no plasma or saline because of weight limits. We have to get him out of
here. Request immediate casevac. Repeat: one serious trauma of chest and
shoulder, request immediate casevac.’
Geordie was
leaning over Shepherd again. ‘I can’t give you morphine yet, Spider, we need
you alert for this. We’re going to have to take you out Red Indian style.’
Jock rushed over
with a section of the ladder that Shepherd had used to gain access to the
building. Jock and Geordie lifted Shepherd onto the ladder and tied him to it
with a nylon tac line.
Jock nodded over
at the body of the Captain. ‘We’re taking him with us,’ he said.
Geordie nodded.
Todd was dead but the SAS made a point of not leaving its people behind, no
matter what the circumstances.
Covered by fire
from Jimbo and Lex, they ran with their makeshift stretcher to the first RV
point where they’d left the mopeds. Geordie began lashing the end of the ladder
to the back of one of them, leaving the other end and Shepherd’s feet trailing
in the dirt. Jock ran to get
another section of ladder and lashed Todd to it before dragging it back to the
mopeds.
Shepherd heard a
voice in his earpiece. ‘Speed it up. They’re round us like flies on shit.’ He
couldn’t tell if it was Jimbo or Lex.
Drawn by the
noise of firing and explosions, tribesmen and Taliban fighters were pouring
from their scattered huts and houses and racing over the fields towards the
burning building. They fired from the hip as they ran so their bullets went
wide. Jimbo and Lex fired methodically, taking out more than a dozen of the
Taliban fighters with carefully-placed shots.
Geordie fired a
short bust at the wheels of Shepherd and Todd’s mopeds, disabling them so that
the Taliban couldn’t use them to give chase. Jock attached the ladder with Todd’s body to the back of
Geordie’s moped, then checked it was secure. ‘Let’s get out of here!’ he shouted.
Jock climbed on to
the moped attached to Shepherd’s makeshift stretcher. ‘This is going to hurt,
Spider, but we’ve got to get you out of here.’
Shepherd nodded,
using his hand to keep the pressure on the dressing. Jock kicked the engine into life.
As Jimbo and Lex
continued to give covering fire, Jock and Geordie sped away. Shepherd gritted
his teeth as the improvised stretcher bumped and jolted over the rough terrain.
Jimbo and Lex fired final bursts, climbed onto their mopeds and sped after Jock
and Geordie.
Behind them, they
heard a barrage of explosions and saw the sky light up with tracer as the fire
in the burning building reached the Taliban’s ammunition store.
Every bump and
jolt caused Shepherd agonising pain but he clamped his jaw to stop himself from
crying out and tried to focus on the column of flame shrinking behind them as
they sped towards the heli landing site. They had covered only half the
distance when Shepherd heard Geordie’s voice in his earpiece, ‘We’ll have to
stop. The jolting’s loosened his trauma pads, he’s bleeding like a stuck pig.’
‘Roger that,’
said Jock, applying his brakes. ‘Alpha
3 and 7 drop back and set up an Immediate Ambush. Buy us a little time.’
The bikes slewed
to a halt as Jimbo and Lex peeled off and circled back before jumping off their
bikes and diving into cover.
Jock stayed on
his moped as Geordie hurried over to Shepherd.
Shepherd felt the
fierce pressure on his chest as Geordie slapped on a fresh trauma pack and
tightened the bindings with a savage jerk.
‘Are you okay,
mate?’ asked the medic.
Shepherd nodded
and grunted. He could feel blood still oozing from the wound and it hurt like
hell, but he didn’t feel weak and he wasn’t going numb so he figured that the
injury was survivable, so long as they got him back to base without delay.
A moment later
the agonised bumping and jolting began again as the moped sped on towards the
LZ. Behind them there was the chatter of firing as Lex and Jimbo let rip with
their AK74s,
here. Request immediate casevac. Repeat: one serious trauma of chest and
shoulder, request immediate casevac.’
Geordie was
leaning over Shepherd again. ‘I can’t give you morphine yet, Spider, we need
you alert for this. We’re going to have to take you out Red Indian style.’
Jock rushed over
with a section of the ladder that Shepherd had used to gain access to the
building. Jock and Geordie lifted Shepherd onto the ladder and tied him to it
with a nylon tac line.
Jock nodded over
at the body of the Captain. ‘We’re taking him with us,’ he said.
Geordie nodded.
Todd was dead but the SAS made a point of not leaving its people behind, no
matter what the circumstances.
Covered by fire
from Jimbo and Lex, they ran with their makeshift stretcher to the first RV
point where they’d left the mopeds. Geordie began lashing the end of the ladder
to the back of one of them, leaving the other end and Shepherd’s feet trailing
in the dirt. Jock ran to get
another section of ladder and lashed Todd to it before dragging it back to the
mopeds.
Shepherd heard a
voice in his earpiece. ‘Speed it up. They’re round us like flies on shit.’ He
couldn’t tell if it was Jimbo or Lex.
Drawn by the
noise of firing and explosions, tribesmen and Taliban fighters were pouring
from their scattered huts and houses and racing over the fields towards the
burning building. They fired from the hip as they ran so their bullets went
wide. Jimbo and Lex fired methodically, taking out more than a dozen of the
Taliban fighters with carefully-placed shots.
Geordie fired a
short bust at the wheels of Shepherd and Todd’s mopeds, disabling them so that
the Taliban couldn’t use them to give chase. Jock attached the ladder with Todd’s body to the back of
Geordie’s moped, then checked it was secure. ‘Let’s get out of here!’ he shouted.
Jock climbed on to
the moped attached to Shepherd’s makeshift stretcher. ‘This is going to hurt,
Spider, but we’ve got to get you out of here.’
Shepherd nodded,
using his hand to keep the pressure on the dressing. Jock kicked the engine into life.
As Jimbo and Lex
continued to give covering fire, Jock and Geordie sped away. Shepherd gritted
his teeth as the improvised stretcher bumped and jolted over the rough terrain.
Jimbo and Lex fired final bursts, climbed onto their mopeds and sped after Jock
and Geordie.
Behind them, they
heard a barrage of explosions and saw the sky light up with tracer as the fire
in the burning building reached the Taliban’s ammunition store.
Every bump and
jolt caused Shepherd agonising pain but he clamped his jaw to stop himself from
crying out and tried to focus on the column of flame shrinking behind them as
they sped towards the heli landing site. They had covered only half the
distance when Shepherd heard Geordie’s voice in his earpiece, ‘We’ll have to
stop. The jolting’s loosened his trauma pads, he’s bleeding like a stuck pig.’
‘Roger that,’
said Jock, applying his brakes. ‘Alpha
3 and 7 drop back and set up an Immediate Ambush. Buy us a little time.’
The bikes slewed
to a halt as Jimbo and Lex peeled off and circled back before jumping off their
bikes and diving into cover.
Jock stayed on
his moped as Geordie hurried over to Shepherd.
Shepherd felt the
fierce pressure on his chest as Geordie slapped on a fresh trauma pack and
tightened the bindings with a savage jerk.
‘Are you okay,
mate?’ asked the medic.
Shepherd nodded
and grunted. He could feel blood still oozing from the wound and it hurt like
hell, but he didn’t feel weak and he wasn’t going numb so he figured that the
injury was survivable, so long as they got him back to base without delay.
A moment later
the agonised bumping and jolting began again as the moped sped on towards the
LZ. Behind them there was the chatter of firing as Lex and Jimbo let rip with
their AK74s,
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