Tolerance Book II

Chapter Forty-Five: Acceptance

Afghanistan - Extraction Site

The duo had made the allocated point of extraction with only a few minutes to spare as the afternoon sun reached its' zenith.  They had kept checking the traail behind but the two men who had executed the family had obviously decided not to investigate their suspicions.  Neither Ranger knew what had tipped the men off to their presence but their was no point in ruminating on it.

"Wonder what that was all about," Pete muttered before he took a generous sip of water from his ever present canteen.
"Guess we'll never know," Jay offered as he scanned the horizon seeing a black speck on the horizon, "they're on time."
"You expected otherwise?"
"With the way this mission went I wasn't too optimistic."
"Schucks you're too serious for me," Pete complained good naturedly as he stowed the canteen away and put on the heavy backpack as the whirring approached.
"And you're too goofy for me," the Sniper retorted as he too donned his backpack and his the rapidly approaching blackhawk helicopter.

Within a minute the LZ resembled a dust storm as the powerful rotors rustled up the dry red sand as the Pilot settled the aircraft on the ground in a show of practised choreography.  A final glance at their surroundings did not yield anything out of the ordinary and Jay motioned for the Spotter to go in front of him.  At this stage talking was impossible over the noise of the rotating blades.  The Pilot was not going to cut off the engine as this was a hot extraction, even without enemies in sight.  The Spotter had worked with the Lieutenant before so knew there was no point in arguing about who should go first and was about to comply when suddenly he spun around and fell to the ground on his back, two plumes of bright red appearing momentarily on his chest and stomach before being covered in sand.  Jay was almost by the downed mans' side when a strong hand pulled him back and he was shoved unceremoniously towards the chopper. A look back revealed three  insurgents approaching at a run and more gunfire reigned as the Gunner in the open doorway returned fire.  Jay tried to combat the strong hold on him and yelled in the Soldiers' face.

"He's still alive!"
"He's gutshot! He won't make it!"
"We can't leave him!" Jay insisted but much to his chagrin another Soldier came forward and pulled him up into aircraft as the other man followed him in, retaining his immovable hold.
"We're out of here," the Pilot stated after receiving a good to go signal from the last Soldier in and the aircraft began to ascend.
"Remove your hand or lose it," Jay instructed with deadly intent as he picked up his rifle which had remained in his hand.
"Sure," Adam Wall complied easily, knowing the other man was now safe.

As the helicopter continued to gain height the three dark shapes of the insurgents could be seen through the dust cloud.  The Gunner used his elevated position to dispatch each man as the arid smell of ammunition speeding through the machine gun enveloped everyone in the aircraft.  Frowning Wall watched as Jay readied his rifle and placed his eye on the scope.  He was about to ask what he was doing when a single shot rang out.  Realization dawned on him as the Sniper lowered the rifle, a momentary stricken look crossing his features before being replaced by a blank visage.  Exchanging understanding glances with the Gunner and the Pilot who had just turned around to give an ETA Wall did the only thing he could.  He placed a strong hand on the young Snipers' shoulder, this time it wasn't for restraint but for comfort ......

As the words stopped Sam looked at the other man in awe.  That he had the presence of mind to put his friend out of his misery spoke volumes.

"You saved him from an excruciating death," the Counsellor eventually breached the sombre silence, "you know that don't you?"
"I know," Jay concurred quietly in acceptance, "being shot in the gut is one of the worst ways to die."
"You've seen someone die that way?" Sam hoped he was wrong but doubted it.
"Yeah .... definitely better ways to go."
"What happened?"
"No Doc.  I've told you enough.  It's done."
"Is it?"
"What do you mean?"
"You've told me about one mission.  You must have gone on dozens."
"If you're looking for a recap of everything that went on over there you're out of luck," the pained Detective shifted his aching leg into a different position, "besides my nightmares are about that mission."
"You're clearly upset about the family being executed but you're not obsessing on unwarranted guilt," Sam assessed candidly, "and even though it was a hard thing to do you acknowledged it was the right thing to stop Pete suffering so ....,"
"So?"
"What aren't you telling me?"