by Dave Hazel
“Tell the men to be extra careful since you got bit by that bright colored snake, what did they call it? A two-step viper?”
“Oh yeah, I’ve already warned the men not to become lulled to sleep by the beauty.”
As they walked along, more cautious than before, Mykal was taken in by the unnatural beauty. Unnatural in the sense that it wasn’t just green and browns of regular plant life, but bright reds, orange, blue, black, purple and any color under the rainbow that was bright and vibrant. He wasn’t sure if it was just the colors but it seemed to put a bounce in his step and seemed to make the air cleaner.
He listened to the water against the rocks and wished he could stay here forever, but then he quickly corrected his distracted thoughts, ‘No, that would take away from my mission to rescue Doninka, and more importantly, that would keep me from going back home to be with my wife and two sons.’
He tried not to listen to the men as they expressed their joy at the beauty around them, but he couldn’t help but to agree with the discussions that went on among the tough warriors talking about the beautiful flowers and plants. “This is friggin unbelievable Towbar,” he whispered and tried to contain his laugh of excited enjoyment. He didn’t want the men to know he was captivated by the beauty surrounding him. “I’ve never seen anything like this. It takes my friggin breath away. Isn’t it amazing?”
Towbar looked at Mykal and gave an odd expression. It seemed the giant couldn’t relate to what Mykal felt. “It is different, I will agree. However, I do not see why it has such an effect on you and any of your people.”
Mykal noticed the men of Towbar’s world were put under the same flower loving spell, though not the Dwarves. He wasn’t sure about the Elves because they were all up at the front with Captain Diaz.
“I’ve never seen colors so friggin bright and beautiful in plant life,” Mykal said as they continued on. “And the smells. It’s just amazing out here. I’m not into flowers and all that girlie stuff, but man oh man, the scent in the air is wonderful. I know my wife would go nuts if she was here right now,” he added and laughed.
“Look at that Myk,” Randy said and pointed in front of them. “It looks like it’s snowing,” he snickered.
“What is it?” Mykal asked when he saw the little white blowballs or clocks dispersed from above whenever the wind blew. It looked like an invasion of tiny white paratroopers floating down from above.
“It looks like the seeds of dried out dandelions that had been stirred up by a big storm,” Roy Jr. said.
“Well, that does look cool,” Mykal acknowledged while he watched the mini, dry, ‘snow’ storm descend on them from somewhere near the top of the gorge.
“Ow, son of a bitch,” a Marine yelled several yards in front of them. He slapped his arm as if striking an insect.
“Oh crap, it freaking hurts,” a Green Beret near the Marine shouted. He also slapped the stinging burn on his shoulder
“Damn it. What the hell is this?” Another man shouted which started a roar of yells and warnings. Men could be seen slapping at their own bodies as if they had been attacked by a swarm of mosquitos.
“Don’t let those damn white things touch you,” someone from the front shouted. “They have stingers and they stick down into your skin. Ahhh, damn it all to hell, I just got another one.”
Mykal turned to those near him. “Don’t let the little white things touch you,” he shouted. “It sounds like they sting.”
“They sting?” A Marine shouted.
“It sounds like it hurts like a bee sting,” Roy Jr. added after listening to the complaints from a couple of victims. “Just don’t let the little white floaty things touch you,” he said while he swatted the apparent seedling away.
Sporadically men shouted loudly signifying they had been stung. Some of the men had been stung more than once. Mykal watched the men while at the same time he watched above to ensure none of the dandelion like seedlings came near him. Those that got too close to him, he either stepped away from them or he swatted them down.
“Oh damn Myk, come look at this,” Corporal Adkins shouted and waved to him. “Look close at this little bastard.”
Mykal and Towbar rushed to Adkins. They were followed by the Dosch brothers, Sergeant Mathis and the reporter team of Vick Daring and Ben Milnar. Adkins held out his M-16/M-203 rifle. On the heavy duty plastic hand guards and the M-203 launch tube were two of the little white things that floated down from above. At first glance they appeared to be dandelion seedlings that had blown away from a dried out blowball. On closer inspection the stem of the white topped seedling did have a stinger but there were also four tiny little legs that moved quickly to help find a soft area where the stinger could stab and plant itself. The first thing to enter into Mykal’s thoughts was mosquitos. However, he didn’t know if the fluffy little plant creature was trying to suck blood from their victims, or if it just sought a place to plant itself.
“Oh man, that’s the damnedest thing I ever did see,” Roy Jr. said and tipped his cowboy hat back on his head.
Mykal laughed at the country bumpkin sounding expression of Roy Jr.’s surprise. “Oh shit,” Mykal yelled and slapped at the back of his neck. “One got me and it friggin hurts. But I think the damn thing scared me more than it hurt,” he snarled while he pulled the crushed little form from his neck, squeezed between his fingers, as if he had killed a blood thirsty little mosquito. He kept feeling the back of his neck to feel if swelling would occur like a mosquito bite. “Keep your friggin eyes open,” he said with a raised voice. “And watch for the guys around you so they don’t get stuck in the back like I did.”
“What do you think they do Myk?” Mathis asked and swatted one away from Randy’s back. “We need to watch out for each other,” he yelled and several of the men repeated the same warning.
“I don’t have a damn clue, but remember, not only are we in Towbar’s world where anything is possible, but we’re on the other side of Towbar’s world where that crazy Ziggy Stardust puts out all kinds of bizarre stuff. Who the hell knows, it might inject some stinkin’ little monster inside us that will pop outta us like that damn monster in that movie ‘Alien’. That’s all we friggin need with as many of our people who have been stung by these little nasty things.”
“Captain Diaz said for us to keep moving and for us to try to get out of this area,” Mathis announced after he put his radio handset away.
“Look out boy,” Randy shouted and gratefully returned the favor as he swatted two of the creatures away from the back of Mathis’s neck.
“We must protect each other, my friends,” Towbar said while he swatted a couple of seedlings away from one of the nearby Marines.
All the men began to yell for others to watch out for the men near them so they don’t get stung from behind. The pace quickened and they rushed away from the snow flake dropping seedlings. They distanced themselves from the floating stingers but the colors still remained bright, wild and vivid. All the men seemed to stop at the same time to take a break and without being told they dropped to one knee or the prone position and faced all directions so no one would be caught off guard.
Oddly, Mykal felt a smile form on his face. He felt a weird numbing flush into his cheeks and he heard the humorous sounds of men starting to laugh. He wanted to know what was so funny because he, too, wanted to laugh. As he looked around him to see who was laughing, it seemed like his eyes moved in slow motion and he kept being distracted by the beautiful dazzling colors all around him. The weird numbing in his cheeks felt as if it was spreading to the sides of his head and he wanted to laugh out loud but those near him wouldn’t understand and he feared he would look like a fool. But he couldn’t help it and the laughter inside him seem to grow until it was going to burst forth from his face. He looked from side to side and everything seemed to move as if he was watching from underwater.
‘They just wouldn’t understand,’ Mykal laughed inside his head. ‘But maybe I could make them understa
nd and they would realize what I’m trying to express and they would be filled with love and happiness and joy and laughter and--’
“My friend, is there something wrong?” Towbar asked and grabbed him by the shoulder.
Mykal looked at the giant and gave a silly, goofy, smile and then suddenly burst out with laughter. “Towbar, you’re a friggin giant assed dude,” he said and laughed wildly. “Isn’t he guys?” He laughed out to the others who looked at him as if he had just lost his mind. “Where the friggin hell do you buy your clothes at? They probably got a team of tiny ass china men in China bustin their tiny little asses just to make a shirt to cover that massive chest you got there buddy,” he laughed like a happy drunk having a good time with the guys during a night on the town.
Roy Jr. and Randy stood with Mathis and looked at Mykal. They looked shocked like there was a death in the family. “Mykal, are you all right?” Randy asked and it seemed clear that something was wrong.
“Am I all right? Am I alllll rrrrright?” He nearly yelled the second time. “Man, I’m just friggin great. Can’t you see how friggin awesome I feel? I mean, I can see it, and I feel it, so you must be able to feel it and you must be able to see it. Or does that make too much friggin sense to me? Well, how would you know if that makes too much sense to me when it doesn’t make any sense to Benjamin Franklin? You know who Benjamin Franklin is, don’t you? Doncha? Doncha?” He asked and his volume increased.
They all looked at him and tried to determine what was wrong.
“Doncha get it?” He laughed. “Cuz if Benny Franklin could, could, oh what the hell was I gonna say?” Mykal said and dropped to his knees and began to laugh uncontrollably. “You don’t get it. I must have been given the special code, cuz I get it. I really get it man. And as soon as I get some paper and pencil, I’ll write the shit down for you. Cuz man, I’m tellin you, this is the answer to why we exist and why we’re all here. It’s all right up in here,” he said and continued to laugh and jammed his index finger to the side of his head.
“If you all calm down, I’ll share it with you,” he added and pulled his index finger from his head and held it out before him. “Just let me think. I need to think. I gotta think it out,” he laughed out and heard many others laughing in the distance. He paused while he stared at his own index finger in front of his face. An uncomfortable silence filled the air around their little group. “Don’t crowd me with your loud thoughts cuz it’s really trying to confuse me. It’s trying to take the knowledge that I have been given to take it away and then you’ll, you’ll, you’ll never know the friggin answers man. Don’t you get it? Doncha? Doncha? Can’t you see what the friggin hell I’m trying to protect you guys from?” He snarled loudly and sounded like he was now on the verge of anger while he flicked his hand to shake something off his index finger.
“We can’t let them take it from me, man,” Mykal continued and placed his right hand on his face. “Cuz this will really bring our two worlds together, and if there are other worlds out there this answer will bring us all together and we will have peace and joy on earth and we could all live happily ever after and all that good stuff. That’s why we can’t let them take it from us man. We can’t let them take it from us. Don’t let them take it,” he said and suddenly his voice turned desperate amid the madness. “We could share this knowledge with all the peoples of our world and end all the race problems and end all the countries going to war with each other all the time,” he said and paused. “Don’t you see man? We can change the world but we can’t let them take it man. Don’t you see?” He cried out desperately.
“Take what Myk?” Randy asked with wide eyed confusion. “We’re here for you buddy,” he added in an attempt to calm the rising madness.
Mykal paused and looked around with a deliberately introspective expression. “I think I forgot,” Mykal said slowly and looked to the ground. From his knees he dropped down on his elbows and quickly started to line stones beside each other as if they were out of order on the beach. “Oh man,” he sighed and looked up at his friends. “This is gonna take forever. But we gotta get it right if we’re gonna save Doninka. We got to,” he moaned. “Come on guys, help me. I can’t do this all by myself. It will take too long.” He looked determined while he started to line stones beside stones and harshly threw twigs out of his way. “Come on, and friggin help me,” he demanded with a tone of frustration since he had been left to do all the work by himself.
“Are you drunk Myk?” Roy Jr. asked and looked away to watch others who were all acting inebriated.
“Drunk?” Mykal gasped and looked up from the stone sorting task he assigned himself to. “I don’t drink man,” he laughed. “I have a drink here and there, but I don’t drink man. We gotta hurry and accomplish this part of the mission,” he said and looked down to the stones on the beach before him. “We gotta hurry so we can leave and find Doninka.”
“It’s gotta be those things that stung the men,” Roy Jr. whispered to Towbar, Randy and Mathis.
“Yes Sir,” Mathis whispered into his radio hand set. “We have a few back here and Mykal was one of them.”
“I was one of them?” Mykal gasped and looked up from his knees and elbows when he heard Mathis and Roy Jr. whispering about him. “I was one of what? What are you guys saying about me?” He questioned in an accusatory panic and jumped to his feet. “Am I gonna die? Do I have cancer? Is it an illness?” He asked and the laughter was long gone. Mykal looked like he was going to start crying. “I can’t die. I gotta see my wife and kids. I promised them I’d come back this time. Please don’t let me die,” he begged as if they held his fate in their hands. “No wait, I gotta rescue Doninka. It’s all my damn fault she’s a prisoner and I gotta save her. I gotta guys, I just gotta. You don’t understand. Come on, let’s go get her from that friggin bastard Zish-Squach or whatever the hell we’re calling him. And if I see that friggin low life bastard William I’m gonna kill that friggin low life with my bare hands,” he snarled while he wrapped his hands around an imaginary neck. “I’ll shoot that piece of shit dead,” he snarled between clenched teeth and suddenly reached for his rifle. “I’d love nothing more than to put a .44 caliber slug in the center of his damn head,” he snarled angrily in reference to Boris’s favorite handgun.
“I’ll get it for you Mykal,” Randy said and picked up Mykal’s rifle before Mykal had a chance to retrieve his weapon. Randy looked at his brother and nodded to Mykal’s waistband where he had the .357 magnum holstered at his side and the Glock 17 stuck in his waist band under his web belt.
“I see,” Roy Jr. acknowledged his brother’s concern.
“William? Who is William?” Mathis asked.
“Why did he bring up William?” Randy asked his brother.
“He is under the effects of the strange white things that floated down from above,” Towbar said loudly and tried to get Mykal’s attention.
Mykal looked at Towbar and tried to understand what the giant’s words relayed.
“Who is William?” Mathis asked again.
“He’s someone who died the last time Mykal and the Lost Patrol were on this side of the world,” Randy answered and looked at his brother as if to be sure. “Am I right bro?”
“As far as I know, cuz I don’t know any other William,” Roy Jr. replied. “Mykal said William was killed by ugly little Goblins.”
Mykal rose to his feet and felt the back of his neck. “Man, this bump on my neck is burning like hell. Look at it and tell me if I’m alright.”
They all looked at the large swelling on the back of his neck. It was much larger than a mosquito bite and it was dark red.
“Are you okay Mykal?” Vick Daring asked. “Look over there,” he pointed to two of the men who had to be subdued. The two men were starting to become violent and were tackled and pinned to the ground.
“What the hell is going on?” Roy Jr. asked and turned to Mykal who started to make whimpering sounds.
“I don’t wanna blow it gu
ys,” Mykal moaned and looked like he might start crying. “We gotta save Doninka cuz this is all my fault, but I don’t want anyone else to get hurt trying to rescue her. Maybe I should just go off on my own and find her by myself,” he moaned with self-pity. “I love you guys too much to put you in harm’s way. Towbar, please do me a favor.”
“I would do anything for you my friend.”
“Please take everyone back to the Pass so they are safe and I will go looking for Doninka on my own,” Mykal said and looked off into the distance. “I think I can find her. I just don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”
“I will go with you my friend,” Towbar said. “I do not wish you to travel on your own.”
“That’s fine. I’ll just hook up with the birdmen. Lanorear and his crew, excuse me, I me his clan. They’re freaks created by the Zee-man so I’ll just go with them so no one else will get hurt or killed. I can’t handle any more deaths. First Denny, then Kurt and Franklin which was my fault and then Boris. I friggin miss them guys,” he said and tears welled in his eyes and he put his hand over his mouth. “I wish we could bring them back. Towbar, I don’t wanna have you risk your life like them. I couldn’t handle it if any of youse was to get killed like them. Please just take everyone back home,” he begged and started to cry. “You brothers don’t need to be here,” he said and turned to Roy Jr. and Randy. “I love you guys like my best buds Kurt and Boris and Denny.”
“We love you too Myk,” Randy said and reached out to place a hand on Mykal’s shoulder. “Daddy says you’re like family with us,” he said as if he was trying to continue a conversation to keep Mykal from acting on his ideas.
“Yeah Mykal,” Roy Jr. said as if he picked up on what his brother was trying to do. “You’re one of Pa’s boys now, so we gotta make sure you come back with us.”
“Oh man, you don’t know how glad that makes me feel,” Mykal sniffled and wiped his eyes. “I still ache for you guys over the loss of Baby Ray. I hate them Soso bastards cuz they killed him,” he moaned and didn’t realized he struck a nerve in both of them. “Mathis I shoulda never allowed you to come out here. You make me laugh and I guess you fill a void since Boris and Kurt are gone. I shoulda never brought you out here cuz of my selfish reasons.”