The air was humid. Swamp flies covered the whole platoon. Everyone was sweating and tired of walking through the rough and heavy jungle. Some sort of sticky feeling in the air was all over the soldiers’ clothes. This is not what Kobe thought it would be like leading his team of 12 to an enemy base camp to take just a few pictures. No satellite or spy plane could take photos of the base though the thick Amazon canopy. Kobe’s team were sent to check if there were nuclear weapons being built and distributed somewhere in the jungle. It was not an easy place to find.
Kobe and his platoon continue to walk through the treacherous Amazon, then suddenly, all of the team could hear something in the air, but distant. They could only hear a muffled sound rumbling and growing louder. The crew started to get nervous. As the sound grew, one soldier said,
“We should start running like hell, Cap’n.”
“We don’t even know what it is, I say wait.” Kobe yelled to the crew.
The sound was loud now. It was clear that planes were about to fly over them.
“It’s planes! What do we do, sir?” said a terrified soldier.
“Do they know where we are?” whispers Kobe to himself.
Boooom! An explosion went off behind the team. Then another beside them, followed by another one in front of them. Bombs were going off behind and between the whole team.
“Run!” Kobe shouted to his team.
The soldiers were running through an exploding jungle. The fragments from the tress and shrapnel from the bombs flew in every direction. One dropped right beside them. It sent 2 soldiers airborne. Kobe could hear nothing but the loud ringing in his ears. His head shaken, Kobe slowly looks back to see his men. They were terrified with the look of panic in their faces. He realized that he had to get his men out of there.
Bombs blew up left and right. The sounds of the planes could barely be heard anymore. Kobe’s team didn’t know what to do. They were scared stiff because of all the bombs going off around them, miraculously, none of them went off close enough to give damage. With all his might, Kobe screamed to his team, “Follow me!”
Kobe made his way under an enormous tree that had fell from the blasts, long enough to cover the platoon; they hid.
“Where the hell are these things coming from?” said a soldier.
“I don’t know but I’m getting our asses outta here.” Replies Kobe.
He picks up his radio that was hanging from his left chest pocket.
“HQ, we’re taking heavy fire here! Send Hawks over now! We need reinforcements!” Kobe looks at his team.
“We lost 2 men. Hurry and get those jets down here. Over.”
Kobe and his team were prepared for the worst. A bomb hit, maybe 30 feet in front of them. The planes were still heard, and it sounded like they were flying away. Sadly, they circled around ready for another strike. Then they heard the sound of the 50. Caliber machinegun. A barrage of bullets were whizzing and zipping by the platoon. Then all of a sudden, an explosion filled the atmosphere. An enemy plane had been shot down and crashed in the jungle. Kobe and his men seen it and knew, reinforcements were nearby. They heard the whistling sound of a missile. The squad could see the sky because of the bombings; no more trees covered it. 2 planes flew across. Then they heard another explosion. It sent 2 of the planes plummeting for the ground, and then crashed behind the platoon. There were still 3 enemy planes in the air, but they flew back to wherever they came from. After that, the jets flew pass. A helicopter came and lowered a ladder for the team. One by one Kobe and his team went up into the helicopter. They went back to Headquarters, their mission incomplete and 2 of their men dead.
“After this I’m partying.” Said one of them.
They reached the base. It was located somewhere in Nevada. Once they got off the chopper and into the base, a man in a uniform orders all of them to the General’s office. When they got in there, the General was sitting on his big leather chair and wide glass desk. Computer screens were mounted on the walls. He took a puff from his cigar and said,
“He he, sorry about that. We didn’t know that we were sending you to a heavily protected area. I thought we looked into that place but…”
“You didn’t!” shouted Kobe.
“You put me and my men out somewhere in a jungle and you’re sorry. We almost got killed!”
“I understand.” Said the General.
“However, there’s still one more mission for you boys. Look, I bet you guys would really want to go home after what happened, right? Well, I’ll make you a deal. If you and you’re men can do this one last thing, you can resign, go home, and live in paradise.”
The team looks at each other.
“What is it?” said Kobe.
“Okay! We sent a team to infiltrate an enemy base camp somewhere in the Amazon. Kind of like you guys. Anyway, it didn’t work out. So…”
“Wait, wait. What do you mean?”
“Well, some of the got killed. The more lucky ones got captured. That’s why we want you boys to get them out of there. Hey, I’m not saying that it’s going to be an easy, but we can’t afford to lose those men, oh, and you boys of course. However, I’m sure you and your team can get it done. Right?”
“Yeah, we can.” Answers Kobe.
“Alright then. There’s a cargo plane on the strip that leaves in 0400 hours. ETA: 5 hours. Get ready and good luck.” Said the General.
Most of the team walked out the door when Kobe asks the General, “Can you tell me the names of the soldiers who’ve been captured?”
“I don’t see how that could be a problem.” Said the General, picking up a remote and pointing it at the wall of screens. A list of names appears.
“Okay, here we go. There is Sean Harris, Dan lower, Lieutenant Neil Stoker, Ken Johnson…”
“Ken.” Said Kobe, shocked for a second.
“Yes, do you know him?
“No, uh, I’m just saying the names out loud.
“Okay. And the last one is Captain William Hinton. Poor bastard. Didn’t look like he knew how to lead his men. But I’m sure you will. Alright now, get ready, your men are waiting.”
The time came for liftoff. They were boarding the cargo plane, it was meant to drop trucks and supplies, but not for this mission. Kobe was the first to board, then the team. Kobe seemed tense, and somewhat worried. One soldier asks,
“Sir, you alright? You seem worried or somethin’.”
“Oh, it’s alright, man.” Said Kobe.
“Just getting them butterflies, that’s all.”
“Really? Cuz’ I’ve seen you on a lot of other missions, and..”
“And what?” interrupts Kobe.
“I just want to get our men out of there, okay, before they die! All right!
I’m not going to let nobody kill him.”
“Him, sir?
“I meant them. Nobody is going to kill them!”
Kobe rests his head back and closed his eyes. He’s reminiscing. Two children were playing in a backyard, with the sun shining bright, green grass and trees glowing behind them laughing, holding toy pistols in their hands. Out of all the memories, he had to remember the one where they were holding pistols, so much for paradise. Then he crashed back to the seat, he opened his eyes and said,
“We got 2 hours. Let’s just get our job done so we can go back to our families. I just want to go home.”
The flight was dreadful, anxious with every second for death to creep on them. It felt like an eternity. However, these men were bloodthirsty, ready for revenge after what happened to them. In their minds, they thought they were going to run in the camps and start shooting everyone, but the pilot was ordered to drop the men off 20 miles away from the site to parachute down into Amazon in the night. So they jumped. One by one they tossed themselves into the darkness. No one can see each other so it was risky, but once a chute was pulled they could see the silhouette, and so they pulled them one at a time.
They all landed undetected, and so the walked, again.
“Man, I hope we don’t get blown to bits this time.” Said a soldier.
They walked mile after mile through the crude and horrendous jungle. Sweat dripped with first few steps, after that, they were soaked. They’ve only been walking for 20 minutes and already the Amazon has taken its toll. Some of the men were wheezing and had a hard time to breath. Maybe partying wouldn’t have been so good after all.
“Easy boys! Save your energy. You don’t want to be fighting these guys in your sleep. Or them fighting while you sleep.” Said Kobe, breathing hard also.
It’s long but we’ll get him, uh, them, them out of there.”
They had been walking for over an hour when they reached the camp undetected. Kobe puts on his night vision goggles that were strapped in his head. They all had it. They could see the camp. All around was surround by thick trees. There was a shack, a lookout tower, and one building that looked like a small elementary school. These buildings were made out of scrap metal and mud covered plywood overlapped on each other. The ground was muddy and dirty.
…
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