There wasn't anything out there, but it was too quiet.

Maybe that was just her nerves. She eased off the tension a bit, letting herself relax just a trifle. Not much, just enough to ease the pain in her back,

These nights are too dark and too long, she thought. Noise? No, probably just the wind.

Then the mortars hit and the fuel tanks lit up the area lit a flare – and then the flares came with their actinic light.

There were people out there who really wanted to hurt her. And now, for the first time, she knew fear.