Mykal's Deadly Perambulation

by Dave Hazel

  Mykal moved toward the open door and was surprised by the sight of dead Sosos. The rotor blade that broke off Jake’s chopper continued spinning as it made a diagonal descent. It literally mowed down a path of Sosos stopping in the center of a large mob of the Soso army.

  “Is that cool or what?” Another Marine shared the door gunner’s excitement. “It looks like someone mowed down a big patch of grass with a lawnmower.”

  “Yeah, it does.” Mykal nodded in agreement. He didn’t share the same enjoyment they expressed. Too many people were lost and injured on this raid. They shouldn’t have lost anyone. He felt a heavy anchor of guilt tied around his neck. To make matters even worse, he feared Jake would have lifelong problems. At best, he feared Jake would never walk normal again.

  Mykal sat back down beside Jake to comfort him. Now his thoughts turned to the Sosos. He wondered if the Sosos would be emboldened by the loss of two helicopters and the first real defeat of Mykal’s Marauders. Though they dished out a severe beating to the Sosos, Mykal felt they suffered a defeat. He wondered if news would spread among the Sosos that the Sosos on the ground, took out two of the flying metal beasts. He didn’t know what held the Sosos back from attacking the Pass, but if their attacks on the Sosos were making them hesitant, then this day, December 28th 1983, would go down in history as the day that Mykal handed the Sosos their confidence back.

  3.

  After landing in the Pass the injured were taken to the medical station and Mykal watched as doctors gave Jake medication for his pain. He didn’t want to stick around to see what the doctors would do to fix his knee or leg.

  “Myk, don’t leave yet,” Jake called to him and stopped him from going. His voice sounded relaxed. It was obvious he wasn’t feeling the pain he felt earlier.

  “What’s up? I wanna go so the doctors can get you all patched up and better. I’m holding them up,” he said and nodded to the medical personnel that were prepared to work on him.

  “Myk, I think I’m gonna die,” Jake said softly as if he was starting to move and think in slow motion.

  “You’re not gonna die.”

  “I feel a little better right now,” Jake said to amend his statement. “But on the chopper I really felt like I was gonna die. I don’t wanna die here. I wanna see Jana before I kick the bucket. Please Myk,” Jake begged while grabbing Mykal’s shirt and twisted his boney knuckles into his camouflage material. “Don’t let me end it out here.” Jake speech slowed and slurred slightly.

  “You’re not gonna die. Listen,” Mykal paused to get close to Jake’s ear. “Don’t say anything to anyone yet, but like I told you earlier, by this time tomorrow, you’ll be with Jana.”

  “Oh man, you’re the best,” Jake said with a happy sigh and pulled Mykal closer. He tried to lift his right arm to hug Mykal but he couldn’t make his arm work.

  “Take it easy Jake. I’m gonna let these guys work on you. I’ll see you in a little while.”

  “I’m feeling pretty cool right now.” Jake gave a silly smile. “I’m high as a kite. I’ll see ya on the flip side,” Jake said with a goofy smile.

  “I’ll see ya,” Mykal said and waved as he walked away.

  “Mykal, can I trouble you for a minute?” Marine Sergeant Phillips said to get his attention when he saw Mykal come out of the first aid tent. “It’s important.”

  “Sure what’s up?”

  “I was on one of the helicopters that just got back. There was a kid, Private Hernandez. He was on the same chopper. He’s really upset and taking it pretty hard. Could you talk to him?”

  “Sure, lead the way.”

  They talked of the crash site and they were both surprised by the number of deaths in one battle. Since the arrival of Towbar One this was the biggest loss of life in one encounter with the Sosos.

  “Good, no one is here,” Phillips said as they entered the large tent. “Private Hernandez, I have someone here to see you,” he called to the lone figure lying face down on his cot.

  “Yes Sir,” the Marine replied and quickly jumped up. His eyes made it clear that he had been crying. “Hi Myk.”

  “I’ll leave you two alone,” Phillips said and excused himself.

  “I hear you’re having a tough time with the last battle,” Mykal said and studied Hernandez. Hernandez was just a couple of years younger than he, but Mykal felt so much older. He was sure being in Towbar’s world, with all the fighting, all the fear, the constant state of survival mode had to be aging him quickly. Looking at the kid about his age Mykal felt like an old man.

  “Myk, I don’t mean to be such an emotional basket case, but I can’t help it,” Hernandez admitted and a tear streamed down his face.

  “What’s going on?” Mykal asked and the words Hernandez used struck home because Mykal had thought that very term about himself.

  “I killed one of our own guys,” he admitted and started to sob. “It’s tearing me up.”

  “Whoa, what happened?”

  “I was helping the search of the helicopter that broke in two and caught on fire.”

  “I helped at the other one,” Mykal said.

  “When I got there I could hear one of the guys screaming for help. When I ran to him I could see that he was pinned under part of the chopper. A couple of others and myself tried to push the wreckage off of him, but we couldn’t get it. His head was split open and blood was covering his face. He said his legs felt crushed and then the fire started. We tried as hard as we could and then the poor guys started screaming that he was on fire. He begged for us to help,” Hernandez paused and cried openly while holding his hand over his mouth.

  “It’s okay. You don’t have to finish if it’s too hard.”

  “He was begging for us to help and we couldn’t help him. We were fighting (sniff sniff) like crazy and couldn’t get it to budge. He begged us saying he was burning with fire,” he paused to fight sobbing. “Then he called for his momma and cried. That’s when I lost it. I didn’t want the guy to suffer and die a horrible death so I shot him. We couldn’t leave him there to burn to death or to let the Sosos get him.”

  “You did the right thing,” Mykal said but he suddenly felt sick to his stomach. Not only was one of his men killed by another member, but Mykal knew that act would torment this ‘kid’, Private Hernandez, for the rest of his life.

  “Myk, I killed one of our people,” he broke down and turned to fall face first on his pillow and cried wildly. “I didn’t wanna kill him. I wanted to help him and we couldn’t,” he said and continued to cry into his pillow.

  Mykal wasn’t sure what to do or say. He reached out and touched the kid’s shoulder. “I’m not gonna say I understand, because I’m not feeling the hurt you’re feeling right at this minute. But I have done the same thing before and I want you to know that you did do the right thing. As hard as your thoughts may be telling you different, you did the right thing. You gotta make sure you understand that. You woulda made things worse for him if you left him to burn to death or if you left him for the Sosos to finish him. I am proud you had it in you to do that.”

  “Are you really?” Hernandez sat up and looked at Mykal.

  “Yes, if it would have been me there I would have wanted you to end it for me as well. You did the right thing. You don’t know what savage monsters the Sosos are,” he added to justify his condoning of taking a fellow American’s life. “If the Sosos wouldn’t have got him, like you said he was starting to burn. You did the right thing,” he repeated with a sigh and stared into space. He questioned himself if his counsel was correct.

  Mykal realized all this was his fault for giving Larry the green light to go after Big Jeff Cann. If Big Jeff didn’t fall from the chopper, there wouldn’t have been a mid-air crash. If there wouldn’t have been a mid-air crash then all the other things that happened on the ground wouldn’t have occurred. So much guilt and blame to be coupled with all the guilt and blame he carried from the first trip to Towbar’s world. In addition all the responsibility
and blameworthiness he tortured himself with from the deadly perambulation on the other side of Towbar’s world.

  Mykal listened to Private Hernandez talk but a voice spoke to him in his head. ‘You might as well just end it all,’ he thought while looking down at the gold ring. ‘You don’t deserve to live,’ his thoughts continued and he suddenly realized he was having thoughts of suicide. The TV show M*A*S*H* theme song started in his mind. He now knew the theme song was titled Suicide is Painless. “No!” he nearly yelled which took Hernandez by surprise. He had never thought of suicide before. “No, no not you,” he quickly replied to the shock Hernandez displayed. “A reporter was at the tent opening,” he lied to cover his mental argument. Hernandez continued to speak. ‘Am I losing my mind?’ He wondered while looking at the golden band of magic wrapped around his finger.

  4.

  “So what the hell happened back there?” Mykal asked Larry just as Larry walked out of the makeshift medical station with white gauze wrapped around his head. There was also a bandage along the side of his jaw.

  “Hey Myk,” Larry said and he still looked dazed. “I got a big freaking bump right here,” he said. He gently patted the tender side of his head. “Six stitches here,” he added and pointed to the side of his face. “I really don’t know what happened.”

  “The crash? You really don’t know?”

  “No, I know, it’s just that everything is blurry in my mind. It’s like I can’t piece it all together.”

  “Start with what you do remember. What about before the crash. What happened on your helicopter?”

  “Where’s Jake?” His surprised expression revealed he just remembered Jake got hurt.

  “He’s okay,” Mykal lied. “He’s being treated right now. And Roy Jr. is fine too. So what happened with Big Jeff Cann?”

  “Ahh yeah,” Larry said with a snap of his finger. He looked in all directions to ensure no one was near enough to hear. “I remember. Big Jeff was standing in the doorway looking out at the Sosos and I thought this would be a great opportunity. I tapped him on the shoulder so he would turn and look at me and when he did I mouthed your name. He gave me a confused look and I pretended I slipped and fell toward him, but I actually pushed him hard and he went right out the door,” he paused and looked to make sure no one was able to hear his confession.

  “Are you kidding me?” Mykal asked and wasn’t sure if he should laugh in agreement or distance himself from Larry.

  “Yeah. I threw myself down pretending it was an accident and I yelled for help,” Larry said and kept his laughter low. “I wanted to get Douglas but he was at the other door and that woulda looked obvious if I fell again and he fell out too.”

  “Damn, you’re crazy Larry,” Mykal said and laughed while slapping Larry on the shoulder.

  “Oh man, that hurt,” he groaned and buckled under the pain in his shoulder. “I’m hurting all over. But that backstabber ain’t gonna screw with us anymore,” he said defiantly as he stood straight. “We’ll get the rest of the weasels too.”

  “Don’t worry about it. They’re not after you, they’re after me. Don’t get yourself in trouble. You’re going home tomorrow.”

  “Really? But damn Myk, if they screw with you it could come back and get me in trouble as well.”

  “I appreciate your concern, but the more I been thinking about it, I’ll deal with them. Don’t worry about it anymore.”

  “That’s cool. But listen, not to be morbid, but it was funny as hell. When he fell out I reached for him like I was trying to grab him and I watched him fall all the way down. The sonovabitch hit the ground hard and then he sat up. Can you believe it? I thought ‘Oh shit, man is he gonna be pissed off at me.’ But then he flopped over dead. Then it was like we hit an air pocket or something cuz now I can remember it felt like we were going down fast. I remember hearing everyone yelling.”

  “What it was as you guys were going up another chopper was swooping down and you guys collided.”

  “Okay, that makes sense. I remember trying to hold onto something and it was like I was thrown into the top of the chopper and landed on my back. I remember everyone falling on top of me. It was like we were playing crazy tackle with the football and everyone was piling on top of me.”

  “The other helicopter was at fault and the last I heard we lost a total of seventeen people. It’s a good thing that pilot was killed cuz he woulda been strung up by his balls,” Mykal said and noticed Larry was looking in all directions and had a confused expression again.

  “Wait a minute,” Larry stopped him and started to scratch his head. “What were we talking about?”

  “Larry, are you alright?”

  “Yeah. I just don’t know,” he paused as if searching for the words that were going to be said.

  “What did you just tell me about what happened?” Mykal asked to test his memory.

  “I don’t know,” he said with a sigh. “Did I say something?”

  “Come on, we’re going back in to talk to the doctor,” Mykal said and grabbed Larry’s arm.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE 12/29/1983

  1. Thursday, December 29th 1983

  0821 hours, Camp behind the Pit, In the Pass

  Mykal laid on his cot and thought about the disastrous events of the previous day. He tossed and turned all night and woke twice because of the nightmares. He saw light streaking through the opening of the tent and tried to gauge the time of day. A uniformed body entered which took him by surprise.

  Hey Mykal,” an unfamiliar voice called loudly. “Are you awake yet? Get up, get up. You have to get up.”

  “Yeah, whoa, what’s up?”

  “Major Chick and Towbar need you right now. I was ordered to tell you it’s important.”

  “Okay. Thanks,” he said and rubbed his eyes as he sat up.

  “No Sir, you gotta get going now Sir. I was told I’ll be in a world of shit if you’re not there in two minutes,” he added. “You’ve gotta hurry Sir.”

  “Okay. What’s going on? Why the urgency?”

  “Sir, I don’t know. I’m just following orders. You’re up though, right?” He asked as he prepared to exit the tent.

  “Yeah, I’ll be there in just a minute,” he said with a yawn and stretched. He looked at his watch. “What the hell is so important at 8:22 in the morning?” He looked up but his wake up call was gone.

  While he tied his boots he tried to imagine what could be so important and his greatest fear was that Jake had passed away, or that Jake was dying. What if the men were starting a mutiny because they didn’t get to go home for the holidays? His mind raced with many wild thoughts while he was getting ready.

  When Mykal stepped outside the tent a strange excitement struck him just as hard as the bright sun to his eyes. He saw many soldiers rushing about, and he could hear a low roar of voices from all directions.

  “Marine,” Mykal called to three Marines hastening past his tent. “What’s going on?”

  The three stopped and almost snapped to attention, but the wave of Mykal’s hand prevented it. “I don’t really know for sure Sir, but the scuttlebutt is, it sounds like the ‘Big One’ has started,” one Marine answered and the other two nodded.

  “The Sosos? Are you sure?” Mykal asked and gulped hard. His stomach sank. If it was true, as unprepared as he suddenly felt, he knew this day would come one day. He suddenly wondered if it was his fault for giving the Sosos their confidence back the day before.

  “I’m not Sir, but we’ve been called to battle positions.”

  “Carry on Marines,” Mykal said and felt as if he had been punched in the stomach. “If this is for real, you guys be safe.”

  “Thank you Sir,” a second replied. “You too. Be safe.”

  Mykal ran back into his tent and grabbed his rifle and his web belt. He made sure his holster sat comfortably on his waist. “Damn,” he sighed. “We all knew they would attack, but now I feel I shoulda done more to prepare.”

  When Mykal made it to
Major Chick’s living quarters, Major Chick and the senior ranking military officers were gathered outside his tent talking strategies. Towbar, some of Towbar’s top generals and a contingent of Dwarven warriors were present. All were gathered around Major Chick and Towbar.

  The discussion ceased when Mykal joined the briefing. “I didn’t mean to interrupt, but is this real? Is it the Big One we’ve been waiting for?”

  “I’m afraid so,” Chick answered first. “Our OPs observed a mass advancement like we have never experienced as of yet. We’ve had the OPs relocate back to the Pass.”

  “Bring me up to speed,” Mykal requested.

  Major Innes stepped forward. “As Major Chick stated Myk, we have the OPs pulling back, we have the mortar teams being put in place and we’ll open fire once we believe their intent is to attack. A majority of the men are working to break down camp to relocate the camp behind the pits where we will exodus the injured and all non-combat personnel. Land mines are in place, and claymores are being wired to be detonated on command.”

  “May I speak?” The gruff voice of Norg interrupted Innes. The Dwarven warrior leaned on the handle of his two-headed battle axe. “King Krago say, you go mountains if war bad.”

  “Excuse me?” Major Inness asked.

  “Norg is saying that if things go bad when the Sosos attack, King Krago is offering that we can escape into the mountains. Am I right?” Mykal winked at Norg.

  “Yes.” Norg’s thickly bearded face hid his smile though he nodded enthusiastically. “We friends,” he added and waved his arm to include all standing in the group. “We help. We fight.”

  “Thank you Norg,” Mykal replied and dipped his head as if to bow. “We are friends and we may take you up on that offer. Please Major Innes, continue with our battle plan.”

  “Numbers not work,” Norg objected. “Few here,” he said and waved is arm in a circular motion to refer to the Pass. “Many there,” he added and pointed toward the Sosos. Norg quickly counted off ten people of Dwarven warriors and Towbar’s soldiers and then turned their backs to the Sosos to represent Sosos. He grabbed Mykal to stand him before the ten to paint the picture of ten against one. “Not good,” he said and shook his head.