Billy and Jessup ran all morning. They crossed the river at the same point but did not stop to look at anything. They had a rendezvous to make. Both men kept an eye out for things that didn’t fit. Watching birds and other animals for signs that they were not alone. They were about three clicks from the rendezvous point when Billy duct behind a tree and signaled for Jessup to take cover.
They had been skirting a small clearing when Billy saw a small pile of gear near the far side. Billy took out a monocular and focused on the pile. It looked like their gear. Billy looked at Jessup and signaled. “Silent and low”
Jussup pulled the bow from his back and put an arrow in. They were going hunting. It took an hour to make their way around the clearing. Silent and slow. They kept to the heavier brush and short tries. Billy found the first one. A man. Hidden in a bush just at the edge of the clearing. He had a hunting rifle, knives and was dressed in some torn up camo. Billy signaled Jessup to cover him. Slowly he snuck up on the man and gabbing him by the head. Then burying his knife in the man’s throat. He held him the short while it took him to expire. Not much of a sound as the blow put the man in shook instantly.
Billy looked at Jessup. Jessup indicated that he saw another. Yep this was an ambush. Which meant his team was either dead or captured. Billy needed to know how many were out here. He needed to keep one of them alive so he could get information on his team and where they might be. Billy made his way to Jessup. “We need to know how many. Then find out if anyone is nearby. And we need one alive.”
Jessup knew what that meant. “Just one.” The men separated. It was almost two when they encountered the next two. Silently they did what had to be done. Then both men pulled back. Jessup pointed to some bushes at the far end of the clearing, “Pheasants”
“Can you put an arrow there?” Billy asked.
“Oh yeah.” Jessup was already to do that.
Billy watched the tree line for more men. The arrow hit, as intended, and the birds were flushed out. Billy counted four more men. There might be a small camp nearby, because four plus the three they had already killed, seemed too few for what they men might encounter, or did they think that Billy would be alone. The big question is, how patient are these men? How long before they discover their dead? And do they have a failsafe call-in that needed to be made or more would come? Billy looked at Jessup, “Cover me. We need to move faster and keep one alive.”
Jessup agreed.
Billy moved off, Jessup got close enough to put an arrow in the next closest man. It only took Billy ten minutes to sneak up on the next guy. Then fifteen, then four. The bugs were now attracted to the dried blood and sweat. Billy tired to clean up some, but he still had one more to secure. He put the last man in a choke hold and held him till he was unconscious. He then gagged and tied him up. Jessup signaled that he was going to scout the area, Bill agreed then signaled that he was moving Northeast. They were the hunters. Jessup disappeared. Billy picked up his prey and started off to the far side of the clearing.
An hour later, Jessup found Billy with the captured man. It was really just a boy. Sixteen or Seventeen. But the boy had a rifle and was ready to kill them when they entered the clearing. That made him an enemy combatant. The boy was still tied up and had a blindfold and gag.
“What did you learn?” Jessup asked.
“Someone on my team tripped an early warning device and before the team could retreat they were surrounded.” Billy said.
“Are they still alive?”
Billy shook his head no.
“We have ten more, just a click to our South.” Jessup said, “They're loud and undisciplined.”
The rest of your team will be here by morning. Signal them to come in quiet and give them these coordinates. We are going to kill that team and then move in.” Billy said.
“We don’t know their size and this is their… territory. We don’t need a war.” Jessup reminded him. This was just a recon mission.
“Jessup looked at the boy. We just killed seven of their men. Don’t think that’s going to go over very well.” Billy said.
“Yeah, but they killed four of ours. That kinda evens out the score.” Jessup said.
To himself Bill thought, “Not to me.” But he knew that Jessup was right. As soon as the main team got here they would be making the decisions. His feelings would not matter. He and his men were expendable. That was the deal. Go and scout for a reward. If caught, well… hope for the best.
Jessup finally asked, “What are you going to do to him?”
Billy felt sorry for the boy. He had spilled his guts quickly, even soiled his pants. He was just a boy, but the fact that he was waiting in ambush meant that he was a boy willing to kill anyone that stepped into that clearing. Then Billy got an idea, “Let's reset the trap.”
Jessup went and stationed himself between the clearing and the camp to the south. Billy put the boy and his comrades in a pile where the equipment had been. They were all propped up against each other and bound. It looked like they were sleeping. Once the boy woke up no doubt he would try to make noise or get away. His bound ensured that he would not. Most likely those at the camp would eventually check on the men that were in ambush to see if anything was going on, That’s when they would see their men. If all went well, Jessup’s team would be here and they could take them. Interrogate them and find out what was here. Their numbers and their capabilities.
Jessup mimicked a duck. Which was the signal to pull back. Then he left. Thirty minutes later Jessup showed up at the far end of the clearing. Billy liked this native. He moved silently and yet seemed to be where he needed to be when he needed to be there. That kind of dependability was rare.
They waited. Then Jessup’s radio buzzed. The team was within two clicks of them. But that wouldn’t be good enough. Just then they heard dogs! Billy looked at Jessup, “You didn’t mention dogs!
“There were no dogs.”
“We gotta go!”
They were off. Full run, in retreat. Two clicks would take about twenty minutes in this terrain. Jessup broke radio silence, “Party with dogs, Two clicks south of you, we are in full retreat, just two.” There were two clicks on the mic to say that message was received. Then they ran.
It only took another five minutes for the dogs to be released. There were a lot of them. They made so much noise that every wild animal in a half a click would be running as well. Billy ran faster and Jessup was right behind him. They were about three quarters of the way there when they heard the dogs breaking branches, which meant they were too close. They could make for the river and the buildings. That would give them protection from the dogs and cover from the men. However, that would put them about half a click from Jessup’s team. When Billy indicated another direction, toward the buildings, Jessup said no.
Billy had to trust him, they had to stay together.
Just then they broke into a clearing. They were in full sprint, their legs burning from the run. The dog broke cover just behind them. They wouldn’t make it out. Without a word both men stopped, turned and started firing at the dogs. The first two went down, then four, but there were so many. One leaped for Jessup, He brought his knife up and buried it in the dog’s chest. Two more dogs went down. Then, in unison four dogs took down Billy. One died, but the others sank their teeth into his flesh, he screamed.
Jessup was next. There was just too many
Bang! Bang! Brouuupt, bang! Bang! And the dogs were gone. A man kneeled beside Billy, “We need to get you out a here before we can treat you, it’s gona hurt son.”
The next thing Billy saw was morning. He was still alive, He tried to rise, “Jessup?”
“Take it easy Billy, we only had pressure dressings and those dogs did quite a number on you.” Someone said while holding him down.
Billy said, “Jessup?” again.
“He’s alive and in far better shape than you. Sorry, we didn’t get there sooner.” The man said, “As soon as we got your call we dropped the heavy stuff and came a runnin.”
Another man came up and spoke, “Well son, you gave us quite a scare. We weren’t sure you would make it through the night. You lost two fingers on your right hand and they took quite a chunk out of your left leg. it took us almost an hour to stop the bleeding.” The man said, “We are sending you back to Graham.” with that, he stepped away.
Billy didn’t remember much of the trip back to Graham.
Mike showed up at the hospital, “You did good Billy.” He said. “We recovered your men and pushed those SOBs south about twenty clicks. They lost most of their fighting men and we recovered close to six thousand rounds of ammunition.” Mike shook his head, “We’re quite sure that this was the bunch that used to be at JBLM. They had that stench about them.” He stood and said, “Get better.”
Billy fell back to sleep.
Jessup came the next day, “Hey Billy you look like shit.”
“You let those damn dogs chew on me.” Billy shot back.
Jessup held up his arm, still bandaged, “They got me too, just not as bad.”
“They must like white meat better.” Billy tried to laugh, but it hurt.
Jussup got serious and sat down, “I’m going to be helping you for a while.”
Billy was confused by that statement, “Why?”
Jessup looked at Billy’s legs
Billy tried to look down, but it was hard, “What? Help me up.”
Jessup helped Billy to sit up, that’s when he noticed that the sheet was flat where his left leg should be. “What happened?”
“They couldn’t save it.” Jessup said, “They tried, but it was mangled and the infection was everywhere. In the end they had to take it off just below the knee.”
Billy was in shock. His world was now gone. His plans to start a farm to the South, raise a family. Work. Live. Gone! A gray cloud fell over him, “They should have let me die.”
Rehab went on for months. Jessup would show up each morning after a run. Pull Billy from his bed and take him down the hall to a workout room. They would work his upper body first. Then his core. And finally, tried to get him to walk. The crutches were crud, but the prosthetic was even worse. And the pain. It just never stopped.
The doctors had nothing else they could do. They tried to kill the nerve that used to be attached to his lower leg, but the pain only came back.
Then one afternoon an old japanese lady came to him. She was Elder Walk’s mother-in-law. She explained that she practiced an ancient medicine called acupuncture. And that with treatments, she could ease the pain. Billy agreed. Anything was better than this.
The old lady showed up each day, with needles and cold hands. She would message parts of his temple then put a needle in. Then his shoulder, back. And finally his legs, both of them. And each day the pain was less. She would explain, “Pain not gone, just brain can’t feel it.” She always played calming music and put on incense. She explained, “Mind needs to calm down. Let body heal.”
Billy started to change. His hatred for his body eased.
Then one day she showed up with only the incense and a calm demeanor, “Today we teach you Tai Chi. We strengthen your mind to fight. To overcome the limits of your body.”
She then stood in front of him, “Stand up.”
Billy reached for his crutches,
“No Crutch.”
“But.”
“No Crutch. Stand.”
Billy clumsily stood on one leg. While facing the old lady he realized that he still didn’t know her name, “What is your name?”
“Blossum.” she said then continued to instruct him, “We go backward, you learn to breath first. Get balance.” She instructed.
Jessup showed up about this time. Blossom looked at him and commanded, “You follow us.”
Billy fell over four times that morning, then two, then one. Then after two weeks he could stand on one leg as long as he needed to.
Then Blossom taught him how to move his hands and arms. Slowly with purpose. Positioning his body to stay in balance. She then told him, “You now changed. This is you now. Go and find purpose, it not here in hospital.
She did not come the next day, nor the next. If Billy wanted to practice his routine he had to do it on his own. Or he had to leave the hospital.
Jessup showed up as usual and Billy asked him to check him out. He was done with this place. “I need you to meet someone. I think she might have a job for you.”
“A job, what the hell can I do?” Billy protested.
“You can slaughter and carve up pigs.” Jessup said. “I’ve seen you with a knife.”
Jessup introduced Billy to Dee, a farmer that just didn’t look like any farmer he had ever seen. She was six foot four, had tattoos all over her arms that were huge for a woman. Her arms were easily bigger than Billy’s one leg.
Dee explained that she was good at growing and building things, but killing them. Nope! She needed someone to process two dozen pigs and four of the cows. Then about six dozen chickens and a few annoying ducks. “You think you can handle that?” she asked.
Billy looked at the place, It wasn’t clean or pristine. It was really a little on the run down side. He wasn’t sure he wanted to work here.
Dee noticed, “the old man I got this place from should have retired years ago. It’s going to take a season or two to get it back up to speed.” She looked Billy over, “I just need a few good hands.”
Billy appreciated the pun. He had good hands. Even with the missing fingers, he still could handle a knife. But would that be enough?
As if she was reading his mind, “Don’t worry, there’s plenty to do here and I know at least two other farmers that hate the ole killing thing as well. You’ll have plenty of work.”
“I guess I can give it a try.” Billy said,
“Good, let me show you the slaughter house. Jessup will bring them in.” Dee said.
Billy turned to Jessup, “You work here too?”
Jessup shook his head “Yes.”
“You gave up your commission.” Asked Billy.
“It was the least I could do.” Jessup said.
“What do you mean?”
“You don’t even know, do you.” Jessup shook his head.
“Know what?” Billy was trying to remember what he might have done to deserve this.
Jessup was shaking his head, “Man, you stepped in front of that pack of dogs.” He looked at Billy, “You're the reason I had so few injuries.”
“I don’t…” Billy said.
“It’s the fact that you didn’t hesitate. You protect. It’s your first instinct.” Jessup put his hands on Billy’s shoulders, “I’m in your debt, but better, I want to be your friend, Besides it was Mike that set me up with Dee.”
“Set you up?” Billy asked. Thinking they made such an odd couple.
“As a business partner, “Dee corrected.
“Oh!”
