Nightmare-Z

by S. A. Lowry

  Andrew is about to ask him what’s wrong when the company First Sergeants begin calling their soldiers to formation.

  “Get going bro, we’ll talk about it later,” orders Trevor. Andrew complies and proceeds to walk over to his respective company. The talking has ceased now at this point as Andrew falls into line up with the other soldiers. With everyone now waiting at parade rest while remaining silent, they patiently wait for their senior leadership to show up and call the Battalion to position of attention.

  Time goes by and nobody shows. The soldiers begin to grow impatient and start bending their knees so they don’t lock up and end up passing out. Around thirty minutes later of pure silence and stillness, a Master Sergeant is noticed driving into the motorpool in a maroon SUV with a worried look on his face. He steps out and calls the First Sergeants over to him. Andrew observes their brief discussion from afar and studies their body language. Hoping they get this over quick and not come up with anything stupid for them to do. Like stand in place and wait for another hour.

  While the senior leadership continue to converse amongst each other, Andrew notices excessive coughing within the ranks. Few minutes pass by as he continues to study the leadership’s body language, when the coughing throughout the ranks increase to a constant flow. One soldier in the back actually breaks ranks and begins puking everywhere. Everyone looks back and begins to laugh and joke about the sickly soldier’s misfortune while they continue to cough as well.

  Trevor notices on his side, everyone around him is starting to look clammy and pale. Like the Iraqi civilians near the front gate to the base who were begging for his help as he drove by them earlier ago. Also, coughing is rampant on his side as well.

  Eventually, it begins to annoy Trevor to the point where he wants to say something. However, he does not. One soldier standing next to Trevor, whom appears to be a Private First Class, appears to be shaking badly as if he was cold and trying to keep warm. Trevor continues to notice the soldier going through some type of bodily cold sweat complex as sweat drips from his hair and ears.

  Now a little bit worried for this soldier, Trevor leans over to him and whispers, “Are you alright hot rod? Got to lay off the Hydroxycut boy.”

  The soldier turns to Trevor and looks him in the eye and responds, “I, I, I’m al, al alright Sergeant.” Trevor quickly jerks his head away from the soldier after looking into his eyes. Something about the soldier’s eyes did not look right. His pupils seem to be fading away and turning a milky white color.

  “God damn,” Trevor whispers to himself in shock as one of the First Sergeants, now complete with the meeting, walk up to the middle of the Battalion formation in order to address them.

  “The Commander and Sergeant Major just got word of a last minute meeting they were to attend. They will not be present. We will continue accordingly,” one of the First Sergeants inform.

  He soon calls the Battalion to attention as one of the Sergeant First Classes scramble to push to the front of the formation for the company with the missing First Sergeant. All soldiers quickly snap to attention and sound off loudly with their unit motto. The First Sergeant then conducts an about-face(drill and ceremony movement) and awaits the acting commander of the formation.

  To Trevor and Andrew’s surprise, thinking they would see the Battalion XO(executive officer or second in command) post in front of the First Sergeant, they appear to notice one of the other Company Commanders pushing up the ranks to take charge and give the order to post. This confused many people to see a Company Commander take charge of a Battalion formation because there is always supposed to be an XO present in the absence of a Commander. Andrew at this point, thought to himself that this must be a real important meeting.

  The acting Sergeant Major presents arms(salutes). The acting Battalion Commander returns in kind. Upon dropping his salute, the acting Sergeant Major for the time being follows suite.

  Seconds later, the acting Battalion Commander takes one step forward, looks left and right, then yells the order to post. All the remaining First Sergeants in the respective companies fall out to the rear of their company formations as the Company Commanders push to the front. Upon assuming their positions, the acting Battalion Commander falls everyone out and tells them to form a horse shoe around himself and the acting Sergeant Major.

  Trevor is somewhat excited because he is starting to think that these guys will give him an explanation of what’s been going on lately. He is sadly mistaken. As the Company Commander begins addressing the soldiers in the Battalion, it becomes apparent to Trevor and now even Andrew that he is in way over his head. As he talks, his body language appears jittery. He slurs his speech and comes off as way too nervous even for a simple opening sentence to his soldiers.

  He informs the group that from here on out, he will be assuming Command of the Battalion. His acting Sergeant Major will be the First Sergeant whom addressed them prior. He does not give any reason as to why it has come to this and goes on about enforcing standards, uniformity and cleanliness.

  He attempts to give a motivational speech regarding the excellence within the Battalion. He goes on to talk about smaller, illegitimate issues and motorpool safety. He does not even come close to addressing the reason for the sudden change in leadership. Shortly after he concludes his speech, he reminds everyone that the end of tour awards ceremony will continue as scheduled.

  Everyone goes back to their respective company spots and begins to line up again. Once the Battalion is called to attention, the newly acting Battalion Commander give everyone the order of “Open ranks, march.”

  Upon execution of this order, each column in the Battalion formation either takes a few steps forward or backwards to allow walking room for any one person to walk by and pin their newly earned award on them. This ceremony will take awhile, especially to do every soldier for the entire Battalion. A group of five or six privates file behind the acting Battalion Commander and Sergeant Major struggling to hold all of the awards in their hands. The citations begin down the line.

  As the citations are being read out loud, person to person for all to hear, the rest of the Battalion remains at position of attention without moving. Slight coughs as well as choking sounds consume the ranks. Once the leaders finish their 20th soldier, Trevor notices another flight leave Basrah international airport from afar.

  He wonders if the Battalion Commander, Sergeant Major, Battalion XO and Battalion OPS Sergeant Major is on that flight. Nobody knows, he tells himself as he tries to seal his lips so he doesn’t consume the germs of other people’s hysterical coughs around him. Shortly after, he notices Andrew at position of attention staring at him with a worried look on his face. Trevor knows what is on his mind and stares back stoically.

  . . . . The alarm clock goes off with it’s annoying loud ringing sound yet again. Bright numeric numbers read 4:00 AM. Andrew rises from his bunk. Time to get up and report over to the Mayor Cell for his last day of work call before he flies out on R&R leave. He goes about his morning routine as usual.

  Once he is all dressed and ready to go, he walks out the front door to the tent on the way to where he has to report. It’s only about a mile down the road and not a whole lot of people out in the morning darkness. On his way there, he hits a dirt road which is commonly traveled by vehicles. He notices off in the distance, yet another flight leaving out of Basrah International airport. He ignores it shortly after a glance.

  Upon reporting to his detail at 0445, he is greeted by two Staff Sergeants and three Specialists. Another soldier comes walking out of the back room who appears to be a Sergeant First Class.

  Moments later, the Sergeant First Class proceeds to brief them on what their tasking is for the day and tells them how long they will be doing it for. As he continues to talk, he continues to explain what type of uniform they need to be in as well.

  “Great,” Andrew tells himself as he turns around and walks back to the tent to pick up his helmet an vest.

  His unit
failed to inform him that he needed his mission essential gear because they will be assuming control of ECP Ritz due to the abandonment by the Ugandan gate guards.

  One of the Staff Sergeants, upon receiving the briefing asks why they left the gate. As a result, the Sergeant First Class fails to respond with a substantial answer. He assumes, however, that the security contract ran out due to the pending American pull out of Iraq. Andrew is out to assume the gate guard position with one other Staff Sergeant for the next twelve hours. Chow will be brought to them as coordinated prior, the Sergeant First Class tells them.

  Upon returning back to the mayor cell, Andrew tosses his gear in the back of the civilian SUV and hops in the back. The Staff Sergeant who will assume guard with him is waiting in the front passenger seat while the Sergeant First Class hangs out behind the driver’s wheel. Upon arriving to the gate, they receive a radio and a clipboard from the man in charge. The clipboard will be used to keep headcount of patrols coming in and going out the front gate of FOB Basrah.

  Once the soldiers are in position and ready to assume the gate, the vehicle takes off into the distance. Andrew and the NCO begin to engage in small talk after the NCO makes his radio checks with the TOC(tactical operational center). They do not have a guard shack to sit in nor a vehicle for support. They just have two cases of water off to the side, their gear, their rifles and a front gate pole which they have to raise and lower when conveys pass by. They are not allowed to sit down for the duration of the shift either as they were instructed prior to assuming the gate.

  Some hours go by. Andrew counted two more flights land into the airport and fly out in a four hour time frame. Also, no conveys have came in or out as of yet. As the sun beats down upon them, Andrew decides to crack open his fifth water bottle of the day to consume.

  That is when he notices a crowd off into the distance of some twenty to forty individuals walking towards him down the straight away strip of road which goes from ECP Ritz(where he is located) towards ECP Alpha(IA controlled gate).

  As a result, he quickly alerts the NCO of what he is seeing approach the gate as the Staff Sergeant attempts to light up a cigarette in one of the bomb shelters provided for shade. The NCO walks out, alarmed at what he’s just been told and observes the situation. As the crowd of individuals get closer, he decides to call up the TOC and inform them of the situation. They acknowledge on the other side and tell the NCO they will be kicking out QRF(quick reaction force) to their location to assist and resolve the pending situation.

  Now Andrew has the crowd in plain sight. As they get closer, Andrew and his partner take up positions behind some sand bags and prop their M4 Carbines up top for stable support.

  Andrew notices that the entire crowd of people happens to be unarmed military aged males. One of them is also carrying an OD green backpack.

  “What the hell is going on here Sergeant? These people shouldn’t be here,” asks Andrew as he looks down his ACOG sight at the crowd to paint a better picture for himself. “I don’t know either man. I don’t know how they got past Alpha and the Iraqi Army up there. They could of let them in for all we know,” nervously exclaims the Staff Sergeant.

  As the crowd looms closer and closer, they appear to notice that Andrew and the other gate guard has their weapons drawn on them. As a result, they begin to place their arms up in the air as they walk closer to display a non-aggressive approach. This puts Andrew and the NCO at ease for the time being until QRF arrives.

  Upon arriving at the gate, most of the crowd stays back a safe distance with their hands up. Some of them are trying to ask something in Arabic but none of the soldiers can make it out.

  Some are moaning and crying while others are coughing. One of the men, who appears to be the leader of the crowd, walks ahead of everyone now stopped and approaches Andrew with a backpack on him. Andrew points his weapon at him and tells him to stop.

  As a reaction, the man calmly assumes a kneeling position with both of his kneecaps planted onto the pavement. His complexion seems to startle the Staff Sergeant on guard. He is a sickly looking man and is constantly coughing as well. This man is wearing a black t-shirt and torn up blue jeans. He is wearing sandals and has a checkered colored red and white scarf like apparel around his neck.

  While on his knees, he places his hands down and proceeds to pull the backpack off his shoulders. He then places the bag in front of him and slides it towards the gate in Andrew’s direction by a few feet. He continues to call out in Arabic in a type of begging voice now with his hands still in the air.

  The Staff Sergeant calls up a sitrep. The TOC instructs them not to go near the bag and to push back a safe distance until QRF arrives. The TOC also informs the NCO they will spin up EOD(explosive ordnance disposal) to check out the bag and to hold tight until they come on scene. The NCO complies.

  Now waiting in their fighting positions, the crowd begins to grow impatient. Some sit down to rest while still keeping their hands up. One of them begins puking in the middle of the road. Some of their moans begin to grow louder and more frequent the longer they wait.

  Ten minutes later, four MRAP trucks appear on scene just short of the gate. A few soldiers hop off while an EOD truck is seen racing up off into the distance behind them. One of the soldiers appear to be walking with an Iraqi interpreter.

  As they approach the gate, the leader of the convey, whom is a First Lieutenant, asks the NCO on guard with Andrew what was going on. The NCO explains from his position while the other newly arrived soldiers begin taking up tactical spacing and positions in order to assist securing the gate.

  The now curious Lieutenant tells his men to stay put and watch them as he walks up to the crowd with his interpreter. Andrew reminds the officer that EOD is on its way and that they were told to stay away from the bag. The Lieutenant shrugs off Andrew’s comment and approaches the men anyway.

  Andrew realizes this is a very bad idea. As he observes the conversation between the group, the Lieutenant and the third party interpreter, some EOD soldiers can be seen walking up and beginning to inspect the bag. Andrew can over hear the Lieutenant yell back to the EOD guys that the bag is filled with RKG-3 hand grenades and that the group of Iraqis are insurgents trying to surrender to the US.

  The Lieutenant then turns his back on the crowd and walks back to the bag’s location. EOD unzips the bag and pulls out one of the hand grenades to inspect them. A few seconds later, the soldier places it back in the bag and walks back past Andrew’s position to a bunker where one of the men begins laying out the hardware in order to get a count. The Lieutenant walks back there with him while the interpreter still outside the gate continues to talk to the group of men.

  Andrew now counts around ten hand grenades laid out. These men are apparent Basrah hand grenade throwers which is a common enemy attack on American forces in the region. They usually hang out in crowded areas such as market places and busy intersections in the alleyways and wait for the last vehicle of a convey to throw it. Hardly ever does any real damage but is very dangerous for any gunner in the turret who could be exposed to the blast and shrapnel if he finds himself standing up too high.

  Once the conversation is over between the interpreter and the group of men, the languist walks back to the Lieutenant and the EOD team. Andrew can over hear the entire conversation as he watches the men through his sights.

  “These men are part of the Promise Day Brigades(a militant wing of Shiite cleric Moktada Al-Sadr). They claim that they have attacked many American vehicles over the past year in the city. They are also responsible for various rocket attack in the past three months. They are here to surrender to us,” explains the interpreter.

  The Lieutenant now has a dumb founded expression on his face.

  “Why would they surrender to us?” the Lieutenant asks.

  “Because of the afflicted,” the interpreter proclaims. “These men are here because of the afflicted. Nobody will help them. They have no choice but to surrender. They tell me, we have
to take them into custody because we are enemy of US and have attacked many American soldiers. There is no choice but to arrest us they say,” he explains as he looks back with a scared look on his face.

  “The afflicted?” confusingly asks the Lieutenant.

  The interrupter shrugs his shoulders without an answer. The EOD team stays in place along with the other security element while the Lieutenant walks back to his truck to get on the radio. Thirty minutes has gone by with no resolution. Eventually, the Lieutenant hops off his MRAP and walks back to the EOD team.

  At this point, Andrew continues to keep his sights on the surrendering enemy. Andrew notices the Lieutenant and the EOD team leader conversing amongst each other. As a result of the conversation, the EOD team is seen repacking the grenades into the bag.

  The Lieutenant decides to walk up to the NCO on guard with Andrew and explain the situation. As he does this, one of the men of the group still sitting down falls to the ground and starts shaking violently with an apparent seizure episode. The rest of the insurgents around him pick up and scatter to avoid the man in the seizure while running towards Andrew’s position. In the heat of the moment, Andrew fires a warning shot in the air to discourage the group from moving any further.

  All of them get spooked at the sound of the gunfire and turn around in the opposite direction to get as far away as they can from the man on the ground with the seizure as he continues to kick on the ground violently.

  “Hey we just can’t let these guys get away!” yells Andrew as he takes aim and readies himself to fire on them from behind.

  The Lieutenant quickly stops him by placing his hand on Andrew’s shoulder.

  “That’s exactly what we are going to do. We are not allowed to detain any local national who hasn’t fired upon us,” the Lieutenant explains.

  “We don’t have anywhere to put them anyway. Not our jobs anymore,” he concludes in a calm voice.

  From there, the Lieutenant places his radio hand mic up against his mouth and calls up his platoon sergeant.