14
Loïc“It’s hard to risk your life and to see your brothers lose their lives for a cause that’s often hard to find.”
—Loïc Berkeley
I’m lacing up my tennis shoes when I hear the first blast—a mortar. I’d be surprised if that one even made it inside the wire, the area protected by our troops. Mortar attacks are at least a weekly occurrence. The Taliban set up these Chinese rockets quite often, usually on a timer so that they’re not still in the area when the rockets shoot off. At least half of the time, they detonate outside the wire, but they do land on base as well.
I jump when a second boom from a rocket sounds, this time close enough that the cheap wood beneath my feet trembles.
Shit.
I lunge toward the exit and swing open my door just as the base’s sirens go off, warning us to t
