House to House by David Bellavia

Author:David Bellavia
Language: eng, eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Free Press
Published: 2007-03-24T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

The Stay Puft Marshmallow Cock

They’re following us.

Not five minutes after we leave the house to mount up in our Brads, the muj flow around into the alleys and side streets. From a safe standoff distance, they watch our convoy, they pace our southern advance on parallel roads, they nip at our coattails just out of our reach. Sergeant Jim’s tank leads the way while the rest of us follow inside our Brads. My track, Staff Sergeant Brown’s, is a mess. The strafing runs Brown executed in the fight left our Brad severely bullet-scarred. Two of the dismount viewports are destroyed, and all the gear on the exterior has been punctured. Nevertheless, he has ample fuel and plenty of ammo for the Bushmaster. Brown and his crew are more than ready for another fight.

In column formation, we drive down the southern road past the ruins of the Texas barriers Jim destroyed with his 120mm. We’ve moved four hundred meters from our rooftop redoubt. Around us, insurgents dart from corner to corner, always just out of our vision and range. It is anEscape from New York scene that leaves us tense and adrenaline-filled.

We reach a three-way intersection with a frontage road that stretches out east-west parallel to Highway 10. Highway 10 has been designated “Phase Line Fran.” It is our main objective in Fallujah. We’ve reached it less than twelve hours after breaching the city’s northern berm.

Gossard and the other Bradley gunners rake the buildings around us, prepping the area with high-explosive rounds fired into windows and doors.

We dismount into the silent street and enter a beautiful house right on the edge of the highway. It is three stories tall, and the second floor opens onto a rooftop balcony that covers at least a thousand square feet. An exterior stairwell gives us access to the roof over the third floor, providing an excellent view of the area around us.

We get word that First Platoon has reached Highway 10 as well. They set up in a building about five hundred meters to our west. Captain Sims establishes his command post between us. Again, we form a solid front, but our position lacks depth. And this time we know the enemy is swarming around our rear and flanks. We can’t stop them. Where the Marine battalion on our western flank is, we have no idea. Fortunately, the muj stay at arm’s length and refuse to expose themselves. They seem content to be shadows.

Lieutenant Meno sets up on the roof of the second floor. Pratt takes McDaniel and a 240 Bravo machine gun up to the third-floor roof. Part of my squad heads up there with them. Fitts and I set up 360-degree security as Michael Ware pulls out his satellite phone and tries to hook up to CNN for a live broadcast. Fitts and I have no interest in CNN, so we duck into the house and plop into a couple of plastic chairs. We might as well take advantage of the stillness of the moment.

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