Andy McNab - War torn

'But the medics here can see to me, sir!'

'They're up at the front nearer the fighting.'

'I am not going nowhere, I'm staying with my mates. And don't try giving me fucking morphine when I'm not looking,' muttered Angus.

'Wouldn't dream of it, mate,' said McKinley.

'By the way, McCall,' said Dave. 'Fucking well done, mate.'

The platoon was starting to move towards the helicopter landing site. The men who had gone with Broom led the way.

Corporal Baker had wanted to carry Connor's stretcher. He stumbled along tearfully with the bloody and near-lifeless rifleman.

'Need an extra hand that end, Aaron?' asked Sol kindly. He felt bad enough but he knew how much worse he would be feeling if his section had been the one caught in the minefield. He remembered how Aaron Baker had radioed excitedly to say he wanted to outflank the flipflops. Now he would spend the rest of his life wishing he hadn't.

'I can do it,' said Aaron Baker.

Jamie was walking slowly towards the back of the section with Binns. They did not speak but they were bound together by the enormity of their experience on the minefield.

'Dermott, you all right?' asked Dave.

'I'm OK. I think I'm just bruised.'

Dave surveyed the filthy faces and bodies of Jamie and Binman.

'That was good work under a lot of pressure, you two,' he said. 'Very good, both of you. Well done, Binns.'

Jamie nodded and glanced at Binman and then smiled at him. There was both exhaustion and triumph on his dirty face. The sprog had finally done something right.

They reached the field where the Chinook was due to land. So did everyone else. CSM Kila, medics, EOD, engineers and 2 Platoon were all assembling.

'Too fucking late,' Dave told them. 'It's all over.'

He and Iain Kila pulled the wounded off to one side with the medics. As well as Connor and Angus there were three members of 3 Section with shrapnel wounds, plus Jamie with bruising from a round as well as seriously cut hands. Binns was surprised to find that the skin all over his own palms was sliced as though by razors. As soon as he saw them, they started to hurt.

Connor was loaded first while the boss and CSM Kila argued with Angus.

'I do not need to go anywhere!' Angus was yelling.

'You won't be able to fight. You'll just be a liability if we have to stretcher you out later,' said the boss.

'I can fight!' roared Angus.

CSM Kila's face turned into a mask of anger.

'Get on the fucking Chinook,' he said. 'You've got a deep wound there and in the time you've wasted arguing, Ryan Connor could be fucking dying.'

Angus grimaced and climbed on board the helicopter.

'Anyone else?' roared Kila.

'This shrapnel wound should go, what about you, Jamie?'

'I feel fine.'

'OK, we can cope with everything else here,' said the medic, shoving a bloodied face from 3 Section forward.

The helicopter took off instantly. Everyone watched it go. There was silence as its rotors disappeared into the distance.

'Right,' said Dave to the others. 'Let's get on with what we came here to do.'

Some lads looked surprised. A few had forgotten they were supposed to be supporting the Paras.

'To be honest, there isn't much left to do,' said Boss Weeks. 'The Paras have just about completed the op. The Taliban put up some big opposition at the start and then fled. We're picking them up in the area but there hasn't been much more than a few skirmishes.'

'I thought that place was a choggie training school,' said Dave.

The boss shrugged.

'They didn't make much attempt to defend it. In fact, it was empty except for goats and women and old folk. So either we were misinformed or they knew we were coming.'

'Oh, shit, we've missed the action,' groaned a few people. 'We've been stuck out here all day.'

'We had enough action,' said Dave.

'And we've only been stuck for an hour,' said the boss.

Even Dave couldn't believe that.

'An hour? It felt like…'

The boss looked at his watch.

'It took you just one hour to get those two men off the minefield. An amazing achievement, which has saved their lives.'

'Fucking incredible,' said CSM Kila. 'You should be proud of this platoon.'

'I'll be honest,' said Dave. 'It was the worst hour of my life.'

THE WIVES, THE REAR PARTY, THE SUPPORT STAFF, EVERYONE IN THE camp was talking about casualties in 1 Platoon. Something had happened in Afghanistan while England slept and rumours ran around the barracks and the houses, along the telephone lines and through cyberspace.

Jenny was sure she knew the truth because Adi had phoned her first thing to tell her.

'Something did happen last night, Agnieszka was right about that. But Jamie's OK.'

'Who, then?'

'Two lads, Ben Broom and Ryan Connor. In our platoon but not in Sol's section.'

'I don't know them.'

'Broom has a girlfriend who works at the day nursery.'

'Kylie! Her boyfriend's in Dave's platoon and his name's Ben!'

'Well apparently he's going to survive. But the other one is touch and go. There are more injuries but they're patching them up at Bastion.'

Jenny was surprised to find Kylie at work today when she took Vicky in. She was a pretty, noisy girl who usually wore bright colours and bright lipstick.

'They crossed a minefield,' she said. 'Ben's going to live. But he's lost his leg below the knee.'

Vicky squirmed in Jenny's arms, the baby kicked and Jenny felt ready to cry.

'Kylie, I'm really sorry.'

'It isn't such a big relationship for me, you know,' said Kylie. 'But now he's injured everyone thinks I'll stick by him. I suppose I have to for a while. His parents are wailing all over me like I'm their daughter-in-law. But it probably wouldn't have lasted long anyway.'

'You've got to lead your own life,' Jenny heard herself saying as she put Vicky down. Kylie leaned closer.

'And I'll tell you something else. I might not even be able to look at it. I mean, the place where the leg was.' She pulled a disgusted face. 'That kind of thing grosses me out.'

'You should talk to Leanne Buckle,' said Jenny.

'But she's married to Steve. I'm not even living with Ben and we haven't been going out that long.'

When she got back from the nursery, Trish made Jenny sit down with a cup of tea in front of the television.

'Oh, Mum, I never watch daytime TV, I don't have time.'

'Feet up!' said Trish. 'You look as if you haven't had a wink of sleep for two days.'

This was almost true. At first the programme, a chat show, made her feel relaxed and sleepy. But memories of last night intruded. Who had sent that text message to Agnieszka? She had rung Agnieszka again this morning. Adi had already called her with the news and when Jenny rang Agnieszka had been in a hurry. She certainly had not wanted to talk about the message.

Jenny was sure it had come from the Taliban. Dave had explained before he left that the enemy intercepted signals and then sent their own messages. It hadn't meant anything then but now Jenny understood. The Taliban had picked up Jamie's loving texts to Agnieszka and calculated how they could hurt her. Coincidentally, they had sent their own text when Jamie really was in danger. But the sender didn't know that. He was a man far away who had never met Agnieszka but knew only one thing about her: that he hated her because she was loved by a British soldier. He hated her enough to send a message that would cause alarm and misery. And the faceless man had achieved his aim. The Taliban had penetrated Agnieszka's house, then Jenny's and then Adi's in a new, shocking, personal way.

'I have to go out,' she told her mother.

'Why?'

'There's someone round the corner I must talk to.'

'Just relax, for heaven's sake.'