It was not long before Betty and Isho were just north of the city of Parachinar.

Old mud brick building and homes, half worn down to the ground from the ravages of time, dotted the sides of the road leading into the city.

“We need to hide this truck and make our own way into town” said Betty. “Look…Over there” said Isho. Isho pointed toward an old building that still had a fare amount of roof and three walls standing.

Betty quickly pulled off the road and turned the Toyota into the old structure.

“We need to cover and hide this vehicle so if we need it later, we know where it is…An old tarp…Perfect” Betty and Isho covered the truck and started the short trip into town.

“Isho, do you know were they would have taken Omie” Betty asked as they rolled along a small, shallow, gully that lead into town.

“Yes, they would have taken him down town to the jail to hold him there until his trial…But if they find out that he is an American soldier…The Taliban…They would make a video and then execute him” Isho started to cry.

“Isho, I have seen how brave you are…I would want no other by my side then you… and the fact is you need to be even braver now.” Betty looked into his eyes. “You and your mother deserve a much better life then this and that’s why we fight the Taliban and the others like them.

“Isho, I would give my life for you and your mother and so would the Major, Omie” Tears came to Betty’s eyes.

Isho hugged Betty…and they rolled into town.

© DennisB 2010

A week went by and it seemed like a year to the Major.

A bowl of rice and a litter of water is all he was allowed to eat and drink. It was always dark in this dungeon of a jail and the rats and large insects would fight over any rice that landed on the cold stone floor of his cell. One rat, he nicknamed “champ” would always win the battle over the fallen rice. Sometimes he whished the other rat would win for a change.

The light the jailer carries blinds him when his rice and water are brought to him each day. He was thinking that he must look a fright by now.

“Dark, always dark” the Major thought to himself. Day or night, he did not know for sure. “Just darkness” he said to himself so no one could hear he spoke English.

The bared heavy door swung open with a loud screech and the jailer and another bike approached his cell door. The light blinded him. “Your lucky day pig, you get to take a quick shower...we do not want you to stink up our jail and this will give use a chance to wash out your cell a little.

“Back away from the cell door, PIG” the jailer ordered. “We need to put chains on you so you do not roll away now” and both jailers laughed.

“My chance for freedom…the Major thought to himself.

He needed to get both of them in his cell “then I would have a chance” he thought.

The door to his cell was unlocked and made an eerie, deep grown as it rotated opened.

The jailer with the chains entered.

They did not know they had a Army Green Beret in their cell.

© DennisB 2010

“NO!!!…You can’t make me do it…NO” the Major’s quick plan was put in motion.

The Major struggled with the first jailer and soon the second jailer came into the cell to help the first.

As soon as the second jailer got a hold of him, the Major used his combat trainning. It just took two seconds and both Taliban jailers lay helpless and dying on the cold stone floor of the cell.

The jail became very quiet and still with the exception of the dripping sewage water, hitting the cell floor.

The Major picked up the jailers light and keys and looked over to see Champ the rat, that had come out of his hiding place to see what all the commotion was. “Champ, they are all yours old friend” and rolled out of the cell and down the hall.

“This town must only have three Taliban police officers and now two were dead” he told himself as he looked into the front room.

He looked through the window and could see that it was early evening. The sun was just setting in the West.

A laptop computer was setting on the desk and was powered on. He quickly looked to see what day it was “Tuesday the 27th. “A week and a half…What a waste of time” he told himself.

The Major waited till dark and the third police officer to come through the front door.

The wait was not long and soon all three of the dead jailers were piled in his old jail cell.

The Major looked at the three dead jailers. “I have the utmost respect for the police in my country and most other nations of the world…But I’m no pig…I’m Major Blain, United States Army Special Forces, and your now rat food, eat well Champ”.

The Major left the building and rolled into the night a free scooter.

© DennisB 2010

Parachinar, was not the city Betty was expecting to see. The buildings and streets were run down and in poor condition and the bikes that lived here were dirt poor.

Isho led Betty through some of the back streets and finally to his home in the down town area of the city. Several times they heard loud voices of bikes yelling at one another from the next street over and then vehicles racing off to the north “Looks like they found the bodies and that big truck on the main road” Isho whispered to Betty.

“We need to be more careful now. They know that someone is here now” Betty whispered back.

“Isho, go ahead and go home to your mother and I will join you as soon as it gets dark. Make plans on leaving here soon…But keep in mined we need to move fast from here on in so take very little with you”.

Isho looked at Betty.

“My mother and I are coming with you to America” asked Isho in an excited low voice!

“Yes, you and your mother need to start a new life away from this place. So get going now and tell your mother to get ready to go, tonight” Betty whispered.

Siho smiled and hugged Betty. Then he quickly turned and rolled off in the direction of his apartment. Betty watched after him.

Betty found a place to hide and waited for the night’s darkness to conceal her movement.

Her thoughts now went to planning on getting the Major out of the city jail.

“Terminating Ben Laden will just have to wait for now” she thought to herself.

Night soon came and she started to slowly move toward Isho’s apartment building and
did not see the dark shadow move toward the upstairs apartment door and enter.

Suddenly she saw Isho open the door to his apartment and dart up the ramp leading to the second floor apartment. He pushed the door open and disappeared into the darkness.

© DennisB 2010

The Major used the night to conceal himself and watch his apartment building for a few minutes.

It was not long before he opened the front door on his old apartment and entered into the dark room.

He only needed a few things before he made his way back across the border into Afghanistan and then home to his family.

He had cut a hidden compartment into the wall of the closet and placed things he might need if this day ever came.

“Let’s see, 9mm with extra clip, knife, regional money, map and compass, and his military ID” I’m ready.

He turned started for the door…Just then the door slowly started to open in front of him.

The Major readied himself to kill again…

“Omie…Is that you” the voice soft, like a child’s.

“Isho”

And then another scooter silhouette appeared in the doorway. The Major flinched for the attack.

“Major Blain” The silhouetted figure in the doorway, asked?

© DennisB 2010

“Major Blain, I’m Betty, Special Operations, I was sent to get you out of here” Betty whispered as she rolled closer.

“We received a call from Isho that you were taken captive and they sent me…we need to get going” Betty said with some urgency in her voice.

Major Blain looked at Isho “Thank you my friend, I owe you alot”.

Betty rolled to the front door looked out into the darkness and then looked back to the others “we need to get going soon…is your mother ready to go” asked Betty?

“She was getting her things together when I heard Omie open his apartment door.”

Betty looked over at the Major. He had a surprised look on his face when he heard that Isho and his mother would be going along on the dangerous journey to Afghanistan.

“We have a small Taliban truck with a full tank of gas and a 50 caliber mounted on the bed, hidden just north, outside the city” Betty told the Major.

Betty looked out the door once again “Isho, the Major and I will go and get the truck, get your mother ready to go and we’ll be back soon”.
Isho agreed and rolled past Betty and down the ramp to his apartment.

“Are you ready to go Major” asked Betty as she looked out the door into the darkness.

“I was born ready” said the Major with a smile on his face.

Soon, Betty and the Major were moving through the back streets of the old city.

Lights from closed windows and voices could be heard from the small homes as they pasted.

Silently the two moved through the darkness and soon arrived at the small gully where just a few hours ago Isho and Betty had used to enter the city.

“We follow this gully for about two miles” whispered Betty.

It was not long be for they reached the old building where the truck was stored.

They stopped in the darkness and watched for a few minutes.

They started to move toward the truck…Betty froze in place and whispered. “Trip wire”.

“They must have found the truck” Betty whispered.

The trip wire was hooked up to a claymore mine and was quickly disarmed.

They started to slowly move forward again.

Betty froze in place one more time.

She pointed to a location just beyond the truck. A faint glow of a lit cigarette could be seen in the darkness.

Just then the whispered voices of two Taliban fighters could be heard approaching in the darkness.

Betty and the Major readied them selves…

© DennisB 2010

“Be careful, there are trip wires all over this area” one Taliban fighter said to the other.

“How long do you think well be here” asked the other.

‘Not till morning well they let us leave, when our replacements arrive” the other replied.

That was the last words for those enemy fighters. Their bodies would not be found till the next day.

The Major and Betty moved on toward the side of the building, where they saw the cigarette burning.

Stocking their pry slowly, inch by inch they moved. A cloak of darkness and the sounds of the night, they used as their shields.

They could only see one more guard on the truck and he was just finishing his cigarette “was there only three” Betty whispered?

“Looks like it” The Major whispered back. “I’ll take care of this one, we need to check to see if the truck was booby trapped and find the keys” then the Major quietly slipped off into the night.

Betty waited till she saw the Major emerge from the Taliban hiding place and started heading for the truck when she tripped a hidden wire with her side stand.

The blast blow her to the left and removed most of her windshield, right rear side panel and most of her air cleaner housing.

Betty fell wounded to the ground.

© DennisB 2010

Betty opened her eyes for a moment to see the Toyota’s tail gate being opened by Major Blain and then she slipped back into darkness.

The next time she opened her eyes she was being bounced around in the back of the truck and the machine gun looming above her, silhouetted against the stars in the night sky.

Soon they were in town and came to a stop.

The Major opened the tail gate to check Betty’s condition “Betty…If you can hear me, were at Isho’s home. We’ll be stopped hear for just a moment and then we’ll be on our way. So hang in there. We’ll get you back and fixed up before to long. I promise”.

Betty looked up at the Major, nodded and smiled.

She could hear the voices of bikes around her, but they sounded like they were a mile away and she did not understand what they were saying.

“O’my GOD” The sound of Isho’s voice rang clear. “I’ll ride back here with her” he then said.
Soon they were on the road out of Parachinar.

Betty lifted her head and looked out into the night and then put her down again.

“Isho…someday, I would like to see this place in the day light” Betty said or she thought she said.

Betty looked over at Isho for a moment. He set there, looking toward the front of the truck and the road ahead.

Things went dark for Betty once again.

TA TA TA TA, the sound of the 50 caliber machine gun brought Betty around and she looked up to see Isho standing behind the big gun, firing it to the road behind them. Large caliber tracer rounds whizzing by him as he continued to fire.

Betty propped herself up and looked over the tailgate to see two Taliban vehicles following and shooting at them.

She looked and found Isho’s AK-47 on the floor next to her. She pulled the clip. It was full…and reinserted it in the rifle.

Betty set the rifle on full automatic and braced on the top of the tail gate, aimed and pulled the trigger.

The AK-47 came alive sending its lethal meaning into the first truck.

Sparks flew off the truck and it soon slowed and moved to the side of the road to let the other truck through to continue the deadly pursuit into Afghanistan.

Isho screamed as one bullet ripped off his right mirror and another went through his windshield. He dropped the floor of the truck.

Betty empted the rest of her clip into the second truck and then looked back to see Isho on the truck floor.

Isho reached out with a fresh clip of AK-47 ammunition and said “you win this one” and then he pasted out.

Betty loaded the clip, charged the rifle, aimed and let go the entire clip of ammunition into the following Taliban trunk.

© DennisB 2010

Smoke and fire started bellowed from the Taliban truck as it slowed to the side of the road.
To Betty’s horror she could see a Taliban fighter through the smoke, stand up in the back of the truck. On his shoulder a RPG ready to fire and aimed as Betty’s nose.

Betty quickly positioned herself behind the 50 cal.

The fighter launched the grenade…Betty readied herself for the explosion soon to follow.

The grenade flu under the back of the truck and slid along the road until it came to a stop without detonating.

Betty charged the handle on the 50 cal. took aim…it jammed.

Snow flaks started to fall when Betty pushed the button on her extraction locator in her glove box.

She then passed out in the back of the truck next to Isho…

She woke as she was being carried to a waiting Black Hawk helicopter on the ground next to the road. The main rotor slowly rotating.

She could see two attack helicopters circling her position as she was lifted in to helicopter and out of the cold, morning air.

Isho, lay unconscious next to her as Army medics worked on him…

THREE WEEKS LATER…

Isho woke to find a very large black, wet, nose, and a wagging tail just an inch from his face….SPALT, SPLAT, one very wet tongue ran across his face.

He found himself in a very warm and beautiful bedroom.

Snow flakes falling outside the bedroom window were starting to collect on the bare branches of the hard wood trees just beyond the glass.

The bedroom door slowly opened and Isho's mother peeked around the doors edge at her, now, awake son.

She rolled over to the beds edge and hugged her son. Tears of joy came to her face as she held him.

Then Betty looked into Isho bedroom.

Isho looked up, smiled and asked “Are we in America…your home”?

Betty smiled “Yes we are…do you like cinnamon rolls young man” as she carried in a plate of Lu-Lu’s finest.

The End.

I dedicate this story to all the brave men and women serving in Afghanistan. Fighting for and protecting those good people that cannot fight and protect themselves.

Our prayers and love…with you always.

If you liked the story, please let me know, Thank You.

© DennisB 2010

I liked it, when are we gonna get some more like this. It was great

Windrider +1