Scars and Stars

by Dustin Stevens

  “We continued moving all afternoon and through the night. We followed the road until it forked south, always staying close enough to know where we were but far enough away so as to not be spotted.

  “Neither of said anything as we moved through the cold air, both of us conserving our strength and energy. If Jack was feeling the effects of his wounds he didn’t show it. Except for the Ioban splashed across his neck, it was near impossible to tell that anything had happened to him at all.

  “As the first grey streaks of light began to stripe the new day Jack said, “We should hole up for a couple of hours and get some rest. I think we have enough of a jump on them to buy us a little break.”

  “I nodded my head. “If I don’t rest soon I’m not going to have any energy left when it matters.”

  “We kept moving for a few more minutes before I asked, “Any ideas about the best way to bed down?”

  “Jack remained silent for several seconds as we picked our way through the forest floor. After awhile I noticed I was walking alone and turned to find Jack squatting down and studying the earth by his feet.

  “Jack cast an eye to the treetops and said, “What are your thoughts on sleeping up there?”

  “I gave him a look that relayed I thought it was crazy, but remained silent.

  “Jack extended his hand to me, in it a single eagle feather he had lifted from the forest floor.

  “I’m thinking it might be the safest,” he said. “Whatever we find down here is going to be obvious. A hollowed out tree, a bear den, anything of that sort. We’d be sitting ducks, easy targets for sure. Up there, at least we’d have a fighting chance.”

  “I shot a skeptical look at Jack and surveyed the treetops above us. “A fighting chance? How the hell we going to fight from up there?”

  “He ignored the questioned.

  “I was thinking there,” he said, pointing out a large tangle of tree branches thirty feet above the ground. “You can stay in that one; I’ll stay in that one over there.” This time he pointed to another tangle twenty yards back in the direction we had just came. “Rest with your back against the tree and your legs out over the tangle. That bunch should definitely support your scrawny ass.”

  “I to this day have no idea how he spotted those two nests, I really don’t. All I could think to say was, “How long until we move again? How will I let you know if I spot trouble?”

  “Jack squinted into the distance and said, “Right now the sun is about two hands above the horizon. When it gets to be right over head, start working your way down. If you spot any trouble, give me a whippoorwill. I’ll be listening for it.”

  “Jack left me standing on the forest floor and made his way towards his tangle. I watched as he began ascending his tree and after a few moments snapped myself awake and went towards my own.

  “The branches were frozen solid and quite rigid and it made for easy climbing. I reached the tangle with minimal difficulty and surveyed the area around me to find I was concealed from the ground.

  “The branches were more than enough to hold me up for days.

  “I pulled a few tight around me so they formed a wind block and curled myself up as tight as I could. My feet were numb and I still felt deep-rooted chills from our swim almost a day before.

  “Despite all that, exhaustion won out. Within minutes I was sleeping.”

  My uncle raised his head from the post again and looked at the ground. He began toying at the floorboards with the toe of his shoe and for a moment he resembled a cowboy on the porch of some old west saloon instead of a man trying to stand upright unaided.

  Tossing the top of his head back towards the rocking chair my uncle said, “The next page over there is an eagle feather.

  “That too is not the original one, but that’s not important. I thought of carrying the one Jack gave me with us but I figured if I were to lose it somebody might see it as a sign of our passing.

  “To this day though I have never seen an eagle in flight, on a coin, or even a feather stuck in a hat without thinking of myself perched in that tree.

  “In a roundabout way, that eagle feather too is part of the reason I’m here today. If Jack hadn’t found that eagle feather we would have never found that place to bed down. If we hadn’t found that, we would have never made it through what we were about to go through.”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  “The sun was still just above the horizon when a low but persistent whippoorwill sprung me from my sleep. Judging by the angle of it I had only been out a couple of hours, but the sound of Jack whistling woke me up just as well if he had been shaking me.

  “I waved my arm to let Jack know I was awake and sat for a few moments blinking away the sleep. After the fog lifted I poked my head from around the tree trunk and saw Jack had already begun climbing down from his perch.

  “I swung my legs from the bough of branches and followed suit, scaling the limbs two and three at a time. When I was about ten feet from the ground I swung free and dropped, pain shooting through my cold feet.

  “What is it?” I asked as Jack stood waiting for me.

  “They’re coming,” was all Jack said and took off at a jog.

  “I stood and peered in the direction we had just come, then turned and sprinted to catch up with Jack. By the time I caught up with him I was panting and grunted, “How the hell you know that?”

  “I could hear them clamoring through the woods,” Jack said. “I figure we’re still about a mile in front of them, but if we stayed in the trees till noon we’d be done for.”

  “Within seconds of sitting in the tree I had been asleep and hadn’t heard another sound. Didn’t matter though, if Jack heard it that was good enough for me.”

  My uncle pushed back from the post and repositioned himself so his back was resting against it. He moved side to side a few times to scratch his shoulders before coming to a stop and resting his gaze on the horizon.

  “From mid-morning until dusk, we kept moving. We’d jog for awhile, walk awhile, then jog some more. Twice we came upon water and drank enough to keep us going without cramping up.

  “The only time we could relieve ourselves was into the water after we had drank from it. The ground was dry and frozen and urine would have been obvious, let anyone looking for our sign know we’d been through there.

  “At dusk, the trail seemed to run out from beneath our feet. I hadn’t been paying real close attention and almost jogged off the edge of a cliff before Jack pulled me back.

  “Where the hell are we?” I asked, not expecting to run out of ground any time soon.

  “Jack look around in the dim light and he said, “Come here, I’ll show you.”

  “He led me around a small bend in the forest and through a thicket of trees. As we crossed to the other side I could heard birds calling and the cold air caught in my throat as I emerged on the other side.

  “Men, dead and frozen, lay piled around us in all directions. Many of them were disfigured beyond recognition but I could tell from their uniforms they weren’t ours.

  “What the hell happened here?” I whispered to myself, surveying the hundreds of dead and the many more birds feasting upon them.

  “We happened here,” Jack said, taking his place beside me.

  “I turned my head to look at him and furrowed my brow before it clicked. My jaw gaped as I understood what he meant.

  “This is where we were captured. Most of these men are dead because I killed them,” I muttered.

  “You did what you had to do,” Jack said, pointing to the left. “If not, they would have done that to us.”

  “I followed his finger to see a small group of soldiers swinging from the trees. There was three of them hanging with a fourth on the ground in a heap.

  “Those are our boys aren’t they?” I asked, my voice just a whisper.

  “Yep,” Jack said and nothing more.

  “I took a step towards them, unsure what I was going to do but Jack stopped me with a fir
m hand. “Don’t. They’re long gone and we can’t save them. All we can do is let whoever’s behind us know where we’ve been.”

  “Remaining motionless I stared at the men’s bodies swaying high above the ground as I heard Jack’s boots crunch away from me. Several long seconds passed as I stared at the scene in front me, then turned and followed him out.

  “We took the ravine due east towards the coast through the night, at last completing the escape we had tried to make thirteen days before. The trail was cold in front of us and it looked like nothing had passed through in well over a week.

  “Through the night we continued moving, being sure to keep a wide berth around the ravine’s edge as we moved through the forest.

  “As the night wore on the temperature continued to drop and the cold bit at our ears and faces. I tried pulling my hands into the sleeves of my fatigues to keep them warm but soon abandoned that for thrusting them into the front of my pants. It made moving harder but helped my hands a great deal.

  “At the first sign of daylight I asked Jack if we should be stopping soon for rest. We had spoken very little through the night and his face was drawn and pale.

  “I had just finished my sentence when Jack pressed a finger to his lips and dropped into a crouch. He pressed himself behind a large tree and motioned for me to do the same.

  “Confused, I mouthed a question to him and he pointed to his eyes with his interior two fingers, then in the direction we were going. I dropped to a knee and peered out around the base of the tree and saw what had spooked him.

  “A fire.”

  Aunt Jane pushed her way from the front door and clomped her away across the front porch and down onto the first step. She put her hands on her hips and yelled, “Susan Brady, get in here and say good-bye to everyone. We’re leaving soon!”

  Suzy climbed down reluctantly from the tire and walked up through the front yard grass. Her thumb was still stuck deep in her mouth and as she walked by her mother and up the stairs she let out another long and low shudder.

  Aunt Jane waited as she walked past, her hands on her hips, before following her in. She wore the same stern expression as before and again she glared at me as I watched the scene play out.

  Once they were inside and we were again alone I turned to my uncle and asked, “A fire?”

  My uncle nodded his head and said, “A campfire. Small and discreet, but a campfire nonetheless.

  “I looked up at Jack and whispered, “Now what?”

  “Jack peered out around the tree and replied, “Stay here, I’ll go check it out.”

  “I had no intention of doing anything of the sort, but did as told until he was a little ways ahead of me before following him. We were still about seventy-five yards from them and we picked our way from tree to tree. Neither of us made a sound as we closed in on them and stopped twenty-five feet from the fire.

  “There were three men sitting around it, all of them American and all looking like they had seen better days. They were thin and wore battered clothes to match their matted hair and beards.

  “I peered out from behind a rock and whispered, “American?”

  “Jack turned to find me just ten yards behind him and for a moment he gestured from me to return to where we were. I gave him a quick shake of my head as he just stared back at me.

  “The moment passed and he mouthed, “American,” then pointed to himself and motioned towards the camp.

  “I moved forward to where he was sitting and waited as he emerged from behind the tree and walked forward. His arms were raised by his sides as he moved very slow.

  “He had almost reached the campfire undetected when he said, “My name is Jack Roberts. I am an American soldier.”

  “The sound of Jack’s voice startled them into movement and all three stumbled over themselves reaching for their guns. Seeing them fumble and wrestle for their weapons was almost humorous.

  “Jack stood with his hands raised and waited as they gained their feet and stood with weapons raised.

  “Who the hell are you and where did you come from?” one of the men asked.

  “I already told you my name is Jack Roberts. We were working our way to the coast and spotted your fire.”

  “We?” another man asked.

  “My brother and I,” Jack responded. He tossed a thumb over his shoulder. “He’s back a little ways behind me. It was my turn to scout ahead.”

  “The man took several small steps towards the woods where I was I hidden and said, “What, you got some kind of ambush set in place for us here or something?” He swung the gun from where I was to Jack and back again.

  “Jack looked at the man and in one fluid motion raised his right arm and snatched the gun away from him. He continued the path of the gun over the man’s head and swung it down across his calves, lifting him from the ground and causing him to land hard on his back.

  “The other two stood with eyes wide as Jack said, “I tried being nice, but you boys wouldn’t hear of it. As I told you, I’m an American soldier. My brother and I are trying to get to the coast to find help.”

  “The man who had not yet spoken lowered his weapon and said, “You’ll have to forgive us. We’ve been on the lam for several days now and have gotten pretty paranoid.”

  “Jack leaned down and extended a hand to the man he had just upended. “Don’t worry about it. We’re on the run too. I know how it goes.”

  “The man on his back accepted the hand and said, “I’m Fred Dunn, these here are Lewis Walker and Scott Greer.”

  “As he introduced them I walked from the woods and stood beside my brother. Jack nodded to them and said, “You already know me, this is my brother Cat.”

  “Each of us nodded to one another and I asked, “So you boys are on the lam from what?”

  “The men set down their rifles and resumed their places around the fire, the warmth feeling like a Godsend.

  “We were scouts for the 11th Ground,” Walker said. “One day a little over a week ago we were riding ahead when we heard gunshots roaring behind us. Damn dumbass Captain didn’t bother to listen to a word we said and walked the company right into an ambush.”

  “Did they get wiped out?” I asked.

  “Naw, there wasn’t enough Koreans around to take out a whole company,” Greer said. “Just enough to take down a few soldiers and keep us from getting back. Company took off in one direction, we took off in another. Been moving around for a week now hoping to happen across somebody, but so far you two are the first ones we’ve seen.”

  “Silence fell for a moment before Jack asked, “Ideas where anybody’s at? Where you’re headed?”

  “The men looked at each other and Dunn said, “We heard there’s another carrier working its way up the eastern seaboard. We were kind of headed in that direction, but no telling where at along the coast it’ll be.”

  “So how bout you boys? How’d you come to be here in the woods, alone and weaponless?” Greer asked.

  “I cast a look at Jack who said, “Ah-San education facility.”

  “The men looked at one another and Walker said, “Never head of Ah-San. You sure that’s where you were?”

  “I nodded my head. “That’s exactly why we left. Nobody knows it exists. There’s no aid, no possibility of exchange—.”

  “Just the possibility of more of this,” Jack said, raising his chin and displaying his scar.

  “The men winced and Dunn said, “So what’s your plan? Any idea where you’re headed?”

  “We were headed back this way towards the coast when we were captured,” Jack said. “Seemed like a fine idea to continue going that direction.”

  “The three men exchanged glances and Walker said, “You boys are more than welcome to join up with us. We’re headed that way and there’s strength in numbers.”

  “We need to be moving soon,” Jack said. “We know as of yesterday Ah-San had sent a group out after us and they were getting pretty close.”

  “How long you b
oys been running?” Greer asked.

  “This morning makes two days,” I said.

  “You boys had anything to eat or any sleep since you left?” Dunn asked.

  “I started to reply but Jack said, “We’re fine.” His voice wasn’t angry, but carried a finality to it that echoed in the silence. I could have used some food, but I wasn’t about to cross my brother.

  “Walker opened his mouth to say something, then thought better of it. He paused for a second and said, “Let us dowse this fire and we can all move out.”

  “Jack and I stood by the warmth a few moments longer and then moved to the far edge of camp. The men moved about gathering their things while we made impatient gestures and noises trying to speed them along.

  “We’re going to end up regretting this,” I whispered to Jack as Dunn emptied his canteen onto the fire. “Fool might as well be sending smoke signals to the Koreans. If they didn’t see that plume rise they’ll for sure smell it in the air.”

  “Jack nodded in agreement. “Best we can hope for is they bedded down for the night and we gained some distance on them.”

  “The three of them stuffed things into their packs and hoisted them to their shoulders. They ambled towards us and under my breath I whispered, “We going to try to lose them?”

  “Jack turned his back to the camp and muttered, “Not unless we have to. They have weapons.”

  “The group set out, Jack and I setting the pace with the others doing their best to keep up. Several times we could hear them grunting and complaining, but we pushed forward without paying them any heed.

  “By midday Jack and I had each assumed one of the packs from the men as we continued to move. They were careful not to relinquish their weapons or anything valuable though. I think they sensed we were pulling away and wouldn’t hesitate to leave them if necessary.

  “Late in the afternoon we ran out of ravine and began working our way due east through heavier forest. The trail was thick and wide from the passing of so many soldiers a short time before, but it was clear nobody had been through in quite some time.

  “By nightfall I could smell the salt of the ocean and hear the sound of waves breaking in the distance. Jack and I had divvied the remaining gear from the third pack and were shouldering the entire load, but it was still everything the men could do to keep up with us.