MIA Part 2
Disclaimer, I didn't mean to steal them but they followed the trail of
chocolate kisses that I left *grins* but I didn't take no money for
them at all.
Okay that said this is in the Danville universe. anyone who wants to
can take a pot shot at me ... this has some non consensual things in
it and graphic depictions of violence at times. It will explore some
things that might not be nice
This is not a series, it will be completed in a couple more sections.
Hit delete now if this bothers You.
Thank you Bonnie May for betaing
Feedback is always welcome
Hot, sweaty, full of insect bites, Fox felt every part of his body shake with
exhaustion, still he kept moving behind Chuck and Dave, determined not
to falter or slow down. Frank had tried several times to get Fox to stay
behind with the truck. Fox flatly refused to remain behind, he argued that
as a trained FBI agent he needed to go with them and Joe should remain
behind with the truck. He ignored Joe's glare.
"All right" Frank conceded, You can go, BUT," his index finger repeatedly
shoved into Fox's chest, "you will obey EVERY order without question or I
will personally kick your scrawny butt from here to Hanoi and back, GOT.
IT!?"
Fox swallowed but didn't back down, "Yes Sir." He said smartly and
saluted.
Frank glared at him for a very long time before he decided there was no
sarcasm coming from the younger man.
Joe was very unhappy at being left with the truck while Fox went
with the older men, but conceded that he had no military or law
enforcement training at all. He was the logical choice to remain
behind.
"Come back safe Fox." Joe told his nephew. "Walter might already be dead but YOU are alive, come back if he is dead, don't risk your life for a body. Understand?"
Fox was pale at the very real thought that Walter couldn't be dead. "Yes Sir." He whispered and Joe kissed him on both cheeks then pulled him into a fierce hug before Fox slipped off into the jungle with the others.
After two hours of moving quietly they came to the edge of the camp where Walter was held. Frank gave a set of hand signals and Chuck, Jim and Dave spread out. Fox stayed right with Frank as was the plan and trained the special binoculars on the camp.
It was just dusk they could see the prisoners coming back up the path from the rice fields, Chuck trained his binoculars on the tallest of the prisoners and tried to see if he was an American or not. One took off his hat
to wipe his brow, the shock of bright red hair confirmed he was not Vietnamese.
"Bingo" Chuck said to himself and signaled to the others, Fox continued his search but not on the prisoners, he already knew none of them were Walter, they were took skinny and lean to be the burley AD, even after a couple of weeks of starvation. Fox scanned the other buildings and areas, the glasses could focus on a fly on a wall at a quarter of a mile. Fox kept looking, then he spotted him and almost gave a shout. Walter's hands and feet were chained, he was nude his glasses were gone, Fox was able see all the marks, each cut and bruise that covered him. A guard with a cane shoved Walter along, while another stood by with a rifle. Walter's hands were behind his back, and he could not stop himself when a particularly hard shove pushed him into the dirt.
Fox tensed as guard beat Walter with the cane until he got up. Only Frank's steel grip on his arm stopped him from charging down the hill. Walter managed to get to his feet again, He hobbled to a large pool, the water looked stagnant and foul, scum floated on the top. His arms were unshackled and attacked to a long rope, then he was hoisted into the hair and slowly lowered into the pool. Down, down he went until his head was just barely above the slimy surface. Fox saw the struggle to pull up enough so he could breath.
"We have to..." Fox began
"We will" Frank said firmly with a look of steel in his eyes.
They drew back and a few minutes later they had a plan, simple even crude by military standards, but effective.
They radioed Joe to head toward them and wait a mile down the road, under cover.
Frank and Chuck would slip in with Nyn and free as many of the prisoners as they could then slip out again before an alarm was raised. Dave and Jim would toss smoke bombs and grenades to add to the confusion if the alarm
was raised before the others got out. Fox was to gather the Americans at the rendezvous point and provide cover fire if needed. Every thing was set, they waited for the moon to rise.
Frank, Chuck and Nyn moved down closer to the camp, and had settled down to wait, only three guards manned the parameter in the towers. Then just as Frank was about to move, two of the guards got out of one tower. And headed for their hiding place. Frank froze as the guards came within a few feet of them and proceeded to urinate and smoke while having a conversation.
Fox saw this and moved, going against the orders to stay where he was. He slipped down into the camp, his slender body slipped though the gate as he made a b-line for Walter and the pits beyond him. He had almost made it
when a guard stepped out of a hut. There was a shout as Fox lunged at the guard and tackled him to the ground. They grappled for a moment, then a knife flashed and blood stained the ground at that moment Frank, Chuck, and
Nyn took out the guards without a sound. By then guards were coming out of the huts weapons in hand as Fox headed for Walter.
Jim and Dave tossed in several smoke bombs to confuse the guards. Frank and Chuck continued to fire into the camp. Nyn and the other guides added to the cover fire. The gunfire burst though the night air as the men ran down to cover Fox and the prisoners, Fox fired at the guard who burst out of the next hut and fell in the water, he swam though the foul stench to where Walter was.
"Fox?" Walter sounded incredulous. "Get away from here, go, leave me, I can't make it"
"Not leaving you." Fox snapped and shot the chains apart. "Now move or I'll tell Gran what you did!"
Walter paled and swam to the shore with Fox's help. Fox half carried Walter as they got out of the stinking pool. Walter could barely walk, Fox shot apart the chains that hobbled the older man. Fox handed Walter a revolver then with one arm around Walter, and his own weapon in the other hand. Together Fox and Walter made their way to the first of the four huts that housed the prisoners. They shot off the locks and let the prisoners loose,
most used the chaos to run into the jungle but two remained and went about releasing the other huts and the three pits.
Five Americans joined Walter and Fox, three of them were in bad shape and supported by the other two. Fox motioned them to the gate as Dave and Jim helped add to the confusion by continuing to shoot randomly into the POW
camp. Frank and Chuck helped pull the men out of the now opened gate.
Once the POWs were free Dave and Jim began to lob grenades with smoke bombs to aid in the pandemonium of the escape as they all ran for the rendezvous point.
Frank had one kid tossed over his shoulder and helped Fox support Walter as they ran. Jim kept firing behind them as they moved. They reached the rendezvous point but it was empty. Joe was not there. The truck was nowhere
in sight. Frank cursed loudly and grabbed the radio. Papa Bear to Goldilocks, come in, where is the carriage? Over."
At first there was nothing but a burst of static, then Joe's voice came though. "Papa bear, the big bad wolf came breathing down our necks, had to move Cinderella carriage down the yellow brick road. Will meet you at the
gingerbread house over."
"Roger that, out" Frank acknowledged.
"What the..." Walter mumbled
"VC spotted Joe and he had to move the truck. We will meet him to the west half a klik,." Frank looked straight at Walter. "You are Cinderella"
"Joe?" Walter asked "Joe wh..." He didn't finish. When he caught sight of Fox. "My BROTHER Joe?" He demanded
"Now is not the time." Frank interrupted and got the men moving again.
They hadn't planned on taking so many, they figured on Walter and maybe one other, but now there were five besides Walter, and three were walking skeletons. The one Frank carried faded in and out of consciousness. They hadn't gone far when Chuck was forced to carry the man he was did supporting. Behind them they could hear the guards drawing nearer.
"Grab your man and run" Frank commanded. Each man grabbed a POW and tossed him over his shoulder. Frank gave Fox the skeletal man he was carrying and pulled Walter over his shoulder, the noises behind them were getting louder. Their guide Tan and his assistants, Nyn and Lee had a quick conference, resulting in the assistants taking up position at the rear to lay down cover fire.
Frank knew they would never make it and tried to protest, but Tan moved him on "They will be fine, they will disappear into the jungle before they are over run." He said and with that the race was on.
Fox was amazed at the stamina Frank had. He was at a dead run with Walter over his shoulders. Fox was carrying a much lighter man and was hard pressed to keep up. Behind them was a burst of gunfire, then another, then silence.
Frank kept an eye on the men behind him as everyone ran in silence, lost in the concentration of running though the jungle.
The guide Tan led the way to the clearing, where the truck was supposed to be hidden. Behind them they could hear the sounds of someone coming after them. They ran faster.
"MOVE IT!" Franks command cut though Fox's fatigue and gave him that last burst of energy. They broke through the jungle into the clearing.
The truck was not there.
Tan was on the radio immediately as people moved into cover and caught their breath. No one spoke as Frank sent Chuck to cover their rear and kept a lookout.
A minute later the truck burst though in to the clearing with Joe at the wheel.
"Get every in the back! MOVE IT!" Frank ordered, the wounded were picked up and tossed in the back of the old truck. Chuck came at a dead run. "WE HAVE TO GO NOW!" he said and helped the last of the men in the back, before he jumped in.
Tan and Frank were in the front, Frank drove while Chuck and Jim watched the rear. Joe and Fox helped Jim settle the POWs and assess the wounds. They did what they could as the truck flew over hills and around trees, at break neck speeds. The men in the back were tossed around like so many sacks.
Fox held Walter tightly to ease the jolts and pulled leeches off him with the other hand, gagging as he did. Joe kept an eye on Walter as he held another man, no one spoke much, they were not out of danger yet. They were
still in Laos. A blonde POW kept babbling in Vietnamese while another kept whispering "thank God" over and over like a mantra.
A sudden jolt tossed everyone in the air and truck stopped rattling as it sailed over a hill, for several seconds it was airborne, and then came the landing. The men in the back were tossed around violently and the truck
rolled over once then was still.
"Everyone out! We have to run for it, the axle broke." Frank again grabbed Walter and tossed him over his shoulder. They were the two largest men. Joe took the POW Fox had carried and they were off again, they didn't run
this time, but set off at a brisk pace.
After an hour Frank called a brief halt, and water was passed around as Tan set out another general distress call. They didn't expect anyone to answer but there was always hope.
"You shouldn't have come." Walter spoke softly to Joe and Fox.
"You shouldn't have gone." Fox countered
"I had to." Walter said simply.
"So did we." Joe's words touched Walter who nodded, understanding.
"Lets go," Frank said too soon, and they moved again though the steamy jungle heat.
Tan went forward to scout and came back, his face concerned. "VC" he said and turned another direction, the front was not a good way to go anymore. The new direction proved to be no better and someone was coming at them
from the rear. As they frantically tried to figure a way out of the area, a click was heard.
There was Fox on his knees, a gun pressed to his head, for one moment time stood still as every man froze in place. Then more VC burst from the jungle and forced everyone to their knees, Walter ended up face to face with
Fox, hazel and brown eyes met and spoke volumes. And with sharp
clarity they could see the fingers beginning to tighten on the
triggers. Walter's heart leapt into his throat, had they come so far
together only to die in the jungle?
to be continued