Sometimes life gets weird. You lose hope, then you'll fall down, but then you'll get back up again. Sage did. So hang in there; it gets better, with time.
A short story.
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Sage crouched down behind a thick bush that reeked of sour piss, and he had to keep himself from gagging at the foul stench. With his lips pulled up to cover his nostrils, he did a hand motion for the men behind him to follow him.
Their footsteps were silent as they trotted behind a row of trees for cover, then pressed their backs up against the side of a building just a few seconds later. Sage peered over the corner, and once he confirmed the coast was clear, he held up three fingers to signal that only three of them needed to stay on him.
With four of them in total, they could cover all directions while maneuvering through the building. Sage heard a body drop, and looked to the right where brief smoke was coming from Mile's gun that was now back in position against his chest.
Hearing movement ahead of them, Sage aimed his pistol in front of himself, tilted it to the left a bit, then let out two shots. The sounds of thuds followed, and he knew he had hit his targets. Sometimes he worried that he might accidentally shoot one of his men since they were all in the dark, but if they followed his directions correctly they wouldn't get hurt. So, oh well if he did.
"Sarge," Malaki gestured to the right with his head, causing Sage to look over. He gave a head nod to give Malaki permission to kick the door down, and watched as he did it.
All four men laid eyes on six children; four girls and two younger boys who all wore ripped clothing and looked as if they hadn't eaten in days. They shuddered in fear, holding one another tight to prepare for whatever was coming.
"I got eyes on six under ten." Sage spoke low into the mic near his mouth, communicating with the head sergeant who was still at the takeoff pad, orchestrating this mission. Six under ten meant that there were six kids, appearing to be under the age of ten years old.
"You have your orders. Take everyone out."
"These is kids," Sage repeated to make sure that he understood. He was literally being told to kill children; children who hadn't done anything at that. It looked like the Taliban had already done a number on them, and left scars and bruises as proof too.
"You have your orders." The Major intervened, who was all the way back at camp, causing Sage to suck his teeth.
He turned the other way and did a hand motion, then six shots followed. His eyes shut as he resonated with the fact that he'd just gave his men permission to kill those children. They were all headshots, so each death was immediate with no pain. As bad as it was, that made Sage feel just a little bit better. He prayed over the children and himself, before walking out of the room and back towards the hall.
Tears stung at his eyes, but he had to keep moving. He couldn't stop and dwell on what had just happened because that could cost his own life, as well as the life of his fellow soldiers. He hated that they had to do things like this though. It was so unfair.
