36 Hour Pass

by suzie2b

A trip to Doha for a festival goes all wrong for Tully, Charley, and Hitch.

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

36 Hour Pass

By Suzie2b

Charley went about her morning routine as she usually did. She had breakfast with Tully and saw him off on patrol just after sunup. She made her deliveries and returned to headquarters with more reports for Captain Boggs and Major Gleason. Between noon and one o'clock she was done for the day and had gone back to the apartment to gather dirty laundry to exchange for the weekly clean basket at Salma's.

Charley was putting away the clean clothes when she heard the door open and close. Tully's voice called, "Anyone home?"

Charley smiled. "In here. You're home early."

Tully stuck his head in the closet. "Whatcha doing?"

Charley hung the last of his shirts up. "Putting away laundry."

"Tomorrow is your day off, right?"

Charley put the empty basket on the floor and turned to look at her husband. She smiled at the grin on his face. "Yeah … why?"

Tully put his arms around her waist as she walked up to him. "Just finished in Captain Boggs' office. He gave all of us thirty-six hour passes."

Charley put her arms around him. "So we get to spend some time together?"

Tully nuzzled her neck and said, "Starting right now." She giggled and he straightened up. "There's a festival in Doha. Want to go?"

"Doha? I'm not familiar with it."

"It's two and half hours away. Just a village, but they're having their annual festival. I hear it can be a lot of fun."

Charley put her arms around Tully's neck and pulled him down for a kiss. "Anywhere I go with you is a lot of fun."

Tully asked, "Do you mind if Hitch comes along? He's just going to ride with us. He'll be on his own once we get there."

"Of course I don't mind."

After packing a few necessities Charley met Tully and Hitch at the motor pool where they'd checked out a jeep.

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With Tully driving they made it to Doha in two hours instead of two and a half. They left the jeep at a makeshift motor pool—an area set aside for military vehicle parking on the edge of the village that would be guarded once the festival started.

Hitch jumped out of the back of the jeep with his small bag. "Thanks for letting me come with you. I'll meet you back here in time to go back."

Tully grinned. "Make sure you do. If we're late, Troy will have our heads."

Charley smiled. "Have a good time, Hitch, and stay out of trouble."

Hitch chuckled as he turned to walk away. "Can't do both."

Tully set his helmet in the back of the jeep as he said, "I know a place where we can get a room. We'll go there first."

They walked through the village until they came to a small inn. Tully knocked on the door and an older Arab man opened it. His face brightened as he said, "Private Pettigrew! It has been so long!" He threw his arms around Tully in a bear hug. "Please, come in, come in. So good to see you, my friend."

Tully ushered Charley inside. "Jamal, this is my wife Charley."

"Aah, the missus. I have heard such good things about this union."

Charley smiled and said, "Ит ис а плеасуре то меет ёу."

Jamal laughed heartily, then said, "She is both as lovely and as wise as you have told me." He bowed slightly. "It is a pleasure to meet you as well. You speak my language with a beautiful voice."

Charley blushed. "Thank you, Jamal."

Tully grinned. "We were hoping you would have a room for us."

Jamal said, "Of course, my friend. I was holding one in hopes that you would come to our festival with your lovely wife."

"Yeah, sure you were."

Jamal laughed. "Come with me." He showed Charley and Tully to a room in the back on the ground floor. "This is the quietest room in the house. Make yourselves at home. The festival officially starts tomorrow morning."

Tully said, "Hitch came with us. He may show up looking for a room."

"He and whatever woman he makes friends with will be welcomed."

The door closed and Tully turned the key in the lock. Charley looked around and said, "Nice place."

Tully smiled. "Yeah, Hitch and I used to come here when we'd get some time off." He wrapped his arms around Charley. "I haven't been here since the last time we all stopped for the night after a raid a couple of months ago. We were just too exhausted to go any further."

Charley grinned up at him. "You and Hitch used to come here, huh?"

"That was before I met you and fell in love. The four of us stop by now and then to take a break. Jamal is always welcoming. Hitch still comes once in a while when we get time off and he can get one or two of his buddies to come along."

Charley sighed. "The festival doesn't start until tomorrow. What are we going to do with our time until then?"

Tully pulled her up into a kiss and her arms and legs went around him. "Oh, I can think of a few things to do to pass the time."

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Morning came and after Tully had washed up, he sat down on the edge of the bed in his boxers. He smiled at his still sleeping wife and rubbed her back gently to wake her. "Hey sleepy head. You're going to miss the festival."

Charley sighed and rolled onto her back. She smiled sleepily up at him. "Morning, love."

Tully leaned down and kissed her. "Mornin'. You going to get up?"

"Shower?"

"Sorry, no shower. But Jamal gave me some hot water so we can wash up. Why don't you do that and get dressed. I'll get dressed and see what's for breakfast."

Charley reached up and pulled him down into another kiss. "I love you, Tully Pettigrew."

He grinned. "I love you too, Charley Pettigrew. But if you keep this up we'll never get to the festival."

After a traditional and delicious breakfast, Tully and Charley went out to join the gathering crowd.

There were vendors set up everywhere selling everything from food to handmade wares. There were jugglers, acrobats, magicians, and music with dancers.

Charley noticed Tully staring at one of the dancers and smiled impishly. "Maybe I should learn to dance like that."

Tully's attention quickly shifted to her and he grinned at the thought of wife belly dancing around their apartment.

Tully and Charley saw Hitch with a pretty young woman. Tully smiled and said, "Hitch found someone. I think her name is Layla."

Charley said, "Anything serious?"

Tully laughed. "With Hitch? Not hardly."

Charley giggled. "Do you think he'll ever settle down?"

"Maybe someday, but not any time soon."

They wandered around all morning, picking up a few things to send to family back home. When they got hungry, Tully and Charley bought lunch from a vendor, and then went back to their room to rest.

An hour later Tully was awakened by a knock at the door. He got up and opened it to see Hitch. Tully took one look at his friend's face and stepped out and closed the door. "What's wrong?"

Hitch said in a low voice, "There's a report of a company of German's coming this way. We're getting everyone off the street."

"How far out?"

"Maybe ten miles."

Tully sighed. "Okay, I'll wake up Charley and we'll be right out."

Charley worked to help get the people off the street with their wares. Tully, Hitch, and the other soldiers worked to do what they could to set up a defense for Doha. A call was put out to the base at Ras Tanura for help.

Captain Markus was the ranking officer on scene and he immediately took charge. There were few weapons available. After all, it was supposed to be a festival.

A corporal ran up to Captain Markus and said excitably, "We can't get through to Ras Tanura or anyone else! We're being jammed, sir!"

The captain said, "Take my staff car and head for Ras Tanura. Get help out here as soon as possible."

Everything that could be done was done to prepare for the attack. All they could do was wait.

They didn't have to wait for long. A man on the roof of the tallest building in the village shouted out that he could see the Germans coming. The news was relayed to Captain Markus and soon the first shell whistled overhead and hit the square.

Villagers took shelter in cellars as more mortar and tank shells fell. It was chaos as the soldiers tried to take cover. There was no way to defend themselves against the shelling.

Tully grabbed Charley and took her to the inn. "Jamal, get her into the cellar."

Charley tried to wrestle free of Tully's grip. "No!"

He turned her to face him and said, "Charley, listen to me!" When he had her attention, he continued, "I know you want to help, but I need to know you're safe. I can't do what needs to be done if I have to worry about you." Charley opened her mouth to say something and Tully said, "Please, sweetheart."

Charley pulled him down into a kiss and whispered, "Be careful. I love you."

Tully smiled a little. "Love you too."

As he turned and hurried away, Jamal gently took her inside. "Come, missus, we must get into the cellar."

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As Jamal, Charley, and two other families hid in the cellar, they could hear the shelling above. When the inn was hit, the ground shook around them and dirt sifted down on top of them.

Then it suddenly got quiet. Charley waited in the ear splitting silence for many long minutes. She moved to the trap door and reached for the handle.

Jamal tried to stop her. "No, missus, it is safer to stay here."

Charley looked at him. "I can't, Jamal."

She pulled back the latch and pushed on the door. It didn't move at first, but with a little effort it finally started to shift upward. Charley could hear the debris slide off as she pushed it open.

Looking around, she saw no one. So Charley crawled out and turned back to say to Jamal in a quiet voice, "Lock it."

Jamal stared up at her and pleaded, "Come back, missus. It's not safe."

"Just stay there and lock the door." Charley lowered the trap door and heard the lock slide into place. She then stayed low and made her way from one hiding place to another.

As Charley came across bodies, German, Arab, and American, she checked for signs of life, but found none. Then she found the one person she dreaded to see. Tully was lying motionless on the ground just a few yards in front of her. Charley looked around carefully. Seeing no one she ran out into the street to where Tully was. Her hand shook as she checked for a pulse and sobbed when she found one. She whispered, "Tully, wake up." There was no response. Charley took in the bloody wound on his forehead and dirt streaked face. "Please, love, wake up."

Suddenly she was snatched up from behind and carried away with a hand over her mouth. When she was set down, Charley whirled and hit the person across the face with her fist before she realized who it was. Her hands went immediately to her mouth and her eyes went wide. "I'm so sorry!"

Hitch's look was as surprised as hers was. He recovered quickly and rubbed his jaw as he said, "What are you doing out here?"

Charley said, "It got quiet. I thought maybe it was over so I came out to check." Panic suddenly took over. "Tully's out there, Hitch!"

She started to turn away and Hitch pulled her down. He whispered, "Shh! Stay down!"

Several German soldiers appeared and started to check the bodies strewn in the street. One of them checked Tully and said, "Dies ist lebendig. Nehmen Sie ihn."

They picked Tully up and carried him away. Charley whispered, "They're gathering up anyone that's still alive, aren't they?"

Hitch nodded. "Looks that way."

Charley turned to him, unsuccessfully trying to hold her tears back. "We have to do something."

Hitch pulled her into a hug. "We will, Charley. We will."

Captain Markus knelt down next to them. His arm was wounded and bleeding. "We've sent for help. We just have to hold out until they get here."

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When Tully opened his eyes, he couldn't immediately remember what had happened. He laid there on the sand, staring up at the sky. Then a slightly blurry face appeared above him. "Private Pettigrew, are you alive?"

Tully blinked to clear his vision. "Jamal?"

"Yes, it is me." He helped the private to sit up. "How is your head?"

Tully put a hand to his forehead and felt that a strip of cloth had been wrapped around his head as a bandage. "What happened?"

Jamal frowned worriedly. "You do not remember? Doha has been attacked by Germans."

It all flooded back and Tully looked at his friend. "Where's Charley?"

"I do not know. When the bombs stopped falling, she left the cellar. It was not long after that the Germans began to root us out of our hiding places to bring us here."

Tully looked around. It was a makeshift holding pen made of fence posts and barbed wire. The people around him were mostly villagers, but there were allied soldiers, mostly wounded, as well as some female personnel from Ras Tanura. Tully didn't see Hitch anywhere. "Have you seen Hitch?"

Jamal shook his head. "The Germans have been bringing anyone found alive here to this prison. I have heard them talking about some soldiers that have banded together. They are trying to find them."

"Let's hope Charley and Hitch is among them."

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After they watched Tully being taken away, Captain Markus led his small group into one of the bombed out buildings. When they were out of sight, he said, "All right, what weapons do we have?"

Among the twelve of them they had one machine gun, two rifles, and two pistols. After the fighting, their ammunition was low. Charley set about finding whatever she could to use as bandages. She also found some water and went to work cleaning and dressing wounds.

The cellar in the building they were in had already been emptied of its occupants so they could use it to hide in if necessary.

Charley moved up alongside Captain Markus and began to examine his wounded arm. He had been peppered with shrapnel and Charley quickly picked as much out with her fingers as she could before wrapping a makeshift bandage around it.

When she had finished, the captain looked at her handiwork and said, "Nice field dressing. Thanks, Miss…"

She said, "Just call me Charley, sir."

"Charley? You're the courier out of Ras Tanura, aren't you?"

She nodded. "Yes, sir, that would be me."

Captain Markus smiled. "Good to have you on the team."

Charley managed a slight smile. "Thank you, sir."

The captain turned to Hitch and said, "All right. Hitchcock, take Miller and Clark and do some recon. They must be putting the prisoners somewhere. Find out where. Gather up anything you think we can use."

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Tully wandered around the small prison with Jamal at his side. He checked on the wounded, who were being cared for as well as could be expected.

Tully stopped and grasped Jamal's shoulder to steady himself as his vision blurred with the pain that flared in his head. Jamal put an arm around Tully and said, "Come and sit, my friend. You need to rest." With his help, Tully sat down and leaned his elbows on his crossed legs while he held his head. "How are you feeling?"

Tully sighed. "I'd be better if I had some aspirin." He looked up. "Got to find a way out of here."

"I do not think that is possible. There are too many guards."

Tully looked around at the guards surrounding their prison. He knew if he tried anything he would be risking more than just his own life. Then he caught a glimpse of movement behind a broken wall. Tully stared at the spot until the head poked itself out again. It was Hitch, and he was with at least two others.

Relieved that his friend was still alive, Tully watched as Hitch looked at him and put a finger to his lips. Tully nodded slightly and silently formed his wife's name with his mouth. He saw Hitch nod and give him a thumbs up. He was so happy to know Charley was safe he nearly let himself collapse onto his back. However, he watched Hitch signal him to stay put. That meant help was on the way.

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Hitch, Miller, and Clark got back to their group without incident. Hitch reported to Captain Markus, "The Germans have set up a sort of holding pen. The majority of the prisoners are villagers, but there are some of our guys too, a lot of them are wounded. There's women from base there too." He looked at Charley. "I saw Tully. He's up and around. He knows you're okay."

Charley grinned. "Thanks, Hitch."

Captain Markus nodded. "Good work. Were you able to find any weapons?"

Hitch shook his head. "Nothing useable."

"All right. So do we wait for help or do we go on the attack?"

"You're asking for my opinion, sir?" The captain nodded and Hitch said, "I know you sent someone for help, but how can we be sure he got through? It's been hours since the initial attack."

Captain Markus agreed. "If the corporal made it to base, they would need time to put together an offensive. And then at least two hours to get here."

Hitch absently corrected. "An hour and a half, sir."

The captain smiled. "An hour and a half then. How many Germans do you think?"

"Hard to say for sure. A hundred to a hundred and fifty is my best guess."

"Guess we're a little outnumbered then."

Hitch smiled. "It's never stopped us before, sir."

Captain Markus knew who the private worked with and was impressed by his attitude about what was going on. "I guess you're used to being in this type of situation, aren't you?"

"Let's just say this isn't my first rodeo, captain."

"All right, Hitchcock, what do you suggest?"

Hitch looked at the captain to make sure he was serious. "We should split up and start picking them off one by one."

Captain Markus thought for a moment, then said, "We have guns, but not much ammo."

Charley said, "Captain … I saw ammunition in Jamal's cellar when I was down there."

"Who's Jamal?"

"He owns the inn where Tully and I were staying."

The captain said, "You're sure it's ammo that we can use?"

Charley nodded. "I saw clips for machine guns and bullets for rifles. There was even a box of grenades."

Hitch said, "Doesn't surprise me. Jamal's quite a packrat. I bet he's got guns down there too."

Captain Markus said, "You know where this inn is?" Hitch nodded. "All right, let's move out. Stay together and keep your heads down." The captain looked at Charley. "You stay behind me."

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Tully heard an engine and looked up. An American spotter plane came into view and flew over the village. "Looks like someone knows we're in trouble."

The Germans scrambled, but the plane was too far away by the time they got to their bigger guns.

Jamal watched the plane disappear in the distance. "Does that mean help will come?"

Tully nodded. "Yeah, and I'd bet my life that there are two people out there already … just waitin' for dark."

Guns and ammunition were being passed up out of the cellar when the plane flew over. Captain Markus said, "Looks like the corporal got through."

Hitch said, "It'll start after dark."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I know Sergeants Troy and Moffitt. They'll come in first to get the prisoners out. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if they're out there now just waiting."

When everyone was armed and carrying plenty of ammo and grenades, Captain Markus said, "All right, men, fan out. Take 'em out one at a time. Don't rush. We have plenty of time. When it gets dark, we'll meet back here."

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Out on a sand dune lying on their bellies, Troy and Moffitt were watching Doha through binoculars. They had spotted Tully in the barbed wire pen, but hadn't yet seen Hitch or Charley.

Moffitt said, "What do you think, Troy? Wait until dark and release the prisoners ahead of Captain Boggs' attack?"

Troy nodded. "Yeah. That's our best bet."

As they continued to watch, they saw a guard go down. Then another. Germans began running in every direction as a grenade exploded.

Troy frowned. "What the…" He scanned a wide area and saw more of the enemy go down.

Moffitt pointed and said, "Look, we're getting some inside help."

Troy looked where Moffitt pointed and saw two GIs picking off the Germans from a rooftop. Then there was more shooting, as well as more explosions.

Troy smiled. "They're knocking down the numbers for us."

Moffitt checked on the prisoners and saw that Tully was directing everyone to get down before he followed suit. "Good. Tully's got everyone taking cover."

"In an hour it'll be dark. We'll go in and release the prisoners first. Once our people and the villagers are clear, Captain Boggs' plan goes into effect."

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There was no way they could take out all the Germans, but they could kill as many as they could and cause enough confusion to let the enemy know they weren't giving up without a fight.

One by one shots rang out and one by one the Germans fell. The enemy was having trouble figuring out where the shots were coming from as the Americans moved around. It seemed there were more than twelve men out there shooting, especially with the occasional grenade thrown into the mix.

Charley heard a German commander yell at his men, "Mir wurde gesagt, dass jeder hatte aufgerundet!"

Hitch asked, "What's he saying?"

Charley replied, "We've caught them by surprise. They thought they'd found all the stragglers."

Captain Markus said, "Good. Let's keep at it until our people come in or we run out of ammo."

Charley kept clips loaded for Hitch's machine gun and made sure the captain was supplied with bullets for his rifle. Every now and then she would throw a grenade. Then Captain Markus took a bullet in the shoulder. Charley helped him out of the line of fire and checked the wound. "You're not bleeding too badly." She pushed the clips and ammo over in front of him and said, "Take over with this." Charley shoved two handfuls of bullets into her pockets, grabbed the captain's rifle, and got down next to Hitch.

He glanced at her. "What do you think you're doing?"

Charley didn't look at him as she fired off her first round, hitting a German in the chest. "The captain is in charge of loading your clips now."

Hitch smiled as he watched the German go down. "No problem. Just keep your head down."

Once the sun went down it was too dark to see and Captain Markus' people regrouped back at Jamal's inn. With a small flashlight held between her teeth Charley deftly bandaged the captain's shoulder with a strip of material torn from the bottom of her blouse. When she finished, she moved carefully among the others asking if anyone else was hurt.

She returned to Hitch and Captain Markus, who asked, "No other injuries?"

Charley replied, "Nothing serious. And it's just as well. I can't take too much more off my shirt."

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After darkness began to envelope the scene below them, Troy and Moffitt waited for the generator to come on and a few lights lit the area where the prisoners were. Then the two sergeants headed down, knowing they had just fifteen minutes to release the prisoners and round up the others before the shelling started.

Troy and Moffitt got into the camp easily enough. The German troops were ignoring the prisoners for the most part, favoring taking cover over their guard stations.

Tully had been watching for the sergeants and could just make out a shadow near the generator. It was Troy. He casually looked around and found Moffitt hiding near the back of the prisoner's pen.

As soon as Troy knocked out the generator, Moffitt and Tully moved. The sergeant produced two pair of wire cutters and handed one to Tully. They made quick work of the barbed wire and started getting the prisoners out with Jamal leading the way to the safety of the dunes.

Troy appeared and asked Tully, "How many of our guys are out there?"

"Not positive, but I counted at least ten different guns shooting into the German camp."

"Okay, get out of here."

Tully shook his head. "Charley and Hitch are out there with the others. You're not going without me. I told Jamal to make sure everyone gets out of here."

Moffitt whispered urgently, "We don't have much time."

Troy nodded. "All right. Let's go."

Together they skirted the confusion in the German camp and went into the village to look for their people.

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Private Nelson spun around as Troy, Moffitt, and Tully appeared in the darkness. Troy said, "Who's in charge?"

Nelson said, "Captain Markus. He's down that way. You here to get us out."

"Yeah. Start getting everyone together. We're running out of time."

Troy, Moffitt, and Tully made their way to Captain Markus. Troy said, "You ready to get out of here, captain?"

"You wouldn't believe how ready we are. Let's go."

Out of the darkness they heard Hitch say, "Sarge, is that you?"

Troy smiled. "Yep. Let's get going."

Tully said, "Where's Charley?"

She crawled over in his direction. "I'm here."

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They made it out of the village just as the German generator came back on, lighting things up as the Americans began shelling the camp.

The group got out just in time and met up with the escaped prisoners. Soon there were trucks arriving to take everyone back to Ras Tanura. It was a quiet ride back to base with Troy and Moffitt leading the way in the jeep. They could hear the shelling fade as they got further away.

Tully and Charley held each other. Hitch was sitting next to them and Tully whispered, "Thanks for taking care of her."

Hitch didn't say anything. He simply patted his friend on the leg and left it at that.

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

Tully was treated for the cut on his forehead. No stitches and a slight concussion. He and Charley went home, took a long shower together, and went to bed.

Tully woke up the next morning with a dull headache. He sat up, put the pillow against the headboard, and pushed himself back. Before he turned the bedside lamp on, he draped a scarf over the shade. The dim glow was all he needed to see the woman curled up asleep next to him. He smiled as he gently brushed the hair away from her face. Tully let his fingertips trace the line of her jaw up from her chin to her forehead.

Charley sighed and opened her eyes. She looked up at him sleepily and he smiled with a whispered, "Hi."

Charley took his hand and kissed his palm. Her grogginess showed in her voice as she said quietly, "Love you."

Tully reached over and carefully pulled her up into his arms. He cradled her head against his chest and kissed the top of her head. "Love you."

Charley put her arm around his middle. "You feeling okay?"

"I'm good. Just wanted to hold you."

She snuggled closer and put one leg over his. "Hmmm."

Tully felt Charley gradually fall back to sleep. He liked the feel of her skin, and her chest rising and falling against him. It didn't take long before Tully felt himself relax and the slight throb in his head was forgotten as he fell asleep again.

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Doha would be rebuilt with the help of the allied forces and would always be there for their friends in Ras Tanura. What the Rat Patrol and the other soldiers did would never be forgotten.