37 Days In A Strange World

by Dave Hazel

  His last clear thinking dealt with the terror of dying from a Soso death arrow. Since then nothing made sense. Shocked by all the dried blood on and around him, it stunned him more to see the ugly scar that marred his body. The scar, at least a foot long and an inch and a half wide, began on his lower right side where the arrow entered and advanced toward his heart where the poison had traveled.

  “What the hell?” He touched the hardened flesh that tracked diagonally across his abdomen. It looked and felt like it healed years ago. He hopped off the rock slab he staggered trying to maintain his balance. His legs wobbled under him.

  ‘Did they leave me to die?’ “Maybe I am dead,” he said quietly and sat down on the rock slab. “Maybe I’m a ghost now,” he pondered out loud, but his stomach gurgled even louder. “Nah, I don’t think you get hungry when you’re dead.” The trembling of his body confirmed his famished state. “Plus, why would they put a blanket under me if I was gonna die?”

  He looked for an exit from the clearing through the trees, but didn’t see a defined path. He tried to piece together the sequences of strange dreams. He hoped to shed light or provide clues to lead him back…to where?

  ‘Where is everyone?’ A new fear presented itself, ‘where’re the Sosos?’ Since he stood there unarmed it made him feel extremely vulnerable. Tempted to yell for his friends, he froze. Who would hear his calls for help? He didn’t want to face Sosos weaponless.

  Questions flooded his mind. ‘Where am I? Where’d all this blood come from?’ Stains on his cammy trousers, dried blood on the rock slab and down the side of the rock slab had to be his. ‘How much blood did I lose? How’d I heal so quickly?’ It didn’t make sense unless he’d been here longer than he thought. ‘Weeks!? Months!? The blanket musta been added later. Hardly any blood on it.’

  His head jerked to the sound of a broken stick. He heard someone walking toward him, and though he heard it clearly, he knew the noise came from a considerable distance away. The trees blocked his view, but his instincts panicked him to hide.

  Mykal ducked behind a tree closer to the mountain wall. He heard footsteps dropping slowly. With his hands pressed against tree bark, his entire body thumped to his increased heartbeat. After several desperate breaths Towbar came into view. He sighed at the welcomed sight. He watched the giant’s face turned to shock when Towbar eyed the vacated rock slab.

  “Mykal!” Towbar gave a rare smile when Mykal stepped out from behind the tree. “How do you feel, my friend?”

  “I think I feel great. Am I alive?” The question provoked a befuddled gaze from Towbar. The silliness of how it must have sounded made Mykal laugh. “What happened? Oh man, I’m starving.”

  “You do not remember?”

  “Not really. I can see bits and pieces in my mind but it’s all weird.”

  “You went beyond the wall of sleep. I, too, almost died. It is over. You endured a death arrow. This is extremely rare.”

  “Thanks. I’m grateful, but I’m really starving.”

  “You should be. You have not eaten in five or six days.”

  “What?”

  “The past three days you slept here.” Towbar touched the blanket. “You slept through the healing process. This will keep you until we get to town and have a proper meal.” He tossed Mykal a leather pouch filled with dried meats.

  Mykal tore into the pouch and attacked the jerky as if getting revenge. “Where is everyone?”

  “In the Pass, as are we. Your friends are worried. Edwards tells everyone I lie. He proclaims you are dead.”

  “How the hell would he know? He’s a dumb ass.” He sneered. Mykal ripped and chewed ravenously. “How is everyone?”

  “They are doing well.” Towbar paused. “My friend, there are some things you must know. First, I commend you on your fight to live. The gods must have intervened on your behalf. The gods rarely interfere in the lives of mortals, unless there is a purpose. I believe the gods brought you here, for a special purpose, to be on a mission to save us from the Sosos.”

  “Whoa Towbar, look, I don’t wanna sound unappreciative, but I don’t know if I buy all this ‘gods’ stuff and ‘being on a mission’ stuff.” He sighed. It brought him back to all the lectures/sermons- “chitchats” his grandfather would say, on God- “the One true God” and religion- “relationship with Christ--not religion. Get it right.”

  “I just wanna make it back home to be with my wife and kids. In desperation I prayed to God, and if He saved me from nearly dying, then I thank Him. I do. But all I care about now is going home, not some hocus-pocus spiritual mission stuff.”

  “Eat while we walk. I need to explain things. As a true and trusted friend, I must have your word that you will never repeat what I tell you or things you remember from the past few days.”

  “Sure. Who’d believe it anyway?” He scoffed.

  “My friend, if you do not keep your word it could cost you your life and could cost me my life as well. Please take this seriously. You must take a vow of absolute silence, for me.”

  “Sure, whatever you say, Towbar. I won’t say a word.”

  “When I brought you here, my friend, there was no hope.” He frowned and dipped his head. In dramatic fashion he lifted his head and his eyes sparkled brightly. “By the power of magic you are alive,” Towbar paused as if allowing for a dramatic impact. It had no effect on Mykal who focused on eating. “I am a magic user. By the power of magic, and with help from the gods, I brought you back from beyond the wall of sleep.”

  “Cool. Thanks.” Mykal’s feigned reply would have been the same if Towbar spoke of coaching a little league team.

  “My friend, you died!”

  “I’m dead?” Stunned, he stopped eating.

  “No. You are alive now because of the power of magic. I am a user of magic,” Towbar stressed. “This is a guarded secret, my friend. Should Zizmon-Tarl discover this, he will use all his powers to stretch his long arm of evil to this part of the world to kill me and to kill you.”

  “I told you, our weapons and vehicles aren’t magic.”

  “I am not talking of your strange and powerful possessions, my friend. I am referring to you. Magic is now within you.”

  “Huh? How? I don’t get what you mean.”

  “When I drained the poison from your body, you lost a great deal of blood. I cut my veins and allowed my blood to flow into your body. By magic I started your life’s breath and your blood to flow again. Now my blood flows through your veins,” Towbar explained while they started downward on a path along the mountain wall. “My blood is special. I was born with the ability to use magic. Now magic is in your blood.”

  Mykal struggled to hide his skepticism. “Wow. Cool,” he said weakly, lacking an apt response. He didn’t want to offend so he squelched his true opinion and condescending thoughts of magic.

  “We must keep it hidden. You do not yet understand the gift you have. With my blood, you have some of the same traits I have. I am one of a very few ever born with this gift.”

  “Towbar, I believe you, but where I’m from this magic stuff doesn’t happen,” he said to ease away from the subject.

  “Look at your scar and look at my wrist,” Towbar said and raised both wrists. They revealed smooth skin without any marks. “You healed very quickly as did I. This is one of my abilities.”

  Mykal halted and fingered his scar. It looked like he bore it from childhood. “I guess I shouldn’t have healed so fast,” he conceded, but still doubted. “So, will I always heal fast?”

  “Yes. However, that does not make you indestructible. You will be difficult to kill because our bodies work hard to heal and recover quickly. In some instances this may be what will prevent death from taking hold. I have been struck with several death blows and yet I am here, alive! I have other traits that you may pick up on. My sense of smell, my keen eyesight and my ability to hear what others can not detect are--”

  “Wow! I experienced that already.” Mykal stood amazed that Towba
r would mention that. “When I first woke up everything just came to life. It was bright and colorful and my sense of smell seemed really strong. When you came back, I heard you when you were a long way off. That’s how I hid before you got to me.”

  “This is wonderful. I move with stealth, my friend.”

  “Do you use magic with your sword? I’ve noticed it glows.”

  “No. My sword is a magical weapon with many functions. In battle it is a magnificent tool of power. Have you noticed the ease in which I cut Sosos in half with my sword?”

  “Yeah.”

  “It is not by my strength. It is one of the powers of my sword. When I wield my sword, it’s as light as a feather gaining power magically, destroying what it contacts. When enemy weapons connect with my blade, lightning will strike and destroy them.”

  “I’ve seen that. I’ve also wanted to ask you, do you grow larger in combat? At times you’ve seemed bigger than normal.”

  “Yes. I have the ability to make myself larger, stronger and faster for short periods of time. I also…”

  2.

  When they neared the outskirts of the town, many townspeople mobbed them. The people were strangers to Mykal, but they welcomed him like a returning war hero. It humbled him to hear the people happily call his name.

  The only familiar face in the crowd was Kurt who happened to be conversing with the locals. Kurt did a double take when he saw Mykal. The surprised look revealed his depth of disbelief.

  “Mykal! Mykal!” Kurt plowed through the crowd like a linebacker blitzing the quarterback for the game winning play. “You’re alive!” He roared and clamped tightly on him to give a big bear hug. “Are you really alright?” He dropped Mykal to his feet. “The last time I saw you, you weren’t doing so good.”

  “Oh yeah, I’m alright,” he replied and couldn’t keep from laughing with all the attention the strangers gave him. They reached out and patted his arms and shoulders telling him how glad they were to see him. “Look at me, don’t I look alright, you friggin goof,” he laughed, caught up in the joyous moment.

  “Oh yeah, you’re alright. And back to normal too.” Kurt frowned playfully. “I thought having a near death experience would soften your heart. But noooo, you’re the same old Sarge.”

  Though Kurt’s banter had been playful, Mykal realized he had changed; he wasn’t the ‘same old Sarge’. Being resurrected from the dead changed his perspective on life and his priorities needed to be restructured.

  “Towbar, how in the world did you do it?” Kurt had to step back and look at Mykal again. “Honest Myk, the last time I saw you I didn’t think you’d ever come back.”

  “I did nothing,” Towbar lied. “Mykal’s inner strength and determination saved him. Anyone else would have most certainly died. I must discuss plans with my people. Please, excuse me.”

  Mykal knew Towbar wanted to avoid probing questions. The giant departed with townspeople following him like a rock star.

  “Damn, Myk, look at that scar.” Kurt gawked at the fleshy deformity left by Towbar’s primitive surgery. “How the hell did you heal up so quickly?”

  “It’s gotta be the mountain air,” he joked. “I don’t know, but I need to get a shirt on, cuz everyone’s gonna ask me about it. Speaking of which, where’s everyone? I don’t see anyone.”

  “Everyone is at the opening of the Pass. Edwards agreed to stay until Towbar’s soldiers get here. I think Jake made him see how important it was to stay connected with Towbar. Once you were outta the picture Edwards started talking about leaving again. But he freaked out when Towbar told him how many Sosos were probably out there. It looked like Edwards was gonna drop a brick in his pants. That little wimp says he feels trapped.”

  “That coward,” Mykal mumbled. His deep-seated anger quickly resurfaced. “Several people are dead cuz of him.”

  “Now he’s acting like he’s ‘king of the world’. He’s trying to control everything. Oh man, this is great! They think you’re dead, Myk.” Kurt smirked. “I can’t wait to see the look on their faces when you show up. As each day passed by, they were more convinced you died. Edwards is afraid of you, man. Not just cuz you slapped him around, but he knows you and Towbar are tight. Everyone needs Towbar, so Edwards needs you to be gone.”

  “But you, Denny, Boris and Larry are Towbar’s friends too.”

  “Yeah, but it’s not the same. Edwards knows you’re the one who is holding us close to Towbar. Now Denny’s worried, cuz they keep threatening him with the trouble he’s gonna be in when we get back to the world. So now Denny’s telling me, Boris and Larry to chill out. We’re all walking on eggshells,” Kurt explained while they walked to the center of town. “Edwards and Mansfield keep trying to scare us with prison in Leavenworth.”

  “Their day will come!” Mykal’s tone made clear his veiled threat. “They almost got me killed. It won’t happen again. As far as I’m concerned, the Air Force with its rules, regulations, its leaders, like Edwards and Mansfield, are all just a few of the obstacles in my way. Those idiots don’t care about us! From now on, I’m doing what’s best for me. They’re not stopping me.”

  “You know we’re with you,” Kurt said. “We don’t want that moron getting any of us killed either.”

  Mykal changed the subject. “So what’s been happening here?”

  “Let me tell ya something Sarge.” Kurt gave a goofy grin then laughed. “There’s lots of booze here and there’s lots of ladies,” he snickered. “And the funny part is all these people look at us like we’re some kind of super heroes or something, so they pretty much worship us. Even Boris can get some,” Kurt laughed loudly implying sex. “Those of us who are closer to Towbar get even better treatment.” He nudged Mykal and winked.

  “If everyone’s at the Pass opening, why are you in town?”

  “First of all, it’s called ‘the Front’. Mansfield’s idea.” He rolled his eyes. “Anyway me, Lopez, Stinky Feet--”

  “How is Lopez doing?” Mykal remembered the car accident.

  “He’s messed up!” Kurt scorned. “Listen to this, he broke some bones in his arm and they tried to set it, but wouldn’t listen to me. I’ve been trained for this stuff. They didn’t know what the hell they were doing. That idiot Mansfield told me to butt out cuz his wife had some nurse training. Are you kiddin’ me? All they ended up doing is making Lopez worse off than before. He’s lost the use of that arm so now he’s just an errand boy. Anyway, me, Lopez, Stinky Feet and Burns are here in town to get food for the Front. Stinky Feet is so grateful we stuck around to save him, we can get him to do anything for us.”

  “Cool. I’ll remember that. Where are all the civilians?”

  “They’re at the Front. Roy and his sons are still tight with us. The others that you got weapons for are hanging with us till we know what’s gonna happen. They actually said they’re waiting to see if you come back, cuz they think you’ll be able to get us outta here and back home, not Edwards. The farm guy, Harvey Nordwall, said he won’t even ask Edwards for the time of day. He says Edwards would screw that up and get someone killed looking at his watch,” he chuckled. “Mansfield tells everyone Towbar’s just playing with our heads by saying you’re still alive. Man, oh man, he’s gonna piss his pants when he sees you.”

  “Hey, where’s my weapons and ammo?”

  “Oh, don’t worry, I got you covered Sarge. We got ‘em stashed away. Towbar told us that you would be coming back, but Edwards said that you were dead and wouldn’t need them anymore so he wanted us to give up your stuff. He got pissed off when me and Boris kept saying we couldn’t remember where we put them. He said he would deal with us later,” he laughed. “Then Edwards tried to confiscate mine and Boris’s pistols cuz he said we shoulda never had them to begin with. But Roy stepped in with his sons and lied for us. Roy told Edwards to back off cuz the pistols were his and he was letting us borrow them. He held his shotgun ready like he wanted Edwards to start something with him,” Kurt hooted, pumping his fist. �
�They don’t like the LT at all. He left us alone, but I heard he blew his top over that.”

  “Well, he ain’t getting any of our weapons and ammo. How’s Light been? Whose side is he on?”

  Kurt frowned. “He’s not on anyone’s side. He’s by the book. It’s clear that he doesn’t like Edwards and they’ve been arguing some. Light’s a G.I. Joe, a military man all the way. Edwards and Mansfield got all the ass kissers on their side kissing up to them so they don’t get into trouble when we get back home. Jake acts like he’s caught in the middle, kinda riding the fence cuz he’s afraid of getting into trouble when we get back.

  “The Crew is split, Myk. You’ll see when we get down to the Front. Us guys are on the right side of the Front. Jake, Light and all the undecided are spread through the middle and then Edwards and Mansfield and the ass kissers are on the left side.”

  “Forget them. We gotta worry about Sosos now,” Mykal said.

  “What kinda trouble do you think we’ll be in back home?”

  “We’re not gonna get into trouble,” he assured Kurt with confidence. “This is all about survival.”

  “While you were gone, Mansfield has been making it very clear that we’re all gonna be ‘dealt with.’ He’s got his records and reports written down of everything we’ve supposedly done.”

  “Well, when we go home, maybe some people won’t be going.”

  “That’s what I wanna hear Sarge,” Kurt laughed.

  “But for now, we need them for the firepower.”

  “Hey, do you remember seeing that Doninka chick? She was the one Towbar had looking after you, but you were outta it.”

  “No, not really. Why?”

  “Oooh, Myk, she’s a sweet little hammer,” he snickered and winked. “You oughta jump on it while it’s there to jump on,” he teased and nudged Mykal with his elbow. “I’m telling ya, she’s a real doll. A sweet little hammer.”