Reports- Believe It Or Not
BY: AliasCW
It had finally happened. Colonel Dan Wilson paced his office stopping once in a while to reread the massage in his hand. Delivered by his radio operator earlier in the day, he had done all he could to get it confirmed or discredited. Still, all he had was the original report and no way to know it it was really true.
"Colonel." Captain Boggs knocked on his open door before entering.
"Well Captain. Can you tell me anymore?"
"I'm afraid not Sir. The original message was picked up by one of our radio operators in code. We broke that code a few days ago so we were able to decipher it. All that it said was that a Stuka pilot reported destroying two American jeeps and their occupants at those coordinates yesterday afternoon. I checked with everyone who had any information on the Rat Patrol. Their last broadcast message came from that same area yesterday afternoon Colonel. According to their message, they planned to head straight back here. They should have been here before dark last night. No one has heard anything else from them and they aren't answering their radio."
"Have ground troops confirmed the kill?"
"Not that we are aware of Sir. Ileft word with the radio operators to keep alert for any more information."
"Very well Captain. Thank you. That will be all."
The captain saluted and turned to leave. "Sir," he hesitated, "if I were a betting man, my money would be on the Rat Patrol."
"I hope you're right Captain. I really do." He returned the captain's salute and resumed his pacing.
It was hard to imagine the war without the Rat Patrol. He had come to rely on them to handle the many assignments that needed to be done. He jokingly called them his 'secret weapon.' Truth be told, they weren't much of a secret but they were his most trusted weapon. He counted on them and so far they had never failed him. Looking at the message in his hand, he admitted that there was always a first time for everything .
Sam Troy cradled his arm and staggered forward. Tully looked dazed while Hitch looked exhausted. Moffitt seemed in the best shape of the four. The sun was beating down and they had no shelter, no water, and no transportation.
Their meager supplies consisted of one machine gun Hitch had grabbed from it's holster and the side arms Moffitt and he carried.
The Stukas had caught them in an open area with no place to go. They had managed to shoot one of the planes out of the sky but not before it had accounted for Tully's jeep. The second plane had dropped it's bomb right on top of his jeep just after he had given the order to jump. He was glad Hitch had grabbed the machine gun but right now he would happily trade it for a canteen of water.
The second plane had circled around to check out his handiwork and apparently satisfied, he had headed for home without waiting for patrol cars to confirm his kill. Troy had led his little band away from the wreckage as fast as possible. They had dragged their shirts full of sand to help erase their tracks. The patrol cars would be looking for signs of anyone walking away.
They were wearing them now but the sand stuck to the sweat dampened shirts and now it rubbed skin raw wherever it touched. Add the thirst and the walking and things were not looking real promising for his little group. Seeing some rocks ahead, he decided to call a halt and try to come up with a plan.
Leading the way, Sam Troy plopped down next to the rocks in what little shade they provided. He moved over to give Tully and Hitch room to get partway out of the sun.
"Well Jack. Any ideas?"
Jack Moffitt wiped the sweat from his face as he staggered to a stop. Putting a hand on Troy's shoulder, he slowly lowered himself to the ground.
"Quite a fix we find ourselves in." The British sargent stated with a smile.
"Tell me something I don't know." Troy grumbled.
Moffitt leaned against the rock and closed his eyes. Troy watched him without speaking. Hitch and Tully leaned against each other and watched their sergents expectantly.
"We still have a few hours untill dark. The best thing to do would be find whatever shade we can and wait until it cools down. The trouble with that is we don't know if a patrol will cross our tracks before then."
"We don't have much to fight with if they do catch us." Troy pointed out.
"There is that." Moffitt agreed. "But you can be sure that plane radioed a report. There will be a patrol searching this area."
"We should let them find us." Hitch suddenly spoke.
"What?" Troy asked in surprise.
"Seriously Sarge. We're too far out to walk back to our lines."
"So you want to surrender?"
This time it was the blond who looked shock. "No way Sarge. I just meant we should let them find us so we could get their cars."
"And just how do you propose we take their cars?" Troy demanded.
The blond looked at Tully and they both shrugged. "I don't know. You're the one with all the good plans."
Troy stared at his driver who looked completely serious.
Moffitt smiled at the exchange. The two privates were not shy about putting their faith in Troy.
"He has a point Sam. Those cars would get us back to our lines."
Now Troy turned to stare at Moffitt. "Not you too. Do you have any ideas how we can get our hands on them without getting ourselves killed?"
Moffitt smiled and shrugged. "I'm sure you'll think of something."
Troy snorted in disbelief and leaned back into the shade. "You're all crazy."
"Yeah, but it works for us." Tully added.
The patrol cars made their first appearance the next morning. They were moving slowly across the desert, obviously following the tracks they had not erased. The two cars were staying well spaced so both would not be trapped in the same ambush if there should be one. The four man crews were alert and ready for trouble.
Hitch had been the one to spot them and he had quickly passed the word along to the others. Now he lay watching them from his position near the bottom of the dune. Nearby, the footprints of the four men led further into the valley. They wove back and forth as if the man had staggered and struggled to keep moving.
The patrol cars stopped at the entrance to the narrow valley. Coming together, they waved their hands as they discussed their next move.
Hitch watched one wave toward the valley while the other seemed to want to go around. The blond crossed his fingers and hoped they both chose to go straight through. After a long argument, they both headed into the valley.
Suddenly a shout rang out. The commander in the first car pointed to a figure staggering and falling just ahead. The lone soldier followed the tracks of the others, who, if the tracks could be believed, had gone on without him.
Spurred on by a chance to capture a member of the famed Rat Patrol, the first car forged ahead. The second car followed and stopped behind the first. The Germans gathered around the American sargent, all talking at once. Only the drivers stayed in the cars.
While all the attention was centered on the now unconscious sargent, Hitch slipped out of hiding and slid unnoticed to the driver's side. Reaching out, he slapped his hand over the driver's mouth and stabbed him before he could make a sound.
As soon as the driver of the second car was neutralized, Tully crawled out of the hole he'd made for himself and snuck up on the driver of the first car. In a flash that driver was dead too.
Now armed with German weapons, the two privates gave a shrill whistle to make their presence known. As the Germans turned toward them, their unconscious prisoner suddenly sprang into action.
Hitch and Tully stitched the standing Germans with their borrowed guns. Troy rolled out of the way and scrambled for the pistol he had buried in the sand. Moffitt, from his position near the top of the dunes, had a clear shot at anyone the privates failed to take down in their first volley. Using the machine gun Hitch had taken from their jeep, he gave Troy cover fire until he could roll to safety. By the time Troy found his weapon there was no one left to shoot.
The four men secured the scene before anyone checked the patrol cars. When they did they found water, food and plenty of gasoline.
"Everything we need Sarge." Hitch said happily.
" Yeah you're right." Sam Troy smiled at his driver.
"Knew you could do it Sarge."
Troy looked at all the faces watching him.
"We did it. I couldn't have done it alone." He proudly faced the others. "It was a crazy plan."
"Told ya crazy works for us." Tully confirmed. "Can we go home now?"
Troy laughed.
"Yeah Tully. We can go home now."
The two patrol cars came within sight of the base before they were challenged. Knowing it was suicide to try driving any further, the four men left the cars and the captured weapons and began to walk toward the base. They had only gone about a hundred yards before an MP jeep drove out to meet them. Stopping and holding empty hands in plain sight, they waited for the jeep to come to them.
The MP in charge recognized them as soon as he got close. He ordered two of his men to bring the patrol cars in. Motioning the Rat Patrol into his jeep, he had them driven to command headquarters.
Now the four tired men waited in the hall for the Colonel to call them into his office. With a loud bang the door was thrown open, the door knob hitting the wall. Colonel Wilson stood facing them with tired eyes and a warm smile.
"Well Sargent, back from the dead I see." He checked each of them for signs of injuries, Seeing none, he stepped aside and beckoned them into his office,
The four men exchanged puzzled looks.
"Dead Sir?" Troy finally ask.
"Yes Sargent. The Germans reported your death yesterday afternoon."
A look of understanding passed between the four men.
"Glad to report that their report was wrong Sir." Troy laughed.
"They did come rather close though." Moffitt explained.
"That may be Sargent. But the important part is that they were wrong."
"Yes Sir. But we will need to requisition two new jeeps." Troy added.
"Yes. Yes, I understand Sargent. Go to the motor pool and order those new jeeps. You're going to need them."
Troy sighed.
"I have a new assignment for you and your men. You leave in the morning."
The Colonel explained the mission and gave them a timeline. Time to rest and regroup before they headed out again. As he watched the four men shuffle out of his office to head to the motor pool he began to whistle. Things were right in his world now that the Rat Patrol was back.