The Shot

                                                 “The Shot”

         It was a brutally hot day in June out in the desert of Iraq. We were at a field camp near Sammara, which is northwest of Baghdad. We had only been in Iraq a week. We had just finished a routine patrol and were stowing our equipment. We all decided to rehydrate and play some cards to pass the time away. “I’m gonna shoot me a sandnigger one of these days” said Williams. He picked up his cards as they were dealt out to him. “I don’t care much for these Ayrabbs.”, said Rodriguez. “I raise you fifty” he said as he put his chips in. “Towelheads picked a fuckin fight with us, they all should die”, said Captain Marks. “I call”. “I fold”, said Private Walsh as he threw his cards in the muck, he continued “I don’t really care if we have to fight or not”, said Walsh. Williams replied, “You’re such a pussy Walsh, I know about you and your objections to this war. You should have stayed home with the women and let the real men handle the fighting.” The other three started laughing. Walsh just sat there gently shaking his head. “I fold”, said Williams. “They are humans too, they see it same way we see them. We just…” “Are you fucking kidding me?” interrupted Marks, “These goat-herders took out three thousand Americans on one day. How the hell can you even say that! None of them are human. You better do your job when called on. We need your skills. You have the big dog and you better use it when the time is right.” The big dog he was referring to was a fifty-caliber sniper rifle. The gun could blow up somebody’s head at up to a mile away. Walsh was a certified marksman and very proficient at it. He never fired it at a live target, but was top of his class in basic and combat training. “I will do my job, no more no less”, replied Walsh. “I got three ladys, what about you?” said Rodriguez. “Damnit, only cowboys, lucky bastard.” said Captain Marks, he continued, “You signed up to fight and you are expected to do so. If you don’t do what that I will shoot you.” Walsh stood up and said, “I’m out keep my chips”. “Oh come on.” said Marks. “Just let Donna Downer go”, said Williams.

Walsh walked over to the outskirts of the base and stood off into the desert. It was getting dark out. He watched the sun slowly settle in for the night. The desert was kind of beautiful at this time. It didn’t sit well with him. He smoked a cigarette and headed to his tent to clean his weapon. He sat there with his rifle and started thinking about what he might have to do. He knew he was expected to kill if he had to. He was regretting signing up for the Army. At first he thought it would be an adventure. It wasn’t anywhere near that. It was constant routine. Wake up with the sun. Then shit, shower and shave in five minutes. Next was a morning run or hike. Dig this, hike here, bring this here, patrol here. It was monotonous being a slave for the government. He was anxious to experience combat. It was making him neurotic. The patrols were scary, not knowing whether or not you would get ambushed or have an IED blow your car up. It was too much suspense. People say war is hours of tedium accompanied by moments of sheer terror.  He didn’t agree with the philosophy of the war, so called ‘operation Iraqi Freedom’. There was definitely another reason for us being here. It was more like operation distract the citizens, operation capture Hussein, or operation ‘guard the oil’. I guess I made my bed now I have to lie in it. He threw the cigarette down and headed towards his tent.

He walked inside and saw Rodriguez alone who said, “Hey man you want to see a picture of my kid?” Walsh was shocked. He didn’t know Rodriguez had a kid. “Yeah sure” said Walsh. There was a smiling baby boy in the picture about a year old. “He looks just as ugly as you”, said Walsh jokingly. They both laughed. “Nah man, he is beautiful. Gives you a reason to rush home, huh?” said Walsh. Rodriguez replied, “Yeah man, it’s hard sometimes. I got to see him for like one month before we shipped out. Hey don’t talk to the guys about this it is hard enough being away from my wife and kids. They think you are soft they will walk all over you. I can’t show the guys pictures of my family either. Last time I did, Williams stole a picture of my wife to take alone into the shower with him.” Walsh replied, “He is such a skeevy guy”. They both started laughing again. Just as the laughter dwindled Williams entered who was followed by Greene. Greene was another member of the squad who was off on latrine duty after the patrol. “That was the worst shit I ever had to do in my life, no pun intended” said Greene. “What the hell did you do anyway?” said Rodriguez. “Me and five other guys got caught at a brothel in the city. They didn’t really have a problem with us being at the brothel. They just didn’t like us leaving the base without permission… and the whole drunk driving thing… and the six chickens we stole from a local farm… and we kind of broke into somebody’s house” said Greene. “Damn I wish I went out with you fuckers!”, said Williams as he put got ready to go to sleep. “Dude, you stink like shit. Go take a shower!” yelled Walsh as he passed by, pinching his nose. “Oh my godddd!” he moaned. “I already did”. Everyone else started moaning. “Take another one now!” yelled Rodriguez. “GO NOW!!!” said another one. “God damnit, fine!” said Greene as he ran out of the tent. “Thank God.” Said Williams. Greene returned about fifteen minutes later, with less flies buzzing around him than before and as he got back in it was lights out.

         The next morning they woke up to an alarm. “Get up, get up!!!” said Captain Marks. “Let’s go ladies, time for some action”. The men quickly got into their gear. “Hooah! Ready to kick some ass, Sir!” said Williams. “Yeah baby that’s what I like to hear, makin me wet”, said the Captain as he finished a coffee he was trying to get down. “Let’s go!” he said as they left the tent. They all headed towards the Humvees; Bullet-proof SUVs. It was very windy and hard to see well as the sand kicked up. “Remember your eye protection!” yelled the Captain. Walsh got into the last SUV with the Big Dog, Cocked and ready. He felt a slight shake in his body as adrenaline rushed through him. This was it, he could feel it he was going into combat for the first time. “Bout time we got our cherries popped, eh Walshy?” Said Rodriguez who seemed a lot calmer than him. “I can’t wait. Let’s do this shit. HOOAH!!!” yelled Williams as he cocked his assault rifle. “HOOAH”, they all replied. Captain Marks was driving the Humvee. He said, “Someone get ready to get on the fifty-cal, in case we come under fire while in the car. We are going into the Eastern part of the city. Make sure all your gear is on you firmly and you have your ammo and your weapons ready to go live. Once we get into the city, you are free to engage. Be careful though as there may be citizens stupid enough to still be around there. One of our companies has come under fire. They took some casualties and they need backup. Walsh, you are to get to high-ground as fast as possible and give us intel and take out anything you see that is a threat. It is going to be difficult as the wind is kicking up like a motha. Just do your best.” Walsh Replied, “Yes, sir”  Marks continued,“Everyone stay in radio contact at all time. I don’t want any accidents.” The SUVs stopped shortly after. They exited the vehicles and immediately heard gunfire. A round ricocheted off one of the Humvees and they all crouched and ran behind the vehicle to take cover. “Holy Shit! They are firing at us”. Yelled Walsh as he tried to see where the bullets came from. He couldn’t see any targets. “Let’s Move in!” Yelled the Captain. They made it into the city, behind a hotel. “Walsh, inside and up the stairs. I want a bird’s eye view!” Said Marks. “Yes, Sir”, replied Wlash. As he headed or the door he heard,”Rodriguez, Williams I want you to head...” The voice trailed off as he headed to the door.

He kicked down the door, and went inside. Holding up his rifle ready to fire, he looked around. It was quiet save for a few bursts of gun fire outside. The place looked deserted. He made his way to the stairs. His heart was already pounding as he took the first step.. It was only five flights but it still seemed a long distance. He looked up and down to make sure nobody was there to ambush him If they were there, he was fucked. He made it to the top of the stairs. He walked slowly over to the door to the top floor. He slowly reached for the handle, when suddenly the radio cracked loudly in his ear making his insides jump two feet to the left. “God damnit he said”. The voice of Captain Marks came in. “Have you made it to the roof yet? over” He replied , “Almost sir, one more floor, over”. Marks replied, “Get the lead out. We need that fire support! We are under fire, over”. Walsh ran across the top floor as fast as he could. He made it to the ladder to the roof and went up like a blur. “I am on the roof sir, over”. Woosh! a bullet went by his head and he ducked down. “Walsh there is a gun team to the east I need you to take out. over” said Marks. “Walsh take these guys out asap” said Greene over the mic. There was gunfire coming from every random direction. Walsh was disoriented as he tried to look around from a crouch. “I see gun teams everywhere sir, over” Walsh replied on the mic. He headed to the edge of the building and saw two men shooting towards the hotel. “Walsh, crkk stree by thr cminther,  ov” Something came over the mic but it was indistinguishable.

Walsh set his gun up on the edge of the roof. He set the bipod of the gun down to steady his shooting. He saw bursts of fire coming towards his building. “It must be them” he thought as he looked into the eyepiece. He saw two figures with guns in his eyepiece as he looked through the gun started shaking. He looked at his hand which he didn’t realize was shaking like mad. He took his hand off of the gun. He took a deep breath. He could feel the rapid heart-beat inside of him. “You can do this man”, he said to himself. He lined up the figure in his sight. He aimed for the center of mass. He hesitated.  He sat there staring at the target. “I don’t think I can do this.  No I have to.” He gripped the gun hard. Took aim again and Bang! The target flew back. It was all in slow motion. The other figure took cover and he couldn’t get another shot off. He turned his gun on another group of enemies. He started shooting, but missed as they took cover. The mic crackled back on as they started to run away. “Walsh, hold your fire! Rodriguez is down!!!”, Said Williams. Walsh froze, his heart stopped. He couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t tell who was who with all the dust kicking up. “Come down off the roof, we have reinforcements coming in and we are moving north. Rendez-vous back in the alley. over” Said the Captain. Walsh ran out of the hotel as fast as possible. He made it into the alley and puked when he got there. His gut felt completely twisted inside. “I couldn’t have, no way. It’s not possible.” He said to himself. Captain Marks and Greene came back into the alley. Walsh said, “I think I. I think I shot…” “Stow it we don’t have time” Said the Captain,”We are going north. Williams is pulling Rodriguez back to the Humvees and is regrouping with us. We are meeting up with Echo company to reinforce their left flank. We’re Oscar Mike”

By the time they made it to Echo company the fight was dwindling down as the insurgents pulled back into the city. They headed back to the camp in the Humvees. Nobody said a word as they drove through the desert. Williams was covered in Rodriguez’s blood. He looked very angry and would not look at Walsh. “When we get back, gear up and get ready to re-enter combat we are going on another patrol.” said Marks. Walsh sat there in silence. Contemplating what he had just done. ‘I can’t go back, what if I fuck up again and shoot my own guy, another assault? You got to be fucking kidding me! I gotta get my head straight’ he thought to himself. He looked at the blood stains on Williams’ uniforms. He had a flashback of the carnage he witnessed just minutes ago. They arrived back to base. Walsh ran out of the car and headed to the latrine. He watched and felt his breakfast resurge into the shitty abyss or the toilet. He sat there shaking for a minute. He headed over to the Medical tent, knowing he only had a few minute.

Upon arriving there he met the doctor who he knew from previous encounters. He

went right up to him. ‘Doc I gotta talk to you, I need some meds’, He whispered anxiously. The

medic looked at him quizzically and replied, “What do you need, I have antibiotics, is it that

burning sensation in your dick again?”

“no I need something to calm me down, I need some valium or something” replied walsh.

“I can’t do that Walsh, are you stupid.” Replied the Doc intensely. “I could get court martialed  for that.”

“ I killed Rodriguez, James.” He said looking the doc straight in the eye.

“You what… oh my… are you sure, there was a lot of sand blasting up it could have been someone else Walsh” said the doctor.

“No I know it was him, we have his carcass.” Replied Walsh sadly.

James walked over to the cabinet in the tent, he pulled out a pill bottle and handed it to

him. “If you get caught with this, I will say you stole it .” said the doctor, “Now get the fuck out of here!”

“Thanks James” replied Walsh and he popped a pill and took off.

The squad regrouped and got inside the humvees. “Nice of you to show up Walsh,” Said Captain Marks. “Let’s go kick some ass.”

The Humvee took off into the desert to fight another battle.

It was just another operation, another day in the military. Friendly fire, unfriendly fire, Life and

death, It was just another day.