He Won't Be Coming Home

Once again, there we all were, myself and the rest of the men in my troop, back in Baghdad. Our target as of late was patrolling. Only patrolling. No combat unless we were fired on first.

We walked the streets of the city, split up into groups of two or three, and kept an eye out for anything that looked suspicious. If suspicious activity turned into imminent threat, we were to open fire without warning, praying that no civilian was in the line of fire. Not that shooting a civilian would hurt our consciences too greatly - we were so used to shooting anyone and everyone that I wasn't so sure we even had consciences anymore. It certainly didn't feel like it for me, at least.

At the time, I was paired with O'Halloran, who proved to be sufficient company. I couldn't help for think that if Zack were still alive, he would be at my side through this. Thoughts like that would often still plague my mind, even after all that time had passed. It was now middle of November, two and a half months after the fact. The only thing I could look forward to about the passing of time was that maybe the sweltering heat would die down, a few degrees at least, because walking around under the white-hot sun in full uniform, weaponry, protective gear, and the pack on my back really didn't do much for my overall health.

Night was beginning to approach around eight, and O'Halloran and I had been on our feet for the majority of the day. We turned onto another street that was full of little vender stalls, their owners selling all sorts of little home made things, from shawls to small pieces of pottery.

"I say we take a seat," O'Halloran stated, and I glanced over at his sweaty face and nodded. We spotted two upright barrels along the wall of a stone building next to a vender and sat on them, resting our backs against the wall. It felt good to finally have a rest.

Reaching into my back behind me, I grabbed the water in my canteen and took a few drinks, feeling the cool water slide over my dry tongue and down my throat. Putting it away I sighed deeply and closed my eyes for a moment.

"Hey, no falling asleep on me. I don't want to be in charge of hauling your ass around," I heard O'Halloran say from beside me in alight, teasing voice. I felt a nudge in my side and smiled.

"I won't," I assured him. Only a few short minutes later I could hear the steady droning of planes.

"Woah," Tom said quietly, full of awe, and I opened my eyes to see a handful or so of planes flying above, their direction pointed to the left of us, aimed at the middle city.

"What the... Are those ours?" I asked, my brow furrowing as I got back on my feet and watched them, their forms dark, almost blending into the nightfall starting to surround us.

"...I think so. Any idea what they're here for?" Tom asked, and in that moment he was standing at my side, watching.

"No clue," I answered, and the next thing I knew, a place in the city not far from us was completely up in flames, the resounding explosion hitting my ears with deafening force only seconds later.

"Holy shit! They're fucking bombing us!" Tom yelled from next to me, jumping once in alarm. I couldn't take my eyes away from the blazing fire as it grew, more explosions spreading out and deafening me again. I was surprised I could even hear my radio squawking over all the noise.

"All groups report back to the pickup location, now!" the voice of Captain Keys came over, loud and clean, stating the order that we were to follow. There was an uneasy urgency in his voice, and I wondered if he had any idea that our own side would start bombing the city as we were patrolling it.

"Let's get the hell out of here," I said to Tom, and before we turned in the other direction, more bombs were dropped, only they were closer, brighter, and louder than before. Close enough for me to feel the vibrations in the ground through my feet. Without a moment to spare, Tom and I bolted through the panicking groups of civilians who were crying out in fear and confusion as they tried to get away from the fireballs.

"Soon we had met up at the pickup point, other soldiers and the Captain coming into view.

"What the hell is going on?!" I screamed at Captain Keys as he plugged one ear and listened to the radio. He just glanced up at me momentarily before listening intently to whoever was contacting him on the radio. The falling bombs were coming closer to us again, and I feared that if we didn't get out of there quick, they would be dropping on all sides of us.

"Alright men. I don’t know what's going on. This is nothing that I have been informed of," the Captain explained, trying to stay as calm as possible. The look in his eyes as they reflected the nearby explosions gave away his fear, and I knew that he was just as scared and confused as the rest of us were.

"They can't get any Humvees to us right now, but they're trying. We just have to sit tight and wait til they get here."

"Sit tight!? Sit fucking tight!? There are bombs falling from our own planes, and soon they're gonna be on top of us, and you want us to sit tight?!" I practically screamed at him.

"That's enough Private Sanders. There's nothing else we can do, except find buildings for cover," the Captain advised, and I growled deep in my throat. We were then separated into two large groups, sent into abandoned buildings on either side of the street. The captain was in the building across the road from mine, which was probably good because I'd have said some choice words otherwise.

I was crouched against an inner doorway of the old crumbling building, O'Halloran at my side once more as the orange light of the explosions danced across the walls.

"Fucking camp out in buildings..." I grumbled. "Buildings are the damn targets!" I hissed, then glanced over my shoulder at the rest of the men in my group who were stood in doorways and against walls."

"Foolish fucking idea."

"Hey, just chill out, alright?" Tom said from beside me. "Everything's going to be okay."

I sighed deeply as I looked back out into the street. The night had come, but there was no trouble seeing anything tonight. I could hear the droning of planes getting louder and louder, right overhead, and my hear quickened apace, beating erratically as my blood pressure increased.

"They're right fucking over us. Those damn Humvees better-" I growled, but the radio went off.

"Alright, get in position across from us at the street. The Humvees are close and you're gonna need to get straight to them. No stragglers," the Captain ordered, and we all moved to the street-side doorway, the Captain and the rest of the squad in the same position as us, waiting.

Not one minute later, the droning of planes drowning out my thoughts, I saw a wall of yellow and orange flames. The entire building opposite us exploded, bits flying everywhere as the entire place went up in smoke, taking the Captain and other half of the group with it.

"Get down!" I screamed, throwing myself backwards into the building. I landed on my side heavily, knocking the wind out of me as debris slammed into the front half of the building. I wheezed deeply as I sat up, trying to get my breathing back to normal.

The Captain was gone. The men were gone. All that was left was O'Halloran, myself, and the last handful or so of soldiers.

"Captain Keys... Captain Keys," I heard someone call over the radio. My hand shaking as I pulled the devise from my side, I put it to my face and spoke.

"This is Private Sanders. Captain Keys has been killed in action." I waited a few moments hearing only static before a reply.

"We see that your pickup point has been bombed and the Humvees can no longer reach your position. Can this be confirmed?"

"Confirmed."

"We're sending in some Black Hawks to pick you up. Where is your position?" the voice on the other end asked.

"Fuck..." I muttered to myself, trying to put into words how to describe our location.

"We're in the building on the east side of the pickup point," I informed them. There was a moment of silence again.

"Get yourself and your men to the roof. Over."

My men? What, was I the fucking Captain now?

"You heard him, to the roof," I ordered, and I set off deeper into the building, finding a staircase and climbing to the next floor. I was thankful that the building was only three stories high, because it made for one short trip to the roof. Once we were all up there we had a better view of the city. Plumes of thick black smoke were rising on every side, off a little ways in the distance. Buildings were blazing, and I thought of all the innocent people whose lives had been taken on this one mistake.

The wind whipped around us as the two Black Hawk choppers descended down to us, and I backed up a few feet, shielding my eyes from the dirt and dust flying up everywhere. Once we had dispersed into the two Hawks, they lifted off, carrying us up and away from the madness that was ensuing in the city. I looked down on the building Captain Keys had been holding out in, only to see a wall of smoke and flame.

Turning to O'Halloran next to me, I let my thoughts be heard.

"Everything's going to be okay, huh?"