Mykal's Deadly Perambulation

by Dave Hazel

  “Myk, I think you better stop,” Jake whispered as he stepped forward and stood in front of his friend.

  “No, I’m not gonna stop. These little damn pukes get on my friggin nerves. They think they’re so damn tough cuz they got a pen in their hand. But their pen ain’t shit against Sosos, so they come after us.”

  “Mykal,” Chick spoke up. “I would like you to step over here,” he requested in a calm friendly manner.

  Major Innes and Captain Taylor stood close to Chick. They were uncertain how Mykal was going to react.

  “I don’t understand where the notion comes from that we are looking to ‘go after’ anyone,” Jules replied softly.

  Mykal side-stepped Jake and pointed to Major Chick. “This here is a man that I can respect,” he paused. “He’s a man that I could follow and would follow into battle. But you, you friggin sissy wimps--” He stopped himself and turned to join Chick.

  A slight rumble percolated through the crowd. Most didn’t understand where the hostility came from. Most of the faces wore confusion and those from the real world thought that Mykal was in love with all media because of the fair treatment he received before returning to Towbar’s world.

  Major Chick gently pulled Mykal from ear shot. Innes and Taylor followed. Towbar shadowed them because he was uncertain what they were going to do with his friend.

  “I’m sorry about all that,” Mykal said before any of them spoke. He looked to the ground and was embarrassed. He then looked at the magic ring on his finger and wondered if it helped to play a part in his emotional meltdown which led to his verbal explosion.

  “What was that all about Myk?” Chick asked and eyed Mykal as a doctor looking for the cause of an illness.

  “I don’t know,” he replied and let a heavy sigh escape. He glanced down at the ring on his finger and knew his emotions were going to get him into trouble if he couldn’t keep his emotions, thus his mouth, under control “Don’t get me wrong, I meant the stuff I said, but normally I would have just kept my mouth shut and held it inside. I really do hate how the media destroys certain people and there is nothing to do to fight against it,” Mykal said and sighed when he realized he was bitter over how the media ripped Boris apart and rightly so. But deep inside he knew it was more than that. “The thing is, I know that’s who they are and if they want to be losers and jerks that’s their business.”

  “Myk, Instead of using those words I would have said they are wrong,” Chick corrected him. “Name calling doesn’t get us anywhere. They are entitled to what they believe and think. Now just because we think differently we can’t shove our way of thinking down their throat. Because then we no longer have a democracy, we have tyranny. We wouldn’t want a tyranny from their side, so we have to be careful not to project that from our side. I understand where you are coming from Myk, but I have to deal with this on a daily basis, back in the real world, I mean. You have to let it go. Just like water off a duck’s back,” Chick said with a smile and gave a light punch to Mykal’s arm.

  “I don’t understand how you remain quiet and just take their bullshit. I know they haven’t been bad here, but--”

  “It’s part of the job, part of my responsibilities. I will say, part of me was saying, ‘damn, I would like to have said that to some others’. But I can’t.”

  “I promise you Mykal,” Captain Taylor spoke up. “You said what many great men have wanted to say.”

  “And, I’ll bet you a dollar to a donut that any of my Marines who heard you were cheering,” Innes said and gently pointed his index finger into Mykal’s chest.

  “Should I apologize to them?”

  “That’s up to you Myk,” Chick quickly answered. “I know you’re a big man, and I know you’ll do what’s right.”

  They all returned to the group gathered. The reporter group still had the stunned, confused expressions. The rest of those gathered seemed to be humored by the outburst.

  When they returned Mykal took the lead and paused. He stared down at the ground and let a loud sigh escape. He looked up at the media group. He made eye contact with those he knew he offended. “Before we go any further, I need to apologize,” Mykal spoke weakly, not because he felt ashamed that he had to correct his wrong, but that he couldn’t believe he would explode the way he did. “I’m not going to make excuses,” he added while looking at the magic ring on his finger and believed the ring had something to do with his explosive emotions. “My emotions got the best of me. I should have never said the horrible things I said. I was wrong. I can’t tell you how sorry I am. I truly mean it. I’m wrong. I do, sincerely, ask for your forgiveness. I, I, I,” he paused and sighed again. “During our first trip here, Roy Jr. said something to me,” he pointed to Roy Jr. “His father brought them up to understand that excuses don’t explain and explanations don’t excuse. I agree. I’m sorry,” he said and winked at Roy Jr.

  “He won’t make excuses, but I will try to explain,” Chick spoke and placed a hand on Mykal’s shoulder. “From the reports I received from those who had been lost, the Lost Patrol as we’ve called them, they endured terrible situations. They were constantly at death’s door, fighting for survival the entire time they were gone. They didn’t just encounter an enemy we would normally face on the battlefield. They encountered things of nightmares as some of you heard. Giant spiders and other freaks of nature. They witnessed the horrible deaths of close friends. Being a leader, and being responsible for situations you have no control over can take a terrible toll on anyone. Since he returned he has been on the go constantly with little sleep or rest. So I beg your forgiveness and ask that you accept his apology. And we will move forward.”

  “There are no hard feelings here,” Jules said.

  “Thank you,” Mykal said. “I really want to apologize to you specifically Jules. Normally if I have a beef with anyone I’ll take it to them one on one. I would never talk to someone that way in front of others. So much stuff had built up from countless things that have happened and you just happened to be standing there when I blew up. This wasn’t about you as much as it was about me,” he said while fingering the magic ring with his other hand. It looked like a nervous tick while he humbly confessed his wrong. Mykal knew the ring played a part in tearing at his emotions. He knew one day he was going to have to do something about the ring or it would hurt him. ‘Damn, one more friggin thing to worry about.’

  “Mykal, I truly want to thank you for being man enough to correct a wrong,” Jules said. “And for being big enough to correct it in front of everyone you made those statements too. I do accept your apology and I would like to move past this.”

  The sweaty fat man looked like he wanted to argue with Mykal but remain silent.

  “Let’s close with understanding our position here in the Pass,” Chick continued as if there wasn’t a break. “Our OPs will keep us informed on Soso movement. They will not surprise us. If an attack starts we have placed land mines out there. As you get closer to outside the Pass, out there you will see little yellow and orange flags placed in the ground. If you happen to venture out that way, do not, and I repeat do not, step where the little yellow and orange flags are. Oh, thank you,” Chick said and turned to Captain Taylor.

  “This is what Major Chick is referring to,” Captain Taylor produced the little plastic flags. The orange and yellow standards were on an eight inch wire. “The Sosos will not know what they are but we will.”

  “May I ask what those little flags do?” One of Towbar’s generals asked after raising his hand to get their attention. The man was a smaller version of Towbar. His face was covered with a thick short black beard. His eyes were piercing blue. His shoulder length black hair was tied back in a tight pony tail.

  “Great question,” Taylor answered. “Since some of you are not familiar with our weapons please do not hesitate to ask any questions. These little things,” Taylor paused as he lifted the two little flags in each hand and tapped them together. “They do nothing. They just let us k
now where danger is. Sir what is your name?”

  “I am Dalisid,” he answered proudly and thumped his broad chest with his fist. “Second in command when Towbar is away.”

  “And a close friend for all time,” Towbar said. Dalisid nodded in agreement.

  Captain Taylor bent over and stuck the two little flags into the ground. “Dalisid, as I said, these little flags do nothing, but where they are planted, underneath is what we call a bomb. If someone, even as large as you, steps where these little flags are, you will be killed in an instant,” Taylor said and slapped his hands together. “Boom! Your entire body will be ripped apart that fast. Anyone standing close to you will be killed just as quickly, or they will have their legs ripped off. So when the Sosos charge, they are going to be in for a very big, very painful surprise. If we happen to venture out that way,” Taylor said and pointed to the opening of the Pass. “Do not, I repeat do not step where you see these little flags. Great question Dalisid.”

  “Thank you, Sir,” Dalisid replied and looked to Towbar for confirmation of what Taylor said.

  “Our friends have amazing and terrifying weapons,” Towbar reacted to his general. “Be thankful to the gods they are not friends with the Sosos. You will be awed and filled with respect when you watch our new friends fight.”

  “Thank you Towbar,” Chick said with a nod and a wink. “Now another thing we can do, we can randomly attack with the choppers and we can set mortar teams out and about to lay down several fire missions to terrify and confuse the Sosos. When they finally try to assault the Pass we will cut them to shreds with our many M-60 machine guns and our .50 caliber machine guns. I read the reports and know what only four M-60 machine guns did during Mykal’s first visit. I can promise we will do great damage to the first few attacks on the Pass.

  “As that ammo wears down,” Chick continued. “Our machine gun teams will pull back and we will allow Towbar’s soldiers and King Krago’s warriors to line the edge of the pits, so when the Sosos go into the pit they will be cut to pieces as they try to climb out. And the entire time our riflemen will be standing by, picking off any that may get through, but more importantly, their number one objective is to stop the archers before they can let loose the death arrows.”

  “I would like to add, if you don’t mind Sir?” Captain Taylor looked to Chick who waved him on. “We have a large supply of ammunition including plenty of explosives. Many land mines are set in the ground and we have many more to place. We have plenty of claymore mines, basically explosives we can set and detonate at our choosing,” he added for the reporters. All the men have hand grenades, we have several mortar teams, and yes,” he snapped his finger. “Every fourth man has an M-203 grenade launcher attached to his M-16 rifle. My point being, we have plenty of riflemen, we have plenty of machine gunners and we have plenty of explosives. I think we make the playing field a little more even despite their overwhelming numbers.”

  “Playing field?” The sweaty fat man said sarcastically.

  “It’s a figure of speech.” Chick’s calm tone prevented anyone from responding to the deliberate attempt at provocation. “Are there any other questions?”

  “When is the first raid?” Roy Jr. asked. “Cuz I don’t care what anyone thinks, my sole purpose for coming back here besides getting my daddy and brother is to get revenge,” he turned a glance to the fat man. “My baby brother was killed by them bastards and as long as I’m here in Towbar’s world and as long as I have breath in me, I’m killin’ Sosos and any who side with ‘em.”

  Roy reached out and grabbed his son’s shoulder. “You get them bastards for me too boy. I’ll do whatever you people need me to do. I’ll clean weapons, I’ll plant explosives and when the Sosos attack I’ll be killing with everything that’s in me,” he huffed and fought back tears. “My baby is out yonder, cuz of some ol’ Soso death arrows. My boy suffered a horrible death. I’m a Soso hating killing machine, and don’t you forget it,” he said while turning to the reporters and gave an expression that dared the reporters to argue with him.

  Randy picked up where dad stopped. “The only good Soso is a dead Soso. Or one that’s dying in my hands,” Randy said while squeezing his hands around the imaginary neck of a Soso.

  “Right on brothers,” Larry yelled and pumped his fist in the air. “Preach it brother, preach it. See we’re not back in our world where we would have to worry about what the American public might think. But out here it is kill or be killed and I don’t plan on those scum sucking low lifes killing me cuz I plan to do a whole lotta killing first. And you can print that shit,” Larry said firmly and pointed his finger at the fat sweaty man.

  Jake started to clap his hands and it became contagious. Those near him followed his example and clapped with him. It spread like wild fire. The people from Towbar’s world, both Dwarves and his soldiers didn’t understand what the applause meant but they joined in and clapped with them. Some of the media group gave the appearance that they were disgusted by some of the things they heard and the attitude that was shared by so many of those before them.

  5.

  Within a couple of hours the helicopters were loaded and Mykal had a number of men who were anxious to see battle for the first time. Mykal selected volunteers from the groups that didn’t participate in the last operation. He had members from the Marines, the Army, the Navy SEALs, Australian SAS, Thailand soldiers and Korean soldiers despite their losses during the last operation.

  The Russians, Canadians, French, German and those from the United Kingdom declined to send members. They would just wait until the war broke out. The main concern of the Russians was being separated from the rest of their unit. Mykal felt they didn’t trust him. He seemed confident they didn’t trust the Americans as a whole. He was sure they had a different agenda. But he didn’t trust them and still couldn’t get over the fact they were allowed to come along to Towbar’s world.

  The Germans and French declined. They claimed they were here to observe but assured the Americans they wouldn’t “wilt” once the conflict broke out. The Brits only concern was their size. Since they were only a Platoon they didn’t want to take the chance of losing anyone until the big battle occurred. They assured Mykal that he had their support completely and unconditionally.

  The volunteers were eager to be “baptized in blood, Soso blood.” A handful of the men from the first rescue mission were going along to man the machine guns on the helicopters. They were a mix of Marines, Rangers and Green Berets who were willing and eager to encounter Sosos again.

  Some of Mykal’s closest friends were going along too. Jake, Larry, Roy Jr. and Randy climbed aboard his helicopter with Towbar. Mykal watched his friends climb in and his heart broke when Boris didn’t follow in behind them.

  He felt a deep sense of loss since he knew Boris would never come back. He remembered feeling the same emotions when he was a teenager and his eleven year old shepherd collie mix passed away. He cried in secret for days over the loss of Smokey. He had Smokey since he was a pup, but feared others wouldn’t understand the depth of his hurt over a dog. He couldn’t pretend the hurt didn’t exist and was afraid people would laugh at him for mourning the loss of a pet, a dog, but Smokey was more than a pet. Smokey had been his ‘buddy’ for most of his life at that time. And now, though Boris was a murderer and hated by most, he missed his friend and couldn’t pretend he didn’t hurt and grieve over the loss just like he mourned over Smokey. Mykal feared he had to mourn in secret. It also renewed the hurt of other friends who had been lost.

  There were a number of people standing outside his helicopter to see them off. Dalisid, one of Towbar’s generals, Norg, one of the Dwarven leaders, Roy Sr., Sam, and the six new comers from the other side of Towbar’s world. Chick, Innes, Diaz and Ski were there as well. Both Diaz and Ski promised to be praying that God would provide a safe trip and safety during the “foolish mission,” as Ski called it.

  Mykal sat deep in thought waiting for the helicopters to take off. The
noise of whirring blades blocked out conversations the men tried to have. Mykal saw Roy Sr. pump his fist and blow a kiss to his two adult sons. Mykal was glad he witnessed that expression of love. He saw the angry look on Sam’s face, but Sam’s doctor advised him not to take any unnecessary chances.

  He looked out into the crowd that was gathered to see the choppers off. He wondered if his idea to get as many of his people ready for battle before the big attack was a foolish mistake. He rationalized that they needed to see what they were up against. “When that big ocean of Sosos slams against us, it is gonna be hell on land,” he told the massive crowd of soldiers and Marines before they took volunteers. “Get yourself a taste of what we’re gonna face, cuz when they attack there is gonna be no turning back, they’re not gonna stop. And that’s not the time to try to figure out what you’re gonna do under the stress of combat. I know you guys train on a regular basis for combat, but training verses the real thing are two completely different animals.”

  ‘Aw damn it,’ he thought to himself. ‘Am I just risking everyone’s life for nothing? What if this raid blows up in our face? What if one of the choppers crash? Damn, what if that bastard Zizmon-Tarl transports us out of here again?’

  His heart beat seemed to increase and fear grew as he started to second guess himself. He looked at the faces of his close friends and wondered if he was setting them up to be killed like other friends, Boris, Kurt, Denny and all the others who were killed during the first visit. Images from the past began to torment him. ‘But no, they want to come, and I don’t want to tell them no. I can tell Sam no cuz of his previous injury. Damn it, I don’t--’

  “Mykal, what is wrong my friend?” Towbar yelled into his ear which interrupted his tormenting thoughts. “Are you ill?”