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to take a small foot patrol to find a better hide; they couldn’t continue to sit in the hundred degree heat and cook. He told Cole and Eric to suit up and be ready to move in fifteen minutes, leaving Méndez in charge of the vehicle. They packed their gear and put on their knee and elbow pads. Because they were no longer facing a traditional enemy, it was decided to drop the heavy bullet-stopping ceramic plates from their vests and close up the neck and shoulder protectors on their body armor. Designed to protect soldiers from shrapnel and road side bombs, they hoped the Kevlar fabric would now prove useful against the rabid mobs they were faced with.
    Cole crept out around the container and led the way on point. He walked slowly and stuck close to the edge of the containers. He stopped often to listen and to look at far off objects through his rifle’s advanced optics. The enemy didn’t appear to be particularly cunning, but they had managed to sneak up on them more than once and they didn’t want that to happen without the safety of the MRAP. Quickly, yet silently, the patrol moved until they were within a football field’s distance from the first warehouse. Cole put his fist in the air and waved them down to the ground. Brad crawled forward and used his binos to look at the building.
    It was made entirely of cinderblock and appeared to be new; probably part of the International Security Force reconstruction efforts. The building had a large overhead door in its center and a smaller door to its right. A row of windows lined the very top of the building, likely for venting and to let in daylight. They watched and waited for a good twenty minutes to make sure they were alone before they got to their feet. One at a time they bounded across the distance and stacked up on the warehouse door. Brad reached across and tried the handle. It turned easily in his hand and he was relieved to find the door unlocked. He held up three fingers and dropped them one at a time. He swiftly and professionally entered the room to clear everything within their view.
    A large empty bay with rows of shelving filled the back wall. To the right, he found a block of offices and a set of stairs that led to a loft with more office space above them. They took their time in clearing the row of offices one by one and then went up the flight of stairs to confirm the building was empty. At the top of the stairs, Brad signaled for them to stop and put a finger over his lips. He pointed to a desk where he could see a foot sticking from behind a half wall of a cubicle. Brad silently un-holstered his M9 pistol and slowly cut the corner, allowing him to gradually see what was on the other side without making himself a target.
    He peeked into the cubicle and saw a man sitting with his face down on his desk. The back of his head had a large exit hole and his brains were still running down the back wall of his cube.
    “Well, looks like someone decided to check out early,” Brad whispered.
    The man still clutched an S&W Sigma pistol, which Brad grabbed and put it in his pack. Now that the building was clear, he called the MRAP on his headset and informed Méndez that the warehouse was safe and they would be returning. He told him to be ready to move when they got there. Cole and Eric tried the large overhead door and found it operational; even though the power was out, the manual chain system still seemed to work fine.
    Once the team was together, they quietly guided the truck back to the warehouse and pulled it and the trailer through the large overhead door. They parked the vehicle, and then started setting up a defensive perimeter. The warehouse only had the two entrances: the small entry door and the large overhead. Brad placed a metal clip on the chain and pulley system of the door to prevent anyone from being able to raise it. The bolt lock on the entry door didn’t appear to work, so they pulled it tight and secured it with some rope and zip ties,