Title: Back To Barak, Chapter Four

Disclaimer: "Over There" and all its characters belong to FX Networks and other entities that may have been involved with its production. No infringement of copyright is intended. This story was written for personal enjoyment and to share with other "Over There" fans.

Summary: When Lieutenant Hunter volunteers the squad to infiltrate and capture Iraqi insurgents, all hell breaks loose.

Warning: Be warned that this story does include depictions of war; these depictions may describe consequential injuries and death, and while not overly graphic, they may cause some readers discomfort. Please read at your own risk.


"Sound off!" Silas yelled.

"I'm here," Dim called back

"We're here, Sarge! Me and Mrs. B! "Doublewide responded.

"Here Sergeant!" from Angel

"Yo, Sergeant, I'm here!"

Silas looked to his right, where Tariq lay holding the UHF radio. "Okay! I want two people on the area in front of us and behind us at all times! Angel! You and Dim take the front! Doublewide and Smoke, dig in and take the back! "

"Got it, Sergeant!" Smoke yelled, grabbing his shovel. Doublewide followed suit, and began digging a depression in the sand; this way, when facing backwards, they'd be below the line of site provided by their current cover. They then took crouching positions, ready to shoot anything that walked or crawled out of the thick brush behind them.

"Tariq! You cover that side", he said pointing to his left. "Mrs. B and I are going to alternate on the radio and covering the right side. Any of you SEE ANYTHING, you YELL, GOT THAT?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Yes sergeant!"

"Goddamnit! Don't call me sir! "Silas snapped, reaching out beside him and grabbing the radio, then fiddling with the frequency control. There was a loud burst of static, a high-pitched whine and indiscernible chatter. "This is Rawhide Six to Base, this is Rawhide Six to base, come in base…. over." Again came a burst of static and intermittent conversation.

Another try. "This is Rawhide Six to Base, come in base.We need emergency back-up! Over!" He tried over and over again until the radio responded with a high pitched whine and seemed to go dead in his hand. Thoroughly pissed off, Silas threw the radio to the ground and screamed, "you sonofabitch!"

As if by magic, the radio came alive.

"Rawhide six, this is Base, over."

Silas snatched up the radio, amid sounds of relief from his squad. "Base this is Rawhide Six, over."

"What's your position Rawhide six? Over."

"We are currently one mile down the main road into Barak .We are in immediate need of back up and transportation," Silas relayed.

"Barak! " The voice on the radio choked. "What the hell…?" Some one get……."

There was a muffled voice. "Rawhide six, say again?"

"Base, I say, we are currently one mile down the main road into Barak and in immediate need of back up and transportation! " Silas grumbled, "You fucking deaf?" to himself, causing the squad to chuckle, some of the tension momentarily eased.

For several minutes there was no response. "Rawhide Six, stand by." Another long pause and then the radio came back to life, but this time with a different voice.

"Rawhide six, this is Captain Baron. Identify yourself."

"This is Silas, sir, over."

"Have you made contact, Sergeant?"

"That's a negative, sir! We were ambushed at our location. We have lost all our vehicles and approximately 14 men including our C.O! Over!"

"Sergeant, am I to understand correctly that you and your people are stranded out there? Where is the Lieutenant? Over."

"Base, that's affirmative. We were ambushed just inside Barak. The insurgents destroyed three vehicles before we could respond. We've lost Sgt. Malatucci's squad and there is no sign of Lieutenant Hunter. Over."

"Rawhide six, what's your situation regarding the insurgents? Over."

"We are currently dug in. There isn't sufficient cover for us to advance and determine the situation. Over. But I have a feeling they'll move in once nightfall comes! We're basically sitting ducks here sir! Over."

"Sergeant, you and your people sit tight! I'm going to get you out of there!

All of you. Over."

"Yes sir, rawhide six, out!"


She was sure she'd seen movement; no, it wasn't possible, it had to be a figment of her imagination. She rose up on her forearms again and peeked over the berm. The bodies of several of her fellow soldiers lay dead and lifeless, where they'd fallen after they'd been attacked by the insurgents. No. It couldn't be, she was seeing things. It was the heat and stress, of course, Brenda told herself. They were sitting in the middle of the damned desert-

There it was again. It was only the slight lifting of a bloody hand, but it was movement just the same. She leaned over and nudged Dim in the side. "Dim!" she hissed softly. She gestured with her chin. "You see that? You see that guy over there? He's alive!"

"What?" he whispered back and looked where she was pointing. This time two hands came forward, palms pressing against the hard packed dirt and pulled until the bulk of the body behind it moved forward an inch, maybe less. "Holy shit!" Dim said.

"I saw it, too." Angel said, surprising them. "I thought I was seeing things but, he's been crawling forward bit by bit."

"Jesus." Dim shook his head. "We can't just leave him there."

"No, we can't." He turned to his left. "Sergeant?"

Silas was lying on his back, eye's open. He rolled over. "You see something'?"

He quickly rolled over and raised his head slightly; he caught the movement of the man pulling himself along, and echoed Dim's sentiments.

"We can't just leave him there. Sir."

Silas was momentarily silent. "You want to go?" He said to Angel. "Dim?"

Both men nodded assent.

"Okay, but you see any sign of activity, you hear gun fire, you drop and get your asses back here immediately! Me, Tariq and Mrs. B will cover you."

The two men went quickly over the small hill that had been their protection for the last few hours and rolled over, lying on their stomachs and scouting the ground in front of them. When they were certain that it was safe to move, they crouched low and ran quickly the 1500 feet to the small berm that was just short of the unevenly paved road and lay down behind it.

"How you want to do this? " Dim asked.

"Well, best move would be for one to stay here and cover the other one, 'cept

I don't know just how bad he's hurt and if just one of us can move him," Angel replied. "So, I guess we'll both run across and if it takes both of us……"

Dim nodded. "Okay." He responded taking a deep breath. "Ready?"

"Yeah."

"One…Two………Three!"

The two men quickly leapt over the small berm and across the road, and immediately lied on the ground, one on either side of the man who hadn't moved in the last few minutes. "Hey, Bro." Angel whispered. "We're going to get you outta here."

When there was no response, Dim reached out a hand and placed it on the soldiers' neck, for several seconds, noting the carotid pulse was absent. Dim looked over to Angel." Forget it." He whispered sadly. "He's gone."

"Lord, Lord."

"We better get back to the squad," Dim said." You ready?"

The two men jumped up and began to run towards the road when there was a loud whistling sound and mortar landed directly behind them.

"Holy shit, Angel! Run!" Dim screamed. He'd begun to run too, when a sharp pain ripped thru his left shoulder and momentarily stunned him and slowed him down. Another mortar exploded to his left and he tripped over his feet as he tried to run forward. Ahead of him he could see Angel just reaching the other side but another mortar landed in the middle of the road and sent sand, rocks and small scrub brush into the air and blinding him. He thought he heard the sound of several vehicles in the distance.

And he was fairly certain he could hear the sound of someone calling him.


Dim frantically wiped the dirt and dust from his face, the movement eliciting a sharp knife of pain thru his left shoulder. Turning his head he could see that there was a jagged hole in his B.D.U jacket, stained with blood. He reached out and touched the fingers of his right hand to the area and they came away tinged with blood. He could also feel a chunk of something in the wound, most likely shrapnel from the mortar.

He turned his face again, this time toward the sound of approaching vehicles; there was a loud rumbling sound that he believed to be the sound of several large vehicles coming over the bridge that led into Barak. He turned quickly and realized there was no place to hide. Their trucks had been destroyed; all that remained were several large boxes of supplies that had fallen off two of their trucks and……

Bodies…….the bodies of the dead soldiers. He immediately dropped to the ground, his shoulder screaming in protest. He lie on top of his M16 and put his head down,trying to make himself look as lifeless as possible.

The vehicles came down the road onto the sandy area, one stopping immediately beside him. Squinting he could see that there were two large troop carriers and a small open humvee, filled with several men wearing the traditional Iraqi clothing, as well as long scarves that covered there faces; definitely not military wear. He heard someone yelling orders in a foreign tongue, and looked all the way to his right, to see a man in a long white robe and head wrap, point out the boxes, which the men immediately gathered and placed on one of the trucks.

Once the boxes had been loaded, the leader gave another order, and the insurgents began going around to each of the soldiers, removing weapons, grenades, knives and small arms from leg holsters, even personal belongings; one young man went as far as to remove the wedding bands from three of the deceased soldiers. Dim lay there watching and seething; he was further away from any of the other men, but it wouldn't be long til someone spotted him and came over to scavenge what they could. There'd be no way he could continue the charade. He'd be killed. He thought about Eddie and Vanessa. What would happen to them if he were killed?

He could hear laughter as the five men stood around laughing at something that had been taken from a soldiers pack; this was the only chance he'd get. Slowly he reached out both hands, and then stopped. They were still laughing. He placed his palms flat on the ground and pulled him self forward, again, and again, and again, until he almost beneath the large truck. Crawling quickly, he crawled up onto the rack where a spare tires and supplies could be kept. The rack was up higher then on most vehicles and if he curled up, it would be difficult to see him; unless someone specifically looked.

The laughter got louder and closer. He could hear the sound of doors opening and slamming closed as the men climbed back into the trucks. Then the engine started and the vehicles began to move towards the unevenly paid road. They were heading home, back to Barak.