"C'mon boys. Get your asses up." Wallace walks down the hall, pounding in all the doors to get everyone up. I check my watch: 5 AM. I get up and start putting on my boots. Walking outside, I can see the light beginning in its blue hollow on the horizon. "Already hot as balls out." I murmur to myself.
"We're going out past the wire today. Supply Convoy." Wallace says, walking up behind me. "Again?" I say annoyed, "this is the third day in a row, and we've only been here for 4." He shrugs his shoulders, "Did you expect to come out here and laze about all day?" I shake my head, "No, I just expected to sleep for more than just 2 hour bursts and be up for the other 22..."
Walking up to the trucks Captain Deschamps yells out, "Winters, you've been sharp on the gun before, you're on it today." My eyes big out and my stomach drops a bit, "But sir. I-I was only good stateside. I've never been deployed before." He looks at me funny and says,"Son, you trained hard while in the States so you're not gonna have an issue. War is just training with more blood." I nodded nervously and said "Aye aye sir."
Standing in the Humvee turret I feel awfully tall. The armor plates to the sides of the gun are big and they cover my entire body, which is my one mental security. And if I aim down the sights of the M2 .50 Cal in front of me, my helmet covers all the exposed parts of me besides my eyes. "On the plus side," I tell myself, "It's really hard to shoot me. But on the down side, if I get shot, it's gonna be in the face... yay..."
We rolled out of the gates by 6. My truck was leading in the convoy, something called Dagger Team. We ride out in front in case anything, or anyone, decides to try and blow us up. Not the best of gigs, but it is what it is. At least Wallace and Akita are in the truck with me, and we're the 3rd truck in line.
I use the time in the turret to get a good look at the land. Iraq is so desolate, so bare. It's like the worlds largest cat box. I snicker to myself. My silent laugh was cut short by a burst of gunfire. Instinctively, I ducked my head down,lowering myself into the Humvee as much as I could. I heard Wallace scream "3 O'clock 3 o'clock!" I swung the .50 around to see a group of insurgents, coming out from behind an abandoned car. I pressed down the button on the gun and as soon as that first .50 cal round went off, I was deafened. The world went to ringing and dull thuds as background noise. Dirt and dust kicked up around the enemy's feet. One falls. Thud thud thud. Another falls. Thud thud. A third shortly follows. As he does, i hear a loud boom over the ringing and turn my head towards it. The first truck in our team had run over what seemed to be an IED. I see the back end of the truck raise towards the sky as it flipped onto its top. I was thrown forward as the next truck and ours both slammed on their brakes. As we stop, I keep pulling the gun around frantically, scanning for movement. I was terrified when guns were going off, but I soon came to realize that the silence is even worse in a situation like this. As the ringing in my ear subsides, I can hear Wallace on the radio, telling the convoy to take another route and calling for EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) and a Corpsman for the wounded. "Road seems clear but I'm not risking this shit." He tells us. "Dismount, but have your head on a swiwel. We need to get the wounded out of the lead truck and get the fuck out of here. Copy?" I hear Akita yell,"Copy!" And we jump out cautiously.
Approaching the flipped Humvee, I see the rear door on the right kick open. A Marine falls out and looks up at us, "I think.. we're good for the... most part." He throws up,"Just a bit... shaken up." I help him up slowly and sit him down against the side of the truck. "You're fine." I say, "It's all good. Just sit down a minute. You took a nasty blow. The Corpsman is coming, let 'me look at ya." He nods and leans his head back, undoing the strap on his helmet. "Fuck... people just are trying to blow me up nowadays." I smile and nod, "Ha. Welcome to Iraq, where your expected lifespan is based in miles, not time." A few moments later, 3 more Humvees pull up, 2 of them with turrets, another one medical. The security team for the Corpsman comes out and one says in a thick southern accent ,"We have it from here, y'all head back on home now." I stand up and walk back to our truck, getting back up into the gun. I mutter to myself,"Pshh, if only 'going home' was actually going fucking home..."
