20 years ago.
The village was enlightened with activity from all members of the community. Villagers planted crops, tended to the river, and rounded up farm animals. Kids were heading home from educational practices while the men focused on heavy-duty work.
Meanwhile, the mothers prepared meals in the comfort of their home. The villagers had been aware of neighbouring villages having been "weeded out" by Covert Military Operations, but had assured themselves before today that their village was well-protected but also kept up a good reputation within Zaire's borders.
They were wrong.
"Dad… the news i've been hearing about the other villages.. about grandpa's village, about my friends, are they?—-" Judge spoke softly in his native dialect, concerningly to his father, as though he had doubt in his protection's structure, he was right to do so… they weren't a high branch of the ZLF, nor was the ZLF established properly in the region yet. Being cut off, his father began to speak.
"My child, if it is the words of a wiseman which concern you and your safety, perhaps i should do something about him. — we will be fine. Me and your mom will see to it." Jabari was in the middle of slipping off his military gear, slamming his beret down on the table, with its 2 stars, signifying his service and feats, his AK-47 being set down beside it.
"Ogundu, don't forget to do your homework. Education is important here, my child. Be down for supper." Fatima then turned to the kitchen to cook a meal for her husband and son, stirring food gently in the pot.
"Yes mom. I understand, but this scares me.. i haven't seen my friends in a while, especially after that mans talk about the villages." Judge wandered over from his father, to his mother, leaning up against the bench.
"Ogundu...my sweet boy..." Fatima pulled him close as she stirred food in the pot, soothingly running her hands through his hair. "Me...Or your father...will never let anything happen to you. We are...We are safe here."
"That man out there is talking crazy… if he keeps this up, i will have no choice but to shut him up — for my kids' sake." Keita chuckled a little, seeing himself to the upstairs area, leaving Ogundu and his mother.
"I hope so, mom. I sure hope so..."
Fatima continued cooking, humming as she did so. When done, she called out softly to the men of the house, gently placing the plates on the table. "Honey! Son! Dinner ready!"
"Boy…" Jabari gave him a glare, one of a father whom was not gonna be asked twice, but that of a joking one too as he sat down in his spot, beginning to eat his food.
The family ate together, enjoying a rare moment like this was special; Outside of the village, lots of the country was dangerous and unstable.
The covert military operations were kept secret to the rest of the world, but those in Zaire were very much aware of the increasing covert ops led by US Government. Fatima turned to Ogundu, "I hope you finished all your homework, my son."
"You were very quick with cooking today mother, it wasn't a long time to complete it, but i will before bedtime tonight." Ogundu gave her a flash smile, continuing to enjoy his peace, especially with his father so quiet, munching on his portion. "This is very good mom.."
"Yes...Its your fathers favorite...Isnt it, Jabari?"Fatima smiled warmly, turning to Jabarai... who isnt normally this quiet during family time. She looked at her husband almost expectantly, hoping for a nice compliment about her cooking.
"Mmmm.. it does taste better than the shit they call MRE's in the west.. i found this soldier, i decided to taste the food the americans gave him, it was no good. That 'food' made my stomach rumble after it was all done, my head was pounding and all." Jabari finished his portions roughly 3 minutes before Judges, sitting quietly after.
--
Two helicopters touched down just outside the village. Fitted with 10 men each.
They all stood at attention to Colonel Michael Carver.
"Alright men, you all understand the procedure. We are headed into this village...peacefully, and weeding out any and all ZLF supporters. As you know, they've presented themselves as terrorists and we are taking diplomatic action to solve the problem at hand. But, you know what to do if they...fight back..." The colonel stepped aside, allowing the men to march forward.
One soldier dapped up another and pressed on forward. "How much you wanna bet it'll be like every other village, Akers? They try to defend themselves...try to be heroic...so we just shoot 'em up." He laughed.
"I hope its the opposite, actually. I'd rather not see you get shot, Jared. Lets just get this over with diplomatically, as the Colonel said." Akers load-checked his M16A1 and began advancing towards the gates.
"Don't get too crazy here boys, the generals only giving us so much leeway with these guys before he has to pull us out, their government isn't too huge on our involvement. However, he also doesn't know it's us, let's try to keep it that way." Their corporal load-checked his main assault rifle, leaning toward the gate, pressing himself into the side, awaiting the Colonels orders.
"Understood, Corporal Reynolds!" Akers immediately obeyed Corporal Reynolds, and pushed behind the man, sharply followed by Jared.
The vilagers had now noticed their presence and began to cautiously move away and inform others.
---
Meanwhile, Fatima was cleaning dishes from dinner and noticed the commotion outside the village gates from the window. "Jabari...the military intervention....they're...." She was too stunned to comprehend and form a sentence.
"Nonsense, if those people were here we would know. They love their big flashy entrances.. like those wrestlers on tv." Jabari marched over to the window anyway, peering outside over his wife, and immediately ducking, realising that she was in fact, not lying and immediately grabbed his beret and AK.
"OGUNDU! DONT LEAVE YOUR ROOM! I'LL TELL YOU WHEN YOU CAN!" Fatima yelled to Ogundu from the kitchen window.
"Okay!" Judge immediately ran upstairs, hiding under his bed, fearing for the worst, gritting his teeth, closing his eyes and covering his ears.
---
"How are we gonna do this boys? Loud and Proud or Silent And Sneaky?" Corporal Reynolds peeked over the fence, seeing Fatima's eye catch his, and immediately ducking back down. "Ooo.. she's mine. Leave that one."
Jared Sutton laughed and playfully nudged Reynolds as they planned to move in on the village, "I didnt even get a good look at her through the window...You are one lucky sonovabitch. Aye, let me tell you somethi...--"
Akers interrupted his friend, "Hey, we dont have to kill anybody if we dont have to. Remember, we're looking for ZLF supporters only." Akers turned to the two men as the rest of the 20 man squad dispersed to each gate of the village, blocking routes in the process.
"Have some fun, would ya? They're not gonna know the difference once we're done." Reynolds had just about enough of the wait, although he wasn't gonna go without the Colonel's orders.
Once Colonel Carver gave the order, the two 10-man teams moved in on the village.
Private Akers moved into the streets of the village cautiously behind Corporal Reynolds, and fellow Private Sutton.
He watched as other men from their platoon began taking villagers hostage - Unlucky ones that couldn't get to their houses in time. Gunshots were already ringing off. Somehow.
"Alright you rebels! Surrender your guns NOW! Or else my men and i will be forced to resort to DEADLY measures! This is not a warning! This is an order, anyone failing to comply will DIE!" Reynolds took cover immediately, popping off shots at uppermost ZLF soldiers. "Men.. seek and destroy."
"We will not let these Americans take our village! KILL THEM ALL!"
Jabari kicked the door down to his own house, rolling into the cover of the garden outside, immediately taking down a private, shooting him 3 times in the chest, then once in the head, moving out into the square with some of his own men, firing at the soldiers who held hostages.
Sutton took cover, turned to Akers, and scoffed. He took a few pot-shots at ZLF behind cover, "See, dude? The entire point of this is to weed out ZLF supporters. And by the looks of it...They're all supporters. We have free reign."
Sutton nodded to Reynolds and the duo pushed forward, shooting two elderly villagers in the back that looked like they "were reaching". They weren't taking any chances.
Akers hesitated for a moment, as if he was conflicted, but realised for the greater good, in his mind at least, that a "liquidation" of this village would be nessecary if order was to be restored to Zaire. He followed after Reynolds and Sutton.
Fatima grabbed a weapon and took cover behind the doorway, allowing herself a view of Jabari who was firing down on the Military intervention.
Their house was on a elevated position, and the village only ascended from here. Fatima couldn't hear movement upstairs so she knew that Judge was safe and sound. This calmed her, and she smiled to herself. She knew her boy was doing well in the midst of a tragedy.
As the chaos ensued in the village, Reynolds snuck away, making the climb into the house and breaking in the first floor window, immediately drawing his rifle at Fatima. "Hands up, i don't wanna kill you, i would love to keep you alive lady."
Fatima nodded, slowly putting her hands up and kneeling. She turned around slightly, but quickly focused on Reynolds. Soon, Reynolds was joined by Sutton and Akers, who had found their way in the building. Fatima spoke in broken english. "Please...dont hurt me....or...just....dont hurt me.." She had hoped to keep Judge's location a secret so he didnt get found and murdered.
Akers and Sutton followed Reynolds into the house, scoping out the second floor bedrooms.
Sutton followed Akers into the other rooms, helping his comrade scope it out. "Hopefully Reynolds subdues the ZLF rebel quick..." Jared said, referring to Fatima. "I Ain't trynna stay here too long. Smells like piss."
"I won't hurt you… but i'll do something alri-" Reynolds stopped as soon as he reached the R in alright, peering at the door beside him which now had a furious Jabari standing idly.
"White man, you have messed with the wrong house, the wrong people today."
Before Reynolds could act, Jabari fired at his right and left hand, leaving him writhing in agony on the floor, before either of the Privates could head down, Jabari picked up Reynolds, holding his own pistol to his head, waiting for the other men in the house to approach, whom he only heard because of a loud vase shattering upstairs.
"Boys! Help!" He was shushed almost immediately, the grip on his neck tightening immediately after and choking him slowly.
Sutton heard the two gunshots and peeked from the top of the stairway, seeing Jabari. "OH SHIT! Akers, get back! He got a gun! Hes a rebel!" Sutton started shooting in the direction of Jabari and Reynolds.
"Okay, I'll flank around, buddy. Hold cover fire here. We take him together." Akers hopped out the second floor bathroom window and landed on the patio.
Akers got distracted with a villager outside. Despite trying to capture the man, the man didnt let up, leaving Akers to reluctantly shoot the man twice in the chest before moving back to the front door.
Sutton panted behind cover. He looked towards the open window, "Damnit...come on buddy hurry up..."
He then got an idea.
He prepped a flashbang and prepared his pistol, as his rifle was out of fresh mags. He was going to try to catch Jabari by surprise. In a swift motion, he threw a flashbang, let it pop, and then ran down the stairs with the pistol.
Jabari closed his eyes, huddling his head into Reynolds back to prevent himself from going blind, pushing forward and shoving Reynolds at Sutton, which got the Private confused and forced him to shoot Reynolds quite a few times until he had to reload.
Then, Jabari unsheathed his prized machete after retrieving it from the table, jamming it into the neck of Sutton, and going for a full decapitation, not not able to finish as Akers walked into the front door.
Initially, Akers was in a state of shock seeing his friend he enlisted with in such a grotesque state. His head was practically half off his head. Half hanging on, half hanging off.
Akers felt a rage building inside of him, and instead of fighting it like hes been this entire operation, he embraced it.
He peeped the dead body of Reynolds, and the pretty much dead already body of Jared, and made his move. He shot Jabari three times in the chest, before turning to Fatima.
Jabari had a rage like no man ever had, his adrenaline, his cortisol, all fighting to keep him alive, perhaps for his final act, or perhaps for them to try and live another day, either way, Jabari knew he had to fight for his family. He charged Akers.
Akers fell over with a grunt, knocking over a nearby flower vase, smashing it onto the floor. Akers picked up a sharp glass piece of the vase and dug it into Jabari's eye to wound him, allowing Akers to kick him off and get up.
"You can't kill me…" Jabari tried to stand, collapsing over himself and holding onto the table, he heard Akers go for a strike on him, and as he turned, he held his machete up, blocking the attack, which stunned Akers, opening him for Jabari to thrust his machete at him.
Akers gasped as it almost pierced through his chest. Somehow, Akers, using Jabari's wounds against him, grabbed Jabari's wrist, and began turning the knife back into Jabari.
"Do it… kill me!" Jabari resisted, knowing he was facing deaths door, yet he saw no victory in letting Akers be the one to kill him.
All of a sudden, Fatima ran over to try and push Akers off her husband.
He kicked Fatima in the stomach, making her fall over dramatically. This allowed him to take both hands and plunge the knife deep into Jabari's chest.
Wiping sweat off his brow, Private Akers immedietely removed the knife and walked over to an injured Fatima, but soon focused his attention to something else.
He was interrupted.
"Mom! Moooove!" Judge fumbled with a glass bottle and a lighter, putting the bottle down and trying to light the rag inside.
Once he eventually got it to work, he hurled it down the stairs and immediately rushed back upstairs, the molotov landing on the bodies of Akers' friends, and the fire, slowly spreading through the house, immediately filling it with smoke and incinerating Jabari with it, whom was writhing in agony, letting out loud screams.
Fatima put her hands up in surrender to Akers, realizing what her son just did.
She took a second to process the fact that her son likely will be her killer, as her routes to escape became limited with the 6'4" soldier making his way to the only exit.
She kept crawling away, but fire engulfed every corner of the room. She kept crawling until there was nowhere to go.
The fire began at her feet and instantly rushed up to the rest of her body, burning her alive and incinerating her completely: "AAAAAARGGGH!!"
"Oh no…" Judge tried to find his way out too, tears immediately welled on his face, as he busted open his own window, shards filling his arm, blood pouring everywhere as he jumped out, landing into a roll and tumbling down to the bottom of the hill his now former house resided on.
20 years later.
"Ogundu, Sir!"
Judge turned to his lieutenant.
"What is it?"
The Lieutenant showed pictures captured from a hillside. It was a 20-man team, no more, no less, of operatives.
The JSOC.
They were coming.