by Dave Hazel
Numerous bodies covered the floor triggering a number of Goblins to trip over the dead, the wounded and abandoned weapons. Those committed to their cause, rose to continue the attack. They were easily cut down to join the dead.
The attack ceased, but the yells and calls in the strange language made it clear there were many down the side passages. Obviously they were trying to come up with a better plan since the assaults thus far have ended in total defeat.
“Do you know how much longer Myk?” William persisted.
“I don’t know,” Mykal raised his voice in frustration. William reminded Mykal of a child on a road trip who repeatedly asked ‘are we there yet?’ “The fog hasn’t even appeared yet. Chill out. Diaz, how’s the ammo look?”
“We have plenty of ammo,” Finley answered for Diaz. “But you can see how we’re going through it. We can’t do this forever so we need to do something the first chance we get.”
“Oh shit,” Mykal yelled. He winced and doubled over. He grabbed at the sudden crushing pain in his right hand and arm. The intense pain made him drop his rifle. “Ah, ah, damn it,” he yelled out. It felt like his arm was being crushed in a vice. This wasn’t the tingling and numbing sensations he had been accustomed to, this was extreme pain like he never experienced before.
Mykal straightened himself and held his right arm as if it had just been injured. His flesh turned green, but under the green skin tone of his hand and arm he hurt tremendously. He knew the green fog appeared but he couldn’t understand why he felt so much pain. “Towbar’s here,” He groaned for all to hear. He couldn’t hide his anguish. “Ah damn it, damn it, damn it. I’m hurtin’, I’m hurting,” he groaned desperately and neared tears. The pain increased as each moment passed.
“What’s wrong Myk?” Jake asked. He and Boris rushed to his side. “Are you hit?”
Diaz, Finley and several others gathered around him to find out what happened to him. The fear shared by all was that Mykal was hit by a round that ricocheted. The absence of blood brought relief, but they were concerned for his welfare.
“Awh no, no, damn it no,” Mykal cried out and moaned while gently touching the intense pain in his hand. He tried to gently massage it but touching it dropped him to his knees. From his knees he laid himself down on the cold hard floor, but the pain wouldn’t ease.
“What is it Myk?” Boris cried out like a concerned parent to an injured child. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know,” he moaned and sounded like he was on the verge of tears. “It hurts so friggin bad,” he added and curled into a fetal position to cradle his arm on his body. “I feel like I’m being crushed.”
“You did say Towbar is here, right?” William pestered despite Mykal’s obvious display of suffering.
“Yes, but don’t open that damn door,” Mykal yelled. Suddenly, but quietly, Mykal heard the sound of Towbar’s yells. He never heard Towbar express pain like this before. When Towbar was shot with several rounds by an M-16 rifle near the end of the first visit, he didn’t express as much pain that Mykal heard beyond the walls. Mykal knew the men couldn’t hear Towbar, but he was sure the Elves with their advanced hearing could pick it up.
When the men heard Mykal say that Towbar arrived, most of them turned their attention to him. Nordad and his men as well as the three Elves were not sure what just occurred but they assumed everything had to be going well since all the men gave a joyous roar. Nordad brought his light closer to Mykal to see if he could be of assistance. The three Elves stared at the door. They obviously heard Towbar’s yells and groans of pain.
“What do you think’s wrong Myk?” Jake asked and seemed more concerned with Mykal than Towbar. “I never saw you like this.”
“I don’t know. Something’s not right,” Mykal moaned and continued to stay down on the floor in the fetal position. He kept his face pressed against the dirty floor and didn’t care what he could possibly be laying on. The pain was tremendous. He rubbed his arm and was afraid he would lose his limb. Despite his crushing pain, his heart ached for Towbar. He knew the giant suffered great pain as well, but he couldn’t do anything to assist him. He hoped and prayed the mighty Towbar wasn’t dying.
“Is it because the green fog is in such an enclosed space?” Boris guessed.
“That might be it, oh crap, cuz normally we’ve been outside and my hand would just tingle, but now--oh shit, damn it, damn it,” he moaned and slapped his free hand to the hard surface while it seemed the pain increased. “I can’t take it, I can’t take this, I can’t, I can’t,” Mykal groaned pitifully while rocking back and forth on the dirty floor.
Suddenly yells and screams rang out among the men who were caught off guard by the Goblin surprise attack. The men heard that Towbar had arrived and heard something was wrong with Mykal. They took their focus off their responsibility of watching for a counter attack. Automatic rifle fire from Marine Sergeant Verzani sprayed the ceiling and ricocheted down the corridor. Verzani took a crossbow bolt to the forehead and while falling backward he squeezed tightly onto the trigger.
Flesch was hit in the upper left shoulder with a crossbow bolt but he dove to his machine gun and opened fire despite the pain of his injury. “They’re coming,” Flesch yelled and continued to lay down a stream of fire to keep the Goblins from letting fly another volley of quarrels. “Eat this you little bastards,” he hollered.
Bak Kwon was shot in the back of the head with a Goblin arrow while watching Mykal. He had suffered a crossbow bolt to his shoulder blade the day before, but this one killed him. He fell forward onto Lee-Lon. By falling on his fellow countryman he knocked Lee-Lon out of the path of a bolt that would have struck him in the head and probably would have killed him as well.
Blair was struck in the back of his left arm and the quarrel passed through the front of his arm. The bolt did not pass through completely, but remained sticking out both sides of his limb. The sudden surprise and shock of pain forced a display of emotion on his normally expressionless face. The tip of the bolt had glanced off the bone near his bicep and ripped through flesh. It startled the Elf to see the tip and part of the shaft protruding from the front of his arm.
“Oh criminy,” Diaz yelled out instead of using a cuss word. He had been struck in the right side of his waist just as he turned. The bolt caught the fleshy part of his side. His side ripped open and bled but there didn’t appear to be serious damage to his body which he thanked God for protecting him. If he wouldn’t have been turning the little arrow would have gone in to his midsection and he would have suffered internal damage.
Mykal saw what took place but he couldn’t do anything about it. His suffering immobilized him. If the enemy happened upon him at this moment Mykal knew he wouldn’t really be able to defend himself. He would be helpless and an easy target. He worried the pain wouldn’t pass quick enough with Goblins on the attack. He wanted to give up and die. The pain was so intense that he thought he was on the verge of blacking out. He was tempted to call one of the men with swords to lob off his arm, but he knew he would lose his green fog detector as well as one of his appendages.
Several others joined Flesch in beating back the attack. Several M-203s fired off high explosive rounds. The grenade launchers were used at Lieutenant Finley’s direction more for the noise to instill fear. He ordered the high explosive rounds to be launched so they would land behind the Goblins. With six earth shattering explosions detonating to the rear of the Goblins, the Goblins panicked and retreated down the side passages.
“Myk, do you think you’re going to be alright?” Diaz asked while inspecting his own wound. “I want to go check on the men.”
“Yeah, I think I’ll be fine. It feels like the pressure is easing up some which means the green fog should be fading out.”
“Great, I’ll pass that on to the men. Jake, would you and Gunny come with me?” He asked while turning to Gunnery Sergeant Ratner. When he turned they saw the blood from his wound
“Yes Sir,” Ratner rep
lied. “But are you okay Sir? Maybe you should just stay here and tend to your wound while Jake and I check on the men. Besides Sir, Lieutenant Finley is already out there with the men.”
“Thanks Gunny. I will do that. I need to get this bleeding to stop.” Diaz turned to look at the three Elves. “Blair, how are you doing?”
“It is painful. I will survive,” he replied with his soft sing song tone to his words. Starling and Leeno were preparing to remove the wooden missile from Blair’s arm.
“Hey, this may help you,” Diaz said and ignored his wound to lend a helping hand. From the back of his web belt he opened a canvas pouch and pulled out a pair of miniature bolt cutters. “I wasn’t sure if I would have a need for these on this trip. It turns out they did come in handy after all.”
They watched while Diaz quickly and easily snipped the front of the arrow off with just a little pressure applied to the grips. For Blair, the process resulted in far less pain than if they were to break the shaft by hand or if they would have cut the shaft in half. The Elves were impressed by the little tool.
“Now you should be able to pull it out with ease.”
“Thank you Cap-tan Diaz,” Starling said and swiftly pulled the bolt shaft through Blair’s arm while they were distracted in their discussion with Diaz.
“That was wise,” Blair acknowledged Starling’s ploy. “I did not expect that. I endured less pain. Thank you.”
Mykal watched and listened to them while rubbing feeling back into his arm. He thought he would go crazy if he had only Elves to talk to. He appreciated their friendship and their company, but their conversation would get on his nerves.
Finley and a couple of others guided the wounded Green Beret Staff Sergeant Nelson back to where Mykal, Diaz, and the Elves were. One of the Marines held a dressing over Nelson’s face but blood ran down his jaw line and his chin onto his shirt. Nelson held his head back and moaned loudly.
“What happened?” Diaz asked.
“We think he was struck by a ricocheting bullet,” Finley presumed and pulled the blood soaked dressing from Nelson’s face. A gash started near his right ear over his cheekbone under his right eye and smashed through the middle of his nose leaving a large open hole. Nelson looked to be in a great deal of pain and couldn’t breathe through his nose.
Jake and Private First Class Taylor carried Cotton back away from what would be the front line. Private First Class Cotton had a crossbow bolt stuck in his inner thigh just inches from his genitals. “. . .no I’m fine, I’m fine,” Cotton winced. “As long as I didn’t get stuck in the family jewels, I’m cool man, I’m cool.”
“Are you in a lot of pain?” Jake asked.
“Hell yeah, Sarge,” Cotton scoffed as if Jake asked a dumb question. “Man, whatta ya think? Look,” he pointed to his trousers saturated with blood. “I feel the blood run down my leg.”
“I meant are you in too much pain to walk on your own?” Jake asked again and realized he did ask a foolish question.
“Look at me man,” Gorman called out to get Cotton’s attention. “Damn it man, I’m hurt worsen than you are,” the black Marine Sergeant winced and yelled as he looked at the bolt stuck into his right hip bone. “I done looked at it, so now I’ze really feels it. Oh damn,” he yelled out.
Mykal moved to Gorman who leaned against the wall, he appeared to be afraid to put any pressure on his right leg. Mykal saw the quarrel was buried deep. “Are you okay Gorman?”
“I think so,” he moaned. “I don’t know. It hurts like hell. I think I can walk, but if I have to run I’m in a world of shit. I won’t be able to keep up with you guys.”
“Don’t worry about that. We’ll carry you,” Mykal said to reassure him and felt sensation returning back to his right hand. “Looking at that, I don’t think we should try to take that outta you yet.”
“That’s cool,” he said and nodded. “I can’t imagine how that’s gonna hurt. I’ll need my ass drugged up or knocked out.”
“Just be careful not to catch it on anything. Sit tight,” Mykal said and left him as two of his Marine friends came to his aid.
“Myk, look,” Boris called out and nodded to where the two dead men were laid side by side. Lee-Lon the last surviving Korean was on his knees beside his friend Bak Kwon.
Mykal’s heart had been pricked seeing the tears streaming down Lee-Lon’s face. Lee-Lon didn’t make a sound, but clearly the man felt deep sorrow. Mykal looked back to Boris and without a word being spoken they acknowledged that they both understood the loss Lee-Lon felt.
Mykal gently patted Lee-Lon on the shoulder. The friendly touch wasn’t a weak attempt to ease the man’s pain, but rather an acknowledgement of slight comfort that Lee-Lon wasn’t alone in his sorrow and loss. Lee-Lon turned his head downward as if shamed that another man caught him expressing his emotional pain. Lee-Lon suffered over the loss of Lieutenant Kim and his closest friend Bak Kwon. Mykal didn’t want to embarrass the soldier. He walked away from Lee-Lon and looked at his hand which lost the green shade to his flesh.
Mykal wanted to assure the Korean that it was okay to “let his feelings out,” but his heart skipped a beat at the idea of Towbar being in their room. “Boris, I think Towbar’s here,” he laughed out and pointed to the closed door.
“You mean now?” Boris turned to go to the door with him.
“Yeah, I think the green fog is gone,” he replied and held up his hand for Boris to see his flesh looked normal.
“Are you sure the green fog is gone?” William’s voice came from behind them. “Can we open the door?”
“Let’s wait,” Mykal yelled. “I still feel it in my hand.”
“Hey Myk, look,” Boris said and pointed to two Marines tending to one of Nordad’s men.
Nordad’s face drooped sad with concern. Agnor looked more concerned than Nordad. “Will my relative be alright?” Agnor asked as Mykal and Boris approached.
Mykal looked to see Staff Sergeant Fuller and Sergeant Kalhoun were dressing Jumbdex’s wounds. “Is he gonna be alright?”
“Myk, I’m no doctor,” Fuller said then paused. His expression wasn’t good, but it was clear he was trying to keep the truth from Jumbdex. “He took two rounds in the belly. I don’t know how bad he is inside, but he’s bleeding pretty bad.”
“We don’t have the medical equipment to do anything,” Kalhoun added. “And it’s so damn dirty and dank here.”
“Both rounds came out his back,” Fuller added. “One looks like it came out straight through but the other looked like it could have bounced around and then came out here,” he said and pointed to Jumbdex’s lower left side.
“Mykal, I am concerned,” Nordad said as he lowered himself to one knee beside his wounded friend. “Jumbdex is my oldest friend. We’ve known each other since we were children. I owe him my life many times over. Agnor’s father and Jumbdex’s father are brothers. They have known each other their entire lives. Can you do something for him?”
“Nordad, stop,” Jumbdex spoke softly and sighed. The gruff fighter seemed to gasp for his breaths. “You grumble like an old woman. It is I… who owe you… my life.”
“How are you feeling Jumbdex?” Mykal asked and placed a hand on his shoulder. With all the blood on the ground around him, it surprised Mykal he was still breathing.
“I feel strange… I have never… felt such pain before,” he groaned his words as the pain increased. “I have felt the sting…of a blade...several times. This surpasses deadly cold steel…I feel so cold inside... Am I dying?” He struggled to get his words out. When he spoke his beard bounced. The end of his beard looked like a paint brush that had been dipped into red paint. “Am I dying?’ Jumbdex asked again when there was silence.
“I don’t think so,” Mykal replied with a positive smile. “With Towbar being be here, we’ll be able to get you back to medical help that will get you all fixed up. Our doctors are amazing.”
“Do you think he’s in there?” Boris asked.
Mykal
hesitated and studied his hand. “Yeah, I think the fog is gone.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” William snipped.
“Is it safe?” Boris asked and gave a broad smile.
“Let’s make sure we bring the men back inside the room who passed away,” Diaz said while applying a dressing to his wound. “I don’t want the Goblins to abuse their bodies,” he added and the men were already in motion to retrieve the dead.
“Yeah, let’s go,” Mykal said enthusiastically. Though he had been separated from Towbar for about a week, he was anxious to reunite with Towbar for many reasons. The most important being Towbar could take them from under the mountain.
“Is it okay to open the door now?” Jake asked and would not allow anyone near the door until Mykal gave permission.
Mykal nodded and let Jake open the door. “Oh no, Towbar!” Mykal yelled and gasped at the sight of the giant down on one knee. Towbar was doubled over holding his head. Mykal rushed to the giant but Towbar held his hand out to stop Mykal.
“I need time my friend. This travel was very difficult.”
Towbar leaned against a chair, holding his head. When he rose to his feet he surprised Nordad, his men and the three Elves. Behind Towbar sat a makeshift cart. On the cart were thirty-five canteens filled with water and eighty boxes of MRE rations, military Meals Ready to Eat and some other provisions including medical supplies.
The moments Mykal stood there watching his friend seemed surreal. When Towbar nodded to signal those watching that he return to normal, Mykal rushed forward and grabbed the giant to hug him. The physical sight looked like a child greeting a parent who returned from a long business trip.
“It’s so great to see you Towbar,” Mykal said with giddy excitement.
“It is good to see you, my friend. It is good to see all of you,” Towbar said. He nodded and waved his hand to the cart. “Major Chick suggested that I bring supplies.”