"What happened?" Major Black asked as she looked at Tariq.
"Our Humvee was hit by an IED. This is the only injury, Sir." Half-Pint looked at the Major. Major Black was respected by everyone who knew her as being a fair officer who had risen through the ranks from Private to Major. Even Captain Baron admired the 25-year veteran.
Major Black wrote something down in a chart. "I'll need X-Rays, but he seems to have only suffered a minor concussion from what I can see." She looked at Half-Pint. "He'll be fine, Courtney. I'll make sure of it." Major Black smiled and left.
Half-Pint weakly smiled back. She looked at Tariq, who looked like he'd been in a fist–fight with the devil and lost. She couldn't explain her concern for the young man, but she couldn't leave.
"You okay?" Captain Baron's voice broke her thoughts.
"I'm fine, Captain. It's just PFC I'm a little concerned about."
Baron looked at him. "Shit. What happened? He looks bad."
"IED." She turned and faced her dad. "Dad, what happened with Scream in his first tour here? He sounded frantic and he looked like hell had just come."
Baron sighed. "Let's go get some chow." He walked out with his daughter beside him. "When Scream first came over, he was with the 2/75th Ranger Battalion. It was just a few days before they were supposed to head back to Kuwait to begin their out processing to go home. While on their way to a sweep of a village where rebels were known to be, their convoy was hit by an IED. Kevin Conners, probably Scream's best friend in the unit, was killed instantly in the blast from the IED. Scream never forgave himself for breaking a promise."
"A promise to who?" Half-Pint asked.
"He just broke a promise." Captain Baron smiled and lifted the flaps of the mess hall.
Scream yelled at Dim. "What the fuck are you thinking, dimwit?"
Dim stared at the Sarge. "I just…"
"Get your head out of your ass and move, goddamnit! Those are goddamn Rangers in there. They're the fucking best of the best and we have to fucking save their asses!"
"Sarge, you a Ranger." Smoke commented.
Scream glared at Smoke. "Thanks for the fucking information. I was wondering what the Ranger tab was doing on my goddamned uniform!" Scream pointed ahead of him. "Behind that berm are some Rangers who got ambushed while on patrol." Scream looked at Mrs. B. "Goddamnit, Mrs. B, pay attention. They called us out here because we're good with the shit patrols and these are the same goddamn Rangers I was with in my first go here. These men are fucking important to me. You so much as graze them with a ricocheted bullet and I'll have your asses. Understand?" The group nodded. "Good. Let's go."
Spitfire held her gun steady as she saw a figure walking towards Scream. "Ranger?" She shouted, knowing that, at least in the movie BLACK HAWK DOWN, that's how they identified themselves. No answer. "RANGER?" She yelled again. When there was no response, she fired her weapon. She heard Scream yell and she ran over to him, afraid that it was Scream she hit.