The Brotherhood, Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters or places.

Just as quickly as he'd broken down, Bosco's expression turned cold. He wiped his eyes hard with the back or his forearm, then wiped the blood on his hands on Joey's pants leg. Turning, he dug through Joey's pack and pulled out his poncho. Rising shakily to his feet, he took one last look at Joey's lifeless brown eyes before draping the poncho over his body. "Come on, Davis." He commented, stepping over the body, and heading out to find Lieutenant Christopher.

Ty Davis gave Bosco an odd look, then followed behind him.

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"Boscorelli, are you hurt?" Christopher grumbled seeing the blood on Bosco's arms and uniform.

"No, I'm fine." Bosco replied.

"Good. We're in charge of the prisoners. Take… a…"

"Davis" Bosco interjected.

"Yeah, take Davis and go help Doherty. We're moving back towards the clearing along the river a few miles back as soon as they're all secured and the wounded can be moved. We'll evacuate the wounded from there and wait on transport for the prisoners." Christopher instructed.

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While Bosco stopped to talk with Jason Christopher, Ty spotted Carlos a few yards away helping Doc and Bobby Caffey with the wounded.

When Carlos glanced up, their eyes met. Carlos could only shake his head sadly. Never in his worst nightmares about Vietnam did he imagine anything like he'd seen today.

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"DAVIS! What are you doing?" Jason Christopher shouted, grabbing the canteen Davis was holding and pulling it away.

"I…he…was thirsty. He kept motioning to it." Davis tried to explain.

Christopher pulled Davis to his feet. "Did anybody tell you to get within reach of the prisoners? You're supposed to be standing guard, ready to shoot any one of them that tries to get away! Not giving them your water!"

"I…I was just trying to help, Sir. It must be ninety-five degrees out here and we marched them a long way, Sir." Ty muttered.

"Are you in charge of this platoon, Davis? Huh?"

"No" Ty replied quietly.

"NO! NO WHAT, SOLDIER?" Christopher yelled.

"No, Sir…Sir." Ty stammered.

"So you want to be helpful? I'll find you something to do then." Turning away, a smirk on his face, Lieutenant Christopher walked over and retrieved an empty 5 gallon bucket, then returned and handed it to Ty. "Take this to the river and get them some water." At Ty's confused look, he prodded. "Go on. Get them some water."

Ty hesitantly took the bucket from the lieutenant, then glanced back down at the prisoner beside him and offered him a reassuring smile.

The boy was young, probably no older than seventeen or eighteen. His clothes were worn and soaked with sweat, his face thin and haggard. Blood oozed from a wound on his arm. He was kneeling on his knees, his hands tied behind his back. He glanced nervously from Ty Davis to Jason Christopher, finally resting his gaze on Ty's smiling face.

"Well don't just stand there!" Christopher snapped, bringing Ty's attention back to him.

"Yes, Sir." Ty replied and headed towards the river.

"What?" Christopher asked gruffly when he saw the disgusted look on Bosco's face. "You know, there were only half as many supplies in that caravan as we expected, which means either our anonymous informant was wrong or somewhere along the way a group split off. They either suspected an attack from us or they're supplying another force that's planning an attack. These guys know what happened and why. And they're going to tell me."

Bosco looked away from Christopher, glancing at Jimmy Doherty long enough to see Jimmy shrug his shoulders and turn back to guarding the prisoners. Bosco knew that it was more likely that Mari and her informants had overestimated the amount of supplies being moved. But he also realized that Christopher was out to make a name for himself and would stop at nothing.

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Ty looked on in horror as Jason Christopher grabbed a handful of the young prisoner's hair and shoved his head down into the bucket of water, holding him under as the boy struggled frantically. After what seemed like an eternity to Ty, Christopher jerked the boy back up as his Vietnamese interpreter screamed in the boy's face. The boy cried out in Vietnamese trying to get the two to stop, but was shoved down again when the interpreter shook his head apparently not hearing what he wanted to hear.

After an even longer period, Christopher pulled the boy up again. This time the interpreter slapped his face, still yelling at him. The boy mumbled frantically in Vietnamese, but again could not satisfy his captors.

Ty, could feel his panic growing each time the boy's head was pushed back under the water. This had to stop. Someone had to stop it.

Turning to where he'd last seen Sergeant Boscorelli, he was surprised to see Bosco with his back turned, smoking a cigarette, as if he were totally unaware of what was going on just a few feet behind him.

"Sarge?" Ty called out, as he rushed to Bosco's side.

Bosco never looked at him, but instead raised the cigarette to his lips again and took a long drag, his hand trembling slightly. Holding the breath in for a few moments, he closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. When he spoke, his voice was almost a whisper. "Go guard the perimeter, Davis."

Ty shook his head and turned back to the horrifying scene before him just as Christopher pulled the boy up again. The boy coughed violently trying to regain his breath, shear terror evident on his face.

As Christopher pushed the prisoner's head down again, Ty took a step forward opening his mouth to protest until a hand caught his shoulder.

"Stay out of it." Jimmy Doherty warned, as Ty stared at him in disbelief.

Ty shook Jimmy's hand from his shoulder and started back towards Christopher. He stopped abruptly when he saw the boy's lifeless body slump to the ground after Christopher pulled him up one last time. The Vietnamese interpreter moved forward placing two fingers on the boy's neck, then looked back up and shook his head.

Lieutenant Christopher gave a half-shrug and pointed to another of the prisoners. "Maybe this one will be ready to talk."

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Ty sat in the darkness wrapped in his blanket, but still shaking, his brain trying to process all that had happened during the day. He barely noticed as Jimmy Doherty sat down beside him.

"You ok, kid?" Jimmy asked.

Ty shook his head. "No" he answered quietly.

"It was a tough day. It'll get better." Jimmy assured him.

"A tough day? Christopher murdered a prisoner, while the rest of you stood by and watched. And you call it a tough day? What's wrong with you people?" Ty questioned.

"This is a war, Davis. It's not going to be pretty." Jimmy replied.

"War or not. Isn't torturing prisoners against the rules of combat?" Ty asked.

"Yeah, well, it's unfortunate, but the rules of the jungle and the rules of combat don't always match up. Besides do you know what would happen to any one of us if the situation were reversed and we were captured by the Vietcong? You can't even imagine."

"Is that supposed to make it right? We can do it to them because they'd do the same to us or worse. If we accept that, then we're no better than they are." Ty argued.

"Who knows what's right or wrong out here anymore, Davis? I don't. But I know its reality." Jimmy answered.