It was bent wrong, and I could feel something sharp and hard underneath the cold weather pants he was wearing. Moving further up him he grabbed my wrist, first trying to bat my hands away, then grabbing onto me and pulling on me.
"For fuck's sake, stop screaming!" I yelled, grabbing him by the chest.
"My fucking legs, oh God, my fucking legs!" he screamed.
I moved behind him, grabbing his collar, and started dragging him back the way I'd come. He was screaming, begging me not to move him, pleaded with the simple "don't" as I first dragged him around and then pulled him through the snow.
The loading dock should be behind me.
I kept pulling, through the darkness and snow, bent over and dragging Lewis, who lapsed into silence by the third step. I knew his legs had twisted around, but there wasn't shit I could do about it.
Another little sliding half step, the wind trying to knock me over.
I couldn't hear shit, and started to lose where I was. I couldn't be too far from the loading dock, could I? I had only crawled forward for a few moments, Lewis couldn't have gone that far off the dock before he hit and broke his legs, could he? He couldn't have crawled far on those legs, could he?
Another step and still nothing behind me.
Was I heading the wrong way? Was I going to suddenly lose my balance and fall backward, to roll down the hill and vanish into the woods? Was I crossing the parking lot away from the building instead of toward it?
Had I killed us both?
Where was the goddamn loading dock?
Another step, leaning back, and my ass hit something solid, bouncing me forward and I lost my balance in the dark and wind. I pitched forward, landing partially on Lewis, and my hand hit something soft right before I went face first into the pavement with a bright white flash. Lewis jerked and screamed, punching me in the side, and I accidentally kneed him as I pulled myself to my feet, keeping hold on his collar. He screamed, weakly, and stopped.
I slid my arms underneath him and lifted, my teeth pounding and making my eyes water. I heaved him up on the loading dock, and he rolled out of my arms, screaming and flailing. He backhanded me across my face and my knees went out, making me collapse on the ground. I twitched, confused, trying to figure out where I was, and pulled myself up. Lewis' scream reminded me, and I climbed up after him and squatted down next to him, digging my hands in his collar.
"Nancy!" I yelled. I knew my voice was a half-hysterical scream. I had to find Nancy.
"Ant!" I heard, but couldn't tell which way it came from, the wind whipping it around me and pulling it away.
"Nancy!" I screamed, pulling Lewis against the building. I couldn't feel my fingers or feet, and my face was completely numb, only sparks of pain where my ears should be. Somehow things seemed to have gotten darker, and my mouth was raw, in intolerable agony.
I reached out and touched the wall, then began pulling Lewis to the right with one hand, knowing that it couldn't be too far until I hit the end of the loading dock. I moved slowly so that I didn't pitch over backward and break my head on the asphalt.
You've killed both of you, you idiot... hissed through my brain, but I shook it off and took another step backward.
If he came at me right then, in the snow, he'd fuck me up, probably kill Lewis too, before I'd even know he was there. The lizard's worst case scenarios summoned him up coming out the darkness at me, stabbing me in the kidneys or grabbing me and slitting my throat with a bayonet, burying an axe in Lewis and then me, pushing me backward down the hill and letting the snowstorm take care of me.
Suddenly I realized that I'd been standing there in the dark and snow, unmoving, while my brain played out all the ways the guy could kill us.
A hand clawed out of the darkness, grabbing my collar, and pulling at me.
I screamed, batting at it with one hand as I tried to drag Lewis away with the other, trying to lunge away from the hand and into the safe concealment of the snowstorm, but the hand had a hold on my collar that was too hard, dragging me toward the owner of it.
Struggling with one hand against my attacker I was pulled into the hallway, out of the snow, and into the light of Nagle's flashlight. She was staring at me, her cold weather cap pulled down to hide her auburn hair, and she pulled me close.
I threw my arms around her, shivering with cold and relief, and held onto her tight.
"Don't ever do something that stupid ever again." She growled into my ear, hugging me tightly.
"I got him. I got him, Nancy." I kept repeating, holding tight to her. "I found him out there."
"Get it together, troop. Drag him in." She ordered, letting me go. I nodded dimly, bent down, and grabbed him before staggering a few more steps back, pulling him across the wet floor. In the light of Nagle's flashlight I saw that he was leaving a streak on the floor, and that both of his legs were twisted wrong. I managed to get him clear and Nagle slammed the door shut with a boom before turning back to us. I kept dragging Lewis back, dimly trying to get him away from the doorway, not really sure where I was going.
When I looked up and saw the yawning opening of the furnace room I jerked back, dropping Lewis and staring at the furnace room.
I could smell decay thickly, and something moved further in the darkened room, an inhuman roar rolled out of the doorway and hammered at me.
I screamed, backing away from the wide opening where some unimaginably large creature was roaring. The lizard was panicking, flailing at the buttons. He triggered instincts to run, to hide, to roll belly up, to fight, to do something, anything, and it all mixed together into raw blind panic.
Nagle appeared in front of me, shaking me, and I tried to fight her off for a moment before I finally recognized her, my head swimming and sparks shooting across my vision. She shined her flashlight in my eyes, then snapped it off with a curse.
"Sit here." She told me in the darkness, pulling me down on the floor. I nodded and went limp, aware of how nice it was that the wind was gone, how warm it was getting in the stairwell. I felt like I was burning up, and bright sparks appeared in my vision as I sat in the darkness.
There was a tooth jarring whining noise, and I looked up blearily, my fingers fumbling on the buttons of my jacket. Nagle was putting on another hasp with the drill, and while I watched she tossed the drill into the darkness and pulled the door shut, cutting off the roar of the beast in the darkness of the room.
I'd managed to get the first layer of coveralls open and was trying to get out of it when Nagle finished snapping new padlocks onto the hasps. The lizard was pressing the button that we were overheated, looking at broken gauges that said we were burning up. I started to strip down, eager to cool down. By the time she turned around, I'd stripped off my shirt, panting with the heat that filled the hallway.
Nagle turned around and stared at me for a moment, then leaned down and lifted my head up, shining the flashlight in my eyes. She pulled my shirt back down, her mouth opening and closing and making strange noises that I couldn't understand.
I tried to fight while she pulled my T-shirt back onto me and then my flannel shirt, followed by the first set of coveralls, both Kevlar vests, and the other two pair of coveralls, paying no attention to me trying to tell her I was hot, that it was too hot in the hallway. Exhausted from trying to fight with her, I closed my eyes, letting the warm darkness slowly ebb over me and pull me down.
Out of the blue she slapped me, the back of her hand biting into my broken teeth and splitting back open my lips. My eyes popped open and I reached for her, but she batted my hands aside and stood up.
"ON your FEET!" She bellowed, and I jumped up, swaying for a moment, the urge to punch her in the face blowing away the sleepiness. I shivered for a second in the cold and stared at her, trying to figure out who she was.
"Grab him up, soldier." She snapped. I glared at her. "Now!"
Feeling anger dully pulse at my temples, I bent down and picked Lewis up, still glaring at the woman in front of me as I slung h
im over my shoulders. She snorted and turned away, heading up a set of stairs. She turned and looked at me then barked "March!" at me. I followed her up, glaring at her back as she called out the steps.
She held open the door, and I followed her into a dark hallway, lit only by the flashlight she was carrying in her hands. Once we hit the double doors she held them open long enough for me to stagger through with my burden.
"March, soldier." She snapped at me, and I snarled at her as we headed down the hallway, passing open doors where wind and snow was blowing in the rooms beyond. The next double doors were held long enough for me to get through, the wind almost knocked me over, making me stagger, but I followed her to the next door.
"Open the Hell up!" The woman (was she an officer? Who the Hell was she? Who the fuck did she think she was, screaming orders at me? She wasn't even in my chain of command, and I sure as shit didn't need to take any shit off whoever she was) bellowed, hammering on the doors.
The doors opened up and the woman pulled me through and into the room.
"Set him on the table." She told me, and I nodded jerkily. The woman was familiar, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I wasn't angry at her anymore, couldn't even remember being angry at her, just confused as to who she was and why I was carrying some dude through a deserted building that was without power. I staggered over to an empty table and set the guy I was carrying down on it.
The woman grabbed my arm and pulled me over, sitting me down in a chair.
"Stillwater, honey, do you recognize me?" She asked, flashing a light in my eyes. I winced, mumbling at the pain. "Corporal Anthony Tiernan Stillwater, do you know who I am?" She asked again, and I shook my head.
Doing that was a mistake as I suddenly leaned forward and threw up on the floor, my head swimming. I would have fallen forward except for someone was holding onto me, holding me while each heave caused pain to explode in my head. When it was over I slumped forward.
Someone wrapped something warm around me, and I shivered as I suddenly became aware I was freezing. I was being guided up, and after a few stumbling steps I was aware of hands laying me down on something hard.
"Keep him awake, I gotta make sure Lewis survives." A woman said, her voice tearing into my ears and scrambling my brains. Sparks shot through my vision again, and I was aware I was shaking under the blanket someone had just put down over me.
I kept trying to go to sleep, to let the warmth and darkness pull at me, but every time I tried I got jerked back to half wakefulness by lights in my face, being shaken, which made me almost heave all over again.
Someone was screaming, and I could hear someone else shout "Hold him, goddamn it, I gotta set it before I stitch that up." over the screams. Then the screams finally broke off, and I was glad that whoever it was finally shut up.
My clothing was stripped off, and I was wrapped with a warm blanket that felt like someone had wrapped me in warm clouds. When the damp cloth touched my face I tried to push the hands away, mumbling through my swollen lips and broken teeth.
"Hold him down." I heard a voice, Nagle's voice, an order, and hands grabbed my arms and legs. I felt swiping motions on my face, and I was finally able to open my eyes when the cloth passed over them. There were lights set up, and the room, even though it was dim, was bright enough it made my eyes water.
Nagle was wiping my face off with a hand towel that was covered in blood.
"Nancy." I managed to push past my broken teeth.
"Welcome back, Ant." She said, stepping back. "Can you sit up?"
I grunted and used an offered hand to pull myself up, ignoring the way my head swum and my stomach heaved. I swung my legs off and stared at the floor, waiting for it to stop moving. After a few moments I stood up, my bare feet striking the cold tiled floor. I got dressed quickly, pulling on my damp Levi's and my shirts before putting on my boots.
"Sit down, Stillwater." Jacobs told me, coming over to me while I was lacing up my combat boots.
"How's Lewis?" I asked, staggering over to the chair I wanted and sitting down.
"Nagle saved him." Jacobs told me. I grunted and reached out to touch Bomber's forehead. He was still running hot, his skin slick with sweat. "He broke both of his legs. What the Hell happened down there?"
"He fell off the loading dock." I answered, probing at my broken teeth with my tongue.
"Ant got hypothermia delirium." Nagle added. "He went after Lewis after that dumbass chased the psycho out into the snow."
"Who's out there?" Jacobs asked.
"How should I know?" I snarled. Why the fuck wouldn't he go talk to someone else. I wanted to sit next to my best friend, fuck everyone else.
"Ant, I want you to get some rest." Nagle said, coming over and putting her hand on my shoulder.
"I'm all right." I lied. The sparks were gone and my vision had settled down, even though the dim light made everything past a few paces kind of fuzzy.
She held up three fingers. "How many?"
"Three." I answered. She nodded and smiled.
"Hold still, you got something on your lip." She told me. She leaned forward and kissed my lower lip, and when she pulled back I could see she had blood on her lip. "That hurt?"
"Nope." I lied again, smiling.
"All right. I need you to stay here, watch Bomber and Lewis." She told me, and then stood up. "Listen up, we've got to shut some of the doors and windows, or we're not making it through the night."
"Who put you in charge?" Daniels snarled.
"Nobody, if you don't want to go, then stay in here with Ant and Lewis." She snapped. "Are any of you going to come with me?"
"I will." Hernandez answered.
"I'm with you, Nagle." Jacobs threw in.
"I got your back." Carter finished, walking over and picking up an axe.
"I'm in." I said, standing up.
"The fuck you are." Nagle told me, grabbing my arm. She tried to steer me to a table where a few blankets were spread out. "Get some sleep."
"No." I answered, shaking her hand off my arm.
"Ant..." Nagle tried.
"No. He killed my fucking best friend." I stared at her. "Give me my knife."
She looked doubtful but took my knife off of her belt and handed it to me. I clipped it to my belt and stared at her.
"What's your plan?" I asked.
"We go out, shut the windows and doors on this floor, and the hallway doors. We've got to cut down the wind or we're going to freeze to death before morning." She told me, and then looked beyond me. "Ready?"
The others told her they were, and I nodded.
Everyone turned on flashlights, I clipped mine into the top pocket of my Levi jacket, and Nagle moved over to the door.
"Stay together, don't go charging off, and watch carefully." Nagle told them. "This guy is strong, he's fast, and he's willing to kill."
I heard Daniels scoff in the darkness and had to restrain an urge to go back there and cut his fucking throat. He and Hewitt made good roommates because they were a lot alike. I'd overheard him refer to Nagle as "That half-breed slut" more than once, and he'd gotten busted from E-4 to E-2 by referring to a young private as a "lazy nigger bitch". I couldn't stand him either.
Nagle opened the door, our flashlight beams lighting up the platoon area in front of us.
The room beyond was windswept and full of wind driven snow. I blinked my eyes, trying to keep snow out of them, as the wind drove the snow into the room behind me.
"Let's go." Nagle said, heading toward the hallway door.
I stumbled after and told myself it was the wind pushing me off balance.
T Minus Eight Days
Don't judge what Nancy and I had.
It was love.
Or at least what passed for it in 2/19th.
On Alfenwehr, it was more than
most people had.
"Why is this one shut?" Jacobs asked, reaching toward the door handle.
"Don't." I told him, grabbing his wrist. I lo
oked at the door the shiver that ran through me had nothing to do with the biting cold.
"Aren't you going to check this room?" Jacobs asked, glaring at me and snatching his hand free. "Nagle said to check every room."
"Jacobs, you don't want to go in there." Carter said, stepping away from the door. I followed suit, watching as Jacobs looked at each of us.
"What the fuck is in there?" Jacobs asked, following when Carter and I headed into the next room to close the windows.
"We don't know." Carter answered, shutting the windows.
There was no use taking the blankets on the beds, I could tell with a single glance. Water had been poured on the beds, turning the blankets into solid ice. It had been the same way in every room, clothing piled on the floor with water poured on them, the beds soaked down with water and frozen into a solid mass.
It was a standard tactic of warfare. Deny the enemy supplies and material.
When we closed the door, Carter swung the axe and knocked the door handle off. I pushed at the door, but like the others so far, it didn't budge.
Behind us, there was a knock at the door.
All of us spun around and stared at the featureless door, only the room number and the door handle breaking up the expanse of brown paint.
There was another knock from inside the room, hard enough to shake the door.
Jacobs reached for the door, and Carter grabbed him before I could.
"You don't want to do that." He told the other man. "Come on, let's finish the rest of this section."
I could tell Jacobs wanted to ask about it, ask why we didn't go into the room or check it at all, but he closed his mouth and followed when we went to the next room. Hernandez and Nagle were down on the other end of the hallway, doing the same thing we were, closing windows and doors and knocking the door handle off.
Deny the enemy.
I glanced back over my shoulder at Room 221 when the knocking sounded again.
Three Little Snowmen (Damned of the 2/19th) Page 27
