Disclaimer: The Rat Patrol is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.
Mt. Cameroon
By Suzie2b
The desert was hot during the day and cold at night. It was an unforgiving place. It seemed like just about everything could kill you—from the heat, to insects and animals, to plants, to water, or lack of it … and then there was the war. It felt like there was always something or someone out to get you.
##################
Hitch knocked on the door and it was answered by Charley, who smiled and said, "Good morning, Hitch. What brings you to our door this early?"
"Morning, Charley. Troy sent me to get Tully. Captain Boggs wants to see us."
"Come on in. We're just about ready to go to breakfast."
Hitch stepped inside. "Sorry, but the captain said 'immediately'. I've got a jeep waiting downstairs."
Charley frowned a little. "That doesn't sound good."
Tully finished tying his boots and stood up. He gave Charley a kiss, then said, "You go on and get some breakfast. I'll catch up with you later."
##################
When Hitch and Tully arrived at Captain Boggs' office they found Troy and Moffitt already there. As soon as the door was closed, the captain got to his feet and to the point. He gave Troy an aerial photo and went to the map on one wall. He put his finger on Mt. Cameroon. "Our spotters have reported a German installation is being constructed in the foothills." The four men looked at the photo as the captain continued, "It's very well hidden and can only be seen from the air." Boggs looked at Tully. "I know the Germans took you there at one time for a little hunt, private. Do you remember the territory?"
Tully nodded. "Yes, sir. Don't think I'll ever forget it."
"Good. The four of you will go and find out who and what this installation is being built for." The captain handed Troy a copy of the report with the coordinates along with a signed requisition. "Get whatever supplies you need and get going as soon as you can."
As they were leaving headquarters, Tully got sight of Charley coming out of the downstairs office with her deliveries. He said to Hitch, "I'll meet you at supply. I've gotta tell Charley we're leaving soon."
##################
The day had been long and hard. They ran into a German scout column early that afternoon and an Italian patrol at a waterhole well-known for its cover. Needless to say, they expended more ammunition then they wanted to and never did get the water.
As they setup their overnight camp, Troy asked, "Tully, do you remember the water situation where you were on Mt. Cameroon?"
"I found a stream when I was there. I'm sure there's others. We should be able to keep the canteens filled."
"Good. I don't want to take a chance on running into anymore enemy patrols before we get there."
Late the next morning found the jeeps stopped in some cover just a few kilometers from the base of the foothills. A map was spread out on the hood of one of the jeeps. Moffitt circled a place on the map and said, "The coordinates we were given puts the construction in this area."
Tully looked over the map, then put his finger on a spot and said, "Over here is where that German captain and I came down in the staff car. There's a road that will lead us up into the foothills."
Moffitt asked, "What are the chances the German's will be patrolling the area?"
"There's plenty of cover and it's far enough from that installation that they shouldn't even know we're there. If by chance they are patrolling, they'll have to be doing it on foot."
Troy nodded. "Okay, let's shake it. Tully, take point."
Thirty minutes later, they were heading up the road Tully had told them about. At the end was a clearing. As they got out of the jeeps, they saw the remains of the burned out halftracks that Tully had blown up with his homemade bomb. They also noticed the scattered skeletal remains of the Germans that had died that same night. Grass and weeds were slowly reclaiming the scorched earth.
Tully mentioned quietly, "They didn't even come back to claim their dead."
Troy said, "Let's pack up what we need, cover the jeeps, and fill the canteens. I want to be looking at that installation before nightfall."
As Tully led them to the stream, he readily picked out different places where he'd hid, the log he'd slept in that first night, and spot where he'd sat next to the water to build a bomb. Shrapnel wounds and a bullet through the thigh. They were all very vivid memories.
After leaving the stream with full canteens, it took about two and a half hours to hike through the trees and undergrowth to the cover of a line of boulders near the construction site. They dropped their packs and went to take a look at their quarry.
The installation looked to be about half finished. German soldiers were positioned around the area as guards while the construction workers did their jobs.
Moffitt queried, "What do you think it is?"
Troy shook his head. "It could be anything. From the looks of it right now, it could be a simple base of operations."
They spend the remainder of the day doing recon. Counting guards, when they changed, their positions, possible ways in and out. Troy sent Hitch and Tully around and up to overlook the backside of the operation.
When they returned, Hitch said, "They're building it into the mountainside. Looks like it's going to be bigger than we thought."
Tully added, "They've got lots of big, unopened crates stored down there, too. Couldn't tell what's in 'em though. They're covered with netting."
Troy said, "We'll go in tonight and take a look around."
##################
As darkness fell, they watched as the construction crew quit working and the guards were doubled. Troy said quietly, "They're taking a lot of precautions for a simple base."
Moffitt nodded. "I agree. There must be something else going on here."
They waited until the lights and generators had been turned off for the night. Then Troy and Moffitt went in to hopefully find the plans on what exactly was being built. Hitch and Tully were sent to try to discover how much of the installation was built into the mountain and what was under that netting.
Troy and Moffitt silently moved through the camp, hiding in the shadows when a guard happened by. It wasn't long before they found the tent they were looking for.
Inside Moffitt started to go through the paperwork looking for plans while Troy stood watch.
Hitch and Tully went quietly to the where the installation met the mountain. They found a large set of double doors that would slide to either side. There was a much smaller door built into one of the double doors.
Inside they found a space that had been dug into the mountain. Obviously the Germans had been working on it for quite some time. Their flashlights barely put a dent in the blackness of the enormous empty space. Tully led Hitch out a different door. He wanted to know what was in the crates they'd seen from above.
Moffitt found several sets of plans and quickly scanned them with his flashlight. When he was finished, he put them back where he'd found them and signaled Troy that it was time to go.
Hitch kept a lookout while Tully went under the netting. Everything written on the crates was in German, so Tully took his knife and pried open one of them. His flashlight revealed electronic equipment that could only be used for one purpose. Outside he heard a German voice say, "Hände hoch."
Then the netting was pulled back and a half dozen German rifles were pointed at both Hitch and Tully. One of the guards motioned with his rifle for Tully to put his hands up. Machine guns and Tully's knife were confiscated before the two Americans were taken away.
Troy and Moffitt made it back to camp without a problem. Troy asked, "What did you find?"
Moffitt said, "They're building a radar station … a big one. Most of it will be inside the mountain."
##################
Hitch and Tully were held at gunpoint while one of the guards went into a tent to wake the commanding officer. They saw a lantern come to life and a couple of minutes later Hitch and Tully were ushered inside.
When the commander saw who it was that had been captured he smiled. "Well, this is a coincidence."
Hitch and Tully looked at each other, then Hitch said, "Good evening, Lt. Col. Schwarz. Long time no see."
Tully asked sarcastically, "Are you still playing your little 'game' out here?"
Schwarz replied, "Unfortunately, after you beat Captain Lange, I decided to discontinue it. You were the last … and only one to defeat the game." He looked from one private to the other. "Now that we have dispensed of the pleasantries, I would like to know what you are doing here."
Hitch said, "We heard about your new location and wanted to take a look around."
"I see. And what do you think of it?"
"We're not impressed … sir."
The Lt. Col. frowned. "Where are Sergeants Troy and Moffitt?"
Tully said, "Don't know, sir. Haven't seen 'em since we split up."
"Two privates on their own without someone of higher rank in charge? I do not think so."
"I didn't say we were on our own. I said we split up."
Captain Lange walked into the tent and was surprises to see Hitch and Tully. Then he looked at Lt. Col. Schwarz and said, "One of the crates was found opened, sir, but nothing was taken. I've got men scouring the camp to see if there are any other rodents here."
Hitch asked, "Did he just call us rodents?"
Tully said, "Well, we are 'rats', so I guess we shouldn't be too offended."
Schwarz was growing inpatient and said, "Get them out of here! I will decide what to do with them after breakfast."
Troy and Moffitt waited at camp for an hour, which stretched into two hours. Neither needed to ask the question to know the answer. Hitch and Tully had been caught.
Moffitt questioned, "How do you want to handle this?"
Troy sighed. "We wait until daylight and see what happens."
##################
Morning came. Hitch and Tully were again escorted to Lt. Col. Schwarz's tent as a mess worker walked out with a tray of dirty breakfast dishes. Schwarz smiled as he said, "Please, gentlemen, do come in."
Moffitt signaled Troy to join him, then said, "I just saw Hitch and Tully." He pointed. "They were taken into that tent there by none other than Captain Lange."
Troy took the binoculars. "Captain Lange? Wasn't he one of Lt. Col. Schwarz's men when Tully was brought here to play his little 'game'?"
"The same. I'd wager the Lt. Col. is in that tent having a talk with Hitch and Tully now."
Lt. Col. Schwarz stood up and slowly paced around the tent. "I have given thought to what I wish to do with you both." He stopped and looked at the two privates. "I have decided to recall the game into play." Schwarz waited for a reaction, but got none. "It will be slightly different than before. This time, instead of three days, you will be given only twenty-four hours. If you elude Captain Lange and his men, you will be set free. If Sergeants Troy and Moffitt find and help you, I will let you all go without so much as a chase. However, if the two of you are caught … you will be tied up in the open and tortured until the sergeants give themselves up to me or you are both dead. Do you understand?" Hitch and Tully both nodded silently. "All right, captain, they are yours. Let the game begin."
Hitch and Tully were blindfolded with something that felt like sandpaper. Hitch's right wrist was handcuffed to Tully's left.
Troy and Moffitt watched as Hitch and Tully were taken out and put into a halftrack. As the German vehicle drove off, Troy said, "Let's grab our stuff and get back to the jeeps."
##################
When the halftrack stopped, Hitch and Tully were told to remove the irritating blindfolds. They looked around at the rocky slope ahead of them and the forest below. As they stepped out of the halftrack, Captain Lange smiled and said, "Above you there is nothing. No water, no place to hide. Below, in the forest, you will have cover and the possibility of survival. It is your choice to make. You will be allowed a three minute head start."
The handcuffs left little room between them, but when Tully took off up the slope Hitch was right with him. Captain Lange checked his watch.
After cresting the ridge above them, Hitch and Tully were out of sight. They walked quickly over the uneven, rocky terrain and Hitch said, "What are you doing? We need to get down where we can hide."
Tully glanced behind him and said, "We will, but I don't want to give the captain an easy trail to follow."
##################
By the time Troy and Moffitt had gotten back to the jeeps, the German halftrack had nearly a two hour head start. By the time the road dumped them out at the base of the foothills, it had stretched to three hours. They had to find out where Hitch and Tully were taken and why.
They drove in the direction that would take them to where the road from the German camp would come out. When they found it and saw fresh vehicle tracks leading away, they followed.
##################
As Captain Lange watched the privates' charge up the hill and over the ridge, he said, "They are fools. This will not be much of a game."
Eventually, Tully led them down to the tree line and into the cover of the forest. After about an hour, they came across a stream and were able to drink and rest to get their bearings.
Hitch sat on the ground next to Tully. "What do we do now?"
Tully started to untie his right boot. "First we get out of these dang cuffs." He slipped his fingers down the inside of the boot and came out with a ballpoint pen.
Hitch looked at his friend curiously. "Where'd you get that?"
"Found it last night while you were dozing." Tully started to disassemble the pen. "I thought it might come in handy as a weapon, but it should work as a lock pick."
Using the spring, which he straightened out, and the pocket clip, Tully started working on the lock of the cuff on Hitch's wrist. It took a few minutes, but the lock finally clicked open.
Hitch rubbed his sore wrist as Tully gathered up the pieces of the pen and dropped them into his shirt pocket. "What about you?"
Tully stood up as he said, "I know how Captain Lange thinks. We may have started him off in the wrong direction, but by now he's figured out what we did. We need to keep moving."
Hitch and Tully started to move quickly through the undergrowth, staying close to the trees for cover. Hitch asked, "How far do you think they took us from the installation? It felt like we moved down out of the foothills before coming back up."
Tully sighed. "Yeah, I noticed that too. Hard to tell how far we came, but they wouldn't want us to be able to get back within the twenty-four hour limit."
They both looked up at the sun and Hitch said, "East?"
Tully nodded. "East."
##################
Troy and Moffitt eventually stopped and hid one of the jeeps, deciding it would be better to have one jeep where they could defend themselves with the 50 caliber. They also slowed there pace a bit, keeping their eyes peeled for any sign of the Germans.
Moffitt drove while Troy manned the big machine gun in the back. Suddenly, a German halftrack broke out of a road among some large boulders at the base of the foothills. They watched as the vehicle turned left and headed straight for them.
Moffitt quickly drove to a sheltered area big enough to hide the jeep. The watched from their hiding place as the halftrack passed by. "That has to be the halftrack that Hitch and Tully were in. But I only see a driver and one guy in the back."
Moffitt said, "Do you think it's possible that Lt. Col. Schwarz is playing his 'game' again?"
"It's definitely a possibility. Do we start by going up that road?"
"If I know Tully, he's going to figure out which way they need to go to head back towards that installation. I suggest we go back the way we came."
##################
As the afternoon wore on, Tully knew that Captain Lange and his men were no doubt closing in on them. After years of playing the 'game' on Mt. Cameroon, few others would know their way through its forest better. If he and Hitch had been taken to the area where Tully had his first experience, he'd be able to get around easier. Which is exactly why Lange went the other way.
As the sun went down, Hitch and Tully dug a depression under a log just big enough to crawl into for the night. Tully remembered all too well how cold it got on the mountain at night. He hadn't complained about the desert nights since.
The sun was just starting to filter through the trees when Hitch opened his eyes after an uncomfortable night. Tully was missing. He crawled out and stood up, brushing the dirt from his clothes. A pine cone bounced off his head and he spun around. Tully quickly signaled him to get down and join him where he was hiding in a thicket.
Hitch didn't question or hesitate. When he reached Tully's side, he whispered, "What's going on?"
Tully pointed to the six men led by Captain Lange. "They just showed up. Apparently they got an early start."
"We don't have much time left. What do you want to do?"
Lange gave orders and his men began to spread out. Tully whispered, "If they find where we spent the night, they'll know how close they are. Let's go downhill and try to get around them."
##################
Troy and Moffitt went back to where they'd left the second jeep and spent the night silently wondering if they would ever see Hitch and Tully again. They had no idea how much time they had left to locate the two privates and hoped their friends were able to stick together.
As soon as it was light enough, the sergeants armed themselves with machine guns and grenades, and headed into the foothills on foot.
##################
Hitch and Tully moved carefully downhill and made their way past the Germans. They were nearly clear when Tully stepped on an unseen rock in the undergrowth. It rolled under his foot and he fell, rolling a few feet before he could stop himself. As Hitch reached him, they could hear the Germans calling out to each other and the sound as they crashed through the brush.
Tully got to his feet and said, "Run!"
They were several feet apart as they ran as fast as they could. All they could do was hope to outdistance the Captain Lange and his men. Then Tully heard Hitch cry out in surprise as he disappeared.
Tully slid to a stop and went back to where he last saw his friend. He found a pit, and at the bottom was Hitch. "Are you okay?"
Hitch nodded as he stood up and tried to catch his breath. "Yeah. Didn't see it."
Tully got down on his belly and reached his hand down as far as he could. "Come on."
Hitch reached up, but Tully's fingers were inches away from his. He tried to jump, but it just wasn't enough. "You better get outta here."
Tully shook his head. "I'll see if I can find…"
Bullets started to ricochet off the trees above his head.
Hitch yelled, "Get going, Tully!"
There really wasn't a choice. "I'll come back for you." Then he ran off with a hail of bullets following.
##################
Troy and Moffitt heard the gunfire, but could tell it was a ways off.
Moffitt pointed and said, "That way!"
They picked up their pace and hurried on.
##################
Tully stopped when the shooting stopped. He hid behind a tree and listened. Nothing. No one was following. He cautiously looked around and saw no one. Tully took a deep breath and headed back to where he'd left Hitch.
Tully circled around and came up on the opposite side of the pit. He peeked around a tree and watched as Captain Lange gave orders to his men. He and four of his men left in the direction Tully had run, leaving two behind to look after Hitch.
As Tully crept around to a better vantage point, he watched the two Germans retrieve a ladder that had been hidden in the bushes. He got as close as he dared and crouched down out of sight, retrieving a part of the pen from his shirt pocket. He waited until Hitch had climbed out of the pit and was held at gunpoint.
That's when Tully made his move. He dashed forward and shouldered the closest German hard in the back. The rifle he held went off as he fell, but the bullet went into the ground. Before he could even think to get up, Tully was on him and thrust the pen's ink cartridge into his neck, severing the German's jugular. When Tully pulled the cartridge out, blood began to spurt from the wound.
As soon as Tully had hit the unsuspecting guard, Hitch grabbed the second German's rifle and swung it hard like a club, connecting with the man's skull with a dull crunch. As the German fell, Hitch pushed him into the pit.
Hitch and Tully turned as one and took maybe a half dozen steps to get away when Captain Lange and his other men appeared out of the trees. He smiled humorously as he pointed his pistol at them and said, "Well, you almost made it. You had but another hour." The captain looked at Tully. "If you hadn't tried to help your friend, you could've escaped."
Tully said, "Don't believe in leaving a man behind."
As Captain Lange began to give orders to his men, a grenade exploded behind them. Shrapnel cut into two of them, killing one. Hitch and Tully dove for cover as another grenade went off.
Captain Lange got off one shot before machine gun fire took him down along with the rest of his men.
When Troy and Moffitt stepped out of hiding, Tully and Hitch were all grins as they stood up.
Moffitt began to check the Germans for signs of life as Troy said, "Are you two all right?"
Hitch said, "Yeah, we're good, sarge. What took you guys so long?"
Troy grinned, relief plain on his face. "We took the scenic route."
##################
Hours later, when they were far away from Mt. Cameroon and resting in the cover of a waterhole, Troy contacted headquarters through a relayed message.
Moffitt picked the lock on the handcuff that Tully still wore. As he cleaned and bandaged the private's abraded wrist, he asked, "What did you use to open the lock on the other cuff?"
Tully pulled out the parts he had in his shirt pocket. "I straightened out the spring. Used that and the clip to pick the lock."
Moffitt smiled. "Good thinking." He tied off the bandage. "How's that feel?"
Tully nodded. "I'm good with it."
Troy joined them. He patted Hitch on the shoulder and asked, "You two doing okay?"
Tully nodded and Hitch said, "I'm okay, sarge, but I don't think I would've made it without Tully."
Tully frowned at his friend. "Don't talk crazy. You woulda done just fine on your own."
"But you have the experience. Not just because of the time before with the 'game', but you've been hunting and camping in the woods in Kentucky. You really know how to survive."
"Don't think less of yourself, Hitch. Your survival skills are up there with the best of 'em."
Before this mutual admiration party could continue, Moffitt asked Troy, "Did you get through to headquarters?"
Troy nodded. "Captain Boggs is going to order an airstrike to take care of the construction of that radar station. By this time tomorrow, there won't be anything left."
"And Lt. Col. Schwarz?"
"He's too arrogant to think anyone can stop him. He and his men will most like still be there when the bombs are dropped."
Tully sighed tiredly. "I guess the 'game' really is over this time."