This is Live – but not as you know it!

[DanFS]

Closed for Sweetandsexy3 & DanFS

Background:
(Officially, all Allied forces have withdrawn from Afghanistan, having handed back control of the country to their own military – unofficially, there are still some training teams ‘in-country’.)

Major Jerome Coombs, 22nd. Special Air Service Regiment.

Age: 35
Hair: Black
Height: 6’3”
Eyes: Brown


Status:
Team Leader – Bravo Team, Afghanistan Training Task Force.
Leading a team through the hills beyond a village known to be a base of Taliban operations.
Its location is classified.

Jerome was scouting forward toward the village shown only on the map as ‘729’.
There was undoubtedly a local name for it, and Jerome’s Arabic was up to the task of pronouncing it, but if his map fell into enemy hands, it would be useful for them to think he was a scout, rather than a special forces soldier, who they would then try and torture & interrogate for every last scrap of information before they killed him.

The Afghan Army were patrolling nearby, in the next valley, only ten miles away, but Jerome had been tasked to get into position and observe enemy movements and report them back to HQ.
If no-one new he was there, that would be ideal.

His sniper, Corporal Ian Harrison, was in position two hundred metres ahead, in sparse cover, observing and occasionally reporting back what he saw.
Nothing had happened all day, so things had been rather dull.

As he took a moment to remove his helmet, to wipe the sweat from his brow, and swat away the ever-present cloud of flies, his radio earpiece crackled into life.
"Movement Sir - ahead right. Seems to be a civilian four-by-four, moving fast. What on earth would anyone be doing out here?"

Jerome fumbled for his binoculars and scanned the road, clearly seeing the dust trial marking the vehicle's passage.
He couldn't be sure, but it seemed to be carrying three people.
Maybe they were local Taliban leaders?

"Keep calm, Ian. Just observe & report. Do not engage, I repeat - do not engage."

All he could do now was wait.

"OK Sir, they have pulled over and stopped two persons visible. Apparently westerners, judging by their dress. Are you seeing this?"

Jerome nodded, then remembered Ian couldn't see him anyway.

"I see it. Is the nearest person a woman? I don't believe my eyes - is the guy with her hoisting a camera?"

Jerome never wondered at the tenacity of the press.
There are, however some places they should not go, and this was one of them.

"Yes Sir - it would seem to be a news crew. Pardon me for saying sir, but won't this screw up our mission?"

Jerome thought of how to reply, as this would very definitely scotch their mission.
If a news crew could just drive up here, these people would no longer feel safe and would move on, before they had identified if all the major players he was tasked to observe were present.

"Yes, Ian, it will, but the bad guys don't know we're here. We'll have to play this out, and see where it goes."

As he spoke a couple of men revealed themselves and made it clear they were armed, by the way they held their rifles. They weren't old bolt-action rifles, either, but modern-looking AK47s.
A third man appeared atop the wall surrounding the village and covered the
group with a machine gun.

"Be ready to engage on my order, Ian. If this turns ugly, you better have your shooting hat on!"

"Yes sir, Standing by..."

Jerome cursed his luck.
He couldn't let another western hostage be captured and paraded before the world's media. As he gazed at the woman, he realised she was a beauty.
If captured, she would be used for every tiny bit of exposure the insurgents could get.
He wondered if they were above beheading a woman on TV?
He had heard they stoned women to death for adultery, so he guessed not....

 

[Sweetandsexy3]

Laura Sanderson , reporter for Network News 3

Age: 24
Height: 5'9''
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown


"Where are we?" She asked as she stepped out of the car and followed Eddie Raymond, the cameraman the network had sent along.

"I don't know, does it even matter? It looks good." Her producer Steven Williams called from the car "We just need something to air, make it up. As long as it's interesting, people will watch."

Laura rolled her eyes "I thought this was supposed to be serious reporting. Not another fluff piece. What do you even expect me to say. We are in the middle of nowhere, it's quiet, there isn't anything to report."

"You can either give us a story, or you can get back in the car and you can go home, and do reports about bunny rabbits and holiday displays for the rest of your life. It's all up to you." Steven shouted "I don't care. This isn't my career you're messing with."

"Let's just film Eddie..." She said taking a deep breath and fixing her hair. She looked into the camera as the light turned on "This is Laura Sanderson for Network News 3, and I'm here in Afganhastan to give you an update. So far things have been quiet during my stay here, there are no signs of action yet but we expect to see something soon...."

 

[DanFS]

As the woman got out of the vehicle, and seemed to be preening herself in preparation to be filmed by her cameraman, they seemed oblivious to the armed men watching them.
As one of the men spoke, in rapid, aggressive Arabic, the cameraman, took the film camera off his shoulder to reply.

Ian’s voice went off in Jerome’s ear. “They want to know what they are doing here, I would think?” He suggested.
“Well done, genius!”
Was Jerome’s sarcastic reply.
“If this kicks off, take out the machine gunner up top first, then the nearest rifleman, OK?”

The rifleman who had spoken did so again, gesturing with his free hand, for them to go away. His body language was plain to understand.
As Jerome watched through the binoculars, the rear door of the four-by-four opened and another man stepped out.
The man on top of the wall turned the machine gun on him, and it was obvious to Jerome they were talking, although they were far too far away or him to hear what was being said.

Suddenly, the machine gun rattled and several bullets struck the man through the open car door, and he went down into the dust, seemingly already dead.

Jerome heard the ‘boom’ of the sniper rifle, as Ian fired.
After a couple of seconds, his bullet tore into the unprotected top half of the machine-gunner throwing his lifeless body off the top of the wall, back into the village compound.
Ian had already fired at the second gunman, as Jerome turned his attention to him, just in time to see him thrown backwards as the heavy round hit home.

In a panic, the remaining gunman fired at the cameraman, the short burst stitching across his chest and sending him sprawling backwards into the dusty road, his camera falling heavily on top of him.
The poor man was reaching up into the air, his pain evident to anyone watching.
Now the cameraman was out of his line of sight, Ian fired once more, taking the last gunman in the head, killing him instantly.
The woman, now stood alone, as the echoes of the short gun battle receded into the distance.
Jerome had not waited, but stood and ran forward, unencumbered by his backpack – which was back with his team.
He knew Ian would cover his approach to get the woman out, and they would meet at their agreed rendezvous five miles away in the hills.
As Jerome ran forwards, he expected other armed men to pour out from the village, looking for a fight, but only appeared, the others seemingly wiser and more cautious, aware there was a sniper somewhere outside.
Ian couldn’t fire though, for fear of hitting Jerome, as he closed the distance to the lone woman fast.
He was no track athlete, but when the adrenalin was up, Jerome could run as fast as anyone else in his regiment.
The two men who had stepped out from inside the village wall were armed and started firing at Jerome, who shouted back at the woman:
“British Army! Get down – face in the dirt. I don’t want to hit you!”
She seemed frozen in panic and he had no choice but to dodge and weave making it as difficult for the men to shoot him as possible.

He was within one hundred and twenty metres when she seemed to move, and it gave him an opportunity to fire, but his shots went wide, as he wasn’t close enough to run and fire and realistically hit anything.
He stopped running to fire, and one of the men grabbed the woman by her hair and forcibly dragged her inside the gates, which were then shut – leaving the lone gunman to defend himself.
Jerome, who was now stopped, and kneeling, calmly shot him, and watched him keel over, before jumping up and running forwards again.
Amazingly, no other gunners had appeared on top of the Village walls, probably rightfully fearful of the sniper that must be outside.

Jerome cursed, as the woman was dragged out of view.
He would have to go in after her, there was no time to wait. They knew he was there, and every minute he wasted would mean pain and suffering for the woman, who, he was sure, the men would assume was a western spy.
They weren’t going to be shy in using any methods they could think of to make her talk…

 

[Sweetandsexy3]

"Let go of me!!!" She screamed as someone was pulling her away "I said let go!" Pulling an arm away she punched him. "I think you've made a mistake. I'm not a threat to you." She said still struggling to get away "I don't know who you are, so just let me free..." She hit him a second time. "I don't know anything!!! Let go of me!!!"

 

[DanFS]

Jerome knew the longer she was out of sight, whoever she is, the harder it would be to rescue her.
He hoped she could keep her head. If she panicked and I something rash, he may not be able to help her.

He ran forward, giving the last gunman a burst at close range and putting him down.
He also knew that he had to dash through the door, and not knowing how many enemy he faced, or where they were, he didn’t rate his chance, but he couldn’t bare the thought of the enemy ‘soldiers’ having their way with her, any way they liked.
He had hear stories of the barbarity with which female prisoners were treated.

He pushed those thoughts from his mind, and he gave the door to the compound a hard kick, and was surprised it buckled inward.
He threw himself forward and rolled to evade the couple of shots that came his way. He came to rest and knelt up, as a shot hit the ground right by him. He flinched, before seeing the man who had fired that shot, on the wooden walkway above him; and Jerome fired a three round burst up through the wooden slats in reply, killing the man instantly.

He could see another man, more like a teenage boy, small and wiry, grab the woman by the hair and start dragging her backwards towards an open door behind him.
The woman had obviously put up a fight, as he could see a man lying in the dust where she had been standing a moment before, but Jerome had to make sure either of them got shot trying to escape.

He locked eyes with the youth, as he made the doorway and Jerome knelt to steady himself as he lined up the sights on the youth’s face. Although the youth seemed aware Jerome could shoot him, he didn’t try to cover himself with the woman, who was slightly taller than him.
Jerome took a deep breath, held it, and gently squeezed the trigger, feeling the slight kick against his shoulder as the rifle fired and the bullet propelled to its maximum speed. It cored through the youth’s face, spraying blood onto the wall behind him, and a splash across the side of the woman’s face, which was now a mask of shock. The youth fell lifeless to the floor, releasing the woman in the same instant.

Jerome charged forward and grabbed her, screaming “RUN!” at her; before he himself turned tail, and pushed her towards the door of the compound, aiming for freedom. As they made the door, another spray of bullets peppered the wall and missed them by a hair.
The woman was already outside and running to the vehicle, and Jerome rolled to one side and got to his feet.
As he breathed in again, the smell of death hung heavy on the air, and it threatened to choke him.
The woman had already opened the nearest door and climbed in, as another volley of bullets drummed against the metalwork. Jerome looked up at the sound of the gunfire & emptied his magazine into the gunman and surrounding structure, to keep any other pursuers at bay.

He ran to the driver’s seat and looked in, the woman sat stock-still, he pulled and primed, then threw a grenade at the doorway to discourage pursuit, as he climbed in and reloaded his rifle, before stowing it next to him.
He drew his pistol, and handed it to the woman.
“You know how to use this?”
He asked her, as he returned his attention to the road, started the engine, and they roared away into the desert.

 

[Sweetandsexy3]

"Yeah... But I've never shot anyone before and I would really prefer to keep it that way. I can't kill anyone..." She said still trying to catch her breath as she took the gun "Who are you?" Laura asked "How do I know I can even trust you? Why did you save me?" Looking around she tried to find something to wipe the blood off her face "You could have gotten both of us killed."

 

[DanFS]

As Jerome shifted gear and continue to accelerate away from the Village he took a sideways glance at her, then whipped off his camouflaged scarf from around his neck and handed it to her.
“Here, use this.”

He then indicated the pistol, and said “And be ready to use that. Out here, it’s either them or you. This is not the time to worry about 'Human Rights'. You have to get them before they get you. Believe me, you don’t want to know what they might have done to you if I hadn’t come along, when I did.”
Then he added:
“Sorry if I seem a little abrupt, but I had to act before things got completely out of hand.”
His British accent was obvious, and he understood why she was hesitant.
“My name is Major Jerome Coombs, I am in the British Army. Yes, I could have got us both killed, but in my experience, if you act with overwhelming aggression, these people take a while to mount a concerted defence, and that was the best chance you had. My patrol was about a half mile way observing that Village, for we believe, or your CIA do, that it is about to host a meeting of Taliban commanders. We were going to report on people and vehicle movements, and your presence in the area will have put a stop to that. This area is too hot now. What were you doing all the way out here, without an armed escort? This is serious bandit country!”

He took another sideways glance and realised she was actually quite beautiful.
She was certainly a good choice to front a news channel, as she would keep attention on the screen, which just had to be good for the ratings; and she was obviously intelligent, if a little naïve, about how things worked out here, but that wasn’t a crime.

“The other guys, I’m sorry about them, but there was nothing we could do. One was your cameraman, that was obvious. Who was the other guy-a producer?”

He turned his attention back to the road, praying that they wouldn’t hit a mine, or IED, as that would really mess things up for them both. He was gambling that the locals needed to use this road just as much as they did.
He was also trying to allow the adrenaline which was now coursing through his system to bleed off.

 

[Sweetandsexy3]

"Yeah... He was my producer." She said as she wiped the blood off her face "He was the one who decided to come out here. He thought it would make a good backdrop, maybe distract people from us having no real news to report." Sighing she picked up the gun and looked it over "I guess I should thank you... You did save my life. So, thanks. I'm sorry we ruined your plans. I had no idea that there was anything going on out here."

 

[DanFS]

Jerome tried to give her his most disarming smile.
“Thanks, but we’re not home free yet! I’m going to try and meet up with the rest of my guys, as we agree to meet up before we can get out of the area. There will be safety in numbers around here, and this car is just about big enough, for everyone.”

He looked over at her again, and notice the press ID card on a lanyard around her neck. He flipped it over so he could read her name.

“So Laura Sanderson, of News Network Three, let’s see if we can get you out of this hostile environment and back to civilisation, shall we?”

As he drove, he opened his jacket pocket and pulled out a folded map, and handed it to her.
“Here-unfold this for me?”

Jerome had suddenly realised that as he was driving he was not taking the planned direction to the rendezvous point, and wanted to check his position.
He knew they were safer on the move, but he couldn’t risk crashing, so he needed to pull over.
He quickly braked and pulled over, before taking the map she had opened for him.

“Thanks!” He said, as he studied where they were , & smiled before sliding the map back over to her.

“We’re here.”
He told her, jabbing with his finger - before pointing to another spot a short distance away. “We need to get to here, but my team are on foot, so we need to find somewhere to hide this car for a couple of hours, to allow them to catch up.”

He began looking around and saw a few trees off to their left, about a mile away, which indicated water.
As he couldn’t see any reflections, he hoped the water was lower than the surrounding area, so it would also conceal the 4x4.

“We’ll hide there.”
He told her, before turning off the road, and heading carefully for the Wadi.
Whilst he was still on level ground he tried the radio.
“Queen three, this is King six, over? Queen three, this is King six, over?”

He had plugged in the headset cable into the stereo in the car, but all that could be heard was broken static.
He tried again and again, for a few minutes.
His team was obviously out of range.
He looked at Laura.
“Nothing to do but wait, for a couple of hours.”
He said, before driving towards the trees.

As they crossed into the depression, there were a few wild goats which scattered,
But other than that, they were alone.

He plugged his radio and headset back together, and got out of the car, and looked in the back.
Thankfully there was a large thick blanket, which he took and used as an awning to keep the sun off them.
He rigged it to the roof rack, and wedged the base on the sand with a few small rocks.
“We’ll shelter from the worst of the sun under here.”
He told her, before clambering under the shelter himself and lying on his front with his rifle pointing out where he expected any enemy troops to appear from.

He shared the last of his water with her, and found a couple of two litre bottles of water in the car, which were unopened.
He topped up his water bottles from those, and told Laura they would have to conserve water for a while.

“May as well make yourself comfortable. We’re hidden here…may as well top up your tan if you want?” He offered, allowing his imagination to wander, picturing her in a bikini....

 

[Sweetandsexy3]

"The last thing I'm worried about right now is having a tan..." She said as she carefully unbuttoned her shirt and tossed it into the truck, leaving her in just a tanktop. "It's not, we have a limited supply of water, those people are probably still after us, and who knows if your guys will even be able to find us." Sighing she lay down next to him "when I took this job I never imagined that I would be in a situation like this. I didn't even want to come out here but it wasn't like I had much of a choice, I was lucky to even get this job."

 

[DanFS]

Jerome nodded in response.
"Yep-you & me both. When I signed up, I thought I'd already seen enough sand to last a lifetime, but here I am, back in the god-damned desert again!"

He shifted his weight slightly to make himself more comfortable.

As they both lay there trying to shelter from the heat of the sun, it was warm but not unbearably so. A sand scorpion scuttled across the hot sand quickly, in front of Jerome, prompting him to draw his knife, in case he had to kill it. Silence was golden in the current situation.
Thankfully, it carried on, on its way, not bothering either of them.

The horned viper which followed it a minute later was much more concerning, and if it came to it, Jerome would have to shoot it if it approached, as its bite was lethal, and there would be no hope of rapid treatment out here.

It sat and watched Laura & Jerome, and kept its distance, seemingly as way of them , as they were of it. After a few minutes, it decided that didn't make a very good meal prospect, and slithered off, prompting a sigh of relief from Jerome, which he hadn't even know he was holding.

As Jerome settled back down into position he saw a flicker of movement on the ridge of the Wadi in front of him.
He slowly brought his rifle up to his cheek, and looked down the sights.

He also hissed a warning at Laura, and warned her to stay very still. Although someone might approach, if they were thinking the vehicle had been abandoned, they might give the tow of them an opportunity to escape & evade capture.

Jerome continued to watch down his sights, as another man appeared, then another. All were dressed in Desert Camo fatigues, much like him, and after a few moments, there were five men, keeping their distance from each other and walking slowly towards the vehicle.

He was shocked as the first man suddenly held his rifle out to one side, with his arms held wide in the shape of a cross, then he crossed his wrists, in front of his face, then waved, and carried on walking, tapping the side of his head, as if he couldn't hear.

Jerome then fiddled with his radio. The volume was too low to hear - he must have accidentally turned it down as he crept into position.

As soon as he did so, Ian's voice crackled into his ear:
"Hello, Boss. We've been here for an hour already, cooking our asses off. We saw you ages ago, and wanted to make sure you were OK, and not being watched. We sure hope you have some water, it's hotter than hell out here!"

He grinned, and replied - "Hello boys, you're a sight for sore eyes. Come on in, we haven't got much, but we can share what we have."

He kneel up and swept the ridge behind them with his rifle, relieved to see them not being pursued.

As the guys got under the shade and introductions were made, several of them were not very shy about undressing Laura with their eyes.
Jerome wasn't surprised, they were all red-blooded men, and Laura was an attractive woman.

After a brief rest, it was decided that they would take as much water from the Wadi, in various containers which they could purify later.

As they drove, with Laura in the front with Jerome and the other guys sat in the back, Jerome asked:
"How did you find us? We're miles from the RV?"
Ian nodded and replied - "We needed water too, and this was the nearest obvious source. I was watching you both for ten minutes before we revealed ourselves."

They drove slowly out of the Wadi and back to the highway, making their way back towards civilisation, but they were still over a hundred miles away from the nearest Allied base.

That night, they made camp in an abandoned School, it seemed - although the small town it had once supported had been bombed out of existence, the building was surprisingly still mostly intact, and allowed, once swept for intruders, both human & animal, they settled down or the night, with sentries swapping over every two hours.

Jerome laid down to rest, on his jacket, offering his sleeping bag to Laura, with its softer covering. As the Officer, he had ben spared a watch, as he was to ensure Laura's well-being.

The various night noises in the desert could be frightening if you didn't know what they were, and Jerome offered her his arm, if she wanted it, although he had taken the precaution of reclaiming his pistol, now there were more of them here together.