The Helping Hand Raid
By:AliasCWN
Chapter 1
The door from the street opened and a redheaded private pushed his way into the room. Totally ignoring the fact that he was being rude he shoved his way past anyone who stood between him and the bar. There were growled complaints but he ignored those too. Raising his voice above those around him he loudly demanded a beer.
"Not that guy again." Hitch moaned as the redhead took his beer and turned his back to the bar.
"If he's here we'd better finish our beers and get out of here." Tully suggested. "Sarge said we could have one beer as long as we stayed out of trouble." Tully tipped the neck of his bottle toward the redhead. "That guy is nothing but a trouble magnet."
"He sure has a big chip on his shoulder." Hitch agreed. "It seems he can't go anywhere without getting into a fight."
"He doesn't draw trouble," Tully corrected, "he makes it." He looked over at the bar and frowned. "Time to go."
Hitch looked over to see the redhead crowding the guy standing next to him at the bar. Knowing that an argument was about to break out he nodded his head in agreement.
The two of them drained their drinks and left the bottles sitting on the table. Getting to their feet they made their way to the door while being careful not to bump into anyone as they passed. Before they reached the exit they heard the first mutterings of the fight they knew was coming. The soldier the redhead was crowding was telling him to back off. The redhead was still pushing against him with his shoulder and the others at the bar were getting annoyed. The longer it went on the louder the rumbling grew.
The door closed behind them and Tully and Hitch paused to breathe in the fresh air. Once the sun set the desert air cooled quickly and it was now much cooler than the air inside the building. The air outside was a little dusty but it wasn't thick with smoke like the air inside the bar.
"Ready to turn in?" Hitch asked as he stepped out into the street.
"May as well." Tully agreed. "Sarge wants to leave early tomorrow. How much do you want to bet that he checks our quarters before long to make sure we're back?"
"It's early yet." Hitch argued.
"Sarge said one beer and he knows one beer doesn't take that long to drink."
"That's all we had." Hitch insisted.
"And he'll be expecting us back early." Tully repeated.
Even standing in the street they could hear voices rising in anger. When they heard the first bottle break they turned to look toward the door.
"There it is." Tully announced.
"You're right, it's time to go." Hitch agreed.
They turned and began walking toward their quarters. They hadn't gone very far before the door burst outward and the fight spread out into the street. Someone came flying through the bar's front window in a shower of glass. Shouts and curses shattered the quiet that had descended on the base after the sun set.
Whistles added to the din as MPs began to rush toward the disturbance. Hitch and Tully had to step off of the street and stand along the side to allow the MP's vehicles to pass them. The MP's were coming from all directions converging on the soldiers who were trying to flee before they could be arrested. Hitch and Tully turned from watching the arrival of the MPs and continued toward their quarters.
"Hold it right there you two!"
They turned to see several MPs rushing toward them. The one in the lead was built like a fireplug and he looked serious. Stopping, they waited for the MPs to catch up to them.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Back to our quarters." Hitch answered as the MPs surrounded them.
"Oh no you don't!" The MP who resembled the fireplug growled. "You're going right back and join the rest of your buddies!" He pointed to the soldiers who had already been rounded up by his fellow MPs'.
"We're not involved in that." Tully indicated the fight that was still in full swing despite the arrival of the MPs.
"Just because you ran out when we arrived doesn't get you off the hook." The walking fireplug growled. "Just head back that way." He pointed toward the bar.
"We weren't even there when it started." Hitch argued.
"Were you at the bar?"
"Yeah." Tully and Hitch both nodded. "But we left before the fight started." Tully explained.
"Let me see your hands!" Fireplug ordered.
As they held out their hands the MP checked for cuts or bruises. Seeing none he flashed his flashlight across their faces. There were no bruises there either to indicate that they had been involved.
"Some of those other MPs saw us when they arrived." Hitch explained. "They can tell you we weren't running from the bar. We must have left just before it started."
The MP glanced toward the other MPs near the bar. They were still trying to break up the fight. All the soldiers who had been corralled so far showed signs of having been involved in the disturbance. He turned back to the two privates and nodded. "Okay, you can go, but if I find out you lied I'll come looking for you." He warned.
"We'll be at the motor pool at 0600 tomorrow." Tully answered. "Our sergeant has a early patrol scheduled for us."
The MP nodded again. "Okay, get out of here."
Both privates nodded and hurried away before they could be stopped again.
"Sarge is going to hear about that fight." Tully warned.
"Yeah, but we can truthfully say that we weren't involved this time." Hitch grinned.
"We didn't miss it by much." Tully replied. "That MP could have taken us in just on suspicion."
"But he didn't." Hitch replied.
"We didn't miss that fight by much."
"A miss is a miss."
"But it was close." Tully argued. "Sarge would have blown a gasket if we had ended up in the stockade. He was very specific about staying out of trouble."
Hitch nodded quietly at Tully's assessment of the stuation.
"What's wrong?" Tully asked. "That MP didn't even take our names. We aren't in any trouble."
"It's not that." Hitch mumbled.
"Then what is it?"
"That fight was pretty big. It probably did a lot of damaged to the bar. They'll probably have to close it down until they can get the repairs done. Where are we going to go to get a beer?"
Tully laughed. "I wouldn't worry too much about that. We're going to be gone for a couple of days at least. I'm sure by the time we get back the owner will have it all fixed up and open again. They're not going to want to lose all of that business."
Hitch brightened at the thought. "Yeah, and I guess it's not like we go there all the time anyway. They'll have plenty of time to fix it."
"I bet they ban that redhead from going in though." Tully grinned. "That's the second fight he's started there in as many weeks."
"I heard he's not real poplar with his own unit either." Hitch added. "They say he acts like the whole world owes him something. He seems to think that everyone and everything is against him."
"They will be if he keeps it up." Tully predicted.
They reached their quarters and got ready for bed. Tully turned out the light and they pulled their blankets up around their necks. The knock on the door wasn't totally unexpected. Tully reached for the light as he answered the knock.
"Come on in."
Troy stuck his head in the door and checked both bunks. "Back from the bar already?"
"You said one drink." Tully answered. "We each had one drink and then we headed back here. Is there something you need Sarge?"
"I just wanted to remind you that we're headed out early tomorrow." The sergeant replied.
"Okay Sarge, we'll be ready."
"Well good night."
"Night Sarge." Tully called.
"Good night Sarge." Hitch added.
"Told ya." Tully grinned as Troy's footsteps faded down the hall.
Hitch smiled. "Yeah you did." He tucked his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. "We haven't been in any trouble for a while now; you'd think he'd trust us."
"Doc says that it's not that Sarge doesn't trust us, he just worries. Sarge doesn't like to let his feelings show." Tully explained in his slow Kentucky drawl.
"So he yells at us to show his affection?" Hitch asked.
"I guess you could say that. You know how he gets all gruff sometimes?"
"Yeah?"
"That's just Sarge saying he's worried about us."
"Why doesn't he just come right out and say it?" Hitch wondered.
"He's not like us; Sarge is deep."
"I can be deep."
Tully chuckled. "You're more like a puddle while Sarge is a river."
"Hey!" Hitch yelped in protest.
"I'm just saying…Sarge keeps things buried deep, but he feels them just the same."
"He does make sure we don't take any unnecessary risks. It seems like he always takes the most dangerous jobs for himself." Hitch agreed thoughtfully.
"Exactly." Tully agreed. "Doc says Sarge worries about losing one of us." Tully glanced over at Hitch in the lamp light. "Don't let on to Sarge that I told you any of this stuff. I'm not sure Doc was supposed to say anything."
"Why not?"
"Cause Sarge wants us to think he's tough and all business." Tully explained.
"He is." Hitch answered. "He may be the toughest guy I've ever met. Doc is a close second but Sarge is definitely number one. And he does put the mission first." Hitch added.
"Yeah? How about that time he disobeyed orders to get you back from the Germans before they shot you?"
"He didn't disobey orders." Hitch argued. "It just turned out that he had to come back to make sure that the mission hadn't been compromised. He said it himself, saving me was an afterthought."
"And you believed him?" Tully asked in disbelief.
"Not really." Hitch admitted. "But Sarge was smart enough to explain it in a way that convinced headquarters."
"I don't think headquarters cared as long as the mission was successful." Tully argued. "If he had asked permission they would have refused it but since it was already done and everything turned out okay, they didn't care."
"Sarge is smart." Hitch repeated.
"I'm not arguing with you there. Sarge and Doc are both smart. Heck, that's what has kept us all alive this long."
"At least we can agree on that." Hitch smiled and snuggled deeper into his blankets. "Now can we agree to turn out the lights? Sarge said we're leaving early tomorrow and I want to get some sleep."
"You go ahead and get your sleep." Tully nodded as he reached for the light again. "We all know you need your beauty rest. The girls would all be disappointed if you winked at them with dark circles under your eyes."
"They'd still think I was cute." Hitch answered in a haughty tone muffled by the blankets.
Tully laughed. "Yeah, they probably would. It must be those big blue eyes of yours."
"Or my charm.
"Don't push it." Tully growled in mock anger. "I agree that you're cute. What more do you want?"
"Admit that I'm charming."
"You're not my type but maybe your charm would appeal to certain individuals." Tully agreed with a grin. "I bet you could charm an old bear out of a tree." Tully smiled in the dark.
"Thank you." Hitch answered smugly.
"He'd probably pound you into the ground when he reached you," Tully continued, "but I bet he'd come out of the tree to do it."
"Good night Tully."
"Night Hitch." Tully grinned in the dark and rolled onto his side.