Saving Cage
By: AliasCWN
"Sarge!...Sarge!"
Sgt. Chip Saunders pulled the blanket off his face at the sound of his name. "What do you want Kirby?" His brain, clouded by sleep, didn't immediately register that his B.A.R. man was nursing a wounded arm. It was the coppery smell of blood that finally snapped him fully awake. "What happened?"
Kirbys' lean face was caked with dirt and streaked with sweat. He sounded like he'd just run a marathon, breathless and tired.
"Kirby, what happened?" Saunders glanced around his small camp. "Where's Cage?"
Kirby swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "They caught him Sarge!"
Saunders sat up, no longer sleepy. "Who? Who caught him?"
"The krauts."
"What krauts? You were only supposed to be checking behind us." The sargent took a quick look around, counting the rest of his squad. Most of them were awake now, having heard Kirby when he returned.
"We were Sarge. We went back a couple of miles just like you said." Kirby dropped to the ground beside Saunders to give his report. "We didn't see anybody. Cage figured it was all clear so he took a chance on filling his canteen at one of those wells we passed. I stopped to tie my boot laces. I guess I was maybe fifteen, twenty yards away. Cage had just set his rifle down to get the water when four krauts came at him from out of some trees."
"Couldn't you help him?"
"I was going to but this other kraut jumped me from behind. He was sneaking up on me with a knife. We fought and I killed him." Kirby held out his wounded arm. "He cut me before I could get the knife away from him. I turned to help Cage but there were more krauts coming out of the trees. Really Sarge, I don't know where they all came from."
Saunders nodded. Sometimes you just couldn't see them until they wanted to be seen.
"Then what happened?" The sargent looked away from Kirby long enough to find their medic. "Doc, take a look at his arm."
"They tied his hands and marched him off toward that village we passed." Kirby winced as Doc rolled his sleeve up to check his arm. "We're going after him aren't we Sarge?"
Saunders looked at Kirby without really seeing him. His mind was picturing the area around the village that Kirby had mentioned. He didn't even notice as his squad moved closer to form a circle around him.
"Sarge?"
"I can't risk the squad." His quiet words were met by stunned silence.
"Sarge?"
Saunders shook his head. "I can't risk the squad for one man. We have a job to do. Headquarters is waiting for our report on this area. That report will affect the decisions they make about troop movements in this sector. That report has to get back."
"Won't headquarters want to know about the krauts in that village?" ask Kirby.
The sargent nodded. "Yeah….Yeah they will. That's why you and I are going to go back and check it out. The rest of you guys take our initial report back to Lt. Hanley. Make sure you tell him about the village. Tell him we'll try to get him more information on troop strength and any hidden guns. This way at least most of the report will get through on time." Saunders watched as Doc bandaged Kirbys' arm. "Is he alright Doc?"
"I'm okay to go." Kirby answered before Doc could open his mouth.
Saunders stared at him as he waited for the medic to give his opinion.
Doc nodded his agreement. "The cut is messy but not too deep. The bleeding stopped as soon as he put a field dressing on it. I'll give him an antibiotic and some more dressings. He should be alright."
"Good." Saunders nodded thoughtfully. "Anybody have any questions?"
""Why can't we come?" Littlejohn ask the question but every man present seemed poised to argue the answer.
"Because I need you here, delivering that report." Saunders didn't leave them any room for argument.
"Okay Sarge." Littlejohn lowered his head. "But try to bring Cage back when you bring that information will ya?"
Saunders allowed a small smile to cross his lips. "We'll see what we can do. Now saddle up! The krauts know we're in the area. You guys need to get a move on right now. Stay alert, stay together. Head straight back, no detours. You know what to do." At the others' nod, he added in a softer tone. "Make sure you get back in one piece." The squad collected their gear and headed for their own lines.
"We're going to try to get Kirby back aren't we Sarge?" Kirbys' usually abrasive manner had been edged out by worry. That he wasn't complaining spoke volumes about his level of concern. Kirby deliberately kept his distance emotionally from most of the men, having lost too many friends already. Cage was the exception, although Kirby didn't like to admit it. The two had formed a strong bond.
"Okay Kirby, show me this well. We'll work from there." The sargent packed his gear and hefted it onto his shoulder. Checking his Thompson, he made sure he had plenty of extra clips. With a final nod to the others as they moved out, he followed Kirby in the other direction.
Cage tried to drag his feet to slow the progress of the German patrol. He'd heard Kirby fighting with the other soldier but he hadn't seen the victor. He could only assume it was Kirby since the German hadn't rejoined the soldiers holding him prisoner. A rifle butt to his kidney made it clear that the Germans were not going to tolerate any stalling on his part. Hoping for the best, he marched along, waiting for a chance to turn the tables.
His hopes plummeted as the village came into sight. From the first it was obvious that there was a strong German force stationed there. It didn't escape him that headquarters would be very interested in the information he now possessed. The difficulty would be passing it on to the right people.
He was pushed and prodded toward a busy building. Guards stood watch on either side of the main entrance. As they approached, several officers stepped aside to watch them pass. He could feel their eyes on him even after he had gone by. His captors led him down a long hall to a brightly lit office. The German sitting at the desk eyed him coldly, taking in his uniform with distain. Orders were given to his captors and he was pushed into a wooden chair facing the desk. The officer rose and walked around his desk to stand over him. Cage had to look up to see into his face. With a cocky grin, Cage waited to see what the German would do next.
"Who are you?"
Cage gave him his name, rank and service number.
"And what outfit are you with?" Cage didn't answer. "What are you doing here?" Cage didn't answer. The officer stared at him, obviously expecting an answer. When one wasn't forthcoming, he ask again. Cage remained silent. Their eyes met in a battle of wills. It was the German who was the first to break eye contact. "Very well private. You are going to force me to do this the hard way."
Cage didn't ask what that meant, he was afraid he already knew.
The officer called to someone outside the office and received a harried reply. He issued orders that had Cage being hustled into another room. This one wasn't an office. It only contained one chair, placed in the middle of the room. A table along one wall held various instruments that looked dangerous. A single light bulb dangled from a chain above the chair. The very appearance of the room gave Cage chills. He began to mentally prepare himself for 'the hard way'.
"That's the well Sarge." Kirby whispered as he knelt next to the tree trunk.
Saunders studied the area around the well, looking for hidden German soldiers. It was only a flicker of movement but it caught his eye. He doubted that he would have seen it if he hadn't already known that they were around somewhere. Touching Kirbys' arm, he motioned for him to move back. The two of them crawled on their stomachs until they were hidden from the patrol by the trees and underbrush.
"Okay Kirby. They've got that well covered. We know they're there so we can get around them. Which way did they take Cage?"
Kirby rose to his feet and made a slow, cautious circle around the well. They scanned the area carefully as they progressed. Saunders kept his ears tuned to their rear in case they were followed.
They heard the fresh troops going out to relieve the patrol at the well long before they saw them. Ducking into the shelter of some fallen logs, they watched as the fresh troops filed past. Staying in place, they waited until the tired troops trudged past them on their way back to the village. The troops talked among themselves as they walked. Saunders and Kirby used the voices to cover the sound of their own progress. At the edge of the village the sargent in charge of the patrol hushed his men and they walked the rest of the way is silence. Saunders and Kirby fell back and started crawling toward a vantage point to watch the village.
They found some rocks for cover. This close to the village, all the brush and dead trees had been collected for firewood by the civilians. Saunders pulled out a pad and pencil stub to begin taking notes.
"Where's Cage? He's gotta be there somewhere." Kirby kept muttering to himself.
"Kirby."
"Yeah?"
"Shut up." Kirby got quiet but he still kept scanning the village for a sign of Cage.
Saunders was busy estimating the troop numbers and drawing the layout of the German occupation.
"Hey Sarge!"
"What?" Saunders turned to Kirby with a glare. "What is it now?"
Kirby pointed toward a building that looked important. There were guards on both sides of the door. A group of Germans had just walked out and headed along the street. They were pushing a stumbling, bloody Cage ahead of them. As they watched, Cage was taken to a small building further down the street. It was a dirty looking building with the windows boarded up.
"Looks like that's where they keep their prisoners." Kirby kept his eyes on Cage as he stated the obvious to his sargent. "How are we going to get him out of there?"
Cage was shoved into the building and the door was slammed and locked behind him. A guard took up a position on either side of the door. The rest of the soldiers left, heading in various directions.
Saunders again motioned to fall back to a safer area. This time they wiggled into the middle of a thick hedgerow. Their new vantage point allowed them to keep an eye on the village with good cover to hide their movements.
"How are we going to get to him?" Kirby once again voiced the question that Saunders had yet to answer. "There are a lot of Germans in there."
The sargent nodded. "Too many for us to fight."
"We can't just let him there Sarge!" Kirbys' dark eyes flashed with anger. "We gotta do something!"
"What would you suggest we do?" Saunders ask him angrily. "Do you want to just walk in there and ask for him back? Maybe if we said please."
Kirby stared at the Sargent, not sure what to say.
"Look Kirby, I want him back as much as you do. Bitchin' about it isn't going to get him back." Saunders got right into Kirbys face. "The only way to get him back is to use our heads. Now unless you can make some useful suggestions, why don't you just can it and let me think!"
Kirby nodded and took his rifle to the edge of the hedgerow. Finding a comfortable spot, he kept watch. With all the Germans around they couldn't be too careful. Occasionally Kirby would mumble something under his breath. He'd turn around and stare at the sargent who was sitting with his head back against a tree, his eyes closed. Several times Kirby was tempted to crawl back to him to see if he was asleep.
"Kirby."
The sergeants voice startled him since he had long ago decided that Saunders had dozed off.
"Yeah Sarge?"
"I've got an idea."
"Yeah Sarge?"
Saunders crawled closer to where Kirby sat on watch. The sun was starting to slide behind the hills. Saunders glanced up at the sky.
"There won't be much of a moon tonight. They know we were in the area. They probably spent the better part of the day trying to locate us."
"That would explain all the patrols coming and going." Kirby interrupted.
Saunders nodded and then continued. "So maybe they figure we moved on and left Cage behind. Maybe they decided that Cage was a lone scout. Either way, they're not expecting us."
"Maybe." Kirby agreed skeptically.
"And maybe we should let them know that we're still here." Saunders finished.
Kirby spun to face his sargent in shock. "You want to let them know we're here?"
Saunders quickly explained his plan. The more he talked the more Kirby nodded. The private was smiling by the time Saunders finished outlining his idea.
Kirby gathered all the flammable material he could find and stacked it near his fire pit. He made a circle of rocks to contain the flames and the heat. They had returned to the scene of Kirbys fight with the knife wielding German. Luckily for them, his companions had not yet discovered the body. Searching his pockets and his pack, they had scrounged all the ammunition that he carried. They even emptied the rifle he had propped against a tree to make his approach easier. Kirby added two hand grenades he had been carrying.
Saunders had taken his grenades and those that Kirby carried and gone to set up some trip wire traps on the approaching trails. Now Kirby carefully stacked the wood so they had a slow burning fire that would work its way toward the bullets and grenades. They wanted the fire to heat the bullets until they started to explode. As the fire got closer, it would detonate the hand grenades too.
They hoped the exploding shells would sound like a fire fight between opposing troops. Between the shells and the grenades they decided the Germans would have no choice but to send someone to investigate. The more they sent the better. The troops sent to investigate would trigger the booby traps and draw even more support away from the village. While they were sorting out the mess, Saunders and Kirby planned to enter the village to free Cage.
It was well after dark when Saunders stopped next to where Kirby sat.
"Are you ready?"
Kirby looked around at his preparations and nodded.
"Okay, light the fire." The sergents soft words barely carried in the still night air.
Kirby took one final look around to check for any complications. Everything was quiet except for the normal night sounds. He pulled his lighter from his shirt pocket and lit the wood shavings he had placed there earlier. As soon as he was sure that the fire was going to catch he picked up his rifle and nodded again to the sargent.
The two of them hurried to make it around to the other side of the village before the shells started exploding. Having spent the better part of the day observing the German movements, they had no problem avoiding the hidden sentries. Crouched down next to a stone fence row, they waited for their diversion.
"Maybe it didn't catch Sarge. Maybe I should go back and check." Kirby checked his watch for the third time.
"Give it a little more time." Saunders replied. The sargent never took his eyes off their target. He wanted to be able to keep track of all the guards when the commotion started. They waited a little longer as Kirby counted the seconds.
"Sarge…"
The sound of shells exploding on the other side of the camp could easily be mistaken for a gun fight. The village came alive with German soldiers rushing to stand in formation before their officers. They were quickly organized and separated into groups. Each group moved off toward the sound of the 'battle' by a different route. Explosions ripped through the night as the grenades detonated.
The Germans were concentrating on the direction of the noise. None of the guards were watching the other edge of the village. Two dark shadows skirted the buildings, moving like ghosts. They crept up on the guards who stood watch over the prisoner. The lights from the other buildings gleamed momentarily on the knife blades as they arched toward their targets. Both guards died without a sound, letting their weapons slide to the ground.
Saunders kept watch as Kirby forced the lock on the door and pushed his way inside. He reappeared less than a minute later with Cage leaning heavily on his shoulder. With the sargent watching their back, they half ran, half stumbled into the darkness on the edge of the village. Another explosion sounded in the distance, holding the attention of the Germans. Kirby, Saunders and Cage were able to escape without being discovered. Even as they hurried to increase the distance between them and the village several more blasts rocked the night. Kirby smiled as he realized that the Germans were triggering their booby traps.
Saunders called a halt so Kirby could treat the injuries Cage had acquired during his interrogation.
"I'm okay." The Cajun assured them. "They got a little rough but there's no permanent damage."
"Can you travel?" Saunders ask as he swiveled his head around.
"Just try and stop me." Cage tried for a grin but it turned into a grimace. His swollen face was stiff and aching.
Saunders dropped Cage and Kirby at the aid station while he reported to headquarters. He gave them all the information that they had collected on the village. He made it back to the squad before Cage and Kirby returned. Once he had assured the remainder of the squad that Cage was okay and would be there shortly, he headed for his bedroll.
By the time Cage and Kirby returned to the squad Saunders was in the process of completing his interrupted nap. His soft snores were muffled by the blanket he had pulled over his head.