'OK,'Will called to Drew. 'We need to find somewhere to stow the vehicle.'
Finding a suitable place was difficult — the region did not offer any natural cover and in the end they were forced simply to leave the truck by the side of the road. As Drew turned the engine off, Will was struck once again by the ominous silence all around.
'We should scran up before we go,' Kennedy said. They all delved into their rucksacks and pulled out army rations: silver-foil packs containing high-energy food. Will threw one over to Ismail, who tore it open suspiciously and picked without enthusiasm at the beef and dumplings inside.
'Eat it up,' Will told him. 'It's fucking freezing out there — you need the energy.' He squeezed the cold food from his own ration pack into his mouth. Beans, he realised as it went down, though these things all tasted pretty much the same. Hardly gourmet stuff, but it was welcome and it wasn't exactly as if Will was used to dining in the finest restaurants. Sami had supplied some bottled water in the truck, which they drank from. They wouldn't be taking it with them, though — it was unnecessary weight and with the snow all around they'd be fine.
When they had finished eating, they started getting their clothes ready. The Afghan garments that Sami had given them were discarded, to be replaced by Goretex jackets over which were pulled their thick, all-in-one snowsuits. Will handed a spare snowsuit from his pack to Ismail, who seemed uncomfortable with it, but pulled it on nevertheless — now that the engine of the truck had stopped running the temperature inside was rapidly dropping thanks to the fact that the back door had been obliterated in the ambush.
Over their snowsuits they attached military vests covered with pouches in which they stowed grenades and ammunition — all of them ignored Ismail's frightened, wide-eyed stare at the extent of their firepower. Once they were dressed, it was almost fully dark outside. Will pulled a GPS unit from his pack and recorded their current location; the others did the same. Then he stowed it away and addressed his men.
'Two kilometres,' he said. 'In this weather, we should be able to cover that in an hour.' He glanced at Ismail. 'Maybe an hour and a half. It's 19.25 now. We'll have good night cover when we hit them.'
'Do we have any idea where the target is being held?' Anderson asked Ismail.
Ismail shook his head. 'I do not know,' he admitted. 'But it is not a big place and from what I understand they are guarding her heavily.'
'OK,' Will continued. 'We'll be heading east into the village. When we get there, we'll pair off: me and Anderson, Drew and Kennedy. Ismail, once you've led us there, you stay where we put you and we'll pick you up on our way out. If we get separated, RV back at the truck. And listen to me carefully, everyone: I don't care what happens or how many ragheads you have to nail, she comes out alive.'
There was a serious kind of silence from the men before Will spoke again.
'All right,' he told them. 'Let's go.'
They slung their weapons over their shoulders and debussed in silence.
The snow was thick — a good couple of feet, which made the going slow; but a bright moon lit the way, casting shadows on the white ground. It meant that for now they did not need their night-vision goggles. The snowsuits and the exercise kept them warm, Ismail was less of a hindrance than Will thought he would be and it was not long before they saw lights in the distance. Minutes later they were in range of the village.
Ahead of them — thirty metres, Will estimated — they saw a low concrete building. A bright light shone from the roof out into the snow. Will jabbed his finger to the left to indicate to everyone that they should head in that direction to avoid being floodlit, but as he did so, the light failed. The unit were left temporarily blinded as their night vision adjusted to the sudden darkness.
'The village gets its electricity from a generator,' Ismail whispered. 'But it can only supply electricity for a few hours a day. They have switched it off now.' He pointed in the direction of the building in front of them. 'That is where the generator is kept.'
'We'll head there,' Will replied. 'It's a good place to leave you.'
They moved towards the generator building. As they approached, Drew and Kennedy crept around each side, guns at the ready, to check no one was standing guard. As soon as the place was clear they signalled for the others to approach.
The snow in front of the entrance to the generator was well trodden, but now that the electricity had been turned off for the night it was unlikely anyone would come back here, so it would be safe for Ismail. It was difficult to make out in the heavy snow, but the village ahead of them looked much as Ismail had described it — not too big, maybe 200 buildings crudely created from some kind of breeze block. The roofs were covered in snow and there was, of course, nothing in the way of street lighting.
'Ahead of you is the main square,' Ismail told the unit as he pointed away from the building. 'Most of the dwelling places are along the west and the south sides of it and I think it unlikely that anyone will be held prisoner in that area. On the far side are some other buildings — a schoolroom and various run-down shacks. I think you will find that a more profitable place to start searching.'
Will nodded. 'Get inside,' he told Ismail, 'and stay out of sight.'
'You will come and find me?'
'When we've done what we need to do, yes.'
Ismail bit his lip. 'And how long will that be, do you think?'
Will glanced towards the village. 'As long as it takes,' he replied. 'But if we're not back in half an hour, you can assume something's gone wrong.'
'And what do I do then?'
'Fucking run for it,' Kennedy said, tersely. 'And hope the X-rays don't feel like chasing.'
Ismail looked at the SAS man as though he could not work out if he was joking or not. 'What are X-rays?' he asked, his simple question betraying the total innocence that marked him out as being totally unsuitable for this situation.
'Enemy combatants,' Will said, quietly. 'But don't worry about it. We'll have them covered.' He gave the scared Afghan what he hoped was a reassuring smile, then handed him his Sig 230. 'In case you need it,' he said. 'Good luck, Ismail.'
Ismail took a deep breath. 'Thank you,' he replied, before slipping quietly inside the generator room, leaving the fourman unit outside.
'Thank God we've ditched him,' Kennedy muttered, and it was true. Will might feel sorry for the guy, but it was a relief to be on their own. They had needed Ismail to get them this far, but from now on a man who gibbered at the sight of a firearm was only going to be a hindrance. Silently, they removed their NV goggles from their packs and placed them over their heads. Will blinked as his eyes adjusted to the sudden, green-tinted clarity. Ahead of them was a cluster of single-storey dwellings; from most of these places he could see smoke curling from the chimneys — clearly the inhabitants of the village had fires in their humble houses to keep away the chill. It suggested to Will that not many people would be about.
A sudden howl filled the air — a dog, probably, scavenging around the village. The sound seemed to echo over the snow-covered plains. Will hoped for the dog's sake that it didn't come across any of them. They wouldn't be able to risk it alerting anyone else to their presence, so their only option would be to put a bullet in its head. The dog howled again. It was eerie, like this whole fucking place. The sooner they could get out of here, the better.
He nodded at Drew and Kennedy, who took the lead, skirting around the back of the crude, box-like dwellings, while Will and Anderson aimed their Diemacos forward, ready to take out anyone who caught sight of them. But so far they had seen no one. There was nobody outside. There was nothing to suggest their arrival had been clocked.
Drew and Kennedy stopped, pressed their backs against the wall of one of the buildings, then gave Will and Anderson the cover they needed to advance. They continued in this way, silently, for a couple of minutes until the dwelling places started to thin out. Up to their left, fifty metres away, they could see the larger buildings Ismail had mentioned. There was movement here, men standing outside carrying guns. Overt security. It looked hopeful.