Moon Dust | Generation Kill

Chapter 30: Love and War

"Jesus Christ. That's a lot of city."

Katie let out a low whistle as she stared out at the vast, seemingly never-ending city of Baghdad across the water. After weeks of rolling through towns and villages, the recon battalion had finally arrived to the final destination.

And yet, they still had no idea if they were going to be a part of the finale yet.

When Brad led the team back to the humvee and pulled up a map of Baghdad on the screen between the two front seats, Nate stared at it in awe. "Street after street, alley after alley." Nate gawked. "Look at it." 

"You thought those little towns a kilometer long were tough." Gunny Wynn shook his head. 

Nate's eyes moved back and forth as he scanned the grid. "You heard the radio traffic on the way in. Still got fedayeen sniping at American units down there."

Settling into the driver's seat, Katie leaned over the middle column to get a better look at the dimly lit, dusty screen in the bright Iraq daylight. "So where are we going then?" she asked.

"This area right here, a Shia slum called Saddam City." Nate circled an approximate area with the tip of his finger. 

"Saddam City?" Brad grinned as he zoomed in the map onto said slum. 

Wynn chuckled. "Need to rename that bitch."

"Godfather City," Katie joked. "I can see it now."

"All Hitman Victors, this is Hitman actual. We are red-con one in 5 mikes."

"Roger that, Hitman," Nate replied. "We're Oscar Mike in five mikes."

Within seconds, everyone had piled back into the humvees. Katie smiled wide as she stretched out her legs in the front seat, more than happy to have been ordered to take over driving duties for Ray. In any other circumstance, she would have liked to think it was because Brad wanted her to sit up front with him. In reality, that was probably the furthest thing from his mind. 

"Guys, check it out." Ray pointed out the back window to a patch in the sand. "I wrote 'USA' with my piss."

Katie shook her head at the childish antic. "Whiskey, attack the idiot." She watched in disappointment through the rearview mirror as her very scary attack dog simply rested his head on Ray's feet. 

"He would never hurt me." Ray beamed. "We're best buds."

"All Hitman Two Victors, keep good dispersion and stay vigilant."

Stepping on the gas, Katie led the line of vehicles onto the road and toward Baghdad. 

When the dirt roads turned to honest-to-God asphalt streets and the men started singing—except Ray, who was fast asleep—Katie couldn't help but feel both happy and sad that their journey together was most likely coming to an end soon. 

"You can say it, you know." Katie glanced over at Brad momentarily. "Ray's asleep. He'll never know you admitted I'm a better driver than he is."

Brad kept his body turned toward the window but Katie knew he was just trying to hide his amusement. "Being an RTO is much more than just driving."

"Yeah, well, I'm not talking about being an RTO. I'm talking about driving."

Brad sighed. "You're a fine driver, Corporal Shaw."

"Corporal Shaw?" Katie repeated. "That's almost worse than hearing my mother say my full government name when she's angry with me."

"Will you just keep your damn eyes on the road?" Brad finally turned to face her. Katie could see the conflicting emotions in his eyes; they had yet to discuss what had happened when she had been shot and Katie was willing to bet that if Brad had it his way, they would never discuss it.