Chapter 7

I saw the dust cloud and I knew it meant trouble, I thought about turning left or right into the desert, but I knew that that would be a clear indication that I had something to hide. I fired up the GPS unit, I was still five miles from the RVP. I could only hope that I kept my head down they might drive straight past me. I glanced back at the GPs and knew it was now or never so I pressed the emergency button, which would send the signal that would bring the helicopters in to collect me.

The convoy drove toward me, and I kept my eyes on the road, but I could see there were five land cruisers and two trucks, all were full of armed, black-robed warriors.

The driver of the first truck waved and I waved back but as I passed the last land cruiser, I could see they were slowing down. I put my foot to the floor and tried to put as much distance between me and the Taliban convoy.

They seemed to drive on for a bit then I saw their brake lights flash and they were pulling over. I was still hammering my truck.

A glance in the wing mirror told me that they were coming after me. I dropped the truck into a lower gear and hammered the accelerator to the floor. All of their vehicles were fully loaded, and mine only had me and some bits of kit, so I made ground on them.

Then I heard gunshots and the odd ping of a round hitting metal. I picked up an AK47 and set it to semi-auto. I looked at the GPS and I was only a couple of miles from the RVP.

I felt the truck judder and then it wobbled, they had shot out a tyre. I swung the truck across the road and jumped out. Using the flatbed of the truck I started to fire three-round bursts into the first Taliban land cruiser. It slewed to a stop and half a dozen men jumped out.

I reached into the flatbed of the truck and picked up the RPG. It had a round already slotted home, I flicked off the safety and shouldered the weapon. I lined it up and fired; my first shot hit the road around a yard in front of the land cruiser. I slotted home a second round and adjusted the site on the RPG. I fired and the first truck exploded, and men were thrown across the sand, I soon had another round slotted home

One of the trucks was trying to pass the burning land cruiser, the round from the RPG hit the trucks engine compartment and secondary explosions told me the fuel tank had exploded as well.

The fourth RPG round flipped a land cruiser onto its side. Rounds were hammering into the truck I was hiding behind. I could see muzzle flashes from a group of rocks just off the road.

I slotted home another round and let rip; the muzzle flashes stopped as the rocks were thrown across the sand. The flash of a pair of headlights caught my eye and I saw a land cruiser coming toward me. I swung the RPG around, slotted home another round and fired. The cruiser lifted off the desert floor and ended up on its side.

I placed the RPG on the road and picked up the AK and started to fire three-round bursts, the noise of rounds pinging off the metal bed of the truck I was hiding behind started to increase. They were getting organised that was for sure. I fired out two magazines and then picked up the RPG and slotted home another round and fired it toward the truck that had flipped onto its side.

There were a few guys behind it, I heard screams and knew I had done some damage. I saw another land cruiser starting to push its way past the burning wreckage of the first truck I had hit.

I slotted my last RPG round in and took aim and fired. The truck stopped in its tracks and exploded sending flames high into the sky.

I picked up one of the AKs from the flatbed of the truck and started to fire bursts into the convoy. I think using the RPG has unsettled the men in the trucks and most of them had their heads down. Somewhere firing the odd round toward me, but for most of them, that meant popping their weapon over the top of a truck and firing. This meant most of their rounds were well wide of me.

I saw two guys trying to edge around the side of the truck and I hit them both with three-shot bursts. That put them on the back foot again. Another brave lad ran across the gap between the road and a stand of rocks. My first shots took his legs from under him, and the second burst killed him.

Each time I saw one of the Taliban warriors put his head up I gave him a burst with the AK. I was bidding my time, giving the helicopters more time to get to me.

But I knew that the Taliban would soon attack me, once they worked out there was only me. I would have loved to have been counting bodies, but I had no idea how many Taliban warriors has been in the trucks.

Two guys ran around the side of the burning truck to my right hit the first guy with the first burst of rounds, the second hit the ground and started to commando crawl across the sand. At the same time, two guys ran to the left. I fired at them to keep their heads down and then aimed at the crawling soldier. I hit him with a leg shot, then stuck a burst into his torso.

Then I turned back to the guys on the left, the Taliban officers must have got their arses into gear and their lads sorted because the truck was hammered with round after round as I tried to deal with the guys on the left. I had to duck, and I lost sight of the guys as they ran into the scrubland.

I reached into the flatbed and picked up half a dozen spare magazines and put them into my pockets. It was time to move. I fired out the rest of my mag into the Taliban gunmen and when the AK47 clicked empty, I tossed the mag into the flatbed and picked up a fresh one.

I slotted it home as I dashed across the sand toward the RVP. I heard shouting behind me and at the same time, I saw a stand of rocks. I dropped to the floor and aimed at the first guy that came running down the track. A three-round burst to the chest took him out of the game. The next guy dropped to his knees and aimed at me, but my rounds took him in the chest and head.

Another guy armed with an RPG ran into view, my first two shots missed my third hit him in the thigh and he dropped to the ground. I put another three-round burst into his torso.

I got up and ran another fifty yards before dropping to my knees and scanning the track behind me. two men were running toward me. I dropped the first one with a perfect three-round burst to the chest, the other guy dropped to the floor and fired at me. I heard rounds whistling past my head.

I aimed fired, aimed, fired and then the guy jerked on the floor, and I knew I had hit him.

I got up and ran back toward the bodies, at the same time I heard the sound of helicopters. I knew that for me to have any chance of getting on to one of the choppers I needed to take the fight to the Taliban.

My reasoning for running toward them was simple, they would not be expecting me to take the fight to them. I dropped to the floor using the bodies as cover. There was an eery silence, I reached over and patted down the guy in front of me, he had two spare mags for the AK. I took them and at the same time saw something to my right. Three men were sneaking through a patch of shrubs. I turned aimed and fired the rest of my magazine into the men. They all dropped to the floor. I swapped magazines, dropping the empty on the sand. There was no need to keep it now. I had left the spare rounds with the truck.

One of the men knelt up and aimed but he was far too slow, and I shot him in the head before he had a chance to pull the trigger of his weapon. I got up and stepped over the other dead man on the track. He had one spare mag, so I took it and then ran back down the track in the direction of the RVP. I had only gone fifty yards when two men appeared in front of me. They must have flanked me, I dropped to the floor and rolled to the left.

The men were firing aimlessly and seconds later they were both on the floor. One with chest wounds and one gripping his leg, his weapon discarded. I got up and finished them off before jogging on down the track.

The noise of the helicopters was getting louder and louder. Rounds hit the sand at my feet, and I spun around to see three men running at full pelt toward me. I took a classic stance, aimed fired one man hit the deck. His hands clutched his chest.