"Stand down!" I say again. "Stand down." Bravo 2, Ray Perry called over the mics, "Combatants are not men, but are children." He continued, "From my vantage point, I see nine children." Bravo 2, Jason Hayes pointed silently to Sonny and Clay and gestured for them to move around the back and climb up the narrow ridge. The men silently climbed, coming up behind the children. Choosing the two that looked like the leaders of the little gang, Sonny and Clay made a grab for them.
To get the children's attention, and diffuse the situation, Brock, Bravo 6, tossed soccer balls and candy in the direction of the children. Predictably, the smaller children ran for the sweets and the toys. This gave the rest of the men time to reach the top, and decide what to do next. "Let me go G.I., let me go!" Said the dirty angry child. The girl was clawing and spitting and kicking backwards. Sonny picked her up and held her in front of him, her legs dangling 18 inches off the ground. "Get off me G.I." she kept screaming. "Kid, I'm not going to hurt you, settle down." said Sonny exasperatedly. Jason looked over at Perry and commented, "She will get tired at some point, right?" Ray Perry did not know whether to be amused or alarmed at the fierceness of the girls struggle. Meanwhile, the smaller children had gathered around the soldiers.
A shy little voice asked, "You going to kill us Mr.?" Jason dropped to one knee and looked into little child's eyes. "No way man." said Jason. Considering, the child launched himself into Jason's arms, hugging him tightly. Jason heard sniffles and reached down to tip the child's chin up a bit. "What's the matter, little buddy?" he asked. "I have been so scared and hungry and cold." the little boy replied. "We will see what we can do to fix that." Jason promised. Meanwhile, the other members of Bravo still had their hands full of rock-throwing, fighting, children.
Brock had directed Cerberus to get one of the older boys by the back of his collar. Cerberus was currently holding the child slightly aloft, while dodging the boys flying feet. Clay had enough and called out in his best command voice, "SETTLE DOWN! We are not here to harm you." Shocked by the commanding voice, the children settled. "Ok, this is what we are going to do," Clay continued, "we are going to sit our bottoms down on this ground and figure out what the hell, ah, I mean heck is going on."
Bravo 5, Trent, could not help but smirk at the speed with which the SEALs of BRAVO Company and their new companions, hastened to obey. Shrugging out of his pack, Trent busied himself, passing out hydration pouches and halal food bars to the children and protein bars and water to the men.
Clay began by having each Seal introduce themselves to the children. "Hi, I am Clay and you know that I am a soldier. I am from a place called California and I really like playing soccer." Clay then pointed to Brock. "Hi, my name is Brock and this is my dog Cerberus. Cerberus loves to play fetch and he sleeps next to me at night." Cerberus woofed and stood up. The canine play-bowed to each child and their giggles could be heard for the next few minutes, as Cerberus went from child to child for a pat.
The ice truly broken, the rest of the team quickly introduced themselves. Jason pointed to the oldest girl, who was much calmer after a snack and a chance to interact with Cerberus. "I am Nia and I am 11 1/2 years old. These are my sisters and brothers and cousins." Going around the circle, she pointed to each child in turn. "That is Raha and he is 9, next is Lisan, she is also 9, then Mika who is 8, Mohammad who is 7, Sarai who is 6, the twins Meha and Teha who are 5, and Abi who is 4." As she spoke, Ray wrote down the names and ages of each child.
Trent noticed that all of the children had a sleepy look to them. "Boss, let's take a break and let the kids rest a bit." he said to Jason. Ray and Jason looked at each other, communicating silently, and agreed with Trent's direction. "Guys, let's set up a shelter to get everyone out of the sun, and allow the children to take a rest." Jason directed.
Within just a few minutes, nine children were slumbering in the heat of the late day. Jason and the men met in a huddle several feet a way. "What are we going to do with 9 kids Boss?" Sonny asked. Ray replied, "Our scheduled check-in with Blackburn is in 19 minutes. We tell them about the kids, and ask their opinion." Jason replied. The men settled back on their haunches and simply observed the sleeping children, each lost in their own thoughts.
"Bravo 1 to TOC, over." Jason spoke into the radio. "This is Blackburn. What is your status?" the Lt. Commander asked. Bravo 1 explained the events of mid-day, the rock fight, calming, feeding and meeting the children. Mandy was furiously paging though a sheaf of documents. "Those children belong to Rahid el Suavari." she exclaimed. "The brothers and sisters are his children and the children identified as cousins, are the children of his brother Ali. This is a find," she exclaimed, "and a much needed way to make contact with their group."
Mandy exclaimed, "You need to get more information. What are the children doing away from the main camp? How long have they been out there on their own? Did something happen at the camp? Did they bring any supplies with them or is there a hidey hole with food and water close by?" Ray was writing down the questions on a notepad. "This is a huge break." Mandy continued. "If the children were brought out to the desert, that surely means life at the camp became unstable, and they are stashing the children, until they can be brought back safely. I suggest that you scout for a location that is probably less than a click away, for supplies." Mandy ended.
"Got it." Clay and Sonny overhearing, rose to their feet. Giving Jason a quick salute, the men turned, picked up their guns, and began the climb back down the ridge. "We will hang on to the children." Jason agreed and the time for the next check-in was moved up for two hours hence.
As each child woke from their nap, Trent and Brock met them with Cerberus. Trent gave each child as complete of a physical exam, as he could, given the circumstances. He swabbed each child's cheek for DNA and packaged it for later testing. The children were so delighted with Cerberus, that they barely noticed the exams. The little ones giggled like mad, when Trent wet each of their feet and had them make a print of each foot on brown paper he had in his pack. "What are you doing?" asked Jason, noticing the process.
"Kids do not have any footwear. If we are going to walk out of here, we will either have to figure out how to carry 9 children between us or make shoes." Trent responded. "What are you planning on making the footwear out of?" Jason asked, mildly amused, yet seeing the practically of the plan. "Don't know yet Boss." Brock said. "We haven't figured that part out yet."
Abi approached Ray and asked if he could have some more food. "Sure." Ray said easily, looking over to Trent for guidance. "Let's dump the MREs we have, into a pile and see what is appropriate kid-chow." Brock suggested. A few minutes later, a large pile of MREs, halal food bars and protein bars were in a pile, under shelter and out of the hot sun. Opening each MRE pack, Trent and Brock made three piles. "Boss, we hit pay dirt." Brock remarked, pointing to the stack of halal meals. "I told Lisa that I was really tired of the standard MRE diet and she promised to change it up a bit." The entrees Davis sent included lamb and veg barley stew, lamb and lentil stew, something called lentils Dal Marsala, and SAAG Chole w/Lamb, plus the usual spaghetti and meatballs, beef brisket, Southwest chicken and rice, and chicken and vegetables.
Selecting the Dal dish, Ray heated it up, split it into three servings and handed portions to Abi and the twins. Spying some tortillas, Ray tore them in big pieces and handed some to each child. "This is really good." Abi said, around big mouthfuls full of food. Tearing open a couple packages of mixed vegetables, Ray dumped the contents in the tin pot he had started carrying after his first mission as a SEAL. When the veg was hot, he motioned for the children to give him the paper cups he had used for the Dal. "We don't like these." Teha said holding up three peas. "Me either," responded Ray, "but eat them anyway and I will give you a sweet." Satisfied the three children finished the vegetables. Ray had opened up a couple packages of chocolaty chip cookies, gave each child four, and popped the final two into his own mouth. Ray gave each child a water pouch to finish the meal.
Jason heard whistling and knew that Clay and Sonny were returning to the ridge. "Sit-rep?" he inquired mildly. "Boss, two clicks to the North is a hooch with plenty of weaponry and ammo, along with a modest of amount of food and water. "You would need someone to cook the food, as it is mostly dry beans, rice, oil and spices." responded Clay. "We also found a good size roll of canvas fabric, rope, spikes, and a sledge to erect shelter." Clay continued. Sonny held up a bag of the food items and asked who was going to cook dinner. "That would be you brother." Ray said, walking up to the group. "Ok, I can do that" Sonny agreed and went off to find Brock and make him his sous chef.