Knockout

The first things Sabrina Washington experienced when she regained consciousness was darkness, the smell of smoke and a very annoying ring in both her ears. She couldn't tell how long she had been out for, nor had any idea what was going on now. Despite being physically groggy, her mind snapped to and started to sift through everything that happened, up until now.

Her mouth remembered ordering Dominika Volkova, better known as Dommy, to cuddle up next a huge boulder, to provide cover from incoming fire. Her ears recalled Izzy, Isabella Riberio, had a fresh HEAT round loaded and was asking for a target. Her body reminded her mind about the sensation of rolling forward, to get a better look from behind their rock. Her eyes flashed the sight of the incoming missile. The dull, throbbing pain she felt all over was the indicator they were hit.

Slowly, painfully, Sabrina moved in her seat, undoing the straps. The ringing in her ears was slowly subsiding and her eyes were stinging slightly from the smoke drifting around the interior. "Dommy", she called out, "Izzy." A moan could be heard from her left, followed by a mutter of something in Russian. The tone was interpreted as somewhere between annoyed and hurt. A woman's voice with a thick Spanish accent replied from behind Sabrina, "I chipped a nail, those bastards!"

Two out of three of the vehicles occupants started to laugh, painfully. After a few seconds, Sabrina came back to the moment and asked, "Status?"
Izzy replied, "I have no power."
"Dommy?" questioned Sabrina. A rustling of activity could be herd, levers being pulled, buttons pushed, ending with a long, load scream of frustration.
"No....go," the female voice with the Russian accent responded. They were dead in the water.

Sabrina sat for a second, letting their current status sink in. Slowly, she reached down towards her right hip and withdrew a revolver from a holster on her belt. I was an old Colt Peacemaker, with pearl handle-grips, an heirloom that supposedly saw the beaches of Iwo Jima.

After peering through the sights that acted like windows, Sabrina yelled out "Evac vehicle, stay frosty."Slowly, she opened the commanders hatch and cautiously poked enough of her head open to have a look around. What she didn't see her ears made up for. She could hear the exchange of armored fire on the other side of the frozen river, around a building that was their mission objective. As far as her stinging eyes could see, the coast was clear of any activity.

Sabrina climbed out of the wrecked, non-operational vehicle, extended a hand to help Dommy out of her compartment, then the both of them met up with Izzy on the ground. All three women stopped and stared at the massive hole in the side of what remained of their BMD-1. The left side of the vehicle was burnt to a crisp, but the hole was nearly big enough for any of them to put their head through.

"A dud," remarked Izzy, "the warhead failed to go off, the fuel is what did all of this." Dommy looked left then right, taking in the view of the wreckage, "Lucky." Sabrina nodded to both comments. With all three women armed with drawn pistols, they took up positions between the remains of their machine and the rock the had provided mixed cover. The final shots of the engagement were taken, the building had been secured.

Although it felt like days, it might have only been an hour or two before a squad of friendly vehicles could be seen returning to their position. The team's other BMD-1 pulled up and stopped just short of the boulder, the driver's hatch opened and a young man, no more than mid-20's popped his head up, "You ladies looking for a lift?"

Sabrina pipped up, "Yeah, a round of drinks and some dancing too!"