TWO
Jade
I sat in back of the Humvee as it roared down the dirt road toward FOB Cobra, one of the few forward operating bases still open in Afghanistan. Cooper sat in the passenger seat up front.
“You snuck out without your escort,” he said, bending his torso to look back at me. “You’re damn lucky. Those guys were about to take you to the desert and turn you into a sex slave.”
I took a deep breath and stared out the side window. My stomach churned.
Why the hell did I come to Afghanistan in the first place? Oh yeah…
“Are you even listening?” he asked, his voice escalated.
“I am, but…”
“No damn buts about it. You made a bad situation worse. If Logan and I hadn’t arrived at just the right time, I don’t know what would’ve happened.”
“Thanks, Logan,” I said to the driver.
“Not a problem,” he said, calm as ever.
“It’s foolish for you to even be here,” Cooper added.
“It’s not foolishness, “I responded quickly.
People had such a distorted view of the war. It wasn’t foolish to want to shed light on such a dark situation.
“Whatever,” he said coolly, his assault rifle nestled in his arms as he scanned the horizon.
Ugh. He’s so infuriating!
“Thanks for saving me. I appreciate it.”
“Just doing my job,” he said, shaking his helmet covered head.
I sat back, wishing my head would stop hurting so damn much.
“Were they Taliban?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“Damn straight they were,” Logan said.
The Humvee bounced and jostled all of us as he sped down a dirt road toward FOB Cobra. I’d only been embedded with the forward operating base for two days. I wondered if they would send me back.
By embedding with the U.S. military, I had cut the costs for my Afghanistan trip down considerably. In exchange, I agreed to let the Army approve anything before I published it online. They could not stop me from reporting the truth though.
The regulations and restrictions had turned out to be harsher than I ever imagined once I’d arrived, which is why I had snuck into Samangan on my own. Several sources had given me information about a huge smuggling operation out of Afghanistan that involved members of the U.S. Army.
I suspected everyone at FOB Cobra, including Cooper and Logan. The two were best buddies from what I’d been able to gather. All the military types were usually close-knit groups, but I thought I could get to the bottom of the story. That meant finding out if my sources were lying or not.
“Why do you have to be so damn secretive, anyway?” Cooper asked.
“I’m a journalist. It’s part of my job.”
Outside, I noticed a tall, metal fence surrounding the small military base, one of the few still in operation a decade after the war in Afghanistan had started.
“The CO will want to see you,” Cooper said.
“I can handle him.”
“We’ll see,” He snorted. “You’ve got balls, though, Ms. Hart.”
“Huge!” Logan added, laughing along with him.
The laughter died down as we approached the entrance of the camp, the entry control point or ECP as they called it. I’d been getting myself up to speed on military lingo and jargon for two weeks prior to arriving, but I still had a long way to go.
As we stopped at the outer gate, a fully armed soldier whose name I didn’t remember walked up and glanced into the back.
“What happened?” he asked.
“The Taliban were about to take her from the city forcibly. We had a firefight and saved her.”
I frowned but said nothing to correct his version of the events.
“Damn,” the soldier said then stepped back and waved us on.
When we reached one of the long, metal buildings with a rounded roof, Logan stopped.
“This is you,” he said.
I opened the door and climbed out.
“Hey,” Cooper shouted out.
I shielded the sun from my eyes with my hand and stared at him.
“Yeah?”
“Don’t let him give you too much shit, okay? I’m glad you’re safe.”
Despite my best efforts to mask my emotions, I smiled.
“Thanks. I’ll catch up with you later.”
“You better,” he said. “And get that head checked out.”
“I will.”
After Logan drove away, sending up a cloud of smoke, I walked to the entrance of the building that reminded me of a huge metal shipping container.
Captain Jeffries, the Commanding Officer of FOB Cobra, would not be happy with me sneaking out, but if I was investigating claims against the military, I wasn’t able to work too openly with them.
I opened the door and walked inside. While cooler than outside, without air conditioning it wasn’t very comfortable. Tony Roth, His aide-de-camp, sat at a tiny desk.
“Hey,” he said. “You made it back. Are you okay?”
“I’m not sure yet, but I think so. I came here first. Jeffries wants to speak with me?”
He nodded, his frail facial features so out of place in Afghanistan.
“Yes, he does. You should go see the medic first.”
“No, I want to get this over with,” I said as I walked past his desk.
“Hold on,” he said, standing up.
I kept going, opening a door that divided the two halves of the metal container. Captain Jeffries looked up from his desk. He frowned the moment he saw me.
“You wanted to talk?” I asked, standing near the door.
“Do you know how much trouble you caused today?” he asked.
“I’m simply trying to do my job.”
“And so am I. Sit down.”
He pointed to the plain armless chair in front of his desk.
“I need to go see the medic,” I said, changing my mind.
“You were fine enough to come straight here, you can sit down and talk a minute.”
I sighed, annoyed, then walked over and sat down with my arms crossed over my chest.
“What the hell were you thinking?” he asked as he shook his head.
“I needed to see Samangan without soldiers with me. You guys frighten people.”
“We save their asses is what we do.”
As he scowled at me, I lifted a hand to my head and gingerly inspected the bandage.
“Go see the damn medic,” he said. “If you sneak out again, you will be shipped back to the States. Do you understand?”
“Yeah,” I said as I stood up.
I turned and walked toward the door.
“One more thing.”
I stopped in place.
“How did you sneak out? We’re secure here, so someone must have helped you.”
I swallowed, not turning around.
“Nobody helped me.”
“Bullshit,” he said. “I’ll sort this out.”
When he said nothing else, I continued forward. My headache had gotten worse since we returned. I hoped the medic would give me something to numb the pain.