Death in the Desert by Jim Eldridge

Author:Jim Eldridge [Eldridge, Jim]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-1-7803-1013-8
Publisher: Egmont
Published: 2010-03-24T16:00:00+00:00

16

‘Man down!’ yelled Nelson.

Mitch had already slid over to Benny, who lay unconscious with a bullet wound bleeding high on his forehead. Suddenly Benny made a choking sound, and then stopped breathing.

Acting quickly, Mitch pushed Benny down on the ground so he was prone, and began to carry out CPR: pinching Benny’s nostrils tight and blowing air into his lungs, then pressing down on his chest, counting silently as he did so: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7… then blowing into Benny’s mouth and lungs again. ‘Come on, Benny!’ he whispered urgently. ‘Breathe!’

Blood from Benny’s wound was running down on to the sand. Where was the bullet? Had it hit Benny in the brain?

Bullets continued to pour in from the Taliban positions. Two Moons fired off more mortars, set on keeping the enemy down. From behind the vehicles they heard the explosions as the mortars struck, but the firing just started up again even harder.

‘We can’t hold out much longer,’ said Tug. ‘We have to use the cars and make a break for it.’

As he said it, there was another whoosh! then one of the vehicles rocked and crumpled down on to the sand.

The men, deafened and shaken by the blast, shook their heads, recovering.

‘That’s one vehicle gone,’ said Gaz.

Mitch continued applying CPR, blowing air into Benny and hammering away with the chest compressions, pressing harder now, willing Benny to make a sound, any sort of sound …

Suddenly there was a groan and a rush of air from Benny’s lungs, and Mitch offered up a silent prayer of thanks.

Another burst of Taliban gunfire raked across the vehicles, making them all duck and press against the sides for cover.

‘I think Tug’s right, we have to take it to the enemy,’ said Nelson. ‘Sooner or later one of these vehicles is gonna get a direct hit and blow up, taking us with it.’ To Mitch, he called, ‘How’s Benny doing?’

‘He’s alive,’ said Mitch. ‘Just.’

Mitch tore a strip of cloth from his costume and began to wrap it round Benny’s head to staunch the flow of blood from the wound.

Suddenly they heard a huge explosion from the Taliban lines, so loud that they felt the ground shudder around them.

‘What the …?’ began Two Moons.

There was a second explosion, this one from a different position, but from the yells and screams they could tell it was a direct hit on the Taliban.

‘Tank shells!’ yelled Tug.

Yet another explosion tore into the Taliban lines. Now, from their hiding place, they could see the remaining Taliban fighters running away. As they stepped out from behind the cover of the Humvees they heard the rumbling of tank tracks and the whooshing of helicopter blades. A burst of gunfire tore over their heads, making them duck, and they heard an English voice call out through a loudspeaker, ‘Face down on the ground! Spread your arms!’

‘OK, do as the man says,’ ordered Nelson.

The men put their weapons to one side and lay down in the sand. After a while, they felt the ground beneath them shudder and tremble as the heavy tanks drew near.

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