WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE, VIOLENCE, ADULT SITUATIONS. READER DISCRETION ADVISED.

It's still dark out when the units begin switching out. Those returning are visibly worn out. Their uniforms undone, and dirty. Their eyes half open, and red with the color in their faces gone. Some have been out for days, while others just for the night. Meeting them are the units gearing up to go out on patrols fresh from their break. Some are energized from the nature of their mission, while others more subdued doing routine security patrols. David is part of the later ones.

"Look at you. I need to get me of them sweet security routes. Must be nice sleeping in player!" Private Wheeler greeted David.

"Check you guys out. Where have you guys been? In a spa out in some beach?" David shook hands, and patted his former unit as they returned to the camp. He couldn't help but look at the scar in Private Wheelers head every time they meet. It had been months since the incident and it was a small scar but David still fixated on it, feeling shame for it.

"Oh I wish! Would rather be in a beach looking at some fine honeys in bikinis all week, instead of looking for smelly goat herders up in the mountains." Private Wheeler yawned as he rubbed his shaved head.

"Ha-ha, I bet. Well, you guys are looking good." David forced an awkward smile in hopes of raising his friends' morale, but his eyes always gave him away.

"You're so full of shit. I know we look like crap. Hell, I can smell each, and every one of these beasts in my sleep now. I swear they are rotting inside." Corporal Stevens said embracing his good friend.

"At least you'll know if one of them goes missing right?" David returned the embrace and smiled seeing his good friend. It was always a relief seeing them all returning in good shape, and spirits.

"Go on ahead guys. Let me talk to this numb-nuts for a minute." Corporal Stevens jabbed David lightly in the stomach making him flinch as the rest of the men left.

"David what are you doing man?" Corporal Stevens put his arm around David's shoulder like a big brother, and walked to the side away from the rest of the guys.

David furrowed his brow as his mind raced to figure out what the Corporal was referring to.

"Captain Miller told me you turned down another mission? What's the deal? Your probation was up three weeks ago, you don't have to keep doing these security patrols anymore."

David looked down as his pace slowed down and readjusted the assault rifle in his hands, remaining silent.

"Look none of the guys care about what happen. It's not even a thing. And don't listen to what others say in the base. You're our boy, and we'll always be a unit. We'll always have your back. But come on bro. These security patrols, are for the local police. You're a fucking Ranger man. Don't hide out there!"

David's vest lifted as he took a deep breath and cleared his throat.

"I'm not hiding. It's good work. It's...valuable."

"Phs, come on man! Don't give me that P.R., slogan, B.S. Yes, training local law enforcement, and establishing peacekeeping relationships with the residents are critical objectives of the overall mission. Blah blah, blah. You been on two tours! Have combat experience, and went through ranger school. We need you out there watching our backs, not in here."

"I just need some time. I'll be back soon." The subtle half smile betraying David's conviction.

The corporal stared through David's poker face. They knew each other well enough by now to know when they were bullshitting each other.

"I hope so bro, don't take long now, or you'll miss all the action." The corporal walked again shaking his head disappointed as he might be losing his war buddy.

David's chest tingled with nervous-anxiety as he saw his best friend walking away. Knowing he was turning his back on the squad that always stood by him, but this was different, this felt right, it felt good. He boarded the personnel vehicle with a hint of excitement he hadn't felt since he was a kid going on a field trip with a promise of adventure, and discovery.

David scanned the crowd just as he had been taught at the academy and then later in boot camp. Look at the eyes for tells of suspicious behavior. Any hand movements, or shifting of movements and directions that are sudden and unnatural. Carrying of packages that stand out or are odd shaped. Things that are virtually impossible to pick out in a market place. It did not matter though. The region had been liberated for months now and the insurgents pushed back well beyond the city limits. These times were the most peaceful the city had seen in years.

He didn't expect to find anything really. There weren't any reports of insurgent activity in the city and the enemy lines had been pushed miles away. No, he was scanning the crowd as a nervous habit to keep his mind busy as he approached her stand. He walked faster, and his gear felt lighter and even the foreign screaming and yelling of the marketplace sounded friendlier closer to her.

"Dhavid! You watch dah Cricket match? Is ghud no? You like." Jumped in an excited boy.

David's worries vanished in the crowd as this little Afghan boy, in his worn sandals, and tattered clothes patted David in unbridled enthusiasm. Each slap shanking the nastiness rummaging in David's mind lose and swelling his chest with breaths of joy that were becoming addictive over the last few weeks.

"I saw it. It wasn't bad. Reminded me of a baseball a little." David smiled as he resumed his pace towards her stand.

"Nooo! Cricket much better. Number one sport!" the young boy jumped up raising his index finger to show the severity of David's mistake.

The two kept walking and as they did more boys joined in. Their excitement, and carefree optimism replenishing David's soul, deep within him.

It was Saturday and the weekend crowds were out in full force. It was an exciting atmosphere, with families out in the clear, warm day. Noise in the streets from vendors calling out to make promising sales.

Parisa, and her mother stood at the stand. Since it was a busier time. David made his way over to them around noon. The vibrant crowd and happy families enjoying the streets after months of intense fighting in which David and his unit took part in liberating. More of the policing was being done by local law enforcement but the guidance of the coalition forces was still needed to provide support. David was part of this support. This stretched out the coalition forces since the local forces were severely inexperienced. Security patrolling was as good a place to start as any.

"David you like the magazines? Is for girls!" Hakim walked up raising his hands smirking.

"I buy it for the pictures not the articles." Habib laughed as he said something to his friends in Pashto which all gathered from David's wink and smile.

Parisa shook her head as the boys laughed and joked with one another.

"David look. Look at this one. Isn't she beautiful? She has gorgeous hair, and her dress flows like a cloud beneath her feet. It's as if she's flying." Parisa's eyes, vibrant with hope and dreams translated what David could not understand in words.

"Stupid, he doesn't understand a single thing you're saying. He doesn't care anyway. That all silly girls stuff. He's a warrior. He is more concerned with real, important things like battles and defeating evil. Not mindless things like ugly girls in silly garments!" Habib jumped in excitement and punctuated his point by slaying his friends who reveled in the thrills of battle.

"It's not silly. They are beautiful, and magical creatures. And everyone loves them, and want to be like them, and are free to do as they please." Parisa never took her eyes off the magazine and paid little attention to what her younger brother said. Her calm, peaceful demeanor was spell like. Making it seem like she lived in a dream of her own. It was a dream David wanted to share.

No words, no actions, or context made sense to David. He didn't know why they smiled, why they frowned, or what they thought, but he felt they were close. He felt their love for one another, their dependency. And it wasn't because of where they were, or their background, and beliefs. It was them as individuals. It was the pure love they had for one another, and he wanted to be a part of it.

Their mother walked to David, as he looked longingly at the siblings, offering him a traditional plate. She saw the homesickness in his eyes, and knew food is always a good cure for what ails the soul.

"What's this?" he asked realizing she might not understand him.

The mother mimed the international order of "don't ask, just eat" to his fortune.

Off in the distance the weekly football game of locals vs the police and officers was about to start. This had been another one of David's suggestions as a way to foster trust and goodwill with the community. In reality Hakim and the kids had been challenging the officers for a while and David was the first to take them up on it. After that the games took a life of their own.

"Go, go children! Get a favorable place for our stand. There will be many thirsty, and hungry. Go with haste." The mother quickly packed as many drinks and snacks into a blanket and threw them into Parisa's arms.

"You play now David," Hakim's questions always sounded like orders as his face offered little in the form of an option.

"Hmm, maybe. I have to finish my patrol. Give me a few minutes."

"City is safe! Rats up in mountains! You...no worry." Hakims gestures were as animated as his statements with his arms fully stretched out as he turned to capture the whole city. Almost knocking the concession of off Parisa's hands.

"Hakim you clumsy, clown."

"You play, come, come." Hakim pushed David as Parisa started to head off looking back with a smile that drew David to the field.

"Lieutenant Zamora, Sir. The bursars is asking you to sign off on additional training for the local police." A patrolman asked.

"Right now?"

"Yes Sir. It won't take long."

David looked back at Hakim and Parisa who had stopped, now not sure of what was going on.

"One minute. I'll be back in in minute," David raised his index finger loudly speaking as If they were deaf.

Both Parisa and Habib smiled as they left to get a pristine spot for their stand, and David turned to sign more bureaucratic paperwork.

"Are you playing Sir? It's mostly locals today. Most of our guys are sitting out. Soccer is not really their game," the patrolman said.

"I guess I should then. It's good to be part of the commu..." BOOOM!!!

The two had walked halfway across the market when a terrible explosion ripped through the fabric of the market place shaking the ground for blocks in every direction. It was hard to figure out where it came from as screams of people running in every direction soon followed. David and the rest of the officers tried to mobilize and set some sort of order but there was chaos in every direction. And that chaos grew inside of David as he wondered where the blast came from. When he looked in to the sky and saw the white plume of smoke he realized, "It's coming from the field. Parisa!"

Everyone stood still for brief moment since it was hard to figure out where the blast came from and also because of the shock. The fragile sense of security everyone wanted to believe was permanent was shattered right from underneath them. Disbelief didn't last long as the horror of the act set in to reveal the brutal aftermath.

People started to run in every direction possible. Some away for safety, some in search of loved ones and other towards to blast in search of the unknown.

David was no different, and as soon as he realized the location of the blast he started to head in that direction. Only to be held back by one of the officers.

"Sir! What are your orders?"

David was not free to go off on his own, even if every fiber of his being urged him to do so. He was a ranked officer and was responsible for others.

He hated this responsibility at this moment, and cursed it but had no choice. He had to take control of the situation, and provide guidance. But his mind raced in a different direction, he couldn't focus. Nothing was firing as it should.

The officers waited for what felt like an eternity, even though it was only a brief moment, but the urgency of the situation made every lost second that much more pressing.

"Should we stablish a perimeter Sir? Contact all the units to report and account for all officers, Sir?" The same officer jumped in to save David from his fog.

The rising energy of the crowd pulled David harder, and harder. The sudden absence of order leaving a vacuum of chaos that pulled on him.

"Yes, have all the units contact base to report anyone missing. Set up a perimeter and lock down all entry and exist points. Have bomb squad, and a team clear the blast area for medics!"

David took off before anyone had a chance to ask any follow up questions or before seeing anyone carry them out.

"But Sir where are you going? Damn it!"

David pushed through the crowd that ran against him buzzing in a feverish pitch. He could not understand anything they said but the pain in their faces, the anguish, and the tears all told him he was going in the right direction, and as he got closer his own fear grew into panic for what he might find, or who.

When he made it to the stand, which now stood empty, and on the ground trampled by the crowd, it reinforced his dark premonition, and almost stopped his heart. Discarded as something useless that only got in their way, forgotten as everyone ran past it but him.

"The field." He turned his eyes to its direction which was obscured by a multitude of people buzzing like panicked bees in a beehive under siege from its most damned predator. The sight both terrified David and compelled him to run to it because they might be there lost in the middle of it all. He had to find them.

"Sir!" Another officer ran to David before he could head out though.

"Two units on the east side of the market report a stopped vehicle with 5 men inside. They have not been able to establish communication with them and are awaiting instruction."

David turned his head again toward the smoking field in anguish as he tried to take another step towards it.

"Sir! There are also reports of 3 men running moments before the blast on the south west corner of the market. Units are in search but have lost them in the crowd." The young man looked ready and willing. Excitement and fire in his eyes anticipating the instruction from David who for the moment was the higher ranking officer in the field. But the young man did not find that same fire staring back at him. They were empty, distracted, lost eyes staring back at him.

"Sir!"

"Have one of the local law enforcement contact the vehicle and don't engage until further instructions. Get a description of the runners and circulate it with the locals and have them assist."

"Sir, you won't be in the pursuits?" Handing off the lead to the locals was not something that was encouraged and this felt too passive for the young man, but it was too late. David was already on the move again.

"Damnit!" The young man had no choice but to communicate the orders.

David tried to push his way through to the field but the crush of the people felt endless. He wondered if he would ever be able to get through, and then suddenly he did.

The sight that greeted him was worse than anything he could have imagine. The field greeted him with burning rubble as bodies laid broken; unrecognizable like dolls. The smell so sickening it would repulse the most harden noses. The toxic smell of explosives so pervasive, he could taste it as it coated his tongue. His eyes watered from the smells, the sights, anxiety, desperation, far too many reason to name, but he had to wipe them so he could see better, and look for them. "Where to start? What to lift? Where to dig?" The chaos was overwhelming. He couldn't help but notice the pain in people's faces who turned over bodies from the rubble to identify them as a loved one. These were images that would haunt him for the rest of his life, and he knew it.

He tried to take a few steps when people ran up to him. Men, women, and children. Some angry. Yelling, and stomping, throwing their bloodied hands wildly towards the scene. Some struggling to make their way towards him as they carried limp, mangle bodies draped over their arms. All wanting, demanding, and pleading for answers he didn't know how to provide.

He tried to look over them, still trying to find anything, anyone that could lead him to Parisa, and then he saw her. The mother was on her knees 20 or so yards away from him. Frantically moving the earth beneath her. Her gaze fixated to the ground. "What is it?" He couldn't see what she was gripped with. He tried to push his way to her but more people came to him, pulling on him, and blocking him.

He wanted to see what she found but he couldn't. She cried and screamed, as she tried pulling at people who flew past her. She slammed her fist on the floor, and then her head violently on the ground. But David could not see why.

"Sir! Sir! The ambulances can't get through. The crowd is trampling them. They are turning back unless we can escort them in. Sir!" some other officers approached him and now his body had been turned away from the mother, but his eyes still locked to her, still desperate to see what she fought with her life to save.

"Sir we have to go!"

David was swept away by a wave of misery, unable to find out what the mother had found.

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Hello again! Wow. This was a hard chapter to write. I hope you enjoyed it even though it was kind of hard. Full disclosure I do not speak Pashto nor am I a member of any Armed Forces. If there any mistakes, inconsistencies, or anything that is not accurate please let me know. I would appreciate it enormously! I tried to research as much as I could but I'm sure I have missed a great deal. 

Again hope you enjoyed and continue to read! 

As always feel free to comment and vote. :D 

Roge. 

 :43<>