Chapter 17
The Mission: Day Two
Jack woke up as the glow of the morning twilight appeared in the eastern sky. The gentle but cold breeze drew him out of a deep sleep. The morning fog was starting to burn off as the sun began its journey upward, giving the woods an ethereal appearance. He lay there motionless as he pondered the cold ground that he had slept on. He enjoyed being in the outdoors, and camping under rustic conditions. But, he didn’t like the cold. He could stand it when he had to, but he preferred having cool night air, not cold raw ground. These thoughts were swimming around in Jack’s wakening mind when he heard a snap in the woods to the south. Jack froze. His back was facing Jill’s bed of pine needles. He didn’t want to turn to see if Jill was awake because that could give away his presence to the approaching enemy. He whispered, “Jill, we have company.”
Jack hoped that the snapping sound was a deer looking for its breakfast. It would be nice to begin the morning with another visit from yesterday’s deer. On the other hand, it could be a sentry from the Zaragoza compound. In that case, Jack needed to be ready. He quietly slid out his pistol and knife. Jack did not hear any response from Jill, so he repeated himself, “Jill, we have company.” Jack could not afford raising his voice any louder, so he waited in his frozen position. With Jill still asleep, he would have to kill the intruder by himself, if it was an intruder. If it turned out to be a deer, he would just roll over, shake Jill, and let her know they have another friendly visitor. Jack heard a few more faint snaps. It sounds like someone is trying to be quiet. A deer would not care if it made a little noise.
The morning twilight was brightening. Jack concentrated on not moving his body while his eyes were focused on the crest of the hill just sixty feet south of him. He watched intently for his first view, would it be a deer, or a sentry? Jack strained his eyes as he saw a dark outline slowly rising above the crest of the hill. The outline grew taller as it approached. There were no antlers, so it was not a buck. That means it could be a doe or a sentry. He continued to focus. As the outline began to offer faint details in the morning twilight, Jack saw something he didn’t like. He saw the outline of a semi-automatic weapon slung over the shoulder of a person. Jack knew it was too late to get Jill’s help, but nonetheless he could at least give her one last warning. He whispered loudly in hope of waking Jill. “Jill! Look out!”
With that, Jack lurched to his knees and pulled his weapons to the ready position. Then he sprung to the standing position, and started to take aim with his pistol.
In the amount of time that it took Jack to come to his combat ready position, Jill had heard his voice and responded, “Jack, what’s wrong?”
When Jack heard Jill’s voice he was confused. Her voice did not come from the bed of pine needles behind him. Her voice came from the direction of the sentry that was approaching from the south. Then Jack noticed that the sentry had a Ghillies camouflage suit on. He knew that only U.S. Army snipers wore Ghillies suits. Jack slightly relaxed. “Jill?”
“Morning, Jack. What’s with the pistol and knife? Did I miss something?” Jill responded.
“Miss something? You almost got yourself shot in the head!” Jack tried not to raise his voice in case there really were sentries in the area. “I thought you were a sentry and I was going to kill you!”
“Hey, back off, bucko! I was just taking a walk.”
“What were you doing out there?”
“I told you. I was taking a walk!”
“A walk? What, you mean like a bathroom break type of walk?”
“Well, no, not that type of walk.”
“Cut to the chase, woman. What were you doing out there?”
Jill was now close enough to Jack that he could look into her blue eyes. He saw a look of dejection.
“Jack . . . I know I should have said something . . . but you were asleep and I didn’t want to wake you.”
“You didn’t want to wake me? Okay, I understand that, but what was so important that you had to run off without telling me. We’re in a combat zone and we need to communicate everything that each other is doing!” Jack was struggling to keep his voice down.
Jill took a deep swallow. “When you were helping me up the trail yesterday, I noticed there were some cranberries about a mile from here. So I walked back there to pick some for—”
“Berries? You left camp and almost got yourself shot for some stupid little berries! Woman, we have MREs to eat! We’ve got plenty of food and water. Why did you do such a stupid thing?” Jack couldn’t control himself. He was raising his voice much louder than he should. If there were any sentries in the area, they would certainly be able to hear him as he berated his sniping partner.
Jack saw Jill’s gaze drop to the ground. Her lower lip began to quiver and her eyes began to well up. Jack looked at Jill in disgust. Not only is Jill a dumb girl, but she is a whimpering little kid and she is not any good to me out here in this combat zone. I should have told Major Phelps that I didn’t want a woman for a sniping partner. I should have spoken my mind before I came out here with this little whimpering woman.
Jill tried to finish her sentence. She had to calm herself down and catch her breath. When she finally did speak, she could only get out a few words at a time. “I . . . I picked . . . the . . . berries . . . for . . . for . . . your urinary . . . tract . . . infection.”
With that, her emotions again flooded her body, and her shoulders trembled.
Jack was shocked; he stepped back and bent over so his eyes were even with Jill’s. “You picked those cranberries for my infection?”
Jill looked up into Jack’s eyes. She took a deep breath and then spoke. “Uh huh.”
Jack tried to speak. “But . . . but . . .”
Jill’s gaze again dropped to the ground as she tried to compose herself. When she finally spoke, her words were again broken. “I knew that . . . for the success of the mission . . . you needed to get some medicine. It would be hard to shoot if you are in lots of pain. Besides that . . . I felt really sorry for you . . . and I wanted to do something . . . to make you feel better.”
She looked into his eyes and after taking another deep breath she said, “I’m . . . sorry . . .”
Jack suddenly realized that Jill had made a good tactical decision, and she showed a true act of camaraderie. Poor Jill. I’ve misjudged her.
Jack tried to speak, but the words would not come. His own eyes were filling up and his lips were quivering. Finally he took a deep breath and spoke slowly, “Jill, I am so sorry. I didn’t know. I—I misunderstood your actions. I thought you were being reckless and careless, but you were focused on the mission and my wellbeing.”
Jack reached out and pulled Jill’s body next to his. He felt both their bodies quivering with emotion. A tear ran down her cheek as he fought back his own tears. His arms gently embraced Jill, and she squeezed tightly into his clutches. They stood in silence in the middle of their makeshift sniper camp. After several minutes of embracing, their emotions calmed. Jack put his hand under Jill’s chin and lifted it so he could again see her eyes. “Jill, I don’t think words will ever be able to tell you how sorry I am. Will you ever be able to forgive me? I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness, and I won’t blame you if you never forgive me, but I hope that eventually you will be able to forgive my insensitive and awful response to your kindness.”
Jill sniffled, and wiped her wet cheeks with the palms of both hands. “Jack, there is something special about our relationship. I don’t know why it is special, but even during times like this, I want to be your friend.” She snuggled back into his embrace.
Jack never experienced a response like that before. He thought about what Jill said. Why would she want to be friends with me after the way I have treated her?