It was a mild Summer's day in Afghanistan but for the two soldiers, just another day in which they could fall to the hard ground and not get back up again. Those two soldiers were called Private Ryan Smith and Private David Harrison.
Their command was to simply guard and patrol around the British camp of Helmand. They were walking around, Heckler & Koch HK417 rifle in hand and giving the Afghan children something to smile about when they high-fived them. The soldiers continued to walk down the path, further away from Helmand than what they were told. Ryan and David hadn't realised that they'd gone a bit far, there were no more Afghan citizens, just them and some tall grass in which Taliban could be lurking. Ryan said anxiously, "I don't feel comfortable around here, do you," David replied "I don't either, did Mark tell us to go this far Ryan?", "I don't know," said Ryan.
"I think we should get low and quiet," whispered David. The two soldiers went prone through the tall grass which covered the empty fields of Afghanistan. "Did you hear that David?" asked Ryan. "Yes!" whispered David. They exchanged a few words very quietly then Ryan turned around to face they way they'd come through. "I saw two men running back down the path, let's go after them before they get to the children!" exclaimed Ryan. "Go, go, go!"
The two soldiers got onto their two feet and sprinted down the stony path after the terrorists, they had ran for about 20 seconds and they couldn't see anything or anyone. "Keep running!" ordered David. As they continued to run, they checked any corners that they went past. The Brits looked around once again, this time they saw something going through a rusty gate that led to one of many abandoned buildings in this area. They saw a fellow British soldier from a different battalion and told him the situation, the three of them decided to silently follow them into the big, bare building.
When they passed through the gate they instantly had a set of about 20 stairs to climb, quietly and slowly they made their way up the stairs, one-by-one. After the first set there, was a room straight ahead and more stairs to the left, David signalled using his hands, to check the room first. They crept in, nearly on their tip-toes. As they passed through they saw a door that was closed. The scared soldiers walked up to it and positioned themselves either side of the doorway. David, on the count of three decided he would chuck a grenade into the area behind the door. 1......, 2......., 3................., the door was kicked open and in went the grenade, powerful enough to blow your limbs apart. The three soldiers charged in after them with their rifles fully loaded having not being used since yesterday.
They were in shock, one Taliban lay on the floor practically dead, the other holding an AK-47 to Private Colin Bradshaw, the third soldier they had met. The gun was fired, Colin dropped, dead to the ground like a sack of Potatoes. Private David turned around and used all of his ammo to shoot the Taliban into pieces.
There was a metallic case lying on the table. Inside the two amazed soldiers found am Atomic (Nuclear) bomb. This beast was powerful of killing thousands of citizens and soldiers in this region of Afghanistan. Inside the case there was also a map of London, suggesting that the Taliban were planning to use this device there. The soldiers closed the case and called for back-up from Helmand. Within 10 minutes, it had arrived. The medic confirmed that Colin was dead to the dismay of David and Ryan. Mixed emotions, happiness that they stopped this lethal bomb, sad that they had lost another innocent colleague.
It was good timing as their shift of 5 months in Afghanistan was about to end, they would return home as heroes. A somber service was held for Colin Bradshaw after which the tired soldiers set off to bed knowing that they would be home in the next 36 hours.
After their plane journey, they set foot on British soil once again where they were met by family and friends. After some short interviews with the Press, the soldiers were escourted to Buckingham Palace where they would recieve the George Cross medal, joint highest in the whole of the British Military. They recieved their medals together with the Queen, the soldiers full of pride.
The soldiers were never to be fogotten along with their colleagues still defending Britain from these terrorists. David and Ryan knew that it wouldn't be too long before they were back out in Helmand risking their lives.
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