Disclaimer: The Rat Patrol is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.
Author's note: tullyfan thought it was time for another one of these. And I must say that I agree.
He Thought it was a Dud
By Suzie2b
The Rat Patrol had been temporarily assigned to another base to help with patrols after the Germans had attacked two convoys in the area.
It was the morning of the third day. Hitch and Tully had just finished their morning routine to ready the jeeps. With a sigh Tully reached into his back pocket for the small plastic sleeve that held his ID and a picture of his wife Charley. When he couldn't see her at the start of the day, Tully liked to take a look at that picture before going out. He frowned when he didn't find it. He checked the other pocket … nothing. After quickly checking his other pants pockets, shirt pocket, and jacket pockets, Tully said quietly, "Dang it."
Hitch looked at him. "What's wrong?"
"Can't find my ID. I must've left in our quarters." Tully started to walk away. "Be right back."
He jogged across the base to the barracks. As he got there, Tully met Troy and Moffitt coming out. Troy asked, "Where are you going?"
Tully replied, "I left my ID in our quarters."
"Are the jeeps ready?"
"Yep. Ready and waiting."
Troy said, "Okay, hurry up. We'll wait for you."
##################
In the room above the one the Rat Patrol was sharing a young private sat on his bunk waiting for his roommate. He was playing with a German hand grenade he'd found while out with his unit. It had been determined it was a dud and he decided to hold onto it as a souvenir. "Hurry up, Dan! I'm starvin'."
From the shared closet Dan said, "Don't get your knickers in a knot, Steve. I'll be ready in a second."
Steve tossed the grenade into the air, where it spun around before coming down into his hands. After a second, he tossed it up again, but this time he fumbled it and the grenade hit the floor.
##################
Tully quickly opened the door and crossed the room to the table, smiling as he saw the plastic sleeve. He picked it up and looked at the picture of Charley as he headed for the door.
Outside, Troy and Moffitt dove for cover as an explosion ripped through the building. It was such a surprise that they nearly got caught in the smoke, dust, and debris that flew out into the street. Not everyone was so lucky though, as probably a dozen men had been wounded by flying shards of wood, metal, and glass.
Troy and Moffitt quickly got to their feet and looked around as men came running to see what had happened. They looked at each other, then back at the smoldering barracks. Moffitt said, "Tully was in there."
A minute later Hitch ran up, his eyes wide as he saw what was going on. He found the sergeants and asked, "What happened?"
Troy said, "Don't know. It just blew up."
"Where's Tully?"
Moffitt said, "He'd gone inside to get his ID. We were waiting for him."
Hitch's breath caught in his chest as he gasped out an almost silent, "No."
Colonel Mathers and Captain Anthony quickly arrived on scene to take command of the situation. The colonel said, "All hands on deck, captain. We're going to need every available man. Contact medical. Tell them what to expect and get doctors and ambulances over here immediately. I want to know how many men were assigned to this building so we can figure out how many we need to find."
Captain Anthony said, "Yes, sir." Then proceeded to grab men and give them orders. After that, he turned back to the colonel. "I'll find out what kind of equipment we have available and put the call out for whatever help we can get."
Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch walked up to Colonel Mathers, who asked, "Any idea what happened, sergeant?"
Troy shook his head. "No, sir. Sergeant Moffitt and I were waiting for one of our men when it exploded."
"So, you had one in there when it happened."
"Yes, sir. Private Pettigrew."
##################
Tully opened his eyes with a gasp and started choking and coughing when he sucked in airborne dust. Pain raged through his body and left him gasping as he covered his nose and mouth with the collar of his jacket. He laid there in the inky darkness wondering vaguely what had happened until he fell unconscious again.
##################
Outside, doctors and nurses arrived with the two ambulances that were on base and set up triage for the wounded. An assessment of the damage was underway while men and equipment were brought to the scene while the call was put out for more help. It was organized chaos.
Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch pitched in where they could while they waited for the okay to start digging.
A roster was delivered to Colonel Mathers and he immediately ordered a roll call. "This was a two-story building with quarters to house up to 120 soldiers. I need to know how many men we're looking for in there."
When the engineer finally finished checking the building, he told Colonel Mathers, "We're going to have to go in from the top. If we try to do it any other way, things will collapse. There's a small breach in the roof, but the rest of it appears sound enough. If the hole is enlarged, I should be able to get in to check things out."
The colonel nodded. "Any thoughts as to what happened?"
"The worst of the damage seems to be localized. My guess would be a grenade. Once I get inside I'll hopefully know more."
##################
When Tully opened his eyes again, his head was swimming with pain. At first he thought he'd been blinded, but then he could just make out faint outlines in the darkness. He reached up and felt the large beams that had crisscrossed when they fell, catching the debris that would have otherwise crushed him.
Tully put his right hand to the side of his head and felt the sticky wetness of blood that was seeping from a gash. He sighed as he thought silently, "I wish this would quit happening. This is what … the sixth time?" He slowly started to take stock of himself and grimaced as his head continued to throb. "Concussion. Check." Tully flexed his right arm and hand without pain. "Now for the left." His arm moved freely at the shoulder with slight soreness, but his elbow let him know it had a problem. He touched the source of the pain and felt the tear in his jacket along with the blood that soaked the material. When his fingers felt the bone, he thought, "Gashed elbow. Check. At least it doesn't feel broken." Even though he couldn't see in the dark, Tully checked his torso, making a mental note of each pain filled press his hands made. "Broken ribs. Check. Bruising inside and out. Double check. Internal bleeding. Let's not go there." He then tried to move his legs. They were trapped under some of the rubble. He could wiggle his toes, which was a good sign. Tully first tried to move his right leg. There was pain, but it didn't feel broken and he was able to carefully pull the leg free. Then he tried to move his left leg and pain flared from his ankle to his hip. Tully hissed and whispered into the darkness, "Yep, it's broke. Dang, I hate crutches."
He painfully started to sit up to relieve the ache in his back and managed to rest against a wooden beam just before passing out.
##################
Help came from all over the desert in the form of men and equipment. Extra doctors and nurses, along with any drugs and plasma that could be spared, arrived as well.
A chainsaw was taken to the roof and the hole was made big enough for the engineer to fit through. As soon as the saw was turned off, the men on the roof could hear yelling from inside.
One of them went to the edge of the roof and hollered down, "There's survivors in there!"
Hitch said, "Tully has to be one of them."
Moffitt nodded. Let's hope so."
They watched as the engineer started up the ladder and Hitch said, "I'm going up."
Troy shook his head. "No, you're not."
"I need to do something more than clear rubble out of the street and move bodies."
Moffitt said, "Let him go, Troy. He knows as much as any of them about digging someone out."
Troy sighed, then looked at Hitch and gave a nod.
When the engineer gave the all clear, the hole was enlarged before Hitch and four other men were lowered onto the rubble inside. They had been hearing voices calling for help since before they went in and Hitch prayed one of them belonged to Tully.
After a while the roll call was finished. Of the ninety-six men housed in the building seventy-eight were accounted for. That meant eighteen were trapped inside. Colonel Mathers said to himself, "Good thing most of them were already at breakfast or on duty."
Shifts of men went in with flashlights for two hours at a time. After Hitch came out for a rest, Troy and Moffitt went in with the next group. One by one throughout the day men, both alive and dead, were extricated from the rubble. It was slow, exhaustive work. By nightfall only half of the missing had been found. Of those five were dead and there was no sign of Tully.
##################
Tully groaned. He had no idea how long he'd been there, waiting in the dark silence. He didn't know if it was still day or if the sun had gone down. Pain radiated nonstop through his entire body. Lack of water was beginning to take a toll as well.
In the dark, Tully managed to feel around as far as he could reach, hoping to find something, anything, that might help him. What he found was the plastic sleeve with his ID and Charley's picture in it. He wished he could see the picture, but an image of his wife was planted firmly in his mind and he clung to that image as tightly as he clung to the picture in his hand. Tully knew he had to stay alive.
##################
By the time the sun came up, nearly all of the missing had been found.
Exhausted, Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch were in the mess hall having breakfast when someone sat down at the table next to theirs and said to a friend, "They just brought out another one." The three of them tensed, waiting as the man continued, "It was Corporal Miller. He's in bad shape, but he's alive."
The other man said quietly, "That means there's still three left in there somewhere."
Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch let the breath out they'd been holding. There was still a chance.
Troy looked at his watch and said, "We'd better get back."
Several hours later, two bodies were brought out. They'd been found close together. Captain Anthony went to Colonel Mathers and said, "Privates Dan Patterson and Steve Wilson, sir. They were roommates. And it looks like the point of origin of the explosion was their quarters."
Colonel Maters looked at the roster and put a red line through the privates' names. "There's still one more, captain."
"We'll find him, sir."
##################
Tully had been unconscious more than he'd been awake. He was fading and he knew it. When he was conscious, the pain was terrible. At one point he thought he heard voices, but his ears were ringing and he couldn't be sure.
Later, Tully opened his eyes when some bits of debris sifted down onto him. The beam of a flashlight lit up the space he was in and forced him to squeeze his eyes shut against the sudden brightness. A voice called out, "I've got him!"
The next thing Tully knew he was hearing Hitch's voice next to him calling to the others, "He's alive!"
Getting the badly injured private out was tricky. No more than two people could fit into the hole with Tully and they couldn't stand upright. Tully's broken leg was dug free and splinted, his other injuries were quickly assessed before he was gently tied to a stretcher and hoisted up.
If Tully could've found the strength, he would've screamed with the pain every movement caused. But he could only manage to groan softly and focus on Hitch's voice as he gave precise orders on how things were to be done.
Tully kept hoping for unconsciousness as Hitch whispered, "Hang on, Tully. We're gettin' ya out of here."
##################
Tully's left leg was broken in two places, his right was badly bruised with a long ragged gash that exposed his shin bone. Two of his broken ribs were put back in place during the surgery to stop the internal bleeding. Tully's left elbow needed stitches, as did the gash on the right side of his head. A multitude of minor cuts had to be cleaned and bandaged. He was given two units of whole blood and was treated for dehydration. Heavy doses of antibiotics were given to fight off any possible infection. Tully was kept sedated and on constant pain killers for three days. Believe it or not, he wasn't the worst of the injured, but he was in the running.
On the fourth day, when Tully was just starting to become aware of his surroundings, he could hear Moffitt quietly reading aloud. His eyes refused to open and he couldn't make out many of the words, but it was comforting to hear the familiar British voice. He knew he was safe as he drifted off again.
Two hours later, Tully awoke again. This time it was Hitch doing the reading. He managed to open dull, unfocused eyes and look at his friend. Hitch smiled and called a nurse over.
Several hours passed before Tully opened his eyes again. Troy sat next to him playing solitaire on a chair he'd pulled over in front of him. The private's voice was scratchy as he whispered, "Sarge…"
Troy looked at him and smiled. "Glad to have you back, Tully. The doctor says you're going to be fine … it's just going to take a little time."
"Charley…"
"She knows. We've been sending daily updates." Troy pressed something into Tully's right hand. "Just rest." Then he went back to his card game.
Later, when Tully again awoke, he was alone in the sense that Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch was nowhere to be seen. He slowly looked around the busy hospital ward and made a try at sitting up. Bad idea. He groaned as a nurse gently pushed him back down on the bunk and said, "You need to stay still, private. You've been through a lot." A shot of morphine and he relaxed.
That's when Tully remembered that something was in his right hand. It was the plastic sleeve with his ID and Charley's picture. He managed a groggy smile as he slid the picture out and looked at it. Then he turned it over and read what she had written when she had given it to him. So you're never alone. Love, Charley.
Tully slipped the picture back into the sleeve and held it close to his heart as fell asleep.