Shot Throught the Heart

thirty-three

The ride south to Melitopol was tense. A lot of the roads were cut up from artillery strikes. There were also a lot of burnt-out vehicles in the roads we had to avoid along with pieces of ruble and debris from buildings being blown out. It was slow going for a while and I was temped to take the trucks off road to avoid some of this stuff but I knew that it would only draw even more attention to ourselves which was the last thing I wanted.

But finally the town came into view. I folded my map over a few different times to take notes and try to find us a place we could hold up for the night. We still had a few hours until sunset but I wanted to be off the road sooner then later so we could all get some sleep. One section of Melitopol looked completely deserted so I thought this should be a good place for us to find shelter for the night. The buildings were a mix of houses and apartment buildings.

I radioed Rob and Monica and told them I wanted to take a few loops around the area to find a location for the night. At first I wanted to take the trucks but then I thought against it as it would probably draw attention to us if people saw the same trucks circle around the neighborhood a few times. So I made the trucks park toward a wooded area before I hopped out with Dexter, Beth and Akito. Once I told them the area I was thinking about settling, we headed out there.

I kept my rifle tightly to me as we started to trot over to the group of houses still standing. They were on the edge of the town towards Mariupol and since they were kind of out of the way, I was hoping they would be empty. Dexter, Beth, Akito and I all surrounded the larger house of the two. There were two entrances, one in the front, one in the back. Dexter and Beth took the front while Akito and I took the back. While we took up our positions, we waited a few minutes to listen to any noises coming from the house. When nothing could be heard I gave the order to breach.

Akito picked the lock on the back door while I kept watch. Once we got the back door unlocked, I waited to hear from the team in the front for there affirmative. After we got it, I gave the final breach order and Akito pushed the door open and we started to clear the house. Dexter and Beth took the upper floor while Akito and I rushed and cleared the first floor. When we came up dry and saw this property didn't have a basement Akito joined the pair upstairs while I went to go investigate the first floor.

It looks like another family house. From the looks of things, it doesn't look like anybody's home. My three teammates came downstairs slowly.

"We're clear boss, it doesn't look like anybody is coming back any time soon." Dexter said as he came down the stairs last. I nodded and clicked on the walkie.

"Truck teams were are clear. Come inbound one at a time to the rear of the building. It looks like there is an overhang for us to tuck the trucks under for the night." I said.

"Copy that, Alpha inbound." Warren said.

While my teammates went around the house to check everything out and shored up the front door, I stayed by the back door. It didn't take long before the first truck came into view. Once Warren was in the yard, I called for the second truck. Morgan helped Warren park the truck so we would have enough room for another truck under the overhang. Once it was in place, the rest of the team got out of the truck and walked inside. The other two trucks came in the same way and once everyone was inside I could breath a little better.

Just as everyone got inside I called for a team meeting in the living room. I wanted this chance to chat with everyone while they were still awake.

"Listen up, once again, this is only a temporary shelter. We aren't staying long so don't get comfortable. Please remember, this is someone's home and they are going to come back to it eventually. Everything is to be left the way we found it, if not better. I know everyone is tried and wants some sleep but we need watches here. The same teams of two as the last time we were on watch is fine. I also don't want anybody going outside once the sun goes down, so if you need anything out of trucks, now is the time to get it. The front door will remain closed and locked. Backdoor exits only. Now is also the time to inventory and condense everything in the trucks. Emmett and Cosima are in charge to overviewing our medical supplies but everything else is to be split amongst the small teams. Write everything out and bring it to me before sundown. Tomorrow we are going to review all the information we have available to us and make a final route to the steel plant. Am I clear?" I asked looking around the room.