by Dave Hazel
“I wasn’t trying to--” William started to defend and explain himself.
“Captain Roberts,” Lieutenant Finley cut him off. “Sir, please, if I may be honest and blunt. You have been difficult. I understand you are a captain but you are not combat trained. I would just ask that you trust us. Our goal is to get everyone, I repeat everyone, back home, safe and sound.”
They all saw William’s jaws tighten. “Once again, I humbly apologize and I humbly ask you for your forgiveness,” he said and his face reddened.
“What a dumb ass,” Boris mumbled to Jake but everyone heard him. “I say let him go on his own.”
“This is the last time I am going to say this,” Diaz spoke up. “We are one unit and we will work as one and we will respect each other as one,” he said for Boris and William’s ears.
“Well I suggest that we get this show on the road,” Jake said while pulling a sliver of wood from his hand. “We’re not getting any closer to home by sitting here jabber jawing.”
“Myk let me say,” William turned to speak, but Mykal walked away from him. Clearly Mykal didn’t want to talk with him.
They moved out and traveled down the other side of the hill. From the position of the sun they judged they were traveling to the south west. It really didn’t matter what direction they were traveling because they didn’t know where they were and they didn’t know where they needed to go. Their immediate concern was to get as far away from the imposing army that could have been looking for them.
While traveling, silence topped all priorities. All of them hoped, and Diaz prayed, that they would make contact with people who would be able to help them get back to the Pass. Mykal secretly wished Towbar would try to make contact by Mind Talk. If Towbar made contact then he would be able to use the magic powder to join them so he could create the green fog to take them back to the Pass.
They traveled in single file and when the terrain allowed they would walk in pairs. The forest seemed to thin out as they left the hills and traveled on more level ground. Birds could be heard but few were seen. Droppings provided evidence of animals but they couldn’t see any.
After a few more hours it seemed the trees were taller. The trees and brush seemed to be getting thicker. Colors changed from greens only to greens with reds, orange and yellow leaves. Mykal didn’t know much about trees, but these seemed similar to maple trees. Some trunks twisted and turned reminding him of giant frozen snakes. The sunlight pouring through the canopy seemed to make each area glow with many differing colorful auras.
They knew they were far away from the large army they feared, but they were clueless as to where they could be. Diaz continued to lead the way, verbally confident this situation would work itself out with God at the helm directing his life.
“Well, if nothing else,” Boris whispered to Mykal, “we have some pretty scenery to walk in.”
“I’d gladly trade it for the rock walls of the Pass,” Mykal quipped.
One of the three forward scouts rushed back quietly signaling for everyone to stop. Diaz and Kim dropped to one knee and raised a fist warning everyone to stop and to be observant of their surroundings. The attitude switched to a heightened sense of readiness.
Mykal looked all around and tried to listen for any sounds. Were they about to be ambushed? What did the scouts find? Was it something helpful, or more danger ahead? His thoughts ran wild with all the uncertainty of their strange situation.
Captain Diaz pointed to Mykal and waved him up to their position. Apparently it was clear enough to allow movement, but something to be cautious about since Diaz, Kim and Sergeant Freeman, a Green Beret, all stayed down on one knee. Mykal knew Freeman was one of the three scouts leading the group. Lieutenant Finley, Boris and Jake all followed Mykal.
“Hmmmm, that is really strange,” Diaz whispered to Freeman as Mykal joined them.
“What do we have?” Mykal asked nervously. The idea of facing thousands and thousands of Sosos charging down on them in the Pass seemed more comfortable. But this, the unknown, felt far more frightening.
“Tell him,” Diaz told Sergeant Freeman.
“This is gonna sound crazy Myk,” the black Green Beret tipped his helmet back to wipe the beads of sweat from his hair line. “About fifty meters away from here is a clearing in the forest. You can’t see the clearing until you get right to the edge of it. But anyway in this good size clearing there’s nothing there but a bunch of kids.”
“Kids? You mean like children?” Jake asked.
“Yeah, little kids,” the black soldier made an odd face.
“Are they dead?” Boris asked. His first thought went back to villages butchered by Sosos.
“No, no, they’re alive and well. There’s a bunch of them and they’re out there playing. They look to be two, three and four years old. I say that because I have a two year old and a four year old at home.”
“Just kids? Are you sure?” Finley asked. He looked just as confused as the rest of them.
“Yes Sir, just kids. There’s gotta be fifty of them at least. We didn’t count them cuz we been trying to see where the adults might be.”
“You couldn’t see the adults anywhere?” Finley inquired with a perplexed look. He would never allow his kids out of his sight in his hometown San Francisco, California.
“Take me up there,” Mykal requested. “Captain Diaz, bring the men up there but do a careful sweep of the area. I’d hate to be caught in a trap where the kids are being used as bait.”
Mykal, Jake and Boris followed Sergeant Freeman. They snuck up to the edge of the clearing silently. Two Marines waited for Freeman’s return. The two signaled there haven’t been any change and there still hadn’t been any sign of their parents or of any adults. Private First Class Jourard aimed at the children to look at them through his M-203 sight. The children played in the open field as if they didn’t have a care in the world.
Mykal couldn’t believe his eyes. “If I didn’t know any better I’d think its recess time at a pre-school,” he whispered. “But where the hell are the adults to supervise the play time?”
It was a mix of boys and girls. The laughing, chasing and playing all looked and sounded authentic, but there were no grown-ups. Mykal tried to count them but the quick moving children were hard to number. There were at least seventy of them.
Mykal found it odd that despite the fact they looked to be two to four years old physically, they played like older children. They acted like children who were ten to twelve years old. They chased each other as if playing tag, they played catch with small tree branches and something similar to pine cones. They laughed and interacted with each other as if they were older than two to four year olds.
“Do you think this is some kind of school yard?” Boris whispered after nudging Mykal in the side.
“Where’s the school? Where’s the teacher or any adult for that matter?” Mykal whispered. “Something’s not right here.”
“Do you think we should just try to go around them and get outta here?” Jake asked weighing their options in his mind.
“I don’t know. If we don’t get some sort of help, we may never get back to the Pass,” Mykal sighed and watched the kids.
“If I may speak Myk,” Finley whispered. “We can’t run and hide from everyone we come across. We need to be cautious, yes, but these children will lead us to their parents and maybe their parents could help us.”
“Sir what if they belong to the army from earlier?” Jake asked. “Do you think we should even try? I’m just looking at all options.”
“Well it doesn’t look like soldiers are around here,” Boris said. “I’ve looked at all the trees and I don’t see anything. I know my eyes aren’t the greatest, but I don’t see any threats.”
“They look harmless enough,” Mykal said, taken in by the fact that they continued to play as if they were the only people in the world. “And even though we don’t see any baby sitters, like Finley said, these kids can at least take us to th
e adults. Then we’ll see if the grown-ups might be able to give us any info that could help. Whadda ya think?” Mykal turned to Diaz.
“Yeeeaaahhh,” Diaz said, slowly stretching out his one word response. He tried to make sure God wasn’t leading him differently. They’d be blindly taking the risk of dangers not yet seen. “If it turns bad, we can fight and run away I guess. But I agree we have to start somewhere. This just seems so odd.”
“We’re all in agreement on that Sir,” Jake said and never took his eyes from the frolicsome group of youngsters.
“Anything new to report?” Finley asked one of the point men.
“No Sir.” Private First Class Jourard shook his head. “Nothing’s changed. Just kids being kids. Still no sign of any adult supervision.”
“Our only concern is if they are somehow related to the army we saw earlier,” Finley said to Diaz to make sure all the facts were on the table before making a decision. “Though to be honest, where we are in relation to the direction they came from that would seem highly unlikely. Who do they belong to is the big question? And would they be friendly or hostile? I don’t think we’re going to encounter trouble. If the adults try to confront us we could depart and avoid a conflict rather than put the children in harm’s way.”
“Alright, let’s do it,” Diaz nodded. “But we’re not going to reveal our full strength. We’ll only send a couple of men to see how they react. Hopefully we’ll get a bearing on the adults.”
“I’ll go,” Mykal said. “I only want volunteers to go with me cuz I’m not going to appoint anyone.”
“I’ll go with you Myk,” Boris responded first.
“I will too,” Private First Class Taylor volunteered. “I’m a brother who wants to see the look on their face when they see their first black man,” he chuckled and got a couple of others to snicker.
“I would like to go along,” Lieutenant Kim said. Two others volunteered as well, Private First Class Ferria and Corporal Adkins, both Marines. “Six should be enough,” Kim said when others wanted to put their lives on the line.
“We’ll see if we can get the adults to come into the clearing. If the adults don’t want to help or if something should go wrong we’re gonna go that way,” Mykal pointed beyond the clearing where the children were playing. “Then we’ll circle back around here so we don’t have to give you guys up. But if the adults attack we’ll come back here as fast as we can and you guys come out and save us.” Mykal gave a nervous laugh.
“Alright, keep your eyes opened,” Kim spoke to those who would be exposing themselves with him and Mykal.
The six of them stepped out from behind the trees and they held their weapons ready. They eyed the trees behind the children closely. They didn’t want the parents to attack assuming they were going to harm the children.
“Hey there,” Mykal called out and waved. He tried to look as friendly as possible. The children continued to play without a care in the world. “Hello there. Hey, hello,” Mykal called louder finally getting their attention.
In an instant all the laughter and playing ceased, the singing and dancing stopped. All the little heads turned toward the strangers who entered the play area. All the children froze as if they had been taught not to trust strangers. Suddenly, without a word spoken, the children all assembled around one child near the center of the group. The children watched them suspiciously, but none of them ran to get their parents or any adult for that matter.
“What do we do now?” Boris whispered. “This is freaky. Myk, I can almost hear that song Weird from the TV show One Step Beyond.”
As nervous as Mykal was, Boris’s comment made him laugh. “Let’s see what happens. Hey, are your parents here?” Mykal called out while they continued to slowly make their way to the children. He continuously watched the trees for any possible attack or for any signs of grown-ups they could communicate with. “We need help and we would like to speak with your parents,” he added in a child-like manner for the benefit of any adult who would be listening. He didn’t know if they would comprehend what he was saying, even if they spoke the common tongue.
With the children all huddled together, Mykal heard them speaking to each other in whispers. Their language was fast and high pitched. It reminded him of Alvin and the Chipmunks, but a little faster. They bunched up tightly and watched every movement of the strangers.
“We’re not going to hurt you,” Mykal spoke up and lifted his hands up. He realized the little children didn’t seem to be fearful in the least. They seemed to stand their ground with a brash audacity. “We need help. Could you please get your parents?”
One of the children stepped out from the group. The boy couldn’t have been more than four years old. He walked out like a proud young leader. He held his head up high as if to make it clear that he was the one in charge of the group of small children.
“Look at these little cocky kids,” Taylor whispered and smiled. “This one acts like he’s some king shit or something.”
“Maybe there’s more here than meets the eye,” Boris said quietly and repositioned his rifle. “They could be the bait for the adults.”
“You could be right. You guys keep your eyes open,” Kim warned quietly.
“Hey, do any of you speak the common tongue?” Mykal said to the children and hoped they would be able to understand him.
The children all looked to each other then back to the strangers but none of them said a word. It felt odd that all these little children didn’t seem to be afraid of the six strangers. Their little smiles were eerily welcoming.
“This is like something out of a freaky horror movie,” Ferria said.
“Can you understand me at all?” Mykal asked again. “Are your parents around here?”
“I don’t think they understand,” Corporal Adkins mumbled.
“If you can understand us,” Lieutenant Kim spoke up louder. “We come here as friends. We do not wish to harm anyone. We would like to speak with your parents.”
The leader-child in the front looked back at those behind him and then spoke. “I understand your words,” he said with a grown man’s voice. “We do not have parents.”
“What the hell?” Boris wanted to laugh. “Are we being pranked?” He asked and looked around to see if any grown person was throwing his voice.
“We care for ourselves,” the child answered. His smile disappeared when he saw they looked around and behind him as if they didn’t believe him.
Mykal was confused. The one who spoke wasn’t much older than his children, but sounded like a man older than himself. If Mykal closed his eyes he would be certain that a grown man spoke to him. Unconsciously Mykal blinked and shook his head with disbelief. The little person clearly had the voice and the intelligence of a grown man, but the chubby cheeks, face and body of a four year old child. All of the people before them had the bodies and the faces of little children.
“But you’re just children,” Boris said reflecting the collective thought.
“This is not true,” the tiny man replied. “We appear to be children. I should not have said it that way,” he corrected himself under their suspicious glares. “We are people who are trapped in the bodies of children. We can discuss this in time,” he said when one of the little girls tugged on his elbow. “Please, tell us what brings you here,” he requested and shifted his eyes to each of them.
Mykal couldn’t speak. The females all looked like young little girls with baby faces and along straight baby soft hair. The boys looked like little boys. Some had chubby cheeks and dirt on their clothes from playing on the ground. Mykal reminded himself they were lost in Towbar’s world. Anything could be possible.
“We’re lost,” Kim answered when Mykal said nothing.
“Yeah, we’re lost,” Mykal added and he felt silly, not because he spoke to a four year old and his little friends, but that he sought help from a four year old and his little friends. “Where do you people live?” He asked and couldn’t believe how helplessly inno
cent they appeared. “How many of you are like this? Trapped in little bodies that is.”
“We do not live far from here,” the little leader answered. “This is our entire clan,” he fanned his little hand back to the group. “Where do you hail from? How many of you are there?” The old voice asked as if he didn’t believe they were only six. He looked back to the others.
“This is all there is,” Boris answered first, but he said it so fast that it sounded disingenuous.
Mykal understood baby-man’s suspicion. They were trapped in little undeveloped bodies and six strangers dropped in on them out of the blue. Mykal realized they must have been a sight to look at because most of them still had the colors of the camouflage paint covering their faces.
“You dress strange,” the little leader said which made several of the other children start to giggle. His expression and the fact he scanned the trees behind them showed he didn’t believe Boris. “Where do you hail from?” He asked again.
“You probably wouldn’t believe me if we were to tell you where we’re from,” Mykal said. He found it difficult to carry on a serious conversation with one who looked like he wasn’t old enough to attend kindergarten. “There are more of us,” he admitted. “We didn’t want to show our full strength because we’re lost and we don’t know who we can trust. So we’re not going to trust anyone.”
“I appreciate your concern. That is wise.” The leader grinned and placed his index finger on his chin. “Do we look like people you can not trust?” He batted his innocent baby-like eyes, but the voice was the deep voice of a grown man.
“You look very trusting,” Mykal replied in a patronizing tone. “What’s your name?”
