Trial And Error

Chapter Fifteen

Kian's POV

As Kian's eyes shot open, she frantically scanned her surroundings. All she could hear was ringing, and she felt a sharp pain shooting up her neck and into her head. Reactively, she reached for the side of her head, unleashing another wave of anguish. Cursing herself for not wearing her helmet, she observed that the vehicle was now on its side, likely explaining her probable concussion from the impact.

As the ringing subsided, she realized her immediate concern was the well-being of her comrades. Her frantic eyes searched the vehicle, and she spotted Murray's unconscious body in the driver's seat secured by his seatbelt as gravity pulled on him. Waking him up became her priority; they needed to get out of the dangerous situation they were in. Failing to release herself from the seatbelt, she managed to free her arm and shook Murray's shoulder lightly, trying to wake him.

As Kian assessed Murray's condition, she noticed that he appeared to be physically fine, except for the cut on his forehead. This observation led her to conclude that the IED must have been on her side of the vehicle for it to flip over in this manner.

"Murray! Wake up!" Kian yelled, her ringing ears swallowing the sounds of her own voice.

Murray's eyes blinked open, confusion clouding his features. "LT? What the hell happened?" he slurred.

"We hit an IED man, are you-" Sharp pain surged in her head again "Are you hurt?"

Murray cautiously moved his limbs, wincing slightly. "Don't think so. Just banged up."

"Good. Check on the others, while I try and get loose." Kian ordered, craning her neck to try and see into the backseat.

Murray's face paled at the view behind them. "Lin looks alright, but Watts is in bad shape. His leg is pinned under the wreckage and he's bleeding heavily."

Kian watched the concern on his face, "What, what is it?"

She took a deep breath trying to calm the pounding in her head. A plan, she needed a plan.

"Lt, Holland isn't back here." Murray's voice rang out, edged with panic.

Kian looked at him, eyes wide. Holland was on the .50 cal. He wasn't in the Humvee with them - where the hell could he have gone?

Fear crept in, but she pushed it down, regaining control. This wasn't the time to freak out. Hours of training had prepared her for this moment.

"We've got to find him. I'm not losing anyone, you got it?" Murray nodded.

"Here's the plan. Wake the others while I cut my seatbelt. Assess injuries. Try to get your window open that'll be our exit. Thanks to this damn hill we should be stable enough."

Murray shook his head in agreement, and the pair got to work right away. Murray hoisted himself up and out of the small window, while Kian searched for the knife she had on her at all times. Luckily everything on her vest had stayed secure, she gripped the knife sawing away at her seatbelt.

Within five minutes she was finally out of her restraints, maneuvering out of the vehicle, Murray was able to wake the other two Marines up successfully. Thankfully, their injuries were superficial. The difficult part was to now look for their missing friend.

"Murray I need you to see if you can get the radio working. If you do, tell them we need an immediate extraction, and make sure the LZ is somewhere up that mountain away from the village. You two, fan out but be vigilant, the explosion could've brought us some unwanted attention. The blast most likely propelled him forward so start there."