Praying for War: The Collin War Chronicles

by W. C. Hoffman

  “We’ve been trying to wake you up for like five minutes, dude,” Koby said. For a second, he looked a little concerned but played it off with a smirk. “The Sleeping Beauty act is getting old.”

  Collin sat up and rubbed his face.

  “You were talking in your sleep,” Pastor Pendell said.

  “Talking? More like yelling,” Koby added.

  “Oh?” Collin looked up at them, sheepishly. Why did everyone feel they could just waltz into his house?

  “Yes. Do you pray before bed?” Pastor Pendell asked.

  “Um, no. I guess not.” Collin shook his head.

  “You should try that. A prayer before bed soothes the soul and settles the mind.” Pastor Pendell said it like a doctor prescribing medication.

  “Okay, thanks, pastor.” Collin was disappointed. He remembered enough of his dream to know that he still didn’t know the boy’s name. A fact he knew would haunt him until he figured it out. “That was one hell of a dream,” he said. His forehead was damp and he felt a trickle of sweat run down his back.

  “The last dream I remember, I woke up very happy,” Koby said with a sly grin and a wiggle of his eyebrows.

  Collin smirked at Koby.

  Pastor Pendell scoffed. “Enough.”

  Looking at the two men in his room, Collin said, “Hold on. What are you two doing in my house?”

  “You didn’t hear the choppers?” Koby said, surprised.

  “No. Clearly, I was very much asleep.” Looking out his window, he saw that it was dusky; the sun still hid behind the mountains.

  “About fifteen minutes ago, they dropped a case in the field. It’s less than two hundred yards from the bridge, I think,” Pastor Pendell said. “This time the case has a bright yellow strobe on it, constantly blinking.”

  “BT76?” Collin said. He felt his heart jump. Considering it was so close to the last drop this might save lives. It wouldn’t save Doris but it could save others.

  “There’s another case,” Koby said. “Not in the field though. They dropped it about five miles or so away, to the south.”

  “For the Vipers?” Collin said.

  Koby and Pastor Pendell shrugged.

  “Anyway, I watched it fall to the ground and was able to get a bearing on it,” Koby said.

  “You have Eagle vision?” Collin smiled.

  “Funny. No, I was upstairs at home, heard the choppers fly in, and grabbed my binoculars,” Koby said. “I was hoping to see something useful or interesting. And what do ya know, mission accomplished. Anyway, my reading put it at two hundred seventy degrees to the southwest of my house.”

  “I’m glad you thought to take a reading,” Collin said. “Reminds me of my days as a Boy Scout.”

  “Why don’t you get ready so you can join the Eagles,” Pastor Pendell said.

  “Yeah, if you guys don’t mind waiting downstairs in the kitchen while I do so,” Collin said.

  The men walked out of his bedroom.

  “Don’t dawdle,” Koby yelled.

  Collin smiled and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

  Once he’d gotten ready and dressed, Collin jogged down the stairs. He was met by Pastor Pendell and Koby, who held up a big mason jar of coffee for him.

  “You’re my hero,” Collin said, taking a sip. He looked at the jar and nodded.

  “Don’t forget it,” Koby said.

  “Let’s go,” Pastor Pendell said. “We need to get this case secured.”

  It was maybe ten minutes since Collin woke up, so it was still possible that the Vipers hadn’t responded to the unexpected drop. If they were lucky, Collin thought they could retrieve the case before the Vipers had a chance to attack. No telling if they could get to the one dropped in the forest though.

  Collin opened the front door for Pastor Pendell and Koby. He noticed two Eagles standing on the path to his porch.

  One was a Staff Sergeant, named Jeremy Raiford and a Private, named David Berry. The two men stood patiently waiting for them.

  “What’s the status of the case?” Collin said over the rim of his mason jar as he took another drink of coffee. He pushed the lingering remnants of his dream to the back of his mind and focused on the situation.

  “Sir, Major Logan deployed the sniper teams, and last we heard, there was no movement along the tree line,” Staff Sergeant Raiford said.

  “No Vipers in sight, sir,” Private Berry added.

  SSGT Raiford glanced sideways at him for restating what he just said.

  “The case in the field hasn’t been recovered yet?” Pastor Pendell asked.

  “Not that I know of, Pastor,” SSGT Raiford said.

  PVT Berry shrugged.

  “You two go with Kobyashi to retrieve a couple of those explosives you showed me,” Collin said, looking at the Eagles and then Koby. “Meet us near the bridge.”

  “Indeed,” Pastor Pendell said. “We need to meet with Major Logan. I want to know what’s happening.”

  They left for the bridge, while the other three walked toward Koby’s house.

  After the others were out of earshot, Pastor Pendell looked at Collin. He could feel the pastor’s eyes on him but he kept staring down the road, waiting for him to speak first.

  “Tell me about your dream,” Pastor Pendell said. “I have a feeling it is still on your mind.”

  Collin shook his head slightly. “Not really,” he said. “All I remember is playing baseball with my son.”

  Pastor Pendell’s eyebrows shot up. “You remember your son?”

  “I recognized a boy and got a strong feeling that he was my son.”

  “Where were you in the dream?”

  “We were playing in a big green fenced-in yard,” Collin said.

  “Dreams can be echoes of the Lord or the handiwork of the devil,” Pastor Pendell said. “Remember the Book of David, chapter four, verse five, which tells us, ‘I saw a dream and it made me fearful; and these fantasies as I lay on my bed and the visions in my mind kept alarming me.’ He’s talking about fear of the unknown. There is much of life that is unknown, but we shouldn’t fear it.”

  Collin didn’t say anything, he just looked at the pastor.

  “God is with you, and each dream you have may reveal more details about your past.” Pastor Pendell looked at him hopefully like he expected a response.

  Collin glanced away for a moment. He couldn’t believe what he’d just heard.

  “You know, pastor, I’m starting to think you don’t know jack shit about my past.” Collin looked at Pastor Pendell with a mix of suspicion and anger. “I’m just here doing your bidding. Meanwhile, you string me along, right?”

  For a split-second, Pastor Pendell looked offended. Then he smirked.

  “You may very well be a workhorse, Collin. But I am not the one taunting you with a carrot above your head,” he said. He motioned like he was dangling the vegetable from a stick, taunting him. “No. The Lord will enlighten you when you are ready.”

  “Ready for what?” Major Logan asked.

  Collin looked up and realized they made it to the bridge, the whole walk over he was distracted with the pastor and his dream.

  “Ready to find out what the plan is,” Collin said motioning beyond the bridge to the field.

  Collin glanced at Logan and then looked at the field. He could see a yellow blinking light flashing against the trees and reflecting off the water. Although he couldn’t directly see the source.

  “Earlier, we had an unexpected drop from Hathaway choppers, like before. They dropped a crate in our field, nearly two hundred meters from the bridge. They continued down the valley and dropped a second crate roughly two hundred seventy degrees southwest of us,” Major Logan said. “The case here has a blinking yellow light that hasn’t shut off. We’re not certain if the second crate does as well. I’d like to see if we can retrieve the second crate, just in case it’s BT76.”

  Collin thought it was odd that the major never mentioned Koby to credit him for t
he information.

  “Our new Alpha team has already gone out to secure the crate and should be back with it any minute now,” Major Logan said.

  “That’s great,” Collin said. “No Vipers?”

  Major Logan shook his head.

  “I’m thankful we haven’t heard any shots fired yet,” Pastor Pendell said.

  Koby and the two Eagles approached the group. Collin saw the Eagles had the claymores that he’d requested. A wide grin spread across his face.

  “Look,” PVT Berry said.

  The blinking light was approaching the bridge. They could see Eagles carrying it while the others conducted a tactical retreat to cover their buddies. Everything was going smoothly. No shots fired, no arrows, and, thankfully, no deaths.

  Major Logan looked at Raiford and said, “Why do you have claymores, sergeant?”

  “Uh, General War ordered it,” PVT Berry said, cutting in.

  Major Logan glowered at the private for a moment before turning to Collin. “So you’re a General now, eh?”

  Collin held his hands up in mock defense.

  They both looked at SSGT Raiford.

  “Private, give those to Major Logan.” SSGT Raiford pointed to the claymores.

  PVT Berry did as he was told.

  “Let’s take a walk, private,” SSGT Raiford said.

  The two Eagles turned and walked away.

  Major Logan narrowed his eyes at Collin.

  Collin chuckled and raised his right hand. “I swear to God; I didn’t tell him to say that.”

  “But I’m sure glad he did,” Koby said, laughing.

  Pastor Pendell shook his head and looked down at the ground.

  “So, what exactly are the claymores for...General?” Major Logan asked sarcastically. He stood with his hands on his hips, looking skeptical.

  Collin sighed.

  “If it’s okay with you, I thought we could remove the BT76, rig the crate with the claymores, and leave it out. See if we can bag some Vipers. It’s possible that they haven’t seen us,” Collin said. “If they try to steal it, they’ll get a taste of their own medicine.”

  Alpha team set the case on the town side of the bridge, off to the side behind a tree. The soldiers stood around double-checking the tree line and catching their breath.

  Major Logan looked deep in thought.

  “Major?” Collin said. Should be any easy decision, he thought.

  Major Logan nodded slowly and said, “Okay, it couldn’t hurt to try, and it would be nice to get them back if they fall for it.” He waved over one of the soldiers and told him to bring the crate over.

  Within a minute, the case was in front of them. The blinking light was annoying. Collin fought the urge to smash it. Since they were using the crate for Viper-bait then it should remain intact.

  Not even hesitating, Major Logan walked up to the crate, knelt down, and grabbed the padlock. Collin saw Koby and Pastor Pendell begin to back away. He grinned despite their valid concern.

  “Are you sure you want to open that?” Collin said.

  “It’s safe,” Major Logan said. His voice was tight and harsh. Major Logan’s bruised face twisted into a frown. “Stand back if you’re worried. Go hide with them.” He waved his hand toward Koby and the pastor.

  “What if HAGS rigged it with a bomb?”

  “HAGS doesn’t use bombs. Vipers do and no Vipers have touched this crate,” Major Logan snapped. He looked confident in his words.

  Collin shrugged.

  Major Logan rolled his eyes and began to turn the combination lock. He spun the dial, then he turned it the other direction, and finally he twisted it back again. One, fifteen, sixteen, just like last time. Collin saw it clear as day. For being a “secret,” the major didn’t do much to hide the numbers from anyone.

  The lock’s mechanism snapped. Major Logan turned the lock and pulled it off of the crate.

  He glanced up at Collin and smirked.

  Major Logan flipped the lid up and stood up. Gesturing inside with his hand. Nothing happened.

  Collin walked around the end of the crate so he could see inside. On top of the shrink-wrapped boxes of BT76 were a few of the pink flyers they saw before. Supposedly, the supply was only dropping by forty-percent. Yet, they only had one crate. It looked like a fifty-percent cut to him.

  Major Logan had already knelt back down to pull out the medication. He didn’t even look for a pressure switch. Collin gaped at the man. Surely, he should be exercising more caution considering the explosive properties of their last drop.

  Major Logan is either the bravest, dumbest, or most traitorous bastard that he’d ever known, Collin thought.

  After pulling out a few of the bricks of medication, Major Logan stood up and yelled for the soldiers to line up and grab the BT76 from him. They began passing the bricks down a line of soldiers. One by one, the soldiers filled their arms and walked away carrying the precious boxes of vials toward the hospital.

  Emptying the crate only took a couple of minutes. When it was empty, he pushed the crate toward SSGT Raiford who had returned without PVT Berry.

  “Have you used claymores before, sergeant?” he said.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yes, sir. I used plenty of them during Operation Iraqi Freedom,” SSGT Raiford said. “We’re basically old friends, sir.”

  “Very well. Alpha team will carry the case out to the field and provide security for you. You setup the claymores to cover the crate and the nearest wood line,” Major Logan said.

  SSGT Raiford’s eyebrow twitched. “Yes, sir.”

  Collin was surprised that he wanted them setup outside the case and not inside the way the Viper’s had done it. Even if both explosives went off, they were unlikely to kill many Vipers. Maybe half a dozen Vipers at most since the thick tree trunks would block most of the blast wave and absorb the thousands of small metal pellets embedded in the plastic explosive.

  “We won’t get many Vipers if the claymores are outside of the crate,” Collin said. “Shouldn’t we put them inside so they take it away?”

  SSGT Raiford shook his head. “If they don’t take the bait, then it would nearly impossible for us to recover the explosives without casualties.”

  Collin grunted. “Fair enough.”

  “Sergeant, you have your orders. Carry on,” Major Logan said.

  “Yes, sir.” SSGT Raiford turned and jogged over to the Alpha team leader and relayed the major’s orders. They returned with the whole team, picked up the case, and moved out across the bridge.

  Once they reached a suitable place to drop the crate, Alpha team lowered it and moved behind in into a right echelon formation to watch the wood line. SSGT Raiford moved up next to the crate and began to place the claymores. Without binoculars, it was difficult to see exactly what was happening.

  “How’s he setting those up, Major?” Collin said.

  “Trip wires.”

  “Good choice,” Collin said. With two claymores, Raiford would have great options for placement. Ideally, their fields of fire would overlap and the trip wires wouldn’t be visible until it was too late, if at all. The Vipers were in for a terrible surprise.

  Pastor Pendell yawned behind Collin. The sound startled Collin. He hadn’t realized that the pastor was still there.

  “I’m heading back to the church. I need to get some more sleep before service,” he said, yawning again. “Good hunting, gentlemen. May the Lord be with you in your endeavor.”

  Koby watched the pastor leave and shook his head.

  Collin chuckled. “You can go too, Koby.”

  “Thanks, but I’m fine.”

  “Who’s on over watch,” Collin asked Major Logan. Koby watching the pastor leave reminded him to ask.

  “Well, General-” Major Logan said, sarcasm thick in his voice.

  “See what you started,” Collin said to Koby, cutting off the major.

  “Whoa dude, that was Private Berry. Not me,” Koby
said looking surprised.

  “Like I was saying,” Major Logan continued. “The usual teams are up in the Eagle’s Nests, and my best sniper team is up on the dam. They’ve been there since 1900 hours yesterday.” Major Logan didn’t look happy about that. “You feel like watching the bait pile?”

  “Sure. Who’s my spotter?” Collin asked.

  Major Logan shook his head. “You’ll be mine.”

  Koby laughed.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Sunrise from the top of dam was even more impressive than from his front porch. Golden spears of light began to lance down from the dips between mountain peaks. The valley glowed as nature began to wake up. Bird songs began to fill the air, while Collin adjusted his position on the re-purposed yoga mat that provided a minimal amount of comfort on the hard, concrete dam.

  This morning though, Collin wouldn’t be able to enjoy its beauty. He had a job to do and it required his total focus. It was his first time on the dam and he was impressed with its size, relative to the size of the river. Collin couldn’t understand why it was so tall and just assumed it was because it needed space to house all the equipment needed to generate electricity. His knowledge of such things was minimal at best.

  The rush of water exiting the dam below them would normally be enjoyable. Considering they were in a tactical situation, Collin couldn’t help feeling a little uneasy, since it would be easy for someone to sneak up on them. Major Logan assured Collin that the top of the dam was one of the safest places in Goshen.

  Looking around at the mountains surrounding the dam, Collin believed him too. The two sides of the dam sat in stark contrast of each other. Whereas the valley held the town and prosperous farmland, like something out of a story book, the other side looked wild and rugged. Goshen’s dam sat between steep mountains and stood over three hundred fifty feet high. The dam itself stretched straight across the canyon, roughly four hundred feet across anchoring into a cliff on the far side, and a steep mountainside behind the town. The road leading to the dam was steep and winding.

  Behind the dam, was a gorgeous blue lake stretching into the distance and disappearing around a curve behind a mountain. Major Logan mentioned that a treacherous river and waterfalls coming down off the mountains fed the lake. Collin could see one of the magnificent waterfalls cascading down the side of the mountain, crashing against a huge ledge, before falling further until it finally splashed into the lake. Spray from the waterfall twinkled in the rising sun. Collin imagined the rainbows you could see if you got closer.