His Name Was Zach

by Peter Martuneac

  “You sure are,” said Abby as she leaped onto the man from behind. She had been hiding behind a trash can next to the door and made her move when the guard had gone over to the window. She wrapped her legs around him, crossed her ankles, and put her arm around his throat, locking him in a Figure-8 blood choke. She held on for all she was worth, squeezing her arms as tight as her muscles could manage. The young man panicked and tried to grab at Abby, but he couldn’t quite reach her as she squirmed around on his back. He tried to bash her against the wall, but she held on tight. It took only a few seconds for the man to drop to one knee, and a total of eight seconds for him to black out.

  Abby felt the man’s chest just to make sure that he was still breathing, then unclipped his duty belt. She dragged the unconscious man into one of the stalls and cuffed his hands around the base of the toilet. Just in case he woke up too soon, she also gagged him with her bandana. She hated to lose it like this, but it had to be done.

  The first phase of her plan had succeeded, and her work here was done. She took the man’s pistol, checked to make sure there was a round in the chamber, then shoved it into the back of her trousers and dropped his key ring into her pocket. She picked up his radio, detached the battery, and dropped it into the trash can. Then she calmly exited the bathroom as she put her hair back up into a ponytail.

  The hallway was still empty and the building was quiet, so Abby assumed that no one had heard her scuffle. “There must not be many guards,” she thought. She walked away from the direction she had come, heading for the back doors. When they had been in the Humvee that brought them to the base, she had overheard the airmen in the front seats talking about where the prisoners’ stuff was to be kept, and one mentioned a storage room out back.

  She reached the back doors in a matter of moments. Apparently, the building was not all that big. She pushed open the back door and then wedged it open with her pistol, in case it locked automatically when it closed. She stepped outside into almost total darkness. Only a sliver of the moon was out tonight, making it difficult to see anything at all. Even if one had night-vision optics, it would be hard to see distinct shapes from more than a few yards away.

  Abby tip-toed along the building, running her hand against the wall until she felt a door handle. She stood in front of a door and could make out a small sign that said ‘Storage’. She tugged on the handle, but it was locked. Pulling the key ring out of her pocket, Abby tried the first key. Nothing. The second and third keys also failed to unlock the door, but the fourth one twisted smoothly in the lock. Abby opened the door and then stepped inside the small, dark room, closing the door behind her.

  Abby felt around the wall near the door, looking for a light switch. Her hand bumped into it, and she flipped it up, bathing the small room in a dim, incandescent light. Sure enough, all six of their packs were sitting against the wall, and all their weapons were laid out on a table with binders and loose papers scattered carelessly. “Yesss!” she whispered triumphantly. Walking over to her pack, she unzipped the main pouch and fished around for her slingshot which she then dropped into one of her cargo pockets, just in case she needed it. She also dug out her hat and put this on her head. She turned the light back off and then quietly left the room, leaving the door unlocked.

  Making her way quickly back to the doors she had exited from, Abby retrieved her pistol and then slowly allowed the door to close, trying to make as little noise as possible. As she walked back down the hallway towards the room where she had been held with the others, Abby checked her watch. It had been only five minutes since she had left the room. Things were going well. She came up to the door where the others were still sleeping and once again pulled the key ring out of her pocket. This time, the first key she tried unlocked the door and Abby stepped into the room.

  “Guys, wake up! Everyone wake up! Come on, Al!” she hissed as she went around nudging everyone awake. Everyone was confused and grumbling as Amber said, “Abby, what are you doing?”

  “No time!” Abby said excitedly. She ran over to the table on the far wall that had a fake plant sitting on it. She reached into the pot and pulled out three stones, dropping them in her pocket. “Go down this hallway to the back doors and go outside. On your left side, there’s a…Al! Wake up! There’s a storage room. It’s unlocked and it has all our stuff in there. Stay there and lock the door. I’ll meet you there with Zach!” And just as suddenly as she had come, Abby was gone.

  Everyone was silent for a moment, not moving. “Well? What are we waiting for?” Ross said suddenly. This snapped everyone out of their sleepy trance, and they hastily pulled on their shoes and followed Abby’s instructions.

  Meanwhile, Abby had quietly opened the door to the stairwell and tip-toed her way to the second floor. There was actually two stairwells in the building: one just down the hall from where Abby and the others had been held, and another one near the back doors, which is where Zach had been taken. But Abby decided that it might be better to use the former.

  She peeked through the skinny window on the door at the top of the stairs and saw another airman standing less than ten feet away from her. He was leaning against the wall next to a door, reading a Stephen King paperback novel. “Zach must be in there,” Abby thought. The man turned a page in his book and brought a hand up to cover a yawn. “How to get past this guy?” she wondered.

  She thought quickly and came up with a plan. It was not fool-proof, but time was of the essence and this was no time for second guessing. Abby took out her slingshot and loaded it with one of the stones she had grabbed from downstairs. Using her elbow so that both her hands were free to fire her slingshot as quickly as possible, she gently pushed down on the door handle, and then shoved the door open with her shoulder. She followed the door into the hallway, pulling back on her slingshot as far as she could.

  “Hey, wh-” was all the man had time to say before the stone from Abby’s slingshot struck him in the forehead. He dropped his book and stumbled backwards, hitting the wall and then sliding to the ground, dazed but still conscious as a small trickle of blood slowly oozed out of his forehead. Abby ran forward and slid towards the man on her knees. Grabbing him by his hair and chin, she slammed his head into the floor, knocking him out.

  Abby pulled the man’s duty belt off, slung it over her shoulder, and then ran to unlock the door he had been guarding. She used the same key she had used downstairs and it worked again. She opened the door to find Zach laying on a cot, still fully dressed. He had been sleeping, but he woke up when the light from the hallway hit his eyes. He put a hand up to try to shade his eyes and said, “Abby?”

  “No time! Let’s go!” she whispered, beckoning Zach over with her hand. Zach needed no second invitation as he sat up quickly and met Abby in the hallway.

  “Whoa,” said Zach, as he saw the unconscious guard on the ground.

  “Help me get him into the room, we’ll lock him in,” Abby said. While Zach dragged the man into the room and laid him down against the wall, Abby once again detached the battery from the man’s radio and took the pistol and key ring from his duty belt before sliding it into the room with the man. She tossed the keys to Zach so he could lock the door, and then, as a gesture of good will, Abby ran over to a drinking fountain, under which she deposited the two pistols, the key ring, and radio that she had seized. She then gestured for Zach to toss her the second key ring, which she also left under the drinking fountain. She may be staging a jail break, but she was not going to steal anything.

  “Abby, how did-”

  “Later! Let’s join the others outside!”

  Abby led the way down the stairs, down the hallway, and then outside to the storage room. She checked her watch again and saw that it had been seven and a half minutes since she started her escape plan. It had worked brilliantly, but meeting up in the storage room was where her planning ended and where, she hoped, Zach would take the baton. “Guys! It’s Bug!” she hissed when she stood in front of the storage room door.r />
  The door opened slowly, the light turned off, and a very relieved looking Amber appeared. Abby and Zach quickly pushed themselves into the room and then closed the door behind them and turned the light back on. Everyone quietly rejoiced to be reunited with Zach.

  “Alright, what do we do from here?” Al whispered, looking to Abby.

  “Uh, I was hoping that Zach could figure that out,” Abby confessed, looking up at Zach. Her plan had only consisted of getting everyone out of the building, but now she was stumped. But Zach looked as cool and collected as ever.

  “It shouldn’t be too hard to get out of here,” he said as he began to collect his weapons. He slid his knife back into the sheath that still dangled from his belt, reattached his pistol and its holster to his thigh and belt, and then grabbed his rifle as he talked. “I saw a good deal of the base as we were brought in here. It’s not big at all and it seems like the eastern side of the perimeter is closest to us. Their security screams ‘amateur hour’ and it’s quite dark outside. Plus, I have these.”

  Zach opened the top flap of his ruck and pulled out a small pair of bolt-cutters. “We’ll use these to cut our way out in one of the spots that I’m pretty sure they have no coverage on. Those towers are definitely spaced too far apart, and I guarantee that the guys up there right now aren’t watching their sectors very well, especially since this base has never been attacked.”

  “How do you know all this? It sounds like you’re making a lot of guesses,” said Ross.

  “I spent nine years in the military, I know how guys get standing watch at two in the morning at a place where nothing happens,” Zach said with a sly grin, shouldering his ruck. Everyone else had gotten their stuff together and were ready to leave, but a binder on the table with their weapons caught Zach’s eye. It was plain white, and marked only with the word ‘Contacts’.

  “You ready, Zach?” asked Al.

  “One second,” Zach answered as he flipped the binder open with one hand to find a sheet of paper that had a list of names, telephone numbers, and house numbers. There were no street names, so Zach assumed that the only houses on base were in that cluster of homes he had seen. Conveniently, they were on the eastern side of the base. Names were listed alphabetically on the piece of paper, and Zach ran his finger down the list until he came to ‘Savage, James Taylor, Major General, Commanding’. He moved his finger right, past the phone number over to the house number. His was number 31.

  “I’ll send that bastard a message he’ll never forget,” Zach muttered. He tore out a sheet of ruled paper, grabbed the black ballpoint pen that was in the binder and began to scrawl out a short note.

  “Zach, what the hell are you doing?” demanded Al. Everyone was lined up by the door, looking nervous.

  “One second!” Zach said again, hastily finishing what he had written. He folded the paper in half, stuck the pen into the folded paper, and then handed these to Abby, who stuffed it into her cargo pocket.

  “Okay, let’s go,” Zach said, flipping the light off, “but Abby and I have a chore to do before we leave.”

  The base was small indeed, and security was practically non-existent as six shadows made a hasty trek to the east, crouching low. No sentries roamed around the base or the perimeter fence, only guard towers. But Zach was correct in that these stations were horribly placed and left several gaps in coverage. So as they approached the fence, Zach chose a spot that looked to be a blind spot in between two towers. He handed Ross the bolt cutters and then slapped him on the shoulder.

  “We’ll be right with you,” Zach whispered.

  “Alright, just be quick,” Ross replied.

  Abby checked her watch as she and Zach departed quickly, heading towards the base housing. Eleven minutes had elapsed. Their window was closing, she thought. As they ran, Zach whispered his plan to Abby, who nodded her understanding. They approached the houses, looking at the numbers and quickly found house 31. He and Abby made a bee-line towards it, praying that no insomniac would desire to gaze out his window at this inopportune time.

  The homes all looked to be your typical American suburban, two-story houses. Zach and Abby did a quick case of house 31, looking for an easy way in. They needed to be quick so as to not hold up the others. “There! An open window!” Abby whispered. It was on the second floor, and was the only second story window on that side of the house.

  “Perfect. Get ready,” said Zach. Abby dropped her pack, her pistol, and then took off her boots and socks. “Make sure you’re quiet,” he said.

  “I will be,” she replied as she walked over to the drain pipe at the corner of the house. She grasped it firmly in her hands and then began to climb upwards, her bare toes helping her find better purchase. Abby was a small girl, and years of dancing before The Crisis and training with Zach had given her strong muscles and made her as nimble as a cat. Climbing the drain pipe was almost easy.

  She reached the roof and then grabbed the ledge with her fingertips. She pulled herself up onto the roof and then tip-toed over to a spot directly above the open window. She lowered herself back down again, holding onto the ledge of the roof, her feet dangling barely a foot above the window sill. Abby looked down and saw Zach standing below her, ready to catch her in case she fell. She took a deep breath then released her hold on the roof.

  Abby fell quickly, but only for a moment. The balls of her feet struck the window sill, and she squatted down as low as she could while she still had her balance. Before she tumbled off the window sill uncontrollably, she gently pushed off of her feet, sending herself backwards a bit, and then grabbed the sill with her hands. She almost slipped, but she clawed at the wood with her fingers and held on.

  “Great job, Bug!” Zach whispered.

  Abby’s heart was still pounding in her chest, and she raised herself up to peek through the window. She was looking into a bedroom and could see a large figure rolling over in his bed, but falling right back asleep. “Heavy sleeper,” she thought. Abby slipped one hand through the small opening between the window and the window sill and grabbed onto the ledge inside. With her other hand, she slowly pushed the window up higher. It made very little noise, but with every squeak or rattle, Abby would catch her breath. Finally, the space was big enough for her to fit through. She pulled herself up, twisted her body awkwardly, and squirmed her way into the dark bedroom.

  Abby crouched below the window for a moment as she pulled out the paper and pen that Zach had given her. She unfolded it and, in the faint moonlight, read what Zach had written. She pulled the pen out of her pocket, uncapped it, and quickly added a short note of her own, right below Zach’s. Satisfied with what she had written, Abby tip-toed over to the bed as quietly as she could. Standing next to the sleeping Major General Savage, Abby unsheathed her knife and thought about how the man was completely oblivious to the intruder in his room. She hoped that what she was about to do would achieve what Zach said it would. Almost involuntarily, Abby glanced over her shoulder and then buried the knife into her target. Savage did not even move or make a sound.

  A moment later, Abby was at the window, climbing out into the night. She grabbed the window sill and lowered herself as far down as her arms would extend. She pushed off the building with her bare feet, turned her body in midair, and then rolled forward as soon as she hit the ground. She stood up quickly and turned around to face Zach, hands on her hips and wearing a smug grin. Zach smiled and said, “Show off.”

  “Don’t hate,” Abby replied as she hastily pulled her socks and boots back on, then took her pistol and backpack back from Zach. They quickly made their way back over to where they had left the group, and then forward to the point that Zach had pointed out for Ross. Al had just gotten through the tiny hole that Ross had made in the fence, joining Ross, Amber, and Diane on the other side when Zach and Abby showed up.

  “What was that about?” he asked.

  “Later,” Zach said as Abby crawled through the hole, followed by Zach. Now free, the group took off at a
slow jog towards some nearby woods, still unseen by any guards. Abby glanced at her watch one last time. Her entire escape plan, along with Zach’s, had taken a mere fifteen minutes. “Not bad for a kid,” Abby thought proudly.

  About five minutes later, after the group had put a fair distance between themselves and the base, the group heard sirens from behind them. “I guess they know we’re gone,” said Abby.

  “Do you think they’ll find us?” asked Diane.

  “I doubt if the Major General will even give the order to look. Trust me,” Zach said. The sirens were cut off abruptly a minute later, but no vehicles were heard, nor were any headlights seen.

  Major General Savage awoke with a start at the deafening sound of sirens and he clicked his bedside lamp on. The light filled the room instantly, and as the Major General rolled over in bed, he saw something that startled him terribly. A large Gerber combat knife, the same type that had belonged to that girl, Abby, was buried in his unused pillow, halfway up to the hilt. The knife held a piece of paper in place, and Savage quickly freed the knife from his pillow and pulled the piece of paper off of the blade. He unfolded it with trembling hands and noticed two different messages, written by different hands. The top message was in messy, barely legible print, but the bottom message was written in elegant cursive. This is what he read:

  If I could murder a whole family in cold blood and deny it all the way to my grave, would you still be alive to read this?

  Zach’s innocent. Please leave us alone. We just want to be a family.

  Love, Abby

  Just then, Savage’s bedside phone rang. He picked up the handset to hear Captain Frost say, “Sir! Objectives Alpha and Zulu have escaped!”

  The Major General said nothing, still shaken by waking up with a knife piercing the pillow a foot from his head. He looked towards his bedroom window, which had been pushed open by somebody, and stared at it thoughtfully.