep morale high amongst his men though, or else this should’ve been easy task would become significantly harder.

            “Sir, they’re just ahead, I can see the minaret from here,” yelled Reeder. “And I know what’s going through your head right now. There’s nothing you could’ve done to save them.”

            “I could’ve refused the mission.”

            “Then Garrison would’ve just sent some other group of poor unfortunate souls out here. Would that really be any better? You really would be responsible for sending them to their deaths. I know how you feel man, but you’ve got a squad to lead. Don’t let it keep you down.”

            Krieger remained silent but kept up his quick pace. Soon they were standing in front of the mosque. Hundreds of dead birds, or what remained of them, littered the ground. The metallic scent of fresh blood still swam in the air. Just ahead of them lay a human corpse, its flesh picked and torn apart by numerous small hungry mouths.

The sight was revolting, and thumper choked back a swell of vomit, then muttered something about “not signing up for this shit.” The others nodded in agreement, his words being only too true.

Hugo shuffled through the mosque doors then, and beckoned for them to come in. The look of absolute horror on his face put Krieger on edge. “Sir, I think we found our villagers.” They entered the building after him, only to behold a sight twice as gruesome as the one outside.