by Dave Hazel
“But I was able to take Boris’s Towbar One patch from his uniform,” Mykal explained and pulled the battered cloth patch from his pocket. His was held in place by Velcro,” he chuckled and allowed them to look at the patch that still had some blood stains on it. The way Mykal looked at the worn cloth patch they could tell that he missed his friend dearly and he was going to hold on to the memento for the rest of his life.
Mykal sniffled and put the cloth patch back inside his pocket. “Anyway that friggin bastard pointed Boris’s pistol at me and told me to drop my rifle. He came over to me and whacked me in the face with the pistol and cut my cheek open,” he added and ran his index finger over the cheek where William cut him with the pistol barrel. “He said right then and there he was going to kill me to keep me quiet about some government stuff. Part of his job was to make sure Boris never made it back to the real world and he did that. He said his second job was to silence me. He was a government spook I guess,” Mykal said to simplify the complicated truth of William’s strange position. “That bastard was laughing and acting all cocky cuz I just made his job so much easier. He said he was going to come running to us and say Goblins killed those two and he just barely got away. He told me he was going to have to figure out a way to kill me back at the Pass,” he added to the stunned amazement of Roy Jr. and Randy. “But since I came back there I actually handed him a gift on a silver platter, and that was me.”
“Damn, that’s screwed up boy,” Roy Jr. mumbled quietly and shook his head sadly with his hand to his mouth.
“Private Wickey begged him to stop and he wouldn’t say anything. William yelled at him to keep shooting. Wickey was panicking because he was running low on his belt of ammo. William walked toward Wickey and they argued a little more. Then Wickey started to get up to turn the M-60 on William and William shot that poor young kid in the side of the head with that .44 magnum. I felt so friggin bad for that kid,” Mykal declared and his voice cracked for both Wickey and his close friend Boris. “That young kid didn’t need to die. But anyway, by the time he turned back to me I stomped on the magic light that Nordad had given him to make it dark in that room,” Mykal lied because he didn’t want them to know he could turn invisible. “I threw a chair to one corner and William went to that side yelling at me and he shot the wall. While it was dark I snuck to one of the doors and opened it and the door Wickey was shootin from was opened so I was scared shitless. William was freaking out looking for me and I hid in a corner. I coulda shot him with my .357 magnum but now Goblins were in the room and I was terrified. I only had six shots before I had to reload. I was about twenty feet from where my M-16 was so if they detected me I woulda shot them and ran to my rifle. You can’t imagine how friggin scared I was.”
“I can only guess,” Roy Jr. acknowledged somberly and his humorous tone was subdued.
“I agree,” Randy said and shook his head while he sighed deeply.
“Well anyway Goblins crept into the room and shot William in the leg with a cross bow. He went down and they attacked him. They were punching and kicking him and yelling their strange language at him. They tied him up and he begged me to help him. Then when they tied him he musta knew they were gonna keep him as a prisoner so he yelled at me and begged me to kill him. I shoulda, and I regret I didn’t kill that rotten jerk, but I didn’t wanna get caught and I was wishing they would torture the hell outta that bastard. I was so damn mad I wanted them to make his ass suffer. But he begged and begged for me to kill him and they took him away crying out and yelling. I said to myself screw you dude, but I shoulda killed him cuz of how mad I’ve been over that lowlife killing Boris by shooting him in the back and then shooting him in the head with his own pistol. I was so friggin pissed off at that low life.”
“But you had to protect yourself Myk,” Randy said to comfort Mykal’s anger and regret.
“Yeah I waited a little bit and when it settled down, then I took out two smoke grenades, pulled both pins and dropped them. When the room filled with smoke I was able to sneak out of the secret door and the others were right there. I told everyone the Goblins killed all three, but I told Towbar and Jake the truth. And when we went back to the Pass I told Jake to tell you guys that William was gonna kill me but that the Goblins got him and killed him. I just didn’t want anyone knowing that he could be alive. You don’t know how bad I wanted to kill that mother--”
“But the Goblins should have killed him Myk,” Randy cut him off and believed William to be dead.
“That’s what I thought too, but one of the things William wanted to do when we first started to communicate with the Goblins was, he wanted to tell them we were there by order of Ziggy Stardust and we need to be taken to Ziggy. He thought that would give us an opportunity to get outside of the mountain. So if he was able to communicate that with the Goblin leaders and said that stuff it’s possible they may have taken him to Ziggy. And if that’s the case, he might still be alive and possibly a prisoner of Ziggy, or who knows, he might even be working for the evil bad guy.”
“Wow,” Roy Jr. gasped at the possibility. “But that really seems a little hard to believe.”
“I agree with you one hundred percent,” Mykal said and nodded vigorously. “But,” he said forcefully and stopped nodding his head. “There were some really strange things that happened after that. While we were in the Pass there were a couple of times where me and Towbar both had dreams at the same time. We both had dreams about William and him threatening to kill us. And the weird thing is, Towbar never dreams. Towbar told me the thoughts he had were like someone forcing their thoughts into his head and that’s like it was with me. And Towbar thinks it may have something to do with Ziggy Stardust. I don’t know,” he sighed and shook his head with regret. “I just have this nasty gut feeling that this piece of shit William is still alive and it keeps haunting me that I didn’t kill him when I had the chance. It bothers me more than just about anything I ever screwed up on.”
“Wow,” Roy Jr. repeated and looked away like he was deep in thought. “That really is some strange stuff,” he huffed quietly and rubbed his face vigorously.
“And I’m telling you, whenever I have these gut feelings, I’m hardly ever wrong,” Mykal said and wished he was wrong about this one. “It’s been gnawing at me like you can’t imagine. I promise you this though, if I ever see him, I don’t care what the situation is or where we’re at. I’m shooting that low life dead. I even said if he’s standing beside the President, I’ll shoot that piece of shit where he stands,” Mykal snarled and revealed the depths of his hatred toward the man who at one time was supposed to be his friend. “I said that cuz William and the President know each other and actually have nicknames for each other.”
“But isn’t it possible that William is dead though, right?” Randy asked.
“Yeah, it’s possible, but I know how I am with my gut feelings. But listen, I hope I’m wrong and I’m hoping those friggin Goblins killed him after they tortured his dumb ass. Let’s walk back to the others and I’ll tell you some strange things that happened between me and Towbar during our dreams that make me believe he’s still alive,” Mykal said and they walked back toward the main body of men. Towbar returned from his secret hideaway from his attempt to make contact with Doninka.
4.
“Hey Mykal. Mykal are you awake?” Sergeant Barry yelled to the back of his transport vehicle while he slowed their vehicle to a stop.
“Yeah, I’m up. What’s going on?” Mykal answered and all those in the vehicle looked to see what had Sergeant Barry so excited.
“It sounds like Lanorear spoke to Captain Diaz and if we hurry we can catch the army of soldiers who may have executed all the people back there.”
“Mykal, I have Captain Diaz calling me on the radio,” Mathis said and handed the handset of his portable radio to Mykal. “He wants to talk to you.”
“Mykal here, what’s up? It’s like we suddenly got a hornet in our vehicle,” Mykal joked.
“It sounds like we have our bad guys in sight,” Diaz replied without commenting on Mykal’s attempt at humor. “Lanorear says it looks like it’s about three to four hundred soldiers and they are just gradually marching along. It will be dark in about three or four hours because of the trees surrounding us. He said at the pace we have been traveling we could reach them just as it starts to get dark unless they set up their camp sooner than waiting until darkness. Besides, we can speed up and catch them a little sooner unless you would rather wait until daylight tomorrow to catch up with them. They obviously still have a very long walk ahead of them.”
“Soonme,” Mykal called out and turned to Hidtotim’s soldier who had been emotional after discovering the execution of one of his childhood friends. “Do you wanna get revenge on those people who killed those men back there?”
“Yes, of course,” Soonme replied. “Provided your men help me. I would not be able to confront them by myself.”
“I know that buddy,” Mykal laughed at the odd expression on Soonme’s face. “But if we were to hurry we could possibly catch up to them before it gets dark out. If we wait, we will definitely get them in the early morning hours. Lanorear thinks there are three to four hundred of them.”
“Oh my. That is much more than us,” Soonme replied. “However, my new leader, with your help, I know that is a small number for your people to defeat. I will obey your commands to exact my revenge.”
“I agree,” Hidtotim said loudly. His words were almost a shout. “We are yours Mykal and we will do whatever you ask of us. You treat your men far better than many of our commanders have ever treated their men.”
“We agree totally,” Nomorek shouted and pushed his fist upward.
“Yes, yes,” Clontab agreed. “Since we are now under your leadership, my new leader, tell us what you desire us to do and we will carry out our tasks with the best of our ability. Only we ask that you do not abandon us to our former leaders.”
“Yeah, don’t worry about that. You guys are my dudes now,” Mykal laughed and high fived Roy Jr. and Randy.
“You can get these ol’ boys to do anything for you bro,” Roy Jr. laughed. “You could even become like a Charlie Manson like type of boss to these dudes. They will follow you into the crazy shit with no questions asked. As long as you provide them with some Lucky Charms cereal, you can gets them to do anything for you.”
“Yeah,” Mykal laughed. “Can you see it?” He laughed and waved his hand before an imaginary screen in front of them. “Mykal Graves, leader of a cult, but all round nice guy.”
Randy and Mathis started to laugh. Towbar looked confused.
“I’m gonna freak out if I see little swastikas between their eyebrows,” Mathis said and laughed.
“I don’t get it Radio Boy,” Roy Jr. said with a confused expression.
“When Charles Manson was on trial, his followers and Charlie himself carved an X between their eyes,” Mathis explained. “And then they changed it into a swastika.”
“Oh Yeah, I see,” Randy laughed. “You are one funny dude Mathis.”
“Well I’m all on board for whatever you wanna do,” Mykal spoke into the radio to Captain Diaz. “If we can catch them before it gets dark I would love to put a hurtin’ on these bastards. Not just cuz they killed those twenty-two soldiers who probably didn’t really do anything wrong, but that will be three to four hundred we will not have to deal with down the road. I say that jokingly, but honestly, if we do get ahold of Doninka, Princess Doninka, I really believe ol’ Ziggy is gonna throw everything at us including the kitchen sink. So every one of these scumbags we can eliminate now will be one less we will have to deal with later.”
“I understand your reasoning,” Captain Diaz replied. “Just to be up front with you Mykal, I wouldn’t want to just attack them for the twenty-two men they killed, to get revenge as you say. Just to be up front we don’t know all the facts. They could have honestly had it coming to them, not that our military would ever execute a group of men as such. I recognize we have the testimony of Soonme on the one person he knows, but honestly Mykal, they could have all been found guilty of serious crimes that would have justly deserved the death penalty in their culture. So maybe they all really deserved to be executed. What if they all molested little children? What if they were all involved in a plot to murder their commander? I mean we don’t know. Set all that aside, my real issue is, if we don’t eliminate them, then we will have to travel at a snail’s pace to keep our distance from them or we will have to proceed on foot and go through the dreaded Forest of Death.”
“I agree with you. I didn’t think about that stuff,” Mykal responded but looked like he really didn’t care if the dead were guilty or not guilty of crimes that resulted in their executions. They were the enemy. “I just want to take the opportunity to eliminate some of the enemy now so that we won’t have to confront them later,” he said to repeat his position on the matter.
“I know we have a hard deadline, and I want to accomplish this mission as quick as we can,” Diaz explained. “So I believe our best option is to take out this small army because I do not, and I repeat, I do not want to go through the forest on foot to avoid them.”
“I hear ya Sir,” Mykal chuckled. “I would say talk to Lanorear and have him and his Hawkmen fly ahead and keep an eye on them and when we get ready to attack them to make sure the Hawkmen stay on the far side of the road to keep any of them from escaping. From everything I’ve heard from Hidtotim and the three others, I don’t think they will try to escape by running into the forest. Cuz even Ziggy’s soldiers are afraid of the shit he fills his forest with. Ooops, I mean crap.”
“That’s alright Mykal,” Diaz laughed lightly at Mykal’s attempt to clean himself up, or to act good and righteous before him. “You don’t have to be something you’re not around me. I accept you for who you are and--”
“Damn, that’s the same exact thing Ski said to me a couple of times,” Mykal gawked.
“Well, I don’t want you to feel you have to put on a show in front of me. I’m me and you’re you. Just be you, but I want you to think deeply on how you almost died,” Diaz warned. “I’m not going to be preachy to you, but if you would have died from those massive wounds you suffered from, where would you be right now?”
“You mean like, between heaven and hell?”
“Yes. That’s exactly what I mean. That last day before you got hurt I specifically told you about not blowing your last chance and not to gamble because we never know when we’re going to breathe our last breath.”
Mykal was silent for a couple of seconds that felt like an hour. “You’re right. Some time when things settle down in a little bit I would like to talk to you about heaven and hell and God and all that stuff cuz I really did have a close call that last time.”
“I agree,” Captain Diaz the Christian evangelist replied. “I have to believe it is only by the grace of God that you and I are speaking to each other right now. If we’re both being honest Mykal, you should be dead right now. I believe God spared you because He has a mighty plan for your life. But don’t get me wrong,” he snapped as if he was correcting himself. “We don’t’ come to God because of a plan He may have for us or not. We come to God for the one on one relationship with Him. Because when God does have a plan for our lives if we refused to join him, He will get someone else to be used in the plan He had for us. My point is, He doesn’t need us. He wants us. We are the ones who need Him. But I will talk to you about that a little later.”
“Alright. Thanks,” Mykal replied and almost sighed out loud because he felt trapped. “We will talk later cuz I do have some questions about God, life and death and heaven and hell.”
“I’m here whenever you need me Mykal. Diaz out,” he replied and ended his radio transmission.
“Thanks. Let’s speed up to catch those guys before it gets dark.”
5.
“Hey Mykal, from what I hear, it sounds like the bad guys have stopped to set up t
heir camp for the night,” Mathis said while he nodded and listened to the voice in his ear on his handset. “We should be there -- oh sounds like they are just around the corner. We’re stopping, we’re stopping.”
“Is it safe to get out of the vehicle?” Mykal asked.
“Yes,” Mathis replied quickly and waved his arm for everyone to get out of the vehicle. “Captain Diaz is calling for everyone.”
Mykal and the men from his vehicle formed up around the group that enclosed Captain Diaz and Lieutenant Finley.
“Listen up men,” Gunnery Sergeant Ratner barked loudly. “It seems the culprits we’re looking for are about three hundred yards or so away on this very road,” he said and pointed down the road that curved to block their sight. “The Hawkmen say they are bedding down for the night. They are setting up a camp to spend the night here. We should have a little more than an hour. Maybe an hour and a half,” Ratner added while he looked at the position of the sun verses the trees that surrounded them. The way the road looks we should be able to squeeze four vehicles side by side or three if it narrows any. We will creep up on them and when we have a target we will put an end to their barbaric butchery. From all we understand ladies,” Ratner continued like a hard ass Drill Instructor. “They will not venture into the trees but they may try to run down the road which will be an easy catch for us. Keep your eyes open and watch for any counter attack. These men should be hardened soldiers who may just attack as a counter attack. Does everyone understand?”
Lieutenant Finley waited for the hushed war cries to die down. “We will advance on foot with the vehicles behind us. They will be ready with the Mark 19s and the .50 caliber machine guns. They will be able to shoot over our heads. Hidtotim and his men say our bad guys will not go into the forest, so I want all you men to also be warned against going into the trees. Am I understood?”