Disclaimer: The Rat Patrol is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.

Author's note: Thank you, tullyfan, for the suggestion and thank you, 2lieutent, for allowing the use your story "A Time to Remember" as the basis for this one.

The Miracle

By Suzie2b

It had been a mission like many others. Recon of a large German convoy that a spotter pilot had reported moving through the desert heading for the hills southwest of Zuwara Wadi—just before he was shot down. Captain Boggs sent the Rat Patrol out to discover what the enemy was up to.

##################

Two days after leaving Ras Tanura, the jeeps came to a halt next to the American aircraft the Germans had shot down. The pilot had died without having a chance to bail out of his damaged plane.

Troy took the dog tags Hitch handed him and said solemnly, "You and Tully get him out of there and bury him." He looked at Moffitt. "Let's go check the map."

Nearly two hours later they were on their way again and they didn't stop until they were in Zuwara Wadi. They would use it as a base of operation.

Troy and Moffitt studied the hills in questions with binoculars from the top of the wadi. Troy said, "I'm willing to bet the Germans are putting together a radar station."

Moffitt agreed and said, "That would be the logical thing. The hills would shield it from being seen from the desert floor and if done right it would be hard to see from the air."

"Do you know anything about these hills?"

"I was in the area once with my father. The whole range is quite rocky. The Germans would've had to clear a road to get the convoy up there. Finding a piece of level ground to build on would prove difficult at best. If they are building a radar station, it won't be underground … too much granite to get through."

Back at the jeeps, Troy showed them on the map as he explained, "Okay, Moffitt and Tully will go around to the north to this point. Hitch and I will go south to here. We're looking for a road that goes into the hills. We'll meet back here before dark."

The hours passed as the jeeps skimmed the sand looking for a manmade road into the hills. Moffitt and Tully didn't have any luck and when they got back to the wadi, Troy and Hitch hadn't yet returned.

Sergeant and private waited as the sun continued its path to the horizon. They stood at the top of the wadi watching and waiting anxiously. Tully finally voiced what they both had been avoiding, "Do you think they ran into trouble?"

Moffitt sighed. "I hope not … but it's obvious that something has happened."

"Are we gonna go look for 'em?"

"Too late for that I'm afraid. It'll be dark in a half hour. We'll just have to wait and hope they can make it back here on their own."

Two hours after dark, Tully ran down to camp and said, "I see lights comin' our way, sarge!"

Moffitt had been putting together a hot meal and said, "At last."

"I can't be sure it's them though. Too dark and the moon isn't up yet."

"Who else would it be? But to be safe we'll make ready for the arrival of whoever it is."

Tully hurried to the jeep and swung the 50 around before climbing in to man it. Moffitt took a machine gun out of its holster and took up position next to the jeep.

A few minutes later they heard an engine and seconds later a jeep crested the wadi to drop down inside. Tully hopped out of the jeep next to Moffitt and said, "It's them all right."

Moffitt replaced the gun in its holster with a nod. "Thank goodness." When the jeep stopped next to them, he asked, "What happened? We were beginning to worry."

Troy slid out of the passenger seat as Hitch switched off the engine. "We found what we were looking for … and nearly got caught in the process. They've punched a road into the hills around the back side."

As Hitch got out of the jeep, he said, "We'd just spotted it when a patrol showed up. We managed to find cover before they saw us, but then they decided to stop for some reason. It was over an hour before they left."

"We couldn't take off with them in the area, so we waited until they got back and it got dark."

Tully asked, "So when do we go in?"

Troy replied, "In the morning."

Moffitt smiled. "In the meantime, dinner is ready if you're hungry."

Hitch grinned and said, "I'm starved!"

##################

Early the next morning, after some breakfast, the jeeps were packed with the few items they'd needed and Hitch led the way to where he and Troy had found the road.

Troy had them pull into the cover they'd used the day before. He got out of the jeep and said, "Grab the guns and ammo and cover 'em up. We're walking in."

Just as the jeeps were covered with the camouflage tarps, a German scout column appeared and drove off into the desert. Once it was out of sight, Troy led his men into the hills, using the cover alongside the road they were following.

It took several hours to walk to the end of the road, during which one scout column returned, another went out, and a small convoy arrived. They found a hiding spot among some boulders where they could see and watch what the Germans were doing.

Troy whispered, "It's a radar station all right."

Moffitt nodded. "And I'd say they've been working on it for some time. They had to make that road and then do some blasting to get enough level ground to build the station."

Tully said, "Looks like it's only maybe half built."

Troy said, "I don't see any guards from here. Hitch, you and Tully go around and see if you can spot any sentries. Do not engage."

Hitch gave a nod. "Right, sarge."

Moffitt said, "It could be that they're staying out of sight for some reason or they're only watching the desert for any possible intrusion. Watch yourselves."

The two privates took off, staying low to keep themselves out of sight.

Moffitt waited until Hitch and Tully out of earshot before he asked, "Are we going to take this on, Troy?"

The sergeant shook his head. "For one thing, we don't have enough explosives to take the station down. Then there's the fact that this is supposed to be a recon mission."

"But the station is half finished now and we're on radio silence. By the time we get the information and coordinates to Captain Boggs and he gets it all to…"

Troy sighed as he interrupted, "Yeah … yeah, you're right. But we really don't have what it's going to take to destroy it and make sure the parts can't be used again."

Moffitt said, "I've been thinking about that. The Germans have had to do some blasting to build that road and level the ground. Chances are they didn't use all of it."

Troy smiled slightly. "Use their own stuff against them. Sounds good to me. As soon as Hitch and Tully get back, we'll go back to Zuwara Wadi to wait for nightfall."

##################

The rest of the day was spent resting, having a K-ration lunch, and taping the TNT they had into clusters of three sticks with timers. As Hitch and Tully stowed the explosives in the jeeps, Hitch grabbed several pieces of bubblegum from the bag he kept between the seats. As he unwrapped and popped a piece in his mouth, he dropped the others in his shirt pocket.

Tully circled around the jeep to join his friend and noticed something on the sand at Hitch's feet. He bent over and picked the bubblegum up and said, "Looks like you dropped something."

Hitch took the pieces from Tully. "Huh, I must've dropped them without noticing." He put the gum in his pocket again and they promptly fell through a hole.

Tully chuckled. "Well, there's your problem." He picked the pieces up again and put them in his own shirt pocket as he said, "I'll hold onto 'em for ya."

When Troy gave the word, they headed out.

This time they drove into the hills on the Germans road, parking them among some boulders they'd passed earlier during their recon. They weren't covered so they'd be ready for a quick getaway.

It took longer than Troy liked—luckily Hitch and Tully knew where guards were posted—but they located a shack that was partially hidden about 200 yards away from where the other ammunition was stored.

They stuffed the packs they'd each brought with explosives, putting their handmade trigger systems on top. As one, the four Allies made their way through the dark to the base of the radar station. Three of the packs were placed strategically to do the most amount of damage and bring the half-finished structure down. The fourth was set to blow the supplies and parts not yet used.

With that finished Troy, Moffitt, Hitch, and Tully started in the direction that would take them to the jeeps. They were about halfway to freedom when a guard doing rounds spotted the shadowy foursome and called out, "Halten Sie an, wo Sie sind!"

The Allies swung around and a shot was fired. Tully jerked and went down. Troy fired off a burst from his machine gun, easily killing the German. Moffitt got the struggling Tully to his feet and they ran.

When they got to the jeeps, Tully automatically got in behind the wheel. Moffitt, knowing the private was wounded, briefly thought about arguing, but there just wasn't time with the German hot on their tails.

As the jeeps sped out into the desert, the explosives detonated and fireballs rose in the night sky.

They got to the sanctuary of Zuwara Wadi, knowing the Germans had too many things to worry about that didn't include them.

As soon as the jeep was stopped, Moffitt was out and around to Tully's side. "Where were you hit?"

Tully groaned as he said, "Chest … left side."

Moffitt and Hitch got their friend out and down on the blanket Troy had laid out. Hitch grabbed a flashlight, which Troy took from him as he said, "Go up and keep an eye on things. Just in case they do try to come after us."

Hitch gave his wounded friend a worried look before taking a machine gun and starting for the top of the wadi.

Troy dropped to his knees across from Moffitt and clicked on the flashlight. "How bad is it?"

Moffitt had Tully's jacket and shirt open and quickly examined the wound as Troy shined light on it. "Not as bad as I thought. It looks like something deflected the bullet so it didn't go as deep as it could have."

Tully hissed with pain as Moffitt pressed gauze against the wound to stop the bleeding. Troy looked down at him and asked, "How's it going, Tully?"

"It's goin', sarge."

Minutes passed, but the bleeding finally stopped and Moffitt put a field dressing on the wound. He gave the private a shot of morphine and said, "There now, just rest." Moffitt pulled Tully's shirt together and buttoned a couple of buttons before he noticed the bullet had gone through the pocket. Curious, he dipped his fingers into the pocket and came out with a slightly mangled, blood streaked piece of bubblegum.

Troy and Moffitt silently looked at each other, then down at the now sleeping Tully.

As soon as it was light enough, Tully was loaded into a jeep and they were off to the nearest field hospital.

##################

As Tully started to regain consciousness after surgery, he could hear a familiar voice. He smiled inwardly as he listened to Hitch describing the panels of a newspaper's comics page.

After a while, Tully managed to open his eyes and look at his friend. Hitch looked at him with a smile and asked, "How're you feeling?"

Tully quietly said, "Groggy. Feels like someone's sittin' on my chest."

"That's from the surgery. The nurse says it's normal and should stop in a day or two. Any pain?"

Tully shifted slightly and groaned softly. "As long as I don't move around, I'm okay."

Hitch reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a piece of sorry looking bubblegum. "Here … I think you should hang onto this." He put it in Tully's hand and said, "It deflected the bullet. Doc said it's a miracle you're alive." Then Hitch stood up. "I told the nurse I'd let her know when you woke up. I'll be right back."

After Hitch walked away, Tully looked at the gum he now held between his thumb and forefinger. Half of the wrapper was missing and there was a distinct curve in the gum itself where the bullet had hit it. Tully knew the blood on it was his. A piece of bubblegum saved his life. He shifted it to his palm and closed his fist around it. This was one miracle he was never letting go of.