by Rob Buckman
"Your sole responsibility from now on is to protect the team from all threats. Don't hesitate, don't second guess yourselves, and shoot straight." There was a smattering of clapping and a few 'well done' from the group, and a definite look of pride on the girl's faces as they stepped back into formation. After handing out all the kits, he took his place in front of the formation.
"As of now, you ladies are part of the SAS, or Special Air Service, and constitute the 21 SAS Wolf Pack Squadron." He saw them straighten up, as he knew they would. The one thing they needed above all else was confidence in themselves, and the feeling of pride of belonging to something greater than they were.
"A lot of very good people have worn the SAS badge. Many laying down their lives so others could be free. Few outside the Regiment know of their deeds, and mostly they are the unsung heroes of unknown battles, as it should be. The men and now woman who wear that badge didn't wear it for the glory or the medals, but for the pride in themselves and their unit. As of now, you will conduct yourselves as soldiers." He didn't add the regiment and the government they served probably didn't exist anymore. If forming them into an imaginary fighting force, and lying to them helped a few survive the long march up country, so be it. He could live with that.
“There is, or was a clock tower at the SAS barracks at Credenhill, and on it are inscribed the names of all the SAS who didn’t beat the clock, as they say, and died in the line of duty. At the base, you’ll find these words inscribed as a tribute and a reminder of who we are.” Decker took a deep breath and recited the poem.
We are the Pilgrims, master; we shall go
Always a little further it may be
Beyond that last blue mountain barred with snow
Across that angry or glimmering sea.
“I’ll let each of you ponder the meaning of those words and take them to heart. As of now, each team will have a call sign to identify yourself when you call in. The point and forward scouts will be Alpha team, left flankers, Bravo team, right flanker, Charley team, rear guard with be Delta team, and all those in the center will be Echo team. My call sign is Wolfman. Any questions?” There weren’t any. “Good. Team leaders number off your Team and use the number on any transmissions. That way I get a better picture of where the danger is coming from.”
“Um… I don’t follow, Sir.”
“Look at it this way. If your team is strung out in a line and your number five teammate reports something, I’ll know roughly, where the threat is coming from. Alpha and Delta teams can use left or right flank as a designator.” He saw them nod in understanding but doubted they get it straight in the beginning. At first, there’d be just a garbled message about a threat or something and he’d have to take time to go talk to the team leader to find out exactly where the threat was coming from. They’d get it after a while, but he wondered how many people would die before they did.
CHAPTER FIVE: FIRST CONTACT
The next day, the team leaders went about preparing their people for the coming march, checking the fit, adjusting the weight of their Bergens, and filling their camel bladders. If all went well, Decker hoped to be on the march in one, or two days at the most. Without warning, the TAC radio crackled to life.
"Bravo team to Wolfman!" Ruth Chandler radioed on the general push frequency.
"SSM actual - go!" Grace replied.
"We have movement coming towards the base."
"Shit!" Grace mutter as she hurried over to where Decker was instructing a group of women in the fine art of cutting a man's throat and stabbing him under the rib cage and into his heart. At the moment, he wasn’t wearing his ear bug. "We've got a problem, Sir." Decker stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Bravo leader just called in that we have movement heading towards the base."
"What now?" He muttered, frowning. Grace handed him the TAC set, and setting the ear bug in place, he keyed the hand unit.
"Wolfman actual - Go."
"Bravo leader here. We have about ten armed men heading towards us, Wolfman."
"Did you go to ground?"
"Yes, sir. Hunkered down like you said."
"Good, so they haven't seen you."
"No, sir. We spotted them long before they could spot us."
"Good girl." He switched to the command push and keyed the mic. "All teams. Stay hidden, alert and await orders. "Delta team leader. Slowly move your team in behind them as they pass and watch for anyone following."
"Copy that Wolfman - behind the ten armed men, another three are guarding, or herding a group of what looks like prisoners carrying rucksacks."
"That's to be expected. The fighters don't want the backache of carrying the gear. Go to ground and wait for orders." Decker looked around at his girls, quickly running through his options. They weren't ready for this, not by a long shot, but maybe it was for the best. He could bloody them a little.
"Grace. Crossbows and longbows on me on the double." Word had already got around and it only took a moment for thirty of them to gather. Decker held up his hand.
"Wolfman actual to Delta leader. How much time do we have?"
"At the rate they are moving you should have about twenty minutes before they get in a position to see the base."
"Good. It looks like they know it's here and coming for a look around to see what they can scavenge." Decker faced his bowmen.
"Get your ghillie suits on and spread yourselves out along the wall of the building north of here. Hunker down and make like a bush. Keep your weapons down until I give the word, but each of you pick a man. I want three bowmen on each of them. I'll be in the center to add fire support in case you miss." It wasn't a criticism, but he knew how easy it was for a newbie to miss the first time firing at a live target.
"All teams - heads up!" He keyed the mic again on the push. "Alpha and Charley teams move up to the scrub grass behind the buildings along the main road and make like bushes. You will be the backup in case we miss and get a runner. If any comes at you, take them down hard."
"Copy that Wolfman."
"Delta team. On my command, you will take down the three men guarding the prisoners. Get in as close as you can and swarm them if you can. We don't want to risk hitting or killing the prisoners."
"Copy that Wolfman. Out."
"Joann - Mary-Elin - Judy!" He called. The three youngest girls rushed over, looking expectant. "Strip down to your underwear and move out to that burned out truck on the road." Even as he gave the order, the girl's started stripping off their clothes. Even Decker had to admit their half-naked, tight young bodies had an effect on him. Hopefully it would have the same effect on the men coming here.
"The open back of the truck is facing north in the same direction these people are coming from. Your job is bait and distraction. Rummage around in the back of the truck as if you’re looking for something. In fact, take a couple of the empty boxes with you and put them on the ground like you've found something."
"Yes, Sir." All three sounded a bit nervous.
"Don't worry. Those men aren’t going to get anywhere near you. You just have to get them to walk into the kill zone. The moment the shit hits the fan, drop to the ground and stay there. Go."
Shrugging on his hairy overcoat, Decker watched them leave. If three young girls like that running around in their underwear didn't distract those men, they had to be blind, queer, or very professional soldiers. Decker followed the bowman out of the building, checking the silencer on his weapon was screwed down tight, and stooping low led them north, pointing out positions as he ran.
"Wolfman actual to Delta team leader - how we doing for time?"
"They are still two hundred yards out and about to go over the rise."
"Good." Decker motioned his team to go to ground, and looking around a moment later, doubted they could tell a fake bush from the real ones. Settling to the ground against the building wall, he brought his breathing under control.
They were just in time as at that moment he saw the point man of the group to
p the rise. His team’s position was good, almost a hundred yard up the road from the truck and the three girls. At this point, the main road was about twenty feet wide, with another ten feet of dried out grass and small bushes on either side between the verge and the buildings. He looked on the other side of the road, but couldn't see any of Alpha or Charlie teams. If they'd positioned themselves correctly, they would be out of the line of fire from this side of the road, but ready to take out any of the men who survived and started running. A shout drew his attention, and looking towards the rise, he saw the point man shouting something to someone he couldn't see, motioning down into the base. He'd obviously spotted the half-naked girls and was telling someone what he'd found. A moment later, ten scruffy looking men topped the rise and stood there looking at the scene before them.
An inquisitive fly buzzed around Decker's cammo covered head, but he ignored it. Breathing deeply, he settled down to wait. He could feel the tension in his gut, but that was a familiar feeling. He was long past the time when he felt scared, having been in a similar situation many times over the years. Now it was just the normal gut tightening tension before battle. Turning his head slightly, he sucked the water from his camel pack to ease the dryness in his throat. The pre-battle adrenaline rush always did that to him, and the almost desperate need to go for a piss. They'd all talked about it after, and he'd always wondered why they all had this need to piss just before the battle started.
The ten men walked quickly off the rise, trying to stay out of view of the three girls. Decker just hoped they didn't duck behind the building to sneak up on the girls. To his disgust, the leader sent two men off along the back of the building, and a moment later saw them run by between the buildings. It made sense. Put two men on the other side behind the girls so they couldn't run. It meant those two men would be a lot closer to the girls than he liked. At this point, there wasn't a lot he could do about it, as long as Alpha and Charlie teams had them covered. This group had communications as apparent from their timing. As the two men stepped out of hiding and onto the road behind the girls by the truck, the main group stepped onto the road at the other end of the base and walked steadily toward the girls. He had to hand it to them. All three acted just as he said they should, shrinking into a huddle and started crying the moment they saw the two men. By then, the two men, one a beefy looking redneck, the other a skinny kid with bad skin, were no more than ten feet from the girls and almost reaching out to grab them, while the main group wasn't yet into the kill zone. He keyed the mic.
"Hold - hold - hold - wait for it." Another ten feet, "wait for it - wait for it," another five feet, "hold - hold - hold." the intruders strode forward into the kill zone, their attention on the delicious vision of tight, young female bodies, oblivious to anything else. "KILL The FUCKERS!"
He heard the bowstrings let go, saw the arrows and crossbow bolts shoot across the fifteen feet between them. Half missed, a few got hit in non-critical areas, other men fell dead, their last sight was of the three delightfully young virgins stabbing and slashing the two unfortunate men to death, bright red arterial blood splashed across their soft white skin. Two men managed to run, heading between the buildings, but before Decker could take a shot one shrieked in terror as the ground at his feet rose up and started stabbing him. The other came to a sudden halt and looked down to see the bush in front of him suddenly grow a hand and holding the hilt of a large knife now buried in his gut.
"Oh fuck!" Was the last thing he said before he fell backward and died.
"Delta team - report!" Decker snapped.
"All quiet here Wolfman. They went down easy." Decker let out a long sigh of relief he didn't even know he was holding. Everyone was safe. "Bring in the prisoners and let see what we have."
"They're a little skittish, and we’re rounding them up right now."
"Copy that." He answered as he walked down the road.
He stopped and looked down at the two dead men on the ground, then at the blood-covered girls. Without a word, he opened his arms wide and the three girls rushed in. Holding him tight as he wrapped his arms around them. The shock hit them then, and all three started shaking and crying. Decker held them tight, hiding their tears on his chest and shoulders.
"It's okay girls. You can cry. I understand." He soothed them with soft words as he hugged them. He did understand what they were feeling.
Long ago he'd felt that way himself, but then there was no one to hug and reassure him. It wasn't the soldier's way. You sucked it up and pretended it was all right, afraid to show any weakness in front of other teammates. After, they'd go out and get drunk and find a girl to fuck, secretly thanking god or lady luck that it wasn't them laying on the ground in a pool of cooling blood. Turning, Decker slowly walked the three girls back to the doorway to the CP.
"Go take a long shower together and scrub the blood off. Then go to bed if you want."
"Together?" Joann sniffed, looking up at him from under dark, wet eyelashes.
"If you want to." Just then, Grace came up and took over, ushering the girls down to the basement and the showers.
"How did we do?" She asked, coming back up.
"We did good. All tangos down and no injuries."
"Tangos, huh?"
"Target, perps, assholes, it's all the same. They're just dead." She shrugged. Decker gave her an evil grin and walked off to confer with the team leaders. June came up and stood beside Grace.
"You know. I'm just glad he's on our side."
"Yeah. That man can be one evil SOB at times."
"And a heart of gold."
"What?"
"You missed his little group hug…" Never mind. Let just say he hadn't lost all of his humanity.
An hour later, Charlie team came in with two prisoners, all looking pissed off about something. Decker cocked an eyebrow at the team leader.
"What gives?"
"We tagged these two walking toward the base and thought you'd might want to talk with them."
"Okay, but why are you looking so pissed off?" Herriot Mallard clenched her teeth and looked at the two men.
"I got curious as to why these two assholes were so far behind and went to check…" She stopped, clenching and unclenching her fists. "I should have killed the fuckers instead of bringing them here."
"Tell me." Herriot just shook her head and walked away, tears in her eyes. Decker looked at the rest of the Charlie team for an answer.
"Well." For a moment, none of them said a word. Herriot came back, eyes dry.
"Ask this shithead!" Julie snapped, pushing the younger of the two men forward.
"Well?" Decker asked.
"I ain't saying nothin." For all his bravado, the young man shook like a leaf.
"Okay." Decker answered in a soft voice as he pulled his Bowie knife. "If you've nothing to say, I'll just cut your throat right here." Grabbing the kid by the hair, he forced him to his knees and pulled his head back, putting the edge of the knife to his throat.
"Oh God! Wait!" The kid yelled.
"Well, you have something to say?"
"Yeah, but it wasn't my idea."
"What wasn’t?"
"This old lady, well she couldn't keep up… she was slowing us down… so… so the boss told us to get rid of her." The kid gulped as Decker kept the edge of the knife against his throat.
"Go on."
"I tell you, it wasn't my idea, it was his."
"Shut your fucking mouth, kid. He's gona do you anyway, so why tell him anything… oww." He screamed as one of the girls stabbed him in the crotch. Not enough to kill him, but it did shut him up."
"You fucking cunt… oww." He screamed again as the little knife stabbed into his crotch again.
"Shut your fucking mouth, dirt bag." Sheila snarled.
"Go on. What happened?"
"Well… it was his idea…"
"You've said that already. Get to it."
"Well… we took the old lady out into the woods and… and… we killed her.
" Before Decker could stop her, Sheila stepped forward and stabbed her little knife into the kid’s cheek.
"Tell him what you did, you little shit, or I'll cut your fucking dick off and shove it down your throat!"
"Please… keep her away from me… she's crazy…"
"What did you do?" Decker said in his ear."
"We just… well… it wasn't like she hadn't done it before." Decker pressed harder, drawing blood.
"Tell me what you did, asshole." By now, the kid was sobbing, tears running down his dirty face.
"We forced her to give each of us a blow job… promised we'd let her go if she did."
"And?"
“I got one first and when… and when… after Jocko got his… he… he cut her throat.” He sobbed. For a second Decker fought with himself not to cut the kid's throat there and then. However, would that make him any better than the kid and his partner.
"Hogtie these two and put the dogs to watch them."
"Yes, sir. What…"
"I'll tell you later what we'll do with them. First, I need to talk to the prisoners." Seething with anger, Decker turned away, wanting to get as far away from these two assholes as possible before he changed his mind.
The girls were taking care of the shell-shocked survivors, finding them clothes to wear to cover their almost naked bodies. Even so, from the quick look he'd caught before they were dressed, Decker could see the whip marks and cuts that covered their backs. Several cringed as he walked up, so he kept his distance.
"How we doing?" He asked Grace.
"Just like you said, sir. Captured, husbands and boyfriends killed. The children and babies as well. Kept as sex slaves and pack animals until they got fed up with them or found younger girls."
"Yeah. Alpha Team just brought in two stragglers with an even worse story."
"Shit!"
"But seeing this, I have an idea of what to do with them. Wish we had a lawyer here."
"I was a lawyer… before all this." A tall, willowy, auburn-haired woman spoke up.
"Your name?" Decker asked, perking up. Even dirty and disheveled, she was a good-looking woman.