Hotak stepped off the last stair and into the hallway as the first guard opened the door to his private office. The wire pulled and initiated the blasting cap. The blasting cap ignited the C-4. The C-4 detonated, and 700 little metal spheres blasted outward. Only part of the blast was directed into the hallway. But the explosion tore through the first man, sending him back into the next man. The two men behind him were flung back and fell to the floor.
The second guard in line struggled to get the first man off him. He pushed and shimmied until he was standing. The first guard's blood was all over him. His hands patted down his chest and legs. He inhaled. He didn't find one wound. The first man had taken the brunt. He looked right, left, and up. The walls and ceiling were full of pockmarks where the little metal balls had hit. The cement and rock were excellent mediums for causing ricochets. The BBs had bounced into the hallway and into the two guards behind him. They were dead, and he was alive.
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Hotak walked down the hall. The men moved out of his way as he passed.
Hotak’s face wanted to twist in disgust as he approached the man. Instead, he smiled and took the man’s hands in his own. Shirt, vest, pants, and hat all had blood on them. Spattered on the man's face and beard were drops of the first guard's flesh. It went well with the vacant look in the man's eyes.
“Allah has blessed you this day. He is our savior and our punisher. Mark this day. Allah touched you today and showed you his mercy.”
The man bent his head. “Thank you, Baabaa Hotak. As-salamu alaykum.”
“Come.” Hotak entered the office the rest of the guards followed, leaving the blood-soaked guard.
The man looked at his clothes. Blood dripped down his sleeve, onto his hand, and on the wooded of the stock of his AK. The dead man who had inadvertently saved him he didn’t know the man very well. He came from a town he’d never heard of.
The guard lifted his eyes. This was no sign. It was up to him to decide. He decided better to be a farmer than a soldier. The guard ran up the stairs, climbed down the mountain, and ran to his relative's house in Pakistan.