*Thursday*

*Chapter 13*

A convoy of SUV's drive into the cemetery where Corporal Eckman is buried and his sister has been grieving since the funeral earlier in the week. A couple of the SUV's spread out in order to secure the cemetery.

One SUV stop in the road closest to the location of Corporal Eckman's grave. Four Marines exit from the vehicle along with Randy Walker.

The sight of Eckman's sister standing at her brother's grave saddens Randy. The only family she had left is gone. She's all alone in the world. The only thing Randy can do is give her the letter her promised to give her.

He takes a deep breath and starts hobbling his way over to the gravesite.

"Sarah Eckman…" Randy said to grab her attention. She looks to him.

"Yes?" She said as she wipes a tear from her face.

"I served with your brother in Iraq."

"I know who you are." Sarah stated. "You brought my brother home. I was able to bury Robert because of you."

"Your brother wanted me to give this to you." He extends his hand in order to give her the letter.

Sarah accepts the letter, opens it and begins to read it. Tears start to fall as she reads the heart-felt, emotional letter her beloved brother wrote for her in case he was killed. After reading the letter, she looks up. The tears have almost completely consumed her eyes.

"Are you going to be alright?" Randy asked in concern.

"I thought I wasn't…" She said. "…until I read this letter." She wipes the tears from her eyes. "Thank you." Sarah thanked him. "Thank you bringing my brother home." She steps forward and wraps her arms around Randy.

"Your welcome."

Sarah backs away a bit and looks back to her brother's grave.

"He was a good man." Randy stated. "A good Marine."

"Yeah, he was." Sarah agreed. "And a good brother."

The two of them stand at the grave paying their respects. While there, Sarah tells Randy about her brother Robert and how he took care of her after their parents died. She's very proud of him for the role he took on. Robert meant the world to her.

The DiNozzo family arrives at the Headquarters for the National Geographic Society. They enter into the lobby.

"I'm Anthony DiNozzo." Tony said. "I have an appointment with Alan Conway."

"Mr. Conway has been expecting you." The receptionist said. "Take the elevator to the second floor. Turn left. Walk down the hall. His office is on the right."

"Thank you."

Tony, Jamie and Chioke walk in the direction of the elevator.

The three of them exit unto the second floor. They walk toward the office of Alan Conway. Upon entering into the office, the secretary April approaches.

"Mr. and Mrs. DiNozzo. How nice to finally meet you." April said as she shakes their hands.

"Hi." Tony said.

"Nice to meet you too." Jamie said.

"And this must be Chioke." She smiled at the young boy. "Right this way."

April leads the family to the door of the Chairman Alan Conway. She opens the door.

"The DiNozzo family is here. Tony, Jamie and Chioke." April introduced them.

"Come in, come in." Mr. Conway said.

"Thank you for seeing us, Mr. Conway." Tony said.

"Please, sit down."

They approach the desk, shake the Chairman's hand and sit down.

"I have the screening room setup with the video footage you requested to see." Mr. Conway stated. A man enters into the room. "Ah, here's the author of the article now. I'd like you to meet…"

"That's him." The author stated at the sight of Chioke. "Oh my God. It's him." He said in disbelief. He approaches the boy. Then he looks at Tony. "After the incident, he was weak and unconscious for days. Strangers took care of him like he was their own. They didn't have the necessary equipment or medicine to properly take care of him. It was a miracle he survived. I watched him for weeks before he came down with a life-threatening infection. And one day he and his rescuer were gone. They just vanished. I searched for this boy for a year and half. Never found him. Never knew if he made it or not." There's a brief pause. "But here he is. Sitting right in front of me." He looks at Tony again. "How did he come to be here?"

"It's a long story." Tony said. "Which I really cannot disclose any information about."

"How about you take little Chioke to the lounge while I speak with his parents." Mr. Conway said.

"Go with the nice man, Chioke." Tony said. "We need to speak alone with Mr. Conway."

'Okay.' Chioke signed with his hands. He looks to the man. 'You have any toys?' The man has no idea what Chioke communicated to him.

"He wants to know if you have any toys for him to play with." Tony said.

"He knows sign language…" The author said. "Remarkable."

"April…" Mr. Conway presses the button on the phone to reach his secretary.

"Yes, Mr. Conway?"

"Go down to the gift shop and get a bunch of toys for the boy to play with."

"Right-a-way, Mr. Conway."

The author of the article and Chioke leave the room.

"I'll be frank with you Mr. and Mrs. DiNozzo. The National Geographic Society would like to do a documentary about your son. His life in America; the adjustment, his new family…"

"You mean like cameras following us around everywhere?" Tony wondered.

"Essentially… yes." Mr. Conway answered. "Our forum has received a lot of feedback on the article. People are interested in knowing what happened to the boy."

"Whoa…" Tony is surprised.

"We'd like a chance to think about this before we make a decision." Jamie said.

"Well, I'm sure you would like to see what you've come here to see." Mr. Conway said.

"Yes please." Tony said.

The three of them leave the office. Chioke watches as they walk down the hall; watches in wonderment of where they're going and what they're doing.

Inside the screening room, Tony and Jamie sit down. The lights dim. Mr. Conway presses the play button and leaves the room.

The start of the video is very wobbly; the camera is on while the man is running away from the violence in the village. There are occasional points at the start where the camera is steadied in waiting for a chance to make the move out.

Eventually, the man with the camera makes it out of the chaos and runs to a safe location. From the top of a hill behind a tree, the man points the camera back at the village. He talks about the brutal violence as the armies of the rival warlords killing each other and everyone in the village.

"Wait…" The man said as he noticed something in the camera's view. He moves the camera back to the right. "It appears a family of four is trying to escape the chaos."

"Chioke…" Tony said in worry as he watches the mother with her three children. Four year old Chioke is in the mother's arms.

The camera loses the four of them in an alley.

A man runs by the alley. He stops and backs up. A sinister smile stretches across his face. He takes aim and fires into the alley. Then he runs away to catch up with his buddies.

"With no regard for the sanctity of human life, the man fired upon the family in the alley. The lack of immoral decency exhibited by these criminals is appalling. They're killing innocent civilians at will. And nobody is around to stop it." The man stated. "So we wait to see who comes out of the alley."

The family now only consisting of three members, exits from the alley and hides behind the side of the building. The mother looks around the corner.

"It appears the girl didn't make it." The man stated. "The poor little boy was the only one who saw it happen." The family continues to move. "It must be hard for the mother to leave her daughter behind. But the family has to keep mov…" He notices the direction the family is heading; into in situation which has the strong possibility of ending in a standoff. "No, no, no… Don't go that way…" He muttered. "There's no way to warn the family from what they're about to run into."

The family turns around a building. With noticing a man taking aim in their direction, the son raises his gun and fires. The man drops to the ground. Three seconds later, the son drops to the ground with a bullet in his back. The mother quickly shoots the man who shot her son.

"The family walked into a terrible situation which cost the oldest son his life." The man said. "The boy remains motionless on the ground as his mother shakes him. She's already lost so much. So has the young boy in her arms." The mother keeps moving. "Once again, the young boy watches his dead sibling lying on the ground."

As they continue on, they reach an area where there's a small creek. Near the creek is the rubble of a collapsed building from a long time ago. The camera looks around the area trying to find any armed men in their area. It appears to be clear.

"The mother either tripped or was hit by a stray bullet." The man said as he watches the mother fall.

After rolling off a bit, the scared little boy tries to crawl back to his mother; the only safety he knows curing this ordeal. The mother waves for him to stay where he is.

"We now see blood dripping down the mother's leg. It was a stray bullet." The man said as he watches the mother limp to her son.

The mother picks up the young boy and carries him to the rubble of the collapsed building. She places him inside.

"The mother is unaware her current action of going back for the gun she dropped will put her in the middle…" The man begins to say.

She picks up the gun. A couple men enter into the vicinity and start shooting at each other; leaving the mother in the middle. She turns to face the rubble.

"Run Chioke! Run!" The mother screamed.

"The little boy frozen in fear watches in horror as his mother is shot multiple times." The man said.

"Mommy!" Chioke yelled.

"The little boy is now all alone." A minute passes. "The little boy looks out from his place of safety among the rubble… Scared whether or not armed men are still in the area… Concerned whether or not his mother is still alive. She was all he had left. He watched his family get picked off one by one until..."

The young boy walks to his dead mother, sits next to her and shakes her. But she remains motionless. The boy cries as he places his hand on his mother's head.

"Such a tragedy for someone so young…" The man said in sadness for the boy. "He becomes spooked at noticing a couple men running around. The boy knows he must flee."

The boy runs in the direction of the creek.

As Tony watches, he grabs Jamie's hand because he knows what's coming next. He's already holding the emotion in as best he can. But some tears manage to trickle their way out.

"The boy stops in the middle of the shallow creek. The creek anybody must cross in order to escape the chaos." The man stated. "All alone and no one to turn to, he takes one final look at his mother." He said. "Oh no…" The boy turns around. "Staring down the barrel of a gun leaves the young boy frozen in fear." The man said. "Don't do it. Please just walk away."

The sound of a single shot echoes through the valley. The smoke dissipates around the gun. And the young boy falls into the shallow creek.

"Oh God…" The man cried for the boy.

The water quickly devours the boy and turns red as he bleeds out. The camera zooms in as close as it can do without distortion.

Tony watches in horror as Chioke tries to yell, but chokes on the water and blood filling his throat. The panicking boy tries his best to keep the liquid out of his mouth and gasping for breath. But half of his face is submerged in the water. He's weak, losing a lot of blood and in pain. The boy is slowly dying.

"I watch helplessly as the gunman steps into the creek. It appears he's going to finish what he started." The man said. Something unexpected happens. "Instead of finishing the job, the gunman walks away. Leaving the young boy to die a slow and painful death as he gasps for breath." There's a brief pause as the camera zooms out a bit. "But wait… someone else enters into the creek. He doesn't appear to be armed. It's possible he's going to help the boy… The man lifts the dying boy into his arms. This certainly is a sight to witness. One of the villagers is risking his own life in order to save the young boy. A boy who may die either way." He said. "A single person ran to the aid of the dying boy. A single person with the decency to do the right thing. A single person with a good heart." He watches the man carry the boy out of the creek. "Among the tragedy, not all hope is lost."

The camera follows the man carrying Chioke until they vanish among the forest.

The video footage ends. The lights turn on. Both Tony and Jamie wipe the tears from their eyes. The horrific video was almost too much for either of them to bear.

"The pictures in the article were stills from this footage." Mr. Conway stated.

"Excuse me…" Tony said as he stands and hurries to the door.

The door opens. Down the hall Tony can see Chioke sitting with the author, happily playing with some toys. The sight of boy sparks his eyes to become watery. The innocence of the child is plagued by tragedy; a tragedy which claimed his family, his home, his voice and almost his life. Yet, the boy manages to maintain the innocence of his youth.

Tony slowly walks down the hall.

Chioke watches as his father approaches. A concern grows within him at the sight of the emotion in Tony's face and the water in his eyes.

'You cry?' Chioke signed.

"Yeah…" Tony said with a slight cry in his voice.

'I help you feel better.' He grabs a toy from the table and extends his hand upward, offering it to Tony. The boy smiles as he offers the toy.

Tony chuckles slightly. He accepts the toy. Then he wraps his arm around the boy.

"I love you, Chioke." He said. "You're a good kid." In that split second when Jamie joins in the hug, Tony makes a decision. He looks up at Mr. Conway while continuing to hold his son and wrapping one arm around his wife. "We'll do the documentary."

"I'll have the forms drawn up and speak to the production team." Mr. Conway stated. He motions to the author of the article, the man who also shot the video footage of the incident. "Let's give them a moment." The two of them walk away.

Mr. Conway and the author look on as the family hug of the boy continues. They can tell the two of them are good parents; Tony and Jamie exhibit a lot of love for the boy. So they know it'll be a good documentary. They know it'll be a great way to end the story of the boy who lost everything. Because there's one thing no amount of tragedy can take away… Hope.

THE END

This concludes the story "Every Hero has a Story". Coming soon will be the next story in this series. But until then, I hope you enjoyed this story.