Disclaimer: The Rat Patrol is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.
How Wet Can He Get?
By Suzie2b
The Rat Patrol had been trying to outrun a storm all morning, but the first fat drop of water hit Tully on the nose as the leading edge caught up with them. They needed to get to high ground and shelter fast.
By the time they found what they were looking for, they were soaked to the skin. The cave they came to was big enough to drive into so they were able to get everything out of the weather. Hitch was able to get a fire going by using shavings from the TNT while Tully darted outside to gather whatever wood he could find. From experience, they all knew the TNT would burn hot enough to burn the wet wood.
Soon the four men were stripped down to their skivvies while their clothes dried. Luckily the blankets had been stowed in such a way that they were barely even damp and dried quickly.
As they sat around the fire wrapped in blankets, Moffitt looked out at the pouring rain and said, "I know this part of the desert gets about ten centimeters of rain annually … but I never thought it could come all in one storm."
Hitch nodded. "It's been what … two hours?"
Tully added, "There's gonna be flash floods all over the place." He got up and headed for one of the jeeps. "Anyone hungry?"
Hitch smiled. "I could eat."
As Tully began to rummage around for the K-Rations, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and looked towards the cave's entrance. "Hey, sarge! We've got company."
A Bedouin family of four stood just inside the cave. They stared at the men nervously and the man said, "Ве сеек шелтер фром тхе сторм. Маы ве шаре ёур фире?"
Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch stood as Moffitt translated, "They're looking to get out of the storm and would like to share our fire."
Troy looked at the dripping wet family and smiled. "I don't see why not."
Moffitt called them over. "Ёу аре велцоме хере. Цоме варм ёурселвес."
As they approached, Troy grabbed his clothes and said, "Let's get dressed."
After getting their still damp clothes on, Hitch and Tully wrapped the two children, a boy and a girl, in the blankets they had used. Troy and Moffitt offered theirs to the man and woman, who took them gratefully.
The man said in broken English, "I am Kale." He took the woman's hand. "My wife Jazmin." Then pointed to the children. "My son Nasir and daughter Yesenia. We thank you for your hospitality. We lost all we own in a flood caused by this storm."
Moffitt said, "We're very sorry to hear that. You are welcome to share what we have." Then he proceeded to introduce himself and the others. "I am Jack Moffitt. These are my companions … Sam Troy, Tully Pettigrew, and Mark Hitchcock."
Tully returned to the jeep, but instead of K-Rations, he decided to make a hot meal. He checked their rations and found enough chicken bouillon and dehydrated vegetable packages to make soup for everyone.
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As the day wore on, the rain would let up for a time, but then returned with a vengeance. The two children grew bored and began to explore the cave with the flashlight Hitch had given them to play with. Ten-year-old Yesenia followed her twelve-year-old brother into a tunnel at the back of the cave while the adults chatted amiably.
Possibly twenty minutes later, no one could be sure, there was thunderous cracking sounds along with the sound of rushing water. Then Nasir and Yesenia could be heard screaming.
Tully and Hitch were the first ones up and running towards the tunnel with the other close behind.
A good hundred yards inside the tunnel they found that the ceiling had collapsed from the weight of the gathering rainwater that had been seeping through cracks above. A torrent of water rushed in like a waterfall and flowed deeper down into the tunnel.
They could hear Nasir yelling and their flashlights found him easily. Kale asked the boy where his sister was and Nasir pointed and said, "И триед то холд Есениа, бут тхе ватер торе хер фром мы грасп."
Kale said, "He tried to save her, but the water was too strong. She has washed down the tunnel."
Over the rushing water they could hear Yesenia's screams for help. Their flashlights revealed that she was clinging to a small shelf of rock a ways down the tunnel.
Troy said, "Hitch, get the rope out of the jeeps!"
Without hesitation the private ran back to the main cave and soon returned with two coils of rope, along with gloves for each of them. The sergeant began to loop one end around his waist, but was stopped by Tully's hand. "What's wrong?"
Tully said in a matter-of-fact tone, "I'll go, sarge. I've got a little more weight on me."
Troy wasn't a slouch when it came to taking care of himself. He was, in fact, quite fit and strong. But he couldn't argue that the taller, lean-muscled private was a better candidate for this mission. "All right." Troy took the rope and wound it several times around Tully's waist before tying a bowline knot to hold it tight. "Moffitt, we need to anchor the other end of both coils."
The sergeant quickly found an embedded boulder that was away from the undermining torrent of water and secured the ropes around it. "Ready!"
Troy took the second rope and looped the end through the rope around Tully's waist. "Use this for the girl. We'll try to keep the flashlights on both of you."
Tully nodded as he stared at the little girl in the beams of the flashlights Kale and Jazmin were holding. "Right, sarge. Be back in a jiffy."
The private carefully made his way into the water with Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch letting the rope out as slowly as possible. The water made the sand and gravel under Tully's feet shift. When the water was up to his waist his feet were swept out from under him and he went under, but quickly bobbed back up and got his bearings.
They held the rope fast and Troy yelled, "You okay, Tully?"
"Yeah! Let the rope out!"
Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch fought against the current, hoping it wouldn't rip the rope from their hands.
Tully floated, using jutting boulders to slow and guide himself to the shelf that Yesenia clung to. "Okay! Hold up!"
Both ropes were looped around the anchoring boulder. They all watched as Tully fought the rushing water to get the second rope around the girl and tie it with the same knot that Troy had used. With no footing the strong current forced the rope tighter around his waist as his head went under twice before he was able to accomplish the task.
Tully pulled Yesenia down into his arms. He got her to wrap her arms and legs around him before he yelled, "I got her! Pull us in!"
Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch began to pull, but for every foot of progress they made, the ropes slid two feet back. Troy yelled, "Kale … we need help!"
He quickly handed the flashlight to his son and rushed to help, but it was still hard going. The current and the weight of the two people in the water made it nearly impossible.
Tully fought to keep his and Yesenia's heads above the water. He could feel his strength ebbing along with the material of his shirt as the rope bit into his skin. He knew they were both going to drown if he didn't make a decision fast.
Moffitt saw Tully lift the girl up and away from his body. "Troy, look!"
They all gasped as Tully let Yesenia go. Troy yelled, "Moffitt! Hitch! Pull her in!"
The ropes were quickly separated and they were able to pull the girl to safety. As Jazmin scooped up her daughter and ran for the main cave, the men fought to pull Tully to dry land.
Once he felt solid ground, Tully managed to get his feet under him and wade in as the men continued to pull on the rope. As soon as he was out of the water, Tully collapsed to his hands and knees. He began to cough and vomit up water as Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch got to him.
As Nasir held the flashlight, Hitch noticed blood dripping from the rope around Tully's waist as he quickly untied it. His friend hissed with pain and he said, "Take it easy, Tully."
Once he had expelled all the water he could, Troy and Moffitt got Tully into a sitting position leaning against Troy. His head fell back against the sergeant as he dragged breath after breath into his lungs.
After a couple of minutes, Moffitt and Hitch helped their shivering, weakened friend out of the tunnel. Kale told his son to run ahead and prepare blankets.
By the time they got Tully back to camp, Jazmin had built up the fire and Nasir had a blanket spread for Tully to sit on. As Moffitt and Hitch got Tully out of his ragged shirt, he looked across the fire at Jazmin holding Yesenia wrapped in a blanket and asked in a hoarse voice, "Is she all right?"
Jazmin nodded as she looked at him gratefully. "She will be fine. Thank you."
Tully gave her a slight smile before the pain hit when Moffitt began to clean the wounds that the rope had caused. He was shaking with fatigue and cold, and just wanted to lay down, but the sergeant said, "We need to get you bandaged up first, Tully. Just give me two minutes."
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Tully awoke to the sounds of his friends talking quietly. Then he smelled the coffee. He pushed the blankets away from his face and the first person he saw was Moffitt smiling at him. "Good afternoon, sleepy head."
Tully started to push himself up and groaned as every part of him hurt. "Afternoon?"
"Well, it will be in twenty minutes."
Troy helped him sit up and said, "Easy … easy. Take it slow." Once the private was up, he wrapped a blanket around his shoulders. "You okay?"
Tully nodded slowly as he looked down at the bandages around his waist. Then he realized he was sitting there in his boxers. "I know my shirt got tore up, but what happened to the rest of my clothes?"
Moffitt knelt down next to him. "We couldn't let you sleep in wet clothes, now could we? They should be dry by now." He handed Tully two aspirin and a mug of coffee. "We'll have something for you to eat shortly."
Tully took the aspirin and coffee gratefully. "Thanks." He looked out of the cave entrance, where Hitch was standing guard in the sunlight. "When did it stop raining?"
"About two this morning."
Troy walked out to Hitch and said, "He's awake. Why don't you fix him something hot to eat?"
The private smiled and handed the machine gun to Troy. "Right, sarge." Hitch hurried over to the jeep and said, "Hey, Tully, feel like having some scrambled powered eggs?"
His stomach growled. "Actually, that does sound good. I'm starved." Tully took a look around and realized that something was missing. "Where's Kale and his family?"
Moffitt took his place across the fire and replied, "They left at daylight. They're going west to find some relatives that will help them get back on their feet. They wanted to thank you for what you did to save Yesenia, but didn't want to wake you."
"I'm glad the girl's okay." Tully started to get up, thinking he would get dressed, but then decided it wasn't such a good idea when his wounds hurt with the movement.
Moffitt smiled. "Just rest for now and get your strength back. We're going to stay here until tomorrow morning."
Tully pulled the blanket tighter around himself. "Stay here? I'm not in that bad of shape … am I?"
"No … well, we are staying partly so you can rest. But the sand got so saturated that it's more than likely to be like quicksand in most places. The jeeps would probably get stuck before we could get far."
Tully nodded his understanding.
As he got the eggs started over the fire, Hitch said with a grin, "Yeah, and I'd rather not have to pull you out of another jam."
Tully said with mock indignation, "Excuse me? What makes you think I'd be the one in a jam?"
"Well, you're always the one jumping in to save someone, and I'm always the one helping you out of trouble."
Tully thought for a second. He'd be lying if he tried to deny it. He sighed and took a drink of his coffee. "Don't burn the eggs."