As soon as the mortar fire stopped, Captain West bolted for the door on the side of the building. He hoped some of his Marines had survived, but he knew the odds weren’t good. It had been perfectly executed. They were watching us the entire time.
He grabbed the door handle and turned to Gunny Quick. “You and I are moving straight to the north entrance to see if we can help. We do not leave the compound until we have a better idea of what the fuck is going on out there. We’re more valuable to our men alive than dead. Understand?”
Gunny Quick didn’t hesitate. “Absolutely.”
Captain West turned to Staff Sergeant Hayes. “Hayes, you four enter the other building. Ensure there are no more surprises. I’m willing to bet it’s clear. The mortars were the real show. Then join us at the entrance. Take no more than thirty seconds. Got it?”
Staff Sergeant Hayes nodded his head and moved out.
Captain West turned back to Gunny Quick. “Let’s go.”
He pushed down on the door handle and swiftly exited the building. He realized as he moved that the sounds of incoming mortar rounds had been replaced by small arms fire.
I hope my guys are holding their own.
Moments later, they arrived at the front entrance and peered around the edge of the wall, unobserved. The scene before them exceeded their darkest fears. Unspeakable carnage lay outside the walls, and the horrors were still in progress.
Captain West restrained himself from running through the gate with guns blazing. The action would’ve temporarily satiated his bloodlust, but it also would’ve ended with his and Gunny Quick’s certain demise.
I’m no good to them dead, he tried to reason with himself, but a part of him yearned for violent retribution, practicality be damned.
Six vehicles were arranged in a semicircular pattern where the Marines had been positioned. The pickup trucks were commonly referred to as “technicals,” since each one contained a .50-caliber machine gun mounted on its hood and was manned by both a driver and a gunner. But these weren’t military vehicles. The gunners all wore dark, civilian clothing.
It’s an insurgent group.
That fact alone told Captain West all he needed to know about his enemy. They would attack ruthlessly and with zeal. He’d come to expect nothing less in Iraq.
He forced himself to compartmentalize his thoughts. It worked, barely. His mind shut down on his emotions like a steel trap. The outrage was replaced by a cold fury, a tsunami of raging will, the likes of which he’d never experienced.
I’m going to find a way to kill them all.
The gunners methodically fired into the kill zone where his Marines lay wounded, dead, or dying. The machine gun fire from the .50-caliber weapons finished the job the mortar rounds had started.
They never had a chance.
In addition to the gunners, more than a dozen insurgents walked among his fallen Marines. He watched as the one who must’ve been the leader—a short, stout man with a beard and bald head, a pair of sunglasses on top—stopped over a body.
Captain West couldn’t see who it was, but he stiffened as the man drew a sidearm from a holster under his shoulder. He realized in horror what was about to happen, but before he could do anything, the insurgent shot the fallen Marine in the head.
Captain West closed his eyes to quiet the rage that yearned to consume him. He had to be smart, or he was going to get the rest of them killed.
“Sir—sir—Logan!” Gunny Quick whispered.
The use of his first name brought him back to the present and away from his fury. He looked at his closest friend, mentor, and trusted advisor.
“I know what you’re thinking, but we can’t. If we go out there, then they died for nothing. We need to stay alive to avenge them.”
Captain West knew Gunny Quick was right.
“Right now, they don’t know we’re here. We’ve only got a few minutes before those fuckers decide to enter the compound and realize they’re not alone. We have the element of surprise, but only for a few minutes.”
Captain West looked at Gunny Quick, who’d once again read his mind. He managed a small, savage smile.
“I know. More importantly, I know how we can hurt these motherfuckers, or at least take as many of them as we can with us.”
He outlined his plan. “Set a Claymore fifteen feet from the entrance and run the wire back to the other house where Hayes is. Wait at the entrance. I have to go inside and talk to our Marines. Hayes might’ve found something. This was an orchestrated attack, and those assholes outside are not some ragtag bunch of bad guys. They were expecting us, and I need to know why. If they come in before I come back out, wait for as many as you can before you trigger it. Make them pay.”
“Roger, sir. See you in a few minutes.”
Gunny Quick took off his small Oakley backpack, set it on the ground, and removed a Claymore mine.
Captain West turned around after taking a few steps, “And John, if possible, save that short motherfucker outside for me.”
Gunny Quick nodded and returned to the business of preparing the Claymore.