Title: Don't Drink The Water, Chapter One
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: Suspicions confirm that there's a traitor in their midst; Scream and His Squad fight to save a comrades life.
A/N: Lieutenant Hunter is still amongst the living in the beginning of this tale...
Warning: This story is rated NC-17 for coarse language and sexual situations. Be warned that this story does include depictions of war; and while not over graphic, they may cause some readers discomfort. Please read at your own risk.
A Small Village outside Baqubah, Iraq
Sulayman Abu Mazul al-Fallujah was not a happy man; he was downright bitter and had been that way for most of his life. Many years earlier, he accepted that he was simply an unlucky man forsaken by Allah, and as a Muslim, not believing in the concept of karma, he believed he'd live out the rest of his days as in very much the same way.
That was until he found himself suddenly charged with a mission, a rare opportunity to not only serve his family, his country, his people, but a chance to redeem himself in the eyes of Allah.
He would perform this simple task asked of him. He would help strike deep into the heart of the infidel, and while it was possible that he might die in the attempt, at least he would depart this world as a Martyr, knowing he would be guaranteed the right to enter heaven and partake of all that paradise had to offer.
Sergeant Christopher Silas sat in the front passenger seat of the hot and rather rank smelling Humvee, his window rolled all the way down despite the heat of the day. He looked very much like a Labrador or some other large breed of dog, with his dark head hanging out of the window and his mouth open as he tried to breathe in as much fresh air as he could. On the other side of the seat Dim was doing the same, while Angel stood guard up top with his rifle locked and loaded, ready if need be, but mostly because the rear windows refused to budge.
It had been a simple task really; just a quick trip to Baqubah's main drag to serve eviction papers, something they'd been called upon to do before, the last time being the visit to the small orphanage in the center of town. He hadn't been back there since, or at least not since the night he'd spent with Sophie; he hadn't even gone with Angel and Tariq when they'd brought the young boy from Barak to stay with her until a permanent home could be found for him.
Dawud, that had been the boys' name. He'd told himself he'd make it back there to check on him, maybe even to see how Sophie and the children were doing, but he hadn't and he wasn't exactly sure why that was.
The trip would have been a breeze were it not for the three goats that had decided to seek shelter from the brutal Iraqi sun in the back seat of the Humvee, which they'd done with the assistance of several small children, who'd realized that the latch on the back door of the vehicle hadn't totally closed. The children laughed and jumped up and down on the dirt roadway as the soldiers attempted to pressure the barnyard beasts into leaving by banging on a side window with all the doors open. However the only thing they succeeded in doing was frightening the animals, so much so, that they'd been unable to hold their water or control their bowels.
"Geez!" Dim said for about the fifth time, his face reddened from the sun." What a stink!"
Silas didn't reply; he'd been traveling down old memory lane, the stench from the goats reminding him of a trip to the Long Island Game Farm with Mrs. Karl's second grade class. The camel had spit at Mrs. Karl and the llama had thrown up on his best friend Jimmy. Jimmy had been quite the celebrity for four whole days.
Coming down thru the hills they could see Camp Freedom laid out below them; what once had been an old military airstrip surrounded by earthen berms and barbed wire was now a small city of tents and outbuildings sitting against a desert landscape. That had been back when it bore the name 'Camp Warhorse' and the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, nicknamed the 'Warhorse Brigade', had achieved many significant accomplishments during its deployment. The 'Warhorse Brigade' had
Assisted in establishing an interim government and helped rebuild the provincial legal system, essentially spearheading the coalition mission in the area. But inSeptember of 2004, as part of an Army-wide effort to give its facilities friendlier sounding names, Camp Warhorse was renamed Camp Freedom I or as it was known in Arabic, "Camp Al-Hurya Al-Awal".
Now it was being further transformed into an elaborate copy of its sisters and brothers across Iraq, and soon there would be a several indoor stores built just outside the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation facility where his fellow soldiers could buy fake watches, five dollar "Ray Ban" sunglasses that would fall apart two days later and illegally copied DVDs, even though AAFES repeatedly stated that the selling of "knockoff" merchandise was not authorized. Then, when they'd finished their shopping they'd be able to eat in the Pizza Hut or Burger King.
Scream looked down at the area where the new construction was being planned and shook his head. A day at the mall, in helmets and full body armor; how exciting, how truly strange.
Dim shook his head. "Make's you think about priorities, doesn't it Sergeant?"
"Dim, right now all I'm thinking about is whether you've figured out that the accelerator is on the right! Now shut up and get this goddamned heap of shit moving!" he yelled before hanging his head back out of the window.
Captain Baron's Command Tent
Camp Freedom
01000
SSGt 'Scream' Silas sat in an uncomfortable canvas chair hoping his attempts to move his ass into a more comfortable position didn't look anything like the other officers and NCO's who were conspicuously squirming in their seats. It amazed him that the ARMY Corps of Engineers could move earth and water, build levees, plan and design buildings, operate dams, build locks and carve the intracoastal out of some old swamp land in Florida, yet somehow no one in the ARMYcould construct a comfortable chair.
Scream listened as Captain Baron outlined the objectives of their impending mission to catch a group of insurgents who had been targeting government buildings in and around Baqubah, with the primary goal of general destruction and disruption of the new interim government's occupation, and of course, the chance to shoot a few desert camflouge wearing infidels only sweetened the pot.
Despite several well-planned raids, the group of 30 or so insurgents, at first laughingly nicknamed "KAOS", had avoided capture several times. Yesterday they had received word from command regarding rumors that the group would attempt to bomb a mosque in Baqubah; and not just any mosque, but one of the oldest and largest mosques in the surrounding area and considered a holier then holy place. Those higher up in the food chain expected this to happen sometime in the next 36 hours. Four units would be charged with guarding and defending the Mosque while the other units advanced on the nearby town where KAOS was thought to be building and stashing their weapons. Another unit would be waiting somewhere between the on the road into Baquabah and hopefully prevent them from entering the town and capture as many insurgents as possible.
Listening with one ear, Silas surreptiously looked around at the other men assembled. He acknowledged a quick nod from Lieutenant Lapus, a slight grin from Seargent First Class Hutchinson, and then glancing just a shade to the right,he spied Lieutenant Hunter. The lieutenant's long torso was stuffed into his chair; his feet were flat on the ground and his long legs bent in what had to be a most painfully uncomfortable position.
Scream chuckled to himself and turned his full attention back to the Captain,
now handing a stack of maps to Corporal St. Claire, who began to pass through the crowded tent. He looked down at the map he was holding in his hands and specifically at a small shaded area, supposedly a small village just outside of Baqubah, and was momentarily confused. Looking up, he saw several other confused parties. He saw Lieutenant Lapus shake his head and then called out, "Excuse me, Captain, sir?"
"Lieutenant?"
"Uh…sir, this map...how recent is it?"
"According to intelligence, the map and the surveillance photo you're being given is approximately 48 hours old."
Lapus nodded. "Sir, I'm not familiar with….."
"Yes, Lieutenant? " Baron asked.
"Well sir, I know this area quite well but, I am not familiar with the location of the village depicted here." Several others murmured their assent.
"I wasn't familiar with it myself, gentlemen." Baron replied, looking from one side of the tent to the other. "I'm told the village is located in a shielded low -lying area and was simply never picked up by us before. "
Silas watched as Lapus responded to Baron, then sat back stiffly in his chair. He could tell that despite the C.O.'s response, Lapus was not satisfied.
"Sergeant Silas, you're team will be doing guard duty." Baron stated with a quick glance over at Lieutenant Hunter, who's face clearly showed what he thought of
that particular task. "It will be your task to make sure that Mosque is safe."
"Three and four, you'll be infiltrating the village." Baron continued." Lieutenants Lapus and Howell's teams will attempt to stop any insurgent activity they see on the road entering the city limits. Make sure your people know the drill and what is expected of them. I want full body armor on every one of them."
He looked at his men closely before saying," If there are no more questions, you are all dismissed." A moment later the loud sound of chairs scraping, loud voices, and heavy boots plodding across thin sheets of plywood filled the tent as everyone headed towards the exit. Silas was about to exit himself when he heard Baron's raised voice "Sergeant Silas? A moment of your time, please."
Silas turned back and nodded, stepping sideways and leaning against the side of the tent to allow his fellow soldiers to pass him, before walking over to the Captain's table and asking, "You wanted to see me, sir?"
Baron sat down behind the table that served as his desk and pointed to the chair on the opposite side. "Have a seat, Sergeant, I wouldn't keep you long. I know you have a lot to do before we leave tonight."
"Yes sir," the Sergeant said, lowering himself into yet another uncomfortable chair, sitting silently, and waiting for the Captain to speak. When Baron continued to look directly at him but made no effort to speak, the Sergeant cleared his throat and asked, "Uh, sir? Is there something wrong?"
Baron looked around the now empty tent and expelled a long breath. "Sergeant, I…well I don't quite know how to ask this, so I'll just ask your opinion straight out. Sergeant is it, uh…possible that one of the men in this camp could be a ……." He sighed again. "You know everything that goes on around here, you hear the rumors."
Silas nodded, unsure where this was going.
"Shit," Baron said. "Sergeant…could someone possibly have given confidential information to someone outside this base?" Baron said in a rush, just wanting to get the words out and never have to do it again.
Silas's head jerked back as though he'd been slapped across the face with incredible force, a look of shock crossed his features and a soft "Huunh" sound came from deep in his chest. "Captain, excuse me, but are you asking if one of our men, my men, could be … spying for the enemy?" The question tinged with not only a little anger.
Baron leaned against the back of his chair and blew a stream of air thru his lips.
"I'm sorry I even had to ask you, Sergeant, but this comes from Command, not me, and I've already had this conversation with most of my officers. Like I said, I'm asking you because I know that you see and hear a lot of what goes on here. The men trust you, not only your men but all of them."
"Look…I can't imagine any of my men being a spy, but the higher ups seem to feel that we have a leak somewhere since KAOS seems to know exactly when we're coming and where we're going and how to avoid us. They feel that someone privy to the information is helping them out and personally, I think it's a load of horseshit!"
"I agree with you on that, sir."
"Again, I'm sorry to have to have asked."
Silas nodded.
"Alright, thank you sergeant. This conversation remains in this tent."
"Oh course, sir."
"Fine, you're dismissed, Sergeant."
Silas stood and with a nod to his commanding officer, turned and quickly left the tent, then strode across the dusty compound and towards his own barracks, which he found to be empty.
The Captains question made him feel ill at ease; was it possible that someone, that one of his fellow soldiers, or one of his own men, could be passing information to the insurgents? Could someone he knew and trusted, be a spy?