Moon Dust | Generation Kill

Chapter 24: Confident in the Birds

Leaning against the rear wheel of the humvee, Katie looked over at Ray, who was pouring something powdered into a tin cup. Beyond him, Brad, Garza, Poke, and Walt were monitoring the civilian hamlet in the distance.

"One, two, three, four little people outside," Brad counted the number of children playing outside the huts. 

"Plus the three old ladies," Poke added. 

With the faint sound of children laughing in the distance, Katie sighed and rested her head against the vehicle. She had been avoiding sleep lately because of the nightmares but it was starting to catch up with her. Regardless of the exhaustion, she still saw that little girl in the back of the car whenever she closed her eyes; she was sure that memory would stick with her for the rest of her life. 

The lack of sleep combined with the fact the marines were now living on one meal a day was really starting to affect Katie's combat readiness. Of course, she would ever admit that to anyone.

"Hitman Two, this is Two One. We've had eyes on the village for over one hour now. There are seven women and children, no adult males," Brad relayed the information to Nate. "No sign of the men who fired those mortars. How copy?

"This is Hitman Two. Solid copy."

Giving Whiskey a couple of scratches behind the ears, Katie watched intently as Ray began to heat the underside of his tin cup with a small handheld lighter. 

"Ray, what the fuck is that smell?" Brad peered back over his shoulder when the unusual aroma of Ray's concoction reached him.

Ray grinned. "MRE cookies. What I did was I saved up all those creamer packets and all the sugars and I mixed in peanut butter until I sort of made-"

Brad groaned. "Don't set your face on fire again."

"Word to the motherfuckin' street, yo!" Ray furrowed his brows. "I was not the one who set my face on fire. I was the fuckin' victim and you know it."

"Victim or not, I'm respectfully going to get some space from you." Katie stood and led Whiskey over to the sand dune Brad and the others were positioned behind. 

Ray shrugged. "No hard feelings."

As Katie crouched beside Brad, she pulled out her binoculars and took a better look at the hamlet for herself. The kids outside appeared to be playing a game of soccer while the women tended to the chores, which brought a warm smile to her face. As another bout of laughter echoed over the dunes, Katie inhaled slowly and tried to replace the haunting memories plaguing her mind with happier ones.

"Sergeant Colbert, I was thinking ... those trees over there behind us, maybe the guys who fired at us were in them." Evan suggested as he pointed to a small grouping of taller trees among the general desert foliage. 

"Much as I appreciate Rolling Stone's tactical input, I'm confident in the birds," Brad replied, not even bothering to turn and look at the reporter.

Evan seemed mystified. "Birds?"

"Anything moves in those trees, birds don't sing," Garza clarified before the group fell silent, allowing Evan to more clearly listen to the chirping birds all around them. 

Evan nodded in understanding as Brad handed over his map to Katie. "You look bored," he told her. "Go ahead and mark this hamlet on the map."

Katie fished a pencil out of her pocket and flattened the map out in front of herself. "I don't know if bored is the word I would use but sure, I could use something to distract myself."

"You're thinking too much again." It would have been a reprimand if Brad's tone wasn't laced with the faintest hint of concern. "Are you getting enough sleep?"