The total tour of duty time served thus far had reached seven months. That's right, it was officially June 2017, or at least the middle of it with Hunter still on his deployment in Baghdad, Iraq. Although, much had happened in four months since the night of Plasma Fire company throwing Hunter a surprise birthday party to raise his spirits about being away from home. The heat was attrocious, the storms were terrifying, and the work load seemed to have pick up immensely. Hunter hated the fact that he used to have so much time to call home and couldn't because of bad reception and wifi but now he had no time and the signals seemed to improve. Odd turn of events in his eyes, though, it couldn't be helped. All guard and patrol shifts were getting longer in time frame, the missions were becoming increasingly harder.
As for other situations that occurred, Hunter and the rest of Plasma Fire had experienced some of their worst fears about being deployed overseas; losing comrades in battle. In the beginning, the company had ninety-six soldiers back in September 2016. Now, there are eighty-seven remaining as nine had passed away. Only two of those nine had been from Alpha Hooligan platoon members. Four from Bravo and two from Delta. Finally, one from Charlie. After every death in Plasma Fire, when the fighting was over, the fallen soldier's bodies were taken away if they could be recovered from the battle. Following that, the company would pay tribute to those lost in a moment of silence after a few words were spoken.
The worst part of losing comrades wasn't them dying because every man or woman who joined the Armed Forces knew what could happen to them and it was a risk each took daily while deployed. What hurt the most to lose a brother or sister in arms was learning how they died, and in some cases; witnessing such a death as Hunter had come to discover. The first to die from Hooligan had been a male in his early twenties, passed on after stepping on an IED and there was no body to recover. The second death happened today and Hunter had not been prepared to deal with what took place.
/Flashback/
The Alpha Hooligan platoon was on a twelve hour patrol of a nearby village. With only one hour to go, one explosion took place, and things had become a mess as their ride out had been blown up with two injured but nothing life-threatening. Having no choice anymore, Hunter called for extraction and a set of choppers was on their way to pull out the Hooligan platoon. Ten minutes later, the soldiers had cover fire from the helicopters however the fighting had turned to guns and hand to hand combat which made escaping a lot more complicated.
The enemies were being pushed back and Hunter gave the command for the soldiers to start making their way to the choppers. Hunter gave a check around, only five of his platoon were still fighting so he joined in to help out. Each member of Hooligan he helped would run for the helicopter on Hunter's orders.
Hunter looked around quickly and saw one more of Striker Two, RJ Wheeler, locked in a fight with the enemy. Hunter hurried over but froze in his tracks when he saw the soldier from the other side pull a sidearm from behind his belt and shoot RJ in the chest. Hunter reacted so quickly by pulling his handgun off his hip and shooting the enemy in the forehead with one shot. When the Iraqi soldier was dead, Hunter scrambled over to RJ and knelt beside him quickly to check over the wound. Hunter picked RJ up and rushed to the chopper as Treyden and Andrew helped pull RJ inside and then Hunter jumped in and the helicopters started their ascent back to the base.
Two minutes into the flight, Hunter kept his arm under his friend who was basically laying on Hunter's lap to keep RJ from choking on the blood he was coughing up. RJ lifted a hand and held the front of Hunter's vest as he offered a weak smile. "Y-You're...a good man, Hun...ter. Tha-Thank you for...not leaving me...there. N-Now I can...go home," RJ panted out.
"Ssh. No soldier left behind and you're going to be fine. Save your strength, we're almost there," Hunter told him in reply. Theo was trying to keep pressure on the wound but it wasn't doing anything helpful. The others could see it, RJ wasn't going to make it back to the base for treatment. Hunter knew it too but didn't want to accept it. Hunter's uniform had blood on it, in truth it looked like he'd been wounded but he wasn't. By the end of the seventh minute, RJ's eyes were closed and had stopped breathing. Everyone could only assume that since Theo had closed his eyes and pulled back from applying pressure after RJ's hand fell from Hunter's vest where it had been moments ago.
/End Flashback/
The helicopter landed on the pad for Dreki Battalion as the soldiers began to file out. The ones in the chopper with Hunter stopped and waited a minute as Hunter had his head down on RJ's. "Hunter?" Treyden asked slowly. Hunter didn't say a word, RJ just died in his arms three minutes ago and didn't know what he could say right now. Hunter laid RJ flat on the chopper floor as Hunter got out and then picked RJ's body up to take him to the building where fallen soldiers would be cleaned up and placed in a casket to be sent home for their familes.
"Where is Sergeant Haddock?" Harry asked while approaching them after the helicopter quieted down.
"Taking Wheeler's body in to be shipped home," Andrew replied.
"What happened?" Harry inquired.
"Everything was fine the entire time and then an RPG hit Wheeler's unit. We got there to help out, after forty-five minutes, the chopper arrived. Hunter went to help Wheeler but an enemy shot him in the chest. RJ survived seven minutes of the flight and passed away," Treyden explained.
"I see. We'll hold a ceremony to honor any fallen after dinner. Get to your barracks and tell Hunter to take a few hours to himself and my door is open if he needs someone to talk to. It's never easy to lose a brother or sister on the field of battle," Harry informed. The soldiers nodded and headed for their barrack as Harry sighed and went on to inform the base leaders about the loss from Plasma Fire company during the patrol.
(Berkton; 6 pm)
Audrey was over at the Haddock residence since school was out. Viola and Salvatore were having a get together to mark Caitlyn finishing her Sophomore year, of course, the weather wasn't allowing the celebration to be outside so they were in the living room and relaxing with some TV. Audrey's phone vibrated on the arm of the couch as she looked at it and tilted her head to the side.
"What is it, Audrey?" Heather asked.
"There's about the be a live broadcast on channel eight from Camp Draconia in Iraq. Something about soldiers being KIA," Audrey mentioned. Sal reached for the remove and turned on the TV as there was a quick introduction from the newsroom and then the picture changed to Iraq with the reporter, a female this time, was standing off to the side talking about the four soldiers who had been killed in action today. The camera showed the soldiers all standing together in front of three battle crosses; a gun standing tall with a helmet on top, a pair of boots at the base, and the dog tags hanging from the handle. A way to pay tribute to the fallen soldiers.
"The last fallen soldier of today is Private Randall Jameson 'RJ' Wheeler of Striker Two of the Alpha Hooligan platoon in the Plasma Fire company," Harry announced.
"Oh no," Sal whispered.
"What is it, Dad?" Caitlyn asked.
"Hunter is platoon leader of Hooligan, this means he lost a man, a friend in battle," Sal explained softly.
"Four hours ago, the Hooligan platoon was caught in a fight with Iraqi enemies after an RPG hit their location. Private Wheeler was shot in the chest on the left side and saved from death on the battle field by his platoon leader Sergeant First Class Hunter Haddock. Tragically though, Private Wheeler passed away from his wounds," explained the news anchor woman.
"I wonder how Hunter is taking this," Viola frowned while watching the TV sadly as three soldiers came to set up the last cross, each member bowing their head and then giving a salute before returning to their post. As the group watched the screen, they were able to see Hunter step forward with the dog tags belonging to his friend. Hunter stood in front of the set up and took a knee while placing the chain over the handle then he lowered his head. After a moment, Hunter stood up and offered a salute. A zoom in from the camera revealed that while they couldn't see Hunter's eyes, there were tear stains on his cheeks.
"I suppose that answers that question," Shane looked back to his aunt and uncle. On screen, Hunter placed his hand back at his side then returned to the group with his friends. A few words were said by Harry then RJ's battle buddy spoke about him. The ceremony concluded after after a final salute from everyone. The other soldiers began making their way to other locations and as the amount of people cleared out, the reporter was getting statement from the soldiers about how they handled the loss of their friends. However, it did not go unnoticed by the cameraman that Harry rushed by to catch up with some of the soldiers.
"Fury, Kingston, Vollan. Where's Haddock?" Harry asked.
"I don't know, sir. I assume he went back to the barrack with the others. Why? Is something up?" Treyden replied.
"Well, he is the platoon leader and I need his report about earlier. I know you gave me some but I need everything and protocol says he has to be the one to deliver it," Harry explained.
"I know it's protocol, Major Andersen but can't you give him until tomorrow morning? It's been a long and hard day for all of us, especially now with losing Wheeler. We've all been up since 0400 hours, plus the encounter with enemies," Andrew said softly.
"If I could allow the time, I would but I already gave him a few hours and loss of a comrade or not; the base leaders have to know everything. Will you three please go find him and have him come to my office?" Harry inquired.
"You're looking for Hunter?" asked another member of Hooligan platoon as Harry nodded. "He's in front of Wheeler's memorial," the female informed.
As the camera turned to follow Harry, Trey, Theo, and Andrew, it locked on to Hunter's kneeling form in front of the battle cross where it could be seen with a close up that Hunter was in more of a crouch with one hand holding the tags of his fallen friend. Treyden was the first to put his hand on Hunter's shoulder and then look back at Harry, Theo, and Andrew with a sad look in his eyes. Hunter's head was down with his free hand covering his eyes and the shaking was the only thing needed for Sal and the others in the living room to understand that Hunter was crying. Trey crouched down next to Hunter and hugged him tightly. However, before anything else was said, Harry gave a signal to cut the camera out and so it did as the screen returned to the newsroom. Sal turned ther TV off now and looked down.
(Iraq; 8:15 pm)
Harry decided to get Hunter a little more time to mourn and walked towards his office. Theo and Andrew moved to sit with Hunter. None of them talked, they just wanted to be there for Hunter. After ten minutes, Hunter wiped his eyes with his palms and the guys helped him up.
"Sorry," Hunter said in a cracked tone.
"For what? Crying over the loss of a good friend? You never have to apologize for being human, Hunter. We're all upset about it and there's no shame in shedding tears," Theo told him. "Come on, lets get back to the barrack. It's been a long day for all of us," he added.
"You guys go. I'm gonna try and call my Dad," Hunter said as the three friends nodded and walked towards the barrack. Hunter found a quieter spot and pulled out his cell phone, then powered it on. When startup had finished, Hunter saw he had two bars which was just enough to get a call through to home. Hunter dialed the house number and waited for a pick up.
(Berkton)
The landline rang twice and everyone seemed to stop looking at it sitting on the base closest to Caitlyn, she grabbed it and pressed answer before placing it to her ear. "Hello?" After a second or two, her eyes widened and filled with tears. "Oh my Gods! Hunter, is it really you?" she asked quickly. "We've been so worried abo-" she stopped short now and looked at her parents sadly before hitting the speakerphone button while Hunter was talking.
"You're always worried about me, Cait. You know I get busy over here. I am not in the mood to deal with the 'been worried' and 'its been so long since we've talked'. I only have two bars of service, I don't know how long it's gonna last," Hunter stated.
"Hunter, don't be cold to me. Okay, we saw you on TV fifteen minutes ago, we know about your friend-" Caitlyn began softly.
"I'm not...trying to be an asshole here but put Dad on," Hunter said.
"What about the rest of us? We're all here too," Caitlyn said sadly.
"Great but right now, I just want to talk to Dad and if the signal holds after that then I'll talk to everyone else. So either put Dad on or I'll hang up and call his cell instead," Hunter retorted firmly. Salvatore took the phone carefully.
"I'm here, son," Sal said calmly.
"Are you alone?" Hunter asked.
"I am," Salvatore replied gently even though he wasn't, then he heard Hunter start crying. "Hunter, what's wrong, son? Talk to Dad,"
"Does it always...have to hurt this much when you lose a friend?..." Hunter managed and Sal frowned.
"The pain of losing a friend whether be serving your home or freak car accident will be always hurt that much," Sal replied. "Tell me what happened, Hunter. It will help to talk about but whatever you do, don't bottle this, son. You can't, it will destroy from the inside out. That's how PTSD starts, having no outlet,"
Hunter sniffled a few times or so that's what it sounded like at least then took a breath. "It was just a routine village patrol since 0400 hours. Everything was fine until an hour before the shift was supposed to end. An RPG hit where one of my teams was and turned into a fire fight, then hand to hand. I called for extraction, choppers came, everyone got on except RJ because he was still fighting. I-I went to help him and then the enemy pulled his gun and shot RJ in the chest, left side," Hunter began to explain.
"I know how hard it is to lose a friend, Hunter. I've lost many too. You brought him back to the base and even though he passed away, take pride in knowing that his body won't stay on enemy lines, that he gets to come home,"
After Sal said that, Hunter seemed to start crying harder again and it made Sal feel like he said something he shouldn't have. "RJ...didn't die on the base..." Hunter forced out.
"The anchor woman said you're the one who got him in the chopper," Sal mentioned.
"I did...but he didn't make it to the base. RJ...died...in m-my arms," Hunter sobbed quietly as Sal put a hand over his eyes, he had been hoping that wasn't the case. "I carried RJ to the chopper and we headed for the base. Theo kept pressure on the wound and RJ was...lying against me, I kept him sitting up so he wouldn't choke on the blood he was coughing up. Gods, it was awful, Dad. RJ...called me a good man, thanked me for not leaving him there and making it so he could go home. But he didn't make it, he...died three minutes away from the base,"
"Oh, son. I'm so sorry. I know it's not easy but just...think of how at peace he was when he went. His leader not leaving him behind, knowing that he wouldn't survive but because of you, now he gets to be buried at home. And he passed on surrounded by friends who cared about him. What I'm saying, Hunter, is that even though he's gone now...you made his last moments happy," Salvatore informed.
"The rest of us aren't happy. His...family won't be happy. I don't...see any...joy in this," Hunter coughed a few times.
"Hunter, listen to me. You remember when you were little, you asked me why the flag is always moving even when there's no wind? I told you that you would understand when you got a little older so I'm going to give you that answer. Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it; it flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it. Now, I know your friend has passed away but that doesn't mean he is gone. Your friend will be that strength you ask for before a big battle, he'll be that miracle you beg for when all hope seems lost, he'll fight beside you in spirit just like all the brothers and sister who have fallen before him," Sal said calmly.
Hunter's sobbing turned back to sniffles as he wiped his eyes and coughed again. "Hunter, we can hear you coughing from our barrack room. Take a drink before you get dehydrated again," demanded Andrew.
"It might be 8:30 at night but it's still 96 degrees outside," Theo added with a sigh. "Major wants to see you about what happened,"
"Of course he does," Hunter mumbled a bit. "Tell him I'll be there in ten minutes," A slight pause on Hunter's end before he sighed heavily. "I guess I better go for now, I'll try to call back after I talk to Andersen,"
"Go do what you have to do son. Don't worry about calling back, it's been a long day for you. The best advice is this; go take a cool shower, drink some water, and go to sleep. Okay? We can talk after you've had some time to mourn with your other comrades." Sal said ignoring the silent glares and protests from his wife and daughter about wanting to talk to Hunter too.
"I'll call again next chance I get. Oh! I know I'm on speakerphone because I can hear the echo. So, I'm sorry I didn't get to talk to all of you but tonight I really just needed my Dad. Anyway I give everyone my love. With any luck, I'll get to see you guys and girls soon. They started letting us request our leave time off at the start of June. I put in for two weeks in July but no guarantees I'll get it," Hunter said softly. "And Dad...thanks. I feel a lot better than I did earlier, I knew talking to you would help,"
"Anytime, son. Now go on before you get in trouble. We love and miss you so much," Salvatore smiled.
"Love and miss you too. Bye for now," Hunter replied and then the call ended. Sal put the phone back on the base with a smile and relaxed. Sal knew why Hunter wanted to talk to him about this, because Sal had been through losing friends too. Of course, Viola and Caitlyn were both jealous of the relationship that Hunter and Salvatore had, the two were closer than anyone else Hunter associated with. Even Viola and Caitlyn came in third to Gregory Forger, Sal's best friend and Godfather of Hunter and Caitlyn, their unofficial uncle. Sal felt good knowing he helped Hunter during this tough time when he'd lost a good friend. Salvatore loved the fact that Hunter wasn't ashamed to show him the emotions he felt when things happened.
For Salvatore, this was just one more situation where Hunter and him got to have a genuine heart to heart with one another and made things better than they were before.
