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

Penicillin

By Suzie2b

The Rat Patrol's latest assignment was to check out the report of a village being bombed. It had no military connection and it was considered a neutral place. There was no known reason for the bombing and neither German nor Allied forces were taking responsibility. Captain Boggs wanted the Rat Patrol to find out whatever they could.

##################

The tiny village of al-Higaz had consisted of maybe a dozen homes and perhaps sixty people at most. When the two jeeps rolled into the village the four men could see there was little left. Most of the mudbrick houses were burned out and even after several days, the straw used to bind the bricks still smoldered in some. Others had collapsed. There were no signs of life.

They got out of the jeeps and Troy said, "Take a look around, but keep your eyes open. We don't know for sure if we're alone."

Moffitt looked around. "There's no signs of military activity anywhere. This wasn't a bombing."

"It sure wasn't. That spotter plane reported extensive smoke. He must've assumed it was from a military attack."

"Something obviously happened and al-Higaz got caught in the middle."

Troy surveyed the area. "But where are the bodies? There had to be at least a few casualties."

Hitch called, "Hey, sarge! Come take a look!"

Troy and Moffitt quickly followed the private to where Tully was standing. There were mounds of dirt and grave markers.

Moffitt walked among them reading what was written in Arabic on the markers. He said solemnly, "Most of these are mass graves. Whole families lost." He pointed to one marker that was set apart from the others. "There are five Tuaret and five Bedouin. It says they are 'Buried together to fight to the end of time.' This village belonged to neither tribe. The Tuarets and Bedouins have been at odds for a long time."

Tully asked quietly, "So these tribes bring their war into a peaceful village and start fighting?"

"This was a neutral place. A place to barter goods where this isn't supposed to happen. It's hard to say what set them off to cause it."

Hitch said, "Well, there must've been some survivors. Someone had to bury the dead."

Moffitt nodded. "Yes. Then they took what they could salvage and dispersed into the desert."

"Wouldn't they have stayed together?"

"Possibly, but it's not as likely as you'd think. It depends on who survived."

Troy sighed. "Well, we've got the information Captain Boggs wants. It wasn't the Allies or the Germans. We may as well start back to base. We'll stop when it gets dark and go in tomorrow."

As they walked back to the jeeps, a shot rang out and Tully was knocked off his feet. Troy spun around and sprayed one of the homes with machine gun fire. He and Moffitt went carefully to the doorway and looked inside.

Moffitt went to the body they found there and checked for a pulse. There was none. He stood up and said, "With those burns and infections he wouldn't have survived much longer anyway. That's why he was left behind."

Troy nodded. "Yeah." He picked up the rifle the man had used. "Looks like a Fusil Gras M80. It's not in very good shape. Look at the rust."

Moffitt picked up several cartridges. "This ammunition looks to be in just as bad of shape as the rifle." Thinking of his friend being shot by any weapon was bad enough. Thinking of him being shot by one of these rusty bullets was even worse. "We'd better get back to Tully."

Back outside they found Tully sitting up pressing his hand against his bloodied right arm and Hitch standing watch over him. Troy and Moffitt hurried over and Hitch asked, "Did you get him?"

Troy replied, "Yeah, I got him."

Moffitt knelt next to Tully and carefully moved his hand off the wound. "Let me have a look."

Tully hissed and gritted his teeth. "It really burns."

"I'm not surprised. The bullet went through. Bone doesn't feel broken. Can you walk?"

"Yeah."

Moffitt helped him to his feet. "Let's go get a med kit."

While the sergeant worked on Tully's arm, Hitch kept watch in the back of the jeep and Troy checked out the houses left standing for any other possible survivors. Not finding any, he returned to the jeeps just as Hitch said, "We've got company."

A German patrol was coming their way. It stopped suddenly as Troy checked it out with binoculars. What he assumed was their commanding officer was looking back at him with his own binoculars. Less than thirty seconds later, the commander raised his arm and waved a white flag.

Troy grabbed a slightly smudged white rag out of the back of the jeep and handed it to Hitch. "Let's see what they want."

Hitch took the rag. "You sure?"

"Talking is better than shooting."

After waving their own white flag, they watched as the patrol moved forward into the ruins. A German captain and one of his men exited one of the three halftracks and walked over to the jeeps. "I am Captain Haag. We have come to check the reports that this village was attacked … possibly by some of our own people."

"Sergeant Troy. We're here for the same reason."

Moffitt joined Troy and said, "It wasn't an army that attacked this place. Apparently it was warring tribes. The village just somehow got caught in the middle."

Captain Haag said, "It is good to know that neither side is responsible. I know this village was a peaceful and welcoming place. It is a shame."

"Yes, it is."

"I see you have a wounded man. May I offer assistance?"

Troy said, "It isn't serious. We've got it under control."

Moffitt asked, "By chance do you have any antibiotics with you? I've used sulfa on the wound, but we've got a ways to go to get to a doctor."

Captain Haag said, "Yes, I understand. We have penicillin." He turned and told the man with him to go get what could be spared.

##################

That night after Moffitt arrived to take over watch, Hitch found Tully rummaging onehanded through a med kit in one of the jeeps. "What are you looking for?"

Tully sighed. "Aspirin."

Hitch took the bag and quickly located the bottle of pills. He noticed Tully grimace every time he moved his injured arm. "Hurting bad?"

Not wanting to admit just how much pain he was in, Tully said, "Yeah, some. It's enough to keep me awake is all."

Hitch shook two pills into his hand and gave them to his friend. He got a canteen and uncapped it before handing it over. "There's a few more hours left of tonight. Try to get some rest. We'll be back at base tomorrow."

Daylight came and coffee was ready. Troy and Moffitt discussed their route and Hitch was making breakfast. Troy looked over to where Tully was lying on a blanket. It was unusual for the private to sleep past sunup when they were on a mission. He thought maybe it was the wound, but it hadn't appear that serious. Hitch brought each of the sergeants a plate of food and Troy said, "You better go wake Tully up. We'll be out of here in about an hour."

Hitch looked at Tully and said, "Right, sarge." He walked over to his fellow private and nudged his leg with his foot. "Time to get up, sleeping beauty." There was no response. Hitch knelt down and gave Tully's left shoulder a shake. "Come on, Tully. Troy wants to…" Then he got a good look at Tully's face. He looked pale and his cheeks were flushed. Hitch put a hand on Tully's forehead, then turned and said, "He's burning up with fever!"

Troy rushed over while Moffitt went for a med kit. Troy put his palm to Tully's forehead and cheek. "Tully? Come on now. Time to wake up." The only response was a soft groan.

Moffitt knelt next to Troy and began to remove the bandage. "When was the last time either of you spoke to him?"

Hitch said, "When you relieved me on watch. I helped him get some aspirin. He said his arm was hurting enough that he couldn't sleep."

With the bandage off Moffitt could see that yellow scabs had formed over the wounds. Tully's arm around the site was a raging red and quite swollen. "I was afraid this might happen. It's from that rusty bullet. There was no way to clean the wounds thoroughly enough. I was hoping the sulfa and penicillin I gave him would be enough to get him back to base before this could happen." Moffitt looked at Hitch. "I'll need hot water."

Tully stirred and opened blurry eyes. "What's goin' on?"

Troy said, "Looks like your arm's infected."

Tully said groggily, "That must be why it hurts so bad."

"You just take it easy. We're going to take care of it and get you to the hospital."

Using hot water and a towel, Moffitt was able to soften the scabs. The slightest touch made Tully squeeze his eyes shut and grit his teeth against the pain.

Finally the wounds opened and began to drain. With a scalpel Moffitt opened each a bit further to help the process along. Troy sat next to his wounded private, holding his hand and letting him squeeze as hard as he needed to without complaint. Hitch was readying the jeeps, but stayed as close as possible in case he was needed for anything.

When as much pus had drained as was possible, Moffitt opened the bottle of alcohol and said, "All right, Tully. I know you hate this, but it's necessary. Are you ready?"

Chills from the fever made Tully shiver as he nodded. Moffitt poured a generous amount of the alcohol over the wounds as Tully dug in his heels and clutched Troy's hand, wishing he could just pass out.

Moffitt allowed Tully's skin to dry, then applied sulfa before putting a clean dressing over the wounds. He then gave the private another dose of penicillin, as well as a shot of morphine.

Troy stood up. "Are the jeeps ready?"

Hitch nodded. "Ready to roll, sarge."

With Tully bundled in blankets in the back of a jeep, they headed for Ras Tanura.

##################

At the base hospital, Tully was in surgery for two hours, then recovery for another half hour. Then he was settled into bed with an IV and Charley seated next to him.

Tully slept for two days as the infection cleared and his fever went down. On the afternoon of the third day, Tully finally opened his eyes. He looked up and saw Charley sitting cross-legged on a chair holding his hand, quietly reading to him. His fingers closed around her hand slightly and when she looked at him, he quietly said, "Hi."

Charley smiled and kissed his knuckles. "Hi, yourself. Nice to see your handsome brown eyes again."

Tully managed a smile. "Guess I'm gonna live, huh?"

"I guess so. How's your arm feel? Any pain?"

"Aches a bit, but it's okay."

Charley started to move to get up. "I'll get a nurse."

Tully's hand tightened around hers. "No, I'm okay for now. Just sit here and be with me for a while."

"I've been here off and on for going on three days."

"Yeah. I know. I could hear you reading."

Charley said, "Moffitt told me what happened. And Dr. Baker said that it was a good thing that German captain had that penicillin. You were pretty sick, and you still have a slight fever, but without that antibiotic…"

Tully kissed his wife's palm. "Shh, it's over now. I'm going to be fine."

Charley sighed, then smiled and said, "Yeah, you will be. I'm just glad that there's at least one German in North Africa that's more willing to help than kill."