Coming Home (#Wattys 2017)

8; Operation Neptune Spear

It was called Operation Neptune Spear. And it was just beginning to take place. Carrie took a deep breath before scaling the wall. Holding her assault rifle with one hand, she used the other to climb the wall as well as using her legs.

She and Harrison both stopped at the top of the wall. Wrapping her legs, tightly around the rope, Carrie scanned the courtyard for any resistance.

Meanwhile the other helicopter landed outside the compound as well. The four SEAL's and the dog had already climbed the wall and were in the process of securing the border to make sure nobody came in or out.

Carrie flipped down her night vision goggles. Scanning the courtyard again, she concluded there was no resistance to be seen and gave Harrison the all clear signal. They both jumped off the wall at the same time, the seven foot drop taking them by surprise.

Right as her feet hit the ground, she saw movement from the corner of her eye. What looked like a man came rounding a corner behind a staircase that led up to the second floor of the compound. She fell back on one knee as he took one step around the staircase. Before he even had a chance to raise his gun, Carrie had him down.

One by one, the rest of the SEAL's climbed the wall. Harrison and Carrie then divided them into another group. Four more were tasked with reinforcing the perimeter group while the others were broken down into three groups to hold the three floors of the compound.

"If anyone in this compound raises a weapon at you, you take them down," she told them. "Shoot to kill. Understood?"

Everyone nodded. "Good luck."

The groups broke up and Harrison and Carrie led their group to the main entrance of the compound. She and Harrison took positions in front of the door as the rest of the SEAL's lined up against the outer wall, ready to enter.

"Go."

Harrison kicked the door in, quickly moving aside for Carrie to cover him. She entered first scanning the room for anyone. Harrison entered second, covering her left side. They held the position until the rest of group one entered and searched the first floor.

A small child ran out in front of Carrie. She almost pulled the trigger. One of the other SEAL's restrained the child. Only woman and children were found on the first floor.

They headed up to the second floor with group two. The men with the weapons were still to come. Now at the top of the stairs, Harrison and Carrie held the entrances for three rooms as more SEAL's reinforced them.

Suddenly a man stepped out from the shadows. Carrie heard the bullet pass not an inch from her head. The man ran at her but was taken down with a shot from Harrison. She looked at him and he nodded reassurance. While searching the second floor, they found a secret crawl space. At the time, they thought they got bin Laden, but it hadn't been occupied for a long time.

Carrie took a deep breath. Osama bin Laden was on the floor above them, or he wasn't here at all. She and Harrison then led group three to the third floor.

They encountered resistance right away. Five military aged men fired at Harrison and Carrie as they took cover on the stairs. One of the shots spilt them and hit one of the other men in the top of the shoulder.

With the distraction, Harrison and Carrie continued on, taking down four of the five men, and wounding the other. They held him down until more SEAL's restrained him.

There was a short hallway ahead that led to the right. They carefully covered the hallway and all the rooms until there was only one room left to be checked. From around the corner, they could hear men and women shouting at each other in Arabic with two guns being cocked.

Across the hallway, Harrison pointed towards the room. He and Carrie stormed into the room, shooting down two men with guns who'd tried to shoot at them. There was a scream, and the two turned to see a man in a white tunic holding a woman in front of him.

Carrie wasted no time putting a bullet through bin Laden's forehead. Harrison did as well until he crumpled down in a heap and they were sure he was dead.

Then a woman yelled something in Arabic at them. Being able to understand Arabic, Carrie took her down.

They helped the rest of the SEAL's restrain the rest of the woman and children in the compound and leave them for the Pakistani military to discover.

Outside the compound, Harrison hugged Carrie. "We did it."

"We did it," she repeated back to him.

The embrace was halted when they heard the sound of gunfire in the distance. "What the hell?"

"Up there!" Somebody shouted.

On a small hill only a hundred yards from the compound, came Al-Qaeda sympathizers. Gunfire now pounded the compound. With only one working helicopter, all of them weren't going to fit on the other.

Carrie contacted the airbase just over the ridge, asking for a reinforcing helicopter. "Half of you come with me. The other half of you destroy the wrecked helicopter."

They ran around the compounds east wall to Al-Qaeda militants closing in. She instructed a few SEAL's to flank out and take cover. Harrison was then instructed to cover her as she switched to her sniper rifle.

"Over here!" He'd found a large rock that she could shoot from behind and use as cover.

Setting up behind the rock, she picked them off one by one. Harrison helped her target them. As they were taken down, most of them by Carrie's hand, the rest of the SEAL's were instructed to fallback to where the second helicopter was now waiting.

Now out in the field was Carrie, Harrison, and their friend Matt. "Come on!" Somebody shouted.

They began to run back to the helicopter when they heard the sound of a tank cresting a hill in front of the compound. The three of them stopped dead in their tracks. "Go!"

If the rest of the SEAL's didn't take off now, they'd be killed. "Go!"

So they did. As the helicopters took off, Harrison, Carrie and Matt retreated towards the mountains. They were followed by the tank.

There was a small ridge that they took cover behind as the tank approached. Carrie unclipped one of the hand grenades from her belt and threw it just under the front of the tank.

A few seconds later it exploded. The three of them then let out deep breaths. They'd done it. They killed Osama bin Laden. But they were also stuck here in Pakistan with no food, water, or communications. And they were in the middle of Al-Qaeda territory.

Matt stood up and began pacing. "Well, we're f**ked."