Turn 8 - Payback

Twilight: 2000 - Under a Blood Red Sky | Home

"Here we are now, entertain us!"

Nirvana, "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

Camp Clark Main Gate

Angelica staggered up to the main gate of the Camp. "Hello!" she cried out in a cracked voice. "Friendly coming in. Don't shoot," she pleaded, and stepped out into the open.

Two guards walked out front to meet her. "Keep your hands out where we can see them," one of them said as he leveled his M16 at her.

"I can't, cabron," Angelica replied wearily. "One of you pinche cooleros shot me in the arm." Angelica kept her good hand resting on and supporting her useless arm. She was too tired to lie about it. They'd think, like Anglos, that she'd be lying no matter what she told them. So it was easier to tell the truth. All she wanted was medical attention.

The other soldier glanced over his shoulder. His eyes widened as he tried to speak, "Umm, Sarge?"

The Sergeant was annoyed. "Not now, damn it. Keep your eyes on her 'til we check her out."

The young soldier tried again. "Yeah, but Sarge....."

The Sergeant spun on his heel to face him. "WHAT!?! What the Hell could be so damn important that you feel the need to interrupt me, to not focus on your duties, and generally piss me off?"

The young soldier pointed behind the Sergeant. "Umm, that!"

The Sergeant turned around, "This had better be good...." His voice trailed off as he finally saw what the young private had been pointing at.

Coming up from the other direction were dozen's of heavily armed soldiers. Angelica was able to spot SSG Johnson, who she recognized from the ambush in town, leading the pack.

The Sergeant at the gate summed it up nicely. "Oh, shit".

Bill led the way, as the "unit" made its way for the front gate, with Hughes at his side. Their mission to free the Captain and LT from the bunker and LT Smith. Bill was in no mood for any shit from any of the douche oh worst people, and it showed on his face. His '16 was at the ready, a thumb twitch and it's off safe and ready to bark..

Carter moved at double time beside SSG Johnson. The main gates of the HQ area came into view. There were two sentries at the gates and they had a prisoner, the medic from the General's ambush. Both guards turned around in surprise as the large group of soldiers approached.

Carter slowed down a bit and turned to the Sarge, the man had an intense and serious look on his face. He also caught the small flick of the Sergeants thumb on his weapons safety switch. Carter looked nervously back towards the gates and swallowed hard, bringing his own weapon up.

Bill noticed Hughes bringing up his weapon.. "Steady Hughes.. let's let these shit birds make the

mistakes." He continued striding up to the guards.

When the guards were distracted, Angelica looked to see what had them so upset. It was the jefe from town, she couldn't recall his name, but he'd been in the ambulance with her. Something about the man, maybe his rock-calm demeanor, made Angelica trust him instinctively. He'd know what to do, she felt, and it didn't look like he'd let himself be pushed around by these MI soldatos.

"Jefe!" she screamed suddenly. "JEFE!" with her good arm she waved, not caring that the motion jarred her body. "Jefe, please help me! I have something important!"

Belatedly, Angelica realized she looked a total mess; uniform blouse torn open, with half the buttons missing; bloody arm, hands, and face; mud everywhere on skin and gear and clothing. She could only pray he'd overlook that and remember her.

Bill saw the muddy, bloody, torn appearance on the young female medic. He remembered her from the ambulance ride, but he hadn't seen her since the confusion at the hospital.

"YOU!!" Bill barked at the guards.. "DROP YOUR WEAPONS!! NOW!! GET THOSE HANDS UP!!! NOW!! Hughes.. keep these ass holes covered. They resist, well...", looking at the guards "they don't want to do that, now do they?" he said, as an evil grin spread across Bill's face.

"Yeah, Sarge. They do that and I'll shoot 'em," Carter replied matter of factly. As he approached the two gate guards, he pointed his rifle at the closest of them. He sincerely hoped that both MI guys would give up without a fight, but he would shoot them if he had to.

"You heard the man, drop those weapons and hands up."

As both the men seemingly complied, Carter moved forward kicking away the fallen weapons from easy reach. He motioned the senior MI soldier, a sergeant, to step forward. Carter then roughly patted him down, feeling for any bulky items that might be large enough to be a pistol or grenade, removing them. Carter wasn't too concerned about the sergeant making any hasty moves or grabbing away his old M14 rifle, considering behind him stood about 50 heavily armed men. Next, Carter searched the other MI man, doing the same quick pat down.

"MEDIC UP!" Bill hollered back to the group. He turned back to Angelica, "What the hell happened to you?" his mind racing, already knowing the answer to come. His eyes showed both compassion and anger, his jaw knotted as he chewed his lower lip.

Angelica knew then the shame of what had happened. Even when it hadn't happened, not exactly. Unable to speak, she just swallowed and looked down at the boot prints stamped into the cold mud at her feet. "I..." How to explain it? It wasn't something you could explain, not without reliving it. The horror of the chase, the ripping pain of the shot, what came aft-

No, best not to think about it at all.

Bill's face softened towards the young Hispanic medic and nodded knowingly.. "You'll be OK now, Doc."

Her head lifted and she met the man's gaze. "I have a paper you must see, jefe," she said. Turning slightly away from him, she undid her belt awkwardly with one hand, then pulled the now crumpled set of orders from where she'd stashed them. Still warm from her body, she extended them to Bill without looking at him, and fastened her clothes back.

As she turned, and Bill saw what she was doing he turned as well, so as not to look at her, and blocked her body from view of the others with his, a blush creeping across his face

"I got that off the body of one of those cabrón's," she said with an angry jerk of her head towards the MI soldiers. "I don't know what it means, jefe. I can't read so good, but I knew you would know what to do with it."

Bill took the folded paper, moved over to the guard shack and looked at it, reading it in the dim light, once, twice, and then a third time.. getting visibly angrier with each reading.

"HUGHES!! BRING ME THOSE SHIT BAGS THAT CALL THEMSELVES PATRIOTS!"

He grabbed the handset for the radio as his RTO stepped forward. Bill radioed the hospital detail... "Badger three this is Badger five."

The handset crackled in his ear, "Badger five, this is Badger three, go ahead, over."

"Be advised I have documentary evidence that indicates the General's assassins are linked with those presently guarding him. I say again, assassins linked to the guards."

The handset crackled again, "Roger that, Badger five, we've had a little trouble with the 201st here. No serious casualties to report so far, over."

"Three, do NOT take any crap from them, and keep them the hell away from the General."

"Badger five, roger that, the General is secure for the moment. Be advised, we've received word that the 201st is gathering reinforcements. No ETA on their arrival or their strength as of yet, will keep you apprised, over."

"Do you have a medic with you?"

Bill could hear chuckling from the handset, "Badger five, this is a freaking HOSPITAL! I've got more medics that I can shake a stick at, over."

"Find Sarah, the singer from the Coho, I want someone with some medical knowledge to be present at all times when they work on him.. Understood?"

"Roger that, five, I'll get her in there ASAP. The General's still in surgery, no word as of yet on his condition, over."

As he handed the handset back to the RTO, he looked around at the troops... already the word was traveling like wildfire through the ranks.

Carter was surprised by what he had heard the Sergeant say to Badger Three. Whatever the medic passed to Johnson, it must be important. If it proved that the men who attacked the Generals car were linked with the Two-Oh-One.... Carter wondered what Lieutenant Smith was up to. If he had written orders about the attempt on the General, how come he didn't seem too worried about it in the interrogation bunker? In fact, Smith was more concerned about Umatilla than the General. Whatever is going on was sure getting confusing.

Angelica spoke up again, "Jefe, they're doing bad things in the town. Soldatos," how it pissed her off to use that word - a word that signified a group she'd been proud to join the ranks of, "the policia soldatos are herding everyone in the town into buildings. Old men, children, they don't care. Just push them along with their guns. It's not right. We're supposed to be protecting them, not shoving them around like...like those culero Nazi's."

As Hughes brought the guards to the shack, he turned and faced them with a hatred that flashed from eyes that bulge from a head on a neck with bulging veins.

He faced the senior guard first. "Empty your pockets.. NOW!!!"

The sergeant hesitated, a look of defiance on his face.

"EMPTY THEM, OR I WILL!!!"

The sergeant looked at Bill's face, and grudgingly started to empty his pockets. Keys, cigarettes, a lighter, and a pen and notebook fell to the ground at his feet.

"OK, what is this, and what does it mean exactly?" he said, holding up the copy he got from Angelica.

The sergeant squinted at the piece of paper in the dim light. "How the Hell should I know? All I know is my squad leader told us to guard the gate. He didn't tell us why, all he said was to keep my eyes open for anyone trying to sneak in that shouldn't be here."

Bill replied, "You gentlemen are treasonous, and traitors are executed. If you have anything to say in your defense you had best start talking fast and clearly.. it will keep you alive at least 'til morning."

The sergeant lost all composure, "I am not a goddamn traitor! I just follow my orders, and do what I'm told. You're the one who's leading a lynch mob around here. So if you're going to shoot me, just fucking do it!"

Carter actually had some sympathy for the MI sergeant.... just doing what you were told and obeying orders....how true was that. Just like himself, the man was caught up in someone else's game.

Bill stared at the guard, trying to determine if in fact he was telling the truth. In a low menacing voice, he said, "Well Shit Bag.. that defense didn't hold well at Nuremberg, or with Lt. Calley either... let's just hope that you're telling the truth."

The young private nervously glanced over at Bill and the group he was leading, then turned back to the other guard, "Sergeant, we should tell them."

"No! It's none of their affair," the sergeant spit back at him. "It's MI business, we deal with things in house."

Bill looked from the Sergeant to the Private... "What isn't any of our business? You come in here, the General is shot, the Colonel is under house arrest.. oh, excuse me, 'protective confinement', or what ever.. my CO disappears into some damn bunker complex under armed guard by your outfit and IT'S NONE OF OUR BUSINESS??" His voice went from relative calm to a near shout again...

The private looked around nervously, "Look sergeant, do you want to die for them? You told me yourself, that you thought something strange was going on." He looked back at Bill, "Sergeant, for several months now, there's been a big shake up in the 201. Lots of guys have been promoted all of a sudden, getting "special" assignments, and when you come up to them, they stop talking, like there's something they don't want you to know about. And these guys, well.... they're not exactly friendly types, if you know what I mean. They're like....like hired muscle. Thugs. They're the type that are good at following orders, any orders. I just couldn't understand why these.... these scumbags were getting such preferential treatment. But all of a sudden these guys were the one's calling the shots. What were we supposed to do?"

Bill nods, remembering some times in the past where the ass-kissers were promoted, but he knew not all the 201 was rotten.. at least he felt it in his bones, held his line until he could fit all the pieces together.. none of them were to be trusted.

"I can't tell you what you should have done, I can tell you what you can do now though, and that is help us obtain the release of our officers. Who is the OIC for this operation at Clark?"

The sergeant had been looking down at his feet as the private, and then Bill, had been speaking. He looked up at Bill, and then spit on the ground.

"Smith. Lieutenant William Smith is the guy you want. At least that's what he's calling himself, but that name's as fake as a three-dollar bill. The way even the higher ranking officers kiss his ass, he's got juice big time, all the way to the top." His eyes bored in on Bill's, "He's the most cold-blooded son of a bitch I've ever seen, and believe me, I've seen a few. I watched him question a suspect once, if you can call it questioning when they're using a pair of pliers and a blowtorch. The guy was tough, he didn't start screaming 'til he'd had three of his toenails ripped out. But he still wouldn't talk. Smith fired up the torch, and just held it a couple inches from his face, and asked him again. That was too much for me, I told Smith that what he was doing was wrong, and that even if he did answer, you couldn't be sure he was telling the truth. A man will say anything after he's been tortured, just to make it stop."

"Smith looked over at me, and asked if I would like to take the prisoner's place. I shut the hell up, 'cause I knew he wasn't bluffing. He turned back to the prisoner, and asked him again. The guy had balls, he spit in Smith's face. Smith just pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his face off, and then turned the blowtorch and..... and melted his fucking eyeball. I don't know what the hell happened after that, 'cause I had to get out of there. I've seen a lot of shit since I put this uniform on, but that's the first time since I was a raw recruit that I've thrown up."

Standing behind both the MI men. Carter listened to the MI Sergeant's story about Smith. Considering that only an hour ago he was being questioned by Smith in an underground bunker..... The story was very disturbing. A god-damn blowtorch.... melting someone's eyeball!

Carter raised a hand protectively to touch his face near his eye. If this was true, it sounded like Smith was indeed a seriously bad motherfucker.

The sergeant looked at his feet, embarrassed by what he had just said. He slowly looked up again, "Look, I know that something should have been done, but.... hell, I don't know what. I don't know what the hell to do anymore. The world ain't as simple as it used to be." He looked back at Bill, "You watch out for Smith. That man is a stone-cold killer."

Bill's jaw set hard... "Well Sergeant, I for one think you're telling the truth... I've seen this "Smith" around, and I've seen shit birds like him before.. we'll be careful. What do you boys plan to do now? I would suggest finding another unit to associate yourselves with.. the "douche oh worst's" days are numbered.. trust me."

Glad to have passed the burden of the message on, Angelica watched and listened as the Staff Sergeant, Johnson was what his name tag said, took charge of things.

When she had a chance, Angelica tugged on his sleeve and spoke quietly to him. "Jefe, some of these men are still good, I think. The ones who..." she swallowed, and looked down. "There were two of them," she continued without finishing her original sentence. "One of them was like Smith, but the other one was good at the end. He didn't want to be bad, and he tried to help me. Maybe there are more good than bad policía soldiers."

Bill looked at the young medic tugging at his sleeve. "Yeah, you're probably right," he said, as he looked at the two guards, wondering what to do about them. "What's your name Doc?"

"Brijalba. Angelica Brijalba." She pronounced it with the soft Hispanic 'h' sound, instead of the harsh Anglo 'g'. "But everyone mostly calls me Angel."

Bill stopped dead, and his head spun towards Angelica, a broad grin across his face. "I'll be.... you are an Angel."

Shyly, she returned the smile. It was a common joke people made about her name, but unlike most of them, she sensed no malice or prejudice in the Staff Sergeant's words.

"What are you going to do about the town? I'm afraid for the people there. They're the ones we're supposed to be looking out for. They need us, jefe."

Bill's jaw was set and his mind running. "Yes they do, but right now we need to get our officers free from the hands of Smith."

"I have a jeep," she added quickly. "And a radio. I left it back in the woods, just down the road. Could you send someone to the town to see about the people?"

Exhaustion showed clearly in her eyes, but she refused to be set aside; wound or no wound, fatigue or no fatigue, until someone did something for the town.

"Hughes, you and a couple of men go with Doc and recover the Jeep. Stay off the radio, but monitor it. Make it quick."

"Get the jeep, ahhh...." Carter sounded disappointed. He was going to say something, but decided to keep quiet.

"Roger that Sarge," he said resignedly. He wanted to go and get the others right now, not go looking for a jeep. He had to know if they were all right. He had just walked straight out of the place and now felt guilty about it. The others were still with Smith. Carter didn't want to think about what Smith might do... He turned around and nodded his head at two of the closest men, motioning for them to follow him.

"Si, jefe. I will show them where. I'll be okay I think, and will go to the Med tent when we come back." Unsure exactly how far she could go, Angelica tried to sound confident despite how she felt. It was important they get the jeep and radio, and she wouldn't let them down. As well she'd be with Hughes and some other men, so if she felt faint they could help her.

"It's not too far," she said to the one called Hughes. "Kind of hard to see where I pulled it off the road, but I think I can find it again." Angel hoped so anyway. What with it being dark and the ordeal she'd been through, she was none too certain where she'd left the jeep. Not precisely, anyway.

"Which way?" he said impatiently. Carter looked into the darkness. It couldn't be that hard to find a jeep. Lets just get this over and done with, so we can go and get the others. He turned to the medic for the first time and stopped. He looked at her. Something had happened, she looked pretty messed up, and her arm was wounded. "You all right?"

Not really, that was the answer she wanted to give. Pride and shame kept her from saying it. "Yeah, I'm okay," she said and pulled the button-ripped front of her uniform blouse closed with her good hand. Deliberately Angelica turned so she wouldn't have to look into Hughes' sympathetic, pity-filled eyes; so she wouldn't have to see herself reflected in them.

"It's this way," she said unnecessarily and started walking down the road. Angelica paid attention to where her boots, heavy with sticky mud, fell on the verge of the road.

The medic turned away from him. He thought a moment what he should do. She sure didn't look okay, like she'd been beaten up or something... her ripped shirt. Carter had a sudden realization of what may have happened, and he felt distinctly uncomfortable. Glancing back over at Johnson, he saw the Sergeant was still busy with the MI men. The medic started walking away, so Carter just shrugged his shoulders and followed.

"I'm sorry the jefe stuck you with me. I know you wanted to go rescue your friends."

He felt like a jerk now. "Don't worry about it," he said awkwardly, "they'll be all right." Carter didn't sound very confident. He took a few steps to catch up and overtake her. He avoided looking at Brijalba. "Um, err, did you see any other MI guys out here?"

"Si. There were two of them. They were on a foot patrol and had the jeep nearby." Angelica blinked hard several times to make her eyes focus properly. Her arm had settled into a dull ache that couldn't be ignored, but there was no way she could take anything for it. Not and find a jeep in the dark.

"They're dead now," she finished.

Carter raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Okaayyy. Right, err... that's good then." He nodded his head, not really sure what to make of the matter of fact statement, or what to say. Instead, he peered around and said to no one in particular. "Sure is dark." He thought about using his flashlight, but didn't want to attract any attention from any other MI patrols that might be about.

She shrugged when Hughes commented on it being good. "I didn't do it. One of them shot the other, then he swallowed a bullet. I tried to stop him. He was good in the end. I think, maybe, a lot of the policia soldatos are good, just led by bad men."

Brijalba kept a steady pace, but Carter could tell she wasn't getting any better. "You don't look too good." He put his hand on one of the two med kits taped to his webbing. "I've got an extra one if you need it. For your arm, I mean."

She turned and smiled when he offered the medkit. "Thank you. I know I look a mess, but I can make it to the jeep I think. There, if it's okay, I'll get you to help me check the bandage and work on my arm with your medkit."

Angelica continued walking, looking all the time for where she'd turned the jeep off the road. "You're a good man. What is your name? I'm Angelica."

A good man. Carter smirked to himself. That's the kind of thing his mom said to him. "Carter. Carter Hughes." He offered her his hand. Looking at the faded name tag on her shirt trying to make out the letters, Brigalpa,...Brijalba. But gave up at actually trying to pronounce it. So he just settled with what she said. "Angelica. You ain't too bad yourself. What you did back in Coho, helping that wounded guy in the middle of the street. That took balls.. err, guts. Pretty brave, in a kinda crazy way. Not sure I'd want to share a foxhole with you though. You know the old saying, never share one with someone braver than yourself." He smiled.

Hughes words took some of the tension out of her shoulders. He was the kind of soldier she was used to being around. Gruff on the outside maybe, but if you were one of his fellow soldiers then you were all right, accepted, taken care of. It was a sense of family that she knew very well and felt secure with. Not like those MI bastards.

"Naw, not really. Who'd waste their time shooting at me, when people like you are shooting back at them? Besides, Anglos never see us." She turned and grinned to show that she didn't mean the remark as hateful.

"It should be on this side of the road," she pointed to the verge. "If that helps at all."

"Where you from, Hughes? How'd you wind up walking in the dark looking for a stolen jeep?"

"I'm from Newport. Friendliest city in the state." Or so the city's motto said, Carter recited cheerily. Actually the motto was Newport - the Friendliest, but he thought it didn't matter too much. "And I'm here because I was told to, I suppose." He shrugged his shoulders once again. "You sure do ask a lot of questions," he said with mock suspicion. "So, tell me the Angelica Brijalba story." Carter said her surname slowly, hoping he pronounced it correctly.

"My family are migras; migrant workers. We used to go all over the country to follow the harvests. Kansas for the wheat, out to California for the fruit season, down into Texas for cotton. That's where I was born."

She stopped to examine a likely looking spot, then continued on when it proved to be nothing. "Then the war came and everything changed. Suddenly Anglos who never wanted to get their hands dirty were taking our jobs. We had to go farther, more often, just to make enough money to buy beans and corn meal."

"We were in Idaho when the Nazis took power. They started killing everyone and laughing about it. Papa got us out though, and we wound up here."

"I heard what General Bradley did at the Battle of Centralia. He saved us from the Russians and the Nazis. The people here are good. They let you work, and are glad when you do. Here, no one sees me as just another migra chica. They see me as part of the territory. I joined the Army to make sure that no one can ever take that away from me and my family again." If Angelica saw anything trite in her explanation, it didn't show in her voice. She was proud, fiercely proud of who she was and what she was doing.

"And then these puta MI soldatos come in and try to fuck it all up. We should ship them all to Idaho and let them play with the Nazis."

Carter listened and nodded as Brijalba recounted her story. When she mentioned the Nazi's, this struck a cord with him. "Son's of bitches," he murmured in an angry tone, in complete agreeance with her. His stint as a volunteer with the two-oh-one on the border of Idaho had given him an intense hatred of the Idaho Nazi's.

It made no sense to him why anyone would want to be a Nazi, considering his country fought and defeated them in World War Two. His own grandfather had fought them in Italy. So many Americans had died fighting the Nazi's, so why would any American want to become one?

Carter was enjoying talking with Angelica, but mention of the Nazi's soon brought back the reality that they were walking down a dark path looking for a jeep. With the possibility of coming across armed men who might shoot them.

As Brijalba finished he said "Maybe... I dunno..." Carter trailed off, ending the conversation. Focusing on the task at hand. He took a few steps forward, getting ahead of the small group, peering through the bushes, hoping one of them would reveal the jeep.

Angelica finally found where she'd taken the jeep off the road by the clever expedient of stumbling over the ruts. She swore softly as the movement jarred her arm and made it throb, then realized what it was she'd stepped in.

"Over here," she said quietly. "It's just off the road down that way." She made no move to leave the road herself, merely pointed into the woods. "The radio is in the back. I turned it off so they couldn't track me with it." Clearly, the medic understood nothing about RDF triangulation procedures. "There are some weapons," a sudden image of the brain and gore streaked butt of the M-16 she'd clubbed the soldier into a pulpy mess with came to mind and she shoved it back down, "and other gear in the back I took from the soldiers."

"I'll wait here," she said simply.

Carter nodded in agreement. "Alright, we'll be back in a second." Carter advanced off the road into the bushes. He moved cautiously through the woods, his rifle ahead of him. Sweeping it side to side, so as to catch any spider webs. Should come across it any moment now he thought.

It was just moments later that Hughes spotted the jeep. As he walked up to the vehicle, he could see the gear that had been tossed haphazardly in the back. The M16 caught his eye, and as he looked closer, he could see that the butt of the rifle was covered in what looked like blood, as well as other things best left unmentioned.

Carter curled his lip in disgust. It's got crap all over it. He thought about what Brijalba said earlier about one of the MI guys shooting the other one then turning the weapon on himself. She didn't mention beating someone's brains in with it. He grabbed the weapon by its barrel and wedged it firmly behind a seat, ensuring it would not rattle around. "I'll drive. You two in the back." he said to the other soldiers. He sat in the drivers seat and orientated himself with the controls. Not much to it, this thing must be at least fifty years old. They built 'em simple and tough back then. He started up the engine, hoping no one would be to close to hear it. Then remembered what the Sarge said about monitoring the radio, and turned it on. "Lets go." Carter slowly reversed the jeep out of the bushes he didn't bothering turning the headlights on yet. Once back out onto the road with Brijalba, he stopped.

She had to smile a bit; it was so absurd, so out of place, that the little joke made Angel almost forget the whole night's incidents. Almost.

"Sure," she replied, then eased into the jeep. It was hard with only one good arm but one of the other soldiers saw her problem and helped out with a handy, impersonal grab of her webgear.

"I'm kind of tired," Angelica stated sleepily. Exhaustion, blood loss, the need to retreat inside herself were all taking a toll. She nestled back and down in the jeep, drawing inward physically and trying to find a comfortable spot to just let go of things.

"Don't worry, we'll be back with the Sarge in a sec. Then we can see to your arm." Carter turned the headlights on and roared off back down the road. The little jeep bounced up and down along the rough track. It wasn't a smooth ride, but it beat walking.

Bill turned back towards the two guards. "Well, you two don't seem to really want to be part of the douche oh worst deep down. I understand why you joined, but I think you're better caliber than Smith and his ilk... tell you what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna let you come with us, to free the Captain and LT from the bunkers, and then we're gonna get our Colonel released from protective custody. If either of you so much as make a wrong move towards one of us, I will personally kill you. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

The two guards both nodded. The Sergeant spoke up, "We understand, and we'll help any way we can. I'd like the opportunity to make it right. Things have gone too far, I joined the Army to fight Russians, not Americans. And as for joining the 201st, it wasn't by choice, I was assigned after Basic. You know how it is, you go where the Army tells you."

Bill nodded, "Then this is your chance to prove that not all you people are animals. Pick up your rifles."

They bent down and retrieved their weapons. They both looked a little more relaxed, now that they were armed again. Not to mention that it now looked like they weren't going to executed on the spot for treason.

Bill asked the sergeant "If reinforcements for the 201 came, where would they come from?"

The Sergeant looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'm not sure. I did hear one of the commanders talking about some equipment coming in. I don't know what kind of equipment, but I got the impression it was fairly heavy. They're probably being shipped in by rail. It takes a while for those old steam locomotives to get moving, but I'd bet that most of the reinforcements would be coming from the railhead west of Hood River. As for the troops already here, your guess is as good as mine."

While Angel and Hughes were off gathering the jeep from the woods, Bill continued to talk with the two guards.

"Do you know how many are at the bunker, and what are they doing with the civilians?"

The Sergeant replied, "I don't know how many troops are at the bunker. Like I said, I wasn't in the loop. As for the civilians, I can't imagine why they'd be rounded up, but I think they sent at least a full company, maybe more. I thought they were being sent to secure the area after the ambush."

"How many you have in this camp right now? At the HQ area?"

The Sergeant scratched his chin and thought for a moment. "I'd have to guess at least a couple of battalions worth, all in all. They've been beefing up the 201st over the last few months with troops from the 1st MP Brigade. I don't know how many are specifically at HQ."

Bill just nodded and scratched his chin..."They brought TWO battalions in here to relieve us? The 201 battalions full strength, or short like ours?"

"They're full strength, or near enough anyway. Like I said, they've been beefing them up," the Sergeant replied.

"Whose in charge of these troops? A hardcore 201, or one of the 1st MP's?"

"The 201st of course, the MP's are the muscle, not the brains."

Bill nodded, "OK, Thanks..." He looked at his watch, "Where the hell is that jeep?" he muttered, getting antsy standing around.

It was just a minute or two later that the small group arrived back at the main gate.

As the jeep pulled up, Bill walked over to it. "Glad to see you finally made it.." Bill was obviously antsy. He was cut short by the radio traffic.

Carter nodded, and smiled to Johnson, "Yeah Sarge, safe and sou...." He stopped and turned the volume up on the radio.

"All units, this is Zeus 6, repeat, this is Zeus 6. All units are to stand by for orders, over." After a few moments of silence, the radio spoke again. "This is Zeus 6 actual. All personnel are to proceed to Phase 2, repeat, all personnel are to proceed to Phase 2. Prometheus 6, you are to proceed to your objective and stand by for orders, repeat stand by for orders. All units respond, over."

Bill motioned over the sergeant.. "I know you've told me that you're not in the loop, but tell me again, and think hard.. what is 'Phase Two'? Your highers never briefed you on any of the operation?"

The MI sergeant just shrugged, "Sorry, I don't know anything else. If I did, do you think I'd be standing out here in the middle of the night guarding a gate?"

One by one, various units could be heard responding to the orders from Zeus 6. Those that were within hearing range of the radio couldn't be 100% sure, but the voice of Zeus 6 sounded an awful lot like a certain Lt. Smith.

Bill spoke up, "That sure sounds like Smith.. who is Prometheus 6? Any guesses?" Bill looked at the sergeant, and wondered if he was leveling with him.

"Look, I don't know, OK? I don't know how I can convince you, but I'm just a peon."

Bill just nodded.. "Yeah, it's hard, but I hope you can appreciate my skepticism."

"OK folks, let's get the Cap and LT out of the bunkers. We will not be put off by the douche.. after we get the Cap out, we get the head shed clear of vermin. Hughes.. lead the way."

"Sure thing Sarge, hop in. We taking Brijalba with us?"

Looking over at Brijalba, Carter said, "Hey Angelica, you still with us?" nudging her in the shoulder. "Let's have a look at that arm." Removing one of his first aid kits from his webbing, Carter applied a dressing to her wound.

The motion of the jeep, the white noise of the engine and radio static; both combined with her general fatigue and blood loss. Angel's fragile hold on consciousness slipped and she spun down into the void. When Hughes shook her, Angelica's head rolled with the peculiar lifeless quality found only in corpses, coma victims, and newborns. She didn't even stir when he touched her wound. Not even pain would rouse her.

Carter stopped. "Angelica...?" She wasn't moving. He was worried now. "MEDIC!". He reached over, placing two fingers on her neck. Feeling for the carotid artery, he felt for a pulse. It was very faint.

A Medic with a bag came jogging up from the group. He placed his fingers next to Carter's, feeling for her pulse as well. "She's lost a lot of blood. Definitely going into shock. I need to replace some of the fluids she's lost." He reached inside his kit, pulling out an IV bag. He set it onto the seat next to her, and pulled out some tubing and a needle. He looked at Carter, "Hold on to her while I get this in her vein." The Medic rolled up the sleeve on her uninjured arm, and within a few seconds had the catheter in and was taping it down. He quickly connected it to the IV bag, and handed it to Carter, "Here, hold onto this. We need to lay her down on the back seat and get her feet elevated, or we could lose her."

Carter took the IV bag from the medic. "Okay, we'll lay her down. You lift from the back and I'll put her legs up on the seat. Ready on three; one.. two.. three." Both men then placed Brijalba on the rear bench. He placed her legs on the back of the passengers seat raised above her body. There wasn't much room in the back, but then Brijalba wasn't very big. "What now?"

The Medic replied, "Now we get her to the hospital as fast as possible. She's pushed herself way too hard, and it's taken a toll on her physically. We need to get some blood back into her and patch up that arm, and I can't do that here." He looked down at her torn clothes, and the spattered blood and mud on her uniform. "And I can only guess what kind of psychological trauma she's been through. That definitely isn't going to help her condition any."

"Hey Sarge," Carter called over to Johnson, "Brijalba's hurt bad, she'll need to go to hospital."

"How bad is she Doc?" Bill asked, showing concern for the young Hispanic medic.

The Medic replied, "If can I get her to the hospital, she should make a full recovery. The wound itself isn't too bad, but she's going into shock, and that could kill her."

Half listening to the medical diagnosis, Bill turned to the RTO. "Contact the hospital contingent and get a sitrep. Tell them we are sending one of ours in. And tell them to secure and monitor the radio.. I want to know what's going on over the channel there."

The RTO replied, "Roger that, Sarge." He quickly relayed the information to the hospital contingent.

Bill looked at troops spread out in the dark. "Sergeant, " he said, indicating one of the leaders with him, "get three men and take this girl to the hospital. Be careful, and don't let the Gestapo ruin your night, this jeep's radio is important to us," then added, "as are the passengers."

Carter nodded in agreement. Maybe if they had helped Brijalba earlier she wouldn't be going off to hospital like this.

The sergeant Bill had pointed out quickly grabbed two young soldiers, and jumped into the driver's seat. One of the privates took the IV bag from the Medic, and held onto Angelica, keeping her from being jostled around on the bumpy road. "Don't worry about a thing Top," the driver said, "we'll get her to the hospital safe and sound." He fired up the jeep, and took off into the night.

After he dispatched the jeep to the hospital, Bill said, "Hughes, lead the way, we have a mission at the bunkers."

"It's the bunker near the comm shack in the HQ area... it doesn't just contain the officers Sarge. SFC McIntyre and Risov are in there too," Carter added. It wasn't just officers they were going to rescue.

"MOUNT UP!!! " Bill directed the troops to get ready to move. Bill motioned to the two guards.. "You're coming with us."

Carter looked over suspiciously at the MI guys, not sure if they could be trusted to do the right thing. They were soldiers just like him, and like all good soldiers they just did what they were told. Who's to say what they were doing was the right thing? Carter decided not to think about such weighty issues anymore. That was for officers to decide. Getting Risov and the others away from Lieutenant Smith was the right thing to do.

The two MI soldiers looked at each other, then back at Bill. "We understand," the sergeant replied.

Bill looked both of them in the eyes.. "For all our sakes, I hope so.." With that, he wheeled and moved off with a purpose towards the bunker. "Come on Hughes!!"

"With you Sarge." Carter moved off with Johnson, heading for the bunker.