The dinner
party was over and I was more than happy to clean up. I had strict instructions
regarding the correct way of loading the dishwasher, the exact amount of food
to throw into the disposer at once, and I also had very vivid descriptions of
the fate that awaited me had I ruined any of our wedding china. I finished up,
with Mary frequently calling out random advice, and finally went over to the
open window.
It was a clear
night, a pleasant breeze blowing through the quiet by-lanes. I took a deep breath
and smelled the roses in our garden outside. Oh, how I missed it. This. The
peace and quiet. The smells and the view. A cigarette glowed red between my
fingers, smoke rings slowly wafted out of the window. A neighbour out for a jog
passed in front of the house, waving to me as he did. Yet another smiled as he
drove by. I waved back and turned away, threw the stub into the dustbin and
settled down on the sofa with a magazine.
“Are you
done?”
I looked up
to see Mary at the doorway.
“Just like
you said,” I smiled. She ducked into the kitchen.
She was going
to cross-check everything anyway. I chuckled.
“It smells
like smoke in here.”
I bit my
tongue. Damn!
“Honey, it
was the only one I had all day.”
“Kevin, you
promised.” Mary reappeared carrying a glass of water. She didn’t seem angry. I
let out a sigh of relief, I wasn’t in trouble. Mary laughed.
“Hon, I
really appreciate you trying to quit...”
BOOM!!
“...What the
hell...?”
It was an IED. Our humvee had passed
right over it. The car overturned.
“Kevin...!!”
What ...? where... I looked around. I
must have blacked out on impact.
“Kevin?!”
“Yeah?!! Ryan?? Peters?”
“Kevin,
Rogers’ tyre just blew, right in front of our gate. Mind going out and giving
him a hand?”
My ears were ringing. I had to help
him... yes, I did. But where was he? My mind worked sluggishly. “Calm down,” I
told myself, “and think. Start moving!”
I pushed myself off the ground and
felt a searing pain in my side. I checked quickly. There was blood, probably
shrapnels, but I could still move.
“What are you looking for? Your toolbox is in the garage...”
I looked around. Our guide lay a few feet
before me, only half his body intact. His face was turned towards me and eyes,
wide open. I forced myself to look away, quickly crawled behind the vehicle and
grabbed an automatic.
“Kevin? It’s
okay if you don’t want to go... Honey?”
“Peters?” No answer. Bullets were flying from
every direction. I set up my rifle and fired at the hostiles.
“Kevin?
Honey? Whoa... wait, what are you doing?”
“Ryan? Are you hurt?”
“I can’t feel my legs. Peters is
gone.”
I sprayed some more bullets into the
fray. A grenade went off about a hundred metres ahead.
“Ryan???I’m coming for you...”
“They must have heard the blast...
They’ll come. You get to the trees.”
“But Ryan..!”
“Kevin, it
was just a tyre..! You don’t have to...”
“I have Andrews with me. We are
covered. Go.”
“Kevin! Look
at me...wait, I’ll call Dr. Keller...”
I sat up, and wheeled around.
“I’ll cover you Kevin. Go go go!”
I rushed forward, firing continuously.
A bullet grazed my arm. I ran through a line of trees and ducked behind a thick
tree trunk. I aimed at the hostiles and fired a round.
“Ryan?”
“Kevin, I’m
here, look at me! You’re home, you’re safe!... Hello? Dr. Keller? I’m...”
“Ryan!?”
“Kevin! Behind you!”
I wheeled around. The man was almost
on me. He shot at me, I jumped aside and knocked the gun from his hand. I
ducked and kicked his legs away from under him. He fell down, clearly not very
experienced. Here was my advantage.
I quickly twisted his arm around and
caught him in a headlock. He struggled furiously. He rammed his elbow into my
ribs. The hit was surprisingly soft, didn’t hurt at all. He was weak.
“Honey
please... please... listen to me...”
Something fell from his grip, bounced
off my shoe and onto the floor. A phone.
A phone?
“Honey!
Please Kev...Help... Help”
“Not so brave now, are you? Planting
bombs on the road is so much easier, eh?” I breathed venomously. I increased
the pressure on his windpipe crushing it.
She gasped and tried to scratch my face. She...? But...
I let go of his dead weight.
She fell
down in a heap.
I felt the
cold creeping through my spine. I looked around... Where was the back up? No
one was coming.
“Ryan?” I
called out, shakily. But he was gone too. I felt sweat running down my face.
I spun around... No humvee, just our coffee
table...in our living room.
But... the
man I just...
I looked at
the floor.
Mary lay sprawled at my feet.
