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

Author's note: (Points at tullyfan) This one's her fault.

Operation Dead or Alive

By Suzie2b

Tully opened his eyes and blinked at the stone ceiling above him. His head hurt and he started to reach up to rub his forehead, but was stopped by the set of handcuffs that had him attached to the cot he was laying on. Tully frowned as he looked at the cuffs and pulled, as if to make sure they were real. They were.

Suddenly, Tully realized what was going on and sat up … too quickly. The room spun and his ears rang as his head throbbed. With his free hand Tully reached up and felt the bandage that was wound around his head as he squeezed his eyes closed. He waited until his head cleared some and the ringing stopped before opening his eyes with a quiet groan.

Tully slowly swung his legs over the side of the cot and put his feet on the floor. Other aches and pains began to make themselves known. With a sigh he looked down at his handcuffed wrist again. He stood up a bit wobbly, then dragged the cot with him as he walked across the cell to the barred door. Tully tried to look up and down the corridor, but couldn't see anything. He called out, "Anyone there?" There was only silence. He tried again in German, "Irgendjemand dort?" Still nothing. Tully dragged his cot back to where he'd started and sat down. He reached into a hidden pocket in his jacket and brought out his set of master keys, smiling at the fact that the Germans never seemed able to find them.

In seconds Tully had the cuffs off his wrist and the keys replaced in the pocket. Thirty minutes later he heard a door open—he noted a squeaky hinge—and the sound of booted feet coming towards his cell. He walked back to the door just as two German soldiers appeared in front of him.

Both of them were surprised that Tully was standing there. They looked at the cot and saw the handcuffs dangling from the side rail. One of them told the American to back away from the door, "Zurück weg von der Tür."

Tully hooked his thumbs over his belt and backed into the center of the cell. One German held his gun on him while the other retrieved the handcuffs to cuff Tully's wrists in front of him. Then he was pushed towards the open door.

Tully paid close attention to their direction and what was around them as the Germans ushered him through the building. They stopped in front of a door and one of the guards knocked. A voice inside told them to enter. A German officer was standing at a window with his back to them as Tully was pushed down into a wooden chair.

Tully really wasn't surprised when the officer turned and said, "Good afternoon, Private Pettigrew. Good to see you up and around."

"I wish the feeling was mutual, Captain Dietrich. Where's the rest of my unit?"

"Do you remember going up against one of my patrols this morning?" Tully thought, but had to slowly shake his head. Dietrich said, "I am not surprised. You took a nasty hit to the head when your jeep turned over." Tully watched the captain warily as he sat down at his desk. "It was quite a skirmish I am told. My men managed to hit your jeep with tank fire, which is how it turned over. You were trapped beneath the wreckage and Sergeant Moffitt was digging you out…"

Tully demanded, "Where are they!"

Dietrich actually looked sad as he said, "They are dead, private."

Tully growled, "You're lying!"

"I am afraid it is true. "Sergeant Moffitt died when he turned a machine gun on my men. Troy and Private Hitchcock's jeep took a direct hit from a mortar…" Dietrich hesitated, then said, "They never had a chance when they tried to return to help you and Moffitt."

Tully tried to see the lie in the captain's eyes, but it wasn't there. He felt sick as he asked quietly, "What's going to happen to me?"

"You will be interrogated before being sent to a POW camp." Tully nodded slowly as he balled his hands into angry fists as Dietrich said, "The handcuffs will be removed and you will be taken back to your cell, private. We will talk later when you are feeling better."

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

Moffitt opened his eyes and looked up at a blurry Troy. "What happened?"

Troy said, "A German tank knocked your jeep out of commission. You and Tully were unconscious when the Germans rolled up…"

"Where is Tully?"

"They managed to get him before we could get back to you."

With Troy's help, Moffitt sat up and asked, "They only took Tully?"

Troy sighed. "Yeah, we didn't give them time to grab both of you."

Hitch knelt next to Moffitt with aspirin and a canteen. "We're going after Tully as soon as you're up to it."

Moffitt swallowed the two pills with water and said, "Well then, let's be on our way."

Troy and Hitch each grabbed a hand to help the sergeant to his feet as Troy asked, "Are you sure you don't want to rest a while?"

"I'll rest in the jeep."

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

Tully sat on his cot, elbows on his knees, aching head in his hands. He thought to himself, "It can't be true. They could be injured, but not dead. I won't believe it until I see their bodies." He was interrupted by his guards, one of whom was carrying a tray of food. Tully told them he wasn't hungry, "Ich habe Hunger nicht."

The guard holding the tray told him Captain Dietrich was insistent that he eat. "Hauptmann Dietrich besteht darauf, dass Sie essen."

The door was unlocked and the tray placed on the floor just inside the cell. After the door was again locked, the guards left.

When he heard the outer door close, Tully looked at the tray. It obviously wasn't the usual fare fed to prisoners … it smelled good. His stomach growled. He stood and crossed the cell. Tully picked up the tray and returned to the cot, deciding that he needed to keep his strength up if he was going to escape.

After he'd finished the meal, Tully set the tray on the floor by the door. He sat on the cot, pulled his feet up so his chin could rest on his knees, and thought about the best way to get himself out this predicament. He could wait for his guards to come in and jump them … and hope he could get them both without getting shot. Or he could try to escape the next time he was taken to Captain Dietrich … and hope not to get shot. But first Tully had to find out if his friends were really dead or alive.

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

Early the next morning, Tully was awakened by the sound of keys jingling in the lock. He opened his eyes and sat up as the door opened. He was handcuffed and escorted to Captain Dietrich's office again.

The captain was at his desk when they entered. "Good morning, Private Pettigrew. I trust you slept well."

Tully nodded as he sat down. "Good enough, I guess."

Dietrich looked at the guards and said, "Entfernen Sie die Handschellen." The handcuffs were removed just as there was a knock at the door. "We will talk this morning…" Dietrich signaled one of the guards to open the door. "But first we will have breakfast."

A man from the kitchen walked in with a tray that held two covered plates, a pot of coffee, mugs, and flatware. The first plate was placed in front of the captain. As the man went back to get the second plate, Dietrich said, "Do not be shy, private. Bring your chair closer to the desk."

Tully did and a plate with brown bread and butter, strawberry jam, ham, salami, cheese, and scrambled eggs was set before him. Coffee was poured. Tully stabbed into the eggs and took a bite. "Real eggs?"

Dietrich smiled. "We acquired a few chickens not long ago."

"I was served a good meal yesterday … and now this. Why?"

"I do not believe that starving a man will get me the information I want. If he is forced to talk, it is hard to tell if he is speaking the truth."

They finished their meal in silence. When the last bite was swallowed, Captain Dietrich wanted to begin his interrogation. But Tully was quick to ask a question of his own, "Where's Troy, Moffitt, and Hitchcock, captain."

Dietrich looked the private in the eye as he said, "I have already explained that to you."

"And I don't think I believe you, sir."

"Why would I lie?"

Tully said, "To get me to give up and tell you what you want to know."

Dietrich smiled slightly. "You can believe me. They are dead."

"Then show me the bodies."

"They have been buried."

Tully growled, "Then unbury 'em. If you want anything outta me, you're gonna have to prove to me they're dead."

Dietrich said, "My men buried the bodies without bringing them back."

Captain Dietrich tried for an hour to get Tully to talk, but the private wouldn't say anything other than name, rank, and serial number. With a frustrated sigh, the captain finally said, "All right, Private Pettigrew, it is obvious you are not going to cooperate. Your guards will take you back to your cell while I contemplate how to continue."

Tully was fed again around midafternoon and he knew that once the guards took the empty tray away, he wouldn't see them again until morning. The food he was given this time was not as good as the last two meals he was served, but it was still eatable. Tully didn't plan on being around to see what would be for breakfast.

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

Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch had spent the last twenty-four hours watching the German base. They hadn't seen anything that told them their friend was in there and Hitch asked, "How can we be sure this is where Tully is?"

Troy said, "What do you want … a sign declaring they have Pettigrew?"

Moffitt smiled. "It's the closest base from where we encountered that German patrol. It makes sense they would bring him here."

"I hope he knows we're going to get him out."

Troy lowered his binoculars and stated, "He knows."

Moffitt said, "We should go in tonight. The sooner we get Tully out the better."

"They're going to be expecting us."

Hitch smirked and said, "That's never stopped us before."

The day passed slowly. German patrols came and went until the sun finally set.

Well after sunset, Troy led the way to get him, along with Moffitt and Hitch, onto the base. Clouds hid the partial moon, allowing them to get to it without being seen by the German guards on the walls.

They stayed low against the wall as they made their way towards the gate. There was one guard on duty and he was dozing on a stool in the tiny guard shack. Rather than possibly drawing attention by knocking out or killing the guard, Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch silently slid past the shack and its occupant.

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

Tully ate and waited for the guards to come for the tray. Then he waited until he knew it would be dark outside. This was the hardest part of his plan, because sitting there only reminded him of the aches and pains all over his bruised body.

Finally Tully looked at his watch and decided it was time to go. Taking the master keys from the pocket in his jacket, he quickly found the right one and opened the cell. He replaced the keys, then he moved down the corridor to the other door. Tully carefully checked and found it locked. There was a slit in the heavy wooden door so the corridor could be checked before the guards entered.

Tully risked a peek and saw the one guard on duty sitting at a desk reading a book. He ducked down again and concentrated on getting the door open. It took several tries, but there was a quiet but satisfying click when he found the right one. Tully checked on the guard and found that he hadn't moved. The private flattened himself against the wall behind the door, then turned the doorknob and slowly pulled it open, making sure the squeaky hinge made itself known.

The guard looked up with a start to see the door was open. He frowned as he stood up. No one had come in and he had orders to interact as little as possible with the prisoner. He walked around the desk to stand at the open door. The corridor was empty. With his frown deepening, the guard drew his handgun and decided to check on the prisoner.

Tully waited and listened to the guard move around in the outer room. Then he heard the footsteps coming closer. He heard the guard step into the corridor and then pushed the door as hard as he could. The guard was pushed face first into the opposite wall, dropping the gun. Tully came out from behind the door, grabbed the guard by the head, gave a quick hard twist, and heard the bones in his neck break. He let the dead German fall to the floor, then bent and picked up the gun. Tully hurried to drag the guard to the cell he'd been in, then ran back down the corridor into the other room, closing the door behind him.

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

As per their plan, once they were through the gate they split up. Troy and Hitch headed for headquarters, while Moffitt disappeared to find the motor pool. The three of them had agreed that if Tully managed to escape, he would go for transportation. If Troy and Hitch didn't find their friend in a cell, they would meet Moffitt at the motor pool and hope Tully was by then with the sergeant.

Troy and Hitch made their way to the back of headquarters. They found a door and Hitch picked the lock to get them inside. Silently the two of them moved through the building looking for a way down to the cells they knew were there.

At first they were surprised when there wasn't a guard on duty, then Troy spotted the door and signaled Hitch to keep a look out while he went in. Troy looked through the slit and saw that the corridor on the other side was empty. He opened the door and made his way carefully down the row of cells, checking each for Tully. When came across the cell that held the body of the guard, Troy went in and checked for a pulse. Of course there wasn't one. The guard's gun appeared to be missing too. He backtracked quickly and said to Hitch, "I found the guard. It looks like Tully managed to break out."

Hitch smiled slightly. "Then Moffitt should run into him at the motor pool."

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

Moffitt had found a good place that allowed him full view of the darkened motor pool, where no one on duty. If Tully showed up, he would see him even if no one else could. That's how well he knew his friend. He waited in the inky dark, watching guards pass by in groups of three.

Then Moffitt saw movement that didn't fit with what he'd been seeing. The tall lanky shadow moved on silent feet from one hiding place to another. It was time to move. He checked both directions before he ran across the street and into the motor pool. Moffitt headed in the direction he'd seen the sneaky shadow go. After a minute, he heard a sound—like someone closing a car door as noiselessly as possible. He peeked around a truck and saw Tully sitting in a staff car.

Tully heard a faint sound—so quiet that anyone else would probably ignore it. He slipped down across the seat and held his breath. A moment later Moffitt was looking down at him and whispered, "Are you all right?"

Tully sat up with a grin. "I'm fine." Then he sobered as he asked, "Where's Troy and Hitch?"

"They went to headquarters looking for you. I've been here watching to see if you tried to get away. They should be here shortly."

Moffitt and Tully had been waiting only a few minutes when they heard shots fired. Tully said, "That'll be them."

Moffitt got into the staff car next to Tully. "Let's go pick them up."

Tully started the car and pressed the accelerator. He maneuvered the vehicle out of the motor pool onto the street. They heard more shooting, which told them the direction they needed go, and a siren began to blare.

It didn't take long to find that Troy and Hitch were pinned down just two blocks away. Tully swung around a building and went down an alley to come up behind the Germans. He barreled back out into the open as Moffitt opened fire with his machine gun. Before the Germans could react they were either hit by the car or bullets. Tully jammed on the breaks and slid to a stop in front of where Troy and Hitch were hiding. Moffitt yelled, "Let's go! The reinforcements are coming!"

Troy and Hitch scrambled into the back seat as bullets began to ricochet off the car. Tully pushed his foot to the floor and burned rubber getting away.

Troy and Hitch were firing at the halftrack that was now following them when Troy spotted a canvas bag on the floor. He pulled it up and checked its contents. Then gave it to Moffitt and said, "Think we can use these?"

Moffitt pulled a German grenade out of the bag and smiled. "Tully, back to the motor pool!"

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

The noise woke up the entire base and Captain Dietrich hurriedly dressed. He was just grabbing his hat when he heard shooting outside and rushed to the window. Dietrich looked out to see a staff car with all four members of the Rat Patrol in it and his "prisoner" at the wheel followed closely by a halftrack with some of his men in it.

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

Tully knew he had to turn around if they were going to go back to the motor pool so he cut through an alley to get to another street.

As the German halftrack followed the car into the alley, Hitch leaned over the seat and snagged one of the grenades from the bag. With one quick move Hitch armed it and gave it a toss. It landed in front of the halftrack and the soldiers had no time to react before it exploded, bringing down parts of the buildings on either side.

Troy clapped Hitch on the shoulder with a smile. "Good work!"

Out of the alley Tully turned left and saw another halftrack coming straight at them. He yelled, "Get down!"

Without question the other three Rats ducked down as Tully pressed impossibly harder on the accelerator. It was time to play a little game of chicken. Bullets pinged off the car and Tully crouched down as far as he could. The halftrack swerved at the last second, forcing the driver to lose control and slam into a building.

The staff car careened through the streets as it was being shot at. Finally Tully turned the corner that would take them past the motor pool.

Moffitt passed grenades to Troy and Hitch before taking one for himself. Tully slowed only slightly to allow the others to throw the grenades at their targets.

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

Captain Dietrich had run downstairs from his quarters and outside in time to hear an explosion and see a fireball as his fuel went up in flames. Taking a deep breath he began to shout orders to his men as he ran towards the fire. Dietrich knew he'd lost again to the Rat Patrol and wouldn't bother to send any of his men after them this night.

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

The car crashed through the gate, surprising the lone guard and quickly disappeared into the dark desert.

Moffitt pointed the way to where the jeep waited and when they got to where it was hidden, Tully pulled the car to a stop. Steam began to hiss from under the hood of the car as they climbed out.

Troy said, "Hitch, see if we're being followed. Tully, check the engine."

Moffitt turned and said, "I'll get the jeep uncovered."

Tully pushed open the hood expecting the radiator to be a shambles. It was. "Sarge, she's not going any farther. There's nothing left of this radiator."

Troy said, "Okay, let's take the jeep and get out of here. Hitch! Let's go!"

The private ran back to the jeep and said, "It doesn't look like they're going to try to come after us, sarge. That fire looks like it's burning pretty hot."

Moffitt gave a nod. "Dietrich will be too busy with that to come after us tonight."

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

With Hitch at the wheel, Troy sitting next to him, and Moffitt and Tully in the back, they drove until the sun started to rise. Then pulled into a wadi to get some rest.

Troy got out and stretched. "We'll spend most of the day here to eat and get some rest." He looked at Tully, who got out of the jeep a bit unsteadily and asked, "How's it going, Tully?"

"It's goin', sarge. Just a headache."

"Moffitt, check under that bandage on his head while Hitch starts a meal."

Moffitt had Tully sit down in the passenger seat while he got the med kit out of the back. Tully asked, "What happened? I don't remember much and I don't remember Olive gettin' blown up at all."

Troy pulled a machine gun from the fender holster as he said, "A tank shell took your jeep out. By the time Hitch and I could get back to you and Moffitt, the Germans had you. All we could do was chase them off and go back to collect Moffitt."

Tully looked at Moffitt and saw the bruise on his forehead. "Captain Dietrich told me you all were dead."

Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch looked at each other and Moffitt said as he removed Tully's bandage, "But we're not. I'm sure it was just a ploy to get you to talk. With us dead…"

Tully interrupted, "No, I think the captain really believed it. He's not a great liar. I would've seen it in his eyes or his posture if he was lying."

Troy said, "Well, whether Dietrich believed the three of us were dead or not doesn't really matter at this point. We got out together and in one piece. That's the important thing."

"Even if I had believed you guys were dead, I wouldn't have talked, sarge."

"I know, Tully."

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

If was midday before the fire was out at the German base. Exhausted, covered in soot and grime, Captain Dietrich went to his office instead of his quarters. He slammed the door, marched to his desk, and picked up the phone. Now that the fire was out he was getting angry. Dietrich demanded that Lieutenant Stockert be located and sent to his office immediately.

The captain paced impatiently as he waited. Finally there was a knock at the door and he said loudly, "Enter!"

Lieutenant Stockert quickly stepped inside and closed the door. "You wish to see me, captain."

Dietrich stopped and faced the younger man with more anger in eyes than anyone had ever seen. But his voice was calm as he said, "Indeed, lieutenant. Can you explain to me how three men you told me were dead suddenly came onto this base, broke out the prisoner, killed or wounded a dozen or more of my men, and blew up the fuel supply … not to mention the other damage that was caused?"

Stockert's eyes grew impossibly large. His mouth opened and closed several times, but no sound came forth.

"You were the one in charge of the patrol that brought in Private Pettigrew, were you not?"

Stockert nodded. "Yes, sir."

"So you were there when the incident happened that 'killed' the Rat Patrol."

"Yes, sir."

Dietrich's frown deepened as he said, "Tell me they were all unconscious and only presumed dead. That is if they were there at all."

Stockert took a breath and said, "I wasn't exactly there, captain."

"And where, may I ask, were you, lieutenant?"

"The halftrack I was in was badly damaged by gunfire and could not continue. I sent the others ahead to chase the jeeps down."

Dietrich stared at the lieutenant menacingly. "So, it was one of your men that lied about their deaths. Why did you not go back with them to verify what had happened?"

Stockert stammered, "I did not see a reason to, captain. I was told that they had hastily buried the bodies and had a prisoner that was unconscious."

"I see. However, you were ultimately in charge of the patrol. You failed to verify the deaths of three of the most wanted men in North Africa. You will give my aide the names of those men who made this false report so they can be questioned and appropriately punished. You, Lieutenant Stockert, are confined to your quarters until further notice. Dismissed."

The lieutenant saluted smartly and exited the office as quickly as possible.

After several minutes, Captain Dietrich walked out of his office. Stockert was giving the names to his aide as he interrupted, saying, "I am going to my quarters to shower and rest." He indicated the names the aide was writing down with a nod. "I will want to speak to each of those men later today."

The aide nodded, "Yes, captain. I will see to it personally."

Dietrich glared at Stockert. "And have this man escorted to his quarters where he is to be confined with a guard at the door." With that the captain strode away.