The soldiers behind him were firing back now, their rifles sounding tinny against the huge guns from the base. Ben just continued to sprint, sore, out of breath and sweating. He made it through the gates, unspeakably relieved to get some solid walls around him.
The rest of the soldiers came bundling in. They all had sweat dripping from their faces and stern, serious expressions. Major Graves stood by the gates, counting them all back in again, then shouted the order for them to be closed. The metal doors slid shut and only then did the heavy firing from the top of the walls cease.
Graves approached Ben, pulled off his hat and, for the first time since they had met, smiled at him. ‘Well done, son,’ he said. ‘You did well.’ He raised one arm and gestured all around him. ‘Home sweet home,’ he announced. ‘Sangin DC. Not much, but it keeps the rain out. At least it would if there was any rain. How you doing?’
Ben raised one eyebrow. ‘I’d be having a much better day if people stopped trying to kill me.’
‘Wouldn’t we all, son. Wouldn’t we all. Now then, we’re going to get you patched up. And then I think you’ve got a bit of explaining to do, don’t you?’
They gave him water — litres of the stuff — which Ben guzzled like there was no tomorrow. An army medic sat him down on an empty ammo case and cleaned him up, binding some of the larger cuts with Steri-Strip. ‘You’ll live,’ he told him.
‘I was planning to,’ Ben replied, trying not to think about how close he had just come to being shot.
As the medic worked, Ben talked. Major Graves stood silently nearby as he explained everything: the abduction, the suitcase bomb, Amir, Aarya and the caves. The airstrike. Graves listened carefully. When Ben had finished, he was momentarily silent. ‘Stay there,’ he said. ‘I’m going to radio back to Bastion.’
Ben waited. The base around him was bustling with activity — men cleaning their weapons, vehicles being checked over. Ben himself was largely ignored and he couldn’t help feeling a bit grateful for that. Now that he had warned the army, his thoughts had moved to Aarya. Where was she now? Struggling under the rubble of the airstrike? Or being dragged by Amir through the desert yet again? Their captor’s sinister face rose once more in Ben’s mind: the scarred, scaly skin; the albino eye. What was he going to do with that bomb? What was his plan? Ben felt his fear being replaced by a sudden anger. This was all his fault. If he hadn’t insisted on going after that idiot Raheem…
He shook his head. There was no point thinking like that. Aarya was still missing, still in the hands of that frightening terrorist. Ben’s job was to do whatever was asked of him to make sure she was rescued.
He looked up to see Major Graves standing over him, his face serious. ‘I’ve spoken to Bastion. They seem pretty interested in what you’ve got to say. We’ve had rumours for a couple of weeks now about some top-secret enemy operation. No one knows where or when. Special Forces boys are all out on the ground trying to gather intel. Sounds to me like you might have stumbled across a pretty major lead.’
Ben was only half listening. His mind wasn’t on intel, or special forces, or leads. That stuff was out of his hands now. It was on his friend and what he could do to help her. ‘I think Amir’s taken Aarya,’ he said urgently. ‘He’s got something planned for the bomb and he’s using her as a human shield.’
Graves narrowed his eyes. ‘Did you see her after the airstrike on the caves, son?’
Ben took a deep breath and looked at the ground. ‘No,’ he said quietly.
A pause. When Graves spoke his voice was quieter. ‘I’ve got to tell you, Ben — you were incredibly lucky to survive that.’
Ben gritted his teeth. ‘Amir survived it, didn’t he? He had the bomb on his back. If that had gone off, we’d know all about it…’
‘Maybe,’ Graves replied. ‘Maybe not. I guess we’ll have to send people up to check out the area.’
Ben stood up. ‘I want to go with them. I owe it to Aarya.’
Graves fixed Ben with a calm look. ‘You’re a brave lad, Ben, but I’ve got to tell you there’s no way that’s going to happen. I’m waiting for my instructions, but I’ll put a month’s wages on you being on a flight out of Afghanistan within twelve hours.’
‘No way,’ Ben said flatly. ‘I’m not going anywhere till I know Aarya’s OK.’
‘This is the army, son,’ Graves said brusquely. ‘I’m afraid you do what you’re told.’
Ben was about to reply when a young private respectfully walked up to them. ‘Bastion on the radio, sir.’
Graves nodded. ‘Stay there, Ben,’ he said, before striding purposefully to the other side of the base. He returned less than a minute later with a frown on his face. ‘Looks like you might be staying here for a bit longer than I thought,’ he said, unable to keep the disapproval from his voice.
Ben narrowed his eyes. ‘Why?’
‘They’re sending some people this way to talk to you.’
‘People? What sort of people?’
Graves eyed him carefully. ‘SAS,’ he said. ‘I guess they want to hear the details of your story straight from the horse’s mouth.’
And with that, he turned abruptly and walked away, leaving Ben alone once more. Alone to wonder and worry about what was going on around him.
‘Keep walking!’
Amir’s voice was harsh. No nonsense. The voice of a man who didn’t deal in idle threats. Aarya wanted to obey him, but her legs wouldn’t do what her brain instructed. Her knees collapsed and she fell to the desert ground.
Then she screamed. Amir had grabbed a clump of her dirty, matted hair and was now twisting it tightly while pulling her up at the same time. She tried to stand, but she just couldn’t do it and so she was left hanging by her hair. ‘Please,’ she begged. ‘Please let me rest, just for a minute.’
Amir let go of her hair and she fell to the ground once again with a thump that jolted through her whole body. For a fraction of a second, she felt relief. He was letting her rest. But then she heard footsteps. Looking up, she saw Amir stepping away from her, then turning and aiming his rifle in her direction. He used his brown eye to look through the viewfinder, leaving the albino one to gaze at her directly.
‘No!’ Aarya gasped. ‘No… please…’ She pushed herself back along the ground.
‘You are slowing me down,’ Amir said, his voice suddenly very calm. ‘If you slow me down, you are not useful. You are a hindrance. That is why I am going to kill you.’
Aarya didn’t know where she found the strength. Fear? Adrenaline? Whatever it was, she managed to haul herself up to her feet once again. ‘I won’t slow you down,’ she whispered, her voice racked with fear. ‘I promise I won’t slow you down.’
They stood there, man and girl, tiny in the vastness of the desert. And then, gradually, Amir lowered the rifle.
‘Walk,’ he said.
Aarya continued to stagger through the desert. She wanted to whisper her prayers, but she did not dare and she hoped she would be forgiven for that. To take her mind off the pain that seemed to flow through her whole body, she tried to think of other things. Her mind turned to Ben and a twisting sensation of anxiety corkscrewed into her stomach. Was he safe? Was he even alive? She had felt terrified when she was with him, but was even more terrified now he wasn’t there.
She looked around as she walked. The scenery hadn’t changed since they had left the cave: a seemingly never-ending expanse of stony, sandy earth and undulating hills. Aarya didn’t understand how Amir could know where he was going, but he was directing her with purpose and confidence. He didn’t have the aura of a man who was lost.