Moon Dust | Generation Kill

Chapter 26: A Burning Dog

"All Hitman Victors, this is Hitman. War pig has suppressed targets at the bridge and tanks have blown barriers at the bridge approach. Over."

With the continued ruckus of artillery all around them, Bravo once again approached the bridge to head into the city. This time, however, Ray was not leading the charge. 

Finger on the trigger, Katie fired again and again at the armed civilians emerging from behind bushes and buildings. As a mortar hit the side of the bridge and shook Katie to her core, Ray slammed on the breaks, sending her flying into the back of his seat.

"Fuck, Ray!" Katie snapped as she was thrown around like a ragdoll. "What the hell?"

"All Hitman Three Victors, vehicle two is stuck. Over."

Ray gestured to the radio smugly as he flipped up his night vision goggles. "It's not my fault some dipshit up front doesn't know how to drive."

Confused, Brad exited the vehicle to inspect the chaos up ahead. "Two Actual, this is Two One. We have four Hitman Three Victors halted on the bridge."

"This is Hitman Two Actual," Nate replied. "Solid copy."

Leaning forward, Katie squinted at the line of humvees backed up on the bridge. "If the second vehicle is stuck, does that mean one of their humvees made it through?"

Before anyone could hazard a guess, the answer came over the radio. "Hitman Three, this is Hitman Three Two. We're in the town. We observe no enemy activity at this time. Break. We're still trying to locate a route through. Movement's restricted due to bomb debris. Over."

"All Hitman Victors, this is Hitman Three Actual. This is Hitman Three Actual." Captain McGraw began shouting over the comms. "The bridge is partially destroyed! We're trapped! I say again, we are fucking trapped!"

With the adrenaline starting to dissipate and the exhaustion seeping back into her bones, Katie reached for the bottle of ripped fuel and downed another three pills. "This mission is so beyond fucked I don't even know what to call it anymore."

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph! I got some good men dying in there! Hold your sectors, men!" McGraw's voice sounded in the background. "There's one thing I learned in ranger school, we must seize initiative. Keep your eyes on those reeds. They could be massing a suicide RPG team as we speak. We don't know. Any movement in there, you-"

Without warning, the comms went silent. Minutes later, the sound of a humvee engine revving could be heard, followed by a chorus of cheering.

"Hitman Three Two, this is Hitman. Bridge is all clear."

Despite the excitement of having unstuck the humvee, the company was not given the order to attempt a third crossing of the bridge. Instead, they stayed put until daylight when the mission could be reassessed.

Even with the recently ingested ripped fuel, Katie relaxed back into her seat as soon as the platoon was instructed to stand down and passed out mere minutes later. 

When she awoke again, the sun was high in the sky and she could feel beads of sweat dripping down her forehead. Somewhere outside she could hear Captain McGraw screaming, and when she looked out her window, she watched as he dumped an armload of enemy AK-47s over the bridge and into the water below. 

"You're alive," Brad greeted when Katie began to stir. "How do you feel?"

"Like I could go for another ten hour nap right about now." Katie sat up and stretched her arms above her head. It was then she noticed it was just the two of them in the humvee and the incident from the night before came rushing back to her.