by Dave Hazel
“Man, none of this looks familiar,” Kurt sighed. “Myk, does this look familiar to you at all?”
Mykal shook his head. “No. Not at all. I hate to say it guys, but I don’t think we’re in North Dakota anymore. None of this looks normal at all.”
2.
“Alright, everyone quiet,” Denny said as he grabbed the radio microphone. “Oh crud, I don’t wanna have to go before the commander again.” He took a deep breath and keyed the microphone. “Trip 13, trip 13 to Minot Wing Security.” Nothing. “Trip 13 to Wing Security, do you copy?” Still nothing, not even static.
“Maybe the radio is on the blink,” Franklin said.
“Ah damn it, who turned the friggin radio down after I said not to?” Denny yelled.
“I turned it down a little,” Kurt lied.
“If I get my ass chewed I’m ratting you out to the LT. He specifically said not to turn the radios off,” Denny fumed.
“Well I didn’t turn it off,” Kurt replied.
“Shut the hell up. Quiet,” Denny said and turned the volume up. “Minot Wing Security, trip 13 here, do you read us?” Faint static, but no voices. “Maybe it’s them trying to reach us.”
“We could be in a radio dead spot,” Kim Nelson suggested.
“How far do you think we’ve gone?” Mykal asked Kurt.
“I’ve been going slow, only about ten miles.”
“And these damned hills aren’t getting any smaller,” Denny complained looking out toward the driver’s side. “I’ve never seen hills like this in North Dakota.”
“I know. Every time we come around a bend I think it’s the last of them,” Kurt replied. “It seems like they’re getting bigger and they go deeper. It’s like we’re heading to mountains. It’s just not right.”
“Yeah, cuz there’s no friggin mountains in North Dakota, Kurt,” Denny barked and burned his focus on Kurt.
“The Badlands ain’t even this bad,” Franklin quipped. The swollen bumps exposed where he nervously squeezed his pimples.
Mykal sighed while eyeing the scenery. “Hey Denny, these hills are like the hills that are near the North Dakota and Montana border. If we’re really near Montana, how’d we get here?”
“Maybe WSC can’t pick us up because of these hills,” Boris suggested. “Why don’t we go up one of these hills and see if we can’t make contact from up there?”
“Yeah, drive up and take a look around,” Larry agreed.
“What if we get this piece of junk stuck up there?” Denny mumbled. Denny studied the incline. “What if it happens to tip over on its side? It looks kinda steep, and that’s all I need.”
“What was that?” Kurt said. All the others raised their voice at the sound of static coming through the speaker.
“Quiet. Hold it down,” Denny said before speaking into the microphone. “Minot WSC, this is trip 13. Do you read us?”
More static. They couldn’t understand the two words that were barely audible. The noise trailed off in static.
“Did you hear that?” Kurt bounced with excitement.
“Shhh. Minot Wing Security, be advised this is trip 13 we cannot copy your message. You are coming in very weak and broken. Please try again.”
More static. Two garbled words. The static broke and then a couple of unintelligible words ending in static.
“What do you think they’re saying?” Franklin asked.
“Shut up,” Denny silenced him so he could listen.
Everyone turned their ears closer to the small square speaker connected to the dashboard. They tried piecing together sounds and words heard. “Hopeless,” Denny sighed and called on the radio again but got no response.
“I musta sounded like a friggin moron,” Denny shook his head waiting for any response. A few minutes later a brief crackle of static. Every word that tried to make it through the speaker had been drowned out by static.
“I think they heard us,” Nelson said from the third seat. “It sounds like they’re trying to talk to us.” He slumped back into his seat all alone when no one acknowledged his comment.
“But then again,” Larry’s Boston accent changed it up. “How do we know it was Wing Security trying to talk to us? We couldn’t hear anything. We don’t even know if they’re speaking English.”
“Now you’re starting to freak me out,” Franklin lamented.
“Well, you got a point there,” Boris said. “With all that’s going on, we just gotta be careful. Let’s not take any chances.”
“Agreed,” Mykal said. “But we’re not getting anywhere just sitting here.”
“Do you want me to drive up this hill?” Kurt asked Denny.
“No, it’s too steep,” Denny said after sizing up the hill.
“I’ll walk up and take a look around,” Mykal volunteered.
“I’ll go with him,” Kurt offered before Denny asked.
“This oughta be fun,” Boris laughed. “I never saw Lurch climb a hill before. I wish I had a camera.”
“You better watch it, Tubby,” Kurt fired back. “At least I’ll be able to make it up the hill.”
“So what, you’re big, ugly and stupid,” Boris laughed as they left the vehicle.
“Hey, you guys ain’t gonna take your weapons?” Larry asked.
“For what? It’d only be extra weight,” Kurt replied.
“Well with all that’s going on, I’d take them if I were you,” Larry said. “Just to be safe, you never know.”
“If there are any monsters up there I’ll push Kurt in front of them and then I’ll haul ass as fast as I can,” Mykal laughed.
“Gee thanks Sarge,” Kurt frowned playfully.
When they made it to the top both breathed heavily. “Boy oh boy,” Mykal gasped. “I’m outta shape. Whew, I can’t believe how easy it wore me out,” he said. Mykal’s smile disappeared. “Ya know what Kurt?”
“What?”
Mykal scanned the area. “None of this stuff looks familiar at all. Not one bit. We’re screwed.”
“How can this be?” Kurt asked with a dumb expression on his large face. He scratched his head and looked in all directions.
“I don’t have the foggiest idea how, but I really don’t believe we’re in North Dakota anymore. Unless, somehow we ended up in the Badlands.”
“Do you think the military is testing or pulling some sort of experiment on us like Boris said?”
Mykal didn’t answer. All around them was a barren beauty Mykal had never seen. He looked in the direction they were traveling, he assumed was west. There were massive amounts of trees that populated the hills and the plains. It turned into a genuine forest. North Dakota had no such forest or anything this beautiful to offer. He gazed to the left which he assumed to be south. The hills stretched far to the south and west. To the straight south beyond the hills, it opened into plains. Beyond the flat plains Mykal saw a faint outline of mountains.
“Kurt, if we were where we should be, and if we were up on a hill like this, then to the south over there,” he pointed. “We should be able to see Lake Sakakawea in the distance. Maybe about twenty miles or so. Then on the other side of the lake we would see flatland like the rest of North Dakota. But look,” he paused for a moment. “There’s no lake. There’s no flatland. If you look you can see the outline of mountains in the distance.”
“Mountains?” Kurt sounded shocked. He strained to see what Mykal pointed to but his poor eyesight blurred great distances.
“Yeah, look way back there. Can you see them?” Mykal asked.
“I can see hills and trees, but beyond that everything is a blur,” he said. He rubbed his eyes and put his glasses on.
“Trust me, mountains are out there,” he sighed after taking in all the beauty. Beautiful as it may be, worry stirred inside him. “Like it or not, believe it or not, we’re on foreign land. I’m guessing the mountains to be about a hundred miles out.”
“We better avoid going the way we’re heading,” Mykal said. “To the west the hi
lls get bigger and the trees really get thick. We’ll become more lost than we are now.”
“I agree. It’s bad enough being lost in the open ground.”
They both turned and looked north over the heads of Denny and the others. “The city of Minot and Minot Air Force Base would be way out in that direction,” Mykal mused. “But look, nothing but flat open ground. No people. No animals. Nothing!”
“There’s no sign of life at all, Myk.” Kurt agreed. “I don’t see roads or buildings. This is getting kinda spooky.”
“Kinda spooky? This is scary as hell,” Mykal said while turning in all four directions to come up with a plan of action.
“Whadda ya think Myk?”
“I think we should go back the same way we came. Look,” Mykal said and pointed. “Maybe somewhere back around these hills there’s a town or something we just can’t see yet. Hey, go down there and tell Denny to come up here. I want him to see this.”
Mykal laughed watching Kurt’s large body try to negotiate his run down the steep hillside. Kurt’s arms flailed at his side as if surfing or attempting flight. Mykal knew the others would be laughing at the sight of Kurt lumbering downward.
Mykal sat on the grass and watched Denny and Larry struggle to get topside. He was humored to see exhaustion overcome the two of them. Their faces showed how hard the uphill climb had been on them. Mykal said nothing. He wanted them to take in the strange sights around them.
“If I fall down,” Denny gasped and doubled over to brace his hands against his knees. “Get help, cuz it means I’m having a heart attack,” he joked. “This Air Force life has me so damned outta shape. You’d think I’m eighty years old,” he huffed.
“I feel the same.” Larry took deep breaths with his hands on hips.
“Phew, I’m too old for this kinda stuff.” Denny tried to laugh, using his sleeve to wipe beads of sweat off his forehead.
Larry lifted the dark sunglasses from his eyes and looked in all directions. “Damn it. Where the hell are we?”
“You got me,” Mykal answered from his seated position. “Look out over there. Did you ever see mountains in North Dakota? It’s faint but you can see it if you look hard.”
“I’ll be a--” Denny mumbled and his jaw dropped. “There’s no BS about it. We’re lost and I’m gonna have my ass handed to me by the LT after he chomps away on it.”
Mykal stood to his feet. “Look around. There’s not a road anywhere. I don’t see any towns. There’s not even a farmhouse or anything that would point to a farm. There’s no sign of life out here at all. I haven’t even seen any animals out here. That green fog had to bring us here. But where is here?”
“Whatta we do now?” Larry raised his voice. “We’re lost in the middle of nowhere, and there’s no one around to help us.”
“There has to be someone around here,” Denny corrected him. “Remember, we heard someone trying to contact us on the radio.”
“Yeah, but where are they?” Larry replied. “Maybe somehow there was a nuclear war and it somehow passed over us, and--”
“Yeah right, let’s get real.” Mykal cut him off. “We need to decide what we’re gonna do. Denny, I suggest we go back the way we came. Its open land and when we get away from these hills it might be easier to pick someone up on the radio. If you look all around us you’ll see it’s probably the best way to go.”
“I think you’re right.” Denny nodded. “Let’s head back.”
“What do we do if we go back and don’t find anything that way?” Larry questioned, following Denny down the hill.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Denny sighed.
3.
Following tire tracks in the grass didn’t take long for them to pass their starting point. They now travel over virgin ground. Their conversations revolved around the impossibility of their situation, though they were living it.
After twenty minutes beyond the original starting point, the hills, now on their right side, grew smaller and not as steep. It would be just a matter of time and they would be away from the hills all together.
Mykal looked out his window trying to make sense of what happened. His keen sight caught something the others missed. He saw it there for only a moment at the top of the smaller hill. ‘Maybe I imagined it,’ he wondered and he studied the hilltop.
“Kurt, stop the truck!” Mykal blurted as he jumped forward in his seat with excitement.
“What is it?” Kurt quickly applied the brakes and every head turned to Mykal.
“Wait,” he held his hand up to silence them as if the noise would prevent him from seeing what he thought he saw. With his head out the side window, he eyed the top of the hill to their right. “See it?” His face lit up. “There it is,” he pointed.
“What? What are you talking about?” Larry asked with impatience when they couldn’t see what Mykal focused on.
“Smoke!” He pointed to the top of the hill, but it disappeared again. He strained his eyes to make sure he didn’t just imagine it. “Look.” He pointed and his face radiated excitement. “Did you see that thin line of smoke? Over there.”
“Where?” Franklin twisted his head like a confused puppy.
“Nelson, gimme my rifle and web belt,” he turned to the lone person sitting in the third seat with all the weapons. “I don’t know what’s going on Denny, but I saw smoke, and where there is smoke there should be people. I’ll go check it out, but I want someone to come with me,” he said as he stepped out.
“I still don’t see it,” Larry grumbled.
“Denny, there has to be someone or something on the other side of that hill making smoke. I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t think we should all go riding up there. And I’m taking my rifle just to be on the safe side. I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about,” he said while nervously slapping a 30 round magazine into the magazine well. “Better to be safe than sorry.”
“Just be careful,” Denny said. The entire squad got out of the vehicle to stand on the far side for protection.
“C’mon, who’s coming with me?” Mykal saw the hesitant looks and knew they were fearful. “Larry, come on with me.” He started up the hill, his rifle slung on his shoulder.
“Alright, I’ll go,” Larry said while wrapping his web belt around his waist. “Franklin, you come with us too,” he ordered.
“Aw, I don’t want to,” Franklin whined.
“I don’t care. Get your pimply face moving or I’ll kick your ass,” Larry threatened with a snarl.
Mykal neared the top and looked back to see if he had any support. Larry just started up the hill. Mykal crouched down on the grass and waited. He listened for sounds, but couldn’t hear anything. He didn’t want to peek over the top alone and expose himself. He waved for Larry and Franklin to hurry.
Mykal saw the black smoke much easier now. Just as Larry and Franklin neared him he started creeping his way toward the crest. His heart pounded in his chest. He didn’t want to be taken by surprise. His palms were sweaty and his mouth dry. ‘What if this really is some bad guys?’ He wondered. He hoped this wouldn’t cause them more trouble today.
Franklin outran Larry. Larry huffed and puffed when he plopped his large flabby body beside Mykal. “Oh crap,” Larry whispered, gasping as if experiencing pain. “This running up and down hills stuff has gotta stop.”
“Maybe you should start losing some weight and get yourself into shape,” Franklin suggested, lying down just below Mykal. He appeared to be breathing normal.
“Hey, screw you pimps,” Larry whispered harshly. “Just shut your friggin mouth or I’ll shut it for you.”
Mykal’s fear suddenly vanished and he wanted to laugh. He would never have imagined Franklin saying something like that. “Shhh,” Mykal put a finger to his lips. “Can you guys see the smoke I was talking about now?”
Larry lifted his head and it seemed to take all his energy to lift his sunglasses. “Yeah.”
“Well, let’s have a
look,” Mykal spoke under his breath.
They crouched until they got to the summit and went prone to crawl. When they could see over the other side Mykal couldn’t believe his eyes. The other side sloped down into a gulley. A different fear struck as his eyes saw the source of the smoke.
The smoke rose from a hunk of twisted metal. The large tangled mass lay in a valley surrounded by hills on all sides. The basin formed by the hills had debris scattered all over of varying sizes. More disturbing was the fact that there were at least two bodies on the ground near the twisted wreckage.
“Oh no,” Mykal gasped as he jumped to his feet at the sight of a crashed helicopter. “Go get help,” he yelled at Franklin. He quickly dropped his rifle and web belt to run as fast as he could to the scene of carnage. In normal circumstances he would risk serious consequences for leaving his weapon unattended, but he knew Larry would retrieve it for him.
Once Mykal reached the grass floor of the basin he wasn’t sure what to do. He ran to the body closest to him. The young male sprawled out on his back looked about eighteen. He wore Air Force BDU’s. The lack of any stripes on his sleeves told Mykal his rank, Airman Basic. His name tag read Newell.
Though Newell lay on his back, a twenty-six pound M-60 machinegun lay on his chest and strapped over his shoulder and neck. Clearly the kid was the machine gunner of the four-man fire team onboard the helicopter. Newell had been thrown clear of the wreckage. The absence of blood and visible signs of injuries seemed positive, but Newell lay unconscious. Mykal found a weak pulse in his wrist and felt relieved.
Mykal ran to the second body. The man lay face down. The missing leg below the right knee caught Mykal’s eye. The ground around the man stained dark and wet with blood. Blood oozed from the man’s head and neck. Only a small portion of the ground around his body remained green.
After gently rolling him over, Mykal found the only thing holding the staff sergeant’s right arm to his body was the material of his sleeve. Mykal quickly pulled back from the sickening sight. A sudden taste of sour bitterness filled his mouth. Mykal felt the blood rush from his own face.
“He’s gotta be dead,” he mumbled and excused himself from checking for a pulse. The staff sergeant’s name tag read Kaiser. Mykal regretted seeing the name as it made the man all the more real to him. He knew this would haunt him later. “We need help here,” he yelled. Mykal couldn’t understand how the two men lay so close to each other, but suffered vastly different injuries.
