Chapter 46

“Be glad we still have plenty of bandages. If we didn’t, I would have had to wrap you up with tree bark. For the time being, try not to move as much as possible.”

Belman tied up the tightened bandages, then fed him a handful of antibiotics.

Chartres lamented, “What is this after the war is all over? Oh, what about Black Mamba?”

“He looked fine.”

“Fine? It exploded right in front of Black.”

“Look at him; he’s fine.”

He heard a familiar sound in his ears.

Chartres turned his head. He had turned his head so fast they were worried he would break it.

The two surprised eyes looked Black Mamba up and down.

“What in the world? How could this be!”

“I was lucky. Sorry.”

Black Mamba had deja vu about an explosion incident in his childhood. At the time, it had been agonizing and difficult. Again, it was his fault. He couldn’t help feeling sorry.

Belman looked at Chartres and drawled on, “The guy that should have died is fine, but the guy ten meters away is this mess. Chartres, you got old. You should just go back and see your grandkids.”

“That quack…I didn’t even get a chance to get married.”

“The seeds you spread across Kalbi and Ajaccio alone would have created tens of children.”

Belman continued to poke fun at him.

Black Mamba drooped his head in front of Chartres. If he had killed the child soldier without hesitating, Chartres wouldn’t have gotten injured.

“Sorry. I lack experience.”

“This is how you learn. This was what I was talking about the last time you encountered a child soldier. The grenade would have exploded anyway. There’s no reason to feel guilty over it. Black, it’s lucky weren’t hurt.”

Chartres consoled Black Mamba coolly.

After saying a few words, Chartres’s body started to tremble. He was going into shock. Belman pulled out atropine from the first aid kit and injected it into his thigh.

“Is his condition bad?” Captain asked.

“He’s in shock. The external injuries aren’t bad, but his lungs seem to be damaged from the pressure of the blast. I suspect it’s air embolism.”

“Air what? What’s that?”

“Arterial air embolism is usually a condition that arises from underwater diving, but sometimes it happens after an explosion. The sudden pressure change after an explosion causes damage to the lungs. Air gets locked in the blood vessels. It’s not in a serious state right now, but he needs to stay under observation.”

“What about Black Mamba?”

“He got a big bump on the back of the head. It will probably hurt a lot.”

“Haha! That sure must hurt a lot. What a cause for celebration,” Captain laughed jovially. He had heard no problem from the owner’s own lips, but he couldn’t completely stop worrying.

Finding out Black Mamba was alright caused him to burst into laughter. He forgot for a moment that Chartres got injured. Black Mamba’s state was that much more important.

“Captain, there isn’t time to bury the corpses.”

“Leave it, the hyenas have to eat too,” Captain told him coolly. He had no intention or time to gather all the dispersed body parts and bury them. He was rushed enough to just gather all the equipment.

Amidst the mess of war, Black Mamba showed up with a cigar in his mouth.

He looked completely fine. When Black Mamba showed up, Mike stopped nagging his team members. He dragged the wounded and slowly retreated back. Black Mamba was an obstacle in Mike’s life.

Black Mamba did not join them in cleaning up after the war. He sat under the shadow of a boulder and smoked. Ombuti pulled out his gun and kept guard.

Even though it was evening, the hoard of flies blanketed the corpses in black. The battle at Uldi Harmarl had been a head-on fight, so he had been drenched in blood afterward. This time it had ended only with sniping, but the end was still bitter.

The murdered guerrilla troops were mostly preteens or teenagers. They were the age where they should be chatting with friends at school. At the thought of these child soldiers, his heart ached.

The acts of man can be either muddy or sturdy as a rock. The only evidence of what those acts meant is the passage of time. Everything gets accustomed to things as time passes.

“If I have to die, then I’ll die!” Black Mamba muttered in exclamation.

Mu Ssang had been saddened by the falling of petals from the gust of rainy wind. Mu Ssang who had felt sorry for a dragonfly whose wings had been torn was now reborn as the Black Mamba of war.

His teacher had told him to do his best in any given position he was in.

The best in the given position?

It was bitter, but right now it was murder.

Black Mamba gazed up and blew out white smoke.

Burimer handed Captain the supply report.

“The killed enemy count is 57. The supply and loot count is listed in the report.”

“Fifty-seven? at Uldi Harmarl it was 198. Exactly how many do we have to kill? Whew!”

Captain lifted the report and sighed deeply. He was now getting confused as to whether they were the rescue team or the eraser team.

Pickup: 3 good condition

Bike: 2 good condition

Field rations: 1 meal per person, 5 servings left

Water: 150 Liters

Mine thrower: 1, M24 bomb 10, flash grenade 5, smoke grenade 5

Recoilless guns: 84mm Carl Gustaf M2 1, FFv441 short-range bullets 20

Minimee, M60 gun: 3 bullets 1800

Landmines: M74 antipersonnel mines 60 sets, Claymore 10 sets

Grenades: 10

Rifle grenades: 20 shots

Dragonov: 5, bullets 2,000

Pamus: 11, bullets 1,600

Beretta: 3

Glock: 7

Loot: AK47 40, bullets 8,000

Degtyaryov machine gun: 3, 47 magazines, 10 bullet cartridges with 6,000 each

ASG17 automatic launcher: 1, grenades 90

Captain frowned after reading halfheartedly through the report.

“We are running low on mortar bombs and minimee bullets. We’re almost completely out of Pamus bullets,” Burimer told him as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“We can replace the Pamus with the AKs.”

“Tell Habib that we thank them for refiling it for us. Why did you bring over the Degtyaryov. That thing is older than you are. You think it will even work properly?”

“We are short on minimee and M60. We could use it in an emergency.”

“It’s better than not having it. When we return to Aubagne, we can gift it to the elders. This is the first time I’ve actually seen it. This darned AK is so common.”

“Rifles are easy enough to loot and use.”

“Good, give it to the team members and tell them to use it.”

Burimer pointed at Jang Shin. Jang Shin lifted the heavy automatic grenade launcher with some difficulty and took it away. The launcher’s weight was 31kg. The small Jang Shin was forced to drag the thing.

Captain’s eyes got wide.

“What is this? Isn’t this the ASG17?!”

“That’s right. It’s a monster than can launch 50 30mm grenades at a time. It’s designed to hold 30 shot clips.”

“Whew, Jang Shin played a big part. Oh, you cute little thing.”

Captain pinched Jang Shin’s cheek and shook it.

He patted his chest. ASG17 was Soviet-designed and only given to the highest platoons. Its range is 1700m and could shoot 50 shots per minute. If the enemy had used it, they would have been in big trouble.

“Aren’t these a bit too luxurious for those poor fools to get a hand on?”

“I suppose so. I’m surprised by it also. Frolinat may be miserably poor, but the polar bears have ridiculously large amounts of weapons, and Gaddafi has ridiculous amounts of money.”

It meant that Gaddafi bought it from the Soviets and handed it out to Frolinat.

“Why weren’t they using it?”

“Because Jang Shin sent them all flying from the get-go. With Black Mamba backing him up, they probably didn’t even get a chance to hold the handle.”

Captain stared at the blood and skin splattered on the grenade launcher. The air attack probably had swept the shooters away, and the launcher itself was sent flying due to the blasts.

“Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps. Jang Shin, do you think it’s okay to use?”

“There’s a lot of scratches, but we can use them.”

“Good, we can attach them to the vehicles or Black Mamba can carry it around with him. How many grenades do we have left?”

Burimer glared with narrowed eyes at Captain.

If he wasn’t even going to properly read it, why did he make him write the report? He uses his rank like a gang leader.

“Three clips, 90 shots.”

“We were well rewarded. Thanks to them. Please make sure to tell Habib how grateful we are to them.”

“We can thank them after blowing their head off. What should we do about requesting more supplies?”

“Let’s try to make do for now.”

“Oui, we can refill our vehicles with fuel from their bikes.”

“Sounds good. Restock the weapons we need then get rid of the rest. Record the coordinates though. We lost a pickup truck so we’re short on space also.”

Captain and Burimer did not think they were in such a bad situation. They were not fully stocked, but they could refill their needs with their gathered loot.

The small number of sniper bullets was not that much different than what they regularly carried. If the infantries had fought against each other, they would have used thousands of bullets. During the war, there are most wasted bullets than those actually used to hit the targets. Lattell team’s bullet use was hundreds of times more efficient. It was the reason they didn’t need large quantities of bullets at their disposal.

Captain, worried about the enemy following them, hurriedly left the scene.

That night, they found a rest stop 100km from the battleground of Gouradi in Amzuo.

There was about 70km left before they reached Ekiya.

Chartres woke up from his anesthetic in the early morning. He laughed as he saw the thickly-wrapped bandages around his chest and shoulder. Other than the headache from the injury, his condition was not too bad.

When he turned his head, he saw Black Mamba leaning on the bed sleeping. He hit the bed frame with his palm.

“Hey Black, did you get kicked out by your wife?”

The nagging started the moment Black Mamba opened his eyes.

“Look, Black, you need to maintain your condition. The success of the team strategy is one thing, but the survival of the team is in your hands. Lay down and sleep.”

“Geez, Xanthippe wouldn’t have nagged as much as you, old man,” Black Mamba muttered as he put his hand on Chartres’s forehead. His forehead was still hot.

“You’re the problem, old man. You could make a scrambled egg on that forehead of yours. From the looks of your nagging, I guess you won’t be kicking the bucket any time soon. How are you feeling?”

“Whew, I’m getting old. All worn out because I got a couple of toothpicks stuck in me.”

Chartres sighed. “Sure, sure whatever. Bathroom?”

“Ugh, you’re not even a girl; I have no interest in smelly men.”

Chartres refused Black Mamba’s help and left the barracks in a stumbling fashion.

The eastern sky started to brighten.

Turning his back on the dawn sky, they stood side by side and pulled out their packages. After casually taking care of his business, he pointed at Black Mamba’s package and started to chuckle.

“Your package is not monstrous though.”

“For an Asian, I’m pretty big.” Black Mamba tried to persuade him, but he didn’t even pretend to listen.

“I doubt you would even be 5 inches.”

Black Mamba retorted angrily, “It doesn’t even make a difference when Chartres gets aroused. When Koreans get aroused, it grows twice its size.”

“Ha, before I see it, I won’t accept your word for it. Just so you know, when mine is raised, it’s ten inches.”

“You aren’t human.”

“A man is measured by his girth, no?”

Cartres put strength in his shoulders and dusted off the large item.

“Damn, what’s the point if it’s big? There’s nothing to use it on.”

“Speaking of using it, I suddenly miss my girlfriend. She used to say that a lot.”

Experience is not just gained by time. Chartres tried his best to relieve Black Mamba’s distress by uttering all sorts of nonsense.

“What does Yawm al-din, al-Amr, Arif bi-Allah mean?”

“You amazingly remembered. ‘Yawm al-din’ means the day of judgment. According to the Koran, it says that the dead of the world will come out of their graves and be reunited with their bodies. They then believe that Allah will pass judgement on them. ‘Al-Amr’ means the ultimate command, ‘Arif bi-Allah’ means chosen by God, hence, it means that the chosen ones will be granted perfect freedom. They were chosen with spiritual intent and so upon following the command, they will be saved on the day of judgment.”

He was flabbergasted after hearing the explanation. It was nothing short of fanaticism.

“Yawm al-din, al-Amr, Arif bi-Allah!” He muttered the prayer that the child soldier had exclaimed.