"No, he wouldn't." Nagle corrected me. "You're doing just fine, we're still alive, and I'll keep John alive." She squeezed my thigh and slid her hand up closer to my crotch, finally cupping and squeezing affectionately again before continuing to talk. "We need to think." Nagle said, her face barely visible in the dimming light from outside. We were losing the light fast; maybe 15 minutes until the world went dark again.
"What good is it going to do?" I asked her, squinting. Things were getting fuzzy again.
"Your head still hurt?" She asked me, pulling her flashlight out of her pocket.
"Mostly my teeth." I admitted. She covered my eye, shining the light in my face, and then uncovered it, repeating it twice.
"Looks like you slept it off." She told me. "Your pupils are good now."
"You sure, things keep..."
"Ant..." Bomber called out, and I turned away from Nagle.
"I'm here, man." I said, reaching out and grabbing his hand.
"I'd invite you home with me for Christmas but my little sister wants to fuck you." He mumbled. He was staring at the ceiling. I opened my mouth to reply when he suddenly looked at me and tears trickled from his eyes. "Don't leave me, man." He said. "Please, don't leave me, Ant." Before I could answer he sighed and his eyes fluttered shut. He was still breathing steadily, but he was out again.
I wanted to cry.
The room got steadily darker. Outside the room we heard screams, thudding, and crashing noises.
Carter and me kept looking at each other. We'd heard those noises before. Carter kept looking at his hands, and I knew he was remembering, the same as I was, the night the barracks had burned down. How we'd all packed into the two CUC-V's for the trip back, my brother unconscious in the back of the vehicle, Smith clenching his teeth and fists with the pain from his burns. Cobb coughing from smoke inhalation bad enough that he'd spent two days in the hospital. Me driving down the mountain, burnt, cut, and bleeding.
All of us driving off the mountain in a howling blizzard, leaving a burning barracks behind us.
And remembering the fact Tandy had vanished out of a windowless bathroom before the building had burned to the ground.
I dozed off again, my arms on the mattress and my head on my arms. My teeth and head were killing me, despite what I told Nagle.
I woke up later, the entire room dark, and the sound of wind howling outside. Nagle was leaned against me, her arm around my waist, and I leaned down in the darkness and kissed the top of her head.
Bomber groaned in pain.
Pulling Nagle closer to me, I cuddled up and nuzzled the top of her head. She was my closest friend, aside from Bomber, and having her cuddled up next to me made me feel better. We were often lovers, and even though I loved her, she always told me that she knew, rather than saying anything about her own feelings.
She was guarded that way. She let me in further than she let most of her lovers. She didn't toss me out of bed when we were done, she often crawled into bed with me in the middle of the night when she was lonely or just wanted my attention and affection. Lately she'd taken to vanishing out of my bed after she'd made sure I'd gone to sleep, but I figured it was just a phase, that she was dealing with the way I felt about her. The first time I told her I loved her, while we were snuggled up after sex, she'd slapped me out of the blue and snarled at me to never say that again.
Then she'd burst into tears, apologizing, and I'd held her. I'd never bothered to press that, figuring she'd tell me when she got around to it.
Holding her close took my mind off the pain and let me go over everything that we'd seen and experienced. I started going over all of it, the little lizard and I categorizing it, knowing that brawn and training wouldn't be enough to carry us through this, that we'd have to think too.
Someone had been murdered and dragged into SGT(P) Jakes' room.
There was only one problem with that. I remembered that we had 3 Jakes in the unit, one female, two males. Specialist-Six Jakes, who had been on CQ, lived on the third floor, since he wasn't promotable yet. The other SGT Jakes, from motorpool, was promotable, and he'd gone home on leave.
The two male Jakes often spent the night in each other's rooms, and it was an open secret that they were lovers, but since they were good leaders, scored high on their SQT tests, got excellent NCO evaluation reports, and were generally good men, nobody really cared about their love lives. It was open sexuality, which didn't make them vulnerable to blackmail by the Soviet Union, and that's what really mattered.
If someone didn't know the unit too closely, there was a good chance they'd seen SPC-6 Jakes go into SGT(P) Jakes rooms, and might have made the mistake that they both lived in that room.
Another mistake, but not one that gave me any tangible advantage, but instead still helped me put together a picture.
But what the fuck was going on with the snowmen?
It could be psychological warfare, but after the first time, and after the first one with human eyeballs, they lost their effect. They took time to make, and were obviously taunting just Nagle, Bomber and me, but why make them? What advantage did he think they gave him? The "I'm right behind you" was childish, something you'd hear about in a campfire tale, and all it had done is make Nancy and I laugh.
None of it fit together, and even though I tried to think about other things, the lizard kept going over and over everything, hissing in frustration as the evidence and experiences didn't match up into a coherent picture.
When I shifted, Nagle lifted up her head and looked at me, her brown eyes sparkling. Her hand came up and touched my face, feeling around for a moment, and then she kissed me, a long gentle kiss, and I opened my mouth when her tongue brushed my sore lips and then darted into my mouth. I closed my eyes and relished her deep kiss, not even pulling back when she ran her tongue across my teeth out of habit and the touch on the broken teeth sparked pain in my mouth. It was several long seconds before she pulled away, and when I opened my eyes, hers were closed for a long moment. Her full lips were chapped from the wind, and her skin still looked slightly tanned even in the middle of winter, a legacy of her mixed heritage.
"I love you." I told her.
"I know." She hugged me, pulling me close. "What should we do?" She asked me, whispering in my ear. "You still smell like grease and rubbing alcohol."
"I've got a plan, but it's kind of a 'fuck you' plan that might not be that good of an idea." I told her softly.
"What is it?" She asked, and I told her quietly what I figured out. She was quiet for a long time. "Very... Kurt Russell..." she whispered, and then licked my ear.
"I felt that." I smiled against her face.
"Good. Don't tell anyone else, I overheard Daniels saying that for all they knew, you were the psycho." She told me. "Daniels told the others you could have gotten your face fucked up, and Bomber could have gotten hurt, while we were killing the CQ team."
"Great, this is the last thing we need." I told her.
"Shhh." She suddenly whispered.
Someone was walking around outside the door. Both of us stood up quietly and went over to the door. I heard a door open up, then shut, and the footsteps kept moving. The footsteps moved up to the door we were standing up next to, and I pulled Nagle back, reaching behind my back and drawing my Gerber.
The handle jiggled, and the door pushed slightly in as someone tried it on the other side. I heard the key slide into the lock and I waited until the door unlocked and the handle moved down. The door started to open slowly and I got ready.
When the door moved open just a crack I kicked the center of the double doors as hard as I could. Someone cried out as the doors whipped open from the force of my kick. Nagle turned on the flashlight, shining it into the room, and I saw the cold weather mask covered face and the bayonet in the person's hand as they stumbled backward.
He whirled and ran, his footsteps thudding against the floor, but I didn't go after him, heeding the lizard's warning hiss.
Nagle's flas
hlight had revealed the NVG's he was wearing.
Everyone behind me was exclaiming, Daniels and Lewis demanding to know what was going on, Carter yelling that it was Tandy, and Jacobs yelling "Go after him!"
Instead, Nagle slammed shut the doors and locked them again.
"Use your brains for something besides keeping your baby-soft skulls from caving in. We go after him, he'll kill us." She said simply, turning around and shining the flashlight around the room, stopping at each person's face. "He's got NVG's, he's got cold weather gear, and he's got the CQ keys or at least a master key. Not only that, but he's armed with a knife."
She paused for a long moment, the silence broken by a shriek that shook the door.
"Unless someone has a plan, then I suggest we stay right here." Nagle said, and shined the flashlight into my face, and then onto Bomber, who lay on the mattress. "He damn near took out Stillwater, and he might have taken out Bomber, and all of you know he's a tough bull riding son of a bitch." She shined the light on my face again. "And any of you think you could do this to Stillwater and still walk around?"
All of them shook their heads. They'd seen me fight, or heard about it, and the rumor control had it that I got off on fighting, usually crediting me for my older brother's fights as well as my own, and vice versa. Not to mention they'd seen what I'd done to Hewitt in less than a minute.
Nagle reached out and grabbed my hand, walking back with me to the table where Bomber was laying. She sat down, pulled me into the chair next to her, and then pulled me face first into her breasts, holding me tight and shaking. The after effects of a confrontation with whoever was wearing the cold weather gear and the rest of our small group had left her shaking. I put my arms around her waist and held her tight even as she kept my face against her T-shirt covered breasts. She wasn't wearing a bra, and when I'd gently bit her nipple through the T-shirt she'd moaned softly and held me tighter.
The room was silent, except for the noises in the building, for a long time, until there was a rumbling that shook the entire building. It groaned, and I could feel the shaking through the tiles of the floor that made me look up from where I'd been relaxing against Nagle's tits.
"What the fuck is that?" Daniels asked.
"If it is what I think it is, we're in a fuckload of trouble." Carter suddenly spoke up.
"What?" I asked, and then winced as my teeth throbbed.
"Avalanche." He stated, the word filling me with dread.
"No way, the motor pool is in between the snowpack and us." Lewis said.
"Doesn't matter." Carter answered, "The motorpool isn't that big compared to an avalanche, it has that berm on the upper side, and the snow would have swept around it real easy since it was designed to channel the snow around it."
The room was quiet for a moment, and I brought up something that needed to be said.
"You guys ready to admit it wasn't me?" I asked. "Or Bomber?"
"Nobody said it was you." Daniels spoke up.
"Then let's keep it that way." I told him, pulling Nagle close and cuddling her.
"Who is it then?" Lewis asked, "Because I sure as fuck can't think of someone who'd want to kill me."
"Why don't you ask your room mate Hewitt?" Nagle snapped.
"Nobody asked you, bitch." He snarled back.
"What did you call her?" I asked, standing up.
"Fuck you, Stillwater. I'm not afraid of you." He told me, and I heard a chair scrape in the darkness.
"Guys, calm the fuck down." Hernandez barked. "It's bad enough we've got someone out there trying to kill us, we don't need you two killing each other."
"Tell that fucking psycho to step off." Lewis' voice was harsh in the darkness.
"How about I break my foot off in your ass?" I asked. The lizard hissed in agreement.
"Calm down. Now." Hernandez barked again.
Silence fell, broken by the shriek of wind outside the doors. I felt a draft whisper by my face and frowned.
"Who's near the door?" I asked.
"I am." Daniels said.
"Is there a breeze under the door?" I asked.
There was silence for a second, and then Daniels started cursing. "Goddamn it, there is."
"Throw a blanket in front of the door." Hernandez suggested.
I opened my mouth to suggest something else when we heard it from the table over by the MRE's.
Metal on metal crashing together.
He was trying to bust open the door where our pathetic little generator was again.
"Stillwater and I are going, who else?" Nagle asked, letting go of me. She clicked on the flashlight and moved toward the table where we'd left the makeshift cold weather gear we'd been wearing.
"I'll go." Lewis offered.
"No way, man." Jacobs said. "I'm the only brother here, if I go, I'm sure to be killed next."
I grinned at him while I moved over and grabbed the coveralls. The others laughed, and the tension from the near fight between Lewis and me eased. When I looked at him he grinned sheepishly and shrugged. I grinned back and nodded. Both of us let the confrontation go, more important things at hand.
We dressed quickly and silently, and I handed Lewis one of the heavy axes as we headed toward the door.
"Open it." Nagle said to Hernandez, who nodded jerkily.
The radio was letting us know that whoever was out to kill us was still trying to hammer his way into the furnace room.
Hernandez pulled open the door, and Nagle's flashlight showed us an empty room. The wind hit us in the face like a hammer, and snow swirled in the room.
I went first, Nagle following, and Lewis pulling drag. Straight to the middle stairs, and we eased open the door. Nagle shut off the flashlight, and we all paused for a second.
The sound of him hammering on the door with something floated up out of the steps, and I led the way down, the naked bayonet held tightly in my fist. I planned on gutting him with the same knife he tried to stab me with, leave him stumbling around with a confused look and his intestines hanging out. My Gerber was underneath the coveralls where I couldn't get at it fast, but the bayonet would work just fine.
It was pitch black at the bottom of the stairs, and I waited for a second. I could see a hint of motion in the darkness right before there was another crash of metal on metal.
"I'll turn on the light, you kill this asshole. One..." Nagle said softly into my ear. I felt the cold trickle of adrenaline down my spine. "Two..." I slitted my eyes so that I wouldn't be blinded when she hit the light.
"Three." She hissed, flicking on the light.
The light revealed the same guy, night vision goggles strapped over the cold weather mask, another axe in his hands. The lizard hissed in hatred and my body grew warm, my muscles thrumming with chemicals as the lizard pressed the combat button. The guy's head whipped toward us, and Lewis shoved me aside to step forward, hefting the axe in his hands.
"We got you now, asshole." Lewis said.
Two steps back, and the guy in the parka hefted the axe in his glove covered hands. Lewis followed him deeper into the hallway. Beyond them the door was chocked open again, and I could see a D-ring hanging on the door again.
Lewis took two more steps forward. "Put the axe down, dude, and nothing will happen." He said, his voice full of confidence. The lizard hissed a warning.
I knew it was going to happen before the guy even moved, but Lewis didn't even see it coming. For some reason it felt like Lewis expected him to drop the axe, not attack him, or what I knew he was going to do.
The figure threw the axe at Lewis, spun in place, and ran to the door, pulling the D-Ring free and vanishing into the snow.
Again.
The axe hit Lewis in the face, sending him staggering for a second, and he dropped the fireaxe he was holding, his hands going to his face.
"Motherfucker!" Lewis yelled.
And charged after the guy, out into the snow.
Acceptable Losses
We were taught that our
lives were
an acceptable trade for mission success.
Our mission had boiled down to:
Take him with us.
I had no problem with that.
"Lewis!" I shouted as he disappeared into the snow. "Goddamn it, Lewis!"
Nagle and I ran forward as a loud scream sounded out, and skidded to a stop at the door. Lewis was still screaming, and the wind blew the snow into our faces from out in the darkness. Without the grease the wind burnt our skin, and the tiny snow seeds felt like they were shredding our faces.
Rich deep laughter, full of something that made goosebumps raise on my back, rolled out of the darkness and over us, audible even over the screaming. Nagle and I looked at each other, and Nagle's eyes were wide with her pupils open. She looked vulnerable suddenly, and the idea of tough as nails smart as a whip Nagle being frightened chilled me even more.
Nagle had been a rock to lean on since she'd gotten to the unit, and like John, she'd been there during my divorce, had been there when I was so hurt after that fateful July day, and had held me as I cried from the pain and agony that filled me. She was tough, had four years in the military before I ever met her, and was braver than Hell, willing to back me up when even some of the others wouldn't be there. Her being frightened made something in me turn small and afraid.
Lewis screamed again, a sound of agony, and Nagle bit her lower lip as she looked at me.
"Stay here." I told her and she nodded, and got down on my hands and knees to start to crawl into the snow.
Less than 10 feet into the snow and I felt the edge of the loading dock. Lewis was screaming louder now, or maybe I was just closer to him. I slid off the loading dock, squinted my eyes as the snow blew into my face and numbed my cheeks, earlobes, and nose. I knelt down in the snow and crawled forward, reaching out with my hands.
Lewis' screams jangled my nerves, and my imagination conjured the guy in the cold weather mask using a blade on him, carving on him with a bayonet out there where we couldn't help him.
Carving his eyes out...
My hand bumped something, and Lewis screamed even louder when I grabbed it in the darkness and pulled on it right when my brain identified it as a shoe. He kept screaming, sobbing screams of animal agony as I moved up the leg.
Three Little Snowmen (Damned of the 2/19th) Page 26