The sound of their platoon leader and platoon sergeant speaking to each other in hushed tones brought more heads up. One of Nathan’s more outspoken soldiers add his two cents. “Looks like the zoomies went after more than the National Guard.”

Nathan turned toward Boise. A pillar of rolling black smoke rose above the twinkling city lights. Even at this distance he could see one of Boise’s few high rise buildings engulfed in flames. Nathan drew in a deep breath. “That,” he said to no one in particular, “is what people who do targeting refer to as collateral damage.”

Gandulf chuckled. “For those of you who don’t comprende, that means one of those smart bombs we’re always being told about flunked its final.”

This brought a round of nervous laughter to all those who heard their platoon sergeant’s comment. Even Nathan, left for hours with nothing to do but lie quietly in a shallow hole while National Guard helicopters swept the area all afternoon, managed a chuckle. But that brief respite from his concerns and worries lasted but a moment. Looking away from the destruction that the Air Force had visited upon the civilians of Boise, Nathan once more turned his attention to the west. Drawing his binoculars out of their case, he brought them up to his eyes and began to slowly scan the horizon. Gandulf joined in this effort. When the old platoon sergeant caught sight of a cloud of dust, he pointed it out to his platoon leader. “Vehicles moving north to south at eight o’clock.”

Nathan was already tracking them. “Three Bradleys. I make the range to be between two and three thousand meters.”

“Closer to two,” Gandulf replied.

“Their guns are oriented in different directions,” Nathan added as he brought the binoculars down. “They’re looking for us, or the rest of the company.”

“You suppose,” Gandulf asked, “King and the other two platoons made it to the hills to the southwest?”

Nathan turned his face toward the low, rolling hills Gandulf was speaking of. “If they pulled back when we did, I imagine they did. I didn’t hear any firing after we broke contact.” After a pause he added, “I’m going to assume that they did.”

The conversation between officer and senior NCO wiped away any relief Gandulf’s earlier comment about collateral damage had generated. The soldiers of 3rd Platoon were reminded once again that they were isolated, alone, and in a very precarious position. Nathan could almost feel their eyes on him. He imagined they blamed him for the loss of the platoon radio, damaged when the RTO had been hit. Though Nathan made it known that the radio was inoperative, the fact that he hadn’t brought it back to prove to his men that it was literally shot left room for doubt.