After they dragged Behr to safety, Carter turned his head from side to side, looking for cover. But again, nothing. Murphy’s Law. What could go wrong will go wrong, Carter thought. He had a point. This was his last mission. And while he had been in combat before, it was nothing like this. This was serious shit.
He knew he was in trouble when, after climbing up on the ledge, he couldn’t find any cover. He was in the open. With bullets impacting the dirt and ricocheting off the rocks, he fired his weapon at insurgents scurrying around above him. It was all happening so fast.
When he spotted Walton and CK trying to huddle against a rock wall, he ran in their direction. But when he was a few feet away, he saw CK crumble to the ground. Blood was spilling from his neck and head. He had been hit by at least one round and wasn’t moving.
“Holy fucking shit,” Carter yelled.
He turned around and instinctively started firing his rifle. He didn’t know if his rounds were even hitting anyone. But he was angry and continued to unload to protect their position.
Without warning, he felt a bullet rip through his rucksack. At first he thought he was shot. He felt liquid dripping down his back, and thought it was blood. “Fuckin’ bitch,” he shouted. But when he began frantically touching his back to feel for the wound, he discovered it was water, not blood, soaking his uniform. The round had penetrated the side of his rucksack, piercing his camera bag. It smashed his camera, batteries, and water bottles. (It felt like warm water because the bullet heated up the bottles.) But his equipment may have saved his life.
It was a brief moment of relief because seconds later, Behr collapsed. Clutching his hip, he was yelling in agony. He was hit, and while Behr was alive, he was still in the line of fire. Bullets were skipping off the dirt inches from his body. There was no way Carter could leave him out there. So, without hesitation, he ran toward the fire to rescue him.
He grabbed Behr’s arm and began pulling him toward an overturned tree for protection. “Come on, dude, it’s going to be all right,” he said.
Carter was struggling to move Behr’s body, until Morales arrived at the scene. Together, they dragged him to safety. It was clear Behr was seriously injured. Blood soaked the lower part of his uniform. He was moaning.
It looked bad.