by Dave Hazel
Mykal watched people run to their vehicles where they gathered up the last of their belongings. He detected the nervous excitement in the air and seen it in their faces. Mykal and his squad didn’t have the same sense of fear and uncertainty the others felt. They had already tasted battle several times. Though everyone had been in Towbar’s world for less than a week, his squad was the old veterans. He hoped these “green warriors” would never have to prove themselves before going home.
Towbar waived to his men riding off on their horses. “I instructed Kotan and my men to ride like the wind,” Towbar said to Mykal. “My beasts can not keep pace with your crafts. They will meet us at the Pass as quick as the beasts carry them.”
“Are you worried about them?”
“No. Kotan is a great leader, my friend. I normally do not separate from my men. However, I believe the gods brought you here for me, thus I believe I am to be with you, my friend.”
Kurt ran to Mykal with the two shorter versions of the M-16 rifle. “What do you want me to do with these GAUs? Do you wanna take one and give your rifle to one of the civilians?”
Mykal turned to see if the Sosos picked up the pace to charge on them, but they hadn’t. They maintained a slow pace. “No, I never liked the feel of the GAUs. Take one to Kraft and one to Nordwall. Make sure they have four magazines each. Hurry, Jake is kicking the ass of people who aren’t ready.”
“I’m keeping one of these for me, and giving my rifle to one of them. I’ve always wanted one of these little babies,” he said and gave a goofy smile. “Besides, I’m always driving, so I should have one of these.”
“Kurt, I don’t care! Go, just hurry. You’re my driver.” He started toward the Marshal’s car but Randy Dosch stopped him.
“Hey Myk, who am I supposed to give these to?” Randy asked and nodded at the two family rifles slung over his shoulder. He also carried a couple of boxes of ammunition.
“See that burgundy station wagon over there? It goes to them. Hey, where’s your brother at?”
“He’s with daddy at the car.”
“Thanks, I’ll see ya later. Towbar, I’ll meet you at the car.” While making his way to the Dosch station wagon, he passed the metallic green Cadillac Fleetwood of Carl Olsen. He saw the old man sitting stiff behind the wheel. At first glance he thought the older man died. Carl’s face was moist with sweat and his hands were locked onto the steering wheel. He looked scared.
“Mr. Olsen, are you alright? You don’t look like you’re doing too well Sir.”
“I’m fine!” Carl snapped. “Well, I’m a little scared.” His tone softened. “I’ve never been in a jam like this before.”
“Sir, how about if I get a couple of our men to drive for you? This way you won’t have to be alone. Would you like that?”
“Yes, yes. That would be great. I’m an insurance agent, not a soldier. But I’ll drive my car,” he said then smiled.
“I’ll get a couple of guys over here,” he said and walked away. “Hey Clark, Dobson and Ski,” Mykal called to the three squad leaders who were standing at their vehicles waiting for the order to move out. “Why don’t each one of you give up one guy to ride with Mr. Olsen over here. He’s alone and a little older.”
It surprised Mykal how quickly they responded to his suggestion. They all out ranked him, but jumped at his request. He wanted to laugh, but then realized they were all relying on him and his friendship with Towbar to get them out of danger and back home. His humor dissolved. The weight of responsibility for life and death fell on his shoulders like a ship’s heavy anchor.
Stanley ‘Ski’ Winczewski, aka “the Jesus Freak”, returned first. He caught up to Mykal and squeezed his shoulder. “Myk, I think this is what I was talking about the day we left. Do you remember when I told you I felt God wanted me to support you? I wasn’t sure in what capacity. I’m sure this is what it’s about,” Ski said while he directed his airman to Carl Olsen’s car. “I do believe God wants to do mighty things through you, but I’ll talk to you about it later. I’m praying for you, Myk. God bless you.”
“Thanks, Ski.” Mykal smiled and felt awkward since religion wasn’t something important to him. He wasn’t sure of religious protocol, should he return the “God bless you” or does one have to know when to use it? “Yeah, I’ll talk to you later.”
Mykal approached Roy and Roy Jr. who were leaning against the station wagon. “Hey guys, I wanted to ask a favor.”
“Anything, Myk,” the father said and winked.
“Listen, I trust you guys as much as the guys on my squad, and more than I trust any of the people on my own Crew. Would you guys keep your eyes open and watch my back? I think some people on my Crew are out to get me. I don’t know if they would do anything to harm me physically, but after all that’s happened I don’t wanna take any chances. And the look that I saw Edwards give Light was the kind that led me to believe he would do some serious harm to someone. I know I’m on their shit list. So if--”
“Say no more, Myk,” Roy Sr. replied. “We’re one, and we’re in this together. We’re like family. We’ll keep our eyes open.”
“We got your back, Myk,” Roy Jr. said.
“Thanks guys. You don’t know how much that means to me.” He gave a sigh of relief. “I’ll talk to you guys later.”
“Hey boy,” Roy Sr. called as Mykal walked away. “If that’s the case, you watch yourself.” He gave a nod and wink.
Mykal returned to his squad, Kurt stood outside the car playing with his new rifle, pretending to shoot the GAU on automatic. It looked comically small beside his large body. “Hey Kurt, run and have Light put a couple of men in Doris Holen’s car and have her ride in one of the Peacekeepers. I know she don’t wanna hear anything from me, but if it comes from someone else, maybe she will--”
“It’s already done, Sarge. And yeah, she don’t like you Myk,” Kurt laughed. “If you were on fire she wouldn’t piss on you to put it out.”
Mykal laughed at the crude image Kurt painted. “I really do feel bad for her. Alright, let’s go, we’re gonna lead the way.”
“I just did a radio check,” Boris said from inside the Ford LTD. “Everyone is just about ready.”
“Oh man. Look at that, they’re about two miles away and they’re still not hurrying.” Mykal said. He had to shake his head while he looked at the storm of thousands upon thousands of Sosos rolling over the incline.
“They are in no hurry. Their destination is the Pass, my friend.”
5.
Mykal’s vehicle led the way, and the other vehicles fell behind in a single column. The Sosos, like an ominous dark cloud that covered the ground, evaporated in the rear view mirror. The rise and fall of slight elevation in the flatlands eventually hid the Sosos completely. The all-important payload transporter containing the Minuteman III nuclear missile also disappeared behind the rise of green.
Based on Towbar’s information, they guessed the distance to the Pass to be 100-150 miles. Mykal’s main concern, and some of the friendly wagers among the convoy; ‘would all the vehicles have enough gas to make it to the Pass?’
Mykal looked in all directions and realized their convoy of eighteen vehicles and seventy-three people amounted to no more than a speck voyaging through an ocean of lush green grasslands. He accepted it with grateful relief. Had they been transported to jungle entanglement, desert barrenness, or frozen wasteland, there would be no chance of survival.
Hours later and many miles of separation from the Sosos, the convoy stopped. Most were hungry and wanted to have lunch since it was past the mid-day meal time. Mykal objected. He wanted to get to Gartolin as soon as possible. He didn’t want to give Edwards an opportunity to change attitudes about the Pass. The growling of many stomachs overruled Mykal’s objection.
After the meal Mykal and Towbar watched Kurt, Boris, Sam and Rich put on a show entertaining a majority of the convoy by sharing “war stories” of their encounters with the Sosos. Mykal enjoyed seeing his clo
se friends Boris and Kurt brag about all the Sosos they killed and the battles they had been in.
His friends didn’t look the part of the modern day warrior. Boris was shorter and an overweight introvert. Kurt was a big goofy clown with thick glasses. Mykal’s friends reminded him more of school-boy nerds, than battle hardened killers. Boris and Kurt held the focus of those in the audience with every word they spoke. His friends soaked in the celebrity like attention.
“My friend, I do not understand the fascination your people have in speaking of battles and near death as if it is a game,” Towbar said to Mykal.
“Towbar, look at all the attention they’re getting. They never got this kind of attention back in our world. They’re like big shots to these people. Just like you’re important to your people, for the first time, they feel important or special.”
Boris and Kurt pulled Mykal and Towbar into the discussion. Towbar wouldn’t speak, but they wanted Mykal to share some of his close encounters from the past couple of days.
“…And then this one Soso about a foot away from me had a big ol’ axe in his hands,” Mykal said. “This guy was huge. I was so scared that I almost messed my pants,” he paused knowing there would be laughter from the audience. “This big guy was planning on splitting my head open with his big ol’ axe. So I grabbed my .357,” he said and slapped the hand grips and pointed his finger to demonstrate. “He had this look like, ‘whadda ya gonna do with that little thing’, so I shot him in the face. Ka-Bamb! That’s what I’m gonna do scumbag!” The crowd roared and cheered.
Mykal turned serious. “I stared death in the face, and I won!”
“It sure seems like all this killing and sadism runs in your blood Mykal,” a voice yelled from the audience. The spiteful comment broke the spell of devoted attention that had been cast over the crowd. The cutting words surprised everyone as they tried to understand what could be meant by that remark. “Isn’t that right Mykal?”
Mykal looked to see who made the harsh comment. He couldn’t believe his eyes. He read his name tag to be sure – BRADFORD –. Bradford, a Staff Sergeant under Light hailed from his home town. Their paths crossed years ago. ‘You gotta be friggin kiddin’ me,’ he thought. “Hey Bradford,” Mykal greeted him.
Military people who make contact with someone from “back home” on a foreign soil are usually grounds for celebration. To see how small the big world is for such a chance encounter would be cause for excitement. Mykal didn’t get excited and it clearly seemed Bradford wasn’t happy to see him. Their history bore disdain and hatred for each other. He wished he’d have completed his list of names earlier so he wouldn’t have been caught off guard like this. ‘If anyone from my past, why him?’ He wondered.
Bradford continued, making it clear that he knew Mykal. “So Mykal, it’s what… a small universe we live in? Isn’t it?”
“Yeah, I guess it is.” He let out a sigh and wondered if Bradford was going to be the same jerk he had always been. Maybe the military changed Bradford. Doubtful. Hopefully their bizarre situation would allow a truce and put hard feelings on hold.
“Well Myk, it seems like killing and sadism runs deep in your blood? Doesn’t it?” Bradford asked again. His tone and smile seemed upbeat and friendly, despite the malevolent words. Bradford knew he cut deep.
“Screw you, you friggin idiot,” Mykal fired back and walked away. The crowd turned within and tried to ascertain what just happened.
“My, my, a little touchy, are we?” Bradford snickered. The people near Bradford pressed him for information.
“Myk, what’s up?” Kurt asked, but Mykal walked off.
Mykal’s mouth filled with a disgusting taste that made his tongue stick to the roof of his mouth. Bradford’s taunt made him question himself. ‘Am I sadistic? Do I really enjoy all this killing and stuff?’
Mykal looked back to see Towbar and his friends turned to each other to see if either knew the answer. He knew they wanted to understand what Bradford could possibly know that would make him so upset?
When Mykal walked away, Denny and Larry came from another direction. “Hey Myk, I was just talking to Jake and some of the big shots here,” Denny said using air quotes and started to laugh. “You didn’t really beat the snot outta Edwards, did you?”
“Na, I just knocked him around a little bit.” He forced a smile. He wanted to get away to avoid the curiosity of his friends. He needed to think and do a mental self-examination.
“We heard you butt stroked him and knocked some of his teeth out,” Larry laughed while rubbing the stubble on his head.
“You know how people exaggerate things. Besides, you were here when it happened, Larry.”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t there when you nailed him. I just heard about that. You made my day with that,” Larry raised his hand to high-five him.
“I woulda liked to have killed that friggin idiot,” Mykal admitted. The words from his mouth suddenly twisted his stomach. ‘Maybe Bradford is right. This evil is in my blood.’
“I can’t believe it,” Denny shook his head. “They just reamed me about what a bad supervisor I’ve been. I need to get my act together and put my foot down--”
“Myk, what the hell was that all about?” Kurt interrupted them when they caught up to him.
“Why are you upset, my friend?” Towbar looked disturbed.
“It’s a long story.” Mykal tried to wave it off.
“Well Sarge, let’s hear it,” Kurt prodded. “We got time.”
“Yeah, I’m curious to know what got you so pissed off back there,” Boris said. “I never saw you get like that before.”
“What’s going on?” Denny asked for him and Larry.
“One of Light’s men, SSgt Bradford, is from my hometown. I didn’t know he was here until just now. If I woulda completed my list of all the people here, I woulda known.”
“He’s got it in for you, Myk,” Sam laughed. “What happened? D’ya get caught doing his sister? Or his mother?”
“Na, nothing like that,” he laughed. “Back home in Niagara Falls, New York, my cousin got involved in some bad stuff. I’m not exactly sure of all that happened, but it came out that he and a couple of his friends, killed some people. My cousin was only seventeen at the time. They got into lots of trouble.”
“Oh man, you don’t wanna mess with this guy,” Rich laughed. “Now, y’all know why I don’t never goes to New York.”
“Anyways, I used to hang around with him a lot, but not when all this stuff happened. The real bad stuff happened during the summer of 1978. I was in Pennsylvania visiting relatives. It was just before I joined the Air Force.”
Boris snapped his fingers. “Wait a minute, I think I heard about this on the news. If this is what I’m thinking, wasn’t there something about a crazy old lady they were mixed up with? I remember something about teenagers and a crazy lady.”
“Yeah, she was crazy,” Mykal said. “But she wasn’t with them. She was against them. Some guy from my home town named Dave Hazel wrote a book about it called ‘Street Shock’. After it became public that my cousin and his friends had killed some people, all our families caught hell from people like Bradford.
“My cousin and his best friend killed two guys over a bad drug deal. As it turns out, one of the two guys killed was Bradford’s adopted brother or half-brother. Me and Bradford went to school together and when he found out that my cousin killed his brother, it was like he blamed me for his brother’s death. I wasn’t even in the same state when it happened, let alone had anything to do with it.”
“Bradford seems like a dipstick anyways,” Rich said.
“How’s the crazy lady get into the picture?” Boris asked.
“A girl got raped and murdered and her boyfriend got beat up so bad he almost died. There was five of them and they were all high on drugs but only one of the five actually did the rape and murder. To make a long story short, the boyfriend was able to pick them out and then him and the dead girl’s mother, track
ed down the five. They kidnapped all five of them so she could torture them. She wanted revenge. She was nuts.”
“Man, y’all don’t wanna be messin’ with this lady either,” Rich laughed. “Your home town is a crazy place, Myk.”
“Anyway she started to torture them and recorded it all on tape. She took pictures of everything she did. I’m waiting to read this book cuz it supposedly explains how it all happened.”
“Do they know for sure that your cousin killed those people?” Larry asked.
“Oh yeah, for sure. My cousin made a confession about all the people he killed and why they killed them. So Bradford knows for sure my cousin killed his brother. My cousin swore up and down he didn’t have anything to do with the girl who got raped and murdered. He was at the wrong place at the wrong time but the girl’s crazy mother blamed all five for it.
“But see, what got to me, is what Bradford said. While we were laughing and joking about killing Sosos, I sounded like I’m enjoying it and having a good ol’ time. Maybe he’s right, maybe this stuff is in my blood.” He looked away.
“Forget that idiot, Myk,” Boris said. “It’s kill or be killed out here. It’s not that you like it, but you have to be good at it or you’ll freeze up and hesitate. If you hesitate out here, you’re dead. Am I right, Towbar?”
“Yes, Boris. If you do not kill Sosos first they will not waver to kill you! I have witnessed my share of young warriors who have lost their lives or lost limbs for hesitating.”
“Let’s see how Bradford reacts when the Sosos come after his sorry ass,” Sam chuckled. “He’ll become one blood thirsty killer or he’ll end up dead.”
“Don’t let him get to ya, Sarge,” Kurt said. “He’ll get his head right. One way or another, he’ll get his head right.”
