War Dogs Trilogy: Wounded Warriors of the Apocalypse Page 5
Billie spoke to Mark while keeping her gun trained on Ray. “Mark, gather our stuff and take it out on the front porch. Fill our water bottles, and we’ll get the heck out of here.”
Billie turned toward Al. “I can’t have him following us. Get some rope and tie him up. I promise you if he follows us, I will shoot him dead.”
Al replied. “I promise, I’ll keep him tied for two hours. That should give you time to get away from here and to safety.”
Billie examined the knots on Ray’s bindings and was satisfied he couldn’t escape without help. She heard Ruby whispering to Ray and didn’t like what she heard. “Al, tie your wife up also. She just told Ray she would untie him as soon as we leave. Tie her up, or I’ll have to shoot her and Ray.”
“Stop, you don’t have to shoot anyone. Ruby, shut your mouth and do what I say for a change. You have made him into the animal he is by overlooking all the bad things he did growing up. You still don’t believe he raped and strangled the Willhite girl over in Cookeville. She was only twelve-years-old.”
The old man paused for a few seconds. “Tie us all up, so you will be safe and get out of here. If you kill them, I’ll have to hunt you down.”
Billie looked through the kitchen window and saw all three with their hands and feet tied behind them. The old man protested at first, but Billie told him that was the only way she felt safe. She walked away with her son, worried that all three would die tied up in that kitchen.
They retraced their path to Highway 40 and walked as fast as they could, towing the suitcases. They stopped at their truck and repacked their bags with more water and all of the snacks and food they could find. They could always find clothes. After a couple of hours, they slowed down to a regular walk. They had passed several groups of people huddled up in their cars, and a few walking toward Cookeville.
Suddenly Mark grabbed his mom’s hand. “Someone’s following us. See that semi back there? A person ducked behind it when I looked back.
Billie pulled Mark off the road and into a thick growth of bushes to hide until they could see if Ray had followed them. A few minutes later, a dark figure emerged from behind the truck. The person moved closer to them, and Billie sighed with relief. It was a woman and two small children. She watched closely from the bushes for another hour for Ray to pass.
Mark’s safety was most important to her, so Billie took them north of the highway to an old abandoned home on a dirt road. Mark wanted to move on to his aunt’s house because he felt she would have electricity. Billie tried to talk sense into him. “Son, we need to hide until Ray can’t find us. The rage in his eyes scared me. I almost wish …”
She caught herself and didn’t say she wished she had shot all three of them. The grandparents were responsible for raising that monster, and the beast would harm more people. She tried to rationalize killing them, but couldn’t. It would be the wrong example for her son.
The trees were thick around the old cabin, so she felt safe there. She built a fire in the fireplace and made soup from beef jerky and potato chips. She planned to rest for two days and then to walk on to her sister’s place. She reached into her bag for her map and didn’t find it. “Damn, I left the map on the table.”
Fear shot through her when she wondered if Ray would get his hands on the map. At first, she thought about going somewhere else to avoid the possibility of seeing Ray. She knew she had to go to her sister’s home and warn them about Ray. He might not follow her, but if he did, he might harm them.
☆
Chapter 5
About 5 miles southeast of Cookeville, TN
The mid-section of the plane was ninety-seven steps further than MMax’s pod. I counted each step and took two ten minute stops to let my body rest. Every step hurt my foot, crotch, and left arm. Nevertheless, I kept advancing to the wreckage. I hoped to find food and a map. Two bodies were lying in the grass. One had a cast on his leg while the other had her shoulder in a sling. They wore BDUs, and I recognized the man. He had been in my squad and had survived the blast only to die in a plane crash. The world sucked.
I gave up on finding anyone still alive because I would have seen or heard them by now. I looked back at MMax’s pod and saw he had his head poked above the side, and watching me during my journey. His eyes were sad, and I knew he wanted to be by my side, helping me. I had to turn around and walk the last steps to the wreck. It was then, I saw the second wing out past the section I’d been heading toward with each painful step. The area around the wing was scorched, and wisps of smoke still rose into the air. I caught the scent of jet fuel lingering around the area and was glad my part of the plane hadn’t caught on fire.
I cautiously poked my head around the wreckage and saw another body about fifty feet past the debris. I was sick at what I saw, and my stomach tried to revolt on me. I screamed, “Get out of here!” as loud as I could, but nothing happened. My scream was muffled, due to my inability to open my mouth. I drew my pistol and aimed at the turkey vultures pecking at the soldier's eyes. The loud explosion from my weapon shattered the peaceful forest, and the two birds flew away. Crap, I had missed them. I could see an eyeball hanging from its socket, and this time, my stomach emptied into my mouth, but had nowhere to go.
I fell to a kneeling position, leaned over, and let the vile liquid seep around my teeth and onto the ground. The water from my bottle swirled around in my mouth before my tongue pushed it past my teeth. I rinsed twice more to clean my mouth, and never wanted to have that experience again. Thank God, I didn’t aspirate any of the acids. It could have made me susceptible to getting pneumonia.
Those bodies lying unprotected on the ground worried me to death. I couldn’t let them lay there and let the animals eat them. First, I had to finish my scouting mission and obtain supplies for my trek home, then I would figure out how to handle the bodies.
The damage was much worse on this section of the plane, and I had to avoid being cut by the jagged metal. As before, I searched the cargo section below the main cabin floor. There was a plethora of useable items, which I didn’t need or could carry in my state. The crew and medical staff’s luggage was spread out on the ground and in the belly of the plane. I did find some men’s underwear and a rain suit that would come in handy. I also found several one-hundred-foot rolls of paracord that I tucked into my bag. I knew my bag would fill up fast, so I looked for a way to haul my booty back to my temporary home in the tail section.
What I needed was right in front of me on the ground. I saw the fiberglass stretcher, pulled it over to the front of the damaged fuselage, and then tied a length of paracord to the front to make a cargo sled. It would be slow and painful, but it would work. I piled everything I wanted to take with me on the sled. There wasn’t much left in the cargo section that I needed, so I worked my way up and into the cabin section. It was much the same as what I had seen in the tail section.
All of the pods were open, and only two were empty. The others contained dead soldiers, but none from my unit. These were Marines and one Navy Seal. I caught sight of something in the Seal’s pod and tugged at one end. It was a large knife. I looked again and saw there was a scabbard attached to a belt. Pulling on the belt didn’t dislodge the belt, so I rolled the soldier over and found the belt also held an M17 service 9-mm with one extra magazine. I borrowed the weapon and belt, and thanked the soldier for sharing with me. I certainly had more use for the knife and pistol than he would have in heaven.
I searched high and low for food, but only found a few more MREs, candy bars, two cans of peanuts, and a large bag of beef jerky. Medical supplies were scattered about the wreckage and were added to my keep pile. I glanced at the life raft and remembered that it might contain survival equipment. I examined the huge rolled-up looking bag and saw the stenciled lettering. “Pull here.”
I pulled, and all hell broke loose. An injured one-legged soldier can’t move fast enough to get out of the way of an enormous life raft when it explodes into action and unfurls. The damn
ed thing knocked me down and crawled over the top of me. More pain. I squirmed my way out from under the SOB and found my homemade crutch. As I had hoped, there were two compartments in the raft. One had more MREs, bottles of water, a first aid kit, and collapsible oars. The other contained survival gear. I saw a flare gun and five flares, a plastic box with fishing gear, and then something that excited me. It was a package containing water purification tablets and a large sheet of Mylar. I knew what to do with the pills, and the description said there was enough for five gallons of water. Yeah me! I found some printing on the Mylar sheet telling how to use it to catch rainwater. Both would come in handy over the next few months.
I carried all of my new prized possessions to the back of the plane, and then worked my way around the raft to the front part. I hadn’t explored this section yet, but I had only seen empty seats and two empty pods. Then, I spotted a black canvas bag secured to the wall and unstrapped it from its mounting. Opening the bag was a waste of time at first, since I only saw someone’s clothes and personal gear. I grabbed a flashlight and stuck it in my pocket, and then I saw something that made me smile. The box had U.S. Survival AR-7 printed on the side. I opened the box, and there was the Henry survival rifle that I had shot so many times in my youth. My dad had one, and he’d taught us how to safely handle firearms and shoot with one identical to the one in the box. I checked the magazine, and it was full, as well as the spare in the stock. There was no extra ammo. Crap, a rifle, but not much ammo.
I tossed everything I’d found down to the sled and had started to lower myself down to the deck below when I saw the bright aluminum tubing trapped below a dead soldier with a cast on his leg. I yelled to myself. Well, I mumbled, “Thank you, God!”
There were two aluminum crutches trapped under his body. I rolled the poor guy over, after thanking him for my new crutches. I took them with me to the sled and finished loading everything. I looked back at the eighty to one hundred pounds on the sled, and started pulling on the paracord a step at a time back to my piece of the plane.
The weight was more than I should have tried to pull, but being very hardheaded, I persevered and covered the distance to MMax in thirty minutes. I took another pain pill along the way and walked slowly. I stopped at MMax’s pod to rest. He was very excited to see me again and strained at his bindings. He gave up and licked my hand while I rested.
I knew I had to get my butt in gear, so I tied paracord to the pod and took MMax over to my new home. MMax and his pod were even more massive than my sled. However, I knew he would want to be with me as much as I wanted to be near him. I was now worn out but felt good about my accomplishments.
I sat beside MMax rubbing his ears while my mind wandered to one of my favorite books, Robinson Crusoe. Crusoe had a wrecked ship to plunder, and I had a medivac airplane. He’d found enough food and weapons for an army. I’d found enough for one man and a dog to live a week or so. He’d found the ship’s dog, and I’d found MMax. I wouldn’t trade MMax for all of the food and weapons in the world.
I had spent most of the day scavenging for food and supplies. I was now exhausted, but had to attend to MMax. MMax had a urine bag and catheter. I emptied the bag and hooked it back up. I checked his IV bags, and I wasn’t looking forward to when the drugs in the bags ran out. MMax was sleepy, so we both bedded down for the night. I pulled several blankets over me and pulled a poncho over them to keep the rain from soaking me. I placed a stick in MMax’s pod to prop up the top half. He could see me, but the top protected him from any rain. I also covered him with a light blanket.
The damned nightmares came again like a never-ending movie played over and over again. I wasn’t a dog this time, but I’d gouged the man’s neck with my bayonet until his head came free, and his body dropped at my feet. I saw myself laughing as the head had tried to speak, but only bloody froth came flowing out of its mouth.
***
MMax was pleased to be near his human again, and knew he had to protect him at all cost. He didn’t sleep much that night, which was a good thing because a very evil man tried to sneak up to where they were sleeping. The evil smell was overpowering to MMax. MMax watched patiently as the man crept up through the weeds and then low to the ground across the open area. MMax let out a loud growl, which startled the man. The man jumped backward and ran off into the woods. MMax knew evil when he smelled it, and this man was bad. He was pleased his human didn't wake up because MMax knew Jason was hurt.
Just before daybreak, MMax smelled an enticing aroma. The odor was as pleasant to him as the evil human’s had been foul. She smelled wonderful, and MMax wanted her to join them. He whimpered until she lifted the pod cover with her snout and flipped it backward. She then licked MMax’s muzzle before falling asleep next to the human.
MMax heard his human tossing and turning most of the night. Jason even screamed a couple of times, which scared MMax.
***
About 5 miles southeast of Cookeville, TN
MMax growled sometime in the night, but went back to sleep. I was too tired to wake up and check on what caused his alarm. I also thought I was dreaming at the time, that is, until I woke up and found a surprise next to me.
My sleep was uneasy during the first part of the night, and then I fell into a deep sleep and only woke up when my bladder began to scream at me. I tried to go back to sleep and ignore it, but it won the battle of wills. My eyes opened, and I started to lift myself when I felt something warm against my back. I casually looked over my shoulder, right into the eyes of a beast. I jumped to my feet and promptly fell on my butt when my left foot buckled in pain. I fell to the ground.
The beast was a liver and white Springer Spaniel. She was beautiful and just sat there looking at me. I took care of business and hopped back to see MMax with his head hanging over the pod, enjoying the attention from this new dog. He had flipped the pod cover backward sometime during the night. The new dog had moved over to be beside MMax. She sniffed at his bandages and then laid down beside him. I moved closer to her, patted her on the head, and then scratched behind her ear. She licked my hand, and I had a new friend. I examined her collar and found the name of her vet and her name, which was Tina.
I rubbed Tina’s back and noticed her fur was singed. She enjoyed the attention and licked my hand. I gave her a thorough going-over and found one of her paws had been burned on the side an inch above the pads. I placed some antibiotic salve on the burn and taped some gauze over the wound. Tina was a good dog, and allowed me to treat her injury without a fuss.
The fact that my medivac plane had come down a quarter mile back and torn through a large swath of the area and Tina’s burns could be related didn’t escape me. I cut one of my pain pills in half and took one and a half of the tablets to brace myself for what I had to do. I rubbed MMax’s ears, told him to stay, locked his pod top down, and then used my crutches to stand up.
I opened my lips wide and said something like, “Tina, take me to your home.”
Her ears perked up, and she ran around like a puppy.
“Tina, take me home.”
Tina took off running, but slowed down when she saw me moving so slowly. As I feared, she led me along the plane’s path of destruction through the woods. The first one hundred yards had burned brush and trees. Then I popped through the trees and saw a farmer’s field. I gasped when I saw what was left of a home and barn on the other side of the field. Black smoke still rose from the house, and I caught a whiff of tar burning. The entire top of the home had been sheared off and was strewn across the field in front of me, along with one of the plane’s engines. It was burned and had apparently hit the home and destroyed it.
Tina continued to lead me to her home. The plane had plowed through the fences, or I wouldn’t have made it to the barn and damaged house. I took several breaks along the way, but we finally made it to the front of the house. Tina sniffed all around the home and finally lay down on the sidewalk. I can’t say she had tears in her eyes or was sad, but she loo
ked like that to me.
The home was a great find, but even better was the road in front of the house. One direction or the other had to lead me to civilization. I just needed a way to haul MMax, some food, and my possessions. I was sure I was in the USA and on a line between New England and Nashville, Tennessee. I stared at the home for a minute, and then my eyes wandered back to the road where I saw a mailbox. I walked to the road and opened the mailbox, only to find it was empty. I thought, “Well, that would have been nice, but perhaps I can find something with the home’s address inside the house.”
The back wall of the house was still there, and I saw there was a large doggie door built into the bottom of the kitchen door. This probably explained how Tina had survived, but her family hadn’t. Even though it pained me to scavenge Tina’s home, it had to be done for her and my survival. I walked up to the kitchen door and twisted the knob. The door moved inward a bit when I pushed. I put my shoulder to it, and the door opened enough to allow me to enter.
I mentally prepared myself for a grizzly scene, but there weren’t any bodies in the kitchen. The inside wall of the kitchen had been destroyed by the engine when it had dragged through the top of the home. The smell of smoke was thick in the air and filled with pungent chemical odors. The smell of burning vinyl always made me sick, so I held my breath as much as possible while I quickly searched the remaining cabinets. I was lucky, and one contained canned goods and some other packages of food. I didn’t grab any food because I had to get out of there. I would return with a wet cloth over my face.