“Oh, not at all, Captain,” the Sergeant assured him, raising his palms. “The Corporal and I get along real well. In fact, I’m kind of relieved to know he’s on this suicide mission.”
Odom clucked his tongue. “Oh yeah?” he asked. “And why’s that?”
“Because the only way he could be any luckier is if he shoved a rabbit’s foot in places best left to the imagination,” Dickerson replied.
The Captain gaped at the soldiers, shaking his head. “Luck?” he asked. “You’re excited to have him along because he’s lucky?” He blinked and then turned to Jinx. “So you’re lucky, huh?”
“In a single tour, my team and I walked away from four IEDs, a dozen ambushes, and a whole host of other situations that have since been erased thanks to the hard work of bourbon destroying those brain cells,” the Corporal declared proudly.
Odom clucked his tongue again. “Lucky indeed,” he replied dryly. “Let’s hope that keeps up.” He motioned for the trio to cluster around the map.
He removed the top sheet to reveal a tighter shot of the city of Aberdeen. He used the pointer to motion to the area on the west side of the bridge.
“Once you’re on the ground, you need to push forward across this area,” he said. “It’s ten blocks of mostly residential housing leading up to the bridge. Once you’re across is when the real fun begins.” He motioned to the north. “This area to the north is a shopping center that should provide cover to draw the enemy up there.” Odom pointed to a specific spot in the south by a river. “Same thing with this spot in the south. I need a team to go to each one, set up a diversion, and hold the enemy’s attention while we get a foothold.”
“Sir, my team can take the southern target,” Spence piped up.
Dickerson nodded. “My team will take the northern target.”
The Captain turned to Jinx. “Then that leaves you with the big job.” He pointed to a shopping center on the far east of town, practically on its own little island with two bridges leading across to it. “Corporal, your team will have three primary goals. The first is to get to the target and draw as many of those things as you can. The second is to escape via the river within a stone’s throw of the building, circle back, and block off the bridges with whatever you can find. And the third is to cause as much havoc on the way there as you can. Set up traps, set things on fire, whatever you need to do to distract the enemy and eliminate them.”
Jinx nodded. “My team and I can handle that, sir,” he said, and then raised a finger. “But I do have a question.”
“Go for it,” Odom said.
“If we’re blocking off the bridge on the east side of town to trap these things,” the Corporal began, “then why don’t we just block off the bridge into Aberdeen and call it a day?”
The Captain took a deep breath. “We considered that,” he admitted, “but with the amount of enemy forces in town, the higher ups felt like we could end up in a surge situation. If the barricade failed, our landing zone would be overrun and there would be little we could do about it.”
“That works for me,” Jinx replied with a nod. “Like a lot of the soldiers on this ship, my team and I are ready to get into the action. Lot more fun rampaging through the streets than babysitting a barricade.”
Odom raised his chin. “Well, Corporal, you and your team have free rein to do whatever you deem necessary,” he declared. “This isn’t a strategic target, so once we clear it, it’s unlikely anybody is going to be back here for quite some time.”
“Burn the city to the ground, got it,” Jinx replied with a playful smirk.
The soldiers chuckled, and Odom shook his head.
“Not sure I would go that far,” he replied with a playful shrug. “But if it comes to it, then it comes to it. Now, go brief your teams and get ready to move. We’re grounding this ship in thirty, and your teams are the first over.”
“Yes, sir,” the soldiers replied in unison as the Captain headed out of the room.
Dickerson smacked Jinx on the shoulder. “You ready to get after it?”
“Just another walk in the park,” the Corporal replied with a smirk.
“What channel are you going to be on?” the Sergeant asked.
Jinx winked at him. “Lucky number thirteen, as always.”
“Same as it ever was,” Dickerson replied, chuckling and shaking his head. “You give me a call if you need a hand.”
The Corporal nodded. “Likewise,” he said, and then turned to Spence. “Same goes for you. We’re running headlong into the shit, we got each other and not much else for a while.”
“See you two topside in thirty,” Spence replied with a firm nod, and the three men exited the room, splitting off to seek out their respective teams.
CHAPTER TWO
Jinx entered the mess hall, which was crowded as usual. Soldiers were everywhere, trying to get whatever bits of food and drink they could before it ran out. Rationing had been going strong since they’d set food on the ship, but even with that food was beginning to run out.
“Yo Jinx, over here!” Davila called, waving his hand in the air.
The Corporal approached the table, giving a nod to the shorter latino soldier. “Hope you are getting your rations in, because we’re about to go raise some hell,” he declared.
“Do tell, Corporal!” Private Stein drawled, leaning his broad shoulders forward.
Jinx took a seat. “Oh, just the normal shit, storm the beach head and distract the enemy so the bulk of the force can get a foothold,” he said.
Private Burch’s eyes widened. “Beach head?” he asked. “What are we doing? Swimming to shore?”
The Corporal shook his head with a devious smile. “Nope,” he replied. “We’re crashing the ship right onto
