Moon Dust | Generation Kill

Chapter 15: Earn Your Stories

"Hitman, this is Hitman Two. We have multiple unarmed civilians fleeing the town en masse. We're gonna stop to question them. Over."

Halting the vehicles at the nearest natural resting stop, the men and woman exited their humvees and questioned the fleeing citizens, which consisted mainly of the men standing around while Meesh translated back and forth and Katie carried out a search with Whiskey every few minutes.

With the Iraqi citizen in front of them speaking very fast and very loudly, Meesh waited until he was done before he translated. "The villagers say they are grateful to be liberated by the Americans and look forward to working hand-in-hand-"

Doc Bryan just rolled his eyes, clearly having heard the same bullshit one too many times.  "You're lying, Meesh, and they fucking know it."

"Meesh, cut whatever fucking bullshit the higher-ups have told you to say," Nate demanded. 

Stepping in again, Bryan got up in Meesh's face. "We're all alone out here, Meesh. You fuck us, I'll smile killing you."

Meesh looked a little taken aback at most, but surprisingly, he didn't seem that offended or frightened. "When they hired me, they told me to put a little spin on things, a little psy-ops. But you're right. We're in this together." He agreed. "These dudes are saying there are some bad dudes up ahead. They know we're coming, and they want to hit us. They hate America, man. I say we call in some air, some Cobras, fuck them up."

Glancing back at the line of Iraqis flooding in, Nate shook his head. "There is no air," he reminded the group before clarifying for the confused faces. "The Shamal is coming."

Spinning around, with Brad, Bryan, Evan, and Katie by his side, Nate began to walk away from the crowds of Iraqi natives. "Why do we get the so-called interpreter?" Bryan inquired.

"He told me he works directly for General Mattis," Nate answered.

Looking up from his notebook, Evan paused what he was writing for a moment. "He told me he worked for the CIA."

"I swear I heard him mention something about special forces," Katie added to the long list of lies Meesh had apparently told. 

"Back at Mathilda, he told me he could hook me up with free satellite TV." Brad ended the friendly conversation with something that brought a slight smile to everyone's face. 

"Hitman Two, this is Godfather. I can't raise Hitman Actual, but be advised, Raptor and Assassin are taking heavy fire from the town."

Looking down at his comms, Nate sighed before responding back. "Roger that. Stay frosty." He then turned to everyone else. "Two kliks up the road, Alpha, Charlie, and H&S are pinned down, taking heavy fire from the town. Looks like another Nasiriyah."

"Hitman Two, this is Godfather. We're gonna try to bypass the town."

"Copy." Nate nodded. "Battalion's trying to find a way around. Link up with RCT One. We hold this position until instructed further."

Taking the news back to the humvee with him, Brad leaned in through his open window, gaining the attention of Ray and Evan. "Gentlemen, we're looking at a pretty short ride. We're gonna link up with the regimental combat team. After which, we rack out tonight."

Following the end of Brad's sentence, a loud explosion erupted from the town in the distance. Turning around to watch the show, Katie leaned back against the humvee as geysers of dirt popped up left and right, signifying the fire mission that was taking place at that very moment. From a safe distance, it was a spectacle, to say the least, but Katie was sure the experience was a whole lot different for the people that were actually inside the town.