by S. A. Lowry
Reagal and Christopher look around in horror as they notice a pile of dead soldiers stacked up on top of eachother in the center of the room. All of them appear to have been dead for some time as their flesh have already changed color and the flies pick away at them. All of them seem to be wearing the PT uniform with summer shorts and t-shirt indictating they were recently identified by TMC personnell to be sick and treated. Trevor shakes his head in disgust as he covers his nose and mouth with his sleeve in order to block out the unbearable stinch.
“This must have been the overflow room. When they ran out of storage for bodies at the morgue and the TMC. They must have started stacking these poor boys like cord wood,” Trevor explains with a sense of pity.
“This ain’t right boss man. We need to get the hell out of here,” Reagal exclaims. Christopher goes on to add what they saw in the other tent. Trevor shakes his head as Hunter begins honking the horn outside to grab their attention. The three of them quickly rush outside to confront the commotion.
“Are we staying here or what? I really need a smoke!” cries Hunter from the driver’s seat. Trevor shakes his head once again as he approaches the vehicle. Reagal and Christopher hop in the back shortly after. Once Trevor enters his seat and places his rifle between his legs, Hunter asks Trevor what he saw. Trevor closes his eyes for a second and tells him not to worry about it.
Ringo, Price and Gilroy look back to Christopher and Reagal for an answer only to be met by unresponsiveness and cold stares. Everyone decides to drop the issue as Hunter takes off and races towards the PX on base. As the truck barrels through the sand once more, silence and concern consumes the cab. Nobody really feels like talking at this point as Trevor is still in shock at what he just recently fell witness to.
The members of his squad who did not catch a glimpse of the grim sight ponder in their heads what the three might have seen. However, they figure whatever it is the men saw it was horrible and wasn’t worth mentioning. Hunter blows it off and sets his eyes on the prize which is cigerettes.
Once the truck approaches the mini shopping plaza which holds a McCdonalds, barber shop and pizza joint, he parks the truck beside the mini PX out of sight from anything which may stumble across the center of the plaza. Trevor reminds his men to stick together and move with a purpose.
“In and out,” Trevor reiterates.
Everyone heeds his instructions. As everyone dismounts the truck, the seven of them cautiously move around the side of the building to the front in a file formation while each soldier pulls security and watches their sectors. Christopher is on point as everyone follows behind him. Price left his machine gun in the vehicle and downgraded to his M4 Carbine so he could be more mobile. Ringo and a few others slung their assault packs over their backs in order to grab more items as the others just intend to stuff their pockets.
As the squad enters the front of the building, Christopher slowly ascends the stairs to the entrance of the store. Once near the door, he instantly notices the door cracked opened and unlocked. He gives the signal to the members of his squad of his intentions to enter. Once he does this, he quickly moves the door out of the way with his non-firing hand and pushes deep into the store to make room for the rest of his soldiers to enter. They quickly break up into smaller teams once inside and clear all of the aisles along with the backrooms and latrines.
“Looks all clear,” Trevor states as he places his weapon down in a relaxed position slung in front of his chest. The rest of the men begin looking around noticing the store in disarray. Various items knocked over into the aisles. Collapsed shelves. Emptied out registers and energy drinks falling out of the coolers spilt into the aisles. The soldiers quickly begin stuffing their bags with whatever items are left. Hunter quickly approaches the nicotine aisle, to realize in despair, that the only cigerettes left in cartons were Marlboro Ultra Lights.
This greatly upset him, however, did not stop him from grabbing it anyway. Price and Reagal began tossing loggs of Apple Skoal dip into their pockets reluctantly for that is all that was left while Trevor obtained a few cartons of Ultra Lights. Gilroy went for the energy drinks. Upon grabbing a few, he walks up to the ice cream cooler which he finds empty.
Right as he does this, Hunter walks by and comments. “The world just ended and you’re worried about ice cream? The hell man,” Hunter taunts as he walks by.
Gilroy snaps back and tells him to mind his own business. Ringo and Christopher mainly focused on the bare essentials such as beef jerky, food and water. Once the group finished gathering what they needed, they quickly high tailed it back to the truck with hopes of not drawing any attention. They were able to exit without incident and quickly took off towards the gate headed back to the main freeway. Upon driving into the gate to leave the base, Trevor reminds the gunners in the back to keep a look out for one of the gate guards they stumbled across earlier.
“Take us on to Camp Virginia Hunter. This road will lead us to it,” Trevor exclaims as he lights up an Ultra Light.
Hunter nods his head as he does the same as they stare off into the distance of open flat desert.
“My god, I hate Ultra Lights,” Trevor admits as he continues to smoke it anyway while watching the road from his seat.
“I second that motion,” Hunter adds.
“It’s going to be awhile,” Christopher calls out from the back.
“Don’t worry, I acquired something that will help pass the time,” Price adds as he reaches into his cargo pocket.
He then proceeds to pull out a Marilyn Manson CD with an akward look on his face.
Trevor shakes his head once more.
“Great, way to set the mood,” Trevor adds as an excited Hunter quickly grabs it from Price’s hand and proceeds to pop the disc into the CD player.
Hunter begins flipping through the songs to find what he calls his all time favorite song, “We’re from America”. While the music is blasting loudly as they roll down the desert road, Gilroy attempts to make a comment over the sound of record. Hunter turns up the volume in defiance of Gilroy.
“What’s that? You didn’t get your ice cream?” Sarcastically exclaims Hunter over the music.
An annoyed Trevor turns the volume down so Gilroy can say his peace.
“Your music only confirms how much of a queer you are Hunter,” insults Gilroy.
Everyone in the truck shouts out loud instigating the conflict. Hunter stays silent while he glares at Gilroy through his rear view mirror. Gilroy knows Hunter is watching him and makes an attempt to ignore him. Gilroy feels unappreciated and singled out these days. He grows more defiant as time goes by, especially to his enemy, Hunter.
“You all whine too much. Sit back and enjoy the ride,” Calmy states Ringo as he leans over to the center console and grabs a cigerette from Hunter’s pack.
Everyone in the vehicle stares at him in silence. Ringo smiles as he lights up then decides to look back outside the window with his barrel pointed out.
That is when Reagal decides to chime in, “Hey, not sure if you all noticed, but the PX finally had some N.O. Xplode,” Reagal sarcastically states.
Price begins to bust out laughing, soon followed by everyone in the vehicle with the exception of Gilroy who did not understand the joke. Some time goes by on the road. Around forty minutes later, Trevor notices the skyline of Camp Virginia off into the distance. Still seeming optimistic, Trevor tries to cheer up the group by sounding off with more jokes.
“Check it out ladies. Old Virginia, there she is. Finally made it,” Trevor exclaims with enthusiasm.
Gilroy shakes his head.
“Doesn’t matter Sergeant. Everybody probably dead there too,” a pessimestic Gilroy adds.
Hunter shys with contempt.
“Nobody said you can talk,” he adds. “Now, now, got to stay positive. Like Magic Johnson,” adds Trevor. Reagal bursts out laughing in the back. Price follows. Nobody else seemed amused. As Hunter fastly approaches the entry way to Camp Virginia, in shock,
Trevor notices something off in the distance on the main road past the front gate of the base.
“You got to be kidding me,” Hunter exclaims.
Everyone in the back raises their heads up to the front of the vehicle to see what the problem is.
Trevor sits there in silence.
“What is it?” Christopher asks with a sense of dread in his voice unable to see what everyone in front is looking at.
“Hate to be the bearer of bad news. I think this place is tainted too,” Trevor concludes in response to Christopher’s question. What they bear witness to, are what appears to be an endless sea of abandoned American military vehicles backed up along the road as far as the eye can see. It appeared to be a traffic jam pushing just past the gate in the direction of Ali Asaleem. There is no end in sight. In addition, there are no apparent room for any vehicle to pass through this vehicle graveyard. Maneaverability is at a bare minimum to none at all.
“Only way we are going to pass through this is to drive into the moondust. We all know what that entails,” Hunter suggests.
Trevor tells him to pull into the gates of Camp Virginia.
“Keep your fingers crossed guys,” Reagal hopelessly states while obviously expecting the worst. “Keep your eyes open guys. We need to find the fuel point here then possibily the DFAC. We need to gather up some more food and drinking water. There wasn’t enough at that PX back the other way to sustain us for long. Are you all in?” Trevor asks as he props his rifle up to his shoulder bracing himself for whatever lies ahead.
Everyone agrees as they rise up from their seats and secure their weapons in preperation.
Hunter slows the vehicle down to ten miles per hour as he turns into the direction of the gate. The abandoned military vehicles appear to form a man made barrier adjacened to the front gate. Only where to go without getting on foot is straight into the front entrance of the Camp.
Ringo, who resides in the backseat just behind Hunter, notices the bodies of soldiers still lying dead inside the cab as the vehicle makes it’s final turn into the gate. He decides not to say anything. As the vehicle weaves around the serpentine barriers and tire spikes, they realize the gate guards are no where to be found as well which was expected considering what they just observed on the road. Trevor tells Hunter to comb the perimeter of the base once again like before because that is where military fuel points are normally located. Hunter obliges.
Once their vehicle passes the ECP, Hunter immediately swings the vehicle left onto a perimeter access road and begins to pickup speed again. Trevor has already counted twelve bodies lying on the ground lifelessly just at the gate alone. Bullet holes in the T-walls were also notices which tells him there was a mock battle here. Bullet casings could also be found scattered around the bodies.
“Check it out guys,” informs Price as he looks down the iron sights of his machine gun which is still propped outside the window from his seat in a defensive posture as he takes aim. Trevor looks in the direction Price called out.
“Let them be. Don’t want to draw any attention. I don’t think those guys are alive,” Trevor coaches. Price noticed a group of three soldiers not too far off from their location stumbling across a parking lot in their direction. They are wearing ACU’s, however, one of them is only in a tan T-shirt, nothing else. They are bloodied as well and begin emitting loud moans and screams as they place their hands up in a reaching fashion towards Trevor’s vehicle as they pass by.
Dead silence lingers in the cab of the vehicle. A sense of dread has bestowed Trevor’s men. Trevor is feeling it’s effects as well.
“Need to find this damn fuel point,” Trevor reiterates as he lights up a cigerette trying to calm himself down as his hand which holds his lighter begins shaking uncontrollably. Some time goes by as Hunter is fast approaching the start point. They are almost about to complete a full loop of the base and in the process, have witnessed many of those “things” out there stumbling and scattered all through out the base. However, none of them were riled up because the majority of them failed to notice the black SUV driving around. Some stopped and stared but went on about their business once it passed by.
Just before Hunter is about to complete his loop, the fuel point is finally spotted just short of the start point.
“Son of a bitch. Should of went right,” Hunter states in frustration.
Trevor tells him to shake it off.
As the vehicle pulls into the fuel point, they notice a large white spray painted sign which reads “NO FUEL, EMPTY”. Trevor tells Hunter to try the pumps anyway. Once they get parked, Trevor anxiously exits the vehicle and tries to fill up only to realize that the desperate attempt was futile. Everyone else stays in the vehicle with their heads down expecting the worse. Once Trevor breaks the expected news to his soldiers, their usual reactions follow by a sigh and rolling of the eyes. This was expected, so none of them were too shocked. Trevor quickly hops back in the vehicle and tells Hunter to head for the dining facility.
Once back on the road, Christopher asks Trevor from the back of the vehicle what they are going to do next. As the vehicle is rolling along and passing a few of those “things” out there without drawing much attention, Trevor contemplates their next move. Once he gathers his thoughts and makes his final decision, he goes on to fill in the rest of the squad.
“We load up on food and water. Then head back out to the main road and find us a nice Army vehicle courtesy of Uncle Sam. Once we acquire our new ride, we head for the next and last base. If it’s the same situation over there, which I am sure it is, we have no choice but to head for the Air Force Base in Kuwait city. This vehicle we’re in now won’t make it. Y’all agree?” a jittery Trevor proclaims in the form of a question.
Price and Ringo stare at eachother for a moment. An apparent fear in Price’s eyes linger as Ringo noticed.
Ringo, being his usual stoic self, adds a comment.
“What choice do we have? Sounds like a plan Sergeant,” Ringo sounds off with fearlessness and confidence. Everyone else agrees with the exception of Gilroy, who sits there wide eyed apparently holding back his tears. Ringo tightens up his smacking hand as he keeps it on standby in the event Gilroy proceeds with the water works. However, to his surprise, it does not happen.
Hunter lights up another cigerette. Trevor follows. The pair are already almost finished with their first pack that they have “acquired” earlier in the day. Trevor now spotting the DFAC off into the distance, decides to reiterate something that is worrying him.
“Now ya’ll listen up. We all go in and grab what we need. Ringo and Christopher, ya’ll going to be my security element. Watch the damn avenues of approach while we bring those supplies back to the vehicle. Keep quiet and don’t draw any damned attention. Last thing we need is this whole damn base to converge on us. Hunter, you stay with the vehicle and be look out. If you see anything of value or danger don’t yell. Sprint back to our location so we can high tail it out of here quietly. Everyone tracking?” Trevor aggresively orders with a combination of anger and aggresiveness in his voice.
Everyone nervously agrees. As they approach the dining facility, Hunter asks Trevor where he wants to park. Trevor tells him to pull up to the closest barrier that brings them to the front entrance. The vehicle can not push up to the very front of the door because of the blocking T-wall barrier emplacements. Hunter is only able to get as close as fifty yards to the front entrance. Once he parks, without thinking, he turns off the vehicle. Nobody else gives it a second thought because of the task at hand and the pending fear of what they may find inside.
Prior to entering these bases in Kuwait, once Trevor’s squad pushed into the Kuwaiti border, they made it a rule not to turn off the vehicle because of the constant technical issues they have been experiencing. However, this time, nobody gave it a second thought.
Once the vehicle is turned off Hunter reaches for his weapon and hops out. He climbs up on the hood and takes a seat on the top of the vehicle assuming hi
s look out duties. The rest of the squad quickly dismount off the truck with their weapons slung and ready. Christopher leaves the back hatch open to throw in the supplies when they come back. The area that the truck is located in, seems pretty quiet and nothing dangerous in sight. Various alteration shops and smoking areas can be seen along with volleyball courts. The area is pretty well spaced out as Kuwaiti moondust consumes the area. If anything was coming, Hunter would be able to see it as it approaches.
Trevor takes point as the rest of the members of the squad follow behind him in a file as they approach the front entrance of the dining facility at a slow but steady pace as they maintain their weapons at the high ready. Trevor cautiously moves up the stairs leading to the front door as his nervous squad behind him also keeps their weapons up scanning for any potential threats.
Once Trevor is positioned in front of the door way to the DFAC, he routinely throws up the hand and arm signal for the men behind him to halt. Once he does this, Trevor instantly tries to open up the front door by turning on the knob. To his disgust, the door is locked and will not open. He lets everyone in the back know of the situation. He tells them he will not do a door breach because the noise will draw attention to anything that may be waiting inside for them.
Ringo decides to instantly chime in at that point, he tells Trevor that along the way to the entrance he noticed a window left wide open. Trevor likes the plan and signals the squad to back track.
Shortly after, everyone proceeds to back track to the open window Ringo spotted. Once there, Trevor tells Reagal and Gilroy to give him and Christopher a boost up to the window. Once Trevor and Christopher are hoisted up the wall and into the facility, Trevor pokes his head out the window and gives his men awaiting outside follow on instructions.
Reagal and Gilroy quickly take up positions below the window to the facility and combine their hands to form a human step. Trevor goes first as he gets hoisted up into the window. Christopher quickly follows behind. Once Trevor and Christopher are hoisted up the wall and into the facility, Trevor pokes his head out the window and gives his men awaiting outside follow on instructions.