Scream looked up and saw nothing but smoke. He coughed as he carefully sat up, feeling a sharp pain in his right arm and his head. He groaned silently as he realised he had been hit. "Who's hit?" He calmly barked.

Smoke groaned while holding his left arm. "I've got shrapnel, I think, Sarge."

"Angel?" Nothing. Scream panicked. He couldn't have lost his best sharp shooter. "ANGEL! GODDAMNIT!" He turned around and saw Angel looking lost, tears forming. "Answer me, Angel. You okay? Scream gently shook Angel's shoulders.

Angel only blankly looked up at Scream.

Scream watched as the doctors stitched up Smoke's left arm. The shrapnel hadn't made its way in and it took a mere few moments to remove it.

"How you doin', Sarge?" The Captain smiled.

"I've been better, Sir." Scream's reply was distant and his eyes showed a lack of emotion.

"How's he doing?" Scream slowly lifted his eyes and saw Captain Baron standing there.

"Shell shocked, but after what they went through, I'm surprised any of them are showing some emotion, John." Captain Callahan pointed to Smoke who was cursing the Medic as he got stitches. He looked at Baron and at Scream. "I'll be right back, Staff Sergeant."

Scream never took his eyes off the wall. "Yes, Sir."

Angel looked at Scream, holding Dim. "He's bad, Sarge. He's really bad."

"It's okay, Angel." Scream painfully moved to his side. "I'm calling for help. Rawhide One, this is Rawhide Six. We need immediate medical attention." He carefully spoke the coordinates. "Help's coming, Angel." He looked down at Dim, who was fighting to breathe. "Hold on, Dim. You hear me?" Scream uncharacteristically took the younger man's hand. "You have to hold on."

Dim tried to nod, but the pain was too much. Blood was flowing from nearly every crevice possible. Dim coughed, spraying blood everywhere. His glasses had been knocked cock-eyed and were dangling on his ears. Dim continued to struggle for breath and with every inhale, an exhale full of blood followed. Scream noticed that Dim's chest barely rose as he inhaled and he could hear the struggle within his young Soldier to breathe. Angel rocked back and forth. "Don't you leave me, man. Who'll have my back, Dim?"

Scream knew that, despite the explosion, the rebels and insurgents hadn't calmed down. He knew they would believe all of them were dead and would back off until they saw medical help coming. He radioed his concerns to Captain Baron. The Captain understood the situation, having been in similar situations with Scream, and he promised to tell his incoming medics to be careful.

"I'm a little worried about the Sergeant, John."

"Why, Kevin?" Captain Baron crossed his arms and looked at Scream. "He's been through this shit before and he'll be fine."

"That's the thing, John. He won't be. Something happened and he's lost all emotion. Temporary or not, he's not showing any. I've seen shell shocked Soldiers before, John, and this is one of the worst cases I've seen."

Baron nodded. Even he hadn't seen Scream this bad. Even during the midst of the gunfire in Mogadishu, Scream had kept his cool, even with dead and wounded surrounding him. "I'll see what I can get out of him, Kev."

Kevin shook Baron's hand. "Thanks."

Baron pulled up a stool and sat across from Scream. "Talk to me, buddy."

Scream just looked at Baron with an emptiness that even the war hardened Captain could see.

Scream sat still for a moment before he realised he hadn't heard Tariq say anything. "Tariq!" There was a slight muffle from under a pile of debris and Smoke and Scream, ignoring any pain, worked to remove the rubble. Smoke sighed heavily as he looked at Tariq. Tariq's eyes, while open, seemed to stare at nothing. He, like Dim, had blood flowing from his nose, ears, and mouth. Scream saw more blood streaming from Tariq's neck and listened carefully as the young man struggled to breathe.

Tariq looked up at Scream. His voice was barely audible as he spoke. "Don't let me die here, Smoke."

Scream only nodded, aware of Tariq's confusion and looked over at Smoke. Smoke saw the look in his Sergeant's eyes and replied. "I won't, man. I won't." He squeezed Tariq's hand. "I've got your back, Ahab." Smoke tried to lighten the mood.

"My name's Tariq." Tariq painfully and slowly smiled back, aware of Smoke's joke.

Scream knew that if Tariq survived this, he'd be one lucky son of a gun. Scream carefully pulled Tariq out of the rubble and held him close to his chest, fighting back tears, a trait none of his Soldiers saw in Scream. The eldest Soldier emulated Angel as he rocked back and forth, as though it were the only way to keep his Soldier alive. "You hold on, Tariq. Help's coming." He heard the sound of the MedEvacs overhead. "Hang in there."

The medics entered the tent and carefully attended to the injured Soldiers. Angel reluctantly let Dim go as the medics carefully moved him to the waiting helo. "Don't let him die, man. You have to save him!" Angel was helped to the waiting helo, refusing to leave Dim's side and refusing to let go of his hand.

A medic approached Scream and pushed him to the side. "You have to let him go, Sarge!"

Scream knew the medic was right, but he was afraid of what would happen to Tariq if he let him go. Never before had he allowed himself to get close to and care about those he was in charge of. He had seen first hand what happens when Platoon Leaders care too much about the Platoon. He was in charge of this fire team and he couldn't allow himself to, yet here he was, refusing to let go of Tariq's hand.

Tariq looked up at Scream, his eyes staring through the war hardened Staff Sergeant. "I don't want to die, Sage." Tariq's voice was barely above a whisper.

"You're not going to die, Tariq. You hear me?" Scream yelled. "That's a goddamned order!" Scream fought back the tears. He looked over at Dim, who was still struggling to breathe. "That means you too, Dim. You're not dying, either. Don't either of you die on me! Not on my fucking watch!"

"Talk to me, buddy." Scream heard Baron's words echoing in his head. How do I talk about this? Scream fought in his head. He looked up at Captain Baron. "How are my men, Sir?"

Baron sighed. "One died. One is being moved to Landsthul at 2300 tonight and the rest of you will be out on the front lines in a week."

"Who died, Sir?"

Baron sighed. "You know."

Scream nodded. This was all too familiar. A young Soldier dead for doing nothing more than his job. "I'll break it to my men, if you don't mind, Sir."

Baron nodded. He heard and saw how tight of a group these men were and how the two women mechanics were as much of the group. This group had seen too much together, including the deaths of two Lieutenants, to rely on others. This small fire team was a family and Captain Baron knew that all too well. "Very well. But, think about how to do it without making it worse." He shook the Sergeant's hand. "I know you will. Take care, Sergeant."

"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir." Scream was still distant. Baron looked back at his old friend. He knew that the task before him wasn't easy and that Scream would rather be in a firefight than have to tell his close-knit fire team that one of them was dead.

I know! Who do you think died? LoL I haven't decided yet…it's either Dim or GASPS! Tariq!