Chapter 15A: Monday 08 October - Wednesday 10 October

Afghanistan & NALTS — Monday Day Thirty-eight — Wednesday Day Forty

Dawn was just thinking about showing up and the ten minutes I held Jens seemed like an eternity. Finally, she started to stir. "Mmm, I love waking up in your arms," she bravely said.

"You'll do anything for a little attention." I teased.

"I have missed our cuddling lately."

"So Jens, square with me - how do you feel and where do you hurt?"

"I feel sicker than I've ever felt. I'm nauseated, have diarrhea, have a fever and have no appetite. And I have severe pain here." She moved my hand underneath her body armor to her right lower abdomen.

I gently pushed her abdomen and found it was unusually firm. She jumped and grunted, "If you do that again, I'm going to kick your butt."

"Jens, you're the doctor and the smart one here. So why is it I'm the one that figures out you have appendicitis?"

"Oh Shit! You're right! Why didn't I see it?" She responded.

"You probably didn't want to. I think you've had some symptoms since Bethesda."

"Dammit, you're right again! Shit, this is going to leave a scar and I won't be able to wear a bikini anymore." Jens grumped.

I laughed, "You do know I dig chicks with scars don't you?" I kissed her cheek.

"Did you call them for an extraction?"

I called and they are coming to get us, but it could be a few hours before they arrive. Can you walk?"

She tried to get up and screamed in pain, "I don't think I can."

I slipped off her pack and dumped everything out on the ground. "Hey jarhead, you're making a huge mess out of my pack, " she complained.

"Well, I can't carry you, the rifles and both packs out of here. So we're going to have to lose some weight." I took off my pack, dumped my gear on top of hers, and gently leaned her up against an empty pack. She moaned as I was moving her.

"Owww - that did not feel good! Thanks for taking it easy with me."

I handed her a red flashlight. "Will you go through the gear and pare us down to essentials? We'll throw them into my pack when I get back."

"I'll try my best. What are you going to do?"

"Well I figure the chewchemeks are going to follow us and I'm going to go and set up some claymores to see if we can slow them down. Fire a shot if you need any help." I put her Bravo beside her, grabbed all the claymores, threw them in my pack, picked up my Bravo and started back down the trail.

I ran a klick, stopped to set the first claymore and worked my way back - placing them about every eighth klick. When I got back, the sun was up enough so I could look at Jens. She looked bad! Her face was ashen, her lips were dry and she was sweating like hell. I smiled at her, "Have I ever told you how beautiful you look in the morning?"

"Don't you lie to me! I look like hell and we both know it." She grumped.

I leaned down beside her and kissed her. "You look lovely to me! Did you get the gear figured out?"

She had two piles, "This is the pile we are taking with us and the other pile we need to destroy."

I looked at the destruction pile and the cameras were in it, "Hey don't we want to keep the cameras?"

"They're digital and I have the memory cards out of them, that's all we need."

I loaded the keeper pile in my pack and lifted it - it wasn't bad but I knew it would be hell carrying the pack, the rifles and her. The other pile I moved away from us and threw in a single heap. I took off my body armor, threw it on top and dropped a WP grenade on the whole mess. I went back to Jens and asked, "Are you ready?"

She faked a grin and said, "I'm as ready as I'll ever be. I don't think you can use a fireman's carry on me though."

"Then I guess I'll have to practice carrying you across the threshold."

I took the emergency locator beacon off my belt and activated it, "Now, they should be able to find us."

"Hey, where's your body armor?" Jens asked.

I looked over at the pile, "It's cooked now. I don't need it because it's just extra weight."

"You'd better not get your ass shot. I don't want to have to carry you out of here." She teased and then grimaced.

I slipped on my pack, threw the four rifles over my shoulders and squatted down to pick up Jens, "I'll try to be gentle, but this will probably hurt like hell."

"Hand me that stick over there." Jens said.

I gave her the stick and she put it between her teeth, bit down, and nodded her head. I squatted again, slipped one arm under her back and the other under her legs, pulled her close and struggled to my feet. Son-of-a-bitch this was a lot of weight. She let out a long and low moan and passed out again.

It's a funny thing, when your body gets loaded with adrenaline you can do things that you normally couldn't imagine doing. I didn't do the math on how much weight I was carrying because I might convince myself I couldn't do it. I took off on the best run I could, trying to hold Jens as still as I could. I was glad that Jens passed out and couldn't sense my feelings because I'd made up my mind that if the towel heads caught us before we were rescued, they weren't going to take either one of us alive. I worked into a rhythm, was making about three miles an hour, and sweating like a pig.

I ran for about thirty minutes (Jens was still unconscious) when I heard the first claymore go off behind us. Shit! That means that the fucking towel heads are only three and a half klicks back. I picked up my pace.

Jens finally started moving, "Uhhh, damn this hurts like hell."

"Hey beautiful! It's good to see that you decided to wake your lazy butt up." I teased and another claymore went off.

Jens looked at me, "How many claymores is that?"

"That's only the second one."

"How close are they?"

"They're not close enough to catch us. Because run, run as fast as you can, you can't catch me I'm the gingerbread Marine."

Jens tried to laugh, "Owww, don't make me laugh. That hurts too much. So are you going to teach that story to our children?"

"Your wish is my command." I quipped.

"I wish that you'd marry me!" Jens said.

"If we get out of here I just might do that." I said and saw Jens's violet eyes twinkle.

"I think you're just trying to get into my panties, Marine." She bravely teased.

"I don't think they'd fit me." I laughed.

I hit a really rough spot and jostled Jens, "Ayeeee," She screamed and passed out again.

Another claymore went off. I knew they'd figure it out soon and bypass the rest of the claymores. I was hoping it would at least slow them down. I couldn't see my watch so I didn't know how long it had been, but help should be here soon. It only had to come from the Mediterranean but it had to fly over hostile territory part of the way.

I was reaching the end of my adrenaline-fueled endurance and I needed to find a place to make a stand. I scanned the area, saw a hill that was about two-hundred meters higher than anything else in the area and headed towards it. The slope was steep and covered with loose shit so for every step I climbed up I slid back a half step. I finally made it to the top, gently put Jens down and rolled her on her side just in case she vomited again.

I un-slung all the rifles and lined them up side by side, threw my pack on the ground, dumped all the mags out and sorted them by rifle. I crawled behind the XM-109, flipped open the scope caps and found the towel head bastards chasing us. I ranged them as well as I could using the mildots. This was going to be a hell-of-a shot I thought as I fired at the first one. When I reacquired the targets, I could see that one was down and the rest were hitting the ground. There was just enough height on this hill that I could still see some of the bastards but it wasn't a very big target. Maybe I could at least keep them at bay until rescue arrived. I cranked the range on the BORS, lined up on the chewchemek I could see the best and tickled the trigger.

When I found the targets again, I determined I must have hit him because there was a bunch of blood all around. It bothered me some that I couldn't see the red mist.¹ I had three more rounds in this mag, one more full mag and then this rifle was nothing more than a big, heavy club. I decided to wait and see what happened if I didn't resume firing right away. I looked over and Jens was still out of it. I waited and finally they started standing up. Two dumb fuckers let me line up on one behind the other - I fired and got two rat bastards with one shot. They hit the ground again and I took out another one on the ground. I had one more round left in this mag. I don't know why, but I did a tactical reload and set the mag with one round off to the side.

¹ I couldn't bring myself to use this term earlier, it's a bit graphic and filled with mostly bad memories. When you shoot someone, "red mist" is the spray of blood that exits the body.

I had a bunch more ammo for the Bravos so I scooted over behind mine. Two-thousand meters would be a hell-of-a shot but I had a feeling I wanted to save the twenty-five millimeter rounds. I ranged on the closest towel head on the ground, cranked the BORS to the estimated range, did the windage and my first shot missed right! Shit! I missed the windage. I did a mildot hold and fired again and this time saw the red mist. I changed the windage and started firing at all the towel heads I could see. I had them pretty well pinned down and if they moved much I could hit them.

I heard some noise and hoped it was the rescue team, but was disappointed and then worried when I realized it was a troop truck. I switched back to the XM-109, ranged the truck and blew the engine to hell. I reacquired and dumped another two rounds into the truck hoping to kill some of the bastards sitting inside. They boiled out of the truck and I saw some towel heads carrying big fucking guns. Shit! They had some fifty cal rifles and now they could reach me. I lined up on the first one I saw and blew him to hell with the XM-109 - the other one hit the ground so I couldn't see him. I had two rounds left on the XM so I switched back to the Bravo.

Just as I lined up to fire there was a spat and a zing from a ricochet about twenty meters below me. Well, they had big guns but they sure didn't have big shooters. I scanned the area and found the bastard with the fifty and his rat bastard spotter. I lined up on the shooter and fired just at the same time a saw a puff of smoke from his rifle. I heard the crack as the round passed over us but I saw the red mist as my round struck home. The spotter moved over to the fifty so I lined up and nailed him too. I jacked another mag into the Bravo.

I heard a moan and looked over and saw Jens was awake, "It looks like you're having all the fun again." She whispered.

"Hey beautiful! I'd invite you to join me but I think you'd better just rest."

"I'm thirsty, do you think I can have a drink?" She asked.

"Jens, you know you can't have anything to drink. Wait a minute I need to take care of a little business." I turned back and shot the rat bastards that were standing up.

Jens said, "You know I feel much better now. The pain is much less."

"You need to lay still and rest." I turned back and kept firing but was very worried now. I knew if her pain is less it's probably because the appendix burst and that meant peritonitis would be a problem soon.

Where is that damn rescue team! I looked and saw another troop truck coming so I switched again to the XM-109 and blew the hell out of the engine. I then switched to the final mag - one round left.

I heard more noise but this time I wanted to jump up and down - it was the noise of choppers! I grabbed my pack, found the smoke, and popped it. Two cobras ripped past me and started opening up a can of whoop ass on the fucking towel heads. A CH-46E started landing about twenty meters away. I rolled over and covered Jens so the rotor blast wouldn't bother her, "Mmmm, I love it when you hug me." She said and gave me a hell-of-a kiss. Her mouth tasted like shit from the puke but it was one of the sweetest kisses she'd ever given me.

The CH was down and a group of seals and medics came running over. The seals felt bummed out because the cobras had pretty much taken care of the towel heads. The medics came over, "Move the hell out of the way." One told me.

"You'd better take it easy with her, or I'll kill you." I replied and moved to the side.

They were very gentle, got her on the basket and strapped her down. The seals were eyeing the rifles, especially the XM, "You guys care to give me a hand hauling some of this gear?" They almost had a fight to see who got to carry it. We booked it back to the CH and took off.

I was sitting by Jens holding her hand. They medics started an IV and I said, "I think she has a ruptured appendix." I went on to describe all the symptoms. They checked her over and one said, "I think your right." They added some antibiotics to the IV and gave her a shot for the pain.

The seals were screwing with the rifles, "Hey, those aren't toys! If you fuck around and shoot down this chopper I'm going to kick all of your asses. Leave them alone and I might even let you fire them later. And what the fuck took you guys so long!"

"We had to fly over Turkey and come in from the north. The stealth's took out the whole northern power grid with the carbon fiber wires. But we still had SAMS to deal with and sent in some jets running ECM to deal with them. I don't know who you are but you must be important as hell."

I looked at him, "I'm SM Blaine and this is my spotter Sgt. Donaldson."

"Shit! I know of you two. You've been all over the news for a couple months now. It's great to meet you two. He came over and shook my hand."

I left them alone and concentrated on Jens. She motioned for me to come closer to her and when I got close enough she grabbed me and gave me a hell of a kiss and then started giggling. "I always wanted to do that and other things in a chopper." The she started singing,

Heaven, I'm in heaven
And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak
And I seem to find the happiness I seek
When were out together dancing cheek to cheek

I looked at the medics, "She's just loopy from the morphine. Don't worry about it."

"So where are we headed?" I asked the medic.

"Were headed directly to Incirlik Airbase in Turkey; they have a great hospital and have been alerted. A team is standing by to do the appendectomy."

The flight engineer yelled at me. "Hey, I was told you need to get on the horn with the general."

I grabbed the sat phone out of my pack and made a call, the general came right on the phone.

"SM Blaine, as soon as you touch down we need you and the data back here."

"But Sir, I need to stay with Sgt. Donaldson, we're a team." I complained.

"Excuse me! Are you disobeying a direct order?" The general bellowed.

I seriously thought about telling him to go fuck himself, but I knew I'd end up in the brig. "No Sir, I'm requesting permission to stay with Sgt. Donaldson while she has surgery. Then I would be glad to come back."

"Marine, you will either do as you are told or I will order the seals that are on the chopper to take you into custody and force you to come here."

I could tell I could not win this one! "Yes Sir I understand and I will comply with your order." I thought to myself, someday I'm going to make your fat ass pay for this. "Sir, is there a chance that I could speak with Elizabeth Morgan?"

"She's right here." He said. The next voice on the phone was Liz. She was trying to talk a mile a minutes and I said, "Shut the hell up and listen to me. I need you to get your ass over to Incirlik Airbase in Turkey. I don't care what it costs and I don't care how you do it. The fucking general is having me come back to Afghanistan and Jens needs someone to be with her."

Liz replied, "Don't worry, I'm on my way." I heard the phone click off.

I was pissed as hell and wanted to punch someone. I looked at the largest seal in the group and was getting ready to go and smack him in the face. I went to get my hand free from Jens's and she held on tight and motioned me close, "You're so sexy and cute when you're angry. But remember dogs get mad, people get angry and Marines get even."

"Shit Jens, the fucking general's making me head right back to Afghanistan and won't let me stay for your surgery."

"Shush, I will be fine and I'll have a great scar for you to kiss - just as I kiss your scars. Don't worry, when I get back we will come up with some evil plans for the general. When you see him ask him how Belinda is."

"Is that his wife?" I questioned.

"No silly, that's his girlfriend." Jens giggled.

"Liz is coming to be with you, but I'm not sure when she will be here." I answered.

"Just relax my love and let me take care of this when I'm better. I'm going to make that general soooo sorry." Jens giggled.

Jens was so silly that it defused my anger, besides I wanted to spend every second I could with her. I was sure the general would shit his pants when I asked him about Belinda. I might even do that in front of the Colonel.

"Move out of the way jarhead, we're landing." One of the medics said. I didn't listen and stayed right by her side. The minute we touched down some hospital staff ran out with a gurney and Jens moved to the gurney. I held her hand the whole way and tried to head in the building with her. We were stopped by two MPs. "Sir, we're told that you need to get back on that chopper and head over to the flight line." I thought about taking them both out and then I heard the seal team behind me and knew that it would be futile. I leaned down and gave Jens the best kiss that I could, looked at the hospital staff and said, "You had better take good care of her."

They wheeled her off as I was escorted back to the chopper. "Sorry to do this Sir, it's the general's orders."

"Fuck you and fuck the general and fuck the whole damn Marine Corps. I'm doing this just because I know I can't take all of you at once. But if anything happens to Jens I will hunt each of you down and make you die a slow and painful death."

I jumped back on the chopper more pissed than ever. The seals wouldn't even look at me, let alone talk to me. The MPs wanted to sit on either side of me until I told them to leave me the fuck alone.

It was a short ride to the flight line and when they touched down the MPs and seals escorted me to the waiting C-130. They wanted to help with the gear but I was so pissed I wouldn't let them touch anything. When they all boarded with me I looked at them, "So are you bastards following all the way to Jalalabad?"

"Those are our orders Sir."

"Then stay away from me and leave me the hell alone or I'll throw all you mother fuckers off this piece of shit plane. I'm taking a nap." I lay down and for once I couldn't sleep on a flight. All I could think of was Jens going through surgery without me. God! What if she died! I'd gotten so used to her that I don't think I could live without her.

I couldn't get comfortable so I decided to get up. I paced back and forth on the 130 like a caged animal. Shit! I was a caged animal.

I got a call from the pilots and I stormed up to them. "We just received a call from the hospital. Sgt. Donaldson is out of surgery. It was a ruptured appendix. They said they cleaned her all out and she should be just fine."

I almost kissed the pilot. Finally, some good news on this FUBAR of a mission! I relaxed, walked to the back of the plane, started planning my revenge on the general and promptly fell asleep. My dreams were oh so sweet about Jens and I remembered her saying just as the plane touched down, "Remember our last kiss."

I looked and the seals and the MPs were looking at me, "Sir, we've landed in Kabul and we need to escort you to a waiting chopper." I smiled at them and said, "Let's go."

They all blinked at me, "What the hell happened to you?"

"Nothing, I'm fine." I lied to them.

I grabbed all my gear and headed over to the chopper, "You guys don't have to follow me if you don't want. I can take care of myself."

"Sorry Sir, we have orders."

"I understand." I replied and hopped in the chopper, they followed me in.

The chopper spun up and we were off towards Jalalabad. My mind was preoccupied with plans of revenge so the flight seemed short. We were met at the landing pad by the Second and Gunny Horton. "SM Blaine the General wants to see you ASAP."

"Yes Sir. Gunny will you take my gear to the bunker?"

"Yes Sir SM Blaine." Gunny replied. I could tell by his reply that something was going on. I looked at him as we transferred the gear and he slipped a piece of paper in my hand.

"Cpt. Kast, I need to use the latrine first." I said.

"If you must, then we'll stop." He answered.

In the latrine, I opened the note.

Banzai,

Watch yourself and don't push the general. He's as pissed
as I have ever seen. I know what the bastard did to you
and I know you want blood. But, now is not the time.

Revenge is a dish best served cold!

GH

I knew I didn't need to but I ate the note anyway. I sat and thought that my best friend in the world, Jens told me to wait and now the man that was as close to a dad as I've had for many years told me the same. Maybe I'm getting old, or perhaps just getting smarter but I decided to listen to their advice.

I flushed the toilet and started washing my hands; the Cpt. was impatient so I did an extra long and special job. "Come on dammit, hurry up!"

"Okay, I've just been out in the field for a while and wanted to clean up some." I smiled at him.

We walked over to the BCO's office and went right in. I could tell immediately that Gunny was right because the General was pissed. "It's about fucking time you got here. What took so long?"

I snapped to attention, "Sorry Sir, I needed to use the latrine."

"At ease, let's sit at the table and I want a full briefing." He ordered.

We sat at the table and I gave him a briefing. I even gave him one of the digital camera memory cards. The second was a duplicate so I kept it for myself because something didn't feel right. When we were finished he looked relieved (too relieved) about something, and said, "That was a hell of a job you two did. Sorry about having to take you away from Sgt. Donaldson, but the information you have is vital to us. Just so you know most of this mission will be redacted from both of your records."

I looked at him and gave him my evil grin, "Yes Sir! I understand exactly what you're saying. Can we at least get credits for our kills?"

"Not this time unfortunately." He replied.

"Yes Sir, I understand."

"You're dismissed." He said.

"Sir might I request leave to be with Sgt. Donaldson?"

"No you may not. You're needed here. You're dismissed."

The fucking bastard! There was something going on, I was upset, so I stood and started walking out the door as I softly sang:

Belinda the rain is falling
Belinda your love is calling
Belinda he'd never leave you
Belinda he won't deceive you

The general turned and said, "What's that you're saying?"

I grinned and replied, "Sorry Sir, I was just singing a favorite song of Jens's about Belinda."

He got all red in the face, "Never sing that song in my presence." He bellowed.

"Yes Sir, I will never talk about or sing about Belinda in your presence again." I left the room and had a shit-eating grin on my face. The grin was still there as I walked into the mess and grabbed some chow. I saw Gunny and we headed to our favorite back table.

"What the fuck did you do? You have the biggest grin I've ever seen on your face." Gunny asked.

I leaned in close to him, "First thanks for the heads up, the bastard was as pissed as I've ever seen him. If I had gone in there loaded for bear, he would have kicked my ass. Did you know the general has a girlfriend named Belinda?"

"You're shitting me!"

"If I'm lying I'm dying! Jens knew all about it. I don't know what the fuck is going on but he won't give me leave to see Jens. So as I walked out I sang him a little song about Belinda."

"I bet he was pissed."

"It was so funny; I thought he was going to shit his pants."

Gunny leaned back and laughed, "Damn, I wished I would have been a fly on the wall."

I pulled the memory card out of my pocket and slipped it on the table, "Gunny, I need you to hide this somewhere for me."

He took slipped it in his pocket, "Is this from your mission?"

"Yep, something wasn't right about that mission and the general doesn't want anything revealed about it. The camera had duplicate cards in it and this is the second card."

"Don't tell me you're thinking blackmail? I won't have anything to do with that." Gunny announced.

"Don't get upset, it's more like insurance. So what else do you know about that mission?"

"I hate to disappoint you but I don't know jack shit about your mission. And that's the strangest thing."

I leaned back and rubbed my chin, "That's fricken weird and just doesn't make sense. It's almost like they're trying to make the whole mission go away."

"I thought the same thing." Gunny replied.

"All I know is that something about those pictures is pretty damn important to the general. I'm glad you have them and that I can trust you. Well, I need to get back to the bunker and clean some rifles and then hit the hay." We stood up, shook hands and parted ways.

I walked in the bunker and it was empty and cold, just like my life without Jens. She's the one responsible for all the joy in my life and without her life was meaningless. Yes, I am still a Marine, but without Jens it didn't matter anymore. I scolded myself, stopped the self-pity, sat down at the table, and started cleaning the rifles. As I cleaned them, I remembered the good times we shared on Hawaii and how Jens did such a good job sighting in the rifles. Damn! Everything I did reminded me of her. I finished the rifles, the XM was a real son-of-a-bitch to clean but by the time I was finished the bore sparkled. I put the rifles away, headed over to the showers, and cleaned up. It felt great to get all the grime from the field off me - I even used a scrub brush and rubbed until my skin hurt.

I couldn't go back to the bunker because I'd drive myself crazy, so I went through the barracks hoping to find my friends but they were gone. I didn't have any better luck in the mess tent. Dejected, I went back to the bunker and fell on the cots. They still smelled like Jens and I finally slipped into a troubled sleep hugging her pillow and thinking of her.

Sometime later, I heard footsteps walking across the floor of the bunker. I reached under my pillow, grabbed my Kimber and waited. As I felt a hand touch my shoulder, I grabbed it with my free hand, twisted it hard, pulled my Kimber and flipped on the tactical light. I saw the frightened face of the Second in the beam. "What the hell are you doing in my bunker without knocking first?" I asked.

He gulped, "Sorry, I knew that you were the only one here and the BCO needs you ASAP."

"You're lucky I didn't shoot you. Don't ever come in here without knocking again." I rolled out of bed, "This had better be damn important." I slipped on my boots, the rest of my gear, we went to the BCO's office and walked right in.

After the proper military greeting Colonel Rowe got right to the point."SM Blaine, we're sending you and a team on a rescue mission. We have a squad of Marines pinned down. Get your gear and be at the heliport in thirty minutes. You will be briefed on the details right before the flight."

Shit! I didn't have time to ask him what the hell was going on and he didn't offer any more information. I was excused, ran to the bunker, geared up, and beat feet to the heliport. I looked at the group he was sending in - they looked pretty good except for a green Second Lieutenant. I went down the line, introduced myself and checked their gear. One dumbshit didn't bring his body armor so I sent him back to get it. I was glad I had an extra set at the bunker and had taken the time last night to adjust them. He made it back and we loaded up.

The Second ran out, "I'm here to brief you on the mission." He went on to explain that there was a squad doing reconnaissance and they had been discovered. I thought in my mind then they aren't Recon. They were holding their own but need to be extracted.

The Second Lieutenant said, "Sir, we will bring them back."

I looked over at him; he was even more stupid than he appeared to be. This mission was already FUBAR. I was just praying that all or any of us made it back. We loaded into the choppers and I went and sat by the Lieutenant, "Sir, SM Blaine. I'm glad to be going on this mission with you." I lied.

He shook my hand, "Glad to meet you, I've heard a lot about you."

"Sir, if you don't mind me asking, how many missions have you lead?"