by C. L. Jones
Cowboy stepped forward and after a thoughtful-looking pause said, “We cover each other’s back no matter what. Whatever happens here, we take it to the grave.”
Pops was standing in the middle of the room and he held out his open hand, palm down. The Crew came forward and each man laid his hand on top of the ones already there. The team looked at each other then without speaking turned and walked off to take up their positions.
Pops thought to himself, there is nothing like a brotherhood of warriors of whom it’s been said, “They are brothers of different mothers.”
Cowboy, Surfer and Tracker went back to their positions acting as guards and prisoners. Pops was certain that Roadside and Rocky were still out there watching over the compound and the Crew.
Sitting down on the floor next to the door Pops took off his bandoleer of C-4 and laid it beside him. He looked at it for a while and finally decided for some unknown reason to arm the blocks with the caps and detonators.
Now all the team had to do was wait. Waiting was the number one pastime of any field agent or member of the military.
Pops knew from years of experience that waiting is the hardest part of being a good soldier or a sanctioned assassin. Pops watched the team take up their assignments with memories of the past flashing before his eyes. He made another quick survey of the area outside the building then headed over to the bed, picked up a pillow and went back to the doorway. He propped the screen door open by placing the pillow just so on the floor in front of the door so he could see the compound. He got in the prone position and scanned the whole compound through his weapon sights. When he was satisfied he closed the screen door but left the solid door opened. He headed across the room and sat with his back against the wall opposite the door to wait quietly.
In his position on the other side of the room, Pops could see the Crew’s three men in the compound and most of the path used by the compound’s vehicle drivers. It was almost certain that no one in the compound could see him in the darkened room through the screen door. Like countless times in the military and during his missions for the organization, Pops raised his weapon and sighted down its barrel. He pictured his targets right in the line of sight. Now he would sit quietly and wait for his targets to arrive.
He watched Cowboy, Surfer and Tracker play their parts. He saw the young man who was now called Puncher going about his regular daily routine. He watched how Puncher was focused on the mission and noticed anger building in the young man. At first Pops thought about keeping a little extra attention on him but his anger towards the colonel looked so genuine it erased Pops’ concern about Puncher’s loyalty. He could only speculate but Pops thought there were probably deep and never to be spoken reasons why Puncher had this sort of hatred. Hell he could relate. In Pops’ case he could remember that he’d barely controlled his own anger when he’d been wronged and wanted to get even. At the time his anger and rage had been foremost in his thoughts. Then Pops thought how he couldn’t remember the last time he cared who was right or what the job was even about. He thought back to when it was the good guys and the bad guys. Now it seemed someone besides him was the master of the mission and was the shooter and he was the subject of the mission and therefore was the target.
Pops watched the interaction among the team members. This bunch had come together well. Their way of doing things and their like-minded thinking seemed to have them working in sync so far. He thought back over the short time they’d been together, how they’d proven themselves in tough situations and how they had established solid relationships. He didn’t want any of these guys to go down but knew that the likelihood of all the team making it through was not in their favor. When triggers were involved there were never any guarantees.
He sat there waiting and watching as an idea started to form in his mind. The more he mulled the idea over, the better he liked it. If he could execute the idea it would be successful because it was what he knew best. Just maybe he could be the good guy again, at least in this situation. He remembered what his grandfather used to say about redemption, “The stairway back from hell is awfully steep.”
The sound of someone whistling brought the screen door back into focus and the reason he was sitting in the dark room. It was Puncher whistling as he walked back toward the building. Pops heard another noise that he thought might be the jeep or even the old truck that had gone out with the colonel. After a few seconds he identified the noise as the sound of a helicopter headed in the direction of their position.
This was unexpected. To Pops it sounded like it was just on the other side of the hill. He scanned the air for the copter but it seemed to take hours for the top of the craft to emerge over the jagged tree-lined horizon. Pops began to worry. What if this bird was full of troops? What if they’d gotten advance word about what had happened in the woods? What if they knew that the red team was going out on their own? Flashes of paranoia are a regular part of the job. But so is keeping the paranoia under control and in perspective.
The chopper was just too damn slow coming over the hill. Pops’ old built-in suspicions shifted into high gear. He was worried that this could be a distraction for someone in the compound. He desperately wanted to recon outside the building to check if Rocky and Roadside were anywhere to be seen. He noted the sun had almost set and the mirror reflection idea went down with it. He worried that the forces had worked their way through the woods and were upon them. Now he could only hope. Pops knew the Crew was in place in and around the compound and that they were counting on him to be where he said he would be.
The chopper finally appeared over the top of the hill and came into full view. Right at that moment both the jeep and old truck came rumbling up the path towards the compound. It was almost dark but Pops could see two men in the front of the chopper as it approached the compound. The darkened silhouettes of the two men’s heads were turning back and forth as if they were talking. Pops could not see who they were but he hoped that it was the colonel and Indy and not two decoys.
Pops got into firing position and started to follow the bird with the sights of his weapon. His finger was twitching as it lay alongside the trigger guard but like so many times through the years he forced himself to be patient. The chopper, jeep and the truck proceeded straight for them. Pops knew this was one of those moments like so many others in his career. His fantasy at these times was being able to drive or fly right to the place where he could surprise and engage the enemy.
Puncher walked to the building and stood on the porch just in front of Pops. He turned back towards the center of the compound and said, “Hey Pops, he’ll get out of the chopper and into the jeep. Then it’ll pull right up in front of us. He’ll stop about ten to fifteen feet out and yell for me to come to his vehicle. He’ll have something to be angry about and start asking me about it. No matter what it is I’ll catch hell.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
THE NEW ARRIVALS
Pops’ voice was just a little louder than a whisper when he said, “But this time something will be different, won’t it?” Puncher didn’t answer he just started wiggling his leg and tapping his thigh with his hand. Pops noticed this nervous habit and quietly responded, “If that’s not normal then stop it.” But Puncher couldn’t stop and his leg started wiggling even faster.
The chopper landed in the parade field sounding like a jet engine. The pilot shut down the engine and slowly the blades came to a stop just as the jeep drove up to the chopper. Meanwhile the truck pulled toward the mess hall which happened to be in the opposite direction of where Tracker was guarding his prisoners who were still laying face down on the ground. When the truck came to a stop Pops noted that the back of the truck’s tailgate was right in line with Tracker and his two prone team members. Pops knew this could be in their favor or just as much go against them.
The man sitting beside the pilot of the chopper jumped out and got into the waiting jeep. The jeep came right where Puncher said it would, pulling up and stopping with its
lights on, pointing right at the porch, the screen door and Pops. There was no movement for four or five seconds. Pops thought can they see me? Is the light giving me away? Are there troops in the back of the truck? The tip of his trigger finger tapped the side of the trigger guard while the rest of his body was motionless. His face rested against the smooth stock of his weapon. He was sweating so hard from all the time he had been waiting in the still air of the building that he could feel it building up between the weapon’s stock and his cheek. Pops blinked his eyes a couple of times to clear them.
Then Pops heard a guy in the jeep yell, “Well, what the hell are you waiting for? Get your ass over here.” Hearing that, Puncher took off running for the jeep. As he came along side the vehicle, the silhouette of a tall slender man stepped out and slung his weapon over his shoulder. Pops saw that the man and Puncher were talking. Then out of nowhere the man hit Puncher and the kid went down like a rock. At that moment Pops knew this tall slender man had to be the colonel. What an asshole.
Pops watched the colonel’s sadistic actions play out like a bad movie and felt a little better about the colonel and his guys not knowing what was awaiting them. He watched as Puncher started to get up off the ground. He could tell by Puncher’s body language and facial expression that Puncher knew what was coming next. The colonel slowly took a hold of Puncher by the top of his head and let him have it again. This time Puncher went down flat on his back hitting the ground so hard that the dry dirt dusted up all around him. If the punch wasn’t enough, hitting the ground like that was more than enough to do the job. Pops was worried when Puncher didn’t move.
The colonel walked over to where Puncher was lying and stood over him. The colonel said something that Pops couldn’t hear and then he hauled off and kicked the motionless heap on the ground. The driver behind the steering wheel of the jeep got out and walked around to stand beside the colonel. The driver and the colonel stood over Puncher acting like he was a bag of groceries, looking down at him and shaking their heads in disgust.
Slowly Puncher started to move from his embarrassing position on the ground. He managed to sit up and look up at this self-appointed lord and slave master. He rolled over on to his hands and knees and tried to get his balance and get up but it was clear that the two blows had taken a huge toll. He made an attempt to get all the way to his feet when the driver put his foot on Puncher’s back. With a slow steady force the driver ground Puncher back into the dust.
After the display of sadistic superiority, the two men walked toward the building where Pops was hiding. Before they got to the porch the sound of other voices stopped them and they turned toward the commotion. Pops’ attention was drawn away from the two men toward the truck. He spotted Indy getting out of the cab and walking around to the rear of the vehicle. Indy yelled at someone in the back of the truck as he unlatched the tailgate and dropped it down. The cargo tailgate canvas flap flew up and Pops saw a number of new troops sitting in the bed of the truck. He counted and with each new man Pops got a little more concerned about his plan and the other team numbers.
Pops knew Indy was in hog heaven because he now had ten new men to play mister big with. At that very second Pops decided to change the plan. He picked up the two pillows at the front door and put them back on the bed. He then grabbed the C-4 and slipped out the back door stepping into the shadows of the forest behind the building.
From the cover of the forest Pops looked back between the buildings wanting to check on Cowboy and his team. He wasn’t able to see anything but empty space so he started working his way around the perimeter until he could see Tracker and his guys still playing their rolls in the open compound. Pops slowly worked his way out of the forest to the nearest building and then along its side up to the front. He peeked around the side of the building until he could see the whole area. The colonel and the driver who had been heading for the building he’d just left were entering it. Puncher was still getting up from his unpleasant encounter with the two sadistic pricks. Tracker was still on guard. Cowboy and Surfer were still flat on the ground.
Pops picked up a rock and threw it at Puncher. It landed short of him but bounced and hit him on his leg. Puncher grabbed his leg and looked up in anger but when he saw Pops he acted like nothing had happened. He looked around the compound and then calmly walked over to the front of the building where Pops was hiding. When Puncher was sure no one was watching him he ducked between the buildings.
Pops showed Puncher the C-4 and then told him the plan had changed slightly because of the number of new men in the truck. After a quick look around he instructed Puncher to go out to where the three team members were and take them to wherever prisoners were normally kept. Once they were at the normal holding area, Pops told Puncher to have the guys slip away and meet him in the area behind the mess hall. He then told Puncher that he was to go about his normal activities and wait for one of the Crew members to signal him. When Pops finished, Puncher turned on his heels and walked straight to where Tracker was still guarding his teammates who now considered themselves to be underpaid thespians.
When Puncher got to where Tracker was standing, he spoke in a tone as if he had been sent by the Colonel. Sounding like he was giving orders he said, “You bring the prisoners with you and follow me.” Puncher headed towards one of the buildings. When they got to the front of the building Puncher opened the door and pointed inside in a demanding manner. Tracker motioned to the inside and then Cowboy and Surfer helped the motionless dummy through the door. As they were going through the door Tracker pushed Cowboy hard enough to make Cowboy and the dummy fall to the floor. Tracker and Puncher walked out of the building and closed the door. Tracker stood guard in front of the building and Puncher took off to do the rest of his nightly chores.
After the front door was closed Cowboy and Surfer headed out the back door and around to the back of the mess hall where Pops was waiting in the trees. Pops gave them each part of the C-4 and told them to head to different parts of the compound and place the explosives where they would do the most damage. The two men started to leave when Pops said, “Hold up one minute.” Then he gave one more share of C-4 to Surfer and said, “Give this to Tracker and tell him to use it the best way he can.”
Surfer headed back to the building where Tracker was still standing guard and slipped back in through the back door. Cracking the front door open just enough he was able to talk to Tracker. “Tracker, Pops sent you a little surprise package of C-4. We’ll put it right inside the door. Use it however you want but wait for a signal.”
Meanwhile Cowboy headed in the opposite direction looking through several building windows until he found the one that had been prepared for the new men. After putting a block of the C-4 on the back wall of the bunkhouse building, he worked his way around to the shower house and put another charge on it.
Surfer left Tracker and went straight to the mess hall where he put a large charge on the outside back wall where the mops and brooms hung. Then per Pops’ instructions, he headed to the opposite side of the compound from Cowboy. Both Surfer and Cowboy positioned themselves so they could see most if not all of the compound. They waited.
Pops had worked his way as close as he could to where he had last seen Indy and the men who’d jumped out of the back of the truck. He got within sight of the truck but couldn’t see Indy anywhere. Pops waited a while and did not see Indy coming back so he started crawling his way through the grass toward the truck. Flat on his belly, he reached the truck and slid under the vehicle and got right to work. He attached a C-4 charge to the bottom of the truck near the fuel tank thinking it would give the best result.
Just as he was ready to slide back out from under the vehicle he heard a voice coming his way. “Okay boys, here’s the path where they’ll most likely be coming up tomorrow morning.” From under the truck Pops could see Indy pointing back down the path that the truck and jeep had come up earlier. Still acting like the big man, he told the new guys, “So I want you to get ple
nty of sleep and be ready before dawn.” He pointed to one of the buildings that Pops knew had been booby trapped by Cowboy and said, “Go ahead now and turn in. Don’t screw around.”
The ten new arrivals and the chopper pilot headed across the grass to the building. Indy walked to the building where Pops had been hidden and the two men had been getting their kicks beating Puncher around just a few minutes earlier. Like a night ghost Pops crawled from beneath the truck, staying in the shadows and heading to the cover of the nearest building. He slid around to the back of the building and headed toward the mess hall. As he approached the mess hall he heard someone whisper, “Hey dude you lost?” Pops’ head turned to the side toward the noise. He squinted his eyes trying to focus and with a nod of his head he ducked into the woods where he found Surfer waiting. Surfer had a grin on his face that told Pops he was more than ready to proceed. Pops said jokingly, “So I declare, it must be party time.”
Surfer nodded, “Well I have work to do. Wait for my signal.”
“What signal?” Pops asked.
Surfer only relied, “Oh wise one, you’ll know it when it happens.”
As Surfer took off, Pops thought to himself that he needed to get ready to party. He started to move into place. Out of reflex he dropped to the ground as a loud explosion shook the ground he was standing on. His belly had no more then met the hard surface of mother earth when he thought, shit it’s Surfer’s signal! With his ears ringing from the explosion, Pops jumped up and ran to the front edge of the mess hall and hit the ground again while looking around the compound. He saw two men taking alternate peeks through the door of the colonel’s building obviously trying to see what was happening.
