Well, crap.
“I, uh…I don’t really date all that much.” Or atall, for that matter. “I’m just trying to stay focused on the job for now, you know?”
“That’ll change,” Chief Tupper spoke as if his words were fact. “One of these days, probably when you’re least expecting it, you’re gonna meet someone who makes your heart sing and your toes curl inside your boots.”
“Is that how it was when you met Trudy?” Raegan couldn’t help but ask.
The man’s deep, affectionate smile answered the question before the loving husband responded with a contradicting shake of his head. “It was even better.”
Envy sank deep as the four stood to dump their trays before resigning to their assigned quarters with the rest of their unit. Stepping out of the small, cinderblock chow hall, Raegan felt like she’d just run smack dab into a wall of thick, damp, unbreathable heat.
One more week.
“But don’t wait too long,” Tupper spoke up again. “You keep putting your career ahead of everything else, there won’t be anything to look forward to when you finally do get ou?—”
An explosion shook the ground beneath their feet, and Raegan and the others nearly tumbled from its waves.
“What the hell?”
Their eyes flew to their right, where a giant cloud of black smoke and flames billowed high into the air. Though the smoke was thick, Raegan could easily see the massive chunk now missing from the concrete wall surrounding the base.
Oh, shit!
Somewhere across the open courtyard, one of the Iraqi soldiers shouted out an ominous warning.
“Incoming!” the alarmed man yelled.
Three seconds later, a HESH round, or high explosive squash head, struck a group of trucks parked near the small building positioned at the far east side of the base. On impact, the deadly round sent a shockwave of metal fragments through the stationary vehicles, setting off a chain of devastating events.
The trucks blew, their metal bodies twisting and breaking as their remains flew in every direction. Raegan and the others watched in horror as over half of the building behind the trucks fell in on top of itself.
Our quarters!
With nothing but her unit’s safety in mind, Raegan pulled her service weapon from her hip as she took off in a dead sprint across the courtyard. “Cover me!” she ordered to the others, momentarily forgetting her commanding officer was among them.
“Goddamn it, Perry!” Tupper hollered after her. But then, “Get to the trucks! I’ve got your six!”
She pushed her booted feet as fast as they would go. She needed to find cover ASAP, because more was coming.
I can feel it.
With her 9mm striker fire Sig Sauer M18 up and at the ready, Raegan held the gun steady as she kept her head on a constant swivel. Dirt flew from her boots as she continued pushing her legs to their limits.
The air was so thick, getting a full, deep breath was nearly impossible, but she gave no thought to stopping. Quitting wasn’t an option. Not when six of her friends were in that building.
Have to get to my team! I have to make sure they’re safe!
This moment right here was her reason for spending so much time in the gym.Thiswas why—even when it was the very last thing she’d wanted to do—Raegan had continued her daily runs while stationed here. Despite the godawful Iraqi heat.
She’d pushed herself in the past to be prepared for the now. And right now, her one and only goal was getting to her people and making sure everyone was okay.
Over half the damn building’s gone, Rae. If they were in there when that shell hit…
Refusing to let her mind go there, she concentrated on pushing herself even harder. Shouts of angered words she couldn’t understand came from the area where the base’s concrete wall had been breached. Sparing a glance that way as she ran, Raegan’s stomach clenched with fear as a group of insurgents began storming the base.
Ah, hell.
Several shots rang out, and bullets whizzed past as the battle between good and evil raged on. One flew so close to her head that Raegan felt its heat feather across her cheek, but she managed to duck in time to avoid being hit.