by Dave Hazel
“We finally found the U.S. Marshal’s car but they weren’t around the vehicle at all. They had parked near some trees and we went into the trees to see where they went and what we found shocked us and made us sick,” Mykal said and shook his head in disbelief. “We found the Marshal Adam Sommer and one of the airmen, A1C Taylor, that’s airman first class,” he said to the reporters. “They were both chopped and hacked to pieces. We never found the other guy, but we know, from everything we experienced and learned about the Sosos, he was killed too. The Sosos don’t take prisoners. They’re friggin butchers,” he snarled to show his hatred.
“Why would they do that?” Dale Rowe asked.
“Cuz they’re vicious bastards. We found out later they believe they will get a greater spot in paradise for the more people they kill or some crazy stuff like that. We collected Sommer’s and Taylor’s ID and their weapons and we tried to call Lieutenant Light on the radio but they couldn’t hear us. While we were trying to figure out who would do something like that, and try to figure out where we were and what we were gonna do, we got ambushed. It was a surprise attack. In a flash there were hundreds of arrows in the air. Kim Nelson on our squad took an arrow in the chest and dropped dead,” he said and thumped his chest for effect. “Everyone ran for cover and the youngest of the Dosch boys, Baby Ray Dosch, took two arrows in the leg,” Mykal pointed to his leg as if it would help him explain what happened.
“These arrows the Sosos use are called Shay-lonk. Death arrows. Soso death arrows have a very deadly, poison. If you get hit with one you will die, even if it’s just a minor scratch. They’re bad news,” Mykal said with a sigh and shook his head. “Baby Ray took two death arrows. He died about a day later. We had to fight for our lives to get out of there. The Crazies were armed with bows and arrows, swords, axes, clubs and spears. We had our rifles and were able to fight them off long enough to get away in our vehicles. We had to leave Kim Nelson in the middle of a big empty field.”
“So when you found the Marshal’s car, it hadn’t gone very far from Lieutenant Light’s convoy?” One of the reporters asked.
“Right. It was only a few hours away. But we were cut off from going back the way we came. There were literally thousands of Sosos charging at us so we just drove away in the opposite direction. So now we were separated from Lieutenant Light and his men and we had no idea how to get back to them. Then we just continued to drive looking for help. We took the Marshal’s car with us, so now we had three vehicles.
“We came to this place where it looked like there was a lake. We wanted to get some water to clean out baby Ray’s wounds and see if there was anyone or anything by the water that would be of help. We were up on a hill and had to climb down to get to the water. There were a lot of trees and other hills so Denny, he was our squad leader, he sent a couple of guys to the top of the next hill so we wouldn’t get surprised by those crazy people.”
“Crazy people?” Dale Rowe asked. “Why do you keep calling them Crazy people?”
“The Sosos. We didn’t know what they were called so at the time we called them Crazies or Crazy people cuz they looked like escaped lunatics an all they cared about was killing people. So anyway, me and Kurt, A1C Jones, go down to the beach and we walked a little bit cuz our view was blocked by the cliff wall. We come around this bend and we saw a ship, an old wooden ship, in the water. There were people getting off the ship and getting to land by a boat. So me and Kurt go running back fast, cuz we’re not sure if it’s the Crazy people or not. And as we’re heading back me and Kurt got attacked by four Sosos. He got hit in the head with an axe and I thought for sure he was dead. I killed three and if Kurt wouldn’t have had his helmet on I’d be dead right now, cuz he killed the fourth one who was just about to kill me,” Mykal explained and he saw the rapt attention given by all the first time listeners. “I don’t need to tell you I was scared stiff.”
“Now while me and Kurt went down the little cliff to get water, our guys up on the hill discovered the Sosos were setting up an ambush on the people coming to shore. We figured that this was our best chance of getting any help. It would seem that the people coming to shore had to be good people cuz the Crazies, the Sosos, were going to attack them. We reasoned that if we helped them, then maybe they in turn would help us. There were easily hundreds, possibly a thousand Sosos and there were only about sixty or so of the people coming to shore.
“With our car horns a blaring and our sirens wailing we hauled ass and broke up the surprise attack. These people had never seen automobiles before so it scared them and made them run the other way. We killed a bunch of them lousy bastards and chased them away. They only managed to kill a handful of the good guys. And that’s when I met Towbar. It turned out that Towbar is the military leader of the good people. Me and Towbar became the best of friends.”
“Are you saying that you provoked the fight with the Sosos?” Dale Rowe asked and wrote wildly on his notepad.
“Why, what are you saying?” Mykal asked as if Dale accused him of wrong doing.
“You initiated the combat, am I correct?”
Mykal looked at the reporter and wanted to blow up. “First of all, we saved the lives of innocent people who were going to be ambushed. That would have ended our only chance of ever coming home.”
“Is that against your rules of engagement?” Another of the four asked.
“Are you trying to piss me off? It would have been criminal to allow them savages to wipe out the good guys.”
“Did you know they were the ‘good guys’ when you initiated your assault?” Another reporter asked and used his fingers to make air quotes.
“Not really, but if those crazy bastards were gonna attack them, that put them on our side since we’d already been attacked by them twice that day after they had already killed three of Lieutenant Light’s men. Bottom line is, the Sosos started their attack and we responded. We used deadly force to prevent the death or serious bodily harm of another, which we are allowed to do. It’s under our rules for use of deadly force. Don’t tell me you’re gonna shed a tear for the friggin Sosos. I saw what them low life, scum sucking, pricks do to little children and little old ladies,” Mykal snarled with a glare at the reporter. “If you’re a friggin bleedin’ heart liberal, who’s gonna wring your hands over the Sosos, you better keep that sissy shit to yourself cuz you don’t have a damn clue what you’re talking about. You’re starting to piss me off,” he declared, still focused on the one who spoke.
“Can I ask why you’re getting upset?” Dale asked.
“Cuz I get the feeling your buddy is tryin’ to get in my face cuz we killed some Sosos.”
“I’m not trying to get in your face,” the other reporter replied defensively. “I’m trying to establish facts and to determine if it standard Air Force policy to initiate combat?”
“Under the circumstances we don’t have an issue how the events unfolded,” Lieutenant General Solley said after he stood to his feet. “There is still an ongoing investigation digging into many matters. The Department of the Air Force will resolve this issue,” Solley said to end the discussion. For those paying close attention they would have caught sight of the General slightly rolling his eyes and smirk when he sat back down.
“Who is this Towbar you mentioned?” Dale asked.
“Towbar is one of the leaders of the good people. Like I said he’s actually the military leader. He stands over seven feet tall and is a solid wall of muscle. You know that movie Conan The Barbarian that came out last year some time?” Mykal asked and watched all four heads nod. “You know that actor who plays Conan, Arnold Schwarzenegger? Well Towbar makes him look puny. Me and Towbar became the best of friends. We bonded and decided to help each other. We helped Towbar warn his people about the Soso invasion and in return he was going to connect us with someone from their world who might have an answer as to how we could get back home.
“If you will read all the reports and statements we did you will get a much more de
tailed record of everything we went through. Now like I said, after meeting Towbar we decided to help him warn his people of the coming Soso invasion. That’s when we found out what vicious bastards the Sosos are. We came across a couple of little villages and in our reports you’ll read what they did to little babies, small children, and old men and women. Make sure you read the report, cuz I’m not gonna talk about that stuff. I still wake up with nightmares every friggin night.
“From there we went back to meet up with Lieutenant Light and his people. Towbar showed us how we could circle around to get where they were. It was during this time that Baby Ray Dosch died from the death arrow poison. It was really sad for the Dosch family,” he sighed and shook his head. “We were surprised when we made it back to Lieutenant Light’s location because we found out the rest of my forty-man Crew was there along with a number of civilians. They had all gathered together and headed in that direction. Counting the six people who were killed in the helicopter crash there were a total of eighty-five people that were lost in Towbar’s world.”
“Could there have been more people lost that you just didn’t meet up with?” One of the reporters suggested.
“Yeah, I guess that’s possible. If that’s the case they’d be dead. If they woulda ran into Sosos they’d been murdered. If they wandered around they would have starved to death because there was nothing out there to survive on. From my understanding since we came back and explained what happened, the Air Force did some research to see if any other people disappeared around that time. There was a young teenage couple who ran away from home that same day. They were from Minot. Some thought they coulda disappeared like we did, but they later found them in Florida somewhere. But personally, I don’t think there were any other people who went through the green fog that day.
“After we met up with all other people we had to decide a plan of action. Lieutenant Edwards, our Crew officer was the ranking person and he had decided to have everyone evacuate our location because there were tens of thousands of Sosos approaching our position. We saw them just a couple of miles away. We woulda been wiped out if we didn’t leave.
“Where we were located there was a steep mountain range that covered the entire country. They are very steep and very high and just impossible to climb. But there is one place about a mile wide that goes all the way through the mountains to Towbar’s land. That place is called the Pass. Towbar said all the battles for the ages have been fought at the Pass. Whoever controls the Pass controls entry to Towbar’s land. Towbar’s soldiers were coming from the south to meet him at the Pass to fight off the Sosos. What our job was going to be was to hold the Pass until his soldiers got there. After they got there and things calmed down Towbar was gonna take us back to their big city called Beramus and introduce us to a man name Nidious who would later explain about the green fog. I actually met the King of Towbar’s land. It’s all in the reports.
“While we were in the Pass we had to set up a battle plan to hold off the Sosos until his soldiers got there. Our plan was to hold them off as long as we could and if things got bad we would drive away in our vehicles. The only problem was our vehicles had hardly any gas left. But we weren’t alone. There were about seventeen thousand townspeople who came from all the local towns and villages. They were our help until Towbar’s soldiers arrived. The nice thing about being in the Pass was that the Sosos could only attack from the front. If we had stayed out in the open plains they could have surrounded us and they woulda easily wiped us out.
“Roy Dosch Sr. came up with an idea of digging a long deep pit that would be an obstacle for the Sosos. At the narrowest point in the Pass we dug almost the entire width, which was about a half a mile. We dug it about ten feet wide and about eight feet deep. Keep in mind we had thousands of people working hard on it. It worked. It helped keep the Sosos back until Towbar’s soldiers arrived. The battles were fierce and bloody. It’s all in the reports so please read all the reports and statements from the other survivors.”
“Was everyone in agreement to stay and fight the Soso people?” Dale Rowe asked while looking at his notes.
“Yes,” Mykal lied. “We had to stay together as a unit and do what was best for the group. Plus we had to follow the orders of the two lieutenants over us. Is there a reason you ask?” Mykal asked while Dale seemed to be studying his notes.
“Well if there were close to eighty people who moved to the Pass and if they had to fight to stay alive, it seems they gave up their lives so only sixteen could make it back.”
“Lieutenant Edwards and Lieutenant Light were good leaders,” Mykal lied. He didn’t want to bad mouth them while they were dead. Then he would have to explain all his actions. As far as Mykal was concerned, everyone loved each other and they all got along just fine. There was never a foul word spoken of anyone. “As military people we had to follow the orders handed down. But we all agreed that our best option for survival was to work with Towbar rather than trying to go it alone among the Soso bands that were roaming the country side. Besides, with Towbar there was food and water, and there wasn’t anything to live on roaming around trying to avoid Sosos.
“Sixteen of us did make it back, but I really believe, or rather I hope, there is another thirteen still alive back in Towbar’s world. They were alive when we left. They just missed getting into the green fog. Some of them are very close friends and I believe they’re still alive,” he repeated. There was no mistaking his sadness. “Read the reports and you’ll get a clear understanding of what I’m talking about. And just so you know, all those people didn’t just give up their lives so sixteen of us could make it back. We didn’t realize how bad it was going to be. And if we wouldn’t have joined up with Towbar, every single one of us would be dead! Then people here would be talking about our disappearance like a Bermuda Triangle type of mystery,” he chuckled and continued.
“Then we had some more help too,” Mykal said and wondered if he should even bring it up because he was sure it would cause more doubt. “We came across Dwarven people,” he said and paused because he knew there was going to be some questions.
“Dwarven people? Do you mean people that were born with a birth defect?”
“No. I mean a race of people that are about four feet tall, heavily bearded, grayish skin. Even the women had beards,” he laughed at their expressions. “I’m being serious. Dwarven people like in the Lord of The Rings books.”
“Really?” One reporter scoffed. “Next you’re going to tell us that you encountered orcs, ogres and elves and you all--”
“I’ll stop right now,” Mykal raised his voice and silenced them. “I’m not screwing around. I’m telling you what happened to us and what we saw. I don’t know about orcs and ogres and elves, but we did encounter the Dwarven people. There was a lot of strange stuff there. As a matter of fact inside the mountain I was nearly killed by a giant spider. This spider had a body bigger than a Cadillac. I watched it kill a man bigger than me and like I said, it almost killed me.”
“Do you have any proof for any of this?” Dale Rowe asked. “You have to understand our position.”
“Yeah, I got some proof. I don’t have any proof on the giant spider, but I do have proof on other stuff. I was given these animals called Quecktarbs. They are two-headed wolf like dogs. I was given four of them and one was killed in a battle with the Sosos,” he explained. “If trained properly they are ferocious war dogs,” he said with a smile knowing he held onto another big secret. He stashed away a sack of raw uncut diamonds.
“Obviously we would love to see any proof you can provide to substantiate your story,” Dale Rowe offered.
“We’ll bring forth proof shortly,” Mykal replied. “I just want to make one thing very clear. There were a lot of battles. All our people fought hard. They are all true heroes,” he said sadly. He paused to fight the emotions trying to creep into his voice. There were some he hated and didn’t get along with, but he didn’t want to bring up any negative information. He didn’t
want anyone to start digging because they may find out he may not have been the best military NCO he could have been.
“As Air Force security, we’ve never really been trained for combat or fighting for our lives. Don’t get me wrong,” he raised his hand. “As security policemen we go through weapons training and we have had training on how to protect our resources, and we have even had Air Base Ground Defense Training which is combat training should our base be overrun. But our training in combat has been minor. We’re not the Army or the Marines who train for combat as a way of life. So I just want to say how proud I am of all those who made it back and for all those who gave their lives so that we few could make it back home.”
“What proof do you have that can be presented to us?” One of the four reporters called out.
“Well we have my three Quecktarbs, and we have a number of bodies of dead Sosos. We still have them on ice, right Sir?” Mykal chuckled as he looked to Colonel Parker.
“Yes we do,” Parker said with a frown.
“Bodies of actual people from the other world?” Dale asked.
“Yes,” Mykal replied. “We have some of the horses we rode and these are very big horses. Much bigger than anything in our world. The last day we were there, we were waiting for the arrival of Nidious, the man Towbar introduced me to. Nidious told me about the green fog and explained it to me in depth. It’s in all the reports. While we were waiting around for Nidious to show up, just out of the blue, my hand turned green, meaning the green fog was nearby. To be honest with you I nearly pissed my pants,” he admitted which caused several people to laugh. “But Towbar gathered a bunch of his soldiers on horseback, and we rode hard and fast toward the green fog. The Sosos who were camped outside the Pass must have thought we were attacking them, cuz they in turn charged at us. We clashed with them just before the fog. Some of our people were killed in that battle getting to the fog. I was locked in combat with a Soso who whacked me in the head and nearly knocked me out. Towbar picked me up and carried me into the fog.”