by Dave Hazel
“What’s up Myk?” Jake mouthed when Mykal rushed past him. Jake rested on one knee and watched in all directions for any signs of Soso movement or activity.
Mykal ignored him and dashed into the tent. He grabbed the first man with a brief case and pulled him aside so no one would understand what was being discussed. Mykal placed one hand on the man’s shoulder and looked intently into his eyes. “I don’t have time for codes right now,” he whispered firmly. “Are you Mister X?”
“What?” The man’s facial expression was one of total confusion. “I don’t understand,” the heavyset man shrugged. “Please clarify.”
“Never mind. Don’t say anything,” Mykal said and took the man back to the others and took a second man. “Listen to me, I don’t have time for all the code bullshit right now,” Mykal’s voice sibilated into the white haired man’s ear. “Are you Mister X? I’ll pass all the friggin code stuff later. I just need to know--”
“Yes, yes,” the older man gasped. He knew this rescue force had been sent for him. “I’m the man you’re looking for,” he said in hushed words and started to fumble with his waistband to retrieve a special key. “Under any other circumstances I would only respond to the correct code,” he explained and pulled the odd looking key from a special belt loop of his trousers that hid a key to release the unique handcuffs. “Here, I’ll give it to you. It’s all yours,” he said while he fumbled with the key. “I will surrender this special case to your authority. I know who sent you.”
“Oh thank you, thank you,” Mykal whispered and nearly laughed out loud. He grabbed onto the man and hugged him as if he was a long lost relative. “I found you. I’m Mykal Graves, and you don’t know how happy I am,” he whispered into the older man’s ear. “I’ve been sent here by the President for you specifically. No, no, you hold onto it,” Mykal stopped him from unlocking the case from his wrist. “I’m gonna get you people back to the real world. Don’t let anyone have that except me. I’ll give you the proper code later when we’re back at camp and I’ll take it from you then. Listen X, you just made my friggin day,” he nearly laughed and hugged the man again. He didn’t care the others were watching.
“Well, you’ve made my day. This has been like a horrible nightmare that I can’t seem to wake up from.”
“We’ll talk at the camp. Just sit tight,” he said and his smile stretched from ear to ear. “Don’t give it to anyone but me.” Mykal had a new bounce in his step as he rushed out of the tent. When he stepped out of the tent soldiers led four more people into the tent of freed prisoners. They were the older married couple and two more motorcycle policemen.
“How much longer Myk?” William whispered when Mykal neared.
“There should be about eleven people we need to account for so it shouldn’t be much longer,” Mykal said with a friendly smile. Even William couldn’t affect his mood right now. Mykal was glad William didn’t see his conversation with Mister X.
“Everything is going better than we thought it would, right?” William asked in hushed words but Mykal walked away.
Mykal saw the silhouettes of the Silent Killers doing their work in the moon light. Mykal was utterly amazed at how well these men from different forces worked so well together. He saw they were communicating through hand and arm signals. They would team up when they came upon two or three Sosos sleeping near each other and kill them at the same time.
Mykal followed the path of the dead to catch up to the Silent Killers in the lead. He caught up to Danny Weller who directed the kill teams in which direction he thought they should go. Mykal looked behind to see his friends Boris, Jake, Larry and the Dosch brothers making their way to be with him.
Weller waved Mykal to his position and pointed to his lips meaning that he wanted to tell him something of importance. “Myk, look at this,” he whispered directly into Mykal’s ear. Danny Weller then stepped behind the tent they stood beside and pointed to the ground. “I was with these guys when you rescued me,” he whispered but his words were emotionally weak and shaky. “If I wouldn’t have gotten into that helicopter with you, I would be with them right now.”
Mykal, Jake, Boris and Larry were all stunned and disgusted by the sight before them. The four men with Weller when the helicopter flew into the camp the previous day were all sprawled out on the ground. They were tied down to wooden stakes driven into the soil.
One of the four had his head chopped away to almost nothing but a bloody, pulpy mess. The killing axe was still sticking into the dirt where the head had been. He must have been the first killed since it didn’t appear that anything else had been done to his body.
The Sosos tortured the men believing they called down the monstrous birds that killed several Sosos. The man who took the axe to the head got off easy compared to what they saw of the other three bodies. Their bodies looked as if the skin had been peeled and cut from them. Strips of flesh were missing from chests, bellies, faces, arms and legs. One man had all flesh and muscle stripped from his hands and forearms. The exposed bare bones lay on the dirt and grass.
One of the dead men must have cursed and yelled at the Soso because his mouth looked burned with a crude branding iron. The same branding scarred different areas of his exposed flesh. He was one of two who had his eyes gouged out. One of the other men had both calf muscles cut from his legs. Mykal had to turn away. He didn’t want to know any more of what these men had to endure before they finally ceased breathing.
“I hate these scumbags,” Jake whispered into Mykal’s ear.
“You don’t have to tell me,” Mykal replied and couldn’t get the image of the dead bodies from his mind. They had been beaten with clubs and stabbed countless times. “We have to account for seven more people then we’re done,” he whispered.
Mykal and his friends returned to the path of death and followed the masterful Silent Killers who continued eliminating Sosos before they could ever become a problem. Mykal wanted desperately to help, just to kill Sosos knowing he would keep them from harming anyone ever again. The Silent Killers were the professionals and experts and he didn’t want to interfere with their artistry. He didn’t want to bring his imperfection to their perfection and mess things up. He didn’t want his emotions to create a problem and cause their detection.
One of the Korean soldiers rested on one knee and waved for Mykal to join them. The Silent Killers stopped and they waited near another tent. This time Mykal sensed something completely different. The Silent Killers all stopped and were low to the ground looking in all directions.
“What is it?” Mykal mouthed his words more than he whispered.
The Korean pointed toward the front of the tent and held up two fingers meaning there were two guards. He used his bloody fingers to pull open his eye lids to say the two guards were awake. The Korean soldier pointed to the top of the tent where the roof met the wall. He pointed to the light flickering and flashing from the small opening. A lit torch.
“Wella say he tink pris’nas held in dis tent,” the Korean whispered. Despite his accent and broken English, Mykal was glad he didn’t have to learn the Korean language. “Sounds ta be numba a Sosos in dare. I hear-ded crying,” he said and wiped at imaginary tears rolling from his eyes. “It sound li’ pris’na bee-in inja’d,” he explained when Weller joined them.
“Do you think all seven are in there?” Mykal asked Danny.
“This is the last tent they ever kept any of us in that I know of,” Danny Weller whispered.
“Do you think we can take this tent quietly?” Mykal mouthed to the Korean.
The Korean turned to his squad leader who came along on this mission. “If I’m being honest with you Mykal, I don’t think so,” he whispered directly into Mykal’s ear. The Korean squad leader spoke perfect English. If Mykal had not seen his face and his uniform, Mykal would have thought him to be an American. “We can take out the two guards outside. The inside is an unknown. I don’t know how many are in there. We don’t know how far apart they are spr
ead. I’m not sure if we will be able to take them out before one of them yells or gives a warning.”
“What’s your name?” Mykal mouthed to him and looked at the subdued gold bars on his collar. Mykal remembered hearing that the Korean leader was an enlisted man who had been promoted to an officer for this mission. The officers for the foreign forces were asked to wear the American equivalent of rank emblems to keep them from being unintentionally disrespected.
“Call me Kim,” he answered and he grabbed onto Mykal’s shoulder to whisper closely in his ear. “The two guards outside the tent are awake and don’t appear to be intoxicated as were most of those we killed.” Lieutenant Kim had straight black hair. He seemed a little taller and bigger than the other Koreans Mykal spoke to. His clean cut boyish features masked his deadly capabilities.
“Kim, I don’t want to leave these people here,” he mouthed slowly and pointed to the tent. “But I don’t want to put any of the others at risk either. Would you and your men be willing to risk your lives to help me? I’ll send the other prisoners away with most of the Marines. When we know they’re safe, we’ll take the tent and rescue those in there and then we’re outta here.”
Kim stared intently at Mykal’s lips and he was sure he understood the request. He grabbed Mykal’s shoulder and pulled Mykal’s ear to his mouth again. “We will assist you in whatever you need us to do,” he avowed as a loyal soldier would. He showed no emotion, no fear and no concern. Kim appeared to be a top notch soldier and this was all a part of the job.
“Okay, sit tight for a few minutes. Explain to your men,” he mouthed and also pointed to the Green Berets. “I’m going to have the others depart the area.
Mykal quietly rushed back to the tent that held the surviving captives. He waved for Captain Diaz to follow him. Jake, Boris, Larry and the Dosch brothers followed though unsure of the urgency. Towbar followed when he saw they were meeting back at the tent. Mykal smiled when he saw Towbar’s long polished blade dripping with blood. He knew Towbar became enthusiastic about killing the enemy under the cover of darkness. He guessed the new experience was probably exciting for the giant.
“We have a little problem,” Mykal said and got straight to the point. “There’s still about seven people to rescue. I think they’re all in one tent. But the Sosos in the tent are awake. I think they’re torturing them,” he frowned. “The guards outside the tent shouldn’t be a problem, but we don’t think we’ll be able to kill the Sosos inside without breaking our silence. I’m not going to leave those people there and I’m not going to put these people at risk,” he said as he nodded to the battered survivors. His true concern was to get Mister X and his precious cargo away from here.
“What are we going to do?” William asked and he seemed to take a deep breath. He looked like he needed to get away from this dangerous situation despite his “need” to be here.
Mykal ignored William. “Captain Diaz, I want you to take the prisoners and all the men I won’t be using and get them out of camp. Have most of the men standby where the machine guns are set up and have a few take the prisoners back to the choppers.”
Captain Diaz’s expression showed he wanted to oppose him. He wanted to stay behind and help Mykal. He knew his job was to obey orders unless Mykal was going to put his men in harm’s way. Though personally Diaz wanted to stand and fight with Mykal he knew he could be of better use by directing the men should they be needed to support and cover Mykal’s team while they made their escape?
“Is there a problem?” Mykal asked.
“No. Myk, don’t you think it would be better that you should go back with the men and leave me here to take the risk?”
“I appreciate that Captain Diaz,” Mykal said. “But I’m the one who doesn’t want to leave them behind so I’ll stay.”
“Myk, shouldn’t we just leave them?” William asked. “You’re going to put all of us, I mean them, at risk,” he pointed to the freed prisoners. “You’re risking bringing the entire Soso army down on us for maybe seven people. Is it really worth it?”
“If you were one of the seven in that tent would it be worth it?” Mykal paused and saw everyone looked at him with approval. “Those teenagers might be in there. Those teens are somebody’s kids and you saw what these friggin low life animals are capable of.”
“Right on,” Jake whispered and raised a fist in the air.
“Sir, I mean no disrespect,” a Marine whispered. Corporal Carlson spoke up from behind William. “I don’t know what the Air Force teaches, but as a Marine one of the very first things we learn, and it becomes a part of who we are, we will never leave a brother Marine behind. And though they are only skuzzy civilians,” he added playfully which encouraged quiet chuckles from fellow Marines. “They are Americans and we’re not gonna leave them behind if there is a chance to retrieve them from the hell hole they’re stuck in.”
“Ooh-rah Marine,” a few Marines whispered, pumping fists.
William lowered his head and knew this wasn’t the time or place to argue about rank and disrespect. William’s motivation came across as purely selfish and everyone there knew it.
“I have to agree.” Mykal smiled proudly for the people surrounding him. “If we go back now, and leave them here we’ll get a nice pat on the back for what we’ve done, but it will eat me alive for the rest of my life knowing that I left them behind to be brutalized by these rotten bastards. Knowing what I know about Sosos, and seeing what they’ve already done to these people,” he paused. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”
“Let’s get our plan on the same page,” Captain Diaz held up his hand to silence everyone. “What do you want us to do?”
“Take the prisoners and the rest of the men and give us thirty minutes. That should give you time to get as far away as you can. Call groups One and Two on the radio and let them know in thirty minutes the shit might hit the fan so be ready. If you hear any gunshots that means we weren’t able to take the tent silently. Be ready with your finger on the radio and tell One and Two to open up with everything they got. That will draw the Sosos to that side of the camp. You guys remain quiet unless you hear us shooting our way out of the camp. If we’re being chased outta camp, then I’ll need you guys to open up as well.”
“Sir, you’re putting yourself inside a meat grinder,” Corporal Carlson spoke up again. “In the dark you’re setting yourself up to be caught in a cross fire.”
“I’m not worried so much about you guys cuz you guys have an idea where we’ll be so you can adjust your fire. We just have to keep our fingers crossed that groups One and Two don’t hit us while we’re making our escape.”
“I’ll ensure they shoot more to the south with their machine guns,” Captain Diaz declared.
“Come on people,” Mykal whispered to the freed but frightened prisoners. “These men are going to take you out of here,” he looked to the broken family.
“My son,” the mother started to cry.
“He’ll be fine,” Mykal whispered and moved to place his arm around her shoulder so he could whisper in her ear. “We’ll carry him out of here. But listen to me,” he requested gently. “I need you and your girls to be very quiet or you will put everyone in danger.” Linda was a little younger than his mother, she suffered horribly at the hands of the Sosos and looked it, but her concern wasn’t for herself. It touched his heart that she was only concerned for her family. That reminded Mykal so much of his mother and it made his heart ache.
“We’ll be quiet,” she sniffed and wrapped her arms around her daughters. She spoke quietly and told them the importance of not making a sound. When they get away from the camp they would be free to cry and mourn all they needed to.
“I’m staying with you Myk,” Boris smiled. “I’m in the mood for a good fight with these bastards.”
“I’m not in the mood for a good fight, especially with the whole damn army,” Jake said. “But I’ll stay too.”
“What the hell?” Larry chuckled and
flowed with his friends. “I’m in. Isn’t this what living is really all about?” He joked quietly but his Boston accent could be heard by all.
“You men are crazy, but I’ll stay,” William volunteered to stay behind which surprised everyone.
“No. I’d rather you go with the others,” Mykal hastily rejected his offer. William looked and acted like a bookworm nerd, though his body had always been in top shape physically. As far as Mykal knew William had never been in a real conflict before and didn’t want him screwing up the plan. “We’ve all fought the Sosos before. It’d mean more to me if you helped with them.”
“Sure,” William shrugged and gave in easily.
“What would you like me to do Myk?” Officer Weller asked.
“I want you to go with the others. You’ve done more than enough. We all owe you a great thanks. This wouldn’t have gone smoothly without you. Great job Danny.”
Roy Jr. and Randy looked at each other. They discussed what they should do. “Do you want to or not?” Roy Jr. asked his brother. “I’ll do whatever you want to.”
“No, no,” Mykal stopped the brothers. “I want you guys to go back. This is gonna be dangerous and your father is waiting back at the camp. You guys have done more than I could have asked for by coming this far. I want you to take the civilians to the choppers.”
“Myk, let’s have everyone synchronize our watches,” Lieutenant Finley, the Green Beret Platoon Leader said. “Good, looking at the time, in exactly thirty-one minutes, on the hour, we’ll take the tent. Is that okay with you Myk?”
“Perfect,” Mykal said with a nod.
“Check,” Captain Diaz replied and looked to make sure those present understood. “How many are staying with you Myk?”
“I am with you my friend,” Towbar said. His hands rested on the hilt of his six foot sword stabbed into the ground.
“It’ll be me, Towbar, Jake, Jones,” he nodded to Boris. “Larry, Lieutenant Finley, seven of his Green Berets, Lieutenant Kim and seven of his Koreans and I’ll take four of the Marines that are out there with the Silent Killers. That’ll be twenty-five of us and I’ll send the rest back to you guys.”