Patrol again. What a surprise Chad thought as he slung his M4 Super 90 over his shoulder and joined Duck (funny story ending with a real duck full of .223 rounds) and Sergeant Shane. The patrols consisted of city streets and alleys, and Chad preferred the M4 for close up work. In his opinion there was no weapon better designed for urban warfare than the shotgun, even if he hadn’t had the occasion to prove it. He’d been on patrol for three and a half months and hadn’t gotten so much as a dirty look from the locals, and was starting to get bored with the routine. He’d been on patrol before, always outside the city, always in hot zones, and always with something to do.

Chad hadn’t minded the quiet at first. It was nice to take his awareness down a notch, but it didn’t last long. It was like sitting on his hands. He didn’t sign up to sit around and watch the War go by; he was a soldier not a security guard. It didn’t take long to become unsettled and frustrated by the sedentary assignment. He passed sandy square building after sandy square thinking about doing nothing, and felt a tightness building in his chest. He tried to chase it away by thinking about home, or other missions, or other bases, or women, and sometimes it worked. The feeling of uselessness would be pushed away for a moment or two giving him a respite from the anxiety. He’d been in full on hot blood, sweat and bullets combat and never felt anything so painful as that anxiety. It was like slowly choking to death on nothing, so any second without it twisting inside his chest was a welcome one. The problem was that although he got a bit of relief from the anxiety by thinking about other things it left Chad in the most deadly condition a solider can be in; distracted.

“Hey Sarge, what are we watching for on these patrols anyway,” Chad said, breaking a ten minute silence.

“Shane. You know that Chad. Even thought it makes me a small target, being a sergeant still makes me a target,” Shane said as he stopped and turned around.

“Right. Sorry about that.”

“No problem, just try to remember okay? Good. Anyway, we’re out here looking for whatever The Army expects us to find,” Shane said with a hint of a smile on his lips.