37 Days In A Strange World

by Dave Hazel

  “It’s almost out, here it comes. Yeah!” Kurt yelled with excitement, despite the fact he ripped Baby Ray’s flesh with his actions. “It’s out. Hot damn, its out,” he laughed happily as if he had just delivered a baby. “I got it,” he yelled and proudly held the bloody wood over his head to show everyone.

  Baby Ray’s screams stopped but he continued to sob. His father continued to cradle him. “Everything’s gonna be okay now. We’re gonna get this wrapped up and you’ll have to try to rest.”

  “Someone get me a clean t-shirt,” Kurt yelled to anyone.

  Denny ran off and Randy ran to track down his brother. When Denny returned with one of his own t-shirts his face paled with fright. “We gotta do something with Nelson. I opened the back of the vehicle and he fell out toward me. It scared me shitless,” Denny said in all seriousness.

  Mykal couldn’t keep from bursting out with laughter. Larry and Kurt quickly joined his laughter. They had seen that very expression on Denny’s face many times before, from pranks with dead and live animals. “I shouldn’t be laughing,” Mykal said and shook his head. “But I’ve seen that look before, Denny.”

  “Real funny. Phew,” Denny sighed. “We gotta do something with him. I can’t stand to have a dead body riding around with us. We’ll get his dog tags and we’ll bury him or something.”

  “Forget about burying him,” Larry argued. “It’ll take too damn long to dig a hole. I wanna get the hell outta here. Who knows what those crazy people are up to? I just wanna put as much space between us and them as fast as possible.”

  “Roy, do you think he’ll be up to traveling?” Denny asked as he watched Kurt wrap Randy’s leg with the t-shirt.

  “He’ll have to be. We can’t stay here.” Roy said.

  “I’m fine, Pa,” Baby Ray replied. “Just let me lay down.”

  “Thank you, men,” Roy looked to Kurt, Mykal and Larry after they put Baby Ray in the back of the station wagon. “Please don’t be angry with my boy. I don’t know what got into him, but I know he doesn’t have anything against you fine men.”

  “We understand,” Mykal accepted his apology.

  “I wish we coulda done more for Baby Ray,” Kurt said. “We didn’t have much to work with. Here, I’d hold onto these,” he said and handed the two arrows wrapped in the remains of Denny’s t-shirt. “We gotta find help soon,” he said while he rubbed his jaw.

  5.

  Mykal approached Randy while everyone prepared to depart. “Hey Randy, what did you do with Nelson’s rifle?”

  “I dropped it when I got attacked. My father dragged me away before I had a chance to pick it up. I’m sorry.”

  “Oh, it’s alright,” Mykal replied. “I’m wondering if there was any ammo left. Cuz I think we’re gonna need every round.”

  “Oh no, it was empty. That guy tackled me after I fired off the last shot. I really wanted to thank you Myk. You saved my butt back there. If you wouldn’t have risked your life, I think I’d be dead right now. My daddy told us how proud he is of you and he’s real glad we joined up with you Air Force guys.”

  “Well thanks. I appreciate that.”

  “You’re a hero in my book.”

  “Thanks Randy,” Mykal said. He gave a half-smile. He felt uncomfortable receiving such praise. “We need each other.”

  The Dosch family opened up their cache of weapons to load every rifle with ammunition. “We’re not gonna be caught with our pants down again by them crazy som’bitches,” Roy Jr. said after loading his Winchester and Savage 99. He leaned them against the car after they were loaded.

  The father pulled a Remington 700 bolt action rifle from the case. Roy opened a box of 30-06 ammunition. He put one round in the chamber and five rounds in the built in magazine well.

  “I love this shotgun,” Randy said while showing the Ithica 37 pump shotgun to Boris and Kurt. “It’s a 12 gauge riot gun that holds eight shells when fully loaded. You can hold down the trigger and keep pumping shells to shoot it rapidly.”

  Roy Jr. never apologized and spoke to them as if nothing had happened. “This is my new favorite toy,” Roy Jr. said and lifted a Thompson semiautomatic machine gun from its case.

  Roy Jr. filled two 39 round drums and two 30 round clips with the .45 caliber ammunition. “It’s right out of a 20’s gangster movie. Ah, you dirty rat,” he added, doing an imitation of James Cagney that was bad vocally and physically.

  The last weapon of the Dosch arsenal was a Ruger 10/22. He filled three 50 round magazines with the .22 caliber bullets. They had more drums, clips and bandoliers they would fill later.

  “Denny, we need to split up Nelson’s ammo,” Mykal said. He and Larry pulled Nelson’s body away from the vehicle.

  “How ‘bout letting me have it,” Kurt suggested as he joined them. “I only have four mags left.”

  “Well that sounds like your damn problem,” Denny snapped showing an anger that took them all by surprise. “I’ll give you some of it, but if I catch you shooting on full auto again, I’m taking all the damn ammo away from you. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes, I do,” Kurt replied while looking at the ground.

  “You wasted half your damn ammo, and for what? This isn’t a friggin game. We don’t know how many more times we’re gonna run into those people. Myk is right, we need every round we have and we need to make every single shot count. Don’t be screwing around.”

  “I’ll make every shot count,” he murmured. “I feel like one of Denny’s children being scolded for being disobedient.”

  “It’s not funny Kurt,” Mykal replied to Kurt’s attempt to laugh it off. “We don’t know how long we’re gonna be lost and we can’t screw around cuz it’s a limited resource. Denny, I say give Kurt three magazines and me, you, Larry and Boris take one. Franklin can’t shoot so giving any extra ammo to him would be a waste.” Mykal kept quiet about the two extra ammo pouches that he took from Kaiser’s body at the helicopter crash site. None of them brought it up. He would share only if he needed to. Mykal believed the ammunition would become more valuable than gold.

  “What are we gonna do with Nelson’s bags?” Larry asked.

  “Oh man,” Denny moaned. Denny’s sad expression showed he didn’t want to deal with the reality of Kim Nelson’s death.

  They gathered around Nelson’s body. The lifeless pale appearance looked odd with his military glasses resting cockeyed on his face. The fact that Nelson had a wife and new baby made them all feel bad. Each realized they could have easily been killed with him. Despite the arrow protruding from his chest, Nelson looked peaceful lying amid the slightly swaying green grass.

  “Man, I feel terrible I started on him,” Mykal confessed. “I’m so glad that I apologized to him or I’d feel like garbage for the rest of my life.”

  “Ah man, I really can’t believe he’s gone,” Denny mumbled.

  “Denny, whadda we do with his bags?” Larry asked again while Denny stared at Nelson.

  “I really hate the idea of robbing the dead, but go through his things and see what we can use. Whatever we can’t use, leave it in the bag and put it here beside his body. When help comes I don’t want it to look like we took advantage of him being dead.”

  Kurt ransacked Nelson’s A-bag first. “What about his flack vest and helmet?” Kurt asked.

  “Bring it. And as of right now,” Denny raised his voice so all his men could hear him. “I want everyone to get your flack vest and helmet on. Right now!” He barked for emphasis. “If Nelson would have been wearing his flack vest he might still be alive. It’s my damn job to keep everyone safe.”

  Mykal knew Denny didn’t really believe the Government Issue body armor would have saved Nelson. Denny told him so privately, but being in charge, Denny felt he had to do everything in his power to keep his men safe. He also told Mykal, “Making them wear their protective equipment will make me feel like I’m doing my job. I need you to support me in these decisions.”

  “Denny, I still haven’
t been able to make contact with Light or anyone else,” Franklin said after leaving the radio.

  Larry approached the Dosch family. “Hey Roy, would you or one of your sons wanna wear a flak vest and helmet? Nelson won’t need it anymore,” he chuckled. “That sounded terrible the way I said it, but I didn’t mean any disrespect by that.”

  Roy shook his head. “No, not me. I know what it’s like to wear a flak jacket and helmet. I had to wear it in the jungles of Vietnam. I can’t tell you how miserable it made me in the heat. Maybe one of my boys would.”

  Roy Jr. looked to Randy to see if he wanted it, but Randy showed no interest. Roy Jr. gladly accepted it.

  “I said, get your damn flak vests and helmets on now!” Denny raised his voice. “We’re gonna be leaving and I wanna see everyone wearing it.”

  “Aw, I don’t wanna wear that crap.” Franklin complained and pouted and acted like a child forced to eat vegetables. “It gets too hot.”

  “You!” Denny yelled pointing his finger at Franklin. “Get your ass over here. Listen, you little sonovabitch, I said you’re gonna wear that stuff and you’ll leave it on for as long as I say. You’re gonna do every friggin thing I tell you to and you’re gonna do it without your little whining and crying or I’ll kick your ass from here to China. As long as I’m in charge and responsible for your little snot-nosed ass, you’ll do every damn thing I tell you to do, whether you like it or not. Do I make myself clear Airman Franklin Perry?”

  Denny’s eruption stopped everyone. They’d never witnessed Denny “go off” on someone with such explosive authority before.

  “Yes Sir, Sergeant Felps,” Franklin replied in a snarky manner. He threw up a mock salute and turned away pouting. “Everyone’s always picking on me,” he mumbled while moping away.

  Mykal followed him so he could get his own equipment. “You better watch it Franklin,” Mykal advised quietly.

  “What’d I do?” He asked in response to Mykal’s warning.

  “It’s your damn attitude.”

  “I don’t have to listen to you,” he pouted and started to pull his flak jacket from his A-bag.

  “Listen, idiot,” Mykal snarled. He grabbed Franklin’s arm and swung him around. “Denny’s on edge and upset cuz Nelson is dead. Quit acting like a little kid. This is serious.”

  “Don’t think that I’m afraid of you Sergeant Graves,” he replied sardonically. “I’m sick of everyone pushing me around.”

  Mykal became angry. “What are you talking about? Denny’s watching out for you. Let me make something real clear, now I’m telling you, you better watch it. Not as Sergeant Graves to Airman Perry, but I’m tellin you to watch it as Mykal to Franklin. Cuz I’ll beat the daylights outta you, you friggin idiot.”

  “Yeah? Try it and I’ll report you faster than--”

  “Report this dumb ass,” Mykal growled with clenched teeth and slammed his open palms into Franklin’s chest which pushed him against the vehicle. He grabbed Franklin’s shirt and cocked his right fist back. He wanted to punch him in the face, but he stopped himself. Mykal took hold of Franklin’s shirt with both hands and pinned him against the vehicle. “Don’t push me you little prick. I’m not Denny and I won’t be as nice as Denny. Why don’t you quit acting like a twelve year old and start acting your age? This ain’t a joke, moron. Nelson is dead and if you don’t grow up real quick you just might join him.”

  Tears welled up in Franklin’s eyes and he couldn’t look directly at Mykal. “You’re in big trouble now Myk,” Franklin threatened. “Boy, are you in trouble. When we get back I’m gonna bust your ass for this. I’m going to get in touch with my Congressman and there’ll be a big Congressional investigation and you’re gonna burn big time over this.”

  “Oh yeah?” Mykal laughed out loud and wrapped tighter into Franklin’s camouflage shirt. “Is that so? Do you have any witnesses?” He laughed again. Now that Franklin dared to threaten him he wanted to punch him even more.

  “Yes I do,” Franklin laughed back. “Larry, Boris, Kurt and Mr. Dosch are all standing right there,” he replied looking to the faces of those watching.

  “Please don’t get me involved with this,” Roy quickly turned away. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t see anything. I’m too busy tending to my son,” he said and backed away. “I don’t have any idea to what’s going on. One thing I do know, is back in my day as a Marine, I would never think of talking back to an NCO like that,” he added with a smile. “Never!”

  “Larry, Boris and Kurt. What’d you guys see?”

  “Myk, I didn’t see a damned thing,” Larry laughed.

  “I saw the little bastard take a swing at Sergeant Graves,” Boris laughed. “Then I saw Sergeant Graves simply defend himself.”

  “Yep, that’s what I saw too,” Kurt laughed, holding his hand out for Boris to slap it. “Good one Boris.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I saw too,” Larry rocked with laughter. “So go ahead Myk, beat his stupid ass.”

  “Now let me tell you something about making threats,” Mykal said as he loosened his grip on Franklin’s shirt and looked to make sure only Larry, Kurt and Boris could hear him. “If you ever threaten me again, it’s possible we might get into another fight with those crazy people. If I’m afraid that you might rat me out, it’s very possible you might, accidentally of course, catch a bullet in the head,” he said and jammed his index finger into the side of Franklin’s head. “Or it’s also possible that you might get left behind with those crazy people. Accidentally, of course. You saw how hectic the last battle was.”

  “And I support him all the way,” Boris said. Kurt and Larry agreed with him.

  “Don’t you go making any more friggin threats. All I care about is getting home and I’m not gonna have some whining crybaby screw it up for me. We have too much to worry about and we don’t need to deal with your little sissy attitude.”

  “So get your shit together and do what you’re told,” Larry said and stepped closer. “You got it? Denny’s looking out for you.”

  Franklin nodded, but said nothing.

  “Get outta here,” Mykal commanded firmly.

  “You scared the crap outta him,” Boris laughed. He pointed behind Franklin. “See it running down his leg?” He joked.

  “You’re right though Myk,” Kurt agreed. “We don’t need a bad attitude with us. Not when our lives are on the line.”

  Denny joined them. “Did Nelson have anything worth taking?” Denny wore his flak vest and helmet to lead by example.

  “Nothing really, Mr. GI Joe,” Larry mocked Denny. “There’s his clothes, his hygiene kit, two towels, a Bible, a couple of books, three Superman comic books, and his running shoes.”

  “Comic books?” Mykal asked in stunned disbelief. The comic books hit him hard. The oddity of comic books made Mykal realize that Kim Nelson was a kid at heart. Nelson had his own likes and hobbies, besides being a family man. Now he lay dead. Gone!

  “Take his shower kit and towels then put all the rest of the stuff with him nice and neat in his A-bag,” Denny ordered.

  “You know it’s gonna get hot as hell with this flack vest and helmet on, right?” Kurt asked.

  “I know it is,” he snapped as if being challenged. “I’m the one responsible for you guys. If someone else gets killed then it’s my ass on the line. I don’t wanna hear any complaints.”

  “Hey Denny, I have an idea,” Mykal offered which stopped Denny from going off on Kurt. “Why don’t we go back and get the Marshal’s car? We could really use it. We can split up and give us all a little more room.”

  “Oh, I don’t know Myk,” Denny sighed and looked straight up into the sky. “We’re asking for trouble if we go back there.”

  “I don’t think so. If they’re still there we’ll forget it. Our weapons are far better and we’ll be inside our vehicle so if we have to haul ass we don’t have to risk anything. This time we won’t be caught off guard. We know exactly what we want so we get in and get out.”
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br />   “Everyone gather around,” Denny called out. “What do you think about going back to get the Marshal’s car?”

  “What for?” Roy Jr. asked while he adjusted the helmet chin strap.

  Mykal explained his reasons for wanting a third set of wheels. “There would be no risk. If it looks like any danger we’ll leave it alone.”

  “I don’t wanna go,” Franklin objected defiantly.

  “I knew you’d be the pansy ass about it,” Larry said. “But your vote don’t count.”

  “I’ll go, it’s up to the others,” Roy Jr. said. He looked odd with the military helmet and flak vest over his civilian clothing.

  “You can count me in too,” Randy said quietly with a long blade of grass sticking out of his mouth. He tipped his cowboy hat back and looked to his father for his reply.

  “If there is no danger to my boy I’ll help,” Roy said.

  “I’ll tell ya what we really need,” Boris cut in. “We need to find some booze. After a day like today I need to get shit faced and wind up in some gutter somewhere.”

  Larry and Kurt agreed with him. “You know Denny, if we end up staying out here for more than three days we’re going to have some real problems,” Larry announced. “Three days is the longest I can remember going without drinking.”

  “Alright. Let’s go get that car and get the hell outta there as fast as we can,” Denny gave in.

  “I need to bring my babies out first,” Boris said as he made his way to his bag. “This is my newest, a .22 with four 10 round clips. This is my last resort weapon when all my other weapons are empty. What else do I have in this bag you may be asking,” he said as they drew closer. “It’s my Gold Cup .45, and I have three clips for it. Larry do you want to borrow it? Cuz I can’t shoot all of them at the same time.”

  “Sure. I’d love to have a handgun as an extra weapon.”

  “Now for my favorite of them all.” Boris smiled with pride like a new father. “My Ruger Redhawk .44 magnum. This will stop anything that moves,” he boasted and held it up for everyone to see. “It’s better than the Dirty Harry, Smith and Wesson M29.”