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

Civilians

By Suzie2b

Two jeeps, looking small against the vastness of the desert, skimmed across the sand. The Rat Patrol was on their way to destroy yet another reported German ammo dump. Their biggest problem was going to be the village it was located in. The civilian population was small, but World War 2 wasn't their war, and blowing up the ammunition where it sat wouldn't be an option.

When they got to their destination, they gave the German camp just outside the village a wide berth to stay out of sight. The jeeps were left in a small grove of date palms and covered with the camouflage tarps. Then Sergeants Troy and Moffitt, along with Privates Hitchcock and Pettigrew, made their way cautiously to the village. Since they didn't know if the locals were helping the Germans in some way they decided it would be best to stay out of sight.

It wasn't hard to locate the building they were looking for. The Germans had taken over two homes and built a connecting structure between them after knocking out walls. There were two guards on duty, walking in opposite directions out front.

From their hiding place Troy whispered, "I guess going in the front door won't work."

Moffitt nodded. "There must be another way in."

Troy turned to Hitch and Tully. "Go around back. See if there's another way in."

The two privates quickly snuck around to the back of the structure without being seen and found that any way in was boarded up tight. Pulling the boards would take time they didn't have and would also make too much noise. Tully silently signaled Hitch to boost him up so he could get on the roof.

Once up there Tully stayed low as he moved from one house, across the German built structure, and found what he was looking for on the second roof. He gave the sergeants waiting across the street a thumbs up to let them know he'd found a way in.

Troy and Moffitt could barely see the private moving across the rooftops. After catching the private's signal, Moffitt noticed a villager walk up to one of the guards and say something. He whispered to Troy, "Looks like they may have been seen."

The two guards moved quickly around the building from opposite ends and disappeared. Less than a minute later they returned with Hitch at gunpoint. Then a man on a donkey rode past and pointed up at the roof, warning the Germans that there was another American up there.

Before Troy and Moffitt could react, one of the guards rushed into the street and looked up to see Tully looking back. A burst of bullets from his machine gun killed the German instantly. Tully turned his sights on the second guard, but couldn't fire because Hitch was being used as a human shield. The guard ordered Tully off the roof, gesturing with his rifle. Tully carefully dropped his gun to the ground, then slowly lowered himself over the edge. However, when he hit the ground he landed badly and his right knee made a popping sound as it buckled.

While Tully lay on the ground groaning in pain and holding his knee, German soldiers came running to see what the shooting was about.

The guard explained to the captain what had happened and the captain ordered his men to take the prisoners into the ammunitions warehouse and tie them up. "Nehmen Sie im Inneren. Binden Sie sie sicher." Then as one of his men pulled Tully painfully to his feet, he said, "Suchen Sie das Dorf! Es muss mehr von Ihnen!"

Moffitt translated the last part, "They're going to search the village. The captain is assuming there's more than just the two of them."

Troy nodded. "Let's get out of here. We'll pick up Hitch and Tully when we come back for the ammo."

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

Tully gritted his teeth against the pain as Hitch helped him hobble into the warehouse. They were forced down onto the floor against a wall and bound hand and foot. After the guards left, Hitch asked, "What happened?"

Tully put his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. "Landed wrong. Feels like I dislocated my knee or something. Hurts like hell."

Hitch wished there was something he could do for his friend, but even if he weren't tied up there would be little he could do for the pain. "Troy and Moffitt will be back as soon as they can for us and this ammo. Did you find anything on the roof?"

"Yeah. A trapdoor. Should be able to use it to pull this job off."

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

Troy and Moffitt headed back through the village. They both knew their plans would need to be modified.

As they carefully moved from one hiding place to another, they realized they were being followed. The person was making no attempt to hide the fact. As one Troy and Moffitt spun around with their machine guns at the ready.

Before them stood a woman. She gasped and took a step back at the sight of their weapons. "هل الامريكيون?"

Moffitt nodded at her as he translated, "She wants to know if we're American."

She said in broken English, "Are you here to liberate us?"

Troy said, "Yes. We're going to try to get the Germans out of here."

"My name is Jessenia. You will come with me please."

Jessenia turned and walked away. Troy and Moffitt looked at each other before following. She led them to the back door of a house and went inside.

Her husband looked at her and scolded, "Jessenia! I was worried. You know you should not go out alone." Then he saw the two soldiers enter. "Who is this?"

Jessenia said, "They are here to liberate us, Talib."

"Just the two of them?"

"There were four, but the Germans captured the others."

Troy said, "Is there a place we can hide? They're going to be looking for us."

Talib nodded. "Yes, follow me." They crossed the room and pushed a heavy chest aside to reveal a trapdoor in the floor. Before he opened it he asked, "What are your plans?"

Not sure if they should completely trust the Arab, Troy and Moffitt remained silent and Jessenia said, "It was our people who pointed out the captured men to the Germans. Now one of them is hurt."

Talib said, "There are a few in this village who have chosen to assist the Germans for the money and food they offer. Most of the villagers have chosen as my wife and I have. We will help any way we can."

Troy felt the man was telling the truth. "Okay. We'll stay hidden until dark. Find something … a vehicle we can use to haul that ammunition out of there."

Talib nodded as he pulled the trapdoor open. "I will do my best. Now go down and keep quiet. I already can hear them searching the street. They will come in soon."

Troy and Moffitt took the stairs down and the door was closed. They heard the chest slide back into place.

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

Tully hissed and squeezed his eyes shut as pain flared through his leg.

Hitch looked at him worriedly. "Another spasm?"

Tully nodded. "We've got to get loose."

Hitch looked around the room for the umpteenth. "Yeah. I'm working on that." He eyed one of the ammunition boxes and saw a possibility. Hitch managed to scoot over to the stack and struggled to his knees.

"What are you doing?"

"There's a broken hinge on this box. If I can…" Hitch felt around behind him until he caught hold of the hinge. "There, I got it." He started sawing the ropes across the sharp edge to the metal.

Hitch worked for more than an hour before the thick rope was cut through enough that he could break free. He quickly untied his ankles and rushed back to Tully. Hitch got him untied and to his feet.

Tully tried to put weight on his injured leg, but his knee buckled painfully and he went down. With Hitch's help He pushed himself back against the wall again. "I'm not going anywhere. Go get out through that trapdoor."

Hitch shook his head. "I can't just leave you here."

"You're not. It'll be dark soon. Troy and Moffitt will be here soon enough. You'll be able to guide them in. The main thing is getting this ammo out of here."

Hitch didn't like it, but knew Tully was right. "All right."

Quickly and quietly he went through to the other house where he found a ladder that led up to the trapdoor. Though it looked rather rickety, he tested it and found it to be sound enough. Hitch climbed to the door, swung it open and got out onto the roof. He crawled on his belly to a point where he could see the street and watched as the Germans busied themselves with their search.

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

Hours later Troy and Moffitt heard the chest slide on the floor above. When the trapdoor opened they were relieved to see Talib looking down at them. "It is safe. Come up." As the two sergeants climbed out, Talib said, "I have made arrangements. We only have to get to the warehouse to take care of this mission."

Moffitt said, "It's not wise for you to come with us, Talib. There is still a chance that we'll be caught."

Talib shook his head. "I know a way the Germans don't. We will not be captured."

Troy asked, "Were you able to get a truck or something?"

"Yes. All is ready. Come, we must go."

By the time the three of them got to the ammunitions warehouse, Hitch had things underway. A line of men were helping to hand boxes of ammo out through the trapdoor, across the roof, and down, where they were being loaded into wagons.

Troy watched the proceedings curiously, then whispered, "These wagons won't work, Talib. We've got a long way to haul this stuff."

Talib said quietly, "The wagons only have to go as far as a small grove of trees. It is out of sight of the village, but not far. My friends took a truck from the German camp—do not ask how—and are waiting on the far side of the trees to transfer the boxes."

Moffitt asked, "Won't the Germans get suspicious of all the wagons coming and going?"

"No. The people here travel both day and night to go to markets to sell and buy. This will not seem strange to them. The Germans do not even bother to search us any longer."

Troy and Moffitt both smiled. Troy said, "I'm impressed." Then he looked at Moffitt and said, "Let's go up and see how Tully and Hitch are doing."

On the roof they found Hitch lifting boxes out of the trapdoor and handing them to the next man in line. It was amazing how quiet the process was. Troy patted the young private on the back and whispered, "Where's Tully?"

Hitch replied, "Downstairs in the other house. He hurt his knee pretty bad."

As the night passed, horse-drawn wagons came and went as the guards walked back and forth out front.

The sun was threatening to come up when Moffitt knelt next to Tully. "Are you ready to go?"

Tully sighed. "Yep, let's do this."

As Moffitt and Hitch got him to his feet, Moffitt said, "Don't put any weight on that right leg. Just let us do the work."

Many hands helped Tully up the ladder and across the roof, where he was lowered to the ground. As careful as everyone was, it was still a painful process. Once he was loaded into a wagon, Troy whispered, "Okay, Tully, this is the last wagon going out. We'll meet you at the truck."

Tully nodded and ducked down under the blankets that covered the wagon's load. Then Talib led the horse out of the village.

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

When Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch arrived at the grove of date palms, they found the last of the ammunition being loaded into the truck as the sun came over the horizon in a fit of bright light. There were several wagons waiting for their turn to return to the village. Talib explained, "They have had to be careful. They cannot all come and go at once or the Germans would get suspicious."

Tully was resting against a tree when Moffitt arrived with a med kit. "How's your knee?"

Tully sighed, pain evident in his eyes. "Well, in between spasms it only throbs like it's being hit with a sledge hammer."

Moffitt smiled slightly as he knelt down. "How about a shot of morphine before I take a look at it?"

"I sure won't say no to that. Where's Hitch?"

"Uncovering the jeeps and keeping watch."

After the shot, Moffitt cut open Tully's right pant leg to have a look at his knee. It was very swollen with black, blue, and red bruising all around it. "I must say. It's quite colorful." As carefully as he could, Moffitt probed the kneecap and around the joint. "I don't feel a break or dislocation. It's probably a very bad sprain." He looked at the silent young private. Tully's eyes were shut tight and he was gritting his teeth as he dug his hands into the sand. "I'm just going to wrap it snuggly now. Try to relax and let the morphine work."

Soon Tully was sitting in the back of the truck with his injured leg elevated on blankets. The morphine was doing its job and he hoped he wouldn't be bounced around too much as Hitch drove the truck.

Troy and Moffitt thanked Talib for his help, telling him that once the Germans discovered their ammunition was missing they would most likely leave. Troy promised, "But if they stay, we'll be back to clear 'em out."

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

Several hours after sunup a convoy arrived in the village to pick up ammo to take back to a German battalion along with other supplies. One of the guards unlocked and opened the door. He walked inside and was dumbstruck when he found … nothing. The many boxes of precious ammunition were gone. And the prisoners had disappeared as well. The only thing left behind were the ropes that they'd been tied with.

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

It was evening when Hitch walked into the base hospital with Charley. Tully was just being moved to a bunk as they walked up. He smiled tiredly at her as a nurse elevated his wrapped knee and settled a blanket over him. She took his hand and he said, "Hi."

Charley sat down on the chair that Moffitt set behind her. "How bad is it?"

Tully said, "Doc's lookin' at the x-rays now, but he thinks it's a sprain … which Moffitt already diagnosed without x-rays."

"You're not in pain?"

"Just a dull throb. Dr. Lewis gave me a shot of something that's makin' things go a little blurry."

Charley smiled at Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch. "Thanks for bringing him back instead of to a field hospital. Was the mission a success?"

Troy nodded. "We believe so. We got the ammo and Captain Boggs will send a plane over the area in a day or so to see if the Germans have left the village."

"Good." Charley looked back at Tully. "Now, how in the heck did this happen?"

Tully looked at her with a doped up grin. "Jumped off a roof."

"You're lucky you didn't break your neck!"

"I don't know. I think I might be getting better at."

Hitch asked, "How do you figure that?"

Tully proudly said, "The last time I did it I broke my leg. This time it's just a sprain."

Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch laughed as Charley leaned down for a kiss, then said, "Well, I hope there's not going to be a next time. I'd hate to find out I married Superman instead of Tully Pettigrew."