Free Gray Resurrection by Alan McDermott Page A

of
the river.  As bullets began peppering the area, Vick and the rest of the
hostages tried to make themselves as small as possible but Grant knew it was
just a matter of time before one of them was hit. He sought a defilade position
and saw one a few yards away, a slight depression behind the rotting trunk of a
fallen tree.  He grabbed Vick and began pulling her towards it, then
remembered that she was still attached to Moore.
    “Move!” he shouted at them, but Moore
had frozen, his body shutting down in response to the assault.  Grant
leaned over Vick and grabbed him by the ear, twisting it as hard as
possible.  Moore had no option but to follow, and Grant pulled them to the
safety of cover.
    The fire intensified on both sides, and
Grant realised that Bong’s warning about the AFP was true: they were more
likely to kill the hostages than rescue them.  Fire from both sides was
indiscriminate, and Grant wondered how many of the AFP had their eyes opened
during the attack.  Bullets strafed the log and a cry went out as one of
the Filipino hostages took a round to the calf, a round that would have done
serious damage to Vick or Moore if he hadn’t dragged them to safety.
    Grant gauged the incoming fire and
estimated that there were five or six attackers as best, suggesting a small
recon patrol: an extremely stupid recon patrol, given the circumstances. 
In their position he would have laid up and called in reinforcements rather than
try to take on a much larger force, especially one holding hostages.
    One of the guards went down with a wound
to the throat but he was ignored by his compatriots as they continued to repel
the attackers.  A couple of grenades were lobbed across the narrow river,
one landing harmlessly short but the other bouncing its way into the
vegetation, taking out two AFP soldiers.
    Grant nearly jumped with fright when a
body landed next to him and he turned to see Halton cowering by his side,
trousers still around his ankles.
    " Unbe -fucking- lievable ! Whose side are they on, for Christ’s sake?"
    Grant ignored him, instead concentrating
on one of the Abu Sayyaf who had picked up the loaded RPG.  His stance was
all wrong, and as he fired he lost his balance, falling flat on his
backside.  Luckily for all concerned — except the AFP — the explosive head
went where he had aimed. 
    Crump.
    A tree took the brunt of the impact,
cracking the trunk in two, but the AFP got the message and their attack petered
out as they retreated back through the jungle, firing sporadically as they ran.
    With the battle having lasted barely
more than a couple of minutes a sense of calm returned to the jungle, but the
Abu Sayyaf members were still pumped up, keeping a close watch on the far
bank.  The silence didn’t last long, however, as the Filipino woman who’d
been hit in the leg began to make the transition from shock to pain.  Her
cries were ignored by the guards, who were more intent on dealing with their
own fallen, two of whom were clearly dead.  The other casualty was one of
the younger Abu Sayyaf who had sustained a flesh wound to the arm, and he
showed it off proudly, pleased with his new battle scar.
    Bong began barking orders and the two
bodies were wrapped in hammocks, ready to be carried away.  Others were
instructed to see to the hostages and they began by ensuring everyone was
tethered to at least one other person.  When they got to the injured woman
they seemed at a loss as to what to do.  Her screams were intensifying all
the time and any attempts to treat the wound simply increased her hysteria.
    After a couple of minutes Bong
purposefully strode over to them and surveyed the situation.  It was clear
to everyone that the woman was not going to be able to walk on the injured leg,
and the noise she was making would only serve to alert the AFP as to their
whereabouts.  He rattled off more orders in Tagalog and the tether was
removed from the woman’s other ankle.
    Grant watched the