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

Author's note: "My Peace" is a poem written by Woody Guthrie in 1952 and put to music by his son Arlo Guthrie in the early to mid-2000s. It's a beautiful song. Check it out on YouTube.

My Peace

By Suzie2b

Allied and German troops had been pounding each other day and night for a month. The wounded had been flowing in from field hospitals into the hospital at Ras Tanura and others steadily since the barrage started. The medical staff had been working in twelve-hour shifts with little rest in between.

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Charley groaned when the alarm went off at 3am. Tully reached up and turned it off, saying, "This is ridiculous. You can't keep going with only three or four hours of sleep at a time."

Charley crawled over her husband, kissing him as she passed. "You know Captain Boggs has assigned a lot of none medical personnel to help where needed at the hospital. I am one of those people. Hopefully things will settle down soon."

Tully listened to her move around in the dark until he heard her smack her toes against the dresser as she got her underwear and cursed under her breath. He flipped on the small lamp and said, "But you're exhausted and I doubt you're taking time to eat more than once a day … if that."

Charley quickly got dressed. "Everyone in medical is in the same boat, love."

"But I'm not married to everyone else. I'm married to you, and I worry you'll end up getting sick."

Charley sat down on the bed to put on her socks and boots. "Vicky and Lois are making sure everyone gets a chance to take breaks during their shift and insists that everyone take time to eat something. So don't worry."

Tully pulled Charley down into a kiss, then said, "That's easy for you to say."

Charley smiled as she stood up and put her hair in a ponytail before she reset the alarm clock. "Go back to sleep. You don't have to be up for a few hours yet." She turned off the lamp and headed out the door. "I love you."

"Love you too, sweetheart." Tully listened as the door closed with a soft click and the key turned in the lock. He rolled onto his side with a sigh, but didn't do more than doze until the alarm went off again.

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The assignment the Rat Patrol had been given entailed locating German supply routes and destroying any convoys suppling the German side of the barrage. It had not been an easy task. For every convoy they stopped, another would get through via another route that they hadn't yet discovered.

After their most recent attack to stop a convoy, they were taking a break in the shadow of some rocky hills. They could hear the barrage in the distance – it sounded like rolling thunder. Hitch was on watch while Tully handed K-ration lunches to Troy and Moffitt.

Moffitt smiled and asked the private, "How's Charley doing working in medical?"

Tully sighed. "She's doing okay. She's helped out in medical before, but not on this scale."

"You're worried about her?"

"Yeah, some. Charley's only been getting a few hours' sleep between twelve-hour shifts. She's exhausted."

Troy said, "Let's hope we can find that other supply route the Germans are using. If we do that, it's game over and we all can get some sleep."

Tully nodded, then turned to take lunch out to Hitch.

After eating, Troy and Moffitt went over the maps trying to determine where that supply line was. As he pointed to various places on the map, Moffitt said, "We've taken out convoys and shut down their routes here, here, and here … but there has to be one more route we're missing. Somehow the Germans are still getting supplies through."

Hitch showed up, having left Tully on watch, and stowed the trash in the jeep and heard what the sergeant said. Hitch said, "You know. I've been thinking about that."

Troy smiled slightly. "You have, huh."

"What if they're coming through the mountains? There must be a pass somewhere they could use to sneak through."

Moffitt looked at the map again. "He might have something there, Troy."

Troy shook his head. "But that would mean taking a lot longer getting to their destination."

Hitch said, "What if the supplies are being parachuted in and the trucks are only going between the pass and the camp."

Moffitt pointed to two separate passes. "Look here. They could use either of these. They're only a few kilometers apart. Both are far enough away as to draw no attention to a plane dropping supplies. Once the trucks are loaded and head over the pass it's a straight shot to where the Germans have dug in for the barrage. Wouldn't take them more than a day to get there and back."

Troy nodded. "Okay, we'll check it out. Hitch and I will take Jubel Pass, you and Tully check Atkar Pass. We'll keep in touch with the walkies."

Tully hurried over to the others and said, "There's a German scout column coming this way. They probably found that convoy we hit earlier."

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At Jubel Pass, Troy and Hitch surveyed the route from a cliff. There was no sign of any movement. They drove down into the pass and a few kilometers in each direction. They found nothing.

Troy sighed. "Looks like no one's been through here for a long time."

Hitch nodded. "There's no sign of any kind of tire tracks."

"I hope Moffitt and Tully are having better luck."

In fact, they did have better luck. Moffitt and Tully were overlooking Atkar Pass from a cliff with the sun at their backs so they were less likely to be seen. There was a German camp set up and trucks sitting in the pass, obviously waiting for something.

Moffitt said into the walkie-talkie, "Troy, I believe we've found it."

Troy's voice came back, "Good, we've got nothing here. Where are you?"

"A cliff on the west side of the pass."

"Okay, we'll take the east side. Start setting charges on your side. I'll let you know when we're ready to blow it."

Several hours passed. Tully set charges while Moffitt kept an eye on the goings on below. A German Arado Ar 232 cargo plane made an appearance and dropped its load into the pass.

Tully returned to the jeep trailing detonator cord. "I used everything we had. We'll be set as soon as I hook up the detonator."

Moffitt nodded. "Good. I'll let Troy know." He keyed the walkie and said, "Troy, we're hooking up the detonator now."

The sergeant's voice came back, "Right. We just need another minute."

Moffitt noticed that the convoy was moving out. "You'd better hurry. They're pulling out."

Just as the trucks started through Troy gave the signal and both sides of the pass exploded. Boulders fractured and fell away from the cliff faces. Tons of dirt and rock rained down to bury the leading trucks. Atkar Pass would never be used again.

However, the cliff where Moffitt and Tully were crumbled further up than expected. Tully felt the earth moving under him and pushed Moffitt back as he scramble to try to get ahold of something solid. The sergeant quickly crawled forward to grab the private's outstretched hand and felt Tully's fingers slip through his.

When it was all over Moffitt peered over the edge to see Tully half buried on a ledge about fifteen feet below.

Troy's voice sounded concerned when he asked, "What happened? You two all right?"

Moffitt scrambled for the walkie-talkie and said, "The cliff fractured further up than expected. Tully went down."

"We're on our way."

When Troy and Hitch got there a few minutes later Moffitt was securing a rope to the front of the jeep and said anxiously, "Bring the rope from your jeep."

Hitch grabbed it out of the back as Troy went to the edge of the cliff. He looked over and saw Tully lying motionless below. "Has he moved at all?"

Moffitt had instructed Hitch to tie the two ropes together and then joined Troy. "No, he hasn't. There's no way to know how stable that ledge is."

Troy looked at the surviving men and trucks as they quickly headed back the way they'd come.

Hitch had the two ropes securely tied together and coiled when he looked over the edge at his friend. He dropped the coiled rope and watched it fall. "I'll go."

Moffitt started, "No, I…"

Hitch frowned. "I said I'll go."

Moffitt could tell there would be no argument. "All right. Let's get ready."

When Hitch got down to Tully he quickly and carefully pushed the dirt and rocks off before gently rolling him onto his back. Tully groaned softly and slowly opened his eyes. Hitch gave him a bit of a smile. "Hey, Tully. Don't move around." He looked at his friend's unfocused eyes. "Are you with me?"

Tully swallowed and replied quietly, "Yeah. Where are we?"

"About fifteen feet down. Do you remember what happened?"

"Cliff gave way. Is Moffitt okay? I tried to push him…"

Hitch assured him, "He's fine. Just worried about you."

Troy called down, "How is he?"

"He's awake! Gimme a minute to check him over!" Hitch found a bloody gash on Tully's right knee and there was another on his left arm. There was a cut above his right eye and there would no doubt be plenty of bruising all over along with the multitude of small cuts and scrapes. Hitch checked carefully, but found no broken bones. "Okay, let's sit you up. Just go slow." Tully sat up with a groan and Hitch asked, "How're you doin'?"

Tully squeezed his eyes shut and said, "I'll let ya know soon as the world stops spinnin'."

"Where's it hurt?"

"Everywhere."

Hitch asked, "How's your back?"

Tully opened his eyes. "Sore … but it's okay."

"How about your head?"

"Hurts, but the dizziness is startin' to clear."

Hitch called up to the sergeants, "He's doing all right so far! Doesn't look like anything's broken!"

Troy and Moffitt both breathed a sigh of relief and Troy said, "Okay, let's get you both up here!"

Hitch tied the rope around Tully's chest, under his arms. Then he tied himself to Tully's back and put his arms around him. "Just hang on, Tully. We'll be outta here in a jiffy."

Moffitt slowly backed the jeep up with Troy watching Hitch and Tully's progress. When they reached the top, Hitch supported Tully while Troy untied the ropes. Moffitt hurried to help and Tully asked, "You okay, sarge?"

Moffitt smiled. "I'm fine, Tully."

"Hitch said you were … but I wanted to hear it from you."

As soon as they had Tully loaded into the jeep, they headed out to find a safer place to hide.

An hour later they were in allied territory and the jeeps pulled into a waterhole they knew would be safe for them.

Troy and Moffitt got Tully cleaned up and bandaged while Hitch stood guard. A short time after a morphine injection had allowed Tully to fall asleep, Moffitt went out to where Hitch was.

Hitch glanced at the sergeant. "How's Tully doing?"

Moffitt replied, "He's sleeping. We're going to stay here tonight and go in tomorrow morning." He watched the private for several seconds, then asked, "Why were you so insistent on climbing down after Tully?"

Hitch shrugged. "It was before the barrage started … when we were scouting around that Italian camp. I tripped in the dark and ended up falling into a crevasse between two boulders. It wasn't too far … maybe five or six feet, but Tully was really worried that I might be hurt. He fussed around checking for broken bones and stuff. My own mother never fussed around me that much. I wanted to be mad at him for being that way. Then I realized that it's just the way he is. He cares." Moffitt nodded knowingly. "Then today … seeing Tully down there, not moving … I just had too…"

Moffitt smiled. "I understand, Hitch. Tully's probably got a bit of a concussion, but he's going to be all right. Obviously he could've been hurt a lot worse."

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When they pulled into Ras Tanura midmorning the next day the hospital was still busy. Troy and Hitch got Tully inside, while Moffitt went in search of Charley. She wasn't hard to locate since she was just finishing another twelve hour shift.

After a doctor thoroughly cleaned and re-bandaged Tully's wounds, he was given a shot of penicillin and a pain reliever before he was moved to a cot. He would be staying in the hospital a few days because of the concussion.

With her shift over, Charley sat down next to Tully as he settled in. "Jack told me what happened. I'm lucky I didn't lose you."

Tully smiled and took her hand. "I'm fine. The only reason they're keeping me is because I banged my head."

"You've got a concussion. That's a bit more than a bang."

Changing the subject, Tully asked, "How's it been here?"

Charley sighed. "Still busy. Any luck with the supply routes?"

"Think so, but we won't know for a few days."

Captain Boggs called for an airstrike to block Jubel Pass so the Germans couldn't redirect their convoys. A few days after that the barrage was over. With no incoming supplies there was no way the Germans would be able to hold the line.

The almost constant stream of wounded slowed and then stopped all together as things went back to a more normal state of chaos.

Charley was sitting with Tully waiting for the word that she could take him home. Her twelve hour shifts had ended, but she was still tired beyond words. However, she was determined to stay with her husband that day until the doctor released him.

A private came in to visit a buddy who had lost a leg. He carried a guitar and sat down to visit with his friend before he was transferred to the hospital in Benghazi before being sent home. The two talked quietly for some time and no one really paid them much attention.

Then the private gave a nod, as if agreeing to something. He put the guitar on his knee and began to play. The ward fell silent as he began to sing the two verse song that he'd written while fighting during the barrage.

"My peace my peace is all I've got that I can give to you.

My peace is all I ever had that's all I ever knew.

I give my peace to green and black and red and white and blue.

My peace my peace is all I've got that I can give to you.

"My peace, my peace is all I've got and all I've ever known.

My peace is worth a thousand times more than anything I own.

I pass my peace around and about 'cross hands of every hue;

I guess my peace is justa 'bout all I've got to give to you."

Charley and Tully were listening to the young man's voice with everyone else when Tully felt something hit his hand. He looked to see a drop of liquid on the back of the hand Charley held. Tully smiled and wiped the tears from her face with his hands as she returned the smile, then pulled her into a kiss.

At the end of the second verse the private said to everyone who could hear, "All right. You've heard me sing it. Why don't you all join me? We'll sing it together this time."