by Mark Harritt
“Oh,” Diane replied, a little embarrassed that she hadn’t realized that.
Matki reached over and squeezed her bicep, “Don’t worry, you haven’t worked with us in the field the way the men have. You will learn.”
Mitchem stood, “Possibly, if we live for her to do so.” He turned to Diane, “Grab your security detail. They need to pull rear guard while Matki takes us up the ridge.” He turned back to Matki, “How much can we take?”
Matki frowned, “Take as much as you can carry. Food and water is most important. After that, bedding and the tents. It’s going to get cold at night. We won’t be able to have fires. A fire would backlight anyone pulling security, making them a target.”
Diane nodded, “Okay, we’ll start moving everybody higher up the mountain. We’re going to put Everett on a stretcher to get him up there. I’ll grab some of the techs to do that.”
Mitchem concurred, “Let’s get Everett up there first. We’ll send Joel up with him. Joel’s frail, he can’t carry much. Better just to move him up with Everett. Then, we can come back down and help Joan and Michelle move up . . .”
Mitchem was interrupted by Matki, “My family will help get Michelle and Joan up to the new location. Balia and Olmla were helping them anyway. My boys and I will grab everything they need.”
“Okay, sounds like a plan, Matki. Diane, get everybody moving. Everett first, and then you can do security while everybody else is gathering our stuff to move higher. I’m going over to help move Everett up the mountain.”
They finished their war counsel with Diane going to gather her squad, and to send people to help Everett.
Matki, Jendi, and Mitchem started walking in the direction of Joel’s makeshift hospital. While they walked, they talked about their predicament.
“Do you know a location where we can go to?” Mitchem asked.
Matki nodded, “Yes, I found a location for us. I started looking around when I became aware of the treachery of Joacar and Walleg. I was hoping that I could keep this from happening, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to kill all of the snakes that were acting against us.”
Mitchem looked up the trail, his face bleak, “I just wish we could find a place where we didn’t have to watch our backs all the time. It seems like we keep moving from one danger to another. I just wish it would stop.”
Matki used one of Mike’s favorite sayings, a grin on his face, “If wishes were horses, everybody would ride.” Mike had shown him what a horse looked like on an old video.
“Yeah, I know, but it would be nice to sleep without worrying about what the hell was going to happen next,” Mitchem opined.
Matki patted his friend on the back, “Nothing is certain in this world except for death, my friend.”
Mitchem looked up and a smile spread over his face, “Yeah, nothing in this world is certain but death. That’s the only good thing I’ve found here, no taxes!”
Matki looked at Mitchem, an inquisitive look on his face, “What are taxes?”
Mitchem grinned at Matki, “Torture! Something far worse than death my friend, believe me.”
They walked into the small clearing that Joel was using for his clinic. All five of his patients were laying to one side, with Joel looking tired but relieved, sitting in a folding chair on the other. Olmla was taking water and food to the two new mothers. Balia walked over with one of the babies, swaddled in dark grey cloth.
Matki leaned forward to look at the serious features of the small baby. “Whose?” He asked.
Balia leaned forward and stood on her toes to kiss him on the check, “Michelle and Roberto’s baby. It’s a boy.”
The child was asleep, but his face was scrunched up, looking like he had all the troubles of the world. Matki was amazed at how perfect and precious the child’s features were. Above the face, there was a crown of curling dark hair, just like Roberto’s.
“How is Michelle?” Matki asked.
Balia rocked the baby by shifting her hips back and forth, “She is fine, just tired. Her eyes were drooping so I took the baby and told her to get some sleep.”
“What about Joan and Everett’s baby?”
“A beautiful baby girl. Everett is holding her right now. Joan is watching him to make sure he doesn’t tire himself out.”
“Joan is watching him?”
Balia grinned, “Of course she is. I tell mother Joan to get some rest, and Dr. Joan tells me she is just fine. Here, let’s go talk to them.”
Matki followed Balia, with Mitchem and Jendi following Matki. They walked up to find Everett’s arm around Joan, their new baby girl resting on a blanket between them.
“Matki! Good to see you, brother,” Everett greeted them.
To Matki’s eye, Everett was still very weak. His skin tone was still grey from his loss of blood. Everett tried to sit up, but Joan put her hand on his shoulder to keep him from doing so, a stern look of warning on her face. Everett conceded and lay back on his blankets.
Matki walked forward and knelt on the other side of Joan from the baby. He peeked over her to get a look at their daughter. The child’s eyes were closed, and her little tongue was pushing in and out of her mouth, probably dreaming about her mother’s milk.
“She’s so beautiful,” Matki gushed.
Everett nodded, “She is, isn’t she? Daddy’s little angel.”
Matki put his hand on Joan’s shoulder, “How are you?”
A wain smile appeared. “I’m tired, but I’ll be okay. With Joel, Balia, and Olmla, I couldn’t have had a better delivery team.
To the side, Olmla’s face turned pink when she was ranked with her mother and Dr. Humphreys. Matki noticed, “I hear that my Olmla has the makings of a Doctor.”
Joan nodded, “And she’ll be a very fine doctor one day if she keeps studying.”
Olmla’s face turned a deep crimson. Matki chuckled. During the lull, Mitchem came around the other side and held his hand out to Everett, “Congratulations, Everett. On the baby and on your recovery.”
Everett smiled, and then shook his head, “I’m not out of the woods yet, but I have a good recovery team. And, I have two very good reasons to live.” He squeezed Joan’s hand.
Matki frowned, unwilling to break the atmosphere of goodwill and comradery, but he knew he had to break the bad news, “I’m sorry to tell you this, but we need to move immediately.”
Joan looked up, concerned, “But why, we just got here. What’s wrong with this location?”
Everett looked into Matki’s eyes and knew something was wrong, “Who is it?”
“It’s Walleg,” Matki answered.
Everett frown, “Not Joacar? I thought Joacar would be the problem.”
Matki shook his head, “No, Joacar and Gegit have been taken care of.”
“What’s Doein doing? Why isn’t she putting her foot down?”
Matki’s face hardened, “She didn’t make it out of the canyons. Neither did Larif. They were the moderating forces on our council. Plus, with the elders of Althus’ village all dead, the survivors look to our tribal leaders. They’ve been led astray by Joacar and Walleg. Gegit was an old fool, easily influenced by the others.”
Everett blinked and then grimaced as he learned about the new realities, “How many of them are there? Is there anybody we can rely on?”
Matki nodded. He motioned to Mitchem, “We have a plan, but we have to get everybody moving up the hill. There is a location up there that will serve us. We can defend ourselves more easily there. They will have a very hard time getting to us. There are boulders we can use for cover. I have twenty-five to thirty warriors that I can depend on. You have maybe five or six people that we can use from your security teams. Plus, we can give rifles and ammunition to the techs and put them into position. They aren’t warriors, but maybe they can kill a man if they pull the trigger enough times.”
Everett stared at Matki. Matki could see fear in Everett’s eyes, but he knew that Everett’s fears weren’t for himself, but for
his wife and child.
“How much time do we have?” He asked.
“Not much at all,” Matki answered.
Everett picked up his new baby girl and handed her to Joan. He turned to Matki, “Get Joan and the baby up the hill. Give me a rifle, and I’ll kill as many as possible before they get me.”
Matki grinned, seeing his friend’s fighting spirit come back to life, seemingly more like the old Everett, even without his leg.
“There is no need for that, Everett. We aren’t going to leave you behind. They aren’t going to come after us just yet. Still, we’re not going to waste time. Balia and Olmla are going to help Joan and Michelle get up the hill, and then . . .”
“Balia and Olmla ain’t the only ones going to help them up the hill.”
Matki turned around with a smile on his face, recognizing the voice immediately. Latricia and Tracy stood at the edge of the clearing.
Matki inclined his head, acknowledging their presence, “Of course not. Latricia, Tracy, Balia and Olmla will help Joan and Michelle and the two little ones up the hill. Mitchem, Jendi, I, and a few others will be carrying you up the hill.”
Everett looked conflicted. He wasn’t a man that was used to relying on others. Joan saw the look on his face. She found his hand and squeezed it, “You have to do this Everett. You’ve taken care of us ever since we’ve gotten here, let us take care of you.”
Everett hesitated, then nodded, “Okay.” He looked up at Matki and asked, “When do we start?”
Jim Wright and Lenny Reitch walked into the clearing.
Matki smiled, “Right now, of course.”
Matki had enough men now that they could each take a corner of the stretcher that Everett was laying on. It wasn’t one of the rigid stretchers that you’d find in a hospital, but was one of the stretchers that could be rolled up and used by mountaineers. Since Matki knew where he was going, he took the front right corner. Wright took the front left, Reitch the back right, and Mitchem the back left. Jendi followed behind with Everett’s kit, bowed down with all the body armor, weapons and rucksack with ammunition. Matki asked if he needed help, but Jendi just shook his head no. Since Olmla was busy helping the new mothers, Desci helped Joel with his medical kit.
“How far do we need to go?” Jim asked.
“Not far, maybe a mile. I found a trail with a gentle slope. We won’t have to go through the undergrowth or heavy rock,” Matki answered.
Latricia woke up Michelle, who groaned after being told they had to move, “Bastards. Don’t they respect motherhood?”
Soon, the entire contingent was moving up the ridge. They had to move slowly because of Joan and Michelle, but they made decent time anyway. Matki led them to a wide ledge that narrowed as they walked up. The slope was gentle until the last three hundred meters, then the angle increased. It led to a crevasse back into the mountain. The living space was tight, and it would get even tighter with another thirty families and the techs, but it would be easy to defend. The only problem was that there was no escape. There was only one way in, and one way out.
Matki was already evaluating how they could and should shore up their defenses. They walked into the crevasse, which was just wide enough for four men to walk abreast in. The crevasse stretched back into the mountain side for a good eight hundred feet before it narrowed to the point that it was no longer usable.
They carried Everett as far back as they could, and set him down on the ground. Joan and Michelle were next, with their babies. If anything happened to the front, they would be as far away as possible from the fighting.
“You may have to share with women and children if we’re attacked,” Matki told them.
Joan smiled, “the more the merrier.”
Michelle groaned, pushing her breast to her baby’s mouth so that he could eat, “Speak for yourself. I’m having enough problems with this little guy.”
“What are you going to name him?” Tracy asked.
Michelle looked up and a soft smile graced her lips, “I’m going to name him after his father, Roberto. I just hope he isn’t as hard to handle as Roberto was.”
Everett laughed weakly, “Good luck with that. Knowing Roberto for as long as I did, I can guarantee that little boy is going to be a handful.” He looked over at his daughter, and put his hand on her bald pate, “Roberto would be giving me so much grief right now if he was here. He has a son, and I have a girl.”
Joan’s eyes narrowed, “You aren’t happy to have a daughter?”
Everett held his hands up in supplication, “No, I’m happy to have my beautiful daughter. With my past, after three girls, I wasn’t expecting anything else.” Everett grinned, “But Roberto has a son, and if he was here, he’d be giving me so much grief. Hell, once the boy’s make it back, I’m pretty sure they’ll do the same.”
Matki looked over at Joan. She positioned herself so that Everett wouldn’t see, and shook her head oh so slightly. Matki nodded. Evidently, they hadn’t told Everett about Mike or the others. In Everett’s condition, he could see why. With one leg gone, still in shock, blood loss evident from the coloration of his skin, it might be a while before Joan told him.
Matki turned to the others, “Okay, we have to go back down and collect food, water, bedding, and tents. It’s not cold at this latitude yet, but we might be in here a while. Matki motioned for them to move back out of the fissure. Matki was behind them as they moved out. In the clearing in front of the fissure, Matki found Tunlin with his wife and daughter. Matki greeted them and motioned for his wife and daughter to go ahead and move into the crevasse. They’d brought very little, mainly food.
As his family moved in the crevasse, Tunlin eyed the area, “There isn’t much here.” Then he noticed Jendi walking up, “Hey little man.”
Jendi tilted his head toward Tunlin, “Well met, Tunlin.”
Tunlin grinned, “You look more and more like your father every day.”
Jendi just smiled, but Matki put his hand on Jendi’s shoulder, “Such a shame, too. I was hoping he’d look more like his mother.”
Jendi grinned at his father, “Well, at least I’ll be skinny like her.” He poked at Matki’s waist.
Matki dodged and grinned at Jendi. He brought the conversation back on track, and looked over his shoulder at the mouth of the crevasse, “I was more worried about security than I was about comfort or convenience. This is easily defended. We just need to roll some rocks across the front and we should be secure. No one is going to get across this open area before we hit them with small arms fire.”
Tunlin nodded, “True, but we’ll have a problem if we have to stay in there too long. We’ll run out of food fairly quickly.”
Matki looked at Tunlin, “How long do you think?”
Tunlin shrugged, “We’ll have to do a count once we have everybody here, and then a survey to see how much food is available, but I’m thinking a week at most, maybe a week and a half.”
Matki frowned, “That’s not long at all.”
“No, not at all. You think we can hold them off?” Tunlin asked.
Matki stared out toward the trail. He could see others coming up. It was high enough that he could see them from a good distance, mainly because of the elevation. He looked back at the crevasse, and let his eyes track higher. He noticed a notch higher up on the side of the mountain. He pointed it out to Tunlin, “You think we could put one or two men right there? If we have someone there, they could keep some distance between us and Walleg’s men.”
Tunlin shaded his eyes as he looked up. He found the notch that Matki was talking about. He studied the cliff face, and then grunted his agreement, “yeah, I’ve got two or three that can scale that without any problems. They may have to work it a bit for cover from incoming fire.”
He turned to Matki, “Anything else I can do?”
Matki nodded, “As soon as your men get here, we have to grab the rest of the bedding and tents.”
“Okay. We couldn’t grab the tents, only the
bedding. If we’d grabbed the tents, they’d have known what was going on,” Tunlin told him.
Matki frowned, “Best if you leave them there, then. We’ll put the women and children in the Emurecun’s tents. I’m going to head back down to help the others. I have five of the Emurecuns on security out there, but they aren’t as skilled as our warriors are. Put five men down among the trees until we get everybody up here, then pull them back,” Matki turned to Jendi, “I need you to . . .”
Jendi held his hand up, “I know, I stay here and guard the women and children.”
Matki grinned, “I’m that predictable?”
Jendi nodded, “With me you are.”
Tunlin laughed, “I can’t blame him. We all want to protect our children for as long as possible.”
Jendi waved and turned back to the crevasse to stand guard, pulling his rifle off his back and holding it in low ready.
Matki and Tunlin walked down the path. As a Tunlin’s men came up, he pointed the families up the trail, and then told the men to help the Emurecuns bring their food, bedding and tents up the trail. He grabbed his best men and sent them down the ridge to pull security. Soon, there were no more Contai coming up the trail.
“How many?” Matki asked.
“Twenty-eight,” Tunlin replied. “We brought Durzai’s family in last.”
“That’s better than I expected.”
“It’s better than I expected, Matki. But they know we’re gone now.”
Matki nodded, pointing down the ridge, “That’s why we have to grab everything we can and get back up the hill.”
As Matki and Tunlin walked down, the techs walked past them, carrying rolled sleeping bags, bags of food, tents. The Contai warriors they met were also overloaded with the same, trying to get it all up the hill before disaster struck.
Matki flagged down one of the warriors, “Chaoloi, what else is there?”
Chaoloi motioned over his shoulder, “One hundred meters, lots of dried meat.”
Matki thanked him. Tunlin and he quickly made their way to the indicated spot. Meat had been jerked and hung to dry. Matki and Tunlin looked around and found a blanket they could use. As they shoved the meat onto a blanket, Diane came to them, “Matki, five men came and told us that we had to get up the mountain.”