Brothers of Different Mothers

by C. L. Jones

  Indy continued, “You all see that mountain range over there? Well it’s not a mountain range but the top ten percent of the mountains that we are standing on. So the way I look at it, we have been doing push-ups, sit ups and running cross country up and down these mountains at a high elevation all week. The competition that starts this week end will be more about the other side being out of shape and not being able to win. We’ve been working hard all week and our physical abilities will shine through.” Then Indy pointed to a red flag nailed to a tree and said, “That’s our starting point. We don’t have to run the course for time or competition today but we do get one trial run to check it out. Today is the trial run day for the red team.”

  They stood there looking at the tree with the flag like it was the test itself. Indy turned and said, “I guess we best be getting started.”

  Without another word and wanting to be the good leader, Indy took off down the path first. One by one the team took off behind him. Pops waited until the end and the man in front of Pops was Cowboy. He looked at Pops and said in almost a whisper, “I have been watching you. I know what’s what so I’ll give you the time you’ll need,” and then Cowboy took off down the path. Pops knew what Cowboy meant so it was a surprise on one hand but on the other he’d known from the start that Cowboy and he were brothers of different mothers. Pops knew this would probably be his only chance to look for the hidden ammo he’d discovered in the notebook. He hoped he could do it without being followed or watched but as always he had a healthy dose of Mr. Paranoia. He thought that paranoia was a tool that never rested and at some point might just save his life.

  The team jog-walked for about a half hour and came to the first obstacle that extended across the path. It was a pit or large ditch that was about twenty to twenty-five feet across and filled with stagnant muddy water. You could see the sharp ends of punji sticks poking just above the surface of the water in all directions. The team gathered around the ditch looking at the distance across. Bringing up both hands in a questioning gesture Rocky made a goofy twisted face and asked, “Can anyone jump it?” Hearing this, everyone laughed except Indy who looked at the wide expanse and then back at Rocky as if it had been a valid query.

  Cowboy asked for the rope, then sat down on the ground and started tying one end into a small knot with a loop at the end. He took the other end and slid it through the loop. Cowboy stood up and hung the rope at his side with his hand and fingers moving around like they were looking for just the right place to take his grip. He looked up at the tree above them for a few seconds as he moved back and forth alongside the ditch. Finding what he wanted, he stopped and looking down at the rope, started swinging it back and forth. As he swung the rope, he looked back up at the tree and moved a couple steps forward. He then swung the rope around and around over his head like in one of those western movies. Everyone moved back out of the way and watched. After several circular rotations over his head he let loose of the rope and it went flying through the air. It hit a large branch but the loop didn’t open and the rope dropped to the ground. Cowboy gathered it up and reformed the lasso. He tried a second time, and this time the loop opened and wrapped around a large stump of a branch that hung over the ditch. He pulled hard in a downward motion to tighten the loop. When the loop was tight around the branch he took hold of the rope with both hands high above his head and tested to see if it held his weight without any problems.

  Cowboy walked away from the ditch holding the rope in his hand and letting it run through his fingers. He stopped and turned back facing the ditch. Without saying a word to anyone he took off running at full speed. Cowboy never even got near the muddy mulch in the ditch when his feet left the ground and he went sailing out over the muddy water and over the first obstacle. As he landed on the other side he kept a hold of the rope and in one move turned back toward the rest of the team. “A piece of cake.” Cowboy said with that big country boy smile.

  Cowboy walked away from the ditch and started looking around. Nodding his head he picked up a good size rock, made a cradle out of the end of the rope and placed the rock in it. He held on to the rope about ten or twelve inches above the cradle and swung it back and forth. When he was sure it was going to hold he yelled over to the team, “Here you go boys,” He let the rope drop to its extended position, swung it back and forth and then let it go, launching it back to the men on the other side of the ditch.

  Rocky grabbed the rope and with some humor he swung the large rock cradle and asked, “Who’s next?”

  Roadside, Surfer, Tracker, Pops, and Indy, all made it across without a problem but when it was Flame’s turn he almost didn’t make it. His run was weak, his lunge into the air was almost funny and when he hit the mud at the edge of the ditch on the other side Cowboy and Rocky had to grab and pull him up. It was apparent to the others that he was just not coordinated, even though he had done well during the conditioning workouts. Pops had watched everyone during the running, pushups and sit ups and he knew that Flame was only in average shape for an agent. An average shape agent could be limiting and hazardous to the team.

  With a couple of flipping actions of his wrist Cowboy managed to retrieve the rope from the fat stumpy tree branch.

  After regrouping, the team took off down the path looking forward to the next obstacle. It wasn’t long before they found it. The team stopped at the opening of a large gap between two rocky cliffs. Someone had cut a tree on the other side so that it fell across the opening to the side where the team was standing. At first glance it looked like it would be easy to cross until you studied it for a while. The tree had been cut and positioned so the small end of the tree was at the beginning of the climb over the gap. When any weight was put on it, the small end of the tree felt like it would give way.

  Rocky walked to the end of the tree, looked at the rest of the team and said, “I’ll go.” He made another check of the tree then looking back at the team told them, “Don’t anybody get on it until I’m on solid ground on the other side.”

  Cowboy tied the rope around Rocky in an old school repelling rig-type set up and the team watched as Rocky climbed out onto the tree. First he made an attempt to stand and balance himself as he walked across. As he did this the tree bark cracked causing him to slip and slide and he almost fell off. Then he sat astride the trunk and started working his way over by lifting his body with his hands then pulling his body forward to his hands and then slowly repeating this method over and over. It must have felt like a lifetime to him before he got to the other side. Once there he got off the tree, stood up and looked at the team and yelled back, “It’s not easy but let’s see if any of you wimps can make better time than me.” No one was timing but all were apprehensive knowing that their turn was coming

  Pops walked to the edge of the rock face and looked down over the jagged edge of the rim then back at the tree. He tilted his head back and took in a deep breath and as he blew it out he informed the others, “I’ll go next.” Cowboy had retrieved the rope and quickly set Pops up in the rope harness as he had Rocky. Pops mounted the tree and using the same method as Rocky was over in about the same amount of time. Pops yelled back to the others, “Come on, it’s not so bad if you use Rocky’s method. Remember you only live once and you only die once but it is what you do in between that counts.”

  Pops watched as the others looked around to see who was next. One by one the team members mounted the tree and worked their way across except for Tracker. All of the team made it across and were in a hurry to get going. But they spotted Tracker still on the other side. The experienced team members knew what was wrong when they saw the look on Tracker’s face. The guys were yelling back to Tracker, “Come on, come on, it’s easy. You can make it, come on man.” Tracker looked like a trapped animal. He kept pacing around all the while looking back at the deep separation and the now well used tree with a lot less bark. Tracker looked like he was going to pass out or throw up. Indy walked back to the edge and yelled, “Come on you pussy
, you’re holding us up.”

  Tracker looked at the team then walked around bending and putting his hands on his knees and again looking back at the team. He stood up ran his hands over his face and putting his hands on his hips he yelled, “I can’t do it. I’m afraid of heights. I can’t make it across. I just can’t, I’ll pass out.”

  The team kept yelling encouragement to him but it was clear to Pops that Tracker was making himself sicker and sicker. Pops pushed his way to the front of the pack and stood right at the edge of the monster ravine that was eating Tracker alive. Dropping his semi-pathetic poor dumb guy act and in front of the whole team he yelled to Tracker, “Tracker, you stay here and hide and watch for any activity from the cadre or the blue team. Stay out of sight and we will pick you up on the way back. Watch for anyone who may be spying on us. Are you going to be okay?”

  The pale-faced Tracker shook his head yes, then smiled at Pops and gave him a man to man head-nodding thank you.

  Not one of the team members griped about what Pops had done. In their field of work, they knew that one of the most important things any man can learn is his own limitations. Once you know them you can work around them and always find another way to accomplish your mission. Everyone had a demon hiding deep down inside and until you have conquered your devil you don’t judge others. Pops learned long ago that when you work with someone you find their strengths and capitalize on them and keep an eye out for what you believe is a weakness that could harm you or the mission. The important thing was to utilize the strengths that you have.

  Pops could see signs of approval from the team with one exception. It was no surprise that Pops caught a slight look of dissatisfaction on Indy’s face just before Indy spun around and started yelling out orders to the team, “Okay let’s go.” Trained soldiers in the field are almost on autopilot when the order comes. Being good soldiers the team snapped to and took off again.

  The team was jogging down the path again when Pops saw the top of a mountain peering over the tops of the trees. The winding path and the peaks were the same as the drawings in the notebook. If the notebook was correct there should be something ahead that on paper resembled some kind of a flat obstacle. It wasn’t long after Pops noticed the mountain peaks looming over the treetops that the team rounded a group of trees that jutted out enough on the path to slow them down. By the time Pops rounded the clump of trees he stopped dead in his tracks. The entire team had stopped and all looked stunned to see the base of a shear rocky face that at that very moment seemed like the side of the empire state building.

  Before thinking Pops looked up at this gigantic impasse and said, “What the hell is this?” The only reason he even remarked was because in the notebook it appeared that the obstacle looked to be something flat on the ground. Based on the notes the first thing Pops had thought of was something like a kind of natural tar pit.

  “It’s an oh-shit wall!” said Surfer. The team watched as he ran to the bottom of the wall and got as close to it as he could putting the side of his face to the wall and pushing his cheek tightly against it. He looked up the sheer face for a minute or two then turned around and announced, “It’s not like it looks from back there. Come here and take a look. It’s been made for challenges like this. It’s got hand and foot holds camouflaged into it. If we take our time it won’t be hard at all.” After more examination, Surfer shook his head and looked back at the team, “Man, I can’t even comprehend how they did it or how long it took to do all the work to make it look so impossible. Man this is good.”

  Surfer turned back to the wall, knelt down and picked up a couple of handfuls of soft dirt and put them in his pocket. He took a little more dirt and rubbed it between his hands shaking off the extra dirt. He knelt down again to pick up a big hand full of dirt and put more in his pockets. He walked to the wall, smiled at it, and then patted the wall like it was an old friend. Surfer started off looking down at his feet, then up at his hands and one step at a time he started to move up the wall. When he was about twenty feet up he looked over his shoulder at the team and said, “Come on it’s easy. Just watch where the person ahead of you puts their hands and feet and use the same hand and foot holds. It’s like climbing a ladder.”

  Pops watched as the other team members reacted to the wall. He was also looking around because, according to the notebook, he was only a short distance to the hidden ammo. He wondered how he could get to the ammo without raising the suspicions of the others. Pops caught Cowboy’s eye and tried to let him know that he was up to something and needed a diversion.

  Cowboy walked over to the wall and said, “Let’s give it a try.” He started up the wall behind Surfer and was doing well. Cowboy was looking back at the team and joking about how easy the test would be. Then out of nowhere Cowboy made it appear that something was wrong as he desperately clawed at the wall. It looked like he was losing his hold and trying not to fall. Within a few split seconds Cowboy’s clawing movements became more desperate and his eyes showed more fear. His body started to fall away from the wall and then all of a sudden he seemed to regain his grip. He pulled himself back to the wall and stayed there without as much as a hair on his head moving. His head rested on his upper arm and his hand gripped the wall like there was no tomorrow. He looked over his shoulder down at the group of men, smiled and started to say something when it happened. Cowboy fell away from the wall plummeting backwards like a stuffed dummy. He hit the ground and was encased in a cloud of soft dust. The guys on the ground ran over to him and Surfer climbed back down to see if he could help. Indy was attending to Cowboy when Cowboy opened his eyes which were rolled back in his head so all you could see were mostly the whites. Then his eyelids fluttered and closed again.

  This was the chance to slip away that Pops was waiting for. He backed toward the trees working his way along until he couldn’t be seen by the others. Then he took off running. Going by his memory of the map in the notebook, he headed in the direction he believed to be correct. If his memory was right the ammo was only about a hundred to a hundred and fifty yards away. Running like a dog after a fire truck, Pops got to what he thought was near the location. He scrambled around for a few seconds trying to find the landmarks that were called out in the notebook. Once he knew he was in the right area he stopped and spotted a fallen tree with a big rock on either end. The fallen tree was just like what was shown on the map in the notebook.

  Pops ran to the rock on the east end of the tree and started to dig but discovered a lot of digging wasn’t necessary. The ammo was barely covered. After scraping away a little dirt he found a plastic bag with a bunch of tightly wrapped ammo clips and an ammo belt bandoleer that could be worn over a soldier’s shoulder. Pops jammed the ammo clips into his cargo pockets with the bandoleer and started his return trip.

  On the way back to the guys Pops considered excuses that he could give for his absence that might be believed. He approached the area near the wall, slowing down and walking out of the trees while messing with the fly of his pants and looking like he was buttoning up. He reached the group of guys and realized that no one was watching him or had noticed he was gone.

  Pops went over and bent down checking on Cowboy all the while listening to some of the others talking about what they should do. Pops sat down beside Cowboy and said, “It’s okay bud. You’ll be okay, we have your back.”

  Cowboy slowly opened his eyes no more than a little crack, smiled and closed them again. Pops waited a few minutes more when Cowboy finally opened his eyes and looked around. Pops leaned in close to hear what Cowboy was trying to say. After a look quick around, Cowboy whispered to Pops, “Thanks man, good nap.”

  Pops winked at Cowboy then yelled to the others, “Hey I think he’s coming around.”

  The team returned to cluster around where Cowboy lay just as Cowboy sat up and shook his head. He looked at the others acting in a make-believe bewildered state. A few more moments passed when he smiled and said, “That’s what I call a trip. One hell of a
trip.”

  Pops noticed that the guys were showing the initial signs of solidarity and cohesion of becoming a real team. Everyone pushed in closer to Cowboy and asked how he was and where he was hurting. Even with everyone trying to keep Cowboy down on the ground he slowly rose up and stood. He continued to act like he was still woozy and needing some additional recovery time.

  He stretched his body slowly upward to a fully upright position. Then he told the team, “No, no I’m okay. I just had the wind knocked out of me, I think.” Using both hands he acted like he was checking his body out, “I think everything is still here and in one piece.” Cowboy continued with more stretching and movements that looked as if he were adjusting his back and neck. Then he did a little running in place. He took another few minutes and proudly yelled out to the others, “Okay let’s go, let’s do this thing.” There was a little laughter in his voice when he also said, “But watch that first step, it’s a killer.”