He is looking the wrong way. Heavy automatic fire breaks out from the Israeli side. For a moment he believes it is friendly fire, an error, but in a heartbeat he knows. The machine gunner in the second jeep is already returning fire. Ari leaps out to take cover behind his jeep when an RPG destroys the second vehicle, bodies flying. Almost immediately another RPG takes out the third. Ari’s driver takes a shot to the head, his brains spattering the flat windshield like pancake batter. Yudka will never drive for a general, nor will he ever have a girlfriend. He should have been wearing his helmet. They all should be, but the border has been quiet for years. Ari and the tracker return fire in the direction of the shooting, though neither can see their attackers. They are dug in. It’s impossible the enemy could be on the wrong side of the border without disturbing the fences or the sand margin. But there is no time for speculation. As Ari replaces his spent magazine, Salim leaps to the right, screaming in pain.
