by Germann, Tom
This was going to be bad.
Maybe she could talk her way out of it? “Hi guys, we were just walking along heading back to our room and got lost. Any chance you could tell us where the door to the main building is?”
The guy on her right snickered and the one behind them laughed. It wasn’t a good sound. It meant the guy who was speaking now was the first one. Sue could hear the sneer in his voice. “No need for a door to go back to the building girls. Me and the boys have this office done up for entertaining a fine pair of ladies like you. Heck we even have a mattress there for later.”
Both men started walking forward toward them. Sue knew she was strong and she knew about different come along holds. But there were two of them and they looked strong. Plus, there was the one behind her. She knew she could hurt one of them. Maybe badly. But two? Maybe if she kept them both busy Tracy could get away. If only Tracy could take a hint.
Then it was too late to think anymore.
The two men ahead of her rushed at her. Actually, it was more like a stagger as they were so drunk.
When the smaller man from the right came at her and tried to bear hug her Sue did what was natural. She brought her knee up into his unprotected groin. Hard.
Any interest he had in doing anything other than holding himself left his mind and he collapsed to the ground mewling then he started puking on himself.
Tracy wasn’t next to her anymore but she could hear the ‘smack’ of flesh hitting flesh then Tracy was crying out and there was the ‘thud’ of a body hitting the ground somewhere behind her.
The other larger guy in front of her stopped any other thoughts.
He may have been staggeringly drunk but when his fist took Sue in the stomach she saw stars and her vision spiraled down a tunnel with only a pinprick visible at the end.
She sat hard on her butt and was struggling to catch her breath.
She could see Tracy’s feet next to her and distantly she heard her crying.
She had to get her breath back but her vision was still tunneling down.
A pair of legs came into view ahead of her and she could hear the soldier’s voice.
“This bitch’s way stronger than she looks. Heck Bobby, I guess it means you do go second if you can.” There was a pause, “Don’t be puking on my shoes boy! I gotta wear these tomorrow and I don’t want your waste sloshing around in my shoes! Zed, looks like it’s just you and me on these girls. You get the skinny one. Hmmph I always did like a woman with some meat on her bones.”
The man’s face came into view. It was an ugly face without much expression and some scars like he had been in an accident. His hair looked real short and Sue could see his eyes were mean.
She could feel him grabbing her shoulder then she heard a ripping sound.
His voice came from a distance. “Nice.”
Sue knew the man had ripped her shirt. All she could think of was how cheap the material had to be to rip so easy. She wondered how often the women from here had to buy new clothes. Why would you make a dress shirt like this out of something like paper?
Sue knew her mind was going away but she didn’t want to think about what was going to happen.
She had tried to fight them off but she could still barely breathe.
Then she heard another man’s voice. “We have to take them to the office Butch. We can’t do nothing here in the hall.”
Everything was fading to black then Sue thought she could hear the rushing of water. Her ears were ringing. It was like there were bells in the distance.
She slowly started catching her breath and her vision started to come back. She could hear fighting sounds. Maybe Tracy had gotten up and was fighting them off? Then there were more men’s voices.
Well, of course there would be more men. What a bad party, if only Sue could get focussed.
She heard some more talking and it sounded like the bells were fading.
“I said don’t move. I won’t be nice to you like she was to your friend. He’ll be limping for a little while then be fine. When I blow your brains out you won’t be getting up from that no matter what. So why don’t you and your buddy over there who looks like he’s about to piss himself tell us all about what you were up to with our friends here?”
Sue’s vision was coming back as was she. She could concentrate now. The back of her head stung. She must have hit it when she hit the ground. As she opened her eyes Sue felt the lights in the hallway were much too bright.
What Sue saw took a second for her to process. Tracy was sitting there holding her hand. Both First Sergeant Caisson and Sergeant Vajjer were standing there and they had their pistols out. Caisson had his pistol to the head of the big guy who had attacked her. No. The pistol was jammed in his ear.
There was only one guy standing then she heard two different people moaning.
Sue remembered she had kneed one of the guys in the crotch and he had gone down throwing up. Vajjer was standing behind them with his pistol pointed at something on the ground.
Tracy leaned forward and looked Sue in the eyes. “Are you okay Sue? You took a bump on the head when you fell. Can you hear me?”
Sue nodded then started trying to stand up. Tracy scrambled up with her and the two stood there supporting each other for a second.
Sue had her hearing back and was developing a bad headache. Tracy was pale and shivering.
Sue realized her shirt was ripped across the front and just hanging there. She grabbed it with her free hand and pulled it up to cover herself.
The scene was nightmarish. Poor lighting, a crowded hallway and a fight scene. Sue thought of a horror movie and realized they were all living one with a zombie theme.
The man on the ground, Bobby, was moaning pitifully still and he was rolling in his own vomit. The smaller man, Zed was lying on the ground and moaning holding his head with both hands while Vajjer stood over him pointing his sidearm at the man. Butch was the biggest of the three and he was pressed up against the shelving unit by Caisson who had his pistol stuck in the man’s ear pushing his face down against one of the shelves.
Sue noticed Vajjer looked calm but his finger was on the trigger and the hammer was back. If he sneezed Zed was taking a forty-five round in the body. Caisson on the other hand looked livid and he was jabbing the pistol hard into the side of Butch’s head.
Butch was mewling as the barrel poked him over and over.
From the poor lighting, it looked like Butch had pissed himself in terror when Sergeant Caisson had come barreling in on him.
A door opened further down the hall behind Vajjer.
Vajjer heard the noise and put his foot on the back of Zed and pivoted his body so he could see and cover what was coming down the hallway toward them.
Sue recognized the soldier in the lead. He was in a sergeants uniform and had two other men with him, both Corporals. It was the guy everyone in the party had agreed was the ringleader of the troublemakers. That was it, his name was Tannis. The greasy sergeant who had called her and Tracy dames, like they were property.
He didn’t look like much being shorter, but his short hair, clean uniform and military bearing only seemed to accent his eyes. Those were a killer’s eyes, cold, dark, and deep. Everything about his posture and attitude screamed trouble.
The forty-five holstered on his hip or on the hips of his subordinates didn’t make Sue feel any better either.
He held both his hands up and stopped. “Evening everyone. We haven’t been introduced. I’m Sergeant Tannis, I run the headquarters and I see you’ve run into some of the boys. I keep trying to tell the Commanding Officer we shouldn’t let the boys get so far into the juice during our dinners but he wants to keep the boys feeling alright on a lonely posting like this. I apologize for their drunkenness ladies.” He gave a short sloppy bow toward Sue and Tracy. “Me and my boys here will get them locked up until the sober up and they’ll be on extra duties until the CO can charge them with di
sorderly conduct in a day or two.”
He nodded at the four of them. “We can take them from here, and don’t you worry they won’t be getting off easy. No matter what the situation the Four hundredth and Twelfth always takes care of its own.”
Vajjer nodded and took his foot off the man at his feet. “Sounds good to me. Sometimes the boys get a little too drunk and forget what’s what.”
Sue just watched in horror as the man at his feet got up and hobbled over to the three newcomers. Then Bobby limped up and over to the others.
Caisson was the last to back off slowly pulling the pistol out of Butch’s ear then pushing him down the hallway toward Sergeant Tannis and his men. “Alright Sergeant, you can take them in. Let me know if you want statements from us and we’ll have them to you as soon as we can.”
Sue noticed Caissons gun was like Vajjer’s. Down at his side but he hadn’t made any effort to put it away yet.
Sergeant Tannis ignored him. “That shouldn’t be necessary. I think we saw enough. Oh, and if you’re concerned about them running, don’t be. There ain’t nowhere to go but over the wall and the only thing waiting for anyone outside is death. You all should get back to your room and take care. We live in bad times these days. Bad times indeed.”
Without another word, Sergeant Tannis and his two men turned and slowly walked off with the three attackers in the middle.
Sue just watched dumbfounded while the men left.
She looked at Caisson and her temper flared up. “Damn it! Those bastards were going to rape us!” She wiggled her hand holding her shirt across her body to emphasize the condition of her clothes. “After they were done I don’t think they were going to let us go either!”
Sergeant Vajjer stepped in close to her and spoke quietly. “You need to shut up for now Sue. I think it would be best if we all talked about this back in the room.” His next words were louder in a normal conversational tone. “You girls may have just over reacted a bit. But don’t worry, we’ll get statements done and pass them in. Come on now, let’s get back to the room and get some rest.”
Sue was livid and her face was flushing. With her hands clenched she was going to start yelling at the two men when Tracy grabbed her arm and squeezed. Hard. Sue looked at her friend who was still white faced.
Tracy shook her head. “Come on Sue. We should get back to the room. I want to get changed.”
Sue cooled off and followed First Caisson with Tracy next to her and Sergeant Vajjer in the rear. She didn’t notice much about the trip, but she did notice both soldiers kept their weapons out and ready all the way back to the room.
Corporal Toker and Weibe were already in the room along with Jimmy.
As soon as they entered the room and Sergeant Vajjer had closed the door Sue grabbed Caisson’s arm and yanked on him.
He was a big man and as strong as Sue was she shouldn’t have been able to spin him. But he spun right around and looked at her with an expressionless face.
Her anger exploded out of her. “What the hell was that about? Tracy and I were about to get raped and probably killed by those scumbags and you let them get taken away by their boss? What is wrong with you?”
Jimmy had come over as soon as they had walked in and he had seen the weapons. “What’s going on?”
When everyone moved around Jimmy had a better view of Sue with her ripped top and Tracy who was still pale and starting to sport a black eye. He started back. “What happened and where is everyone else?”
Toker and Weibe saw as well but instead of asking they went to the side where the group had agreed to hide backup weapons. Toker grabbed one a spare forty-five while Weibe grabbed the shotgun they had brought back with their gear.
Sergeant Vajjer looked at the two Corporals. “Cover the door with the shotgun and Toker you stay by the back window over there.” He pointed at the far corner. “We don’t want anyone coming along and eavesdropping on us, or getting the jump on us.” He looked at Jimmy. “Sue and Tracy were jumped by three of the REMFs then we had three more show up.”
Jimmy reached back and checked the firearm in the small of his back. “Well why don’t we go up there and hang ‘em high then?”
Caisson shook his head. “We aren’t going to do that.”
Tracy was shaking even more and promptly sat down on the floor. Sue’s mouth was hanging open and the only sounds she could make were faint squeaks.
First Caisson looked around at everyone. “I’ll explain it all to you now. Weibe, you and Toker need to keep an eye and ear out. I don’t want the bad guys jumping us with no warning. You are our warning. Don’t fire though or give away your position or issue challenges. Just keep an eye out for right now. Don’t be distracted by what we’re talking about. Mmm if someone comes down the hall and they are armed? Kill ‘em.”
He then turned and motioned Jimmy closer then leaned in toward Sue but stopped before getting too close. Then he motioned Vajjer over. “This place has no discipline. The CO is keeping control’,” Caisson used his fingers for quotations around the word control to emphasize the point. “By not enforcing discipline and letting the troops drink their faces off. I don’t doubt those three were there to ambush you and if it had worked Tannis and his goons would have taken first turn on the two of you and those other three would have had turns later. We are in a bad spot here Sue. We came along and were about to have a gun fight. Maybe Tannis set it up so he was covered in case someone came along. Now if we go in there and talk to the CO, if he does anything I can only see the Flag Sergeant standing with him. The bad guy gang here outnumbers everyone else and they’ve bullied the clerks so I bet they have full access to the armoury and whatever weapons they want. Those guys will kill in a second. You were at the head table. The guys at my table were hammered and making jokes about people being stupid enough to ‘go over the wall’. They all know what it’s like outside. If you make too much trouble for the gang then you go over the wall. Probably with a cracked skull, or maybe just tied up so the infected can get you.”
Caisson paused and looked around. Both women were just staring at him. Tracy whispered, “But they’re soldiers. They’re like cops. They’re supposed to protect people and help.”
Vajjer shook his head and spoke quietly as if afraid of being overheard. “No, Tracy. These are scumbags and losers. There is usually one guy like this in a unit, maybe two. They do just enough to not get in trouble and eventually most of them get kicked out. Unless someone has the stupid idea of putting them all together so they only have good troops. Then you have something which turns into a cancer. I’ve seen it before. Usually someone comes along, documents everything and someone gets kicked out or charged and it sorts out everyone else. It’s gone way to far here. No one at my table said anything ‘cause there were mostly clerks there but I think it’s pretty obvious the bad guys are running this place. Thankfully the train arrives in less than two days and we can leave and hopefully wherever the rest of the survivors are has a better grip on reality than this place.”
Jimmy snorted. “Don’t hold your breath youngster. If these guys are this bad I can’t see a refugee camp surrounded by soldiers being much better. After all I bet they sent their best out and kept their lame and lazy people in the rear to guard the ‘safe area’. So, what do we do?”
Caisson smiled grimly. “We carry on as per normal. We leave two people on sentry overnight. But for right now Sue and Tracy get cleaned up. We all stay on our toes and we break out and load all the hidden weapons we brought. If anyone comes we need to have enough guns and ammo ready to make them pay for it. I don’t think they will, those types of guys are usually chicken and don’t want any part of a fair fight. But I could see them trying an ambush. Or grabbing someone. So, we wait for the rest of the guys to come back. Then we go out on patrol tomorrow then load onto the train. As soon as we are on board the train and in a car near the front of the engine we’re okay.”
The conversation over, all the wea
pons were pulled out and checked over again, then loaded and set close to hand. Sue and Tracy changed quickly then helped. While it was late no one wanted to sleep and for a while the entire room was just a scene of nervous activity until First Caisson had most of the lights turned off by unscrewing the lightbulbs and set a watch. Even if they couldn’t sleep they could rest.
It was shortly before midnight when the rest of the group came back. Wagner walked in followed by Sam, Steven, and Andreis. It only took a minute to update them on what had happened then when everyone started getting worked up again Major Wagner stepped on it immediately.
“No. We are not going to stay up for half an hour more talking about what happened. We are going to rack out because we are up at zero six and ready to roll before seven. We keep eyes open, weapons to hand and never travel individually. In fact, we travel in a group or split up into two groups from now until we leave. Are we clear?”
Everyone agreed then they racked out. Almost no one slept and it may have been because of the action or it may have been when they heard Sue quietly crying in the middle of the night.
0600 PREPARE TO ROLL
M
orning arrived too fast. Everyone was up and moving slowly. The incredible heat hadn’t broken yet even though the building was set up to not trap heat, all the offices had a buildup and everyone was soaked in sweat when they woke up.
No one commented on Sue crying in the night and she wasn’t talkative answering questions tersely.
Breakfast was rations they had brought in. Everyone had agreed the emergency tinned rations needed hot sauce and starvation.
They were all ready to go in minutes.
The group split up quickly.
The patrol group heading out in the trucks would consist of Major Wagner, First Caisson, Sergeant Vajjer, Corporal Toker, Corporal Weibe, and Sam to drive the last vehicle.
The rest would stay and help prepare the stores and equipment to roll onto the train the next day. Jimmy would work on engines, Andreis would help, Steven would continue to organize and figure out what went onto what car based on the lists made available in the small office in the yard. Tracy and Sue would stay behind and help Steven as well as stay out of the way.
