The next day.
Kirkuk Oil Field Area, at dusk.
The setting sun dyed the western sky blood red, interwoven with the orange-yellow of the oil field's burning torches, creating a surreal hue.
The checkpoint of the 3rd Battalion of the Abu You Brigade was set at the junction of Highway 7 and the oil field access road, marking the boundary between the southern Abu You Control Zone and the northern Kurdish Control Zone.
Four soldiers languidly sat behind sandbag bunkers, with a modified Toyota Hilux parked beside them, a DShK heavy machine gun welded on the roof.
Sergeant Khalid was inspecting the gun's ammunition system; metal parts clanged crisply under the tools.
Not far away, the pumpjack moved rhythmically up and down like a giant steel woodpecker, pumping the black gold from underground to the surface.
"A boring day."
The young soldier Muhammad yawned as he adjusted his helmet, "I'm about to forget how to fire a gun."
