Chapter 3- Their Alive

The events of the two days after the explosion.

Commander looked around the table at the men surrounding him. They were all in there cleanest uniforms, complete with the pins they had earned over their years of service. At the head of the table sat the head General on the base.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why I brought you here. Today, we received intel that the group that stole the laptop retrieved by Bravo Team somehow got information off of it." General Johnson said, a dark shadow fell over the room with the words.

"It was encrypted. How'd they get in? I thought it was near impossible!" One of the men said with confusion.

"We thought so to, but somehow they got around it. They've been doing bomb tests in the desert right here." He said, pointing to the map on the screen.

"Ok. So where do we go from here? We can engage, right? If they have the specs and blueprints for bombs, we have to find where their keeping the plans, and destroy it." Another Sergeant said.

"Unfortunately, we cannot proceed at this time. The higher ups think it's to risky." He replied, with a look on his face as if he knew the responses that were coming.

"What do you mean we can't proceed?! Six men will be in the ICU for the next week, maybe even longer, and were nearly killed by this group! One had to be revived on the ride back, and two more during surgery!" Commander Blackburn said, his voice getting louder with each word.

"And those choppers nearly started a war! With a country we just made peace with, nonetheless!" General answered sharply.

"Would you have preferred me to leave them to die?! What happened to no man left behind?!" Blackburn said, anger filling him.

"That's not what I said Commander. Have you considered that your men could've found their way to safety on their own?" Johnson said. Blackburn fought to control himself at those words. Is he clueless?!

"You don't know anything about the mission, do you?! They all had major internal injuries! One of the men took a bullet to the pelvis. Another had a fractured skull, one was shot twice with armor piercing bullets, and another had a piece of rebar through his chest! Tell me General, how do you think my team would've gotten out in that condition?!" He responded, the veins in his neck popping out. The room went silent at the words, finally actually taking the time to let the severity of the situation of Bravo team.

"I understand that you want justice, but…" the General started to say, but Commander cut him off with the sound of his chair flying backwards with the speed at which he stood up.

"I don't think you do! You'll have to excuse me, I need to go see how my team is." He said, hastily making his exit.

/

He walked into the Intensive Care Wing of the base hospital. When he walked into the large room that Bravo team was sharing, split into sections by curtains around each bed. He looked to see Davis standing in the corner.

"How are they?" he asked, standing next to her.

"No change. How'd it go with the General? Can we go after these maniacs?" she asked.

"Let's just say I didn't exactly leave the meeting on good terms. The higher ups told us we can't do anything without starting a war." He said. He sighed and looked around at all the monitors and wires attached to his team. The two most serious were closest to the door, in case anything happened. The Commanders eyes moved to Clay and the odd shape of the tube that kept him connected to the ventilator. He studied the machine as if to ensure that it was doing it's job, even though he knew next to nothing about it worked.

"The kids got so much going for him. I just really hope this doesn't end him before his time." Commander said.

"The doctor said he's mostly out of the woods. They all are. Now they just have to wake up. Sonny will probably be the last one to come around." Ellis said as she walked in, and overheard the conversation. With that, their eyes went to the large bandage that was covering most of Sonny's head. They stood quietly, watching his breath fogging the mask, when a loud noise grabbed their attention. It was coming from the monitors near Jason's bed. When they looked at him, they watched as he started to convulse. They didn't have to think about what was going on, and each grabbed a limb to try to hold him still.

"Doctor! I need a doctor in here!" Mandy yelled, opening the door. Dr. Zavala ran in as fast as she could at the urgency.

"He's having a seizure. There's a needle of adovane in there, grab it for me!" She said, and Davis quickly yanked the drawer open and handed her the needle while fighting to hold Jason's thrashing arms down to keep him from hurting anything more. She shoved the medication into his vein. They waited a moment, expecting him to stop, but he didn't.

"Grab another syringe!" Dr. Zavala said. Then suddenly, the sound of the heart monitor filled their ears.

"He's crashing! Start CPR!" the doctor yelled, and Blackburn immediately followed her directions. Dr. Zavala hastily pulled the nasal cannula out of his nose and replaced it with a mask, then pushed the second needle into his arm. The seizure finally stopped, and his heart was following suit.

"Come on Hayes! Come on!" Blackburn yelled, pushing his frustration and fear into the compressions. Finally, he responded.

"Hey. Hey! You can stop. He's back!" Davis said, putting a hand on the Commanders arm. He sighed, and stepped down from where he had been kneeling on the gurney, and quickly exited the room to head towards his cabin. As he laid onto his bed, he rubbed a hand over his face.

Later…

Brock slowly opened his eyes, fear immediately gripping him when the surroundings looked unfamiliar. He heard noises around him, but couldn't move to figure out what they were. Where is everyone? Are they….? I have to find them! He thought, forcing himself to sit up. A shadowy figure came towards him and began talking, but he didn't recognize the voice, making him panic even more. He thrashed wildly when a hand reached towards him.
"Let's sedate him!" a nurse said, grabbing his wrist. She was just about to stick a needle into his IV when Commander Blackburn walked through the door.
"No, wait! He's the first one to wake up. I need to talk to him!" he said. The nurse looked to her superior, who nodded that it was ok. She then backed up, and gave them the room. Brocks vision finally cleared, and he began to calm down. His entire body ached, and he groaned as he laid back against the pillow.
"Take it easy. Your in the base hospital, and your gonna be fine. Do you remember what happened?" Blackburn asked.
"There was a grenade...then bullets. My vest didn't stop them….everything hurt…. Jason and Clay took the brunt of the blast." Brock said with a sigh.
"They had armor piercing bullets." Blackburn answered.

"Cerberus! Is he….?" Brock asked slowly. He remembered standing up after the explosion and seeing the dog lying on the ground. He had tried to get to him, but had gotten shot before he could.

"He's ok, just a few cuts and burns. He took one to the vest, but luckily it caught it. He'll be sore for a while, and definitely need some time off, but he'll be a lot happier once he's back with you. In fact, they had to sedate him just to clean his wounds. He wouldn't let anyone touch him. Kept looking for you." Blackburn said, remembering the fight the dog had put up.

"Where is he?" Brock asked.

"Right outside. When I heard you were waking up, I figured you'd want to see him." He said, motioning to the handler waiting outside. Cerberus usually would've sprinted in and jumped up enthusiastically, but it was as if he knew that he had to be gentle. Instead, he whined a joyous whine all the way over until he was lifted onto the bed. He licked Brock all over, shaking from happiness.

"Hi boy! Hey bubba, it's ok, I'm fine." He said, rubbing his ears and chest. Cerberus finally laid down, and put his head on Brocks lap. He would stay at this exact spot for the next few days.

"The team?" Brock asked cautiously, watching Blackburn sigh, and fearing the worst.

"Everyone's stable. You and Trent were the only two with bullet wounds, probably because you didn't go down initially. The one that got you was dangerously close to your spinal cord. Luckily, the bullet came from a high enough angle it only got your appendix. It did burst, but Doc said they think they got all the toxins out. The other one hit your leg, but only grazed the bone. You've all got some pretty nasty burns and more stitches than I can count." Commander said, pausing.

"So that's me, but that's not what I asked." Brock said. He had to know how his men, his brothers were doing, even if it meant he had to pry the info out of Blackburn. Commander gave him a look of resignation, then started with the list.

"Trent caught a few more bullets than you. We're still not sure how that's possible, but I guess it is. He took one to the shoulder, the arm, and the hip. The third got stuck in his pelvis, so the surgery took a little longer. Other than that, he's got a broken hand from the fall. Ray had damage to his small intestine and a boatload of shrapnel wounds. Jason has a ruptured spleen and kidney with a good bit of internal bleeding. Sonny hit his head so hard it cracked his helmet. His brain swelled, so they had to take a piece of his skull off to relieve some pressure. He's in an induced coma until it goes down. Last but not least, Clay. A piece of rebar collapsed his lung, some other minor intestinal lacerations and broke a few ribs. He's on a ventilator." Commander finally finished the list with a sigh. The two sat in silence, taking in the news and thinking where they go next.

"Well, I think I'll let you get some rest." Commander Blackburn said as he got up, pulling the curtain closed slowly behind him. Brock laid his head back, and couldn't help himself from worrying about his friends. It was as if Cerberus could sense his feelings, and moved his head to Brocks chest. And it was perfect that he did, as the anxiety melted away. The warm breath on his chin soon lulled him to sleep.

/

"Commander." Eric stopped at the sound of his title, closing his eyes, figuring he was likely in trouble with the General.

"Look, I can't… just tell Johnson I'm not available." He said, turning around.

"That's not what I'm here about. Did one of them wake up?" Mandy asked.

"Good. And yea, Brock did. He gave us a little clearer picture. He said Jason and Clay were closest to the blast." He said.

"That's good. We've got a problem." Mandy replied, then turned the screen of her tablet towards him. He chewed on his lip as he looked at the screenshot of the news cast.

"Set up a Skype call with one of the wives or girlfriends. Whichever one answers first." He said, shaking his head thinking about how panicked the family must be because of the headlines. Mandy nodded, and walked away.

Days Later...

Sonny slowly opened his eyes and looked around the pale blue of the hospital room. He groaned at the light in his eyes and the sound of a tv off in the distance. He moved his head to the side, looking over to see Bravo team in its entirety in the large room with him. Clay looked over at him, the first person to notice that he was now conscious. "Hey, look who decided to join us!" Clay said, as the rest of the eyes turned towards Sonny's bed.

"Welcome back to the land of the living!" Ray said.

"What….happened?" he asked, confused. The last thing he remembered was putting the laptop in Rays rucksack.

"Some insurgent threw a grenade into the room. You smacked your head and broke your skull open. They put you in a coma for a few days." Jason answered.

"Is….is everyone messed up?" Sonny asked, trying to piece it all together.

"Yea…" Ray gave a quick synopsis of the injuries and the details from the last few days, catching him up.

"...Doc had to take a piece of your skull off to let your brain swelling go down." Ray finished.

"Probably took him awhile to get through your thick head!" Jason said with a smirk.

"We'll just have to see how thick your skull is, huh?" Sonny joked, and Jason laughed.

"You will do nothing of the sort!" Davis said, giving him a look when he turned to see her standing in the doorway. Then she winked and smiled at him as she came in.

"Good to see you awake. We've been waiting for you. I'll call Blackburn, he'll be glad to hear the news." She said, happily squeezing his hand. Finally, he family was all back, and could start to mend.

/

"Now that your all awake, I've got some news." Jason sighed quietly, looking around the room at his men. He had heard that time before, and knew what it meant.

"The doctors have decided that because of the number of patients coming through here daily, and because of your injuries, it would be better if you all recuperated at home with your families. It will also help to put their minds at ease in light of this news headline that was sent out." Eric said, showing them the picture.

"I told you not to trust that reporter. All they care about is a story to make front page! They don't care how much panic they cause." Jason to Mandy with a teacher voice. She nodded her response of recognition.

"Your families have been informed that you are all going to be ok. We will be leaving for the States in two days. That's the last plane out of here for the next month's because of this war, so please, don't anyone do anything stupid." Blackburn said, then exited. As much as Clay hated the thought of leaving in the middle of deployment, he focused on how much he couldn't wait to see Stella, and hold her tight. The rest of the team started to talk around him, but he zoned out, his mind taking him to his bed, Stella right there, smiling back at him. With his, he voices around him faded into murmurs, and a smile crossed his face.

Hi guys, me again! This chapter took a lot longer than expected, but here it is! I can't decide if I want to end the story next chapter or add a short wrap-up chapter at the end. Which would you guys prefer? Leave a review, hope you enjoyed reading!