Story

Josue Lopez

09/28/2018

Just another day in Afghanistan

  It was a nice day in Afghanistan, well not really because it was summer, and during the summer the average temperature is 120 degrees fahrenheit.The team of 15 men and 7 female American troops from the Army branch were on there way to the safe zone, they had traveled 7 miles out of the 25 miles they had to walk with 90 pounds of gear and a 25 pound body armor vest. The Belgian Malinois seemed tired, so the troops stopped to rest in a nearby village. There were many Afghans watching the troops that stopped to rest for 5 minutes. The village where the troops stopped was really dry, but at least they were covered in shade. More Afghans gathered, but they kept their distance. Some were on top of buildings. There was women too, they had full black burkas covering their whole body. They were so far that the troops couldn't see their eyes. Old cars started to appear, the troops were now on full alert. A man with a pack of goats appeared, he just passed by and glanced at the troops. A female trooper asked “why are there so many people gathering around?”, a male officer was confused as well. The Sergeant in charge of the squad commanded the team to wrap it up, even though the Belgian Malinois still seemed tired and dehydrated. Suddenly the man with the pack of goats was running across the team, he was shouting words but the team couldn't identify the words coming out of the brown man’s mouth, he was about 8 meters from the soldiers, the soldiers raised their weapons, they alerted each other and were now in a formation to defend and attack. One of the soldiers who had Afghan background and was a translator for his team told the men and women soldiers that the man was shouting “get him, get him!”. It turns out that the man in brown baggy trousers and long white shirt sleeve was just trying to catch one of his goats that escaped. The Sergeant shouted “false alarm!” The troops lowered their weapons, which were M4 Carbines. Some trucks started to arrive at the village now, they were carrying what seemed to be bread and stacks of rice. Some trucks that were passing by were carrying dead animals, one was carrying beef and the other pigs.  The Afghan soldier realized that it was a weekly market in the village. Where the people gathered to sell their homemade goods. Women and children came from long walks to buy goods. The soldiers were now getting hungry when they passed by the small market that was selling lots of food. It started off small, and now it's getting to a point where they are bumping into civilians. Finally, the troops were out of the village, and now they had to travel the remaining miles to get to the second base. The dog was now ready. Now, the American troops were heading towards the next base. It was just another day in Afghanistan.