by Dave Hazel
They came to a four way intersection and Mykal stopped everyone to see if any of the passages looked familiar. “Do any of these ring a bell at all?”
“It all looks the same,” Diaz frowned.
“We should have marked the walls,” Finley hit his leg. “If I wouldn’t have been so concerned about making that worthless map that’s what I would have done.”
“Don’t beat yourself up over it,” Diaz said and gave a wink to reassure Finley. “We can’t undo what’s been done.”
“Do you think we should have Nordad turn his light off?” William asked. “If these people pick up our light source, we’ll never be able to lose them.”
“Sir, I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Finley answered for Mykal. “We can hardly find our way around here with light. I would hate to see what would happen if we tried in the dark. These Goblins are accustomed to these dark passages so we would be making ourselves easier targets for them.”
“I agree,” Mykal replied. “I wouldn’t wanna try to get around here in the dark. Besides, as long as they don’t surprise us our fire power will stop them. We need to find those doors.”
“Sir, what about dropping some of the cans of ammo?” A voice called out from the pack. “These cans are getting heavy and it’s getting harder and harder to run with them.”
“I appreciate your concern,” Captain Diaz said while wiping his forehead. “But I’m afraid of not having it when we may really need it. Pass them around more often and everyone including myself will help carry the ammo,” Diaz said and looked directly at William. “It will be what saves our lives.”
“Can we help?” Nordad spoke on behalf of his men. “If it is something you need to have carried, use us as pack mules. Your weapons are far superior, thus we are dependent on you.”
“Very well Nordad,” Diaz said and smiled at the older man’s humble offer. “Did you hear that? But I want everyone to participate.”
They strained their ears for sounds of their pursuers. It seemed for the time being they shook them from their trail. When the pursuit seemed to have stopped it gave them a little more time to search for the passage that would lead to the doors out of the underworld maze.
3.
Almost an hour had passed before they heard the distant sounds of their pursuers again. In their wandering they didn’t realize they passed by the corridor that would have taken them to the open doors twice. They could have exited the underground maze but they kept going in circles. Now they were farther away and more lost than previously. As a group their confusion increased concerning where they thought they were. While they tried to avoid their pursuers they moved away from the passage that would have taken them to the propped open door.
“They are getting closer,” Starling whispered to Mykal and Captain Diaz. “There are many of them. We will have to contend with a major battle.”
“We are prepared to stand and fight,” Jumbdex announced and then looked to Nordad for his approval.
Lieutenant Finley shook his head while trying to make sense of his notes. “Myk, I think I may have screwed up. I think we’re in a totally different area.”
“I was afraid of that cuz I was kinda thinking the same thing,” Mykal replied. “But what makes you say that? Anything in particular?”
“If you’ll notice, the texture of the walls is different. Not as much care and detail went into the workmanship in the area we are moving around in, compared to what I noticed prior.”
“And I notice that while we’re standing around talking, those people, or rather those things, are getting closer,” William spat out angrily. “We’re in real trouble and my life is in your hands. How do you propose to get us out of here?” He glared at Mykal.
“Hey, back off,” Mykal whispered harshly while throwing his hands up. “I don’t wanna be here anymore than you do. I’m doing the best I can to get us outta here.”
“Your best isn’t good enough. We’re in trouble here,” William hissed back. “This is all on you Mykal.”
Boris seized the opportunity to get involved. “Hey chrome dome, he said back the hell off,” Boris said as if it had become his job to defend and protect Mykal.
“You mind your own damn business,” William gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.
“No, you’re the one with the sissified body that succumbed to the little white smoke and went following at the siren’s song of death,” Boris said as an attack though it also applied to more than half of the men. “We went after you to save your zombie ass from getting ate up by that tree monster.”
“I didn’t do that on purpose,” William replied and made himself look more foolish than Boris by engaging him in such an argument. “But I’m getting sick and tired of your demented attitude and I’m fed up with you always sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong. Just like a busybody woman,” he fired back in an attempt to go on the offensive verbally.
“Come on bitch, I got your woman,” Boris snarled back and pulled his .44 magnum out in a flash. “I’m tired of you. I don’t friggin care anymore.”
“Stop it right now,” Mykal whispered harshly and stepped between the two of them. “You friggin dumb asses are going to get us all killed if you don’t stop this stupid stuff. I don’t need this right now,” he looked to Boris. “Aren’t you my friggin friend? Then help me here.”
Jake grabbed Boris’s arm and pulled him away. “You gotta chill out Boris. There’s just too much going on.”
“Screw him, that friggin bald headed idiot. I’m just a little pissed off.”
“Thanks Myk, I didn’t mean anything by that,” William sighed and the color in his face had been drained. “I’m just scared and I don’t want to be here any longer.”
“Shut the hell up,” he quietly scolded William. “I don’t wanna hear your shit either. Can’t you play the game with him for a little bit and just get along? At least until we’re outta this? With every damn thing that’s going on, I gotta friggin baby sit two grown men,” Mykal hissed quietly.
“He’s the one who threatened me Myk,” he pointed to his own chest. “I’m the victim here. I’m sorry,” he said and moved to the rear where many of the men didn’t try to hide their smirks.
They moved on and continued to hear the sounds of the angry army getting closer. The point men were surprised when three small figures stepped into the corridor from a side passage. They were about fifty feet from the men in the point position. Two were armed with crossbows and the third held a large axe.
The three Goblins looked just as startled but quickly recovered and fire two crossbow quarrels at Mykal and his men. They didn’t aim their crossbows, they just pointed and fired. The first bolt missed the point man and the man behind him. The little missile whizzed past Mykal’s face and missed two other men before striking the wall behind them. Mykal felt the air blow against his face and it spooked him how dangerously close it came.
The second bolt missed the men on point and struck Agnor’s shield. Agnor had lifted the shield to protect his leader Nordad. The third Goblin began to shout and call out curses in his foreign tongue. The words were incomprehensible, but the tone unmistakable.
Mykal and the two point men quickly returned fire. The seven rounds fired off sounded like a thunderous volcano erupted in the little corridor. The Goblin threat had been eliminated before they could rearm the crossbows. The three were tossed aside like trash. Two landed face down and one was thrown against the wall in a sitting position. Two bullet holes in his chest confirmed he wasn’t just resting.
Their skin looked very dark, almost black but as Nordad drew closer with his light Mykal saw the skin to be a dark green that verged on black. The creature’s face reminded him of a bulldog with a pronounced under bite. The blood that flowed looked almost as dark as chocolate syrup. The Goblin’s flesh seemed tough and leathery, but Mykal wasn’t about to touch one to make sure.
“We must move out,” Diaz said, stating the obvious as the sound of running
feet drew nearer. “Keep your eyes open and be careful not to endanger others with friendly fire.”
They hurried forward and as they neared the side passage where the three Goblins came from. They heard more running footsteps coming from that direction.
“Damn it, I’m tired of all this running,” Boris said in frustration. “Let’s stop and fight these little bastards.”
“We gotta keep going for as long as we can,” Mykal argued. “They’re almost on top of us and we don’t know how many of them are coming after us.”
“Myk, what about just giving them a taste of what they’re going to get if they tangle with us,” Jake suggested. “Captain Diaz, whadda you think?”
“I’m for it. We could use a brief respite,” Diaz replied.
“Alright, alright, let’s play with fire and hopefully we won’t get burned,” Mykal chuckled nervously. They all stopped and most dropped to one knee to catch their breath. “One of you guys with the 60s come here,” he said and moved to the rear of their column. Diaz, Finley, Jake and Boris followed him.
“Have we got a job for you,” Boris laughed. “I’ll be his ‘gunner assistant’. Gimme a can of ammo,” he called out as Marine Private First Class Flesch dropped to the ground to set his machine gun up on the attached bipod legs.
“I want two more men to stay with them while we move on,” Mykal said and before the words finished leaving his lips Private First Class Jourad, Flesch’s regular assistant gunner and Bak Kwon one of two remaining Koreans stepped forward to volunteer. “Just stay long enough to kick their ass and scare the hell outta them.”
Bak Kwon and Jourad grabbed a couple of cans of ammunition. “We’ll show ‘em what’s what,” Flesch said with an exaggerated wink. He positioned the cans of ammo to be easy access for Boris.
“Don’t try to be a hero,” Jake warned them, though he looked at Boris. “Just show them that we mean business and we’ll be going slow enough for you guys to catch up.”
“This is gonna be fun Sarge,” Flesch playfully kissed the butt of his M-60 machinegun. “Oh man, there they are,” his tone quickly changed. He pressed the butt of the weapon into his shoulder, pulled the charging handle back and happily forced it forward to chamber the first round of the belt. “Eat this!” Flesch yelled and squeezed the trigger for a couple of long bursts.
*******
The destruction wrought seemed unimaginable to the Goblins. Each round fired ripped through several bodies and continued down the long corridor. The frightful noise was just as devastating since the Goblins never heard such a deafening thunder before. They never experienced noise that seemed to rip bodies apart. Noise that killed. When the Goblins saw the damage done to their ranks they knew these invaders weren’t just bluffing with noise to scare them away. The Goblins attacking force had been cut down to almost nothing by what appeared to be noise. It had to be a powerful magic which was supposed to be forbidden by the One, the all-powerful Emperor of the outside world.
*******
“That was fast,” Mykal said when the four returned.
“Yeah, but they’ll be back,” Boris commented. “We heard some run away and we heard tons of others in the distance,” Boris said though it was more of a guess. Their ears were ringing loudly and they could hardly hear anything.
They continued running blind through the passage ways knowing they were completely lost. Mykal hoped to stumble upon the doors they propped open or to find another exit out of the underground maze.
A scream rang out and several others felt crossbow bolts zipping by them. Another scream, “I’m hit, I’m hit,” Flesch yelled and fell to the ground as he dropped his M-60 machine gun to reach for his pain.
“Who else is hit?” Diaz yelled back. Everyone dropped to one knee or to the prone position and moved as close to the wall as possible. They believed the Goblins were just shooting wildly down the middle of the corridor.
“I Bak Kwon. I bin shot in da sho’da,” Bak Kwon moaned.
“Sir, he’s got an arrow in his shoulder blade,” Jourad said after inspecting Bak Kwon’s wound. “He should be fine for right now, but we’ll have to take it out later.”
“Oh, oh, oh, it weally hu’t.”
“What about you Flesch? Where are you hit?” Finley asked.
“Sir, I got shot in the back of my thigh. I should be able to move around. I’m just worried they may have poisoned the tip of the arrows.”
“I’ll cover you guys,” Boris said and ran to Flesch’s M-60. “I’ll fix these little bastards.” He smirked while positioning the M-60. “Get ready to move, I’m ready to open fire. Go, go, go,” Boris yelled and squeezed heavy on the trigger. Marine Private First Class Cotton voluntarily dove beside Boris to feed the belt of ammunition into the hungry weapon.
Boris lay heavy on the trigger and watched some of the Goblin’s light sources drop to the ground. The shrieks and yells of Goblins surprised them as to how many were coming after them.
“Myk,” Boris yelled over the roar of his gun fire without looking back. Too many Goblins charged on his position. “I need ammo. Get me some ammo.”
“Come with me,” Mykal yelled to Green Beret Sergeant Campbell while he tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. Marine Corporal Adkins stood beside Campbell. Adkins took it upon himself to volunteer his help and he also followed them.
“Where’s the ammo?” Boris yelled.
“We’re getting outta here,” Mykal replied. “Cotton, grab the 60 and we’ll cover you as you go,” Mykal said and he dropped to one knee and began shooting into the crowd.
Campbell and Adkins quickly followed Mykal’s example and opened fire as well. Their shooting gave Boris an opportunity to pick up his rifle and join them. Cotton grabbed the M-60 machine gun by the carrying handle and ran while the four laid down covering fire for him.
*******
Though the Goblins were being shredded by gun fire, they were more frightened by the thunderous explosions and flashes of light from the rifle fire. Goblins rarely displayed fear, but with evil war leaders cracking the whip behind them they were forced to charge into the fiery teeth of the ferocious enemy. They weren’t completely sure what the enemy could do to them, but they were well aware what their leaders would do to them for displaying cowardice and for not being obedient to their commands.
*******
“Myk, let’s toss some grenades at them,” Boris suggested between shots.
“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Mykal yelled and fired off a few more rounds when several Goblins tried to rush in.
“It’ll scare the hell outta them.”
“Alright, everyone pull a grenade. Throw on the count of three and then we haul ass,” Mykal ordered. He was concerned about the concussion of the blasts in such a confined area. “Pull the pin, one, two, three,” he yelled and lobbed his grenade. He knew the others threw their grenades at the same time.
They turned to run and Mykal heard one of the grenades hit a Goblin on his chest, while the other three grenades bounced off the walls. From the release of the grenades to the detonation it took three seconds. The three seconds seemed to take ages though it seemed they couldn’t make their legs move fast enough to get away. The four explosions ripped the small space apart. The ear shattering blasts hit them from behind. The concussion felt like having one’s ears slapped with open palms.
Mykal and the others were deaf to the cries and yells of the Goblins who survived the blasts. They couldn’t hear those in front of them calling for them to hurry. Cotton had a small trickle of blood coming from his left ear. Boris took a piece of shrapnel to his right hip but he ran as if he felt nothing. Campbell took three tiny slivers of shrapnel to the back of his neck and right shoulder. Campbell’s wounds swelled quickly and his pain intensified over a short period of time.
“What the hell did you guys do back there?” Jake yelled when they caught up to the group. “It felt like the whole damn mountain’s gonna cave in on us.”
“I can’t hear a thing you’re saying.” Mykal couldn’t keep from laughing. He could see Jake’s lips moving but he couldn’t hear anything. “Nothing. I can’t hear nothing but ringing,” he said. He vigorously rubbed his ears to stop the ringing.
“I’m hurt, I’m hurt,” Campbell yelled out now that he had joined the others. He trembled and pointed to the back of his neck. “It’s an arrow,” he guessed and winced at the burning sensation. He stood rigid so as to not paralyze himself.
“Hold on. Calm down and hold still,” Finley ordered the frightened sergeant. “It’s not that bad.”
“I can’t hear you Sir,” he replied. Campbell’s body shook and trembled. “Am I gonna die?” He looked like he neared panic.
“Stop,” Finley said forcefully as he grabbed him firmly by the shoulders. “It’s not bad. It’s minor. Small,” Finley said. He exaggerated his lip movements and used his fingers for show.
“Mykal,” Captain Diaz spun him around to speak so Mykal could read his lips. Following Finley’s exampled he spoke slowly and exaggerated his mouth movements. “They are coming from behind,” he pointed over Mykal’s shoulder and touched his own ear and pointed behind him. “But we can hear them coming from our front as well. They are coming from two sides. We may be trapped.”
“Do we have any options?” Mykal yelled as if Diaz couldn’t hear him. “I can’t hear a friggin thing.”
“Yes, the point men say there is a side passage, and--”
“Just get us outta here. Go!”
“Let’s move out,” Diaz yelled and ran to the front of the formation to join the men on point.
They heard the enemy advancing from the front. The Goblins made no attempt to be quiet. They also heard the commotion of the enemy regrouping to their rear. They ran as fast as they could. Their noisy departure followed their actions. Moving in silence was no longer a benefit since the enemy knew where they were. The side passage was closer than they thought and they managed to make the turn before clashing with the enemy to their front.
