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

Weaponry

By Suzie2b

The place: The U.S. Army base in Socotra awaiting orders.

The time: Three days after their latest raid on a German stronghold.

Sam Troy was sitting with his friend and fellow sergeant Jack Moffitt in the mess hall. They had just finished an early lunch. Troy blew cigarette smoke from his nose and mouth as he asked, "Have you seen Tully or Hitch lately?"

Moffitt shook his head as he sipped his tea, then said, "Not since yesterday at breakfast. They were trying to decide what to do."

"I knew I should've insisted on quarters for the four of us instead of letting them split us up. It's easier to keep an eye on those two when we're together in one room at night."

Moffitt smiled. "Are you afraid they're plotting something?"

Troy returned the smile and said, "Oh, I know they are."

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

Hitch was walking across the base when Tully caught up with him. He fell into step next to his friend and asked, "Whatcha doin'?"

Hitch smiled. "Going to headquarters for some ammo."

"Ammo? At headquarters?"

Hitch held up one of the items he was carrying. "I made two of these. This one's yours."

Tully grinned as he took the gun-shaped thing and inspected it. It was made of wood wrapped in duct tape with a clothespin as a trigger. "I haven't seen a rubber band gun in a long time. You did a good job."

"Thanks. I thought a little target practice would give us something to do that shouldn't get us in trouble with Troy."

"And we're gonna get rubber bands from headquarters. Why don't you go to supply?"

Hitch said, "I went there first and the lieutenant told me that office supplies go straight to headquarters."

Tully put his new toy in his jacket pocket. "This should be interesting."

They walked into headquarters and quickly found the secretaries pool, where they were typing up reports and doing filing. Tully watched as Hitch went up to one of the women who were pulling files to deliver to whomever. It was obvious that the private asked about the rubber bands when the woman shook her head. Charley had once told Tully that they really weren't allowed to give office supplies to anyone that didn't work there.

Then Hitch leaned in and whispered something in the woman's ear. She smiled almost shyly and nodded, then she disappeared. Hitch turned and looked at Tully with a grin. Two minutes later she returned with two big boxes of rubber bands.

As the privates walked outside, Tully asked, "What did you have to promise to get these?"

Hitch chuckled. "I'm taking Amy to dinner and a movie."

"And?"

"Just dinner and a movie. Nothing else."

Tully smiled as he questioned, "Can you guarantee that?"

Hitch grinned. "With your help I can."

"Oookay…"

"We'll discuss that later. Let's go behind the motor pool. We should be able to find some targets out there."

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

Moffitt was relaxing with a book in the quarters he shared with Troy when the sergeant walked in. Moffitt looked at his friend's expression and asked, "Is everything all right, Troy?"

"I don't know. This base isn't all that big and yet I can't locate Hitch and Tully anywhere."

Moffitt marked his place and set the book aside. "Perhaps they're in their quarters."

Troy sighed. "I checked before I came in … they aren't there. I checked the motor pool too and the jeeps are there."

"Well then, they must be on base somewhere."

"I know, but where?"

Moffitt smiled and said, "They are adults you know."

Troy paced the room as he said, "I know they are … but I just have this feeling. The hair on the back of neck is standing on end."

"Based on past incidents during down time I suppose I can't blame you. However, we haven't heard of anything happening. Perhaps you should give them the benefit of the doubt."

Troy stopped and took a deep breath. "Yeah, you're right."

Moffitt gave his friend another smile. "But on the other hand…"

"We better go look for them."

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

Hitch and Tully set up some empty oil cans behind the motor pool, but after a while they realized the cans were too heavy for the rubber bands to knock over no matter how close the stood.

Tully sighed. "We need lighter targets."

Hitch nodded. "Yeah, let's look around."

A few minutes later, as Tully was digging through a trash can, he felt something snap him in the butt. He jumped, knock the can over, and spun around to face a laughing Hitch. "Hey! That stings!"

"Sorry, I just couldn't resist!"

Tully pulled a rubber band out of a pocket to quickly load his gun with. "I know the feeling."

Before Hitch knew what was about to happen a rubber band smacked into his forehead. "Hey, that really does sting!"

Tully chuckled. "Told ya."

Hitch felt the small welt and said with a smile, "Now you're going to really get it."

And the chase was on!

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

Troy and Moffitt walked around the base at Socotra hoping to catch sight of their two men. They stopped after checking an alleyway and Troy sighed as he said, "I guess we'd better check the Arab quarter."

Moffitt happened to glance down at his feet. He bent down and straightened up with five rubber bands. "Interesting…"

"What's that?"

"Rubber bands."

Troy asked, "What's so interesting about rubber bands?"

Moffitt said, "I saw them on the ground throughout the alley."

"So someone dropped some rubber bands…"

"How many times have you seen rubber bands outside of headquarters?"

Troy thought for a moment, then stated, "You think this has something to do with Hitch and Tully."

Moffitt shrugged. "Call it a hunch."

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

Hitch got off a shot as Tully ducked down another alley. He came to a stop and turned back. Carefully, he peeked around the corner into the alley. Hitch didn't see Tully, but he knew he was there … somewhere. After reloading his rubber band gun, he took several steps into the alley.

Tully heard his friend walk into the alley from his hiding place behind some barrels. He waited until Hitch moved past, then stepped out behind him and let his ammo fly.

Hitch felt a sharp sting on the back of his neck. "Ow!" He quickly turned to see a grinning Tully reloading. Hitch got a shot off, hitting his opponent in the shoulder. "Ha, that's another point for me!"

Tully laughed and shot another rubber band before turning to run. "It's now eighteen to sixteen!" As he dashed out of the alley, Tully called, "I'm still ahead!"

Hitch took off after him. "Not for long!"

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

It wasn't long before Troy and Moffitt found themselves following a trail of rubber bands into the Arab quarter and hoping they were going in the right direction. They stopped outside a small bar and Troy picked up another rubber band.

The bartender noticed the move and went out to ask in broken English, "You look for two men? Americans?"

Troy nodded. "Yeah. Were they here?"

"They came in my place to shoot these things…" He dropped a handful of rubber bands into Troy's hand and pointed out a small red welt on his cheek as he said with a frown, "One hit me. They scared my customers away."

"Which way did they go and how long ago?"

The bartender pointed and said, "That way … just minutes ago."

Troy got several coins from a pocket and gave them to the bartender. "Thanks. Let's go Moffitt. We'd better find them before they shoot the wrong person."

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

The two laughing privates ran around shooting at each other, not realizing they were upsetting the locals with their antics. A large Arab man stepped out of a shop with several bundles in his hands just as Hitch ran by.

Unfortunately for the Arab, he had stepped out between the two Americans as Tully fired a rubber band. It hit the man in the side of his bare neck with a stinging snap. Surprised, he jumped with a yelp and dropped his bundles as his hand went to his neck.

Tully nearly ran into the Arab as he stopped. "Sorry about that. Are you all right?"

(Did I mention that the "large" Arab was well over six feet tall and built like a Sherman tank?)

The Arab turned and looked down at Tully. He didn't understand what the American had said and didn't care. The Arab reached out with one meaty hand and grabbed Tully by the front of his shirt.

Tully tried to pull loose as he said, "Hey! I said I was sorry!"

Hitch appeared and grasped the Arab's wrist to pull it away. "Let him go!"

With his other hand the Arab roadblock got Hitch by the collar and pulled him back.

Hitch and Tully struggled in vain to get away, but the strong grip couldn't be broken.

It took less than a minute for a crowd to gather around the three. Two were trying to get loose, while the third held them fast as he yelled at them in Arabic.

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

Troy and Moffitt were hurrying along, following the trail of rubber bands when they rounded a corner and saw a crowd of Arabs making a commotion in the street. The sergeants looked at each other knowingly and then ran over to push through the mob of people.

In the center they saw Hitch flailing while being held nearly off his feet by his collar and Tully trying to beat the hand away that was still grasping the front of his shirt. The angry Arab was threatening his prisoners as the crowd urged him on.

Troy and Moffitt surged forward as Moffitt started to yell in Arabic to let go of the two men. The crowd went quiet as words were exchanged between the sergeant and the Arab as Moffitt tried to explain.

Finally, the Arab let loose of the two Americans. Tully took several quick steps back as he said, "I tried to tell him I was sorry."

Moffitt said, "Well, he didn't understand. He thought you were trying to kill him with that 'gun' of yours."

Tully held up his rubber band gun and said incredulously, "He thought … with this?"

Moffitt nodded. "He felt threatened and reacted."

The big Arab stepped up to Moffitt and said something. The sergeant said something back, then turned to Hitch and Tully to say, "The bundles he was carrying when he was hit contained the makings of his family's evening meal. They have been trampled. You two will pay for their replacements and anything else he wants."

Hitch's mouth fell open. "But sarge…"

Troy growled, "It's more than fair. Go take care of it, then we have someone else to see." He looked at Moffitt. "You'd better go in with them to translate."

A few minutes later the now smiling Arab walked out of the shop with more bundles then he'd walked out with before.

Moffitt stepped outside with two privates following somberly. He smiled as he said, "He picked up enough to feed his family for some time."

Troy gave a satisfied nod. "Good. Now we have a bartender to talk to."

Tully questioned, "What bartender?"

"The one that your running 'gun battle' scared off his customers and left him with a welt the size of a quarter."

Hitch's frown deepened. "It was an accident, sarge."

Troy said, "You and Tully are going to reimburse his lost revenue."

Hitch opened his mouth to argue, but Tully said, "Forget it, Hitch. We can't win this one."

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

Hitch and Tully didn't have enough money to pay the bartender and the sergeants refused to loan them anything. So, they handed over the money they had and reluctantly agreed to work off the rest—sweeping the floor, cleaning tables and glasses.

Troy and Moffitt hung around to make sure the privates didn't try to get out of their jobs. Hours later, the bartender shooed the four Allies out when he determined the debt was payed.

As they walked back to the base, Hitch tentatively asked, "Sarge, can you spot me a few bucks? I have a date…"

Troy said, "No. I won't loan you money and neither will Moffitt. And you're going to have to cancel that date."

"What?"

"I've been thinking about it. You've both been complaining that the jeeps need to be overhauled. We're going to be here a few more days before our next assignment comes through. You can use the time to work on the jeeps and make sure they're well stocked. That should keep you two out of trouble."

Hitch asked, "Can I at least go to headquarters and explain why I have to break the date I made with Amy?"

Moffitt smiled as he replied, "I'll take care of it for you, Hitch. I'll explain everything. That way you and Tully can get started on Bertha and Olive."

"You're going to explain 'everything'?"

"Well, I'll leave out the part about you and Daisy. How's that?"

Hitch sighed resolutely. "Great … just great."