Chapter 1: Weapon Smuggler

I was eighteen and had just graduated high school. Before I could get drafted I went down and joined the army. Two weeks and I was in boot camp and then advanced training. With the start of the war the government had just started the draft. I thought I would get a pick of where I went but that did not happen.

I walked off the heavy lift plane and changed my grip on the new piece of shit they were calling a weapon. Unlike the older rifles that fired a seven point five by fifty five millimeter round this one fired a five by forty. Even a twig would deflect the round and the thing was always jamming. The front stock was cheap plastic and the rear was not much better.

The shoulder strap on the two duffels were cutting into my shoulders as I followed the other men towards a hanger. It was hot and humid and smelled of fuel. Three hours and I was in the back of a hover truck headed north. The hover plates needed adjusting or changing since the vehicle kept dropping and whining as it adjusted.

When we reached the large firebase I grabbed my duffels and stood. I waited for the others before I jumped to the ground and moved aside. A staff sergeant was looking at a list and calling names. When we answered he would point to a man that was waiting. I followed a lance corporal through sandbagged tents.

He ducked into one and I followed. Inside a second lieutenant glanced at me as a sergeant stood, "we will be ready sir."

He gestured and we followed him out. He looked at me and started walking, "you do not salute while here or in the bush. You keep your feet dry and carry extra socks. You do what lance corporal Higgins tells you, when he tells you. Do your best to keep that piece of shit rifle clean and maybe it will not jam."

Lance corporal Higgins snorted and that was when I realized neither of them were carrying a new rifle. The sergeant stopped at steps into the ground, "watch, listen and learn and maybe you will live long enough to leave this ... place."

The corporal pushed past me and started down the steps, "come along newbie."

I did not know what to expect but off of the tunnel were doors or curtains down into long rooms. He pulled a curtain to one side and gestured, "this is yours. We took cargo pods and cut the floor, roof and walls off. We put in wood supports and beams and set the side, top or bottom over the hole with a wood plank floor and covered it with dirt."

I slowly entered the dark room and he followed, "in the back there is a wall and behind that is a crude bathroom. You even have a shower but make sure you fill the drum of water up above."

The front looked like someone had tried to make a kitchen with a sink, stove and chiller box. Across from that was a makeshift table and two chairs made out of crates. Just beyond was a platform made from pallets with a large bare mattress. There were a half dozen military trunks against the bathroom wall.

I turned, "this is just for me?"

He snorted, "hopefully you will live long enough to enjoy it."

A military cargo pod was fifteen meters long, five wide and four tall. My roof was five wide so there was a lot of room. I set my duffels down and he led me out and down to his room. Three men turned when we came in and they looked at me. Lance corporal Higgins gestured, "this is private Thorne."

The men were private first class Peters, private first class Cox and private Zoner. They were the other men in our team. I sat and the lance corporal went over a platoon raid scheduled for the next day. Because I was new they went over positions in the team and squad. Higgins was the point, Peters and Cox were next in the wedge, Zoner on the left wing and I was on the right.

The mission was a platoon patrol out thirty kilometers to a suspected compound. It was on this side of a bridge and beside a river. The smuggler that was running it was selling new weapons to the enemy and insurgents. Our mission was a search and destroy so nothing but burned earth would be left after we finished.

First I had to go get ammo and then get my combat vest and harness ready. The pack was very light but I was also carrying extra ammo. Some of the men from the squad and platoon came by to see me but none stayed to talk. In the trunks against the wall I found bedding and towels and even clean uniforms.

That made me think of the man that had been here and what might have happened to him. It was hot and humid even at night so I did not get much sleep. I woke to someone yelling in the hall and got up and dressed. The other men had different types of rifles and even pistols and knives while I just had my issue rifle and bayonet.

I put on the thick and cheap body armor and then the vest and harness. I bounced and when I did not rattle I left. I was not the first or last to form up before the platoon headed for the maze of wire and mines. The company on the perimeter counted us out and we moved towards the thick jungle before the sun began to rise.

Once in the jungle I tried to watch everywhere and everything. I stayed back and to the right from Cox. Time seemed to slow down which was fine with me. I was seeing and thinking the enemy were all around us. Each time we stopped I turned to face out and looked for the enemy.

I knew the other squads were following us but there was no way I could see them. We had gone fifteen kilometers when I saw the enemy. I almost froze before I brought my rifle up and fired, "ENEMY TO THE RIGHT!"

Only the enemy was not just to the right. The bastards were all around us and the jungle became chaos as they began to fire. I shot the soldier I was aiming for and spun and fired into another charging me with a shotgun. I fired from the hip and into his gut and he staggered and my rifle jammed.

I cursed as more enemy rushed out of the bushes. I shifted and grabbed the barrel of my rifle with my left hand and spun to smash one man in the face. With my other hand I yanked out the cheap bayonet and lunged to stab a man in the gut. My left hand released my broken rifle and caught the enemy's.

I jerked the knife up and spun as I tried to reverse the rifle. One of the other enemy soldiers fired and rounds ripped through the man I was holding on my knife. The bullets slammed into the magazines in my harness and I staggered back. I managed to reverse the rifle and held it in my left hand and pointed before I fired.

The enemy that had shot at me jerked and went down as the one on my knife fell. I flipped the knife and threw at another as I extended the enemy rifle to the left and pulled the trigger again. The knife slammed into the throat of one enemy lifting a rifle and the bullets tore into another.

I spun and knelt as I changed hands and fired at one more as he pushed through the bushes. There was still firing but I did not see anyone and dropped the enemy rifle and looked around. I moved to the fallen shotgun and picked it up and went to the enemy that had been holding it.

I took a large hip pouch full of old shells and made sure the shotgun was loaded. It was a ten gauge long, semi auto ten shot I recognized. It was called a Tomahawk and this one looked used but in very good condition. There had to be at least fifty slug shells in the pouch. Lance corporal Higgins yelled, "ACE!"

I heard the other team and squad leaders yelling the same thing. I stripped three good jungle knives off the dead men as the other three men in my team answered. I waited until it was my turn, "Thorne ... my weapon..."

I looked at the bent receiver and shook my head, "my weapon is red."

A moment and I shifted and turned to point the shotgun. I lifted it towards the sky as Higgins came through the bushes. He growled, "your weapon..."

He stopped and looked around me at the dead enemy and then at the shotgun in my hands. He grinned and turned, "okay kid."

I adjusted everything and fixed a sling so the shotgun hung under my right arm and across my chest. The platoon pulled in and I found out four men had been wounded. They were still able to walk so the lieutenant decided to continue the mission. They were at the rear of the platoon when we started to move again.

At least after the fire fight I was not jumping at every sound. I had made sure the shotgun was fully loaded and the safety was off. Time slowed to the jungle around me and Cox in front and to my left. Finally he signally and I knelt and pointed the shotgun out. A few minutes and he hissed and we were pulled into a close platoon perimeter.

The lieutenant and squad leaders slipped out to do a leaders recon and thirty minutes later they returned. The objective was oval with a bridge on the far side. The road came across the bridge and turned east past a large warehouse. Two barracks type buildings were straight across from the warehouse.

Three heavy hover trucks and a staff hover car were being loaded in front of the warehouse. There were at least a dozen men walking around with weapons. First squad was to go to the west and strike through with third and take the bridge. We were to hit the vehicles with fourth and then strike the warehouse while fourth took the two other buildings.

The platoon split and we waited five minutes before moving forward. When alpha team moved on line we shifted right and slipped into place beside them. Fourth squad was to the left and I looked through the last few bushes. I kept the shotgun to my shoulder and waited for the whistle.

When I heard it I came to my feet and took a step and fired at one of the men with a rifle. The large slug hit his chest and exploded out the back in a spray of gore. I kept going towards the rear of the hover trucks and shot a man in the head as he rushed around the side with his rifle up. He flopped to the ground as I reached the truck and took a breath.

My heart was pounding as I spun while kneeling. I aimed down the side of the trucks and fired into another man. He was aiming towards me and went back while firing into the air. I leaped up and rushed towards the front of the truck, "Thorne moving to the second vehicle!"

I fired at men rushing out of the warehouse and one spun and went down. I dove towards the ground and shifted as the others spun to run back in. I shot one through the side and saw the spray of blood as he spun. I shot a second as they reached the door and two rifles began to fire into them as well.