I must have fallen asleep because I woke up to the sound of the loudspeaker blaring out its message. "All women and children head towards the entrance. All women and children head towards the entrance."

"What's going on?" I asked the lady nearest me.

Her pale face was gaunt with fear, eyes darting around wildly. "They're sending us out. The scum say they'll let us live, if the men let us out." Her trembling voice didn't sound pleased or happy about the arrangement.

"What?!" I asked, shocked. "Why?"

Then the Officer in charge came down to talk to us. "Ladies, please listen carefully." He said. He wasn't much older than me. He must have been in the Officer's reserve or something similar. "The enemy has us surrounded. They won't be taking prisoners." I almost stopped breathing. "Instead they want us to send you out to them and will take care of you as they would their own wives and children. Please stay calm, be brave for the young ones."

We stood there, silent. What else was there to say?

"Tell them about our customs. Raise them well. May God be with you all." He said.

Most of them were crying gently. We were being given up as prisoners of war. And they were doing it to protect us.

The women filed out but I stopped by the officer. "Sir," I said, stopping him as he turned to go up the stairs. "Maybe I can help." I said trying not to sound as pleading as I felt.

He shook his dark haired head. "No, the men don't need to see a young woman like you die with them."

I knew what he was saying but that was my point. "But sir, if they have me to fight for then maybe some will survive." I insisted.

The officer paused, his face full of indecision. "I wouldn't send the women away if there was any hope of survival." He finally said, taking the easiest path possible.

I ground my teeth. "Then, sir, I am staying as a citizen. By my own free will."

He lifted an eyebrow. "You'd disobey a direct order from an officer?"

I grinned, sensing he was close to giving in. "If I was under you, sir, I wouldn't think of it. But as I am a citizen I am free to do as I choose. And I choose to stay and help fight. I won't go to them without fighting the entire way."

He sighed, heavily. "Can you use a gun?" He asked.

I won. "Yes, sir. My father taught me to shoot an SKS, rifle, or handgun." I said, showing him the SKS I had strapped over my shoulders.

He took his own pistol from his belt and handed it over to me with two full magazines. "Then I don't have to tell you how to load this thing." He said.

He was testing me. "No, sir." I took out the bullet magazine and checked the bullets, cocked the gun and switched off the safety. "You don't." I put the extra mags in my belt.

"I'm Colonel Dave Spacey." He held out his hand.

I took it. "Civilian Akeera Dustcatcher, sir."

"You've just been drafted, Soldier Dustcatcher." Colonel Spacey corrected. "You are under my orders now, you will not disobey a direct order from me or you will face a Court Martial and be dishonorably discharged. Do you understand what this means?"

"Yes sir." I said. Court Martial was the least of my worries now.

"Well, since you can't go with the women as a soldier, you make your way to the roof and wait for my order. Once the women and children are safe, they will open fire on us again and this time they won't be so careful not to hit us." He warned.

"I understand, sir." I said.

All those army movies I had watched with my dad- the Navy SEAL documentaries, Act of Valor, Blackhawk Down, and all the countless others I'd watched over the years-never really caught all the tension you felt when you stepped out onto a roof with hundreds of guns pointed in your direction. Something about the knowledge that you have a group of fifty plus soldiers trained to kill with more bullets than you had at their disposal makes you suddenly very aware of how mortal you are.

I saw James and made my way over. "Hey." I muttered, swallowing the bile that rose with the fear that had suddenly clutched me.

"What in-, Akeera, you go down with the women right now!" He said.

"Colonel Spacey sent me up here." I explained.

James stared at me, unbelieving. "Colonel Spacey?" He repeated.

"Yeah. I've been drafted." I said, chuckling humorlessly.

"Drafted or volunteered?" He asked. I shrugged, leaving it open to his imagination. He cursed softly. "You volunteered didn't you, you idiot?"

I rolled my eyes. "Save it for later." I retorted. "There was no way I was just marching out to a bunch of Iranians with my hands up in the air like a coward."

James opened his mouth and promptly shut it, having been glared at by another officer. "You should have gone." He said, his eyes speaking volumes.

I felt my hands shaking but the heavy feel of the SKS in my hands made me relax somewhat. I checked the gun's chamber and saw a metal bullet casing winking at me in the little sunlight there was that came through the clouds. That was more comfort than the gun.

We watched over the side as the women and children slowly walked towards the line of armed men, my mouth dry. The children were roughly picked up and set into trucks, one by one. But one of the women screamed. Something was wrong.

And then the women all started screaming. One by one they fell to the ground, dark red blood pooling beneath them. I couldn't breathe.

"FIRE!" Colonel Spacey's voice rang out in desperation. "FIRE!"

I lifted the SKS, picked my target, aimed, and shot. Iranians fell but we were too late.

All the women were dead and the children were screaming in fear and horror as the surviving Iranians jumped in and closed the doors to the trucks. "Aim for the drivers!" Spacey ordered.

I did as ordered but I had an idea as my shots missed and missed again. I aimed for the tires. With a loud explosion, the tire deflated and the car swerved until it hit a tree.

"Aim for the tires!" Spacey changed his orders. "Try not to hit the children!" He shouted.

But the Iranians were firing back now. One of the men near me gave a shriek and flipped backwards with such force that I knew he had been hit. James bent low and went to the man, took a quick look, and returned.

"Keep shooting!" He snapped, seeing that I had paused. "Get those trucks to stop! We've got to get those kids back!"

I blinked, reminding myself that those kids were freaking out right now. They needed help. I lowered my head to the stock and looked down through the sights. Tires. I was shooting tires. I got the tires in the sights and pulled the trigger. Several bullets burst from the barrel with swift rapidity, finding their target.

Unfortunately, the other tire had been shot at and the truck flipped.

Spacey tapped my shoulder and I turned to him. "We need to get those kids, come with me." He ordered.

I crept along behind him, sparing a glance behind me towards James, who nodded farewell. This wasn't good.

"I need a small team to get those children inside again. You are a woman, they'll trust you. They won't trust the men, not unless you go with them. Can you do that?"

I nodded, checking my mag. Nearly empty. Spacey handed me a new mag. "Be quick. Go out there; take all you can and come back. Go back for the rest, come back. You can't stop. Got that?"

I nodded. "Yes, sir." My hands weren't shaking with fear now, they were shaking with rage.

"Good, I'll send along some of the lower officers, they'll cover you and the children. Get to the door and I'll be waiting at the gate."

"Yes sir." I said, saluting swiftly.

"Be careful." Spacey said, not really wanting to send me out.

"I can do this sir." I said, smiling at him. "I'll bring back the children."

Colonel Spacey grinned tightly. "I know."