Time passed. In the corner of the compound a woman lit a fire. Ben watched as she took flour and water, then kneaded it expertly into big sheets of dough and cooked it over the fire. When it was ready, she tore some off and gave it to Ben. He thanked her profusely and wolfed it down, suddenly aware that he was hungrier than he could ever remember being. Two children, a boy and a girl no more than five years old, shyly approached him. The boy had a small toy car — metal, very old and dented. The paint had long since peeled away, but he presented it proudly to Ben as though it was the finest treasure in the land. Ben smiled at him, then handed the toy back. The two of them sat in the dirt beside him and played happily, etching roads in the dust and making engine sounds. They could have been any kids anywhere.
At one point, everything went quiet and there was suddenly hardly anyone around. Ben felt a moment of panic, until he realized what was happening: the villagers were praying, and he remembered Aarya explaining that it should be done five times a day. Everyone soon re-emerged and continued to go about their business.
Gradually, Ben realized, he was becoming less of a curiosity. The inhabitants of the compound had stopped looking at him like he’d just walked off a spaceship and had started getting on with their lives: washing clothes, cooking food or just sitting and talking in low voices.
Ben became drowsy, but despite the welcome he had been given he didn’t feel at all comfortable falling asleep here, so he stood up and walked round the tree. He felt much better now that he had food and water inside him…
Suddenly there was a shout.
It came from the direction of the compound entrance. Ben spun round just in time to see the door being kicked open and two men in desert combats, big sunglasses and military helmets burst in, their rifles directed straight into the compound. One of them shouted a word Ben didn’t understand before a whole line of soldiers ran in. Some of them took up positions around the compound; others sprinted into the living quarters that ran along the walls, re-emerging only when they appeared confident they contained nobody who posed a threat. The children playing near Ben scurried to a far corner of the compound, clearly terrified; the grown-ups just looked on with that emotionless stare Ben had come to recognize — all of them except the young man who had gone to fetch help. He was out of breath, but his eyes shone. Ben gave him a curt nod of thanks.
And then a voice. Relief flooded over Ben as he realized it was speaking English.
‘Compound secure!’
One of the soldiers stepped towards Ben, removing his sunglasses and propping them up on his helmet.
Ben stepped forward to meet him. ‘Are you a sight for sore eyes!’ he said.
The soldier looked at him warily. ‘Major Simon Graves,’ he introduced himself.
‘Ben Tracey.’
‘I see.’ Major Graves sounded curiously like a schoolmaster. ‘Well, perhaps you’d care to tell me, Ben Tracey, what the hell you’re doing in the middle of Helmand Province…’
Chapter Sixteen
‘To be honest,’ Ben said, ‘it’s kind of complicated…’
‘Why am I not surprised?’ Major Graves muttered. ‘All right, son, hold your tongue for now. We’d better get you back to the base.’
‘But I’ve got information,’ Ben objected. ‘Important information. A terrorist strike, or something. I need to tell you now—’
‘Look, son,’ Graves interrupted him sharply. ‘You’re surrounded by British soldiers in the middle of the green zone. That’s a bit like being covered in jam in the middle of a wasps’ nest. We haven’t got time to sit around here chatting — you can tell me what you need to tell me back at base. Until then, you stick with me and you do what you’re told. Got it?’
‘But these people here are friendly. They helped me — and there isn’t time. It could happen any—’
‘Got it?’
Ben scowled. ‘Yeah,’ he replied. ‘Got it. Just tell me, is it still Thursday?’
Graves widened his eyes. ‘Yes, son, it’s still Thursday.’ He turned to his men. ‘All right,’ he announced. ‘Fast extraction. Let’s not give the enemy any time to find out where we are. This village might be friendly, but it doesn’t mean we’re safe here.’
The soldiers didn’t hesitate. Two of them left the compound and covered the exit.
‘Ben, listen carefully. We’re going to perform a leapfrogging manoeuvre. Half of us advance, then we stop and wait for the other half to overtake us while we give them cover. Then they stop and let us advance. Do you understand?’
Ben nodded.
‘Stay close to me, but not too close. There’s an enemy sniper somewhere in the vicinity, and if we bunch up we’re more of a target for him. About five metres should do it, OK?’
‘OK.’
‘If we come under fire, hit the ground and do exactly what I say.’
‘Right,’ Ben said. ‘Er, how likely is that, do you think?’
Major Graves avoided the question. ‘Just do what you’re told, son, and you’ll be fine.’
Ben nodded, then followed him out of the compound.
They ran along the compound wall. After fifty metres they stopped. All the soldiers crouched down and Graves gestured at Ben to do the same. His companions raised their rifles and covered both ends of the narrow path while the remainder of the soldiers ran past them.
They continued this manoeuvre past compounds, through ditches, along fields and past the occasional local, who stared at them in that way Ben was getting accustomed to. The going was slow. Every time they were in the open, Ben had to suppress his natural urge to run. Any moment he expected the sound of footsteps and heavy breathing to be replaced by the noise of a sniper shot ringing through the air, but he tried to put that thought from his mind. He was well protected by heavily armed soldiers. Nothing was going to happen…
The green zone stopped suddenly and Ben found himself walking into the rubbled remains of a town. Great hunks of masonry were piled up where buildings used to be; shrapnel littered the ground. Ben had the sense of a once-bustling town completely destroyed, a place from which the inhabitants had long since fled.
And up ahead, at the end of a long road of devastation, he saw a high wall with barbed wire curled up over the top of it. As they approached, a huge pair of metal gates swung open to reveal a bustling military base: men in camouflage gear, heavy armoured vehicles, crates full of ammunition boxes. Under other circumstances it would be a most unwelcoming place, but Ben couldn’t wait to get through those gates.
‘Shooter!’ A voice from behind them. ‘Shooter! Get down!’
Ben didn’t even stop to think. He hurled himself to the earth and covered his head with his hands. Just in time. He felt the bullet pass inches above him. It hit a large piece of rubble several metres past where he was lying, then ricocheted back down onto the ground.
‘Enemy fire!’ It was Major Graves’s voice. ‘Cover us!’
From the top of the walls of the base up ahead there was a sudden thundering of weaponry. Ben felt himself being pulled up to his feet. ‘Run!’ Graves told him. ‘Get through the gates! Now!’
Ben didn’t have to be told twice. He sprinted towards the base as the guns continued to blast out of the shelled remains of the town. Did the sniper still have him in his sights? There was no way Ben could tell. He just had to trust that as a moving target he was too difficult to hit.