by A. American
“Look, I’m trying to be nice here,” Sarge said.
Sheffield started to laugh. “I don’t give a shit what you think you’re trying to do.”
“Where the hell did that come from?” Livingston asked, pointing at the Stryker.
“You know he stole it from someone!” Sheffield smarmily replied.
“Actually, I didn’t….” Sarge replied before Sheffield cut him off.
“I’m sick of your shit and don’t want to hear another word out of your fucking mouth.”
Sarge wagged a finger at him, “You really need to relax a little and listen to me.”
Sheffield was looking a little unstable. He laughed again and shouted, “No, I don’t!” He looked at Livingston and said, “Take his ass into custody!”
Sarge and Livingston replied in unison, “What?”
“I said, take him into custody!”
“Look, Captain, that’s not going to happen,” Sarge said.
Sheffield raised his carbine, pointing it at Sarge’s face. The old man didn’t flinch, but everyone around him did. I had been standing off to the side and took a couple of steps towards Sheffield, who was focused on Sarge, and I stuck the muzzle of my rifle into his ear.
“Sheffield, you really need to relax. I don’t know why you’re so spun up, but it ain’t that big a deal,” I said quietly.
He cut his eyes towards me, “You’re just as bad as he is!”
While Sheffield was looking at me, Dalton walked up behind him. Livingston was still in shock at the sight of Sheffield pointing a gun at Sarge. Once Dalton was behind him, Sarge gave a very slight nod and quickly pushed the muzzle of Sheffield’s rifle out of his face. Dalton grabbed Sheffield’s head in a sleeper hold. Sheffield released his rifle, more focused on the large man that was trying to squeeze his head off. Dalton cocked his head to the side, his lips close to the man’s ears and whispered, “Shhh, just go to sleep.”
And he did just that. Sheffield’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and he passed out. Dalton stepped back and deposited him face down on the ground and removed his weapons. Then, he pulled Sheffield’s hands behind his back to secure them.
“Don’t do that, Dalton,” Sarge said. Then he looked at Livingston and said, “Come on, help me get him woke up and on his feet.”
Once they had Sheffield up, Sarge looked at me and said, “Go ahead and move to the park and start handing the food out.” Looking at Livingston, he said, “Send a bunch of your people too, for security. But you stay here. We need to have a talk.”
Livingston nodded and gave a couple of quick orders. Sheffield was coming around now and had a look of disgust on his face. One, he made sure Dalton could see. But Dalton ignored it, doing his best to look disinterested.
I stepped up onto the side of the truck Perez was driving and pointed to the park, telling him to head that way. He nodded and started it up and pulled away. Aric got into the driver’s seat of the Hummer, and all the trucks, except mine, moved to the park. I was waiting to see what Sarge and Sheffield were going to do.
“Look, Captain. I know we don’t get along. But I’m not your enemy. I’m here to help you. We went to Eglin Air Force Base and got all this food for the people here. We got fuel and ammo for you.” He pointed at the Stryker, adding, “Hell, we got us a tank! Kinda,” he added with a smile.
Sheffield ran his hands over his face. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
Sarge patted him on the shoulder. “I know you are. I know this isn’t what you wanted to be doing. And I’m guessing it’s starting to wear on you a little.”
Sheffield nodded. “It is,” he twirled a finger in the air, “there’s some assholes running around out here right now. We don’t know who they are or where they are. I have to take care of all these people.”
Sarge held his hand up. “I get it. Trust me.” He reached into his blouse pocket and removed a piece of paper and said, “but I’m going to do you a favor,” and handed him the paper.
Sheffield looked at it, then at the old man. Sarge nodded, “Go ahead, read it.”
Sheffield unfolded the piece of paper. Holding it up, his lips moved ever so slightly as his eyes scanned across the sheet. Sarge stood, watching patiently. After a moment, Sheffield shouted, “What the fuck!” A smile spread over the old man’s face and he looked down at the ground as he rocked back and forth on his heels.
Sheffield looked at Sarge and said, “You’ve got to be shitting me.”
Sarge shrugged. “Wasn’t my idea,” he innocently replied.
Sheffield looked at the paper again, shaking his head. Livingston asked, “What is it?”
Sheffield handed him the sheet, still shaking his head. Livingston quickly scanned the print and looked up. He too was in disbelief. “Sarge, they made you a Colonel?”
“Like I said,” Sarge replied, “it wasn’t my idea. But you two can see it for yourselves.”
“So, this means, you’re in charge now,” Livingston said flatly.
Sarge slowly nodded. “It appears that way.”
“Wait,” I said. “You’re telling me they made you a Colonel?”
Sarge cocked his head to the side and asked, “And why is that so hard to believe?”
I started laughing loudly. Leaning over and holding my stomach as I howled.
“What the hell are you bawling about?”
I stood up, wiping my eyes. In a deep tone and with a heavy southern accent, I said, “Lawdy, lawdy, Colonel I do declare! I can just see you in a white three-piece suit!”
He stared down his finger at me, “Keep it up and I’m going to shove three pieces up your ass!” Then he turned his attention back to Sheffield. “As you can see, you can relax now. It’s not all on your shoulders. Now, it’s all on my head. You just do what you’re instructed to do and let me worry about the rest.”
Sheffield looked off into the distance. “So now, I work for you?” Sarge shook his head, confirming the new pecking order.
Sarge gripped his shoulder. “Look, nothing is going to change. We’re going to move some folks around so there’s not so many people here. It’ll make your job easier because you’re going to still be in charge here. I’m not going to meddle in your business here. I will, from time to time, need your help. But overall, you’re still in charge here. And no one needs to know about this either. I’m not here to undermine your authority.”
Sheffield listened, and when Sarge finished speaking, Sheffield clucked his tongue. After thinking about it, he shrugged and replied, “Fine by me.” He took a deep breath and said, “So what’s the order?” There was a short pause and he added, “Colonel.”
“Don’t start that shit. We’ve got to get your fuel bladder refilled right now. The rest of the fuel we’ll be taking back with us. With Russians and Cubans sneaking around, I don’t want to keep all of our supplies in one place. There’s also ammo for you and I got a couple of Mark Nineteens for you as well.”
“I’ll get some people on it,” Livingston said.
“We’re going to step up patrols,” Sarge continued. “I want to find any Commies that may be sneaking around. We need to find them, before they find us.”
Sheffield nodded, “I’ve got a patrol out now. They were told if they found them, not to engage, but to call it in.” He nodded at the Stryker and continued. “Now that we have that, we can deal with their armor.”
“We’ve also got a TOW launcher that can be mounted on a Hummer. I’m leaving that here as well. You need to get it mounted. There’s only eight rockets for it. So, use it with discretion. I’ll be coming back up here tomorrow so we can draw up a plan to deal with these assholes. In the meantime, do not engage them if you find them. We’ll have to coordinate things carefully. We don’t have the manpower or equipment to go off half-cocked.”
Sheffield nodded. “I agree. It’s been worrying me.”
“Me too. That’s why we’ll pick the time and place. Not them. We’ll stack the deck in our favor before we put the boots to them.” Sarge looked over at the park where the food was being handed out. “But for now, we’re going over there to help out. Have your people unload the stuff in the Hummer, it’s all for you.”
“I’ll get it done. Livingston and I will be ready when you get here tomorrow.”
Sarge nodded and patted him on the back, “Don’t worry, Captain. We’ll be fine.” Then he looked at me and said, “Bring you ass. Let’s go to the park.”
I walked with him towards the park. I couldn’t help but smile. He noticed and said, “Go ahead. Get it out of your system.”
I laughed and replied, “I just can’t help but have the image of the southern colonel in mind when I think of this. I can’t believe they made you a Colonel.”
“Wasn’t my idea. But Fawcett said, desperate times call for desperate measures. I asked to be made a Major or something. Anything but a Colonel.” He stepped in front of me, stopping me. Jabbing his finger in my chest, he said, “You keep this shit to yourself too! If Mikey finds out about it, he’ll make my life hell. This changes nothing here. Got it?”
I pushed his finger away and replied, “Don’t worry, Colonel. Your secret is safe with me.”
He shook his head. “It’s hard to get the big picture when you have such a small screen, ain’t it? Work with me here.”
“I won’t say anything. I promise,” I said. But I was already thinking about getting Little Bit to start calling him Colonel. “But, I gotta admit, you handled that way better than I expected you would.”
“Sheffield is a good man. He’s just out of his depth. Some people know how to lead. Some know how to make their way through the system, punching their ticket. Sad thing about the military, you do that long enough, you get promoted. Nothing against him. He’s just a different kind of officer.”
We made it to the park and I found Mel and Little Bit helping in the distribution. Things were going smoothly. But there were a lot of armed men making sure it stayed that way. I nudged Sarge and said, “I told you it’d go smoothly.”
“Yeah,” he grunted back. “Altoona went real well this morning.”
I was thinking about something smart to say back when Aric walked up. He tapped my shoulder and pointed, “You see that guy over there working on that net?”
I looked in the direction he pointed and saw a man sitting in the grass. A net was piled beside him. He was working on a section in his lap. “Yeah. What about him?”
He studied him for a minute and said, “I think that guy worked in the camp.”
I shrugged. “So?”
“For the DHS. I think he was their interrogator.”
I looked at him, “Really?”
I looked back at the man. He was focused on his net. Another man walked up to him and knelt down. This one, I did know. Something about Micha always rubbed me wrong. I couldn’t figure out what it was about him I didn’t like.
“Well, if you’re right, then so am I. That guy that walked up, never have cared for him either. Don’t know why.” I watched as the man working on the net handed something to Micha. It was small, too small to see from where we were. But Micha nodded and quickly walked off. I told Aric to keep an eye on the him.
Dalton was standing by the front of the truck. I walked over to him and bumped him with my shoulder. “You see that guy over there. On the other side of the park, walking towards town?” Dalton nodded. “Can you follow him and see where he goes?”
“Will do. I’ll be in touch,” he replied and started after him without question.
“Just find out where he’s going. Give me a call and let me know.”
He gave me a thumbs-up and continued his pursuit. I made my way back to the truck to watch the progress. Little Bit was up in the back of the truck with Edie and Jace, carrying bags to those handing them out. Each child could only carry one at a time. But they were keeping up. Lee Ann and Taylor were helping to hand the bags to the people as they passed.
As I stood watching the work, Shane ambled up and leaned against the truck beside me. “How the hell did you pull this off?” He asked.
“We went to Eglin. I asked the Army to give until it hurt.”
“Looks like they did.”
I nodded and changed the subject. “Have you seen Micha around lately?”
He shrugged, “Sometimes. He doesn’t come around as much as he used to.”
“He’s not helping you guys out anymore?”
Shane snorted, “He’s never really been any help. More nosy than anything else.”
“What? Asking questions?”
Nodding, he replied, “Yeah. Always asking questions about what was going on. Where people were. That kind of thing.”
I pointed to the man with the net. He was on his feet now, piling it up. “You know that guy?”
He shook his head. “No. Can’t say I do. Who is he?”
“I was hoping you knew. Aric here thinks he worked for the DHS out at the camp.”
“I’m almost certain,” Aric replied.
Shane looked at the man who was now walking away from the park. “You want me to go roll him up?”
I shook my head. “No. Not yet. But could you go follow him, see where he’s going? Dalton is following Micha. The two were just talking, so I’m curious what’s up. I don’t trust Micha, never have. And with Aric thinking this clown was with the DHS, I’m just curious what they’re up to.”
“Sure,” Shane replied. “I’ll keep an eye on him.”
“Take someone with you,” Aric said. “If he’s who I think he is, he’s pretty dangerous.”
“I’ll grab Shawn. He’s on that side of the park anyway.”
I saw Mitch and Michelle working their way through the crowd and made my way over to him. He smiled when he saw me and I shook his hand. “How’s it going?” I asked.
He shook my hand and replied, “Going great. Thanks for the food.”
I nodded. “You’re a big part of things now. It’s only right you get your share.”
“We really appreciate it. We ran out of flour, now I can make some bread,” Michelle said.
We hung out in the park, chatting and watching as the crowd moved through the distribution line. I found my way over to Sarge and asked if he’d seen Cecil. “He’s out at the farm. There’s still a lot of work going on out there.”
“You got his stuff set aside?”
“Yeah. We put his aside and enough for the folks working out there.” Sarge peeked over the side of the truck. He looked surprised and said, “Still quite a bit in there. We may have leftovers.”
“Good. We’ll hold onto it.”
As I was speaking, the radio crackled to life. Dalton’s voice came over it, saying, “You’re about to have incoming.”
I looked at Sarge and asked, “What’d he say?”
But Sarge was already on his radio, “Repeat that!”
“You’re about to have incoming!”
Sarge raised his carbine and fired a long continuous burst into the air. People began to run, some dove to the ground. The burst of rifle fire was interrupted by the sound of the air tearing apart, followed immediately by a thunderous explosion in the park. Dirt flew high into the air as shells exploded like a thunder clap.
I was on the ground and crawling towards Mel and the girls. They were all pressed to the ground under the truck. Another shell landed with a roaring explosion, this time closer to the truck. I made it to Mel, and she had her hands pressed tight over her ears and her eyes clenched tightly closed. I grabbed her hand and pulled it from her ear, screaming, “We need to move!”
&n
bsp; She stared back at me, her eyes wide with fear. I ducked as another shell landed. An unidentifiable piece of pink meat slapped into the truck and fell to the ground. I grabbed Mel’s hand and jerked her out from under the truck. Little Bit was beside her and I pulled her out as well. I didn’t see Edie or Jace. Another shell landed and I saw a body fly into the air, high into the air and land in a tree. I pushed Mel, screaming for her to run towards the band shell at the opposite end of the park.
“When you hear the sound in the air, get flat on the ground!” I screamed as I pushed her again and told her to run.
I moved back to the truck and found Lee Ann and Taylor. The air wailed again and I fell on top of them as the shell slammed into the park. It landed near the gallows and sent splinters of wood flying in all directions. There were screams and wails. But they sounded far away as my ear drums felt as though they’d ruptured from the explosions. I stood up and pulled the girls to their feet and pointed at the band shell and screamed, “Run!”
They didn’t hesitate and took off as fast as their feet would carry them. I saw the Stryker moving, Mike was getting out of the strike area. The air tore apart once again and I fell to the ground. It hit the truck, sending pieces of it flying and igniting the fuel from the ruptured tanks. A person, fully engulfed in flames walked slowly away from it, hands held over their head. A living pyre.
I looked around for anyone I could recognize and saw Danny. He was on his feet and running towards the burning truck. I started towards him and the air screeched again. The earth spewed up, sending both of us flying. I came to with the sensation I was moving. But that couldn’t be. I knew I was on the ground. I looked to my left and saw Danny beside me. Then, looking back over my shoulder, I realized Thad had us both by the collar and was dragging us, much faster than I would have thought possible.
Another explosion rocked the park. But it sounded farther away. Or maybe it was just my shot-out ears making me think it was. Thad deposited us both against a concrete wall. Mel and the girls were there, as well as Jace and Edie. Mary, Jess and Fred were also there, huddled against the wall.