Lone Survivor_ The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 ( PDFDrive )

8
The Final Battle for
Murphy’s Ridge
The ground shook. The very few trees swayed. The noise was
worse than any blast all day...This was one gigantic Taliban
effort to finish us. We hit the deck...to avoid the lethal flying
debris, rock fragments and shrapnel.
Lieutenant Mike Murphy bellowed out the command, the third time he had done
so in the battle. Same mountain. Same command. “Fall back! Axe and Marcus
first!”
Again he really meant Fall off! And we were all getting real used to it. Axe
and I sprinted for the edge, while Murph and Danny, tucked into the rocks, drew
fire and covered our escape. I had no idea whether Danny could even move
again, with all his wounds.
Lying right along the top of the cliff was a tree trunk with a kind of hollow
underneath it, as if it had been washed out by the rains. Axe, who could think
quicker on his feet than most people I’ve ever met, made straight for that hole
because the tree trunk would give him cover as he plunged down to whatever the
hell was over the goddamned cliff.
The slimly built Axe hit the ground like a javelin, skidded fast into the
hollow, shot straight under the log, and out into space. I hit the ground like a
Texas longhorn and came to a grinding halt, stuck fast under the log. Couldn’t go
forward, couldn’t go back. Fuck me. Was this a bummer or what?
The Taliban had seen me by now. I was the only one they could see, and I
heard a volley of bullets screaming around me. One shot smacked into the tree
just to my right. The rest were hitting the dirt and sending up puffs of dust. I
heaved at the log. I heaved with all my might, but I could not move that sucker. I