Blind Eyes, Black Hearts - A GWOT Story (On Hold)

Chapter II, Part IV - Conclusion

The five-man team took cover behind two ruined cars after seeing the muzzle flashes.

Two or three AK-armed gunmen were shooting at a building, which obviously had a number of rangers inside it. The flashes from the AK’s muzzles were identified by Rodent as not more than 100 meters away. Tracers continuously fired towards the building. Yellow AK bullet tracers from 3 guns flew quickly through the smoked air and hit the still-unseen and smoke-covered building. The team advanced quickly undercover of the throat-drying white smoke, and the closer they got to the building, the more bullet tracers could be seen flying towards it.  Zero response came from the building’s temporary inhabitants, and Rick hoped that the ones inside there were still alive. Let alone combat effective.

“Can you see how many are out there, Captain?” CPL Salvade asked Rodent.

“No. But one of my mates could.” He pressed a button on his radio and he resumed talking. “Gaz, we got some insurgents firing on a building. I’m suspecting some survivors inside there. Scope ‘em out with thermal.”

Not a reply came from the captain, as he listened and repeatedly peeked over his cover. After a lengthy hearing from the radio he finally broke a word. “Roger that. Seven Taliban. Five rifles, One LMG, another unknown.”

He turned away from his radio and looked at the four crouching men under his command. “Only seven of ‘em. No match for us, they are, especially in smoke like this.” But the smoke was now beginning to fade away. The nightly desert wind was picking up, and Rick was grateful for that, for he hated smoke.

“We better wait ‘til the smoke clears, then we could surprise ‘em. Group in twos, get into a position where you can see ‘em.” The British officer continued, calmly.

“How do we know where they are?” LaHoye asked.

“Follow the tracers.” Rodent replied, solidly. “Spread out.”

Rick followed the man’s advice and teamed up with Chuc, who was more an expert than CPL LaHoye. LaHoye was not more than a common ranger, while Chuc was a seasoned Delta Operative. The smoke began to clear out as they silently walked through the body-drenched line of ruined cars and stone, then Chuc finally reached a vantage point. It was an alleyway that would provide sufficient cover for both men. Rick was told to be the one at the end, while Chuc would dash next to him when it was time to fire.

“Yes, sergeant.” Rick replied. His aim was now unsteady because of both the smoke and the broken under-rail, but he ignored that when he remembered he achieved an expert infantryman badge during training, which required 8/10 hits on the firing test with a rifle. Rick reloaded his M4A1 Carbine. He pressed the release button on the left side of the gun and the magazine fell off, while his left hand quickly reached his vest to take a new magazine and put it inside the empty chamber.

He checked the sights of his gun. It was called an ACOG- Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight – Which sights zoomed in 4x onto a target. Rick was a crack shot with ironsights, and he was therefore a quadruple crack shot with this. In the next 2 minutes, the fire continued and the rapid AK fire continuously pinned down the supposed American soldiers within the building, without giving them a chance to return fire. The smoke began to fade away, and all of a sudden, only patches of white could be visible in the surrounding air. And the night sky returned. The dark blue and black night sky.

“NVGs on.” Chuc said, for with or without the smoke it was now nighttime, and it was difficult to see during nighttime without Nightvision. Rick guessed that Chuc had received that recent order from Rodent, who said it via radio.

Rick pulled off and hung the Tactical Goggles on his eyes to his helmet and pulled down the clumsy Night Vision Goggles down.

Then everything went green. The floor was green, people were green, walls were green, the sky was a shade of very dark green and the burnt cars were a shade of green and black. “Pick your targets.” Rodent said over radio, and Chuc moved from Rick’s rear to Rick’s side so he could pick off some AQ with his EoTech-fitted carbine. He crouched near Rick, who leaned left.