This is a story I've been thinking about for some time. Currently it's in 4 parts although there may be more. Note there is no sexual content in part 1 and only a small amount in parts 2, 3 & 4 as this is intended to be a romantic more than an erotic tale.
As always constructive comments are welcome.
~~~~~~~~~ Chapter one ~~~~~~~~~~
The midday temperature had reached well over the forecast 32 degrees Celsius. The sun blazing down from the vivid blue, almost cloudless, sky baking the earth and creating a shimmering heat haze coming off the ground. The sweltering warmth ensured that the large group of men moving along either side of the road were soaked under their desert camouflage uniforms.
Ahead of them the track cut invitingly between two small rock-strewn hills that would provide some small amount of shade to the unit, and that fact urged the company forwards.
At the rear of the troop Sergeant Jack Maitland, the second-in-command of the patrol, walked slowly along the edge of the dusty trail that served as a highway in this part of the world. Maintaining the regulation distance from the man in front of him he trudged forwards, shading his eyes as he looked up towards the top of the slopes for any sign of a trap.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as his sixth sense told him that something wasn't quite right. He had been under fire several times before, in this tour of operations, and he knew how well the enemy could remain hidden until they were ready.
Carefully placing each booted foot onto the rough ground, he glanced searchingly from side to side at the bleak rock covered sandy landscape seeking anything that might reveal the presence of the Taliban.
Darker patches stained the armpits of his combat fatigues, evidence of just how much he was sweating under his helmet and Kevlar vest. The perspiration kept running into his eyes and blurring his vision while a constant trickle ran down his spine making his skin itch.
Shifting his SA80 rifle in his hands he rolled his shoulders trying to shift the weight of his bergen and ease the strain on his back. To Jack the sloping terrain they were walking towards looked perfect for an ambush and he checked around him again, issuing a brief order, to make sure that the men close to him were all focused and alert.
At the head of the patrol Lieutenant Carstairs held up a hand signalling a halt and almost as one the unit knelt, all of them keeping the eyes fixed on the area either side of them with their weapons at the ready. A few took the opportunity to drink some water although they never looked away from the surrounding landscape.
Studying the ground ahead of them carefully the young lieutenant contemplated his options.
"Clear, move on." A minute or so later his command came back down the line and, getting back to their feet, the troops started to slowly move forwards again.
"With me sergeant." the Lieutenant ordered Jack up alongside him.
"Sir." Jack jogged up to his commanding officer.
"I'm surprised they haven't set up an...." They had only gone another 100 yards when the IED (improvised explosive device) exploded cutting off the officer in mid-sentence.
In the space of that second the world around Jack Maitland changed into a desperate, chaotic mixture of smoke, dust and noise.
Despite being flung backwards onto the ground by the force of the blast Jack staggered straight back up onto his feet, ignoring the ringing in his ears. As he stood-up he felt a sharp pain in his leg and glanced down momentarily to see a sizeable piece of metal sticking out of his left thigh, a bright red stain starting to grow around it.
His eyes stung from the heat of the explosion and he swayed as a wave of dizziness swept over him. Struggling to regain his senses he blinked and wiped a hand across his face
At the front of the patrol Lieutenant Carstairs and one of the soldiers next to him, Jack's best friend corporal Colm McElhenny, had been caught in the main blast and both looked, at least to Jack, to be dead. A third, Danny Wright, had lost his foot and part of a limb below the knee and lay in the open screaming in pain.
"Medic... medic!" Jack shouted, ignoring the searing agony in his leg and beginning to issue orders, taking over command of the patrol as the first bullets whipped in amongst them, "The rest of you down and return fire."
"Aaaahhhhh." Behind him another one of his men fell back as he was hit by a random shot.
"Shit, fuck, shit!" Jack exclaimed under his breath staring up the slope and quickly estimating there had to be at least three or four terrorists hiding towards the top of rocky outcrop.
"Return fire." He ordered again somewhat unnecessarily, hefting his rifle to his shoulder and firing up into the top of the incline.
Turning to Chris Potter, the radio operator, he barked out another order "Send our co-ordinates and request air support and immediate medical evac."
"Sarge." Came back the confirmation from the communication specialist.
Even as he gave the order Jack knew it would be several minutes before the helicopters would reach them. Being pinned down in the open as they were could well mean more of his men being wounded, or even killed, before help arrived.
Examining the surrounding area, he made a quick decision and shouted for his men to lay down suppressing fire. Then, pushing himself up on his good leg, he darted to the side to get amongst the larger boulders at the bottom of the slope.
"Ahhhh... Fuck!" he cried out.
He had almost made it to cover when a blow to his shoulder spun him round and sent him crashing to the ground amongst the rocks. He knew he had been hit again and he sat up and checked himself. The bullet appeared to have gone straight through the flesh of his upper arm leaving another, smaller, gradually growing crimson stain on his battledress.
It felt a lot worse than it actually was he decided and getting sluggishly to his feet he began to cautiously move upwards again, his weapon at the ready, while using the bigger stones for cover. Each step was more painful than the previous and he could feel his concentration slowly ebbing away from him when a Taliban soldier appeared directly in front of him.
Fortunately, Jack saw him first, just by the merest fraction of a second, but it was enough for him to put two rounds into him before he could bring his weapon up to shoot.
Quickly checking the terrorist was dead he paused, hardly daring breathe as he waited to see if any more extremists appeared, his heart thudding against his ribs as he crouched down. Finally, concluding it all seemed quiet he felt safe enough to move on upwards.
Proceeding more carefully now, even though the sound of his movements were almost completely masked by the exchange of shots going on across the slope, he rounded a large rock to look down on the three remaining terrorists. Two of them had his men pinned down with accurate semi-automatic rifle fire while the third was busy assembling a mortar, obviously with the intention of lobbing shells down onto his men below.
"Aihtaras... jundiin!"
A shout from one of the Taliban told Jack he had been spotted and roused him into action, quickly bringing his weapon up and squeezing the trigger.
The exchange of fire was brief, no more than a few seconds, with Jack sending a series of two-shot bursts into the group as they fired back at him. He knew he had hit two of them before a bullet hit him in the chest, sending him flying backwards into the dirt and knocking the air from his lungs.
"Oh fuck.... Deb." He whispered as his eyes closed and the blackness took him.
~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter two ~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leaning against the door frame Claire Simmonds sighed in total exasperation, "Oh come on, please, just the one date? For me? Pretty please."
"No! I mean it Claire, no more. That last guy you tried to set me up with was horrible. He was old enough to be my dad." Deborah Randall told her friend and workmate.
