falling to the floor with a heavy thump. Denton stands in his peripheral with his carbine raised.
“Keep moving,” his dad says and Robert focuses on his area once again.
He walks beside his dad and it feels like the old times when they were out in the woods playing airsoft, stalking behind the opposing team lines together. He feels a quiet confidence come over him. The times with his dad, whether adventuring into the woods together hiking and biking, camping, or airsofting, has given him a solid and deep confidence in his abilities. He carries a certain calm inside that comes from this. The only break in this solid feeling is his wanting to prove himself. He doesn’t want to let anyone down.
A sudden movement to his front; a shape detaches itself from the shadowy depths and catches his attention. The shape transforms itself into a night runner as it runs into the light cast by the Humvee headlights. He quickly raises his M-4 and begins firing at the quickly moving creature. The carbine kicks against his shoulder and he sees pinpoints of light materialize just behind the fleet night runner. He instantly knows these are his round drilling through the wall and he hasn’t put enough lead on the darting shape. With his finger still pressed down on the trigger, he moves his barrel to his left, walking his rounds quickly towards the night runner. He sees the small points of light catch up and the sound of his impacting rounds changes from a metallic pinking to the more solid thuds of steel hitting flesh. The night runner is thrown to the side against the metal door and slides downward. He thinks he sees it still move and puts another burst into the slumped body.
Robert looks from the still body to his dad who nods at him with the affirmation of a good job. He feels the self-confidence in himself solidify even more from that nod and the realization that he acted in a quick and decisive manner; keeping in mind that he needs to lead his target a little more and throws that knowledge into his bag of tricks. His dad steps forward again and he walks to keep in line. Another shriek penetrates the still and hot interior followed by a subsequent burst of gunfire from his dad.
He turns quickly to see his dad step to the side as a night runner stumbles into view. He watches his dad deliver a stroke with his M-4 to the back of the night runners head and watches it fall to the floor. His dad then raises his boot and brings it back down on the neck of the fallen body; the crunch and crack of its neck shattering sounds. He watches the night runner twitch before it becomes still and blood begins to surround it on the floor.
They reach the far end door and he mans a small perimeter with the rest of the Red Team as his dad opens the door, flooding the interior space with light. That light brings a sense of relief. One, because he senses that this particular action is over, and two, because the fear and nervousness he felt regarding whether he would let anyone down has been answered. A certain pride wells up within knowing he acted well and, for the first time, he feels very much a part of the team.
* * * * * *
“McCafferty, will you pull the Humvee around to the front,” I say as we reach the end of the building where we started. “Call the others and have them come back.”
“Yes, sir,” she responds.
“Gotta lead ‘em huh?” I say chuckling to Robert as we walk back to the front along the outside with the sun in our eyes.
“Yeah, it startled me and I thought I had enough of a lead,” he answers with a chuckle of his own. “I saw I was hitting behind and just swept over to it.”
“Well, they’re pretty quick but that’s the way to do it. Just keep in mind not to let the kick lead you up and over it. You got it and that’s what counts. Plus, nice making sure it stayed dead.”
Gonzalez walks over to
“Keep moving,” his dad says and Robert focuses on his area once again.
He walks beside his dad and it feels like the old times when they were out in the woods playing airsoft, stalking behind the opposing team lines together. He feels a quiet confidence come over him. The times with his dad, whether adventuring into the woods together hiking and biking, camping, or airsofting, has given him a solid and deep confidence in his abilities. He carries a certain calm inside that comes from this. The only break in this solid feeling is his wanting to prove himself. He doesn’t want to let anyone down.
A sudden movement to his front; a shape detaches itself from the shadowy depths and catches his attention. The shape transforms itself into a night runner as it runs into the light cast by the Humvee headlights. He quickly raises his M-4 and begins firing at the quickly moving creature. The carbine kicks against his shoulder and he sees pinpoints of light materialize just behind the fleet night runner. He instantly knows these are his round drilling through the wall and he hasn’t put enough lead on the darting shape. With his finger still pressed down on the trigger, he moves his barrel to his left, walking his rounds quickly towards the night runner. He sees the small points of light catch up and the sound of his impacting rounds changes from a metallic pinking to the more solid thuds of steel hitting flesh. The night runner is thrown to the side against the metal door and slides downward. He thinks he sees it still move and puts another burst into the slumped body.
Robert looks from the still body to his dad who nods at him with the affirmation of a good job. He feels the self-confidence in himself solidify even more from that nod and the realization that he acted in a quick and decisive manner; keeping in mind that he needs to lead his target a little more and throws that knowledge into his bag of tricks. His dad steps forward again and he walks to keep in line. Another shriek penetrates the still and hot interior followed by a subsequent burst of gunfire from his dad.
He turns quickly to see his dad step to the side as a night runner stumbles into view. He watches his dad deliver a stroke with his M-4 to the back of the night runners head and watches it fall to the floor. His dad then raises his boot and brings it back down on the neck of the fallen body; the crunch and crack of its neck shattering sounds. He watches the night runner twitch before it becomes still and blood begins to surround it on the floor.
They reach the far end door and he mans a small perimeter with the rest of the Red Team as his dad opens the door, flooding the interior space with light. That light brings a sense of relief. One, because he senses that this particular action is over, and two, because the fear and nervousness he felt regarding whether he would let anyone down has been answered. A certain pride wells up within knowing he acted well and, for the first time, he feels very much a part of the team.
* * * * * *
“McCafferty, will you pull the Humvee around to the front,” I say as we reach the end of the building where we started. “Call the others and have them come back.”
“Yes, sir,” she responds.
“Gotta lead ‘em huh?” I say chuckling to Robert as we walk back to the front along the outside with the sun in our eyes.
“Yeah, it startled me and I thought I had enough of a lead,” he answers with a chuckle of his own. “I saw I was hitting behind and just swept over to it.”
“Well, they’re pretty quick but that’s the way to do it. Just keep in mind not to let the kick lead you up and over it. You got it and that’s what counts. Plus, nice making sure it stayed dead.”
Gonzalez walks over to
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