Death in the Desert by Jim Eldridge

of the other villagers were out on the street: they had all chosen to remain indoors.
    ‘What’s he saying?’ Mitch asked.
    ‘He’s unhappy we killed the Taliban,’ said Omari. ‘He’s afraid there’ll be retribution.’
    ‘You mean he’d have preferred the Taliban to carry out their punishment?’ asked Benny.
    ‘Maybe,’ said Omari.
    Suddenly Tug strode towards Parwaz Shah and threw a question at him in Pushtu. Although Tug was doing his very best to keep himself under control, to the others it was obvious he was angry. Shah glared at Tug and snapped something back, then stormed off towards his house.
    ‘Guess friendly relations have just broken down,’ muttered Two Moons.
    ‘What did you ask him?’ Nelson asked Tug.
    ‘I just asked him who fired that shot,’ said Tug.
    Omari shook his head. ‘No,’ he corrected him. ‘Your manner suggested that you were accusing him of being involved.’
    ‘Can you be sure he wasn’t?’ demanded Tug.
    Omari shrugged. ‘I don’t know,’ he admitted. ‘But I think we’ve outstayed our welcome here. It’s time we moved on – and fast.’
    The question of who had fired the warning shot was the main topic of conversation for Mitch, Gaz andTwo Moons as they drove along. Once again they were bringing up the rear of the convoy. When they had exhausted that topic, their conversation turned to the journey and their mission ahead.
    ‘How far you reckon we got to go before we hit Kajaki District?’ Two Moons asked.
    Mitch checked the satellite navigation system. ‘I calculate another twenty miles,’ he said.
    The convoy crawled along the main road through the desert, rocky hills rising up on either side of them.
    They had been travelling for just over an hour when Nelson’s voice came over the radio: ‘Rocks across the road ahead.’
    ‘Rockfall?’ came Tug’s voice.
    ‘Nix that,’ said Nelson. ‘Looks like another ambush. Everybody back!’
    Mitch immediately swung the wheel, bumping the vehicle in a circle to turn it back the way they had come, but as he did so an explosion at the side of the road threw rocks and dust across the trackin front of them. Another explosion went off, and more rocks rained down in a cloud of choking dust.
    ‘Why didn’t the detector pick up those IEDs?’ demanded Gaz.
    ‘Because they’re not roadside IEDs,’ said Mitch. ‘That was a rocket-propelled grenade.’ Into the radio he relayed the message to the other vehicles: ‘The road’s cut off this way. RPGs flying everywhere.’
    ‘OK, group up,’ said Nelson.
    Once again, Mitch swung the Humvee round and headed towards Tug and Benny’s car. Even as he did so, bullets were ricocheting off the armour of the vehicle and the rocks around them.
    Tug had pulled his car to a halt. Nelson’s vehicle joined them from the other direction.
    ‘Triangle,’ commanded Nelson. ‘Circle those wagons.’
    They put the three armoured cars into a protective triangle, and then spilled out into the area of shelter between them. All the time bullets thudded into the ground and pinged off the metal.
    ‘Let me guess. The Taliban?’ said Nelson.
    Omari nodded. ‘This is no coincidence,’ he said grimly. ‘This is revenge for killing those Taliban back in the village.’
    ‘How would they know that was us? We got them all,’ said Nelson.
    ‘I guess not everyone in that village thinks the Taliban are a bad thing,’ commented Tug bitterly. ‘Remember, someone fired that warning shot.’
    The team had already taken up firing positions behind the vehicles and were pouring tracers of bullets out into the desert. Although they couldn’t see their attackers, they knew the general direction the gunfire was coming from and were set on keeping the enemy contained.
    ‘I think I’ve got something,’ said Two Moons, scanning the area through his binoculars. ‘A position due east. They’re hunkered down, using rocks and dips in the ground for cover.’
    ‘They’re over to the west and