Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 57237 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57237 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait long for Jen to message me back.
No official orders yet. We’re flight ready but working to figure out what the airspace is like. We don’t know who’s still up there. I’ll get back to you when I know more.
A beat later, someone announced they were evacuating the White House, and Sid ordered for the channel to be changed to CBS.
“The Pentagon’s been hit,” he finished, clenching his jaw.
“Holy fuck—”
“Are you serious?”
“Change the damn channel!”
“Shut up!”
“Everybody calm down,” I growled.
And there it fucking was. Smoke billowing from the Pentagon, and a news ticker scrolling by with the words terrorist attack, third plane flew into the Pentagon, White House evacuation, and the president being in the air.
Sid and I exchanged a quick look, and I nodded with a dip of my chin.
He turned to everyone. “I want everybody to get ready and stand by for orders! When we—” He was cut off by crackling static coming from the PA system, soon followed by Quinlan’s voice.
“All senior operatives report to the fourth floor for briefing. I repeat, all senior operatives report to the fourth floor for briefing.”
That was me. I eased away from Danny, and he quickly grabbed my hand.
We didn’t say anything. Our gazes locked, and I could feel to my core that we were thinking the same thing.
The world had just changed right before our eyes.
We were at war.
May 28th, 2002
I adjusted my earpiece and snuck another glance around the corner. The street—or dirt road—was quiet at three in the morning, but that would change as soon as the air-raid sirens sounded in approximately six minutes. Local rebels would run for their antiaircraft stations on the outskirts of town, and US forces would add more holes to the low buildings.
“Roof’s clear,” Danny stated in my ear.
I looked up toward the roof where he was positioned.
After making sure my gun was covered at the base of my spine, I made my way across the street. “Start heading down.”
“Wilco,” he confirmed. “I’ve received the coordinates for our pickup. They’re eleven minutes out.”
Good. I couldn’t fucking wait to get out of Afghanistan. We’d been here for four months, leading an operation in gathering intel from informants that the military didn’t trust. It was our job to find something valuable in a fucking minefield. But sometimes it paid off.
I ducked between two buildings and started running down the alley. Every goddamn structure looked the same in these desert towns—mostly three-story apartment buildings that’d always looked worse for wear—but this one was way behind enemy lines.
A dog barked in the distance.
I peered up at the moonlit sky and slowed down. Almost there.
“On the ground,” Danny said quietly.
“Copy that.” I snuck closer to the house wall as I approached the back of our point of interest. It was the kitchen entrance of a café, and the owner lived in the apartment above. According to three sources, he wasn’t home, but his wife and elderly mother were.
Come on.
I slipped a long pin between the door and the doorframe, and it never ceased to amaze me how these countries just didn’t care about simple things like home security. Especially nowadays. It was just a latch I had to lift, and then the door was unlocked.
I tested the door, and it opened soundlessly.
“I’m in,” I said under my breath.
“Starting the clock,” he replied quietly. “Be careful.”
Nice. Scattering roaches on the tiled floor. Out of the kitchen, I looked into the café area and veered the other way. The office should be—right here. I snuck inside and hurried over to the desk.
“We have movement next door. So far, so good,” Danny reported.
I found the memory card in the third drawer, and I deduced I had enough time to take pictures of the rest of the contents. Documents, notes, most of them written in informal Dari, indicating that—
“Time’s almost up, Em,” Danny reminded. “Shift change at the bases soon too. Come on.”
All right, all right.
I closed the drawer again and made my way out, avoiding thresholds and anything that might creak.
“I’m out.” I carefully closed the door. “Now, we run.”
We were about a minute’s sprint outside of town when the sirens blasted through the area.
We kept running, taking cover in the darkness, until we reached a small valley. Not a place you wanted to get stuck in. The shrubs and low trees didn’t provide protection.
“Do you hear that?” Danny asked, out of breath.
I did. Now that he’d mentioned it. A helicopter. I looked up and scanned the sky, but it was impossible to see anything. Then we couldn’t hear it either, because the air raid began. We watched from afar as our jets lit up the town.
I would never get used to that sight.
It would never sit right with me either, even though… Nope, not going there now. We had to make it to safety.