2025-10-06 22:47:36
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Chapter 15 - Blood in the Sand
Location: Kandahar Province, Afghanistan – MorningThe desert was no longer quiet. It roared. Engines thundered across the dunes, shaking the ground, spewing dust into the air like storm clouds. Lt. Michael Rockefeller dropped to one knee, rifle raised, eyes narrowing as the swarm of Taliban technicals bore down on them. The sun glared off windshields, catching the gleam of mounted machine guns.“Positions!” Rockefeller barked. His voice cut through the panic, sharp and commanding.The team scattered into the dunes. Monroe and Vargas scrambled uphill, finding high ground. The medic dragged Holt deeper into the shadow of the ridge, throwing down smoke grenades for cover. Collins swore under his breath, but he fell into place, crouched low with his SAW ready.Dust burned Rockefeller’s throat. His heart hammered, but his hands were steady. Fear was there—always there—but it didn’t own him. He owned it. He aimed, exhaled, and squeezed the trigger
Chapter 14 - Fractured Shadows
Location: Kandahar Province, Afghanistan – Pre-DawnThe desert was silent but restless. The kind of silence that presses against your ears until you start hearing things that aren’t there—the crunch of boots that don’t exist, whispers that ride the wind, rifles being cocked just out of sight. Lt. Michael Rockefeller knew better than to trust quiet. Quiet out here was a predator.He crouched by the jagged ridge, peering into the vast stretch of dunes fading into charcoal gray as the night bled toward dawn. His NVGs painted the landscape in eerie green, but there was nothing. No movement. No life. Just sand, shadow, and the ache of uncertainty gnawing in his gut.Behind him, the team was breaking apart in slow motion. Holt was still breathing—barely. Every inhale was a strangled rasp, every exhale weaker than the last. The medic worked tirelessly, his hands steady but his eyes hollow. Monroe hovered nearby, chain-smoking despite the rule against light d
đź“– Chapter 13 - Ashes in the Sand
Location: Kandahar Province, Afghanistan – NightThe night pressed down heavy, suffocating, as if the desert itself wanted them buried. The stars flickered weakly above the jagged skyline, pale witnesses to the carnage left behind. Lt. Michael Rockefeller crouched beside Corporal Holt, hands sticky with blood, the metallic scent mixing with dust and cordite.“Stay with me,” Rockefeller muttered, his voice low but edged with desperation. Holt’s breathing rattled, broken glass dragged through his lungs. The medic was working fast, clamping gauze to the wound in Holt’s abdomen, but the red kept seeping through, unstoppable.The gunfire had stopped twenty minutes ago, yet its echoes still clung to the night. Bodies of Taliban fighters sprawled across the sand like discarded puppets, and two of Rockefeller’s own lay zipped in black bags nearby. Good men. Gone in seconds. The kind of loss that never stopped replaying.Rockefeller forced himself to
đź“–đź“– Chapter 12 - The First Betrayal
Location: Kandahar Outskirts, Afghanistan Time: 23:40 Hours The convoy moved like shadows across the desert. No headlights, no chatter on the comms, just the low hum of engines crawling through the night. Sand whipped against the Humvees, carried by a dry wind that never seemed to rest. Rockefeller sat shotgun in the lead vehicle, eyes scanning the horizon. His hand rested loosely on the grip of his rifle, but his mind was elsewhere. Something about tonight felt wrong. Too still. Too quiet. In the backseat, Evelyn Shaw checked her weapon with mechanical precision. She hadn’t spoken in hours. Maddox, by contrast, chewed on a stick of gum as though it were his last meal, his eyes flicking between the windows like a kid on a rollercoaster. “You feel it too?” Shaw asked suddenly, her voice low. Rockefeller turned. “Feel what?” She didn’t look up. “That we’re not alone.”
đź“–đź“– Chapter 11 - Blood in the Sand
Location: Southern Helmand Desert – Dune Hollow Time: 07:04 Hours The world reeked of cordite and blood. The desert wind carried smoke that clung to the throat, acrid and bitter, mixing with the copper tang of spilled lives. Bodies littered the sand—Taliban fighters sprawled where they had fallen, mercenaries slumped against blackened trucks, eyes open but seeing nothing. The firefight had lasted less than forty minutes, but it had stripped them raw. Rockefeller crouched beside a wounded operator, pressing gauze into the man’s thigh while Naomi tied it off with a bandage. The soldier’s teeth chattered though the sun was rising hot. Shock. “Stay with me,” Rockefeller said, voice steady though his hands were slick with blood. “Stay awake.” The man’s eyes fluttered. “Sir… they knew we’d be here…” The words cut deeper than the wound. --- Locat
đź“– Chapter Ten - The First Strike
Location: Southern Helmand DesertTime: 05:32 HoursDawn came with a pale orange glow bleeding over the dunes. The world seemed fragile in that light, almost serene, as if the night’s ghosts had been nothing but tricks of the mind. For a moment, the desert was still. Too still.The convoy rolled forward again, engines groaning, sand spitting from spinning tires. Rockefeller rode in the back of the lead truck, helmet low, rifle across his lap. He hadn’t slept. No one had.Sarah’s voice crackled through the headset. “Clear horizon. Nothing moving.”Naomi, scanning from the second truck, added, “Too clear. No tracks. No life.”The silence carried weight, a thickness that pressed in on Rockefeller’s chest. His instincts screamed. The desert wasn’t empty—it was holding its breath.---Location: Ridge OverlookTime: 05:49 HoursThe first shot didn’t come from ahead.It came from above.<
