by Dave Hazel
“Cool. Great,” Mykal laughed excitedly as if he had just been surprised by the sudden attitude change of the senior man. He knew the men were already gathering together and forming up to depart.
“Okay Myk, knock off the bull,” Chick laughed. “Did you have something to do with that?”
“Me? Little ol’ me?” Mykal asked and looked totally surprised. “Nah, I’m just kidding. I had a talk with Colonel Fisher and he agreed he made a wrong decision, like he said based on faulty info. Now that he has correct info he just wanted to make it right so we can leave again and try to rescue Princess Doninka?”
“Can I ask, what did you say to him?” Chick asked and looked stunned.
“Yeah, but this is just between us,” Mykal replied with a stone cold seriousness that took Chick by surprise. “I told him he was going to correct what he did or he will no longer be in charge here. I promised him that I would tie his ass up and take him back to the real world and drop him off there never to come back. And if he fought me I would shoot him dead.”
Major Chick’s jaw dropped and looked frightened.
“I’m kidding,” Mykal laughed wildly. “I got you. You should see the look on your face,” he laughed and Major Chick started to laugh a little as if he wasn’t sure he should laugh.
“Is everything good with you and Colonel Fisher?” Chick asked tentatively.
“Yeah. I was serious with him though. He wants to be the lead officer here when things happen. I did tell him if he didn’t back off and let me do what I know I need to do then I would abduct him and take him back to the real world never to come back here again. He agreed to correct the order he laid down and now we’re going to be leaving as soon as all the men are gathered. Honestly I’d love to get his ass outta here and have you move into that nice little mansion he just built,” Mykal laughed playfully.
“Wow. Mykal you have to be careful,” Chick whispered though there was no one around to hear them. “It wouldn’t work that way,” he continued to whisper. “They would bring in someone higher ranked than myself.”
“I know, but no. He needs to be careful. I won’t interfere with what he’s trying to do here so he shouldn’t interfere with what I need to do.”
“But Mykal, he’s the senior officer here,” Chick whispered and gasped slightly.
“He’s not shit if I’m not involved. And he’s not shit if I take him back,” Mykal snickered. “Without me and Towbar there is no going back and forth to the real world. And besides, I’m not in the military anymore,” Mykal whispered back to Chick playfully. “So I don’t giva shit what he thinks. I have a mission and it’s gonna be completed. Honestly, I would love to get him outta here and make you the top dog.”
“But I can’t Mykal, the people who make the decisions chose Colonel Fisher,” Chick said with a shrug. “They would choose someone else.”
“Alright, I’ll play their friggin game. I’ll be obedient and leave him in charge though it’s against my better judgment.”
“Alright, alright. I hear you loud and clear Mister Graves,” Major Chick said and laughed. He playfully put his fingers in his ears so as not to hear Mykal’s personal gripes. “Please make sure you’re careful when you go back to that side of the world.”
“I will. Believe me, I will,” Mykal said and laughed because he didn’t want to experience any more pain. “Do you know what’s going on with the men?”
“They’re being gathered as we speak or they have already been gathered. They were just waiting for the green light to go.”
“We really do have to rescue the girl, am I right Towbar?”
“Yes my friend.”
“If she gets killed or if it comes down to the swap and they both are killed then it will be very difficult for us to remain here cuz of the king’s son name Locod. I’m sure he will boot us outta here faster than we will be able to know what to do. Am I right Towbar?”
“Yes my friend,” the giant answered and looked at Major Chick. “We believe he will be a puppet for King Monahakald of the Sosos, thus he will submit to Zizmon-Tarl. Should that take place, we will be forced to surrender our forces to the enemy.”
“Which means then we’ll have to get our asses outta here lickety-split,” Mykal said with a laugh.
“Well, I’m confident all the men here want you to have success,” Major Chick said. “Even the likes of Colonel Fisher. We would all rather work smarter and not harder.”
“Yeah, but sometimes I wonder about him and that friggin Lieutenant Johnson,” Mykal sneered in reference to the Green Beret lieutenant who had a problem with Mykal from the start of Towbar One’s arrival to Towbar’s world. “Any normal person would want to work smarter and not harder, but some of these guys are so full of themselves that their pride gets in the way.”
“No no Myk. Colonel Fisher truly does want our success here,” Chick countered. “His problem is he happens to be the top dog and he’s a big time alpha male who doesn’t like being told what to do by those he considers his equals or subordinates.”
“Which comes down to his stinkin’ pride,” Mykal quickly argued.
“Well, yes, I guess you’re right,” Chick agreed slowly. “But the problem with that damn Green Beret Johnson is he was prior enlisted and almost didn’t get his commission to be an officer. It was a battle for him and so for him to see that you basically became a regimental commander overnight, it just grates on him. He has a problem with pride and jealousy. Ignore him because he is a dipshit,” Chick declared firmly. “I normally would not speak negatively of anyone in uniform, especially a fellow officer, but that man truly is a dipshit. So I will agree with you on him,” Chick added and laughed.
“I hear ya,” Mykal replied and laughed. He couldn’t remember ever hearing Chick speak ill of anyone. “Do we know if any of the men decided not to return with us?”
“Mykal, I have to say, I am really impressed. The men truly love being with you and Towbar despite the dangers you face. All the men are going back except for those who have been injured. Obviously we have replacements for those who have been killed. But as far as those who have been injured and can’t return one of my Marines, Private First Class Taylor took a nasty wound to his thigh so he can’t return, though he wanted to go back. He’s upset that he can’t go.”
“I like Taylor. He was an original from the Lost Patrol.”
“From what I understand he was stabbed in the thigh with a sword and it went all the way through his leg,” Chick explained and winced to express his thoughts on the blade driving through Taylor’s thigh. “And one of the Green Berets, a Sergeant Pollard was injured also so he has been replaced. There was another Green Beret, Sergeant Nikopolous. He was injured, I think he was stabbed in the hip but he fought the doctors until they cleared him to go back. Thus Sergeant Nikopolous will be returning with the group.”
“Good, good,” Mykal said with a smile. “I didn’t know he had been injured. I like that guy. Hell, I like all those guys. And all of them that are willing to put their lives on the line with us are my brothers as far as I’m concerned. They’re my brothers in arms.”
“Well look Myk. It looks like you have some visitors,” Major Chick said with a smile and pointed behind him. “I will talk to you later. I have some things I have to do. I will see you before you leave.”
“Thanks Sir,” Mykal said and turned to see Captain Diaz with Ski, Lieutenant Finley, Mathis and the Dosch brothers approaching him.
“It’s true,” Lieutenant Finley gasped when Mykal and Towbar turned to face them. “How the hell are you still alive Myk? I saw you when we brought you back,” he gasped as all the men grabbed on to him to hug him and pat his shoulders.
“I eat right and I have this neat exercise regimen,” he replied to be humorous.
“It’s prayer,” both Diaz and Ski said together and laughed out loud.
Mykal watched Finley and expected him to roll his eyes or do something to show that he mocked their response. But Finley was stu
nned and didn’t know what to believe.
“Only God heals like that,” Captain Diaz said. “I say that because I saw how bad you were hurt Mykal and there is no way you could have just gotten up from the injuries you suffered. Myself and Ski with a number of our fellow believing Christians have been praying up a storm that you would survive.”
“We lifted you up before the LORD and stood in faith that He would heal you,” Ski declared. “We pleaded the precious blood of Jesus over you and stood in faith on God’s Word. I believe God has told me you need to be here so we pleaded our case and brought you up before the throne of Almighty God and look. Not only did you survive,” Ski laughed again. “But you’re up walking around like nothing happened to you. Those kinds of miracles can only happen by the hand of God.”
“How are you doing Mykal?” Lieutenant Finley asked and just stared at Mykal. It was uncertain whether Finley was just being polite or just rudely ignoring their ‘God talk’. “Are you really well enough to depart?”
“I’m still hurting but I’m fine,” he answered and looked down shyly. “I have to agree it’s cuz a yous guys praying for me. When I get back and all this is said and done we’ll have to talk,” he said to Ski and looked at Captain Diaz.
“How Myk?’ Mathis gasped. “How are you alive? I honestly thought you were dead. I rode in the vehicle with you and I saw how messed up you were. Oh don’t get me wrong I’m so damned happy, but it doesn’t make sense from what I saw.”
“Hey dudes, this is Mykal Graves,” Roy Jr. laughed and slapped Mykal on the shoulder. “You ain’t taking my buddy out with a little sword prick. This dude is the only person to survive a Soso death arrow.”
“And I saw what happened when the baby people turned into lycanthropes,” Finley said and stared hard into Mykal’s face as if he was trying to determine what was special about Mykal. “Werewolves,” he added when Randy gave him a questioning look. “Lycanthrope is the proper name for werewolves and those baby people were werewolves,” Finley declared with a smirk.
“He’s Mister Indestructible,” Roy Jr. laughed. “Stay off the moors. Stick to the road,” Roy Jr. said with his best, though very weak, English accent as he imitated a scene from a horror movie. “But Mykal says hell with that, you frickin werewolves better get yer ass outta the moors cuz I’ll come in there an kick yer hairy asses all over the place,” he laughed.
“What in the world are you talking about?” Ski asked with a totally confused expression as if he had missed something.
“It’s a line from the movie An American Werewolf in London,” Mykal laughed and understood how odd that must have sounded to Ski. “One of the greatest horror slash comedy movies of all time. And no I’m not Mister Indestructible,” Mykal laughed and scoffed. “I almost died, and I almost died when those little bastards attacked after they changed from baby people to ugly ass wolves,” he added and shook his head. “I really thank you guys for your prayers cuz I gotta believe it was God that pulled me through that bad stuff I suffered with them little monsters. Through all those things; the death arrow, the werewolves and now this I believe it had to be a miracle. Anyway, I’m still hurting big time, but I’m not gonna allow myself to get into a situation like that again,” he added with a laugh.
“I don’t understand it,” Mathis said again and looked downright dumbfounded. “I saw how bad you were Myk. I was holding your hand while we drove and you died. I’m positive you died in the vehicle. We tried to resuscitate you, but you died Myk. I’ll even admit, I cried cuz I thought you were dead,” he added and tears welled his eyes again. His hand unconsciously covered his mouth as if to hide his quivering lip.
“Hey Radio Boy, do I look dead to you?” Mykal asked and had to laugh and tried to turn it into a light hearted situation. He unexpectedly felt bad for Mathis when he saw the kid’s true emotions, and he fought hard not to display his own emotions. “I really appreciate your concern buddy, but it’s their prayers that brought me back. So when you were feeling for my pulse you musta been feeling my elbow instead of my wrist,” he added with a laugh to imply Mathis didn’t know what he was doing.
“Like I told you before Myk,” Ski said boldly. “I believe God has a plan and a purpose for you. Don’t forget that.”
“See Mathis,” Mykal tittered and pointed a finger to Ski. “I have to believe it’s a God thing and I really mean that cuz I know I shouldn’t be here.”
“Talk about second chances,” Captain Diaz said in reference to the last conversation they had when they were together on the other side of the world, just before the battle that nearly claimed Mykal’s life.
“Yes, that’s true,” Ski replied. “But even though I believe God has a plan for you that doesn’t mean you can play games with your decision. That could very well have been your last second chance. And yes, I deliberately spoke those words to use as a scare tactic on you,” he said and nodded his head with a friendly smirk.
“Yeah. I hear that,” Mykal said and nodded enthusiastically. “I wanna talk to you later after we get back from the other side of the world,” he said and winked at Ski. “And Captain Diaz, I’ll talk to you after we get to the other side of the world when we have some time. You guys are all going back right?”
They all gave resounding positive responses except for Ski. Mykal noticed that Lieutenant Finley slightly rolled his eyes with all the ‘God talk’.
“The men are pretty much all gathered together and will be ready to leave in about ten minutes,” Diaz said.
“And we got the entire MRE situation straightened out,” Randy scoffed and laughed in reference to special meals that were supposed to have been put aside during the last trip to the other side of the world.
“I called them boys out with my brother beside me,” Roy Jr. laughed and gave an exaggerated wink. “They said it was an honest mistake and they were real apologetic. They said they didn’t know how our special meals got misplaced,” he sneered in a mocking tone. “But we’re good to go now. No more stinking breakfast MREs for us. Woo woo,” he cackled again and pumped his fist in the air.
The others playfully laughed, hooted and clapped their hands with him.
“Cool,” Mykal replied with a big smile.
“My brother scared the two dudes who took our original order,” Randy snorted. “He was pretending to be real angry and said he talked to Colonel Fisher about bringing them to the other side of the world to prepare our meals so they’ll be no more screw ups. He said the only thing is, since they do the food service stuff, they wouldn’t be allowed to carry any weapons.”
“I was just joshing them ol’ boys and I thought they was gonna piss themselves as they apologized all over us and promised it wouldn’t happen again,” Roy Jr. cackled. “They were actually trembling when I jumped on them. You shoulda seen the scared looks on their faces. It was funnier than all get out. It sounded like something you woulda done Myk.”
“Then we told them we were just playing with them,” Randy said. “But they promised they would never mess up our food again.
“I thought dem ol’ boys was gonna drop down and kiss our feets,” Roy Jr. added and laughed.
“That’s funny,” Mykal snickered. “Hey Ski, what’s been happening with the prisoners we have here? I know you had a good connection with the one that looked like a crazy old man. He was the one we rescued just before he would have been whipped and probably woulda been killed.”
“Oh yeah. Apostle is his name for short, but we have been calling him Paul. His real name is Apostallolind, but we were calling him Apostle for short and one of the guys with me said why don’t we just call him Paul, like the apostle Paul. He liked the name and so we’ve been calling him Paul. It’s really amazing Myk, some time when you have time, because I know you guys are in a big hurry, but some time when you have time I would like to sit down with you and tell you all that we’ve learned about the Sosos and their false gods and the stuff that the Soso people are subjected to. But he really believes he is mean
t to be a messenger of God to take the truth and the good news of the Gospel back to his people. He knows he will lose his life, but God had spared him, like, twenty-seven times from death. You stepped in and spared him from death for the twenty-seventh time. Paul’s story really is an amazing story. People need to hear his testimony,” Ski declared emphatically. “His testimony by itself is a life changing sermon.”
“He’s that crazy ol’ little man we plucked from the Sosos, right?” Roy Jr. asked while Finley slightly rolled his eyes.
“Yes,” Ski replied.
“He’s still a Soso,” Randy declared with bitterness in his tone. His hatred for ‘all’ Sosos ran deep since his younger brother Baby Ray had been killed during the first few days in Towbar’s world.
“Good,” Mykal said and raised his hand to keep Ski from responding to Randy concerning Paul’s differences from Sosos. “When I get back I’ll get with you on that. Do we know what’s going on with Scodtull? He was the other prisoner we captured who is a bigger leader in the Soso army. He had two other men with him and they were the ones to give us the info on Doninka being on the other side of the world,” he added and didn’t mention that he shot one of the other two in the foot with his pistol to make them open up and talk.
“Oh yes, all the prisoners are together,” Ski answered and nodded enthusiastically. “Our people actually made a much better holding facility and all the prisoners are being well treated. Scodtull has started to open up and he has a great deal of anger because of the false gods they served all their lives.”
“He told us that,” Mykal replied. “When he opened up and said all that stuff, the first thought I had was I wished you and Captain Diaz would have been there to talk to him cuz I don’t know anything about God or gods or religious stuff at all. So good, I’m glad you’re talking to him.”