Militia Read Free

into…that…cave,” Mike yelled as loud as he could through uncontrollably fast breaths.
    The cave was small but it was on the backside of thick rock and faced away from the snipers position. He knew that they would only be able to stay long enough to catch their breath. As much as Mike would have liked to believe that his team had either put a good amount of distance between them and the sniper or that maybe the sniper had noticed their retreat and not bothered to follow, he knew that neither scenario was likely. Mike had watched children outrun trained soldiers in these mountains and would not be surprised if the sniper had even gained ground on them. On top of that there was no doubt in his mind that even if the sniper was not in pursuit there was definitely going to be somebody chasing them down. The soldiers of the Taliban do not just quit when faced with their enemy. These are men, women, and children who are so deeply devout in their religious faith that none of them fear death. No, Mike knew that his team had to keep moving.
    Mike led his team into the shallow cave and told Burns to keep trying the radio while they rested. Even in this cold he could feel his entire body become fully drenched in sweat as soon as he stopped moving. Looking around at his soldiers he could see the exhaustion in all of their eyes. This was going to be difficult but this was why not everybody had the desire or ability for this kind of assignment. It would take more willpower and mental strength than it would physical to get out of this situation. That was what set these men apart from everyone else; when the physical is gone out of your body and it seems as if all hope is gone only a few people in the world are able to find a way to keep going. Mike was looking at those people now.
    He looked to Burns and was given a shrug in return as his senior man tried in vain to reach their unit on the radio. Without wasting his breath Mike picked Woods back up onto his shoulder and set off out of the cave at a pace close to full speed. He didn’t have to look back to know that his team was right behind him.
    As they ran Mike waited for the sound of gunfire. Not that he wanted to hear it but in some way he felt that it would be better to hear it and know how far away the Taliban was than to wait for it. Just as the teams pace once again began to slow they heard the one sound that each of them dreaded the most…mortar fire! Mike could feel the impact of the nearest rounds and knew that it wouldn’t be long before they were landing right on top of them, he ran to the nearest mountain face that was away from the enemy and was fortunate enough to find another cave only partway up the mountain.
    They each found energy that is only there for dire emergencies and made a sprint for the cave. This one was deeper that the last but not by much. They climbed as far into the cave as they could and got down on their knees, forcing their heads to the ground almost like their attackers would be doing in just a few hours for their next prayer.
    Mike heard Burns continuing to try the radio with no luck. There was not going to be any way to get a transmission out while in this cave. Mike grabbed the radio from Burns and gave him a stern yet knowing glare. Burns simply nodded his acknowledgement and put his head back to the floor of the cave. Feeling like he was just about to enter into a one sided game of Russian roulette; Mike pushed his fear away and made his way out of the cave. He continued to walk around in circles while talking into the radio but after a few minutes of hearing nothing back and witnessing the continued close mortar blast Mike decided to head back into the cave. Just as he turned a flash of light and surging head blinded him and he could feel himself flying through the air.

Chapter Two
    “ H oly shit, man I think this one is alive! Better get him back to base fast.”
    Well it’s not the Taliban cause that didn’t sound like any kind of