37 Days In A Strange World

by Dave Hazel

  “Come on,” Larry huffed with doubt. “Are you kidding me?”

  “Let him finish. I wanna understand what we’re dealing with,” Mykal stopped Larry from arguing.

  “Our continent, fortunately, is separated from the rest of the world. We know very little of magic and the teachings of magic. That and the fact that we are separated by oceans have kept us free from the madness and murder and the horrors that take place on the other side of the world. Those who fled for their lives from that part of the world hide in fear because of the savagery that occurred. No one was safe.

  “Zizmon-Tarl’s followers believe the use of magic is evil. The earth must be rid of such evil. Handsome rewards are given to those who inform on magic users.”

  “But it’s okay for this Zizmon-Tarl to use magic, right?” Boris jumped in. “That’s how it is with any dictator. They can, but nobody else is allowed to.”

  “This is true, my wise friend. There are many who oppose Zizmon-Tarl, however, his strength is so great they can not stand up to him. In fear they submit until they can escape. When they make good their escape to come to this part of the world we accept them and welcome them gladly.”

  “When you say magic, do you mean stuff like casting a spell and turning someone into a frog or something?” Larry scoffed.

  Towbar paused, and dwelled on Larry’s words. “I suppose it is possible. I do not know why one would turn another into a frog.”

  Mykal smiled at the naive puzzled expression Towbar gave.

  “I think this is a bunch of nonsense,” Larry mumbled.

  “Larry, let him finish. I wanna hear this,” Mykal said.

  “Thank you my friend,” Towbar turned to Larry. “Why do you not believe what I tell you? Do you not believe magic exists? You should look at yourselves. Your weapons are some type of magic wands or magically enhanced weapons. How else would one explain pointing your odd sticks at another and striking them dead at such distances? Consider this horseless carriage. It must be magic. Instead of doubting my words, you would be wise to concern yourself. When Zizmon-Tarl learns of what you have done, when your magic weapons are described to him, he will want them at all costs. Zizmon-Tarl will want your heads just as desperately,” he said with a stone-faced expression. “Your magic is a threat to what my enemies believe.”

  A frightful silence hung in the air like stale cigarette smoke. “I believe what you’re telling us,” Mykal said. “But you gotta understand this isn’t magic. Where we come from this is everyday stuff.”

  “The Sosos do not know that. How would the Sosos explain what they witnessed today? How would the Sosos explain that a handful of you dispatched such a large attacking force so quickly? I assure you, the Sosos believe you used magic. Sosos never show fear. You made them fearful. I never saw Sosos run away in fear as they did today. Be assured of this, Zizmon-Tarl will receive a message that magic is being used in the land of Labins. Your weapons may draw Zizmon-Tarl himself to this land.”

  “That’s all we friggin need, bounties on our heads,” Boris sighed and lit a cigarette.

  Towbar gave a frightful gasp that surprised them. “Oh my! How is that done?” He stirred in his seat. “There is more magic.”

  “Say what?” Boris turned in his seat to look at him.

  “How do you make flame appear from your fingers?”

  The three of them laughed out loud. “It’s not my finger that made fire. It was this, my Bic lighter,” Boris said and showed Towbar the lighter. He produced another flame for the stunned giant. “It’s not magic.”

  Larry scoffed. “Because we have some modern conveniences we gotta worry about this Zizmon-Tarl dude wanting our heads?”

  “Tell us more about this Zizmon-Tarl,” Mykal requested.

  “I know not if he is human. If he is human he would be hundreds of years old. I have heard tales on his existence from the ridiculous to the plausible. He may have discovered a source of magic that prevents death, prevents aging, or slows aging.”

  “Like a fountain of youth, maybe?” Boris offered.

  “Zizmon-Tarl may be a demon who walks the earth,” Towbar continued. “I heard said he drinks the blood of the living and eats their hearts to keep his youth. However, I know not if it is true. When he started his quest to rule the world he conquered the world one piece at a time. His allies submit to his rule without question. Either they agree with his plan or they submit out of fear. Zizmon-Tarl has a way of dealing with those who resist. Resisters would be murdered and at times tortured in public. Bodies would remain in the public areas until they rotted away as a reminder to any harboring thoughts of resisting.

  “When Zizmon-Tarl was on the rise and had to face countries stronger than his, he would make alliances with their kings. Soon after those leaders would die mysterious deaths or would disappear. Those next in line would join Zizmon-Tarl or they too would disappear. Leaders willing to submit are obvious puppets for Zizmon-Tarl.”

  “These leaders couldn’t see this coming?” Larry asked.

  “Yes. However, he is shrewd in dealing with potential foes. He grew powerful quickly. After he became so powerful and could no longer be opposed on that side of the world, he turned his focus on this side of the world. My understanding is Zizmon-Tarl bought off the kings of the different Soso nations. All Soso nations are to the north of my land and they are under orders to take my country. The Soso king on the border is Monahakald. He is a puppet. All the Soso kings are evil. The Sosos have strange beliefs which I will explain in time.

  “So that you understand the current situation, every seven or eight years the Sosos make war with us. The wars last a year or two. We always defeat Sosos. After their defeat, the Sosos return home and rebuild their forces. Then they start the process over again. The Sosos are an unstable group of nations and they are always at war with themselves until they focus on a common enemy. Nearly three years have passed since the last war ended.

  “There is a growing fear among my people that Zizmon-Tarl himself will come here with his armies from the other side of the world to do what the Sosos have not been able to do. If this happens, we fear there will be no hope. We have no allies. All our former allies no longer exist.” The large man’s head hung low as he spoke.

  “Don’t the Sosos see what’s going on?” Boris asked. “Can’t they see Zizmon-Tarl will destroy them in the end?”

  “The Sosos are difficult to understand. I think we should stop here,” Towbar said to change the subject. “We should be far enough from any Soso warriors. Not much light is left and we should use it to set our camp. My friends, we can discuss the Sosos at a later time. There is work to be done.”

  “Boris call Denny, Towbar wants to set up camp here,” Mykal said. “Tell him we’re gonna take Towbar for a ride.”

  “Hey Denny,” Boris spoke into the microphone. “Towbar wants to set up camp here. Pass that on to his men cuz we’re gonna take him for a little joy ride.”

  “Okay, but don’t stray too far away,” Denny replied. “And whatever you do, don’t run into any more of them crazy people. I don’t want you bringing them back here with you.” Denny’s voice came through the speaker loud and clear.

  “How does the box talk?” Towbar asked and seemed more confused than before. “How did you do that?”

  “All we did was talk to the guy behind us,” Boris laughed at the facial expression of the giant. “There’s probably a few more things we could show you that would fascinate you.”

  “See how it’s getting dark?” Larry asked and fanned his hand over the windshield making sure Towbar was watching. “Well I can make light appear so we can see where we are traveling at night time. Watch this,” Larry said with a smile and snapped his fingers. When he snapped his fingers he turned the headlights on.

  “Oh my,” Towbar gasped in disbelief as he braced himself back against the seat. “Are you users of the forbidden magic arts? Are you guardians sent from the gods above?”

  “We’re neither Towba
r,” Mykal replied though he couldn’t keep from laughing. The giant’s fearful concern visibly covered his face. Mykal wanted to put him at ease. If he allowed it, both Larry and Boris would have Towbar believing they were guardian angels. “We’re just simple people like you, but it’s obvious we’re from another time and place. How we got here I don’t know. But where we come from all these things are very common. Like this car we’re driving in. Everyone has one and most own two.”

  Boris turned in his seat. “If you don’t own a craft like this then you’re poor. I don’t own one yet, but I will.”

  “No you won’t,” Larry chided him and laughed. “You spend all your money on booze and ‘big gal’ magazines.”

  “That’s not true, I buy--”

  “Stop it,” Mykal cut them off. “Somehow we got caught up into some kinda time warp or something and it seems like we’re trapped in your world. We don’t have a clue how to get outta here,” he explained, but Towbar focused on the beam of light shooting from the front of the car. “It’s not just us either. There’s the Dosch family which you met and there are twenty other guys waiting out in the middle of nowhere for us to return. We’ve had four people killed by Sosos and six others were killed in an accident.”

  “I do not know how it could have happened unless the gods brought you here to help us in our desperate situation.”

  “All I wanna do is get home to my wife and kids,” Mykal said in a brooding tone.

  “You have a family? You look so young to have a family.”

  “Yeah. Larry and Denny also have families. Our other guy who was killed earlier today had a family too.”

  “This is sad. I think we should join the others back at the camp,” Towbar suggested. “We will need to get a good rest. Tomorrow will be a long day with much ground to cover.”

  “Okay, but first I wanna show you something,” Mykal said. “Larry, get this thing going pretty quick so we can give him an idea of what we can do.” Mykal smiled as the vehicle speed increased to 50 mph. “Whadda ya think?” He asked as the giant’s eyes widened when they raced over the smooth ground.

  “This craft moves extremely fast.”

  11.

  After returning to the makeshift camp, Mykal rushed to his A-bag and pulled out a notebook and pencil. With pencil in hand he began writing furiously. He moved like a song writer inspired to write the greatest love song ever. With the pencil racing over paper all his Air Force comrades joined him.

  “Hey Sarge, whatta ya doing?” Kurt asked.

  He showed them the notebook. “I’m going to keep a diary of everything that’s happened to us until we get outta here”.

  “Are you putting in there how many times you got whacked in the head today?” Kurt smirked.

  “That’s real funny. I got punched in the face three times today,” he said and reached to feel the mild swelling. “Twice by Roy Jr. and once by one of them Sosos. But I’m hoping this will help explain things when we get back home, cuz we’re gonna have a lot of explaining to do. Who knows, maybe there’ll be a book or a movie to come outta all this.” He gave a greedy grin.

  “Who the hell is ever gonna believe us?” Kurt scoffed and laid his large body on the hood of the car. “People are gonna think we’re crazy or liars when we try to explain this. I think we better start thinking up some good realistic sounding lies.”

  “Yeah, this is like a cat’s cradle,” Franklin said.

  “A what?” Boris asked and looked baffled.

  “What the hell’s a cat’s cradle?” Larry asked.

  “You know, the game kids play with yarn and you keep twisting it into different shapes with your fingers.”

  “Are you for real pimps?” Larry laughed at him. “How do you know what in the world that is?”

  “Me and my little sister used to always play it,” he said. “Oh, forget it. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  “So what you’re saying is your parents had two daughters, right?” Kurt laughed. They all knew Franklin had one sibling.

  “Hey, screw you Kurt. I had to keep my sister busy when she was little,” he snapped back. His face turned red.

  “Do you have some yarn in your bag?” Larry teased and the others laughed with him. “C’mon, we’ll do a cat’s cradle.”

  “Screw you guys,” Franklin said as he stormed off.

  “You guys need to lighten up on him,” Denny said. “You know he hates being the butt of all your jokes. We’re all dealing with this strange situation and it’s hard on all of us. He needs to know that we accept him.”

  “Denny, I’m just messing with him,” Kurt chuckled.

  “Yeah Denny, we’re trying to make him feel like we’re back at home,” Larry laughed. “He was a dip shit at home so we need to make him feel like a dip shit here.”

  “Just do me a favor and take it easy on him,” Denny said. “I don’t think he’s mature enough to handle this as it is. He’s seen a lot of bad stuff today. Like Nelson getting killed and the bodies from the Sosos. I’m having a hard time with it all, myself.”

  “We’ll stop,” Boris replied but his laugh raised doubt.

  “And about making up good lies,” Larry said and changed the subject. He looked at Kurt and his tone turned serious. “We can’t lie about Nelson’s death. We just better have all the facts down. I think all of us need to do like Myk and write down everything as we seen it. You know there’s gonna be one hellova investigation and we’ll be writing reports till they come out our ass.”

  “Yes, don’t be telling any lies,” Denny ordered. “And no matter what we say, or no matter what we can show to prove it, you know Edwards isn’t gonna believe us,” he shook his head and sighed. “Just be true to the facts. The truth will prevail. I’m so glad I don’t have to face Edwards any time soon.”

  Mykal thought of Lt Edwards’s anger toward them as a squad. “I bet he’s already got the paperwork ready to nail our asses to the wall. He’s probably just waiting for us to come back.”

  “Well, he’ll have to know something really did happen,” Boris said. “Cuz now they know the convoy disappeared too.”

  “They gotta believe us when we get back,” Denny said.

  “If, Denny, if we get back,” Larry added.

  “By the way guys. Towbar’s men aren’t too worried about keeping watch tonight,” Denny said. “But I did volunteer all of us to keep watch. I explained we don’t take those chances so Towbar’s men said they would keep watch with us.”

  Boris looked at the yellow station wagon. “Besides, they’ll be up all night keeping their eyes on Baby Ray.”

  “I really hope Towbar was wrong about those Soso death arrows,” Mykal said. “I’d really hate to see that kid die.”

  “Yeah, he’s a good kid,” Kurt nodded.

  “But listen up,” Denny said. “I want everyone to get some good sleep when you’re not on watch. Towbar said he’d like to leave by sunrise. I’ll see you guys in the morning.” Denny walked away. “Goodnight.”

  CHAPTER FOUR – Day 3

  1. Saturday, June 25th 1983

  0458 hours, Northern Outskirts Labins

  “No, no, nooooo,” Mykal yelled as he bolted upright. Relief swept over him to see Boris shaking him by the shoulder. The stinging in his mouth made it clear he departed dreamland.

  “Are you alright?” Boris asked.

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m alright,” he sighed and tipped his head back. The tension left his body and he relaxed now that the nightmare was no longer going to haunt him.

  “Just having a bad dream?”

  “Yeah, it scared the hell outta me. I dreamt we got caught by them Sosos and they were cutting us up into little pieces like the Marshal and that other guy. Whew,” he sighed. “Man, it seemed so friggin real. Hey, did Baby Ray--?” He stopped.

  “No,” Boris happily reported. “He doesn’t look too bad. He was hallucinating, and Towbar said that was normal. But he got his appetite back. Towbar said that’s good. It made Roy do a d
ance.”

  “Aw that’s great,” Mykal replied.

  “Towbar thinks that cuz we’re not from here, maybe we have something in us that gives us an edge in fighting that poison.”

  “That’s really great, but what the hell, Boris? It’s still dark out. Why you robbin’ me of precious sleep?”

  “Towbar wants to get an early start.”

  In the distance to the east the dark night sky had grayed. “Hey look at the sun coming up,” Mykal said with a familiar comfort. “Just like working the night shift in the missile field. I’d give anything to be ‘in the field’ right now.”

  “And I’d never complain about it ever again,” Boris joked.

  “Yeah. Man, that boring-assed-job we always hated is a million miles away.” Mykal sniffed at his armpits. “Damn, I really need a shower.” His uniform stuck to his body.

  “Yeah Myk, I know,” Boris said and wrinkled his nose.

  “Hey, you don’t smell like no damn rose garden either,” Mykal chortled, glad they still had their sense of humor.

  “Hey Myk, come here,” Denny called. “We’re making plans.”

  “Denny’s worried about Light’s convoy cuz they don’t know anything about the Sosos,” Boris said as they strode to join Denny, Larry, Towbar and a few of Towbar’s soldiers.

  “Towbar mentioned what you said about us taking him to help warn his people. Do you still wanna do that?” Denny asked.

  “Yeah! We’ll save time and cover a lot of ground using the vehicles. Sooner we get his people warned the sooner he might be able to hook us up with a friend of his who might help us.”

  “To find my old friend may take some time. I do not want you to think I misled you, my friend,” Towbar said.