by Dave Hazel
“So really, Myk,” Sam paused and rubbed his lifeless arm. “How the hell did you get to be in charge of all this? It sounds like a friggin movie outta Hollywood. Who do you have naked pictures of? You gotta have something on someone,” Sam added and they all laughed at his suggestion of blackmail.
“It’s nothing like that,” Mykal laughed. “I told them I’d come back but I didn’t want some flunky lieutenant trying to tell me what to do. I was afraid of having someone like Edwards leading us. So they made me a civilian and I’ll tell ya guys, these people we have with us are A-1. They are top of the line. Major Chick is a cool guy and so are all the other commanders I’ve spoken to. I want you guys to know, nothing is gonna be expected of you guys. You guys are to sit back and wait for the ride home. Burns, Baby Hulk and all those guys are here for technical support and advice.” Mykal smirked though secretly he desired to see some of them dead.
Sam was dumbfounded. “Did you really meet the President?”
“He met a lot more than just the President,” Boris answered for him. “He met so many--let me put it this way, Mykal and Towbar are some of the most famous and most talked about people in the world right now. And that’s no lie.”
“No, not really,” Mykal blushed and tried to shy away.
“It’s true,” Roy Jr. agreed. He stood close to his father and brother. They too, lost weight while waiting and killing time.
A Marine from a fire team nearby spoke up. “Mykal has been all over the news and TV shows. I remember when the story first came out I thought it was a scam to cover up the fact that the Air Force screwed up and lost a nuke. But now, I see all this with my own eyes.”
“Hey Jake, Larry and Sam,” Boris chuckled. “Could you ever imagine Myk being swarmed by mobs of people for an autograph? He’s like Wayne Newton or something.”
“Wayne Newton?” They all laughed together.
“I’m joking. Seriously though, he’s a famous big shot,” Boris said.
“Stop it,” Mykal couldn’t keep from laughing.
“I gotta tell ya, I kinda find it hard to believe,” Larry laughed. “I remember all the shit you used to do, to pull pranks on people. It would probably be a little embarrassing if some of that stuff got out.” He rubbed his fingers together as if suggesting money would keep him quiet.
“What, are you blackmailing me?” Mykal laughed rowdily.
“What kinda stuff do you have on him?” Lance Corporal Anka asked. “This is cool to see Mykal Graves is a normal guy just like me.”
“D’ya remember Shit Eater Putman?” Larry laughed.
“Oh no,” Mykal couldn’t keep from laughing. “That was you Larry that that took--”
“I wasn’t talking about how he got his name,” Larry laughed raucously while tugging on his beard. “I was thinking about that dead animal that was in his gas mask and you had Jake pull a gas exercise and he got the guts and all that stuff on his face,” Larry laughed and his entire body rocked back and forth. In the past when Larry laughed raucously his body would jiggle wildly, but now there didn’t seem to be any extra flab to jiggle.
“That animal was dead in his gas mask for a week or more,” Sam laughed out loud. “How the hell do you not smell that stinky stuff?”
“Yeah, he reeked when he had his gas mask with him,” Boris laughed riotously for the first time in a long time.
“Remember how he puked all over the place?” Larry continued laughing and shook his head at the scene in his mind.
“Yeah, do you remember how Lieutenant Edwards went ape shit over that?” Boris continued to laugh riotously. “Denny got his ass chewed for that and he wasn’t even in there when it happened.”
“I got my ass chewed too,” Jake laughed with them.
Suddenly their laughter ceased. Anka and the others looked at each other with surprise by the sudden mood change.
“It was hilarious,” Sam broke the silence. “But all the people we just mentioned are dead. They were killed here.”
“Oh wow. Sorry to hear that,” Anka said.
Towbar joined them. The subdued mood surprised him. “I may know the answer why the Sosos have not attacked my friend,” he spoke to them all but he looked at Mykal. “Nidious informed my generals the Sosos are growing, but their numbers are coming from other parts of the world. Nidious believes Zizmon-Tarl will personally participate in the next battle.”
“That can’t be good,” Sam sighed.
“What do you think that means as far as numbers?” Mykal asked. He was very concerned his task had just become more difficult. “There was a lot of Sosos the last time we were here five months ago.”
“I am not sure,” Towbar said and shrugged. Towbar picked up shrugging his shoulders after being around Mykal for so long.
“Well first thing tomorrow after the rest of Towbar One gets here we’re gonna take the helicopters up and we’ll look for the people that went missing. We’ll also fly around and find out how much of an army they have out there.”
“When you do that, why don’t you take me along,” Jake asked. “I’ve been stuck in this Pass for months. I would like to stretch my legs a little.”
“Me too,” Larry said to agree with getting out of the Pass.
“You don’t wanna just sit around and wait till you go home?” Boris teased them.
“You can kiss my skinny ass if you think I’m just gonna sit around here and wait,” Jake chortled. “I’ve been sitting and waiting too damn long. I’m gonna help find those missing people so we can get the hell outta here as fast as possible.”
“Me too,” Sam voiced his view.
“You’re hurt Sam.”
“I’m not hurt, Myk,” Sam disagreed. “I just can’t use my left arm. I can still fight with the best of them.”
“That is a good attitude to have,” Towbar said and clapped his hands.
“I will say this though. I wrote myself off as dead when we missed the green fog. So if I’m gonna die, I’m gonna take as many of them murdering bastards with me as I can,” Jake said and stomped his foot down. “They’re outta their friggin minds if they think they’re gonna have an easy kill here,” he added and jabbed his chest with his thumb.
CHAPTER SEVEN 12/07/1983
1. Wednesday, December 7th 1983
0912 hours, The Pass
When the convoy of vehicles rolled into the opening of the Pass they were greeted warmly by thousands of Towbar’s soldiers and hundreds of Dwarven warriors. Jake and the others with Mykal were impressed. They found it hard to believe that Mykal commanded the multi-force operation of Towbar One. Their amazement grew even more as they watched the massive force roll into the Pass. The convoy seemed to be never ending.
Major Chick joined Mykal and Towbar. The band of worn out looking men in faded military uniforms, beards and long hair standing with Mykal had to be those who had been left behind for nearly six months. Major Chick took a deep breath and tried to take in all the sights inside the Pass. He studied the reports and firsthand accounts prior to accepting the mission and now he tried to match personnel, peoples and locations to what he read. He realized the bloodiest battles for the Pass took place on the very ground he stood on, near the Pit.
“This is Major Chick,” Mykal said when the senior Marine approached their position. “When he gets here I’ll introduce you guys to him.”
“Flight! A’ten’hut,” Jake yelled after he snapped to attention, which caused the rest of his “rag-tag” group of Air Force survivors to jump to the position of attention when Chick approached. Jake quickly threw up a sharp salute to greet the ranking officer in a professional and respectful manner.
“At ease gentlemen,” Chick said. He returned Jake’s salute and smiled at him. Most of the Company Commanders and the two Battalion Commanders joined them.
“Sir, Technical Sergeant Jake Irwin and what’s left of our flight at your service,” Jake said and lowered his salute.
“Thank you, Sergeant Irwin. I truly appreciate th
at, but I want you and your men to take it easy until we’re ready to go back home. You and your men will be regarded as POWs who have been liberated for the purpose of this operation. You have been separated from the world for six months so we don’t expect you men to do anything except get yourselves squared away for the trip back home,” Chick said with a nod and a smile.
“Thank you Sir,” Jake replied. “But if you need any assistance from any of us we are ready and able. And just so you know Sir, though in reality we have been Prisoners Of War for almost six months, Towbar’s people have treated us exceptionally well and provided us with all the basic needs. These are great men,” he said and looked at a couple of the generals who were in charge after Towbar disappeared.
Mykal introduced as many people as he could and then told everyone to take it upon themselves to introduce themselves to each other. He pulled Major Chick aside so he and Towbar could walk away from the crowd. Major Innes and Captain Taylor walked with them. “I think we know where the missing people might be,” Mykal said and an exhilarating thrill ran through him while the convoy pulled into the Pass. The noise, the smells and the bustling of activity of the convoy rolling into the Pass hit Mykal with the reality that he was in charge of ‘all this’.
“You know where they might be?” Chick asked to be sure due to the noise. He looked surprised.
“Yeah, what I would like to do is--I think we should have the Company Commanders here also,” Mykal said. “So we won’t have to repeat this.”
“I will go get them Sir,” Captain Taylor offered since he was the junior officer of the three. His rank would change to Major in April 1984. He rushed to get all six Company Commanders.
“Thank you Captain Taylor,” Mykal said and he saw his friends were watching him.
It had only been months since he had been here last, but so much had changed. Jake and his other friends were surprised to see how the officers quickly responded to his requests. Their surprise and incredulity etched into their faces. “Did ya see that?” Jake whispered to Sam and Larry.
“Un-friggin-believable,” Sam laughed.
“I told you,” Boris whispered to them. “He’s a big shot now. If it wasn’t for him I’d be rotting away in some prison cell. I owe him my life.”
“Do you mind if I come along?” William asked when he caught up to Mykal and Chick. He looked like he wanted to know what they were discussing. “Is this really it, Myk?” He asked while eyeing the walls of the Pass.
“Yeah, this is it,” Mykal answered and pointed in all directions. “This is where most of the battles, most of the fights and most of all the killing took place. I lost a lot of friends here,” he pointed to the large man made pit. It struck him how odd William looked in BDUs. He had become so accustomed to see William in blues that he looked like a pretend soldier. The camouflage uniform didn’t sit right on him.
“Mykal, do you mind if we shoot?” One of the reporters asked for the group of journalists and cameramen. “I assume something important is about to take place since you, Towbar and the ranking officers pulled away.”
Their goal was to document as much of the trip and the rescue as possible. When they neared the Pass they videotaped as much of the discarded, decayed and semi-burned bodies as they could from inside the passing vehicles. They planned, pending permission, to go back and capture more of the mounds of bodies on video and cut what was not needed or deemed too gruesome. They also wanted to get close to the Sosos to capture the much talked about “bad guys” up close and see how vicious they are.
“I don’t care what you film as long as it doesn’t put anyone in danger. You put anyone in danger or if you go risking your lives to film something stupid, I’ll put an end to it.”
“We will not get in anyone’s way,” the reporter answered. He was a part of a group of twenty-four reporters and cameramen. “Just so you are aware Myk, we can take care of ourselves,” he said. “That’s why we have these,” he added and patted the butt of the small revolver at his side.
Mykal wanted to tell the man how stupid his comment was, but he didn’t want to offend them knowing they would be able to edit film and make him look terrible. “Let me tell you something. All of you,” he paused and looked over the group of two dozen. “The Sosos could attack at any time,” he explained. He knew videotape rolled on him so he felt he had to be extra careful in what words were used. “When they attack, they usually hit hard and fast and when the stuff hits the fan that little peashooter you have isn’t going to do a lot for you. So do yourself a favor and stay back behind the pit,” he said and as a group they murmured and grumbled their complaints. “I’m just advising, that’s all. Just giving friendly helpful advice,” he said sarcastically.
“We appreciate that Mister Graves and we will take that into consideration, but we have a job to do.”
“I’ve said my piece,” he whispered to Major Chick. “If they wanna be idiots, I’m not gonna worry about that?”
“What was that Mister Graves?” One of the reporters asked when he couldn’t make out what Mykal said.
“We were discussing strategies,” Chick lied to end it.
“Do you expect it to be dangerous here?” Another reporter called out to him.
“Can you see that out there?” Mykal pointed out to the north. “It looks like a dark fungus or a dark cloud way out to the north. Can you see that?”
“Yes. It actually looks like the ground has no grass.”
“That’s the Sosos we’re talking about. From what Towbar’s soldiers say there are easily several hundred thousand of them out there just waiting to attack cuz they wanna take this Pass. Supposedly their numbers are continuing to grow. When they attack, they’re gonna go all out. It’s true we have modern weapons, but Towbar One is only about fifteen hundred strong. We will be able to delay them, but we won’t be able to stop them. So in answer to your question, yes. Every moment here is dangerous because every single one of them is a murdering, blood thirsty savage that lives to rape, torture and kill. They believe they will get a better afterlife for the more people they kill. So they are committed to what they do.”
“They sound fanatical.”
“They’re more than fanatical,” Mykal said and turned away from the reporters to speak with Chick and the other leaders. “This is what I would like to do,” he looked at Chick. “And if you have any other suggestions I am open to them. The very first thing I would like to do is to take those backhoes and the bulldozer we brought along,” he said with a broad smile. He had a plan in mind as soon as it became known he would be returning. “I want to deepen and widen the pit a little bit. It’s a great obstacle and I wanna make it even more difficult. And then about 50 or 100 yards behind it I would like to have another pit dug out. So once the Sosos finally clear the first pit, they’ll have to do it all over again,” he started to laugh. “I’m laughing because I remember how difficult it was for the Sosos the first time. Then I would like to have a couple of more pits dug. As a matter of fact, if we have the time, I would really like to have ten or twenty pits dug all the way across the Pass about a hundred yards apart or so. After that I wanna have a couple of cement bunkers built out there,” he said and turned to the north. “They’d be observation posts and I’d like to hook up some land lines for constant communication.”
“Is there any reason why you wouldn’t prefer to put a radio in the bunkers?” Captain Landis, Charlie Company Commander asked while writing down Mykal’s requests.
“Yeah, cuz once we leave here I want it to be something that Towbar and his people will be able to use. How many .50 cals do we have?”
“We have eight,” Major Innes answered.
“What I would suggest is that we place the .50 cals behind the first pit, because during our first battle with the Sosos they were so bunched up when they charged inside the Pass that the M-60 rounds easily went through three and four people. The .50 cals will tear them up even more. How many M-60s do we have?”
“
There is an M-60 with every four man fire team,” Captain Taylor answered. “So for you reporters,” he said in an attempt to take the focus from Mykal for not knowing the figures. “There are three four man fire teams for every squad. There are four squads for every platoon. There are four platoons to every company and there six companies. Using math taught by our public school system,” he added with a serious expression though he attempted to be humorous. “That comes out to two hundred and eighty-eight M-60s. We have a few extra M-60s mounted on vehicles and two for every helicopter and a few extras in case of break downs, for parts, and the like. I said all that to point out there are more than three hundred M-60 machineguns.”
Mykal smiled. “Great. If we take up a defensive position inside the Pass we will really do a lot of damage when they attack because they will only attack during the day and they will all come at once. I don’t think we have enough to stop them. There are just too damn many of them, but if we can hit them hard and fast we may be able to scare them away like we did when we had less than eighty weapons.”
“Don’t forget Myk, I’m not sure if you were aware of this or not,” Major Chick spoke up. “We have mortars and we have land mines and claymores. We have truckloads of munitions and supplies.”
“That’s right.” Mykal nodded. “In the very beginning I asked if we could have that stuff. Did they include flame throwers? Cuz that will scare the hell outta them,” he laughed.
“Yes Sir,” Major Innes replied. “We have flame throwers.”
“I do not understand,” Towbar interrupted.
“Towbar, do you remember when we were here, the weapons that I pointed out and said they were M-203s? Do you remember how they made explosions and did a lot of damage?”
“Yes my friend. There were only four of them,” he said to show that he remembered.
“Well first of all we have two hundred and eighty-eight of them,” he said because he knew each four man fire team had one M-203 grenade launcher. “But those are small. The mortars that we have will cause much bigger explosions than the M-203 and do far more damage and we can kill the Sosos from much farther away. They will never see where the damage is coming from. Then, we have what we call land mines. We bury them in the ground and when someone steps on them they blow up and kill lots of people near the blast. And claymores are explosives we set up and we cause them to blow up with the push of a button. You’ll be amazed at all that stuff. Plus, what will really scare the hell outta the Sosos are flamethrowers. They shoot long flames.”
