~Hunter's POV~

Three whole weeks since I've been back in Iraq and unable to either get a signal or have time to call home and update my family and friends on things. Audrey, Caitlyn, Mom, and Dad had all been trying to e-mail, instant message, even walkie-talkie me but I just couldn't answer them. When we arrived back here, Asher took us directly to the central hub of the Draconia base to be informed about a mission that we were needed for. In all that, the base was being attacked in waves every few hours leaving barely any time for the soldiers stuck fighting to recouperate. The drive from the air strip to the main building reveals how much of a mess everything was; people wounded or dead, there were fires, explosions going off in the distance. At some point, I couldn't bear to look at it anymore so I turned my head and closed my eyes. I only hoped the mission we were doing would stop these seemingly endless attacks and give everyone a chance to heal up.

Granted, there were a lot of soldiers at this camp but not all of them were set for battle. The attacks would come at different angles, making it impossible to request backup or rest to be had. The mission was horrible but we pulled through with only injuries and no deaths, thank the Gods for that much. In short what we had to do was infiltrate a base belonging to the enemies, this station was given up during an interrogation that I got stuck doing as part of the mission because I was apparently good at making people talk and no one else had any luck. Our mission had been to sneak in, locate the one calling the shots and kill them.

The worst part about the situation was that we arrived in Iraq at 1 am then I spent two hours interrogating the captive. After that it took an hour to get to the enemy base, and a day to get the mission done, then finally, an hour back to Draconia. I had to stay to give the report while the rest of my team went for a shower or straight to bed, anyone injured was taken to the infirmary. Total time mission time started at 1:30 am Saturday and into Sunday morning at 2 am when we got back to Draconia, then add on the two hours I was reporting the mission to the base leaders. It was 6 am, Sunday morning the 8th of October before I got to sleep. All in all, it sucked but it was worth it because the attacks had stopped.

This didn't mean we won the war, but we got them to back off for a bit. Attacks since the mission had been very small, strikes in the different districts and residential areas continued to be a problem though. Also, there were other enemy bases to worry about. We only took out the person ordering attacks from the base closest to us, and the base wasn't destroyed so enemies could end up using it again. The positive to all the negative was that for the last three weeks, things have become manageable. I had been the one to kill the enemy that day, the base leaders sent me to psych evaluation and that took two hours too before I got to sleep. Thankfully, Harry had told the rest of my platoon to leave me be so I could sleep. I ended up sleeping until 5 am Monday morning; only getting up to use the bathroom and grab a snack to eat.

But here we were, three weeks since then; it was now October 28th, 2017 and I've had no time to contact home so they would know I was all right. One other big thing did happen that I forgot to mention; a week after the mission I got promoted to First Sergeant for the exceptional work on the task I got assigned. A few of the others made it to Private First Class. Treyden made Staff Sergeant, Theo reached Specialist, and Andrew made Corporal. I'd say we did a pretty damn good job, and I still had not a clue as to why Harry referred to Striker One as his A-Team, yet, I hadn't asked him either because things had been so crazy with getting back our feet after all those attacks.

Finally, things were what we could consider normal again. It was back to guards and patrols, missions for recon and contact once or twice. Honestly, I just wanted ten minutes to be able to let someone know I was okay and would update them soon. Such was not my luck and to make things worse on top of that, I think I'm getting sick again. I've felt shitty since breakfast at 8 am and then we had a patrol for eight hours starting at 10 am in one of the residental distracts. The time now was 7 pm, just an hour since the shift ended and we'd be leaving for dinner in a minute or two, I just wanted to sleep and stay on the water so there was not a repeat of BCT graduation day. My friends were never going to let me live that one down.

"Hunt? Hey, wake up. We're heading to dinner," Andrew tapped my arm a few times since I was laying on my bed with my eyes closed. I forced myself to sit up and get down next to them.

"Wasn't sleeping," I mentioned tiredly.

"Hey, you all right, Hunter? You don't look so good," Theo questioned with a concerned voice.

"I'm good, Theo, just tired," I smiled at him. Seeming to accept my answer, the four of us exited our room and filed out with the rest of the platoon towards the mess hall for dinner. Once we were there and had our food, we sat down and started eating. I didn't get through a lot of my dinner before I started feeling worse with a headache and nauseated, I knew better than to keep eating if that was the case.

Treyden was first to notice that I'd gone quiet and stopped eating. "Hunter, are you sure-" he was cut off when Harry came over.

"Haddock, I need to speak with you a moment," Harry asked.

"Sure thing, Major," I replied and got up to follow him out where it would be quieter. "What's up?"

"As you remember, Lieutenant Holgerson had to leave two days ago on a family emergency. Sergeant Rodriguez and Lieutenant Grove are both tied up tonight with their missions, and it's Charlie platoon's patrol on our side of the base line this evening. I've got a meeting with the other company leaders for Dreki Battalion so I can't go. I know you pulled eight hours earlier Would you be willing to go with Charlie as their CO for the 2200 to 1000 shift?" Harry inquired.

Great. Did I have it in me to make it through a twelve-hour patrol over night? I should probably decline and tell Harry that I feel sick to my stomach, but I could see the desperation in my Major's eyes that he wasn't supposed to miss this meeting and was relying on me in a tight spot.

"I'll go with them, Major," I finally said after a minute of silence.

"I knew I could count on you, First Sergeant. I'll let them know they are under your command for the shift," Harry smiled, and I nodded to him. "Thank you for doing this," he added before walking away. I stayed outside and stared up at the sky contemplating what I just agreed to. Twelve-hour patrol for the Dreki Battalion base line with the Charlie Conqueror platoon since Asher wasn't here and the other two platoon leaders were on missions already. This started in two and a half hours at 10 pm, right now it was 7:30 and I'd only just gotten off my own platoon's patrol shift an hour and a half ago. Odin give me strength.

I returned inside the mess hall and sat back down with my friends. "You should turn in early, Hunter," Amanda offered gently.

"I agree. You look beat," Nikolas added in.

"Can't. Andersen just asked me to do base line patrol with Conqueror since Asher isn't here and the other two platoon leaders are busy with their missions," I replied.

"Dude, we just got off an eight-hour shift at 1800. Why didn't Andersen go with them?" Theo asked.

"Because he had meetings with the other company leaders in Dreki Battalion and asked if I wouldn't mind taking the shift," I informed.

"How long is it?" Zander questioned.

"Twelve hours, starting at 2200," I answered.

"Are you going to be okay to do that, Hunter? I mean, you already did eight with us, and we were up at 0400 for that mission to unpin a squad that wasn't in our company until 0530. You...said you were tired not even half an hour ago," Treyden mentioned.

"And I gotta agree with what Theo said earlier, you don't look like your usual self, Hunt," Andrew interjected.

"Guys. I'll be all right," I smiled at them.

(9:45 pm)

~Normal POV~

Hunter was preparing to leave for the shift with Conqueror and decided to keep his phone in the barrack to charge since it was nearly dead anyway. Theo, Andrew, and Treyden were all watching him get ready with his gear on, and his three friends silently observed him. It was briefly discussed after Hunter left the mess hall that something was off; Hunter seemed abnormally slow today, added to that was the fact he kept saying he was tired. Treyden made mention that Hunter didn't eat half his food and a bigger thing they noticed together was that Hunter looked a little pale.

"Well, see you guys in the morning. Oh, Trey, if you wouldn't mind that is, could you try and get a call through my parents to let them know I'm all right since I haven't been able to contact them in three weeks?" Hunter asked.

"I'll give it a shot before we go to sleep. Just tell them you are okay? You know they are going to ask about the sudden departure three weeks ago," Treyden replied.

"Well, you know we're not allowed to talk about anything over a level four due to security reasons. Call my Dad's cell, if you get through, let him know we were needed for a level seven operation. He'll know what it means," Hunter informed.

"Got it. Be safe out there, Hunt," Andrew said, and Hunter nodded before exiting the room, then the barrack to meet up with Charlie Conqueror platoon and get to the base line for 10 pm. As soon as he was out of earshot, the three remaining soldiers in the room sighed heavily.

"Anyone else getting a distinct feeling that we've been here before?" Theo finally said.

"Yep. It's graduation day all over again except for the fact we haven't seen him throwing up," Andrew retorted.

"And now he's about to do twelve hours at the base line even though he's been up since 4 am," Treyden mumbled. "Let's just be grateful that it's not that hot anymore, its cooler this time of year. I guess I should try to get that call in for him; it's about 7:45 back on Archi right now," he added while grabbing Hunter's phone while it was on the charger and located Salvatore's contact ID then checked how much service was available; only one bar and he knew from previous conversations with Hunter that it wouldn't even connect unless there were two so he would have to wait a bit and see if it improved at all. Generally as it got later, the signal would get better.

(Berkton; 11:00 pm-Haddock Residence)

"Sal, something has to be wrong. We haven't heard from him in three weeks," Viola whimpered into her husband's chest about the fact Hunter hadn't contacted them at all since the abrupt departure from his own going away party on the 6th of October. Tonight; Audrey, Heather, and Renee were sleeping over with Caitlyn. Fisher and Travis were staying with Shane but the Jorgenson house was only an eight minute walk down the street so they were currently over at the Haddock's home to hang out and pray that any of their phones would go off and it would be Hunter calling them to say he was all right.

"Vi, I've told you before. If Hunter were badly wounded, we would get a letter in the mail or a phone call to inform us about what happened. If he had been killed, a CNO or casualty notification officer and chaplain would be on our door stop to tell us that he was dead. I'm sure that Hunter is okay and just busy. It's about 1 am in Iraq right now, he's likely on a mission or sleeping," Salvatore sighed and yawned.

"Yeah, I'm sure he's okay, Aunt Vi," Shane attempted.

"I want to hear that from him," Viola sobbed quietly as Sal continued to rub her back. Caitlyn and Audrey felt the same way Viola did only they controlled their emotions, and it only came off as worry and constant glances towards their phones to hope one of the times it would be Hunter calling. The usual people he would call were Sal, Caitlyn, and Audrey. Probably his mom too now that they were on better terms than before Hunter's leave started. When all of them were together like this, the first phones that Hunter made calls to would sit on the coffee table in hopes one would light up or start ringing.

"You three should get home, I don't think we'll hear from him tonight," Sal suggested to Shane, Fisher, and Travis. However, no sooner than they had gotten up to head to Shane's place, vibrating was heard on the center table. It fell silent as Audrey, Viola, Shane, Caitlyn, and Salvatore moved in to check their phones. "It's Hunter!" Sal announced with joy as he quickly answered the call and put it on speakerphone, then had the others stay quiet even though the excitement was hitting hard. "Hi, son! Thank Thor you're all right; we've been worried," Sal greeted.

"It's...actually Treyden, not Hunter. Sorry," came Trey's voice on the other end as they felt the worry rise more. Why would Treyden be calling from Hunter's phone?

"Where's Hunter? Is my baby all right? Has he been injured?" Viola asked quickly ignoring her husband's hand signals to relax.

"Aside from being a stubborn idiot who doesn't know when to take a break, yes, he's okay," said Theo now with a sigh.

"Zip it, Theo. Hunter didn't ask me to call them so you could inform his family of something they know," Treyden remarked, "Don't worry, Mr. and Mrs. Haddock, I assure you Hunter isn't injured. Perhaps over tired but otherwise, just fine,"

"Then why is he having you call us?" Caitlyn inquired.

"Because he's been too busy to call himself or the signal wouldn't hold long enough. Even tonight, he's not with our platoon. Harry asked him to do something with another platoon so Hunter requested I would try and get a call through for him to let you all know he's okay," Treyden informed softly.

"Can I ask why Theo called him a stubborn idiot?" Audrey tried.

"Hunter has been up since four this morning when we had to go unpin a group from enemy fire; then we pulled an eight-hour guard from 10 am to 6 pm. Now he's doing a twelve-hour job; he started at 10 pm our time," Treyden said truthfully.

"What was the deal with you all getting called back that night?" Travis attempted to ask.

"We're...not allowed to discuss the details; I'm only authorized to inform you that it was a level seven mission. Hunter said that you, Mr. Haddock would understand what that meant," Trey stated.

"Aye, that I do. I'll explain it to these guys and girls later. So, Hunter is okay, right? Aside from the over exhaustion?" Sal questioned.

"Yeah, he just asked if I would call and update you since he hasn't been able to and the signal seems to be stronger with the later it gets here," Trey replied.

"Well, we appreciate it, Treyden. Thank you, we've been so worried about him. Make sure he gets some sleep when he gets back?" Viola said next.

"Absolutely, ma'am. We'll keep Hunter in his bed until we're sure he's not si-" Theo stopped short in his words when a blaring horn sounded loudly bringing everything to a dead halt and Sal already got a concerned feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Why would the alarm for enemies spotted go off before we've heard any transmissions on the radio?" Andrew asked slowly.

"Because that wasn't for enemies sighted, Andrew; that alert would have been a high-pitched tone that lasted three seconds. What we just heard was ongoing for a full minute. You know what it means if we hear that particular siren," Treyden reminded.

"I don't understand what's going on. Don't you guys radio into Andersen after it sounds?" Caitlyn inquired.

"No. That's when enemies are spotted, and all platoon leaders will tune into their company channel for orders to gear up or stay back." Treyden informed. "We have different alarms depending on the situation. The three-second tone you heard was for if the attack is being carried out by a company-sized group of enemies to one of the base lines and the patrol sees them from miles away. Once it's radioed in by the platoon leader on patrol, the commanding officer will alert his or her company to get ready and where to go,"

"So what do you do when the horn like what we just heard goes off?..." Heather pushed.

"It means that a platoon of soldiers on patrol for their baseline was attacked without warning by a battalion sized group of enemies and pulled the alarm because they need backup immediately. Each battalion base line has a switch to activate the horn. That signal will go to the core leaders at the center hub for operations, and they will alert the officers in the section where the signal came from then order an immediate deployment of the battalion to assist and fight," Sal explained.

"And we don't do anything until we know which section of Draconia base sounded their alarm. Our platoon leader holds the radio and flips it to the company channel then waits," Andrew added in.

"And the worst part is waiting to find out," Sal sighed. "Usually doesn't take more than five minutes,"

"But Hunter is your platoon leader, and he's not there so who has the radio?" Audrey questioned.

"I do because I'm Hunter's second in command," Treyden stated.

"Hey, guys? Did Hunter say what he was doing tonight?" Theo questioned now.

"He's the fill in CO for Conqueror with Asher away on a family emergency," Andrew mentioned.

"I meant if either of you remembered the job he was doing for twelve hours with them?" Theo reiterated.

"A patrol I think, because we harped on him about taking a second shift after being up since 0400 and him already doing a guard with us," Treyden responded. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure he's on a patrol with Charlie platoon. I just can't remember where it was at,"

"Um. I-I could be wrong and for once, I really hope I am. But isn't it...Conqueror platoon's shift on the Dreki base line duty tonight?" Andrew said slow with a nervous tone. It was that moment that people in the Haddock House heard the boys go quiet then suddenly the radio gave off a loud static sound.

=Code Black! I repeat, Plasma Fire has a Code Black! All troops gear up and report the Dreki Battalion base line immediately!= shouter Major Andersen. =Hang on, Conqueror! We're on our way,=

"Gear up and get ready to raise hell, Hooligans!" Treyden yelled out before the line dropped. The nine people in the Haddock House didn't have words for what they just listened to but it came down to two very important facts. Hunter was in a fight, outnumbered, and in grave danger until back up arrived. Also, they knew that none of them would be getting any sleep tonight.