Knife in hand, he charged me! Heart pounding in my ears,throat sticky dry, I faced him more afraid of dying than I had ever been
before. I spread my feet slightly and dropped my empty hands, fingers spread
wide, wishing for a weapon. He closed the distance quickly and thrust his knife
at my stomach! I slapped widely desperate to avoid the quickly moving blade!
Suddenly, my focus sharpened… I realized that he had stepped too far forward! I
kicked viciously at his exposed knee making solid contact!
His faced registered
a sudden look of shocked pain and he almost fell to one knee before catching himself.
It was obvious he was hurt. He slowly waved the knife, almost defensively, back
and forth as his eyes darted here and there showing his uncertainty. The tables
had now turned slightly in my favor. Though he was injured, he was still well
armed and dangerous.
He suddenly shifted his gaze; his eyes grew wide as he
looked across my shoulder towards the sudden sound of a rapidly advancing helicopter.
The rapid reaction team was arriving aboard a low flying, dust stirring Blackhawk
helicopter! My frightened, whispered call for backup had been heard.
He began to hobble awkwardly backwards. Turning, he hoped to
make his escape. I spotted a nearby chunk of mortar and mud block fallen from
the disintegrated wall of what had been my hiding place as I spied on their
movements through the town. Grabbing it up, I loosed it at his retreating head!
My aim was true and down he went, stunned.
Running towards him, as he struggled to regain his footing,
I scooped up another and smashed it into the back of his head with a short hard
throw. Down he went, momentarily too stunned to resist. I jumped on his back
and quickly pulled his arms around and secured them with one of my black plastic
ties. With one hand I grabbed his shirt
high on the back and with the other his knife. Dragging him, I lurched back against
a remaining corner of the now destroyed building, seeking cover from other
possible unfriendly eyes. Tripping on rubble, I fell to a seated position and pulled
my prisoner up in front of me with the knife to his throat to encourage his
cooperation. Now we waited.
The helicopter had disgorged its human cargo at the nearby
intersection, the troopers quickly fanning out and getting under cover. It
lifted off, its rotor wash creating a storm of rocks, sand, and debris as it
passed very closely overhead. I shielded my eyes at the back of my enemy, as he
served as a buffer against the angry storm. As the noise and dust cleared, I
looked up into the tense sweaty faces of my first arriving rescuers. I realized
that one more time, the Good Lord had chosen to spare my life.
With a grateful heave, I shoved the prisoner up towards the
outstretched hands of Sergeant Wilson and Corporal Smith. Scrambling to my feet,
I gratefully stumbled across the rubble as we headed back for the intersection to
board the now returning helicopter. Through my mind flashed a long suppressed memory
of my mother, her Bible in her lap sitting at the kitchen table. I remembered her
words from long ago, “Lord, please protect him wherever he goes.”
Cb
No comments:
Post a Comment