by Dave Hazel
Mykal sighed. “Who were they?”
“Three Marines; Staff Sergeant Morrison, Sergeant Evans and Corporal Horton. And one Ranger, Corporal West,” Diaz detailed the losses. “The sad part is Evans was killed by friendly fire.”
“What?” Mykal gasped. “How’d that happen?”
“It was chaos Myk,” Finley quickly responded defensively. “Evans got shot in the chest with an M-16 round. It’s surprising we didn’t have many more similar casualties.”
“Are there any of those creatures still alive?” Mykal asked. “I’d like to interrogate them.”
“No, they wouldn’t surrender and they wouldn’t run away. We were forced to kill all of them,” Finley answered and looked to the others to see if they had a different view.
“You said some were injured. How bad? Are we gonna have to carry them?”
“No. None were injured severely,” Diaz was happy to report. “You had the worst injury, but it looks like you’re healed. All the men had minor injuries. They can walk and fight if they have to.”
“Good, I wanna get away from here. What did you do with the bodies of the men who died?”
“We buried them behind one of the huts,” Finley answered since he led the detail. “And just so you know, those animals remained animals in death.”
“I thought they would have changed back to people, but they’re still dirty filthy animals,” Boris inputted with a yawn. “I just woke up not too long ago Myk. That was some potent stuff they gave us. I don’t even remember what happened.”
“Would you like to see them?” Finley asked referring to the bodies of the dead creatures.
“No. No thanks,” Mykal rolled his eyes. “I’ve seen enough of them last night to last me a life time. I’ll never forget what they look like. Does anyone have a mirror?” He asked and patted the puffiness around his left eye. ”I don’t remember this, but this really hurts.”
“You were out cold when it clubbed you in the face,” Jake said.
“I have one,” Kim replied and took his small military issue metal reflecting tool from his trouser pocket. “The military made these with no glass so there’s no risk of breaking it.”
Mykal wanted to see the damage done to his eye. The intense pain made him wonder if the bone around the eye socket had been broken. The bruised swollen flesh didn’t bother him, but seeing the white of his eye a turned deep blood red startled him. “That little freak got me good,” he shook his head at the sight of his injury. “It must look worse than it really is,” he admitted. “My vision seems normal.” He eyed the right side of his face where the gash had been. The flesh had been joined together without stitches and looked red as if the skin was irritated.
“I’m going to check on the men,” Diaz said and walked off.
“Now seriously Myk, how the hell did your head heal so quickly?” Finley asked after Diaz departed. “And your face too.”
He couldn’t share his secret of Towbar’s blood and the special healing properties of Towbar’s blood flowing in his veins. ‘They wouldn’t believe it anyway.’ He stared into the distance and realized how much he missed his friend. He wished Towbar was with him. The last six months they had been nearly inseparable.
“I guess I just eat right,” Mykal joked.
“I personally examined the wound to the back of your head and didn’t think you could possibly survive, so how could you have healed so fast?” Finley persisted. “That’s why all we did to the face was only apply pressure to stop the bleeding. We didn’t even try to stitch it up.
“He’s always been like that,” Boris answered. “Like Jake mentioned about him getting stabbed, I saw the wound with that dagger that he keeps,” he pointed to the long ice pick like blade in Mykal’s web belt. “The next day the wound was gone. He was healed.”
“And he’s the only person known to have survived a Soso death arrow,” Jake added which doubled his mystique.
“I don’t know about that,” Mykal shied away from the attention. “Maybe it’s like Captain Diaz said. It’s a miracle. Look, we oughta get a move on. Any suggestions to where?”
“Well, while you were out, we’ve discussed the suggestion Boris had,” Finley answered and paused. “I think it would be worth giving it some thought. We might as well make something good of this situation we are in.”
“What suggestion?” Mykal couldn’t remember.
“My idea about hunting down and taking out Zizmon-Tarl.”
“Are you kidding me?” Mykal guffawed at the crazy proposition. “All of you gave this thought?”
“I’ll admit, at first I wasn’t keen on the idea myself,” Finley held his hand up as if to ask for a moment. “But when Boris explained his thoughts about it, it started to make a little bit more sense. Captain Diaz also agreed. He thought it could be a productive use of our unfortunate situation. We don’t have much going for us and we don’t know if we will ever make it back to the Pass. So let’s try to turn this into something productive.”
“You know this is crazy, right?” Mykal scoffed.
“Well, if this Zizmon-Tarl is around here,” Lieutenant Kim chimed in to voice his thoughts. “Then we’re closer to him than we are to the Pass. We should make the most of this strange turn of events.”
“We don’t know what we’re up against,” Mykal argued. “We’re probably all gonna get killed.”
“Myk, let’s be honest,” Jake said and paused. “Being on this side of the world, we’re probably all gonna die before we ever make it back to the Pass,” he countered. “Believe me, that’s the last thing I wanna think about. I wanna get back home to Jana. But if we’re stuck here, and if there is no returning, then let’s make it happen on our terms.”
Boris cheered them on. “If we can hunt down this Zizmon-Tarl character, we can kill him and put an end to all the pressure put on the Sosos to take Towbar’s country. We can do it,” Boris rallied and everyone joined in with the cheers. “Instead of being the hunted we’ll become the hunter. We’d be doing good for Towbar’s people and they’d probably never know it.”
“Are you guys sure I was the only one whacked in the head last night?” He chuckled at their suicidal proposal. “Alright, alright,” Mykal put his hands up to silence them. “We’ll see what happens. If we come across Mister Zizmon-Tarl we will take him down,” he said and had to stop at the outburst of cheers the men gave. “You know you’re all nuts, right?” He couldn’t keep from laughing. “Yes, we’ll do what we can,” he said and stopped short of giving his full endorsement of the plan.
Captain Diaz rushed back to the noise. “What’s going on?”
“We told Mykal of our plan to go after Zizmon-Tarl and…”
2.
They had been traveling for hours, not sure where they were going, but just moving. The journey remained silent and movement ceased for a short rest only for meal time. For most of the hike they trekked in single file and when terrain would permit they would double up, walking side by side.
During the travel Mykal’s head healed completely. The swelling around his left eye dissipated, but the white of his eye stayed red. Mykal’s emotions dipped to depression. Unsure if it was the present circumstance of being lost or something more troubling. He feared something closer, ‘Maybe something could be wrong at home. I dunno,’ he thought and quietly shook his head. ‘Maybe it’s nothing at home, but something doesn’t seem right. I can’t put my finger on it. I just wanna go home. I’m tired of all this. But we’re basically dead, cuz there is no way to get back, and if anything is really wrong, I’ll never be able to fix it. This is hell cuz I can’t stop thinking about home, and I can’t do anything about it,’ his thoughts seemed to be spiraling out of control.
Mykal’s worry of the unknown, possibly something at home, made him start to feel ill. If there was a death in his family, he would never know and he remained helpless. He knew his mind was going to extremes in his self-torture, but if it wasn’t a death in his family, maybe his wife or
one of the boys got sick or hurt. The more he thought about his lack of control, the more his situation troubled him.
He still had to wear a brave face and put on a ‘show’. His top priority aside from getting home was to get all the men back to the safety of the Pass without losing any more men. Despite the fact all the men volunteered and knew the risks when they signed up, he felt ultimately responsible for them. He didn’t want to bond with any of them or get too close, other than Boris and Jake. He couldn’t handle more of the heartache he suffered when he lost close friends during the first visit.
While they traveled through the colorful forest, they didn’t see much activity but a number of times they heard the sounds of animals fleeing. The plant life and flowers were amazing to look at and if they had the time they would love to stop and inspect the beauty before them. Some of the vibrant blues and yellows, orange with black, the deep purples and mauves were breath taking to behold. A certain type of flower towered over five feet tall. The blossom and the stem were bright orange with black lines coursing through the petals like throbbing veins. Each flower looked as if someone painstakingly colored them by hand.
The scents were astounding and relaxing. Most of the tough warriors wished they had a camera to capture the wonders for loved ones back home to see at a later time, if there would be a later time. Everything looked beautiful but they all knew danger lurked at almost every step.
Birds began to fly closer to them. For the most part the birds looked pretty much like everything they had seen back home. The lone exception they found happened to be in a strange bird of prey. The birds were large and had bodies similar to the American Bald Eagle with long talons. The head on the creature looked to be that of a baboon with long pointy fangs. There were several which made it clear it wasn’t just one freak of nature.
They too flew away. Mykal wondered if these were more creatures “cursed” by Zizmon-Tarl. A bird couldn’t possibly have a baboon’s head. Mykal wondered what type of curse or magic spell Zizmon-Tarl had saved especially for their group to cast upon them.
“Hey Myk,” William whispered and waved Mykal to him. He had to wipe sweat from his brow. “It’s going to be dark soon. Do you think we should set up a camp and get a little extra rest?”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea Will,” Mykal said to let William know he didn’t hold a grudge. Since their relationship strained during this dangerous perambulation, he wanted to patch things up despite the fact William became a royal pain in the neck. “Hey Captain Diaz, if you find a spot you think would be good, say so. We’ll call it quits for the night.”
“Right here would be fine,” Diaz said and gave a broad smile. Diaz’s optimism encouraged the men.
Mykal realized most of his thoughts were about back home. ‘Is it possible to get back home?’ He wondered while eyeing the men. ‘Did the voice in the green fog have it in for all the men or just me? If it’s after me, then I’m putting all these guys in danger.’
“Gather ‘round,” Jake called the men to him. “We’re going to do the normal guard duty, but I want everyone to make sure you get as much rest as possible when you’re not on guard duty. Tomorrow we’re going to try making more time and we’re going to start at the first light of dawn.”
It irked Mykal and he wanted to ask Jake why he would say something like that without checking with him first. It seemed like a good idea, but why would Jake usurp his authority like that? Could Jake be out to take his position? It suddenly hit him how paranoid and fearful he was becoming and over the wrong people and wrong situations.
‘Damn, am I becoming one of those power hungry freaks that I always hated?’ He thought to himself. ‘I know Jake’s not out to hurt me. He wants to help me. Why should I care that he would take the initiative and show leadership? I hope I’m not starting to lose my mind,’ he contemplated and feared his emotions and mental stamina were weakening. ‘What an idiot I’m becoming. What if Diaz or Finley told him to say that? I wouldn’t have a problem with it. I’m not cut out for this leadership stuff.’
“What’s the matter Myk?” Boris asked.
“Huh?”
“You got that look on your face like you just bit into an apple and there’s only half a worm there,” Boris chuckled.
“Ah, um, nothing. My thoughts are just all over the place,” he answered and realized he couldn’t even express a sense of humor.
“Are you alright? You did take a couple of pretty hard whacks to the head yesterday,” Jake said as he joined them.
“I’m fine, I guess I’m just worried about what’s going on,” he confided to his two closest friends. “I don’t want the men to know I’m scared, but man, I’m scared,” he admitted.
“Well if you weren’t scared, then I’d be worried,” Jake said and tittered. “Anyone who says they’re not scared is a liar or they’re friggin nuts.” Jake winked. “I’m scared too. Thanks for admitting it so I could get it off my chest too.”
Looking at Jake Mykal knew Jake would never try to hurt him, or pull a fast one on him. Jake’s friendship, like Boris’s friendship, was true and they both have been there through it all, good and bad times.
“I guess I’m scared too,” Boris said and had to look away. “You guys are the only family I have left.” He couldn’t look them in the eye.
“I know this is going to sound silly,” Jake said while the three of them sat down against some trees. “I’m only in my thirties and because of all I’ve been through in the past six months I feel like an old man in my seventies. I haven’t seen Jana in six months and I swear it feels like a lifetime.”
“When we knew we were coming back here, I told her I would bring you back to her,” Mykal said. “I’m not going to break my word to her or my word to Pam. I don’t know how, but we’re gonna go home. I don’t know how long it’s gonna take, but we’re going home,” he repeated to encourage himself more than Jake. Those words sounded so completely different then the defeated attitude and thoughts he allowed to swirl in his mind for the last six or seven hours.
“I’m with ya bro,” Jake smirked and raised his hand to give Mykal a high five.
Boris raised his hand too for them to slap it. “I know I can’t go back to the world, but I’m down for getting back to the Pass. That’s where my new home is.”
Mykal slapped Boris’s hand and gave a fake smile. He felt sad as he studied the naive “looking” face of a nerd. If he wouldn’t have witnessed the aftermath of the Minot Massacre he would never believe Boris murdered all those people. It tugged on his heart to hear Boris say they were his only family now. Boris knew the entire world back home hated him. Part of Mykal wanted to run away so he could let his hurt emotions out over his friend’s predicament. It wouldn’t change anything though; Boris is thought to be dead and can never return home. Despite the horrible crime Boris committed, all the families he destroyed, Boris was still his close dear friend and Mykal wouldn’t turn his back on him.
‘Why am I getting so damn emotional?’ He wondered and looked at all the men. ‘I’m acting like a sissy,’ he scolded himself in thought. ‘Act like a damn man.’ A disturbance broke his silent contemplation.
“What the hell do you mean I have to pull guard duty again?” William’s voice lashed out at someone.
“That guy is a pain in the ass,” Jake whispered when the three of them jumped up to end the commotion.
“No, I’m not going to quiet down,” William’s angry words were directed at Lieutenant Finley.
“Listen Sir,” Finley tried to keep his voice barely above a whisper to show respect to William’s rank. “We need to keep the noise down because we don’t know if there are others in this forest. You may have just given our position away.”
“Right now I don’t give a shit,” William replied in a harsh whisper and pointed his finger at Finley. “I’m one of the ranking officers and doing guard duty is degrading to my rank. It’s beneath my dignity to work like a common man. As a fellow officer, you should kno
w that.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way Sir,” Finley tried to calm him when Mykal, Jake and Boris joined him. Others also gathered.
“What’s going on?” Mykal asked though it was obvious.
“Why did you pick me first?” William barked at Finley.
“Hey chrome dome, why don’t you calm the hell down and do your part like everyone else?” Boris laughed with an evil smirk. “All you friggin do is cry and bellyache like a little baby.”
“You better watch yourself, because I will rip you apart with my bare hands,” William snapped showing his hatred for Boris. He was smart enough to leave it as a threat when he saw Boris place his hand on the butt of his .44 magnum revolver.
Mykal reached his hand out and touched Boris’s chest to stop him. He knew Boris had nothing to lose and he wouldn’t hesitate to shoot William. “What’s going on?” Mykal asked as he stepped forward into the human circle that surrounded William. “What’s the problem?”
“I’m a Captain and I don’t feel that I should have to pull guard duty,” he hissed his words at Mykal.
“In a normal situation I would agree with you,” Mykal spoke softly trying to calm the situation. “But we’re not in a normal situation. We need everyone to help. This is one of those strange situations where rank needs to be set aside and we all work together. This is all about survival and not about worrying that our feelings don’t get hurt. I’m in charge and I told Diaz, Finley and Kim that we’re all going to pull guard duty until I know we are in a safe place.”
“You tell him Myk,” Boris taunted.
“Knock it off,” Mykal turned to Boris because he didn’t want his friend to throw gasoline on the fire that raged. “There are forty-one of us. We all need to do our part around here.”
“Are you pulling guard duty?” William challenged Mykal.
“I was advised by Captain Diaz that I shouldn’t cuz I’m--”
“I knew it, you damn hypocrite.”
“Let me finish,” Mykal snarled back showing he was getting angry. “I said I was advised not to because of my injuries, but I’m pulling guard duty. And if you must know, I took it upon myself to take the crap shifts so someone else would get a better shift. The reason you were one of the first ones picked, big mouth, is so after your shift was done you would get a full night sleep. And you wouldn’t have your sleep interrupted.”
