Title: Back To Barak, Chapter One

Date: February 28, 2006

Archive: Not without Permission of the Author

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.


"What the hell are they shooting at?" Hunter bellowed loudly as he ran toward the rest of the squad and dived to the ground, as a mortar round landed approximately one hundred feet in front of the small hill the squad was hiding behind. He landed beside Scream and half on top of Tariq, who discretely elbowed him hard in the solar plexus, causing Hunter to cough several times. He then unceremoniously shoved Hunter off.

"I asked you a question Sergeant! Why are they shooting at us?" Hunter demanded.

"It's a game called war, sir" Tariq responded. "They shoot at us, we shoot at them."

"Yeah," Smoke joined in." And if you're us, and your shit outta luck with no weapons and some little dick hill to hide behind, you usually lose!"

"Who asked you?" Hunter said in a voice like a small child taunting another child on the playground." Another mortar landed in front of the small hill.

"Oh, god, shut the hell up, children!" Mrs. B yelled.

"Sarge! They're getting closer!" Doublewide yelled, before another mortar landed almost exactly where the last one had." We gotta get outta here! Their gonna kill us!"

Scream turned towards Hunter, who was staring at the spot where the last mortar had landed, a look of utter disbelief on his face, as though he was shocked that the enemy dared to fire upon them. Christ! This guy was gonna be of no use to them, as usual.

He looked behind him verifying that there was no available cover for almost a thousand yards; but if they stayed where they were, cover or not, they were finished. Who ever was spotting for the insurgents, knew where they were, and were getting closer to them with every round they fired.

"Alright, listen up! "Silas screamed. "They know where we are, so we have to move and move quickly in that direction," he said pointing. "Get your gear on and get ready to move on my word!" Immediately the squad began stowing away items, sealing up their packs, and crouched waiting for further orders.

"Move where, Sergeant?" Hunter demanded. "There's no place to go, this is the only cover, damn it! "

"We can't stay here sir, they-"

"We have to stay here, Sergeant! We need to be here to assist with the-" Hunter ducked as another mortar exploded to the left of them, sending sand flying."-the reinforcements."

"Reinforcements? Sir, we stay here we're sitting ducks! We wouldn't last long enough to be rescued!"

"I'm in charge Sergeant, and I said we are not leaving here! We'll need to be here when reinforcements arrive-"

Silas shouted. A sound caught his attention, and he screamed, "RPG! Get down!"

There was a loud solid sounding Whooompfffffft in front of them.

Silas, knowing what that particular sound meant, jumped up, and began screaming, "GET UP! GET OUT OF HERE NOW! Get THE HELL OUTTA HERE!" as he realized that the grenade had embedded itself inside the soil of the hill they'd been using as cover. He turned around as he was screaming and noticed Hunter standing there, a confused expression on his face. He grabbed the back of the lieutenants BDU jacket, pulling him away from the hill, then gave him a hard shove. Silas was just about to follow him when the RPG exploded, raining down a storm of soil, sand, rock, and debris.


Dim lay on the floor of the little shed, his BDU jacket wrapped around him as tightly as possible, but he was still freezing, and occasionally his teeth would chatter. The pain in his shoulder that had once simply been sore and sensitive, now throbbed as though it had a life of its own and was so hot, that it felt as though it was on fire.

He'd eaten a little bit of what Dawud had brought him, more excited by the smell of it, then the taste; it wasn't that it hadn't tasted good, but he just didn't seem to have much of an appetite. He felt warm and tired-out even though he hadn't expended much energy during his visit with the boy. He curled up on the floor behind the bales of straw and using his closed up his pack for a pillow, he tried to rest and eventually feel back to sleep, only awakening when he felt someone touch him gently on the arm.

His eyes opened and his heart dropped down to his stomach in fear, until he realized that it was later in the afternoon and the boy had returned. He held another bucket of water in one hand and another small bowl of corn. This time the chickens had become bolder and Dim saw two of them pecking the ground near his feet. Dawud followed his line of site and quickly herded the chickens back outside. He came back and looked at Dim, then gently touched the other mans forehead, which was damp with sweat, but hot to the touch.

"Oh!" Dawud said and then in arabic, "You are sick and have a high fever. Rest. I will be back." He motioned for Dim to stay where he was and left quickly, returning perhaps twenty minutes later with a small towel, a soft square of rough fabric that resembled a wash cloth, more water in the bucket and some cooler water in another wineskin bag. The little boy gave him some water, then wet the rough cloth and soaked it in the bucket, wringing it out before gently dabbing it against Dims, forehead, face, neck and the back of his neck then repeating this twice more.

"Shukran, "Dim croaked out, his throat sore and dry. He sipped a bit more water.

Dawud nodded and picked up the wineskin of water, holding it to Dim's lips, and tilting it just slightly so the water slid down easily, but not fast enough to choke.

He soaked the cloth again, but only wrung it out a bit and placed it folded on Dim's head. He moved the skin of water close to the man and then helped him lie back down. Once he saw Dim was as comfortable as he could be, he picked up his bucket and walked toward the doorway.

Stopping briefly before he slipped out, he turned around and said with a smile. "Ah beee bah-k soo-un, Fraa-nck."


"Oh, God! Is he dead?" Mrs. B asked softly, a few tears glistening inher eye.

The entire squad sat huddled in a circle around Silas's body.

Once the sand and debris had cleared, the rest of the squad realized that Silas was not among them and immediately tried to locate their sergeant. Smoke, Angel and Tariq grabbed their weapons and over Hunters objections and ran back to where the small hill had once been, the ground now flattened and looking like a moon crater.

At first they froze when they saw him lying on his side on the ground ahead of them, but were spurred into action as mortar fire began anew. Each grabbing a handful of his jacket, they slowly and carefully, crawling on there knees, began to drag his body back to where the rest of the squad and Hunter waited. Twice they had to duck mortar fire and both times Smoke had thrown his body over Silas to protect him.

Doublewide slipped a scarf folded several times over, beneath his head, as Tariq removed a soft cloth from the first aid kit that had been in their Humvey. He dampened the cloth and carefully wiped the dried blood from several scratches on Silas's chin and cheek, and then carefully wiped his face hoping the cool water might revive him.

"Oh, God! Is he dead?" Mrs. B asked softly, a few tears glistening in her eye.

The entire squad sat huddled in a circle around Silas's body, as Angel checked for a carotid pulse, checked his respirations, and lifted his eye lids. "I think he just got knocked out," Angel replied. "He's breathing okay, his pulse is strong. We're gonna have to watch him though. And we probably shouldn't move him again if we don't have to. He could have an injury we can't see. The sooner we get him out of here, the better."

Hunter stood alone behind them. Not that he wanted to be a part of the circle sitting around the sergeant, but knowing full well that had he attempted to kneel down and be a part of their group, one of them might certainly kill him. It was always like that. They hated him. They always hated him, no matter where he was assigned, they hated him. It was jealousy, of course; they had no idea what it took to command a unit, to make hard decisions that sometimes seemed harsh and cruel.

He shook his head. He had to be the tough one, he had to-

A softly spoken "Amen", from Angel, and several like responses roused him from his delusional thinking.

"If you're done with the church service," Hunter said sarcastically," I'm ready to go over our plan of attack. Since the sergeant is, well, non compus mentis, I guess I'll just have to explain it myself."

Smoke stood up quickly and angrily asked." What you jus' call him?" Tariq quickly stood up and placed a hand on Smokes upper arm.

"I'm not surprised someone of your educational background, wouldn't understand that, Private Williams," Hunter commented haughtily. " Or should I just say 'background'?"

"Now that sounded like a racial slur to me!" Del Rio commented, as she stood up and folded her arms on her chest. She didn't have a hateful bone in her body but she'd love to have Hunter put thru the ringer and pay him back for what he'd done to her some time ago.

"Me, too." Angel responded also standing.

"And me, three." Mrs. B. drawled an unmistakable look of anger in her eyes.

"I suggest you all stand down immediately-"

Silas's radio crackled with life inside its holder on Tariq shoulder. He quickly unslung the small pack and held it in his arms. Before he could grab the unit, Hunter had snatched it from him.

"Rawhide one, do you copy, this is base. Over. Come in rawhide one."

"This is Lieutenant Hunter! Who is this!" He replied rudely.

"Welllll, Lieutenant Hunter. This is Colonel Ryan." Ryan said in a playful voice which quickly turned to anger. "Boy, I don't know how you fucked this up, but I will say this for you; when you do a job, you sure make sure it's a total fucking mess, don't you! How the hell-"

Hunter quickly placed his hand over the speaker portion, turning red with embarrassment and walked away from the squad to complete the 'discussion', while the rest of the squad struggled to keep from laughing.

A loud groan made them forget about Hunters public humiliation. They turned to see Silas sitting up and holding his head tightly.

"Wha' the hell happened?" Silas asked still a bit shaken.

"The RPG that landed where we were covering exploded, and you got thrown trying to get out of there." Tariq said. "It knocked you out."

Silas blinked several times, and then asked, "Everyone else okay?"

"Yeah. Well, 'cept for Underpants. He's over there getting yelled at by Colonel Ryan for screwing things up." Smoke said with a smile.

"Yeah, sorry I missed it." Silas said curtly.

"Well, sergeant, just in time to hear the news." Hunter snapped.

"What news would that be, sir?" Silas asked trying to get to his feet; he was still a bit rattled and Tariq righted him with a slight hold on hisarm.

"You'll be happy to know that the reconnaissance team is on its way. We should be out of here by night fall. "

"Good."

"Yes, it is good, "Hunter replied with a mean smile on his face." Colonel Ryan informed me that as soon as we're out of harms way they'll be bringing in Stinger missiles and leveling the place."

Silas could hear Mrs. B. gasp and Angel ask," What about Dim?"

"Shhh!" The sergeant said. "Lieutenant, Captain Baron assured me that we would have assistance in trying to rescue Private Dumphy, Sir. If he's left in Barak without us trying-" Silas gave Hunter a hard look and shook his head. "We don't leave our men behind, Sir! We need to go in there, now."

"If you think for one minute sergeant, that I am going to risk my neck for some jerk who got himself captured-"

Esmerelda Del Rio was now furious. "Porqué usted cerdo racist ignorante de mentira de auto-absorción bajo-abajo¡Cómo el atrevimiento usted dice eso cuando ahorramos su asno apesadumbrado veinte veces desde esta esperanza del started! I de la pesadilla las tierras de un mortero en su cabeza! "

Six heads quickly spun in her direction as she quickly gave her opinion in her adopted tongue, then turned around and stomped off, so angrily she could barely walk or see straight!

"What did she just say to me?" Hunter demanded. When no answer was forthcoming, he turned and said, "Private Nisseri ! I want to know what she said to me this minute!"

"Yeah, well, sorry, sir, I don't speak pissed-off." Tariq replied with a look that told Hunter he was clearly crazy and went off to look after Del Rio.

Hunter watched him walk off and quickly turned towards Mrs. B. "You! You there, blondie! What did she say to me?"

"We-ll" Mrs. B drawled, "Ah think she was commenting on that lil racist slur you made earlier….which bah the way, I intend to make sure that little ole 'blondie' reference you just made, gets into her report, too, sir." She then left with Smoke and Angel right behind her.

Silas stood simply standing there shaking his head as Hunter stared at him in silence.

"I have no idea what she said," Scream said. "But I don't think they like the idea of you leaving Dumphy in the village to get killed, sir. It's a matter of honor. We don't leave our men behind," Scream continued, his voice getting louder with every syllable." Especially after they may have fallen into harms way while rescuing another soldier. We need to get in there before the recon team gets here, sir!"

"I'm not stopping you, Sergeant, "Hunter replied giving Silas a strange little smile. "You and your people go right ahead. "