The Soldier Next Door

We have just come to the entrance of what should be a deserted road into Bagdad, and as I was hoping, well not true, but as I was fearing, we have encountered some resistance preventing us from entering the city. Now, this would not have happened for nobody is supposed to be aware of our arrival, but thanks to a few misleading information, I can safely say that I do now know who is behind this.

The question begs, what are we going to do with him? Play this mission out and then take the man down that has not only betrayed his fellow Marines but also his country? Well, the man might get us killed, but how do I control a prisoner when I am being shot at? So I shall wait until we get back to camp.

But now, now we have to clear our entry and make it into the city to where we will take our fight today, the hideout of a militant group that has been one of the driving forces behind all the unrest around here. So as we make a stance, and we can confidently say that the road has no civilians around, we prepare to fire. I steady my feet firmly and slowly raise my head through the hole and take a firm grip on the tank gun, and at the signal of one…two…three…all the four Strykers raptures in a constant line of fire. Yes, there were only supposed to have been two as was the initial plan, but due to a last-minute change in plans by me, I secured us more shooting power than what these assholes were expecting.

So in as easily as only but five minutes, perhaps even less, the pathway into Bagdad has been clear and we are on the way to the old residence on the outskirts of town where this group shall be located. But as with everything, I have changed the route that we shall travel as well, we will be making this one, through the main road of the city. Our presence will be expected here and yet, as so far, we will not become an open target here due to the high volume of civilian presence. So all things considered the mole’s plans are not going as intended, he, in fact, appears now as the one giving the misleading information.

And as we travel through the city amongst the hundreds of other cars on their daily business, in traffic through the center, it is hard to believe that such chaos is irrupting underneath the seams. Perhaps not under the seams, but more like being pushed under the carpet. If you do not speak of it then it does not exist. But this is real, for us, here, we are the target and it is real for us.

What else is real for us is, finally after a travel that nearly took an hour through traffic, we are turning onto one of the roads that shall lead us up to the residence. Now, this is, unfortunately, the only part of the route that I could not change, so there will come resistance and we will not be expecting it. At least at this point, I can say that the mole is once more in charge again. And I feel completely helpless. To think about it this way, I am responsible for the safety of fifty-six men, and one of these men wished to put all the fifty-five men at risk. I am fighting at odds with a monster. Well, as of this morning I valued him as a Marine, but the moment we hit Bagdad, he became that very thing, a monster.

Now to say that I am not terrified as we come around the last corner, would be a blatant lie, for as the building comes in sight, we are fully expecting it to be heavily armed, but yet it is not. The first word that springs to mind…ambush. So we fall back, we are not giving up, we are just halting to survey the situation. But will everyone is holding back here, I will take a Humvee and four other Marines with me and approach from the far overside from where they will not see us coming.

So under the cover of a Stryker, I call for, “Emma, Johnson, Lewis, Lopez, you are with me.”

And with that Lopez takes control of the wheel, I by his side, and the rest filter in the back. Now, one would say that I am foolish to let the men that I suspect to be the mole with me, but there is always some method to my madness. Though carrying a phone out on a mission is strictly forbidden, I do not know to which extent this man will go to get his information out.

With Emma, being my best shot, she mans M2, I turn into the dirt road behind the building, from where I can observe there are several cars parked. Just as I suspected, the building is not clear, we are in direct line of fire and we do not know it. Under a secure frequency, I radio Gibbs, “The building is not clear, send another two Humvees my way and get ready to move in.”

As we wait for the other Humvees to arrive, we can watch from the position that we are in that there is a stir inside the building, it is starting to focus on the front. They are ready to come down onto us. Once more I radio for Gibbs, “Get ready for an imminent attack. Keep those Humvees behind the Strykers. I don’t want some happy ass getting excited with a missile launcher.”

Then, for a brief moment I glance over to the rest of the Marines in the Humvee, there are somewhat nervous faces around, apart that from Emma that looks at me rather amused. She knows that I am playing cat and mouse with the mole and she seems to be enjoying every moment of it. Ya, this girl is a lunatic, I would love to have her on my team, perhaps I can do some convincing, but that shall be later. For the Humvees have arrived, the Strykers are coming into position.

And.

Just as the last Marine takes position behind the tank gun, the first grenade comes launching from the building…then a round of rapid-fire… another grenade…then rapid-fire once again. On my command. The Strykers break loose and start laying the front of the building to waste.

Time for us to move in, under the cover of the chaos erupting in the front, we exit from the Humvees behind the cover of the vehicles parked around and make spill out way into the building. As we hit the first doorway, Emma and I push through and clear. Next…one…two…three…Lopez steps in and clear…then last…one…two…three…the two rookies step in a clear…clear. The entranceway is cleared. We move into the first room. As before. Enter. Clear. Clear. Exit. Next room. Two more rooms. Then…

While we are heading into the next room, I take a moment to break my concentration away to focus on the fight that is happening at the front, we seem to be gaining the ground and victory might be imminent. But the moment I hear the launch of a missile gun, my entire body goes numb. God, I hope it does not reach a Humvee. There is one thing being a mole, but causing the death of other Marines, well I might as well kill him myself now.

But lucky I do not hear anything crashing and blowing up into flames, so I focus back on our current position. We have come across what I am now going to assume must be the leader of this group for he is either cleverly or cowardly hiding in a cupboard.

So, I have two thoughts coming to mind, has he recognized our mole and can I drag information from him? Much to the shock from all those at present, I point my gun firmly against his head,

شما کی هستید

There is no answer, so I try once again,

شما کی هستید

Still no answer, then once again,

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Nothing. So Emma seeing the reluctance of the man to talk lifts him from his feet and shoves him through the door with her gun held into his back. Well, it seems the girl is taking him, prisoner. Now, who am I to judge a woman that decides that she wants to take charge.

With this stake, we are happy that we have accomplished some victory with the mission and make our way back to the Humvees, as we step outside, I take a brief glance to the front where all have now gone quiet. I do believe that we have overpowered and illuminated the threat. Now, this would not have been possible if I did not change our initial plan of attack.

So as we get back to the Humvees, Emma, and god knows where she was hiding them, slams a pair of cuffs on our new prisoner. Then she tossed a pair over to me to slam on our mole.

Now if I say that this is one of the worst days in my life, then I am not lying, for slamming the cuffs on his wrists will be an image and a day that I never will forget. So with a broken and defeated heart, I turn to him, “I am sorry man, I never thought you would do this.”

I have a very shocked Emma staring at me as I slam the cuffs on Lopez’s wrists.