No Place for Females

Chapter Twenty

Amir crawled behind a rock. He crouched there, with his head in his hands. This was bad. Inside, he was kicking himself for letting Asa take the lead. He had known that it was a foolish plan, but he had been so proud of Asa for taking charge.

He was almost sure that Asa was dead. Amir would soon meet the same fate, unless he could think of a way to get out of there.

In the distance, his men were yelling, and scrambling away. They, too, must have watched their leader take the fall. They would be running for their lives. Of that, Amir was certain. Many of these men were Asa's cousins, nephews or friends. They had been fighting for him. Without him, their will would crumble and they would shrink back into the shadows.

He could feel the blood from his ear trickling down his neck, creating a hot spot. Why was blood always so sticky? He crawled toward another rock. Cowering behind it were three of his men, gripping their weapons.

"Get up," he said. "We have to keep fighting."

"Asa is dead," said one of them. "We are losing. We will all be killed if we don't leave."

"You will die for sure if you don't fight back. We must do this."

"No," said another. "We have to live. Our families need us. We have to go back."

Amir reached out towards one of them.

The man pointed his weapon at Amir. "You are not the boss of us. You are a foreigner, just like the Americans. Go back to where you came from."

The other two men seemed to be emboldened by his words. They also pointed their guns at Amir. He stood there, against the rock, silently facing them down. These men would never be fighters. They were scared rabbits. And there would be no changing that. As stubborn and fearful as Asa had been, at least he had eventually found his courage. He had given his all. These three were just cowards, plain and simple.

"Go," Amir said.

They turned and started to run.

With a sigh, Amir pulled out his pistol and proceeded to shoot them in the backs of their heads as they ran. He watched them fall to the ground. Good riddance.

He began walking in the direction of the vehicles, which were parked behind some large boulders. At least, he hoped they would still be there. It was possible that the men had taken them.

As he approached, he could see that one remained while scores of others were already driving towards the horizon. How had word of Asa's death traveled so fast? Did they know he'd been killed or had they already decided to turn and run? Even if Asa had actually made it into the American base, without these men to back him up, he would have died nevertheless. None of these men had any intention of ever following through. Amir felt a fresh hatred towards these men. They were cowards, every last one of them.

Amir was done with trying do anything to help them. There was only one way to make up for the time he had wasted in this shithole. He climbed into the vehicle and drove away. It was time to do what was really important. He would find and capture the American girl.

###

I had no scarf to cover my head. No helmet. Nothing. And I couldn't have looked any whiter if I'd tried. I shuffled down the streets, looking for a place where I could hide, and regroup, and plan my next move. Unless I got out of here soon, that angry mob would find me.

The streets smelled of sweet spices and hot garbage. It made my stomach turn, though I had nothing to throw up. The last food I'd eaten was the piece of bread Khalesia had given me.

The thought of her made my heart jump into my throat  For all I knew, she could be dead. I kept seeing the way the crowd had pounced upon her and her brother. Why? They were just children.