by Lundy, W. J.
Brad was close by and overhead Sean’s words to the boy. “Chief, you’re full of shit if you think we’re leaving you out here on your own!” Brad yelled over the gunfire. “Go boy, get out of here, tell the others we’ll meet up with you later,” Brad yelled as the boy ran back towards the aircraft.
“Suit yourself,” Sean said with a grin as he raised his MP5 towards the closing mass.
4.
Brad watched as Chelsea and the others lowered Kelli to the ground on the makeshift stretcher. From a distance, Sean waved goodbye to the group, then ordered the rest of them to go loud with their rifles. They watched the others move off to the northeast until they lost sight of them. Brad removed his suppressor as did the others. Parker slung the M203 over his back and lifted his SAW. At once they opened fire on the mass of primals that were slowly moving down and out of the trees.
With the loud report of the rifles, the entire mob put its focus on Sean and his team. They continued firing until the last of the third wave had been put down. Then quickly they ran back towards the aircraft. As Sean had requested, all of their bags had been dropped on the ground. Sean found his familiar ruck with his large scoped rifle strapped to the top. Sean hoisted the bag onto his shoulders then turned to help the others.
“Quickly! Let’s get ready to move. As soon as the next wave breaks the trees we’ll lead them away and into the far side of the clearing,” Sean instructed.
Brad found his bag, grabbed the straps, and made some adjustments so that they would still fit his shoulders over his heavy poncho. He removed the leggings and strapped those to the top of the ruck. Cold wouldn’t be as much of a factor with them moving on the trail. The bag was heavy with supplies. They had decided long ago to always keep their rucks stuffed with rations and ammo in case they had to bug out in a hurry. Brad lifted the bag up and onto his back. He looked and saw the rest of the men appeared ready to move. He walked away from the plane and found Sean farther out, facing the tree line where the waves had been appearing.
“We’re ready to roll,” Brad said.
Sean turned to face the men waiting in the cold. “Daniel, I want you and your brother to run point. Let’s hold our fire and avoid shooting unless we have to. The plan is to get them to follow us, then we will try and lose them in the trees. Parker, you stay back by me with that SAW. If things go sideways we will be counting on you to cut an exit hole.”
“How far we got to go, Chief?” asked Daniel.
“I figure if we move west for a good few hours that should do it. Then we can break north and loop back around. The boy showed me the location of a cabin, looks like maybe a day and a half’s walk. There should be a river north of here, the map says if we follow it we should see the cabin.”
“Day and a half? Shit, then we got to spend another night outside?” Parker asked.
Daniel nodded and pointed at the far tree line, “Here they come, Chief.”
“Okay. Devil dogs, lead the way. Stay west until I say otherwise. As long as these things keep that slow pace we should be able to stay ahead of them. Keep your eyes sharp boys; if we wander into another mob and get surrounded, it could really mess up our day.”
“Ha!” Hahn laughed. “My day is already ruined.”
The brothers moved out, slowly scouting a path into the western tree line. Hahn walked behind them, then Brad, with Sean and Parker taking up the rear. It was in their nature to move quickly, but Sean had to remind them to slow their pace. They wanted to keep the mob in sight to ensure they led them away from the other team.
As they entered the tall pine forest the temperatures dropped even more. Most of the sunlight was blocked out from reaching the ground by the tall canopy of pine trees. There was also less snow. In several areas the ground was covered in large beds of pine needles and broken branches. Brad could see the Villegases out ahead; they were walking on line with each other about ten meters apart. Hahn was just ahead of him. Every few minutes Hahn would turn and look back at Brad with a worried expression.
As they moved deeper into the forest, they could hear the primals behind them, crashing through the trees. There must have been hundreds of them now. Their moans carried over the wind and they seemed to reverberate and echo back against the pines all around them. Brad had to consciously will his legs not to run. He wanted nothing more than to distance himself from the mob behind them.
Sean had allowed the primals to close to within two hundred yards. Every time Brad looked back he could see the expanse of the mob. Occasionally one would break out of the mass and move at them quicker than the others. The first time this happened, Parker let out a frightened yelp. They all stopped to look back. A previously young male had broken away from the pack. He still wasn’t running but his stagger was less pronounced and was definitely faster than the others.
Sean watched the thing with concern for a moment or two before raising his scoped rifle and knocking it down with a single shot.
“Nothing to worry about guys, fast ones seem to be the exception today and not the rule. But keep an eye on our six, Parker,” Sean said as he slapped the young soldier on the back.
They had moved a good five miles into the woods when the terrain began to change. The ground got rougher and started to slope up. As they struggled to work their way up the incline their pace began to slow. Brad noticed that the primals didn’t seem to be bothered as much by the extra effort in moving uphill. Even though they were clumsy and awkward they didn’t tire out, and the mass had an efficient fluid motion. The things in the back would push the others forward. Yes, they would sometimes fall, but they would get right back to their feet, or another would replace its spot in the formation. It was like a wall closing on them at a constant speed.
Brad started to worry about what would happen if they couldn’t lose the pursuing mob. He thought back to his time in the desert, when the nearly mile-wide mob had surprised them on the Hairatan road. That time they’d taken shelter and hid in the MRAP until they had passed. That wouldn’t work today. There was no MRAP, and they would have to break contact with them before their pace fell below what they needed to keep their distance.
The men were growing tired. The pace was slow but it was still a long time to constantly keep moving, not being able to stop for more than a few moments before the mob would close on them. They had to eat and drink on their feet, always moving forward, even finding it necessary to relieve themselves on the move. They were all professional military men and long ruck marches were nothing new, but combined with the stress of the closing enemy they began to quickly feel the fatigue.
Sean finally decided enough was enough. He ordered them all to get ready to make a break at the next natural opportunity they came across. It didn’t take long. Soon the terrain turned to broken shale and began to quickly slope away from them. The trees thinned out and they saw a long gravel road at the bottom of the hill. Sean instructed the Villegas to quicken their pace.
They moved down the slope at a fast walk, losing visual on the mob behind them. They moved as quickly as they dared without risking a fall on the loose ground. When they reached the road, Sean ordered them to follow it north and move up to a jog. They ran down the road, moving parallel to the face of the mass. Brad looked to his right up into the forest where he knew they would be. He couldn’t see them but the sounds of the primals crashing through the woods was frightening.
They continued their jog down the road until it began to curve back towards where they knew the mob would be. Again Sean directed them back into the woods on the left side of the road. They continued the quick pace for another mile or so until they could no longer hear the mob. Sean signaled for the Villegases to move northwest and at an angle away from where he projected the primals to be. They continued to move until they started to lose the light.
Brad checked his watch. It was approaching 1700, or was it? He didn’t really know what time zone they were in, but 1700 still felt correct. Either way, they had been on the move for over eight
hours. He couldn’t locate the sun. When they could see the sky through the thick canopy of trees it was dark and overcast. Brad’s legs were heavy and the wound on his quad burned with every step.
The forest grew thicker with underbrush and it became more difficult to navigate. Further to the north, Sean pointed out some high ground. They could see were the trees climbed up and away from the forest floor. Sean directed them to the higher elevation and told the brothers to look for a suitable campsite. They came upon a slow moving stream that was flowing down from the high ground. The men turned to follow it up towards its source, finding where it disappeared into a large formation of rocks.
Even though the road and stream had not been on William’s roughly drawn map, this rock face was. Sean guided them along it until they found a game trail that led to a spot that was reasonable to climb. He moved them up the trail and to a large, step-type ledge. As they turned to walk along the step, the ground widened enough to where they could make a camp. Quickly they dropped their bags and collapsed onto the ground. All of them were breathing heavily and were well beaten from the day’s march.
Brad laid back against his pack and stretched out his legs. He could see the steam rising from the sweat around his calves. He was hot now, but he knew they would soon chill as their activity levels dropped. Their clothing was soaked with sweat and they would be at risk for hypothermia as they cooled off. As the men made camp they removed the sweat-soaked clothing and changed into dry layers from their packs. Parker set up the SAW across a downed tree trunk that covered the approach up to where they were positioned.
Brad and Hahn used their tomahawks to dig a deep hole in the frozen earth a few feet away from the rock face, then they circled the hole with stones. They positioned pieces of timber into the shape of a lean-to and finally covering that with broken lengths of pine boughs. When they were confident they had sufficiently concealed the shelter, Brad gathered wood for a fire. Normally they would never build a fire out in such close proximity to the enemy, but in the artic conditions they didn’t have a choice.
Splitting small logs with their tomahawks, they were able to get to the dry bits inside. Just enough to start a fire. Brad used a small chunk of the C4 to get the kindling going and slowly he added more wood until they had a warm glowing bed of coals. As darkness came the snow again began to fall. They used the fresh snow to patch any light leaks in the shelter and to build more walls around them. Soon they were all huddled under the shelter of the lean-to.
Sean had decided on a thirty percent watch; two of them would be awake at all times. One would tend the fire while the other remained outside listening and watching for anything that intended to cause them harm. Brad and Sean elected to take the last watch, with Daniel and Joseph taking the first. Brad moved against the rock face and let the radiant heat of the fire warm him. He pulled his legs up and wrapped the blanket around him. After the long day’s march, sleep was easy to find.
Brad felt the cold on his face. A hole had formed in the canopy above him. He lifted his hand to plug the gap but it only got worse. More snow fell in, landing on him. He rolled out of the way as more and more snow filled the shelter. Brad kicked and pushed at the snow. His attempt to avoid the dropping snow caused him to kick his foot into the fire, inadvertently kicking glowing embers amongst the pine boughs.
Soon the entire shelter was engulfed in flames. Brad tried to look around him to warn the others to escape, but he couldn’t find them. He dropped to his belly and low crawled out of the shelter, coughing and gagging on the smoke. Once he was clear, he rolled to his back before lifting himself to a sitting position. Brad looked around. The fire was already out, the shelter gone. “Where are the others?” he thought to himself before seeing a lifeless form in the snow next to him.
Brad rolled and crawled close to the uniformed soldier. He grabbed at his shirt and pulled him closer. The body was warm; he was alive. Brad grabbed him and rolled his head into his lap, yelling for him to wake up, shaking the man’s shoulders. “Ryan, Ryan wake up!” Brad screamed, no longer worried about being quiet.
Private First Class Ryan opened his eyes. They were milky and glassy. Ryan’s lips rolled back, exposing bloody and broken teeth. He screamed and moaned before lunging up at Brad, snapping his jaws as he attacked. Brad kicked his feet and pushed down on the man’s face, forcing himself back, pushing away. Brad fell to his side face down in the snow.
Startled by the cold, Brad sat straight up. He was awake now, his heart still pounding from the dream. He looked around the shelter. He could see the brothers at the far end sleeping soundly. He pulled the blanket up around his shoulders and leaned back against the rock face.
5.
“Psst,” Parker whispered.
“Huh?” Brad murmured as he looked around the enclosure. The fire had died down but the coals were still glowing and putting out a bit of radiant warmth. The Villegases were asleep at the far end of the lean-to; Hahn and Sean were missing. Parker was at the entrance leaning low on a knee.
“Come on Sergeant, get with it, something’s happening,” Parker said in a low voice.
Brad reached beyond him and slapped Joey’s boot. The Marine looked out from the blanket that was tightly wrapped around his head. He stared at Brad, confused, then saw Parker in the entrance and his eyes went to alert. He reached over and gently shook his brother awake.
“What is it?” Brad whispered to Parker.
“The primals, they’re here.”
“The mob, how the … how did they find us?”
“It’s not the mob, it’s something different. Come on, Chief wants you,” Parker answered.
Brad removed himself from out of the warm blankets. He tightened the laces on his boots and crawled on his hands and knees towards the entrance, carrying his rifle in his left hand. Once he exited, the cold air hit him in the face, quickly waking him. Brad moved his back against the rock face and closed his eyes tightly, trying to adjust them to the darkness. Parker was beside him and anxious to move. Brad overheard him whisper to the Villegases to stay put but be ready.
Ready? Ready for what? Brad thought to himself as he got to his feet and stood, bending low at the waist.
Brad followed Parker away from the shelter and farther along the flat ledge they had built their camp on. Parker dropped to his belly and began to crawl through the soft snow and pine needles. “Great, not only does he wake me up, but now I have to get wet,” Brad thought as he dropped to his belly and silently crawled through the wet musty leaves, following Parker to the edge of the rock face’s ledge. He spotted Sean and Hahn ahead of him and in the prone.
He moved next to Sean as quietly as he could. Sean had his night vision device lying in the snow next to him, but a similar device was mounted to his rifle. He motioned for Brad to move over and to look though the scope. The rifle was on a bipod looking out over the ledge and down the path that the team had followed earlier to reach the rock face. Brad quietly shifted his position so that he could see through the rifle’s night vision optics. At the same time Sean picked up his goggles from the snow and put them to his eye.
Brad watched the terrain appear in visions of green and black, almost like looking at an old black and white TV set with green filter. Brad saw flat trees. He could see the river and almost make out the game trail they had followed to get to the current position. “What am I looking at?” Brad asked in the lowest whisper he could achieve.
“Aim down the center of the stream about two hundred meters, then go left a few degrees,” Sean answered.
Brad followed his instructions. It was hard for him to judge two hundred meters looking though the optics, but he just followed the stream then panned to the left. He froze when he saw them: A small group of primals standing still in the snow and looking directly at the rock face. Brad put the cross hair of the scope over one of their heads and could almost see its cold dark eyes looking back at him.
“How long?”
“Hahn spotted them about thir
ty minutes ago. They’re just standing there.”
“What are they doing?”
“I think they’re stalking us. These are different than others, they must have broken from the pack and somehow tracked us.”
“Alphas?” Brad said with shock in his voice.
“Yeah, it’s your white buffalo in the flesh. The smart ones.”
“What the fuck. Let’s kill them!”
“We have to assume the mob is close by. If they call out we don’t want to get trapped against the rocks. I don’t think they have locked on our position, but they know we are close. I’m going to stay on the glass while you get the guys ready to move out. Keep moving up the rock face. Not the original plan, but we certainly can’t go down there.”
“No, we stay together,” Brad said, still watching the group through the scope. He counted nine of them. The primals made small, quiet movements as they milled around an assumed leader. There was a bulky male in the center of the pack. He moved normally and looked healthier than the others. The rest of them watched him as if they were a pack of wolves waiting for a signal to continue the hunt.
“This is not up for discussion. Gather the men and gear and move out. Stay quiet and follow the game trail. If they make a go at us, I’ll start shooting. But just keep moving, I’ll be right behind you. We have to assume these are the fast ones so don’t stop.”
Brad shook his head and crawled away from the rifle and back to the lean-to, knowing it would be useless to argue. Hahn was already there and had moved the packs outside. The Villegases were suited up and ready to move out. Daniel removed a claymore from his pack and set it up so that it would blast down the game trail that led to their elevated position. He rigged it for a trip wire and backed away from it.
“It’s my last mine, but hell, seems as good a time to use it as any,” Daniel whispered.
Brad nodded his agreement then whispered for them to break a trail farther up the rock face, stay quiet and keep moving, using stealth ahead of speed. Daniel nodded and stepped off silently back towards Sean’s direction. Brad stuffed his blankets back into his ruck and hoisted it to his shoulders. Then he reached down and lifted Sean’s pack and followed after the others.