Ali Carries the Children to Safety
the air. He turned in the direction of the sound and saw four children lying on the ground, blood quickly soaking through their clothes. Ali turned to Kelly and mouthed, Follow me. She nodded. From behind the car where he had found shelter, he stood up and laid down suppressive fire. Omar and his remaining men sought cover. Ali continued to fire at his enemies’ positions as he walked around the front of the car. Kelly was right behind him. Ali rushed forward to the first child, knelt down, and picked her up, tossed her over his shoulder, and stood up again, all while continuing to keep Omar and his men at bay. He passed the injured girl to Kelly. She laid the little girl over her shoulder. Ali then walked a few feet to the next injured child. Again, he knelt down, scooped up the boy with one hand, and held him out to Kelly, who took him and placed him over her other shoulder, then raised her arm again to keep her gun aimed and ready. Ali moved forward another few feet and stood above the other two wounded children. Again, he aimed his gun at Omar’s position and repeatedly pulled the trigger. Three shots fired and then his gun clicked. The clip was empty. Ali turned to look behind him and gestured for Kelly to get back to a safe position with the two children. She promptly obeyed. Ali reached into his pocket and pulled out a full clip. With expert speed, he removed the empty clip from his gun, slammed the fresh one into his weapon, cocked it, and laid down another barrage of fire as he bent down and scooped up the other two children and held them to his chest tightly. He began to walk backwards toward the car where Kelly was hiding, continued to fire at Omar’s position.