No Place for Females

Chapter Nine

First things first. Now it was time for the hunt, and he was the predator. And he would get his prey.

He heard screaming in another part of the house. Women's voices. Seeing the flash of a muzzle, he dove behind an overturned table.

Who the hell was that? Marines? No way. A grenade would have been down the hall by now.

One, two, three. He turned and readied himself to fire upon the position. Then he saw that it was Resa.

"You idiot, it's me," Amir shouted.

"Sorry, sir," said Resa.

Amir got up and came out. He fought the urge to shoot Resa where he stood. He could easily get away with it. Around them, chaos ensued. Once again, Asa's men were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. However, despite his intense dislike for the man, now was not the time to indulge in hobbies.

"Move towards the cries," he instructed Resa. "Don't kill the translator. I want her alive."

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Maria's ears were ringing. Her fingers traced the grooves of a stone that lay near her face.

Why was she on the ground? Warm liquid flowed from her shirt. Had she been taking a bath? Why were her ears ringing, and why did she feel so tired?

Then she remembered the noise. Most likely it was a bomb. She did not think the Marines would use a bomb to get into the house, so that would mean one of two possibilities.

The first was that the Taliban had launched an attack. The second was that it was the Marines, but they had accidentally dropped a bomb on the house. It had happened before. Maria had been tasked to go with a unit to speak to the relatives of the house that had been destroyed. Three kids had died in that house, and the mother cursed Maria and called her a traitor for working with the Marines. Maria ignored the insult and did her job, translating for the Marine colonel who had personally gone to the site to apologize. That night, Maria cried herself to sleep.

Now she wondered if this was payback from Allah, for ignoring the woman's curse. Who knew? What she did know was that she and Lula were in very serious danger.

Get up, Maria.

She didn't want to get up. By now, she could feel that something was seriously wrong. She could not feel her right leg. And the wetness in her shirt was spreading.

This was bad.

Do you want to die here? Because that's what's going to happen if you don't get up right now. Get up.

Using her hands, she pushed herself up from the ground. She scrambled around, trying to pull herself up. Her hand brushed over something sharp and she cried out. Her hearing must have started to return, because she’d heard the cry.

No—wait, that wasn't her. It must be Lula. But her cries sounded muffled.

"Lula!"

Get up, Maria. Get Lula. Get out of here.

Her right leg would not cooperate. It wasn't that it was painful—she couldn't feel it at all.

There was still a ringing in her ears but now she also heard gunfire. Her eyes were beginning to adjust. In the corner, a candle burned. In the dim light she was able to make out a chair.

Grunting, she pulled herself up, using the chair and the wall. She was able to stand up, but just barely. She didn't dare to look down at herself. She didn't want to see what she knew now was most likely blood. If she saw it, she might pass out and would probably die right there.