Three Little Snowmen (Damned of the 2/19th)

by Timothy Willard

  Fuck that room.

  A little more work, and we met up with Nagle and Hernandez, Nagle holding the axe and glaring around at the ice glittering on the walls. Hernandez was dragging a mattress with other mattresses, some blankets, and a handful of sleeping bags piled on it.

  "We lucked out; he missed a couple of mattresses and I managed to find some blankets and sleeping bags." Nagle said. "We need to get back. I need to check on Bomber and Lewis." I nodded, leaning against the wall. The whole front of my face hurt and I kept getting dizzy.

  "Why can't we just go looking for him?" Jacobs asked, looking around.

  "Because he's one step ahead of us the whole way." Nagle answered. "He's thought this through, he knows the people he's stalking, and he knows that some of our first instincts will be to go on the offensive."

  She looked at each of us, her gaze lingering on me a moment longer.

  "He's not stupid enough to forget he's hunting trained soldiers." She finished.

  I nodded dumbly, and followed when she started heading back. "We're down two men, three if you count Ant, he's killed five men as far as we know, and we're cut off and isolated." She paused at the doors to the platoon area and looked at all of us. "And every time we've charged after him, we've come out second best."

  She banged on the door, but nobody answered. She hammered on the door again.

  "Open the goddamn door!" She shouted, banging on the door again.

  Still nothing.

  "Open this goddamn door or I'll kick it down!" She bellowed, hammering on the door, this time with the haft of the axe.

  Still nothing.

  "Fuck this. Stillwater, kick it in." She snarled, and I stepped forward.

  The door whipped open, and Daniels stood there, holding onto the axe and staring at us wild eyed in the dimness. We were losing light fast.

  "Get in, for fuck's sake, hurry up!" He yelled, staring past us.

  "What?" Nagle asked, coming in. She grabbed his face when he didn't answer. "What happened?"

  I ignored them, pushing past Daniel's little drama fest to move up next to Bomber and stare down at him. When I touched his face, his eyes opened.

  "Hey, Ant." He smiled.

  "How you feeling, John?" I asked. His skin was flushed, sweaty, and burning hot.

  "Not too bad. My stomach hurts pretty bad." He told me.

  Behind me Daniels was telling Nagle that someone had been laughing and hammering on the doors, mocking him and trying to lure him out by being quiet. How the guy had kicked at the doors, laughing at him.

  "Your appendix burst." I told him.

  "Fuck. I've got..." He paused for a second, and I expected him to lapse into delirium again, but he continued after a moment. "Maybe eight days from when it burst before I might not survive. Dammit, and I was short, now I've only got eight days."

  "Where do you get that idea?" I asked.

  "My dad. He didn't know what was wrong with him, and my grandmother didn't take him to the doctor for eight days back in the fifties." John told me. He coughed and groaned. "You all right? Your face looks like Hell."

  "That's how I normally look." I answered, and he laughed.

  "Ant, help me get up. I really gotta shit." He told me.

  When I helped him up, Nagle immediately came over, yelling at me to lay him back down. It took a minute of arguing, but she agreed to let me take him to the bathroom.

  I stood next to him while he took care of business, then helped him back out into the main room. He was breathing hard, but had managed to straighten most of the way up.

  "You catch that fucker who hit me with the axe?" He asked.

  "Yeah. He's the one who did this to my face." I answered.

  The mattresses had been pulled to different spots, Lewis laying on one, and Nagle was sitting on where two of them had been pushed together along with a pile of blankets. Daniels was over by the door, sitting on the floor, with an axe in his hands. I could barely see anyone, the room almost completely dark as the sun set.

  "Come on, let's get some rest." I told John, guiding him over to Nagle.

  He nodded, crying out when he laid down. She stripped me down to my boxers before stripping herself. She was almost aggressive the way she pushed her heavy breasts out at anyone, her eyes daring them to say something and almost inviting stares.

  She laid down next to John, her pantied butt against his crotch, and held out her hand wordlessly. I took it, and laid down next to her before pulling the pile of blankets over us. She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me close.

  "I've got you, Ant." She whispered, "I'm not going anywhere."

  "I love you." I told her.

  "I know, Ant." She said, hugging me.

  "I love you too, Ant." Bomber mumbled, mostly unconscious. I looked at Nancy, who smiled at me and kissed my lower lip gently.

  "He's delirious." She told me.

  "I know. And I know it isn't anything gay." I told her.

  Her smile turned wicked and she leaned forward so her mouth was against my ear. "I don't know, I'd love to see you two pleasing each other or all three of us in a squirming naughty little pile." She said softly. I knew I was blushing, but sucked in my stomach so her hand, which had creeped down, could slide between my waistband and my stomach. Her fingers wrapped around me and she chuckled throatily.

  "You don't seem to mind that idea." Her voice was low, and her breath in my ear hot. "You can tell yourself it's because you're getting warm or the feel of my body or what I'm doing, but we both know it's the though of John."

  "Stop, wicked girl." I told her. She chuckled again, her hand squeezing gently and stroking rhythmically, but she did stop. Despite the pain and exhaustion, my hips were moving in time with the stroking. Her other hand kept fiddling around down there, and it wasn't until she slowly threw one leg over me that I knew what she intended. She pulled me closer, her hand pushing down my boxers until I came free.

  It was awkward and clumsy until we got the rhythm right, but she was warm in my arms, and almost painfully hot inside. She held on tight to me, whispering wickedly in my ear as I moved with her, until she gritted her teeth and went rigid in my arms. She bit my shoulder painfully, grinding her hips against me.

  "Please." She begged softly, her voice soft and vulnerable.

  That one word made me cringe slightly, but I knew what she needed.

  I drove my forehead against hers, making stars and sparkles appear in my vision. Even though I was swept with dizziness and nausea I felt her shudder in my arms and heard her groan softly. As she climaxed in my arms I went off with her, despite the way my head felt, and eventually we went boneless in one another's arms. We were both sweaty and panting, kissing each other softly in the afterglow.

  "I love you, Nancy Nagle." I told her.

  "I know, Ant." She said softly. One hand came up to touch my face. "I'm sorry, but I needed that." I felt tears fall against my face. "I'm sorry, baby. I'm sorry I did that to you."

  "It's OK." I told her, the dizziness moving to exhaustion. "I'm just a boy."

  "Sleep, baby. I've got you." She told me, holding me tight.

  I dozed off in her arms, exhausted, my face throbbing. I'd barely gotten any sleep, and for the first time in as long as I could remember nobody kept waking me up and shining lights into my eyes.

  I dreamed of making love to Nancy.

  In my dreams, she didn't need me to hurt her.

  * * * *

  Metal clanging against metal woke me, and I sat up, not quite awake, yelling out "GAS GAS GAS". The lizard, still awake while I slept, started hammering on the button to wake me up, triggering almost bone deep reflexes. I kept my eyes shut and grabbed for a mask on my hip that wasn't there. Adrenaline flooded my system, and I held my breath as I fumbled at my waist. Just a second before I'd been struggling through a blizzard, following the voices of my twin sister and Nagle and trying to save them, and the next second I was trying to get a mask on before the lethal toxins burned out my li
fe in 19 seconds flat.

  The clanging noise was coming from the radio on the table.

  "Nagle." I hissed, reaching down and shaking her.

  "Go jerk off, Ant, I'm not horny." She mumbled, rolling over.

  "ON your FEET!" I bellowed out, climbing up.

  Bomber and Lewis both screamed as they tried to answer ingrained habit and get up. Bomber managed to get all the way to his feet, standing there swaying, while Lewis grabbed his legs, sobbing in pain. Everyone else jumped to their feet, and I could tell that the clanging hadn't penetrated anyone's mind but mine.

  I moved over and grabbed my jacket, pulling it on quickly, and turned around, making sure my knife was on my belt. The lizard murmured contently when my fingertips grazed the worn haft of the weapon.

  "He gets in there and kills our generator, we're dead." Nagle said, standing up and yanking on her pants. Her nipples stood out from her large heavy breasts and I had an image of nuzzling them with my nose flash through my mind. I tossed her the bayonet and she caught it in mid-air, clipping it to her belt before pulling on a shirt. I kind of missed the view, and so did the lizard.

  "Who's coming with me?" I asked, buttoning up my jacket and grabbing one of the cold weather caps that had been scavenged from one of the rooms.

  "I'm with you." Jacobs said. "I'll beat that motherfucker's ass."

  "Ant, stay here." Nagle said, pulling on her fluffy jacket. "Stay with John and Lewis."

  "No. You stay back, they need you more." I told her, leaning forward to whisper in her ear. "I'm a boy, this is what we do."

  She opened her mouth to deny what I had said and then glanced at Bomber, who was pulling on his pants. "John, you need to lie down or you might tear something up in there." She said softly, moving over to him and touching him. John looked up, his face pale with red spots on his cheeks. His eyes were glassy.

  "Gonna help. Not down yet." He slurred. You could see the fever burning in him. "I ain't leaving you. I ain't. Gonna stay. Gonna fight."

  "I'm with you, brother." Hernandez said to me, pulling on the parka.

  "Bomber, I need you to protect Nancy and Lewis in case he loops around." I said, and Bomber nodded, glancing at Lewis and then turning his attention back to me.

  "I'll keep'm safe, brudder. Ya c'n count on me. Ain't gonna leave, not now." Bomber said. He pressed his hand to his side and wavered for a second, but didn't protest when Nancy led him slowly to a chair. He retched once then looked up at me, his eyes crazed but his speech clear. "Can't leave you and Nancy here alone, brother, you'll die without me."

  "Let's go." I said, and Hernandez unlocked the door and pulled to open.

  Outside of the door a figure loomed, arms outstretched, leaning toward the door.

  Jacobs stepped forward, swinging the axe he was holding, the heavy bit striking the figure in the chest with a solid thunk as the axe went home. Snow exploded outward, and Jacobs stumbled forward, cursing.

  The snowman's head fell off, the BDU softcap plopping into the snow, and we stood there for a second, staring at the snowman that Jacobs had just taught not to fuck with him.

  "What the fuck was that?" Jacobs yelled.

  "He's fucking with us; it's supposed to scare us." I said, moving past the snowman's remains and scooping up the BDU cap. E-3 rank. "We need to hurry."

  Jacobs pushed past me, slogging through the snow that had blown in through the broken windows of the platoon area, his feet kicking up sprays in my flashlight. He pushed through the doors and into the hallway, and I hurried to catch up with him. The lizard was muttering that we were going too fast, not paying attention to our surroundings enough, and that it was all a trap.

  "Jacobs," I called out, and the other man slowed down, the axe swinging from his hand as he walked, "The second floor landing is covered in ice and blood, so watch out."

  "Ice, yeah." Jacobs sneered. "Anything else you want to tell me before we kill this asshole?"

  "Be careful, and let's try to sneak up on him." I told him. Jacobs scoffed as we approached the double doors. He pushed through, and pulled open the door to the stairwell. The blood glittered darkly and I tried to ignore it. Jacobs stared at the blood for a second and then shook his head before starting to move again. Hernandez made a noise I couldn't identify when he came into the stairwell.

  "Jacobs, slow down, don't be reckless." I warned the other man, remembering how I'd charged in and gotten my ass handed to me in the stairwell. The little lizard reached out and caressed the fight button, and a cool trickle of adrenaline went down my spine. His other hand was pressing lightly against the button that heightened my senses, weighing the options.

  Jacobs ignored me and hurried down the steps, rushing ahead, the axe held in both hands. We went past the first floor, the banging of our friendly barracks psycho covering our approach. Jacobs didn't pause at the next landing, swinging around the landing and stepping forward. He was grinning, as he went to step down the first step.

  And hit the wire across the step.

  The ice on the wall that was holding the wire in place broke away as his foot caught the wire, and he yelled as he pitched forward, throwing out his hands to catch himself, the axe vanishing into the darkness of the stairwell.

  "Jacobs!" I yelled, Hernandez echoing me as I moved down the stairs.

  The banging quit.

  In the beam of my flashlight Jacobs landed face first on the floor, stunned, his legs twitching.

  Two steps, still yelling for him, and it happened.

  Jacobs had just lifted his head up, one hand reaching forward, his foot still kicking as he tried to get purchase. I was four steps down, risking taking two icy steps at time, Hernandez was right behind me, trying to get to Jacobs and help him up.

  I thought the guy would take the chance to run, to disappear back into the snowstorm again. Throw the axe, whirl around, grab the D-Ring off the door, and vanish into the blizzard, to taunt us further. I assumed that he'd break contact rather than face off against three of us.

  I was wrong.

  The axe blurred out of darkness, coming from high up, through the doorway, the frost on it sparkling and the sharpened edge gleaming in my flashlight beam. I could see the sharp edge of the axe, read MOTORPOOL – 2/19 SW on the handle, and see the heavy gloves wrapped around the end of the axe handle.

  It was frozen in time for a long second.

  Right before it hit Jacobs just below the neck, dead center in the back, the sound of the axe biting through flesh and shearing through bone obscenely loud in the windy hallway.

  Jacobs' feet jerked, and his hands scrabbled at the tile, leaving scratches in the ice and the wax, one fingernail tearing away.

  The lizard punched the overdrive button, sweeping away fatigue, cold, pain, and fear as I jumped from the midway point of the stairs toward Jacobs. I was yelling in denial, trying to move faster through the molasses that had seemed to crystallize around me. Hernandez was yelling Jacobs' name, both of us trying to get down the stairs.

  The hands released the axe handle, and the wind shrieked around us, matching Jacobs' strangled scream.

  My feet hit the landing, and I jumped over Jacobs, seeing the figure ahead of me in the beam of the flashlight clipped to my jacket pocket. As soon as the light from my flashlight hit hi,m the lizard hissed sharply. Rather than just slap the combat button it rapidly ran through options in a shattered moment, coming up with a half dozen plans outside of 'charge in and get my ass kicked' like I had been. While the lizard was running the numbers and options, I stared at the figure, taking in every detail between one heartbeat and the next.

  Once again he had on the cold weather mask, NVG's, a parka, and heavy gloves. His Mickey Mouse boots squeaked as he began to pivot, a perfect rear march my brain told me, and he reached his hand out for the D-Ring hanging off the door.

  "Nagle, we need you down here now!" I bellowed in the split second I made my decision.

  I spun around, jumping past Jacobs, pushing Hernandez out of my
way, brushing his hands off when he tried to grab me.

  "Don't leave us, Stillwater!" Hernandez yelled as I ran up the stairs, "Come back!" followed me as I spun around the landing that the guy had wired, and pounded up to the first floor.

  "Goddamn you, Stillwater, you coward!" chased me as I kicked open the doorway into Queer Country, grabbing the door jamb to give me speed. I shouldered through the double doors and ran down the hallway, my knife tight in my hand, my boots thudding against the snow covered tile. I snatched open the door of the first stairwell, and jumped from the top of the stairs, hitting the landing and bouncing off the far wall to jump again, landing with both feet on the bottom floor.

  I yanked open the door to the orderly room, and my flashlight swung across the door on the far side, revealing it to be wide open.

  With a D-ring attached to 550 cord on the handle.

  I walked in, smiling wide enough I could feel my lips split open again.

  The wind was pushing snow into the orderly room hallway, slicing across my cheeks and making my teeth throb painfully. It didn't matter to me, and I didn't stop smiling. It wasn't really a smile, more like a rictus, the smile of someone dead or pushed too far too fast.

  The 550 cord was shivering, pulling tightly.

  I stepped up in front of the doorway, resting one hand on the chocked open door, the other holding tight to my Gerber. With the toe of my boot, I lifted up the chock, holding the door open.

  He stepped out of the snow, lit by the flashlight, and his eyes opened wide at seeing me standing there. One eye was swollen shut, the other bloodshot, and I could see his teeth bared in a snarl since he'd undone the strap covering his mouth. I made sure that he could see the knife in my hand, made sure he could see me bare my teeth in a smile.

  "Miss me, pumpkin?" I asked.

  From Bad to Worse… again…

  Ever fought a psycho? Wounds that

  would stop you or I are only an

  inconvenience to them.

  All I could hope was that I was

  crazier than he was.

  He inhaled deeply, I could tell by the way the parka lifted and the shoulders shifted. When he exhaled it was in a plume that the wind whipped away at the same time as it shredded my cheeks with the tiny ice crystals that would soon become snowflakes. His eye narrowed, and I could tell he was trying to make a decision.