by Dave Hazel
Suddenly Mykal’s helicopter shot straight up to get away from the next volley of death arrows. He held on tightly and tried to watch the action from his seat.
Mykal watched a terrifying situation about to unfold and he had no control to stop it. Sparky, the flying madman did another wild pass toward the ground. Jake’s helicopter shot upward to avoid another volley of death arrows after Mykal’s chopper climbed.
The top of Jake’s helicopter collided into the bottom rear of Sparky’s chopper as Sparky dove downward. Mykal yelled in fear when he saw the large rotor blades slammed into Sparky’s tail and nearly broke it off. Immediately following the impact, Jake’s helicopter seemed to fall in slow motion in a spiral descent. If Big Jeff wasn’t dead from his fall, he would be from the helicopter dropping on top of him. The damaged aircraft spiraled downward right on top of Big Jeff Cann.
“Sparky, you’re on fire!” Mykal’s pilot cried out in shock. “What have you done?”
Mykal strained to look at the scene below. “Damn it!”
Sparky’s helicopter tried to climb fast with smoke pouring from his craft. It seemed to sputter, followed by a loud bang just as Jake’s helicopter crashed with a bouncing thud, and at the same time Sparky’s bird broke in half at the tail section. Both halves split apart and fell downward fast onto the same piece of ground.
A roar of voices emitted from the ground. Sosos were on the move. Mykal feared certain death for all those on the ground if they survived their respective crashes. Mykal’s thoughts went back to his promise to Jake’s wife, Jana, that he would bring Jake home safe and sound. He feared Jake and the others couldn’t possibly survive the crash. If they did survive they were about to be swallowed up in a sea of angry, revenge seeking, Sosos. ‘Why didn’t I force them to stay back at camp?’ Mykal’s thoughts shouted inside his head.
“Get down there now!” Mykal yelled into his microphone. “Tell all the others to get down there now!” He barked watching the advancing mobs of savages. “Tell them to try to set up a defensive perimeter around the crash site,” he ordered calmly though his brain rode in panic mode. “The gunners can keep a steady stream of fire while we check for survivors.”
“They’re everywhere Myk,” the co-pilot objected. “They’ll get us all.”
“--you,” Mykal yelled before the co-pilot finished, so all his words were not transmitted. “Get us down there or I will shoot you dead,” he threatened harshly and instinctively reached for his .357 magnum. “If it was you down there you’d want us to come for you. Tell everyone to keep shooting,” he hollered into the microphone. He noticed the men on his helicopter were looking at him to see how he would deal with the present crisis. The six helicopters formed a tight circle around the crash site. Jake’s helicopter sat in one piece. The only external damage visible was the blades had been broken off and the front of the helicopter caved in upon impact. Sparky’s craft on the other hand seemed to smash into many pieces after it separated in the air and slammed into the ground.
*******
Sosos scattered in all directions and those who continued to draw close were cut down by thunderous rapid noise of death. The Sosos rallied to regroup. They were unsure what to expect of the strange metal creature. Were the two flying beasts injured? Were they waiting for them to move in to attack? Were they like dragons of old looking for a feast to come near? The Sosos had so many unanswered questions.
*******
Mykal knew they had very little time to look for survivors. He lost no time being the first to leap from his hovering craft despite the nervousness that overwhelmed him. A similar situation six months ago involving a car crash in Soso occupied territory, nearly cost him his life. During that rescue attempt he had been struck by a Shay-lonk, a Soso death arrow when he looked for survivors of the car crash. His selfish concern focused on three people; Jake, Roy Jr. and Larry. Randy followed right behind him in a panic in search for his older brother.
Mykal heard orders being barked out, rifles firing, grenade launchers lobbing explosions, and machine guns spitting death despite the whirring of six helicopters and the constant roar of Soso war cries. He had one objective, save his friends. The others can fight back the enemy while he searched for his brothers in arms.
At the door of the helicopter, the Marine door gunner dangled outside the still aircraft, hanging by his safety harness. The Marine clutched at the two black arrows in his chest with one hand and a third arrow in his abdomen with his other hand. His eyes were open but his lifeless stare told Mykal he couldn’t be helped.
“Roy, Roy, you okay?” Randy yelled desperately as he rushed to the chopper belly. Randy looked oblivious to the confusion and mayhem building around them. He held his rifle ready and would shoot anything that threatened to get in his way.
Mykal saw the body of an Army Ranger laid on the ground outside the doorway. He moved slightly and appeared to be coming back from unconsciousness. “Help him!” Mykal yelled and pointed to the man while he made his way to the opening of the helicopter.
“Is it gonna blow? Is it gonna blow?” The other Marine door gunner asked. He looked delirious while fumbling to unhook his harness. Blood streamed from the wide gash in his forehead. He must have smacked his head onto the door frame on impact.
The Marine’s words reminded Mykal of the possibility for fire or explosion. “We gotta hurry,” Mykal yelled while helping the injured Marine out of the chopper. He watched Randy jump into the craft to find his brother in the mass of tangled bodies that started to move with moans and groans. ‘Thank God they’re not all dead,’ Mykal thought while releasing the Marine to others.
“It’s like a bucket of worms,” Randy yelled in frustration searching for his brother through all the arms and legs.
Mykal let a sigh of relief escape when he saw Larry pull himself from the tangled mess and stagger toward him like a drunk at an all-night party. “Larry, are you alright?”
“What the hell happened?” Larry asked as he jumped out of the doorway to the ground where he stumbled and fell over.
“Larry, are you alright?” Mykal asked again while helping him get seated on the ground.
“Damn! Sosos are coming,” Larry yelled. His facial features began twitching with the noise of warfare. He looked around the ground for a weapon.
“Sit still.” Mykal stopped Larry from getting back up into the helicopter. “Where’s Jake?”
“I think he’s on the other side. I’m alright,” Larry said. He wiped at the blood on his face and smeared it with his hand to make a bigger mess. He looked at his bloody hand to determine where it came from. “Must not be mine. I don’t feel it,” he said and shook his head for clarity as two others rushed to help him to his feet. “Jake needs help,” Larry said when his face lit up as if he had just remembered something. Two Marines helped usher Larry to one of the other choppers.
Mykal rushed to the other side and passed in front of the cockpit. He couldn’t tell if the pilot and co-pilot were alive or dead but they didn’t look good. They were at the point of impact. The co-pilot lost a large amount of blood on the spider webbed windshield. Mykal focused on Jake and would come back for the pilots if time permitted.
“They’re burning,” a voice yelled at the other craft. Mykal turned to see the other helicopter had flames rising.
On the others side Mykal watched Randy pull Douglas up off of his brother. Douglas bled from his head, face and neck. Douglas looked like he used his body to paint the inside of the helicopter red. It was difficult to tell if Roy Jr. had been severely injured or just bathing in the blood of Douglas.
At Mykal’s feet Jake awoke and his moan grew to a crying yell when he realized the pain charging through his body. He lay on his back with his right arm twisted grotesquely under his own body. Jake’s right leg seemed twisted out of place at the hip and his right knee bent the wrong way so that his right foot almost touched his face.
Relief washed over Mykal seeing his friend alive and not bleeding, but
Jake was severely injured. “Help! Get me some help here,” Mykal shouted frantically. He waved his arm wildly to get attention. “Medic, medic,” he yelled though there were no medical personnel on any of the helicopters.
“Roy, are you okay?” Randy yelled out while he grabbed Roy Jr.’s hand. “Talk to me bro,” he roared while pushing Douglas out of his way. Randy sounded like he was on the verge of a breakdown.
Douglas fell out on to the ground and almost landed on Jake. Fear and anger overwhelmed Mykal and he suddenly grabbed for his revolver. Douglas was one of the people that planned to ruin Mykal’s life out of jealousy.
“I can’t stop the bleeding,” Douglas moaned. He held one hand to his neck and used his other hand to feel for the blood from his head. “Help me. Help me,” he begged Mykal.
For a split second rage seethed through Mykal’s brain. He had no sympathy, only contempt. Mykal looked past Douglas’s injuries and saw a man who wanted to hurt him. The temptation to shoot him dead soared sky high, but there were far too many witnesses.
“Please help me,” he begged and held out his blood covered hand for Mykal to see.
Mykal stepped closer, grabbed Douglas’s wrist to whisper into Douglas’s ear. “I heard what you planned to do scumbag. I oughta kill you so I don’t have to worry about you.”
“I, I, I’m sorry. It was a mistake. I’m sorry, Myk. Please forgive me,” he begged while he stumbled backward from Mykal. “I’m scared. I don’t wanna die,” he moaned.
Mykal turned away and knelt down to comfort Jake. “It’s gonna be okay Jake,” he said above Jake’s groans. Suddenly Mykal felt bad that he didn’t help Douglas. Mykal realized he had an opportunity to win him over, but instead he scared him away.
Jake shouted a long string of obscenities after the full effect of his pain had been realized. “Oh damn it. It hurts,” he groaned. His noise turned to a whimper. “My leg, my leg,” he shrieked out loud. “Aw damn it. Myk, am I gonna lose it?”
“No, you’re gonna be fine,” Mykal said to comfort him. He didn’t know how bad Jake’s injuries were. His leg looked to be pulled out of the socket from the hip and the same knee bent the wrong way enabling his foot to be near his face. “Help is here right now,” he said and waved the soldiers over to Jake. “Get him outta here now.”
Jake yelled a blood curdling cry when they forcefully lifted him from the ground. Mykal hurt over Jake’s pain. His insides twisted because he felt so useless for his friend. He blamed himself to see Jake suffer. He should have taken Jake and the others home before it ever came to this.
Amid gun fire Mykal watched the Dosch brothers hug each other inside the helicopter. “Come on, let’s go. Let’s go, let’s go,” he yelled for all nearby. He sensed by the happy expression of Randy’s face that Roy Jr. wasn’t injured. They ran out of the helicopter with Roy Jr.’s favorite weapon in hand. Mykal knew Roy Jr. would never leave his Thompson sub-machine gun behind.
Mykal ran to the front of the helicopter and saw where Douglas collapsed. Douglas sat back against the wreckage holding his injuries. Mykal saw this as an opportunity to right a wrong. “Come on, I’ll help ya,” he said and reached down to take Douglas’s bloody hand. Douglas flinched at a couple of explosions that were fairly close. He hesitated, obviously fearful from Mykal’s threat minutes before.
Douglas accepted his hand. “I thought I was gonna die here,” he moaned weakly. His face lacked color from blood loss.
“Let’s put the past behind us,” Mykal said and looked over at the other crashed vehicle and saw a couple of charred bodies on the ground. “Come here and take him,” he yelled to others who rushed to help the wounded. “We’ll get you back and take care of you. Forget about what I said,” he added as the two Marines grabbed Douglas and helped him away. “I don’t have a beef with you anymore.”
“Thank you Myk, thank you,” Douglas said and sounded as if he was on the verge of an emotional, joyful, breakdown. He knew he wasn’t going to be left behind to die at the hands of the Sosos.
Mykal stopped at the front of the helicopter and there were three men trying to free the pilot. He was sickened by the sight of the man. The pilot’s jaw was broken and it was pushed so far to the right side of his face that his left molars were where the right molars were supposed to be. His tongue was dangling between his teeth. His drool was mixed with blood and his eyes winced in pain.
“Myk, we gotta hurry,” a Marine Sergeant pulled him aside. “The choppers are ready to take off. The co-pilot here is dead and it doesn’t look good for the pilot. He’s trapped, we can’t pull him out. Plus, something stabbed him in the gut and part of his intestines is hanging out. He’s holding his intestines in his hands. What should we do?”
‘Why is this on me?’ He thought while looking at the Marine. “We can’t leave him for the Sosos,” Mykal declared while weapons fire raged around them. “They’ll torture the hell outta him. Are you sure we can’t get him out?”
“Myk, he’s stuck and he’s hurt bad. We’re gonna get more people killed trying to save him.”
“Then kill him,” Mykal barked and turned his head aside. He turned back and waved to the pilot to see if the man was aware of what was going on. Mykal’s heart sank when the pilot nodded in response to his wave. Mykal rushed to make sure there were no other injured people being left behind. It surprised him to see at least three were dead with death arrows. All three were from the Army’s 82nd Airborne.
Amid all the gunfire Mykal heard one shot ring out. It wasn’t any louder or any different than any other explosive round, but he knew it to be the shot that ended the life of the trapped pilot. His insides twisted with sadness and guilt but he didn’t look back. He rushed to the awaiting helicopter.
Suddenly he tormented himself. He gave the word and one of the men carried out “his orders” to kill an innocent man. What gave him the right to order a death sentence as easily as a Judge declares one guilty for a traffic violation? Mykal didn’t even hear the evidence in the case. He accepted one man’s testimony that the pilot was trapped, declared him guilty, and pronounced the sentence of death only because time was the pressing issue. Mercy killing or not, what gave him the right to order the man to be killed? He knew what the Sosos would have done to the man, and he knew the man would have suffered for an extended period of time, but what gave him the right to have someone else discard him like an empty soda can?
Mykal fought not to break down. ‘I can’t friggin do this anymore,’ he moaned mentally. Hearing voices yell time was running out made him realize more would die if he tried to free the injured pilot. And to leave the pilot alive at the mercy of the Sosos would be far worse for the pilot.
Mykal thought the timing worked out perfect. The Sosos seemed to back off. It appeared they were regrouping to make another assault. Mykal was amazed that anyone survived Sparky’s helicopter crash. Not only did it seem to fall harder but it also caught fire. There were four men who managed to get away with their lives. Three had to be carried and the fourth was helped along.
Ten were left behind dead on that chopper alone. The two pilots, including Sparky whose reckless flying triggered the mishap, were both killed. Two Marines were also killed along with three Russian soldiers, two Germans and a French soldier. The foreign countries finally decided to go along for the experience only to be killed by the carelessness of a showboat pilot. The survivors of the helicopter were two Marine door gunners, one Russian and one French soldier. One of the Marine door gunners had minor injuries compared to the three.
Once inside the helicopter Mykal didn’t care to shoot at Sosos. He tried to comfort his friend. Jake yelled and squirmed under the intense pain. Looking over Jake’s long skinny body he was sure Jake’s right leg had been pulled out of socket at the hip, and then bent the wrong way at the knee. His right arm seemed to be fine from the deformed look when he had been found. Mykal squirmed while eyeing his friend and couldn’t imagine the pain Jake endured. He wanted desperately to help ease Jake�
��s suffering.
Mykal was tempted to punch Jake in the face to knock him out. It always seemed to work on TV, but he couldn’t assure himself that his punch would be hard enough to knock him unconscious. If he did knock him unconscious how long would he be out for? Twenty seconds? A minute? Maybe ten minutes? Then he realized if he hit him too hard he might do his friend more harm than good. The last thing he wanted to do was to add one more ounce of pain to Jake’s tons of agony.
Jake’s face went pale, his hands trembled wildly and he moaned deliriously. He clenched and unclenched his fists repeatedly. He couldn’t remain still due to the extreme pain. Mykal feared Jake would never walk right again and he blamed himself. ‘I shoulda took them home before this happened,’ he scolded himself mentally.
“Make it stop,” Jake moaned while squeezing his eyes tightly. “I can’t take it, I can’t take it.”
Mykal couldn’t hear the words, but seeing Jake’s physical expression made it clear. Mykal sat beside him and grabbed his hand so Jake could hold tightly and know he wasn’t alone. “I’m here Jake,” he said and patted Jake’s hand. “We’ll be back at the Pass in a few minutes. Hold on, it’s gonna be alright.” Mykal moved close to whisper in Jake’s ear. “You’re going home. I promise you that by this time tomorrow you’ll be with Jana,” he promised based on emotions. He didn’t think through all that might have to take place first.
“For real?” He asked and suddenly his demonstrations and his expressions of pain were put on hold or put aside.
“For real buddy.” He squeezed Jake’s hand. “Just hang on.”
“Ooh look,” the door gunner said while pointing below. “There’s a big ball of fire.”
Without looking Mykal assumed Jake’s helicopter burst into flames. They were far enough away from the explosion that only Sosos were injured. Mykal understood things could have gone much worse than they did.
“Myk, look at this,” the door gunner called Mykal over. He pointed to something else on the ground and waved his hand with excitement to get his interest.