Shoot the dogs?

A glimpse at a few minutes of life in the middle of a man made apocalypse

I was sitting in the Passenger seat of a Humvee waiting for our convoy to start rolling down the desert highway again when I spotted two wild dogs gorging themselves on a bloated Hajji carcass. I slapped the driver on the arm and motioned over to the wretched scene and shouted up to the Marine standing in the gunner's hatch on the .50 cal.

"Hey Cody. Three oclock. Check it out."  "Yeah I see it" He shouted back. "That's some fucked up s**t dog. Hey Ricochet. You got a scope on your rifle. Shoot the damn things." The convoy had been stopped for f**k only knows why for nearly an hour and we were bored. The dogs were about 75 meters away. Both would have been easy hits. I contemplated Cody's suggestion when a profound realization struck me. How in the f**k do I explain scenes like this to the folks back home? We were watching dogs eat a human being. That's like horror movie s**t and it didn't faze us one bit. If you saw something like that back home you'd probably need years of therapy to get over "the horror" of it all. You might even get on a few talk shows with your story of hope and courage while promoting your book about your experience with horror dogs. Christ some enterprising producers might even make a reality show around it like "Psycho Dogs Attack" or "Man Eating Dogs" or some crap like that. I'd never shoot a dog back home. That would practically be like murder but out here with these rabid mongrels it almost seemed humane. These dogs were nothing like your best childhood buddy back home. These were evil Zombie flesh eating dogs.

I decided not to shoot them. The sound of rifle fire could cause other Jittery Marines to start firing their weapons and Our Lieutenant got pissy about crap like that. he said it was "Unprofessional" as if letting dogs chew on dead Hajjis was any better. It was one of those strange moments that happens when you're in the middle of an apocalypse. Real life horror bores you.

Reviews

[Annabelle Lee]

woah, Ricochet, I am SO sorry you went through what you did over there. If a sight like this didn't phase you guys... reaally got me thinking bout what actually did go on...... thanks for sharing

[Baby Ricochet]

You got desensitized quickly. Thank you for reviewing Dogs Anneballe

[Baby Ricochet]

Sorry that's Annebelle. Damn typo

[That_Girl]

The sick, twisted part of me nearly smiled, at what I'm not quite sure... probably at the truth in your words concerning the s**t load of media a story like that would get here. The book, the interviews, possibly even a reality show. You know, they practically hand them out like stickers at a Doctor's office right now...

Anyways, the sane part of me was sort of... brought back to earth once more. Sometimes we get so caught up in our own petty s**t that we don't realize how easy we have it.

My only critique, as always, is that you need to get this mofo edited. :)

Really enjoyed this, Baby.

[Baby Ricochet]

I tend to post to soon I think. Thank you for reviewing Dogs That_Girl.

[Kaylor Mason]

If it had been back home, I would've shot the dogs without a second's hesitation. Like it or not, your lieutenant was right--in hostile territory, it's best never to fire a weapon unless you have to (you never know who might hear it; besides, it could also be considered a waste of ammo). As I read this I was reminded of my hunting story ONE SHOT that I've got posted up here. I have to say I like this piece, a lot. I like how you compared peace time back home to this madness--truth is always stranger than fiction

[Baby Ricochet]

Iraq was swarming with Feral dogs. We saw them eating dead camels, dead goats, dead mules. We were used to that. That particular time it was a dead person. That's the only reason the moment stood out in my mind. What our LT would get a stick up his a*s over was the ROE (rules of engagement)which specified we weren't supposed to harm domestic live stock or any animal considered non-threatening and he insisted the ferel dogs fell under that rule. Most of us thought it was stupid but he was our field officer so that was that. Theoretically you could get into trouble for unessassary discharge of a weapon but in that situation it wasn't likely because it happened all the time. So far as noise goes the diesel engines from the trac vehicles alone could be heard for miles and we were a Marine corps combat convoy. Hajji knew what types of convoys were what and shyed away from openly attacking combat convoys by that point in the occupation. The big worry was IED'S Sorry I'm carrying on so much. Thank you for reviewing Dogs Kailer.

[That_Guy]

That's some messed up stuff man. The gravity of the situation is stifling my sarcasticness which is probably a good thing.

[Baby Ricochet]

Thank you for reviewing Dogs Jon

[Marie]

I would have shot the dogs,but I wasn't there, and it was your choice to make.

[Baby Ricochet]

Thank you for reviewing dogs Marie

[Michael G.]

Seriously screwed up. You have just welcomed the real world to your unreal, real world.
You did it well, too.

[Baby Ricochet]

Tahnk you for reviewing dogs Mr G.

[KAOlmsted]

Oh my god that last paragraph...That is some fucked up funny s**t. (Funny? Yeah...I'm laughing here) (I have no idea what that says about me...therapists need not apply, though)

Baby...dear sweet Baby...oh my f*****g god this is is some fucked up funny s**t.

Thanks for the fix ;-)

[Baby Ricochet]

Thank you for reviewing dogs Kimmer