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❝ I'm having a bad feeling Jay... ❞
baghdad, iraq april 1, 2008
CLOSING HIS eyes, Josiah Lahote attempted to calm his desire to punch Samuel in the face. The latter was currently chewing extremely loud right next to Josiah's ear and it was starting to annoy the hell out of him. Sighing, the Lahote soldier peaked one eye open to give Samuel a side glare which he didn't didn't seem to notice.
"For the love of god..." Josiah groaned, facing the male next to him, "Can you chew with your mouth closed."
Chuckling, Samuel popped another chip in his mouth with a smirk lingering on his lips, "It gives it a better taste tho."
Unamused, Josiah gave him a deadpanned look. Shaking his head he went back to leaning his back against the wheel of the Humvee they would be taking to the city. "How can you even eat right now?" Josiah asked, staring straight ahead.
Samuel shrugged, placing another chip in his mouth, "I get hungry."
The two soldiers remained seated, waiting for Lieutenant Parker to show up so they could head out. Thankfully they didn't have to wait much longer once they saw him approaching with the rest of the soldiers that would be joining. Taking a deep breath, Josiah Lahote got inside the Humvee, followed by Samuel, and took the seat next to the window.
'Let this mission go by smoothly.'
With sweat dripping down his face, Josiah's grip tightened on his gun while keeping his eyes focused on the group of Taliban sitting in the middle of the room― unaware of the ambush they were going to receive.
Being the leader of their small squad, Josiah made some signals to get his group in position. As his right hand man, Samuel kept his focus on Josiah― waiting for the signal.
Closing his fist before pointing both his index and middle finger out, Josiah gave them the signal to engage. Since both sides were unable to communicate, all that they could do was shout orders to lower their weapons. Unfortunately, neither side gave up and bullets were fired.
Taking cover behind a counter, Josiah began firing at the Taliban. While reloading his gun for another round, his radio that was attached to his shoulder began to make noise― signaling that someone was trying to communicate with him.
"Corporal Lahote, come in!" Lieutenant Parker's voice came through the radio.
"I'm here." Josiah answered, having Samuel cover him while he talked and listened to what their Lieutenant had to to inform them.
"Arash Ghorbani has been comprehended. I'm calling the mission; return to the Humvees."
"Understood." Josiah nudged Samuel and repeated what Lieutenant Parker said to get him prepared to make a dash outside. Standing up from his crouched position behind the counter proving him cover, Josiah started signaling the rest of his men.
"We're heading out everyone! Back to the Humvees!" Yelling over the gunfire and doing hand signals towards the door, his team managed to understand and began running to the entrance, not holding back on shooting anyone that got in their way.
Unfortunately, on the way out a Taliban soldier came out and ran straight towards Samuel, tackling him to the ground. Josiah was able to react fast and immediately went after them, pulling the Taliban off of his friend.
The Taliban managed to unarm him which made him wrestle him to the ground while attempting to get his gun back. Although he managed to grab onto his handgun, the Taliban was quick to pin him to the ground while fighting him for the gun in Josiah's hands. Grunting, Josiah fought against the middle eastern man on top of him.
Getting a hold on his gun, he managed to point it at the Taliban's face before pressing the trigger― splattering his face with blood. Pushing the body off of him, Josiah huffed from exhaustion and looked over to find Samuel finishing off another Taliban that seemed to have appeared.
"You okay?" Josiah called out to Samuel, panting.
He nodded and walked over to help him up, "Let's get out of here. I'm having a bad feeling Jay..."
They both grabbed their respective guns and began making their way back outside where the rest of his team seemed to have gone. However, another attempt at leaving failed as some members from his group seemed to have heard the gunshots and came back to help. A blinking red light above the door caught Josiah's attention which caused him to look up; the sight of four bombs placed on top of the door froze him on the spot.
Eyes wide, Josiah screamed out in panic, "Get back!"
He made an attempt to run forward to stop his men from entering but it was already too late. The bombs had gone off.
Everything happened too fast. Josiah was thrown back harshly by the blow, pain erupting all over his body. With ringing ears and blurry vision, Josiah lifted his head but regretted it the moment he did. His head felt like it was going to explode making him groan and let himself lay back on the cold floor, closing his eyes. Due to this he was unable to notice the group of Taliban approaching him or the amount of blood he was losing.
***
The sounds of metal banging against metal woke the unconscious Josiah, making him hiss in pain that erupted from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. Lifting his head, he looked around to get an idea of where he was and he felt his blood go cold at the sight of Samuel's beaten and bloodied body on the other side of the room.
"Sam!" Josiah tried to stand up but the pain was too much for him to handle, making him drop back down where he was with a grunt while clenching his teeth.
He let his eyes wander around the small room which he started to notice was a cell room. A coughing fit overtook his body which caused him to cover his mouth and close his eyes at the numbing pain that made him see black dots at the corner of his eyes.
Gasping, he looked down at the palm of his hand, blood coating the surface of it. Sighing at the sight Josiah tilted his head back and closed his eyes, knowing that he would not be leaving any time soon.
'Sorry Leah... I might not be coming home for a while...'
