Before he heard the report he felt the change in air pressure as the bullet streaked past his cheek. As he quickly ducked down he thought to himself "I'm a lot luckier than Peterson who yesterday caught a sniper's bullet between the eyes".
Lieutenant Brown turned to the men in his unit - the men left in his unit. Altogether five of them huddled behind the remaining wall in the rubble of what last week was a church. "Maybe that was it" thought Brown, "I either have a horse shoe up my ass or some higher being is looking over me."
But Peterson and four others had not been so lucky and now Brown's advance team was half the number it used to be.
A week in the rubble had taken it's toll. Five men were dead and the remaining five were very unsettled, nervous and jumpy. Especially at night. It was hard to see in the dark and there was little firing from the enemy. But any little noise would cause their hearts to beat faster and prompt sweat to run down their foreheads and across their cheeks. It was almost more nerve-wracking than the daylight and the men got very little sleep.
Brown was worried as he tossed and turned. The rest of the troop should have caught up to the advance team by now. But instead Brown and his men had to fight off the enemy alone and they were severely outnumbered in their efforts.
The sun slowly rose, brightening the sky and the men clutched their rifles in anticipation of the fire-fight to come.
Sam paused the Xbox and ran to the washroom. He returned and said "Ah, that's better". He turned to Jeff, stretched his hand out over the resume button and excitedly said to his playing partner "Here we go again".
Comments
So my heart was pounding in my chest, thinking about sleep deprivation, sand in my eyes and death being close enough to take me.
But the way you ended it was perfect, because all those emotions are still there, but those men are safe, ready for battle.
As usual the twists you bring are fresh and well written.