Moon Dust | Generation Kill

Chapter 19: Enigma

With Evan's head on her shoulder and Whiskey sprawled out on her lap, Katie sat watch while everyone else in the vehicle slept. While waiting for Alpha Company to complete a reconnaissance mission on the airfield, Bravo had been told to sit tight in their humvees, resulting in a lot of napping to catch up on lost sleep. 

Hearing the sound of approaching footfalls on the dirt and sand, Katie looked up just as the radio went off. "All Hitman Two Gunners be advised. Alpha has a team reentering friendly lines to the North. How copy?"

Coming up to Brad's window, Nate took note of the sleeping men before giving Katie a quick nod. "Have they been asleep very long?" His voice was low.

Katie lifted her arm and pulled back her sleeve so she could see her watch. "About twenty minutes or so," she answered. "It should be enough to refresh everyone."

"And what about you?" Nate questioned. "When was the last time you slept?"

Katie just shrugged the Lieutenant's worry away. "It hasn't been that long. I'm fine."

Nate looked as though he wanted to say more, but instead, he turned back to Brad and begun to shake him back into consciousness. "Brad?" he woke up the Sergeant. "Get your team ready. We're assaulting the airfield. Less than ten mikes."

After taking a second to fully come-to, Brad reached over to Ray. "Wake up." He shook the driver hard before looking up at Walt. "Walt, range the Mark-19 as far out as you feel comfortable engaging targets with good effect."

"What about Alpha's recon?" Katie fiddled with Whiskey's ears gently until he let out a snort and lifted his head.

"They're out of time. They fucked it," Brad responded as he exited the vehicle to begin taking down the camo netting. "We're going up against tanks."

Within seconds the entirety of Bravo Company was in high gear. Men that had just been sleeping or eating or going to the bathroom were now running around, gathering their gear before jumping back into their respected vehicles. After a whirlwind of activity, the entire convoy was back on the road in the blink of an eye; fast enough to make someone's head spin.

Even though she hadn't been sleeping, Katie found herself rubbing her eyes and yawning in an attempt to get rid of the drowsiness that had overcome her during the downtime. Just like everyone else, though, she was back on full-alert in no time with her gun in her hands and her dog between her legs.

As Katie's ears began to hum, the woman peered up into the sky at the passing aircraft that flew overhead. "Got any comms with those A-10s?" Brad kept his eyes on the map in his hands.

"Negative." Ray shook his head.

"Those jets are goddamn Air Force," Brad noted the identifying markings. "They shoot marines."

Ray gave an agreeing nod before peaking at Brad's map. "You know, that map showed fences. If there's fences, we're gonna need the bolt cutters."

"They're under the reporter's seat," Brad said.

Turning around for a split second to look at Evan, Ray gestured downward. "Hey, can you lift your ass in a hurry if we need to get to those bolt cutters?"

Evan looked down at his seat and then back up at Ray again. "I think so." He stood up the best he could and tried to open the compartment under the seat. 

"You have to get out of the humvee to open it." Katie noticed that the current plan just wasn't going to work.  

"I don't see a fence anyway," Brad commented as the airfield came into sight in the distance, the tension rising as the upcoming assault on an airfield by unarmoured humvees finally began to sink in.