My Able Comrade

“Allaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaauuuh Akbaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar” we heard echoing from a distance, about one hundred meters from where we were hiding; it was 4:00 am already. We were in “Sambisa Forest”, one of the most hunted forest in Nigeria; a place with the most notorious criminal gang in the Continent. Everyone was still alert, we were waiting for any strange move before we knew the next step of action. I was the commander of the battle. My gun men were in a stable position, we didn’t know where the enemy were but I was sure they were there.

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“Over, Over” came in from my radio, it was my Lieutenant that was on the line.

I replied, “Red Bull speaking"

“What is the situation at hand?” the commander questioned.

“We don’t have hands on the target” I returned.

“Kshiiiiiii-Kshiiiiiii-Kshiiiiiii” sounded from the radio.

“I’m not hearing Sir, can’t hear you Sir” I said and we are disconnected.

His voice dropped over the radio and I sensed He wanted us to do something real quick. I divided my team into two. One team was to go north-west and the other to go south-east. I followed the team going South-east and told my Deputy to follow the North-west Team. The forest was so confusing, though we had map out a way of knowing where to go but we still weren’t sure of the way.

I took out my Cigarette and lit it. The smoke was moving into the air at a constant rate while my team were falling into their various positions in different forms. The various team leaders were performing a head count of the people, and I was looking around searching for any problem, thinking of a solution. They gave me a status report and told me they were ready to fall out. We went into the colder night, moving quietly but fast, crawling at the best of our capability. It was still mid-night and I believe that the “darkest part of the night, is just before the dawn.” Everywhere was sore dark, we barely saw what we were stepping on, we didn’t have night vision goggles and our torch were dim. The watch dogs were the ones helping us out with their accuracy in smelling. I was at the back of the team, trying to communicate with my Deputy Commandeer, I tuned the radio to His channel but could not get anyone on the line. I tried again but was not effective. I was frustrated and we were still moving.

It was about thirty minutes now and my comrades retarded in their pace. They were moving at a very slow pace now and my legs were aching too. We had lost communication with other team members, we were now lost in the forest and morning was approaching greatly. We did not want to be caught by this terrible enemy. They were a cold blooded, they kill at first sight and don’t have any regard for anyone. Our dogs were also moving fast since they weren’t crawling. They had to prepare the way for us and they would often come back, giving us a signal that we could go.

“Paaaaa Paaaaa Paaaaaa Paaaaaa Paaaaaa Paaaaaa” we heard at our side, bullets dropping on my comrades. The ones at the front were dying.

“Duuu Duuuu Duuuu Duuuu Duuuuuu Duuuuu Du” my agile comrades retaliated, shooting at intense speed, our watch dogs came back, they were scared I sensed.

We shot fiercely for about 2 minutes, then the enemies stopped shooting, we thought we had finished them, I was moving to the front for a status check when I saw a grenade been thrown at my comrades in the direction I was moving to. I caught the deadly weapon while still in the air and threw it back almost immediately.

“Boooooooooooooooooooooom” it sounded at their side, I was so impressed in my confidence and my comrades started firing again. We knew we were taking some of them down. We were sore happy.

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Bingo was our best dog, its smelling and sensing accuracy made s wonder if it were still a dog or it had a sensor fixed to its nose. Bingo ran from the squad, running forward to what we believed was the enemy territory, I was angry that why would the dog behave in such manner, If it was my soldier, I would have typed His/her termination letter in my head and served Him immediately we got back from war.

Soon, the enemy stopped shooting, “what could be happening,” I thought. Bingo came running back, backing profusely, when one of my comrades saw it coming back, He knew the enemy were capable of implanting a bomb on it and the comrade took down bingo immediately with His sniper. I was angry, devastated. Then I saw my deputy commander coming from the place we thought was the enemy territory, hands were on His head. He was shouting, “We are the ones.” I was  torn. I had engaged my armies fighting each other not knowing we were the one. We had killed some of our soldiers and some injured already. My heart was raising. Other troops came out of their hiding place, we had lost communication with each other and didn’t know what had happened. Thanks to the brave dog that perceived the odor of our troops metres away and went there to confirm. When my Deputy saw our dog, He knew it wasn’t the enemy and He had to come out to display Himself. I made a mistake soldier were not meant to make.

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It was Monday morning. I walked into the lieutenant office with my resignation letter in hand, I could not hold my face, I killed my fellow comrades on battle. The Lieutenant collected it from me, and we made the usual salute. I got back home, I had a frame of Bingo already on the wall. His picture was there. I cremated His body also because I wanted to see Him always. If He had not gone, we would have killed more comrades. He was our life saver and a good dog. It was my Able Comrade.