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

9
Blown-up, Shot,
and Presumed Dead
Right behind me I heard the soft footsteps of the chasing
gunmen...there were two of them, just above me in the rocks.
Searching. I had only split seconds to work, because they were
both on me, AKs raised...I went for my grenades.
Even in the pitch black of the night, I could feel the shadow of the mountain
looming above me. I actually thought I could see it, a kind of dark force, darker
than everything else, blacker than the rock walls upon which I was leaning.
I knew it was a hell of a long way to the top, and I would have to move
sideways like a delta crab if I was going to make it. It was also going to take me
all night, but somehow I had to get up there, all the way to the top.
I had two prime reasons for my strategy. First, it would be flat up there, so if
it came down to another firefight, I would have a good chance. No guys firing
down on me. Every SEAL likes his chances of winning a fight on flat ground.
The second issue was calling in help. No helicopter ever built could land
safely on these steep Afghan cliffs. The only place within the mountain range
where an MH-47 could put down was in the flat bowl of the fields below, where
the villagers raised crops. Dope, that is.
And there was no way I was going to risk hanging out near a village. I was
going up, to the upper flatlands, where a helo could get in and then get out. Also,
my radio reception would be better up there. I could only hope the Americans
were still scouring the mountains, looking for the missing Redwings.
Meanwhile, I thought I might be dying of thirst, and my parched throat was
driving me onward to water and perhaps safety. So I took my first steps,
guessing I was probably going to climb around five hundred feet straight up. But