The Janitors

The man in the widow

The sand and dirt were beginning to be too much for me to handle. We had been away from the F.O.B.(forward operation base) for 2 days. It has been 8hours and 37 minutes since we last ate something. Ping on the other hand seemed perfect with the sun on his ushaven face, And the thousands of little specks of sand and dirt in his scraggly beard. The noon day sun is  unbearable, the mirage is becoming so severe that it has taken over the ground. The 2 dead, and half fallen trees 119 yds NNE have disappeared.

I looked at ping and said in a intense whisper "I told you we should have set up the camo netting."

Ping took his eye out of his pentax spotting scope, And with one eye closed and the other squinting (due to the angle of the sun). He said in his thick Australian accent, and with a slight girn " what? Are you going to turn into a burnt biscket of we stay out in this weather for much longer?"

Just at that moment a large, dark cumulonimbus cloud rolled out from the west. Immediately, the radio cracked and gunnery sergeant Louis, bursted out, saying " rome, this is is juliet do you read me? Over."

"juliet this is romeo, over." Ping said.

Juliet- "Afternoon gentlemen, there's no better time then the present. As you have seen we have a large storm bruing over the mountains to the west. This is the storm we have been waiting for."

Juliet-"Washington, is oscar mike(on the move), and heading to the village. Romeo you are to provide over watch. Anything looks out of place you let Washington know."

Romeo- (ping and I) "copy, romeo on over watch"

Juliet-"Washington, whats your eta(estimated time of arrival)?

Washington-" eta, 7 minutes"

Juliet-"romeo you have green light on hostiles"

Romeo- "understood, green light"

I looked over at ping with a smile and said, with a chuckle " you ready for that bath you've been complaining about?"

Ping looked at me with his smile, showing one of his missing teeth. He shook his head and sighed. He moved his legs to get more comfortable, while kneeing next to his spotting scope.

The 7 minutes felt like 7 seconds. In only a minute we could see the armored humvee come to a stop 4 men creeped out, one at a time first the passenger side then the driver side, all four guns stayed fixed on the village, not even for a second did one gun come of the village.

"Hey" whispered ping.

"Yes?" I whispered back.

"Did lou lou(Louis) ever tell us what the objective was for this op. ?" He whispered.

"Ping, you now better than anyone not to ask questions." I said calmly.

"Yeah but, I just feel like this times different, you know. Like you saw how those guys moved from the humvee. There like a scalp. Precise. All I'm sayin is something just feels off." Ping said uneasily.

"Ping, if you feel like somethings wrong just keep a close eye out for anything that looks put of place, alright?" I said. I began to notice how precise there movements were, there is no way in words to discibe it.

" yeah, yeah, ill do that. Right ill do that." Ping said trying to gain focus.

"romeo this is Washington, over"

"Washington this is romeo, we hear ya"

Juliet- "Washington, romeo, you are clear to engage."

In the moment of the radio confirmation. The rain started and the sky became dark, so dark that waking up at that moment you would have never guessedit was the early afternoon. You could feel the air being to thicken as the rain poured out from the sky, And in an instant a clear sheet of rain slamed into the ground turning the hill side where ping and I were located, along with the whole village, into a large muddy field.

Ping and I had learned to use our surroundings as camouflage. The rain made it to easy. We began moving our legs so that they would sink into the mud, we grabbed hand fulls of mud and glazed it over our faces. After we made ourself comfortable. Washington, called in and said,

"romeo this is Washington, we are on the edge of the village, ready to move on your go."

"Washington, this is romeo, you are cleared for entry in to the village we will maintain over watch. Over" ping responded.

Washington- " 10-4. we are oscar mike"

In half a second the first silenced shot rang out over the radio.

Washington- " first tango, neutralized"

After that it was triple taps the rest of the way in. One by one Washington dropped bodies like a plague. They showed no fear, no mercy, they we silent as thou they weren't even there. One after the other, pretty soon there was no one left in the village besides, Washington.

"Romeo, juliet, the village is clear. Moving to objective." Said the leader of Washington.

And in a split second "Juliet, objective is secure" rang out from another man on Washington.

Juliet- "very good move to extract. Romeo pack up and head..."

Just in the moment as juliet was finshing his sentance. ping shouted,

"the window! the window! SW 2 floor window! The man in the window. He has something. RPG maybe."

I scoped up on the window switching to thermal. " I see him" I said

Juliet- "Washington! Get out of there!"

Washington-"clearing the AO!"

I couldn't hear anything after that but ping shouting the winds

" winds are from 274 west, at 5 knots gusting to 7. Humility 98 percent. Distance 336 yds." Ping said in a muffled, and distorted yell.

I dialed my scope in. Took in a breath. A squeezed the triger.

In that moment I had a flash back to the first time I pulled a triger. I was 8, and my father had just bought me a marlin 56 lever action .22 long rifle with a 4x scope. It wasn't much, but it was the spark that turned me in to the man am today.

Not even a second had passed from the time I followed through on the trigger pull to the time the 50 caliber bullet travling at 2,700 feet per-second, with a wieght of 812 grain struck the tip of the RPG. Sending pices of shrap metal and blowing the side of the building outward. The explosion burst through the valley, like a clap of thunder.