by Eric Vall
“Okay,” she said with a hard nod. Bailey wasn’t one to argue with my commands, especially not in a situation like this.
“We’re going to be okay, everyone,” I said to calm the group.
“Do you need help?” Jeff asked quickly.
“I can carry him,” Mike offered.
“I got it,” I said, and I reached down and lifted Joe up in a fireman’s carry. “Stay here and stay vigilant.”
I didn’t wait for a response from the group, I turned around and ran through the woods toward the school.
I knew the woods better than anybody else on sentry duty, except for Bailey, but she wasn’t strong enough to lift Joe. Besides, I felt it was my duty to get my brother to safety.
“How ya doin back there?” I asked Joe as I sprinted.
“Fucked up,” he breathed. “This bouncing is a bitch.”
“I know,” I said. “But we’re almost there. You’re gonna be fine.”
“Thanks,” the man said, and he cried out in pain as he bounced on my shoulder once more.
I had so much adrenaline coursing through me that I didn’t feel the full weight of the man until I was almost to the dorm building. All I had focused on was getting him to safety, but as we approached the dorms, I felt my legs tighten up.
I burst through the door with Joe still on my shoulder and quickly made my way to the couch in the common room.
“Oh, my God,” Tara breathed as everyone jumped up off the couch to make room for me.
“Marla!” I screamed.
“What’s going on?” Paige asked. She was already bent over Joe, examining him. “Where was he hit?”
“In the shoulder,” I said.
“Help me get his shirt off,” the brunette said, all business.
I helped her carefully remove Joe’s winter coat, vest, and T-shirt underneath. All three were bloody from the small hole that went through. The Kevlar hadn’t been hit, he had taken the bullet farther over in his shoulder, but it was still wet from where the blood had run down.
“What’s wrong?” Marla asked as she came down the stairs with her kit.
“Joe took a bullet to the shoulder,” I explained quickly.
“Shit,” the woman said, and she pushed past me. “What do we have, Paige?”
“Bullet wound on the right shoulder,” Paige said, and she sounded like a TV doctor. “Just under his clavicle.”
“We need to flip him over,” Marla told me.
“Why?” Anna asked quickly.
“She needs to see if the bullet has an exit wound,” I said as I rolled Joe onto his left side.
Marla bent down to examine him, and she poured some water over his shoulder to wash the blood off.
“No exit wound,” she said. “Lay him back down. We need to get the bullet out.”
“What can I do?” Paige asked with a heavy breath.
“Get some gloves on,” Marla said quickly.
I looked around the room to see that everyone was staring at Joe and the women as they worked.
“Alright,” I said. “Everybody else get upstairs.”
They all looked at me like I had drawn them out of a daze.
“Upstairs!” I hollered, and I pointed to the stairwell. “We need to give Marla space to work.”
“Right,” Jenny breathed. “Sorry, come on, everyone, let’s go, let’s go.”
Jenny ushered everyone upstairs, and I went back over to where Anna and Tara stood watching Marla and Paige work.
I made my way around the couch to Joe’s left side.
“How ya doin?” I asked the man, and I grabbed his hand.
“Never been better,” he breathed and winced as Marla poured alcohol on the wound. “Fuuuuuck that stings.”
“This won’t be pleasant,” Marla apologized.
“Will he be okay?” Anna asked, and I realized she was next to me.
“He’ll be alright,” Marla said, but she didn’t look up. “But we need to get this bullet out STAT.”
“Hand tight,” I told Joe. “Marla’s gonna fix you right up.”
“Thanks,” he breathed and pinched his eyes closed.
“I’m going in for the bullet,” Marla said calmly. “This is going to hurt like hell but I need you to try not to move.”
“I’ll try,” Joe said through clenched teeth.
“Wait,” I said, and I ran upstairs, retrieved a belt, hurried back down to Joe, and shoved the leather belt into his mouth.
Marla took some long rounded tweezers in her hand and shoved them into the hole in Joe’s shoulder.
“Fuuuuck!” he screamed, but he held relatively still.
Joe squeezed my hand to the point where it hurt, and I clapped my other hand on top of his. He could squeeze me all day if he needed to. I knew a bullet to the shoulder was no fucking joke. They hurt like hell, and when there was no access to anesthesia that just made it all the worse.
“Almost got it,” Marla said as she worked the tweezers around inside him.
“Jesus,” Tara breathed, and she turned her head away.
“There it is,” Marla said, and she carefully pulled the tweezers back up.
Between the prongs of the tweezers was a large copper bullet head that glistened with the red of his blood.
“I’m gonna go down to the sentries,” Tara said, and she sprinted toward the door.
“I’ll help her,” Anna agreed, and they both threw on their gear and weapons and took off out the door.
“Do we need to close him up?” Paige asked.
“Yes,” Marla said. “Let’s sterilize again first.”
“You’re doin’ great,” I told Joe, and I clenched his hand harder.
“Thanks,” he said, again through clenched teeth. “We almost done?”
“Almost,” Paige assured him. “We need to close the wound.”
“Fuck,” Joe breathed.
“Somebody get the man some whiskey,” Marla commanded.
“I’m on it,” I said, and I released Joe’s hand and ran over to the gym.
I picked up the first bottle of alcohol that I saw and I sprinted back to the dorm room.
“Here,” I said. “Drink this.”
Joe grabbed the bottle from my hand took a large swig, then he cried out once more when Marla stuck him with the needle and began to stitch him up.
I grabbed the bottle from Joe, took a large pull, and handed it back to him.
“All done,” Marla said, and she patted him on the stomach.
“Thank you,” I told the woman sincerely.
“That’s my job,” she said.
“We should wrap some bandages around him, right?” Paige asked.
“Yes,” Marla confirmed. “Can you grab some from the gym?”
“I’m on it,” Paige said, and she sprinted out the door.
“He’s going to be just fine,” Marla told me.
“Thanks to you,” I said.
“Thanks to you too,” she said. “Did you carry him up here yourself?”
“I knew it would be quicker,” I told her with a nod.
“Drink up,” Marla told Joe. “You’re going to be fine, but you’re going to be in pain for quite a while.”
“Do we have pain meds for him?” I asked.
“We do,” Marla said. “But nothing as strong as what he would have been prescribed. Some rest and whiskey will do him a world of good.”
“Alright,” I agreed.
“Honestly, I’m surprised he didn’t pass out,” Marla chuckled.
“They don’t give you whiskey if you pass out,” Joe tried to laugh, and he took another large pull from the bottle.
“I’ll be right back,” I said, and I stepped outside into the cold air.
I regulated my breath for a moment, closed my eyes, and ran my fingers through my hair.
“Fuck,” I breathed.
“You alright?” Paige asked. She was coming back from the gym with bandages in her hand, but she stopped and put a hand on my
arm.
“I’ll be fine,” I assured her. “Just upset that Joe took a bullet.”
“He’s going to be fine,” Paige said.
“I know,” I agreed.
“Hey,” she said seriously. “You carried him all the way up here. And Marla got him fixed up. Don’t blame yourself.”
“Thanks, Paige,” I told the pretty brunette.
“Why don’t you get some water?” she suggested. “It might make you feel a bit better.”
“I think I’m going to go check on the sentries again,” I said.
“Alright,” she said with an understanding nod.
“Keep me posted,” I said. “I’ll be back up in a while.”
“I will,” she agreed, and she headed inside.
I started the short walk down the driveway and continued to regulate my breath as I walked. Having one of my own get shot was never fun. It had sucked in the army, and it sucked even more now.
Joe was a good guy, and now he had a bullet wound because the world had become so fucked up that everybody wanted what everybody else has. And they were willing to kill for it.
The leader that had shot Joe had been quick with that M16, but it was hard to take in that his spray and pray had actually hit a target that was well hidden. I knew a few bullets had passed by me, but I didn’t know if I had purposely avoided them or if I was just one lucky SOB.
When would these assholes stop? We had women, children, good men, and even an infant to take care of. The lives of others meant nothing to these animals, they only thing they knew was desperation and killing.
I knew Joe would be okay, but I was livid beyond belief.
I had new rules to introduce, ones that would make sure none of my people took a stray bullet ever again.
Fuck.
I wanted to scream, or cry, or maybe kill something with my bare hands.
This wouldn’t happen again. I would make sure of it.
Chapter 12
Heavy snowflakes started to fall again as I walked down to the sentries. The snow was already at least a foot deep from the previous snowstorm, and I could feel the temperature drop as I walked.
It was late afternoon and it would be dark soon. I was exhausted, though I had slept in that morning. Being up for days on end had done a number on me, and with the adrenaline crash from Joe’s injury it had only gotten worse. I felt my body grow heavy as I walked, but I made my way through the woods to the sentries.
I felt responsible for Joe’s injury, and even more than that, I felt responsible for all the lives of the people around me. These were good, hard-working people, and they deserved to be protected and cared for. I knew Joe’s wound wasn’t truly my fault. Casualties are inevitable in battle, but I needed to make sure it didn’t happen to any other civilians.
The snow flurried around my face as I made my way through the trees. Finally, I saw Bailey laying on the ground ahead of me with Tara and Anna.
“Bailey,” I said loud enough for her to hear.
“Tav,” she said, and she shot up and ran over to me. “How’s Joe? Is he going to be alright?”
“He’ll be fine,” I told the pretty blonde. “How are things here?”
“Been fairly quiet,” Anna told me.
“Another small group came through,” Bailey said. “There were maybe ten of them and two tried to cross, but the others moved on.”
“Good,” I said. “Hopefully the huge pile of bodies is becoming more of a deterrent for people.”
“Maybe,” she agreed. “It’s also getting really cold.”
“Getting cold?” Tara scoffed. “It’s fucking freezing.”
“Yeah,” I said. “The snow is going to pile up with this fall.”
“It already is,” the pretty blonde said with a shake of her head. “I think we’ve gotten another inch just since it started.”
I looked down to see that she was right, and the snow only continued to fall. The flakes were huge as they came down, and even with the cover of the trees it still flurried around us in a blur of white.
“We have some new rules,” I said.
“What do you mean?” Bailey asked.
“The guy who shot Joe,” I started. “He hadn’t crossed the bridge.”
“He hadn’t crossed?” Tara asked with wide eyes.
“Right,” Bailey agreed.
“But he was egging us on, and he was armed,” I continued.
“What a dick,” Anna commented.
“You want us to take out anyone like that?” Bailey asked.
“Yes,” I answered. “Anybody looking for trouble will find it. I don’t want anyone else getting hurt.”
“Alright,” the blonde agreed. “I can’t believe his spray and pray worked. I mean, he obviously didn’t know where we were.”
“I know,” I sighed. “We just got unlucky.”
“Poor Joe,” Tara said. “I know when I got shot it hurt like a bitch, and that was just in the vest.”
“He’s going to be alright though, right?” Bailey asked once more.
“Yeah,” I said with a nod. “Marla and Paige got him fixed up.”
“I bet he’s in a lot of pain.” Bailey frowned.
“Sure looked like it,” Anna said with a shake of her head.
“He’s doing alright,” I said. “Got him some whiskey.”
“I’m sure that helped,” the blonde chuckled.
“Yeah,” I agreed.
“It’d help me too,” Tara said, and she shivered a bit.
“I’ll relay the message to everyone else about people who are trying to cause trouble,” Bailey said. “You can go back to the dorms if you want. We have this covered.”
“Yeah,” Anna agreed. “We got this.”
“Thanks,” I told her. “I think I’ll stay a while though.”
“Tav,” Bailey said softly. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“I know,” I said. “But the civilians aren’t trained like you all are. I need to make sure they’re safe.”
“I don’t think you can train someone to avoid a stray bullet like that,” Anna said. “And besides, I’m here. I’ll keep an eye on everyone.”
“I appreciate it,” I said. “But I’m still going to stay a while.”
“Alright,” Bailey agreed with a small smile. “But don’t work yourself too hard.”
“Is there another way to work?” I chuckled.
“I suppose not,” the blonde said.
I moved past my pretty blonde hippie and took up my usual spot by the tree line. Fresh snow padded my legs as I dropped down and got into position with my rifle.
I scanned the area and saw the two fresh bodies Bailey had told me about. The blood around them was a big indicator, but someone less trained wouldn’t have noticed them. Their bodies already had over an inch of fresh snow on them. This was bound to be a bad winter with the way it was stacking up.
I watched for a while as the sun dipped below the horizon. I could feel the temperature drop with each minute as the darkness took over.
A few small groups came through, but we only had to use three bullets. The rest of the people in the group continued on, fighting against the wind and snow that pelted us all.
I continued to wait and watch the road, but in the two hours or so that I had been down there we had only seen those few groups, and it had been at least an hour since the last one came through.
I thought maybe people had sought shelter against the storm. It was raging by that point, and I knew that anybody who stayed out in it wouldn’t last long.
The snow had accumulated another six inches at least, and I realized that my body was covered with the stuff, so I stood up and shook it off.
I looked around to the civilians, they all held their ground but I could see them shiver, and I could hear their teeth chatter.
The wind picked up, and the snow darted around me quickly. It had become so thick in the air that I could barely see anything, and the wind had grown so loud that it was a
ll I could hear.
I scanned the road once more through the white stuff in the air, but I saw nothing.
“Come on!” I yelled over the wind.
“What are we doing?” Anna yelled back.
“It’s dark,” I said. “The temperature is dropping. We can’t stay out here.”
“Should we wait for the other sentries?” Bailey asked.
“No,” I said. “We need to get out of here, now!”
It had become a full on blizzard, and I knew that anybody who stayed out here was likely to get hypothermia or freeze to death. The snow pelted me in the face and each flake just added to the mass that was already on the ground. If there was anybody coming, they would have a hard time walking in the damn near two feet of snow that was on the ground. And that was if they didn’t die of hypothermia first.
“Go, go, go!” I yelled, and I started to climb the hill.
“The spike strip is at campus!” Anna yelled. “Should we put it at the end of the drive?”
“Good idea,” I said. “Let’s get up there. Everybody, let’s move!”
“You heard him!” Anna yelled. “Follow me and watch your step!”
We pushed through the snow and wind and made our way through the trees and up the driveway. Each step grew increasingly difficult as the snow continued to pile up.
Once we made it to the courtyard, I yelled to the other sentries.
“Girls!” I hollered. “Help me with the spike strip! The rest of you get inside!”
Nobody said a word, the civilians just continued trudging through the snow to get to the door.
I made my way to Rolly’s shed with the girls behind me, and I pulled hard on the door to push the snow back and get it open.
I grabbed the spike strip and headed to the nearest military truck. The keys were in the ignition, and I tried to turn it over but it stuttered.
“Is it out of gas?” Bailey breathed from the passenger’s seat.
“No,” I said with a shake of my head. “It’s too cold to start.”
“Aren’t we all,” Tara said through chattering teeth.
“Should we try a different truck?” Anna asked.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “It couldn’t hurt.”
We made our way to the next truck, but it refused to start as well. The cold was taking its toll on everybody.
“Nothing is going to start,” I told the girls. “You go inside, I’ll go set up the spike strip.”