Hans looked like shit. Waking up early was not his thing and we had gotten up really early. Plus the humvee we were riding in didn’t have seats, so each bump and rut in the rugged dirt road tossed him side to side or bounced him off the bed of the truck. I thought the driver was doing pretty good considering he was wearing night vision goggles and driving down a tree lined road on a moonless night. Hans also wasn’t used to wearing body armor and a helmet. The bullet proof vest kept riding up making him look like a turtle retracting its head into a shell. I adjusted his helmet to fit him once, then he messed with the adjustment straps and now it rolled around on his head like a salad bowl.
The Kurgan squated at the tailgate, holding himself upright with a rifle and peering into the darkness like a gargoyle. Inside the humvee was loud, but I was sitting close enough to the passenger to hear him key the radio. Whiskey Two Four we are approaching Tango Tango Seven, do you still have a bird in the air? Affirmative we have eyes on you now, it’s been quiet, so bring it on home. The passenger turned in his seat and held up five fingers. Then he pointed upward and made a whirling motion indicating a friendly drone. I flashed the five minute sign to Kurgan and he pulled his pack closer to him.
The humvee came to a hard stop and Kurgan dropped the tailgate and jumped out with his pack on. I scooted towards the back carrying two bags and pushing a crate beside me. I saw Hans move for the exit. Your bag! I hissed, he stopped and reached back pulling it with him. Hans dropped to the ground and said, Which way? I said, there, follow Kurg. Hans was lost, looking frantically side to side. Kurg reached out of the darkness and grabbed the front of his coat, pulling him forward. The driver and passenger of the humvee hopped out. Previously, another humvee had dropped off our supplies. The other soldiers started grabbing crates and dragging them towards a dark hole in the ground.
I carried all I could towards the bunker entrance and cautiously made my way down the hand dug steps. A doorway at the bottom of the steps had a row of metal chains hanging down from a board mounted overhead. We hoped the chains would stop an enemy drone from flying into the bunker. Beyond the chain curtain I turned a corner and came into a room lit by green glowsticks.I dropped the gear and turned back to the surface. The humvee guys were moving the remaining boxes closer to the bunker entrance as fast as they could. I knew they wanted to GTFO and I couldn’t blame them. Time was ticking on this infil. I heard the familiar buzzing sound of a drone far overhead and knew at least someone was watching over us.
The two guys dragged the final crate over and told us good luck. Then they jumped into the humvee and sped off, a dark shape moving through a dark landscape. Now the entrance was piled with plastic totes and wooden crates. I stepped around stuff and made it back to the main room. Kurg was dragging boxes further in and putting stuff away. I looked for Hans and saw him sitting on a tote pawing through his bag. I shot a confused look at Kurg, Kurg shrugged.
Hey! Hans! He looked up. We still have to get all this gear inside before we get spotted. He continued to stare at me with a blank look and didn’t move. I raised my voice, DUDE! Get up and help! That broke the trance and he started helping bring the supplies in. Kurg and I made a final trip out to the surface, he picked up his last two rifles. I hefted the last crate of grenades. I could hear the friendly drone still overhead observing us. I set the crate down and waved up at the drone that had just become visible in the first light of dawn. The drone bobbed twice then zoomed off, back to a bunker like our’s farther down the line,
Kurgan started down the steps into the bunker, I spoke quietly to him, Hey, that was kinda weird right? He grunted, yeah, I can’t tell if he’s lazy or just stupid. I said, I don’t know which one is worse.
Chapter 6
I opened two laptops and set them side by side on a rough wooden bench. This would be our flight station. Anytime we flew a drone, the video feed would play on the laptops. Often a second pair of eyes was helpful in finding targets or preparing the best angle of attack. I cycled through open tabs on the computer and brought up the latest satellite image of this area of operations.
The aerial view of our surroundings was one of total desolation. The scarred landscape was a series of pockmarked craters. We were in a forest of bare trees that stood like crooked posts with all their branches and leaves stripped off by artillery blasts.
Kurgan was busy outside, I was still setting up the equipment. Hans withdrew to a far corner and pulled out his phone. Hey Hans, I said, can you get your goggles all set for today? Put a fresh battery in them and set the floor limit to 120 millimeters. He looked at me with blank eyes, then he grunted something unintelligible and picked up his FPV goggles. Ten minutes later he was sitting down playing on his phone again.
It had been a long time since I had to delegate jobs to a teammate, I found it distracting. Hey Hans, You can take this tablet here and check out a map of the area. Why? He said without looking up from his phone. Uhh, so you can have a better idea of which direction you’ll be flying, maybe you can memorize some landmarks. He gave me a silly grin and said, I’m not really a map guy.
Are you serious? I gave a crooked smile of disbelief. Didn’t they teach you a navagation course in basic? Hans seemed to be growing tired of this conversation. He sighed and said, they barely talked about maps at all. What!!? The map course used to be a whole week long. What did they even teach you for ten weeks?
Hans smirked and said, ten? We only had a six week training. I was taken aback. They taught you FPV and recon in a six week class? He nodded. This was the first I heard about shortened training schedules. I tried not to read too deep into it, but it was significant that the government was now rushing recruits into active duty with less training.
Let’s see how much you know about maps. I handed him the tablet open to a US map. Show me where we are now?
He scrolled in and out, finally pulling up Colorado and pointing to Colorado Springs.
I tried not to betray my disappointment. Yes, that’s where you got basic training, you left there three days ago. In a Blackhawk? You remember your heli ride? I pushed it too far, he shot me a look of I’m not stupid.
I ignored it and continued the geography lesson. That brought you to Portales, New Mexico. I pointed to the small crossroads town. Actually, I said, let’s do this on your phone. He handed me his locked phone, I frowned and handed it back. He unlocked it. I tapped the icon for the ultra sensitive multibillion dollar US Army map app. The app opened on a welcome screen, CONTINUE TO SET UP?
I couldn’t help but chuckle, you haven’t even looked at this? I tapped through the set up options and opened the current location.
My fingers spread as I zoomed in on West Texas. The map was a military specific satellite mode, it didn’t show state borders or highways. Scattered across it were small symbols, mostly blue rectangles, inside each rectangle was a signifier like a colored circle or an x or plus sign. Each rectangle represented a military asset.
We are here, outside of Midland Texas. The line of contact is currently three kilometers south. Basically they hold Odessa, we hold Midland. Hans stroked his mustache, then nodded. And who’s They? I mean I know who we’re fighting, I just wasn’t sure.
It’s not a dumb question, I reassured him. We personally, are fighting over a million members of the Indian Armed Forces. He said, but India used to be our friend right? I sighed, we used to have a lot of friends, but we don’t anymore. And the friends we still have are busy holding their own lands from the Russians.
I looked directly at Hans making sure I had his attention, he appeared focused and willing to listen. I began, so, I get it. I know a lot of people like you stopped paying attention to the news. Did you even vote in 2024? No, I heard the elections were all hacked. Right, ok. Well here’s the thing, when Trump pulled out of NATO, the whole house of cards fell.
Hans had been following along, but got lost in the metaphor. The White House? He asked.
No, like a house built from playing cards… You’ve never heard, house of cards? He looked at me with his mouth open and asked, Is it a card trick?
Ok, forget it, dominoes, it was like dominoes, one falls over…Hans finished the sentence, and then the rest fall, I get it.
I changed screens and pulled up the world map and considered how I could explain the big picture. How do I give a dumbed-down explanation of what caused the Third World War? Does he know that sea drones have effectively closed off the oceans to all navys? Did he hear about the sinking of the U.S.S. George Bush aircraft carrier and its entire battle group? Does he know or care that Russian and North Korean forces are choking out the EU? Do I explain that when we make the next world map with flags on each continent Africa will have a Chinese flag?
Hans was staring at me, waiting to hear me make sense of it all. I closed the world map and went back to the map of Texas.
So we’re here, I placed my finger in the center. And we are killing Indian army soldiers, mostly. Sometimes we are killing Columbians, Brazillians or anyone else from South America. But they seem to be mostly pushing on the East Texas front. I glanced at Hans and he was following intently. That front stretches from Houston to Austin then sort of zig zags its way here. It’s been a stalemate for the last year, because both sides have fortified trenches across Texas.
The best thing Trump did was pour money into the border wall, because from El Paso to San Diego that’s our main defensive line. I ran my finger along Arizona and New Mexico. But, every day there's an attack on a different section of it. If they breach the wall they would sweep around behind us and we’d be encircled.
Some color had left his face and I knew he was getting the important stuff, the stuff that mattered to us personally.
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