The concussion was enough to knock me off my feet. All I could do was stare as the fireball climbed into the sky. By the time I’d managed to stand up, the entire car was nothing but a giant ball of flames.

A group of four or five men came from the direction the RPG was fired. Each of them was armed and I saw the last man had the launcher across his back. I immediately eased to the side of the road, then ducked into the ditch that the car ultimately slid in a block ahead of me.

I couldn’t see anything near the car because of the smoke and flames. The men circled it a couple of times, but multiple small explosions from the vehicle kept pushing them back.

I didn’t know what fire did to plutonium, but I realized I couldn’t retrieve it right now. I also didn’t want these men to see me. I lay in the weeds like some sort of cement lawn sculpture. I didn’t move a muscle. I felt like I could hear every noise as random shots were fired in the neighborhood and sirens were starting to blare from different sections of the city. I didn’t know if an Afghan police officer would help me. I had no idea what to do other than lay still for a minute and see what happened.

I watched as the men looked around the car some more, then they split up into two groups. Three of them walked away from me, searching the grass and ditch around the car. But two of them started walking toward me.

They hadn’t seen me yet. They were focused on the brush and debris right in front of them. Their eyes were looking down. One man carried an AK-47. The other had some sort of old infantry rifle, possibly British. I had Jackson’s pistol in my hand. The last thing I wanted to do was shoot anyone. I didn’t think these two men approaching me with weapons were gonna give me much choice.

My heart was racing and I could feel the sweat running down my back. My eyes were glued on the two men. The one with the AK-47 could’ve been a former soldier. He handled the AK-47 professionally, using a hand on the pistol grip as well as the stock. Anywhere he turned, the muzzle of the rifle turned.

I felt something on my leg and almost jumped upright. That would’ve been a fatal mistake. I turned my head as quickly as I could without disturbing the weeds around me.