A look of astonishment crossed Esfandiari's face as he slowly sunk to his knees. “You’re no pilot! Who are you?”
Rob’s mind drifted back to the old Rabbi and what he said about having the heart of King David. What he had been though helped him understand what David felt when he faced Goliath, knowing that Goliath must die.
“I’m just a boy with a sling.” Rob replied.
Esfandiari continued to stare at Rob in disbelief as he fell over backward. Rob stood there quietly looking at the foe that he had once again defeated and trembled slightly in anger. Esfandiari laid still on the floor, his life and blood slowly draining from his body.
A moment later, Rob noticed Rock standing by his side. “You know, I just killed a man, and I should feel some kind of remorse, but the only thing I feel is regret. I only wish he were alive so I could kill him again. That can’t be normal, can it?”
Rock put his hand on Rob’s shoulder. “Under the circumstances, I’d say it’s very normal.”
Dempsey’s weak voice interrupted their conversation. “Rob... Rock... men, gather around.”
Both Rob and Rock turned and drew near to the colonel where the soldiers had already gathered.
“Let them in.” Dempsey gestured toward Rob and Rock. “Rob, come over here beside me. I’m dying, and there’s something I’ve got to do...” He coughed as he fought to continue.
“Rob Anderson, by the authority granted me by the United States Marine Corps and the Congress of the United States... I hereby draft you into the service of the Marine Corps.”
Rob looked up at Rock. “Can he do that?”
Rock pursed his lips together and shrugged. “We’re in a state of war. I guess he can do just about anything.”
“I grant to you... the battlefield commission of colonel...” Dempsey’s voice was barely audible. “Raise your right hand.”
Rob just stood there, visibly shaken by recent events.
“Son, that is an order... if need be, I will have these Marines hold your arm up for you...”
The colonel was not going to make it much longer. Rob raised his right hand slowly.
Blood was oozing from Dempsey’s mouth. “Repeat after me. I, Rob Anderson...”
“I, Rob Anderson.”
“Swear to defend the Constitution of the United States of America and the laws set forth by its Congress...”
“Swear to defend the Constitution of the United States of America and the laws set forth by its Congress.”
Sweat covered Dempsey’s face. Rob could see that his dying act was of immense importance to him.
“You’re now a Marine colonel...” Dempsey raised a trembling hand and grimaced as he tore the insignia from his uniform. “...I’d be honored if you’d wear my bird.” Dempsey raspy voice was just barely above a whisper. He grasped Rob’s hand as Rob reached for the silver eagle. His grip was weak as he looked earnestly into Rob’s eyes. “Take care of my men...”
Dempsey had the full support of his men. Rob was the new commander. He didn’t know what to do -- he just stood there as if in shock. Too much happened too quickly, and he didn’t have time to think.
Finally, with a very faint voice and with his eyes closed, Dempsey uttered his last order. “He’s your commander... He’ll get you home...”
Dempsey’s hand dropped to the floor and his body went limp.
Rob surveyed the room around him. Dead guards, a locked door, and a dead commander who was also his friend. He did not ask for nor did he desire the responsibility given him, yet the burden was his to bear.
“Do something!” Rob shouted in desperation at the marine who were nursing Dempsey.
The Marine standing next to the colonel shook his head. “I’m sorry, sir.”
Rob rushed toward Dempsey but Rock blocked him. “It’s over.”
It was just like being on the Concorde again, Rob thought. No pilot, and everyone looking to him for guidance. He just couldn’t do it!
He looked down at Dempsey again, and his face hardened into steel. Then he said quietly, “No! It’s not over! We’re leaving now!”
Rock took hold of Rob’s shoulder. “There’s nothing any of us can do about the situation. We’re fish in a barrel, sir. Just let it go, sir. Let it go.”
Rob shrugged him off. “You let it go! We’re leaving now!” Rob turned, marched over to the two large steel doors, and pressed against them. Then, after a brief pause, he hit them twice with his fist.
Rob had no intention of letting anything else go. The pain, fear, despair, and torment he had felt since the trip first started came crushing down on him. He had been pushed to his limit, and there was no place left for him to go.
As he looked at the doors in front of him, he could feel his body tense. Sweat broke out all over his body as his heart throbbed. He hit the doors with his fist again and again. He thought of the giant, the terrorists, and the plane he had flown. These doors aren’t any bigger than they were, he told himself as he studied them carefully.
He looked at Esfandiari’s dead body, noting his new shiny boots, then glanced down at the torn socks on his own feet. He grabbed the boots off Esfandiari and put them on. He had more than earned them.
He turned his attention back to the doors. Then slowly, very slowly, he backed up, never taking his eyes off the doors. He would pass through these doors or die trying. I can do this, he whispered silently. His patience had come to an end.
Every eye in the dorm was watching Rob, wondering what he was going to do. His rage was apparent to all, and no one was willing to step between him and the doors.
Rock looked at Marie. “What do you do when he gets like this?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen him like this before.”
Logan leaned toward them. “Ten to one he goes right through those doors.”
Rob had backed up and pressed himself against the first column, still staring at the doors in front of him. It was plain to everyone there that his attack on the massive doors would be in vain. Then, with out warning, he threw himself forward, racing toward the doors as fast as he could. At the last moment, he jumped and kicked the door with both feet.
As he hit the door with the full force of his body, a dull thud echoed across the dorm and dust dropped from the walls around and above the door. Nothing had happened, and not a single person moved or spoke.
Rob seemed dazed as he got back up to his feet. Within moments, he was again standing with his back pressed against the first column. He glared at the doors as he began to breathe heavier and heavier. Every muscle in his body tensed and a groan from deep within emerged just before he attacked the doors again.
Again he hit the doors with both feet and fierce resolve. This time the dull thud of the last attack was followed by cracking sounds from the concrete walls around the doors. Everyone looked at each other. It was true! They had all heard it! High above the doors, a single crack appeared. Less than a foot long, but it was still a crack!
Slowly, almost as a whole, the soldiers and passengers began to inch forward, gazing at the area around the doors. There in the top left-hand corner of the door, a small crack had developed in the cement, angling outward and upward to the ceiling.
Taylor had his arms spread out, motioning everybody to stop proceeding toward the door as Rob got to his feet. It was like he was in a different world. He was a man focused, unaware of anyone else around him. He grit his teeth, and his body was covered in sweat as he marched back to the first column. Clearly his assault would not end until either he or the doors broke. Again Rob braced his back against the first column and raised clenched fists in front of himself as his whole body shook spasmodically. He was clearly maddened with anger, and no one was about to interfere.
He threw himself at the door, completely focused. In his mind, he didn’t see the doors, just the arrogant little Arab officer who took so much pleasure in their torment. He saw a dying colonel... a laughing giant... a pit full of dogs... and the dead flight crew in t
he plane. He was truly lost in his rage as he thrust himself forward.
Rob hurled himself forward with a growl as he slammed again feet first into the doors with all his strength. Again they heard the familiar dull thud following by cracking and grinding. He fell to the floor as the creaking and cracking sounds continued. Then pieces of mortar and sand began to fall, and they felt a faint vibration. Finally, almost miraculously, the doors fell outward into the hall landing on top of the two guards who had locked the doors. A third guard stood to the right side of the door, in shock from what he just witnesses. It took only a second for Rob, who was only a few feet away, to get to his feet and attack the guard.
The adrenaline was flowing at full strength as he attacked and knocked down the guard. The rest of the soldiers came spilling out into the hall and began to dig the other guards’ weapons out from under the fallen doors. Taylor stood beside Marie and smiled as he shook his head. He wanted to say something or congratulate Rob, but there just wasn’t time, so he turned to the passengers. “Grab your things and come!”
Rob turned to his right to see four more guards spilling out into the hall. He pointed his rifle and squeezed the trigger. A single shot fired, killing the lead soldier. The gun was set for single fire. He squeezed off five more rounds, killing the other three soldiers.
“There are more weapons over here!” Rob yelled. Now they had seven weapons.
“Secure the hall, and see that you use your rounds sparingly!” Taylor yelled from somewhere behind him.
By now, soldiers were at either end of the hall watching the doors. Rob knew it would only take moments for the compound to mobilize, so they had to move fast. Without waiting for the passengers or Marines, he rushed ahead and threw himself through the set of double doors a few soldiers were guarding. As he landed on the floor out in the adjacent hall, he heard the cracks of automatic gunfire coming from down the hall behind him. Apparently, they were not expecting anyone to dive onto the floor, because the bullets were passing over his head.
Rob quickly flipped over onto his back, and dropping the rifle between his legs, he fired down the hall, killing two more guards. He got to his feet quickly, checked the opposite direction behind him, then ran down the hall toward the guards he had just killed.
On top of one of the guards lay an Uzi-like sub-machine gun. He grabbed the gun, slinging it over his shoulder, and shoved a nine millimeter semi-automatic pistol into his pants. Rock came into the hall right behind him.
Rob turned and headed down the hall, kicking doors open and firing his weapons inside. One of the doors was a weapons locker where he picked up some grenades. Another was a communications center which he exploded with a couple of grenades. A long line of people followed Rob and Rock, a mixture of soldiers and passengers with a couple of soldiers, including Taylor, bringing up the rear.
Up ahead, he saw a barred door that would surely be locked. He ran ahead at it full speed and kicked it with his right leg. The door burst open, shearing the pin that locked the door shut. He couldn’t be that far away from the exit as he passed through the barred door.
Just past the door, the hall turned, and Rob saw a room at the end of the hall that he remembered as the entryway when he was first brought in. Emptying his gun on the four guards inside, he stood over them to reload as Rock rounded the corner.
It took only a few moments for the rest of the soldiers and passengers to arrive. He was squatted down to look out one of the windows. “I see two jeep-like vehicles, what looks like a machine gun carrier, a mobile howitzer, and three trucks.”
Rock squatted down beside him. “Those aren’t jeeps. They’re the hummers we brought with us.”
The rest of his fellow captives were filtering in as Rob continued to peek through the windows. Over a hundred yards to the right and the left were guard towers, each with two guards pointing their automatic weapons toward them. The guards were ready! They weren’t going to be able to just march out.
He looked back at the Marines. “Any ideas?”
Rock was closest. “We’re kinda stuck. Maybe we can get out when it gets dark.”
Rob shook his head. “By nightfall, this place will be crawling with soldiers.” He turned to put a fresh cartridge in his AK-47 and pulled back the bolt. They would not be waiting for nightfall. They had to make their move now. He smiled briefly at Marie and blew her a kiss, then, without a moment to waste, he turned and lunged through the door.
As he dove through the doorway, he aimed his rifle to his left and fired three shots. Then, when he landed on his right side, he quickly rolled over to his left and aimed his rifle again. Machine gun rounds from one of the guard towers were erupting the soil around him, but he hardly noticed as he fired three more shots. It was over as quickly as it started.
He got up on one knee, looked to both his right and left, and then shouted in through the doorway, “Secure the vehicles! Or whatever you do!”
The Marines dashed out the door, led by Rock, to the parked vehicles. Almost immediately, Iraqi guards appeared, firing from both directions. But the Iraqis were no match for Marine marksmanship. Teams of Marines charged around both ends of the buildings, and within moments, the shooting had ceased.
Soon the Marines were escorting the civilians to the trucks and loading whatever ammunition and supplies were available. Rob walked over to where Rock was standing as other guards were lining up the vehicles into a column. “What are you staring at?”
“Those two towers.” Rock pointed to the guard towers whose guards Rob had shot. “Each of the towers were over one hundred yards from you, and each had two guards. Sir, you shot all four guards while you were diving through the air or rolling over on your back. And you did it all in about three or four seconds.”
“You’re getting at something I hope.”
“Sir, the odds on killing all of those guards so quickly with only six rounds under those conditions are... well... I couldn’t begin to imagine. Lucky isn’t the word. The word is... impossible!”
“Well,” Rob turned to walk away, “now we know that it isn’t impossible.”
That wasn’t good enough for Rock. He ran ahead of Rob and stood in front of him, blocking him from continuing.
“Are you blocking me, Sergeant?”
“I’m sorry, sir, but I must have an answer. How did you make those shots?”
Rob stepped back and sighed. “I don’t know. I just did it. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time.”
It wasn’t much of an answer, but it had to be enough for Rock. He wasn’t going to get more from him. “What are your orders, sir?”
“Load up the passengers, supplies, and any weapons you can find. Let’s move out!”
They knew they dared not hesitate too long before leaving. Somewhere out beyond the walls of the compound was the force that had shot down their helicopter only a few days before. Fortunate for them, this force had pursued Wright beyond the hearing range of the compound. It would be days before they learned of the escape.
Mehran Road
Wasit Territory, East Iraq
The convoy hurried down the narrow dirt road, led by an American-made hummer with Rock and three other Marines inside. Nerves were frayed and weapons cocked as the small group traveled in anticipation of the attack that could take place at any moment. They were heading north, in the direction of Samarra, hoping to link up with some northern tribesmen, but the chances of this taking place without some sort of confrontation with the Iraqi army was quite remote.
Rob was now in command of a rag-tag military force with absolutely no training for what he was being called upon to do. But even so, he had earned the respect and admiration of the others. For some reason, he seemed to be the right person for the job, and everyone felt more secure now that he was calling the shots.
The convoy left the main road soon after leaving the compound and headed north over open prairie. Once again, Logan had positioned himself in the transport truck that was carrying Marie.
He sat down beside her. “How are you and the children holding up?”
She smiled as she continued to brush her daughter’s long dark hair. “Well, when I asked for a tour of the Holy Land, I actually had something else in mind.” She, like everyone else, seemed more cheerful now that they were finally free of the compound. “You never told me if you’re married or have any children.”
“No and yes. No, I’m not married anymore, and yes, I have a son. He’s much older than your children, though.”
Ron Schwartz - The Griffins Heart.txt Page 15