The Handle With Care Raid

By; AliasCWN

Chapter 1

Tully and Moffitt waited by the jeeps, checking their watches ever few minutes. The other two members of their team were overdue and they were beginning to worry. In order to save time they had split into two groups to accomplish the mission; an attempt to blow Dietrich's ammunition and his armored vehicles. It was going to be light soon and they needed to get clear before the detonations alerted the Germans to their presence. Dietrich was going to be upset when he found out what they had done, to say the least.

"I see something Sarge!"

"Don't call me Sarge." Moffitt answered automatically. "Where?" He crowded closer to Tully so he could look over his shoulder.

"One o'clock. I know I saw something."

"Both of them?"

"I only saw a flash of movement. I couldn't tell what it was." Tully explained with a shake if his head. "Either they were real close together or there was only one of them…if it was even them." He studied the spot where he had seen the movement. "Maybe it wasn't them. I couldn't be sure."

"It had better be them." Moffitt answered, glancing at this watch again. "We're almost out of time."

"Something must have happened to them. Only reason they'd be this late." Tully drawled, shifting his matchstick.

"There! There I saw movement!" Moffitt whispered urgently. "Along that building next to that wagon."

Tully strained his eyes to catch any flicker of movement. The desert was dark, the stars, and moon hiding behind a thick cover of clouds. The base was dark too. Dietrich knew better than to allow lights to give away the guards' positions. The moon peeked out through a hole in the clouds for the briefest of time, casting shadows across the distance between the base and the waiting men.

A dark form ducked down next to a building looking bulky and clumsy. Both men concentrated on the spot, waiting to identify the shape until they could get another look. Hands gripping their weapons tightly, they strained their eyes for any more movement. The base alarm sounded, startling both of them. At the first blare of the siren the dark form by the building rose up and ran for the darkness outside of the base perimeter. The darkness still made it hard to be sure but both men were convinced that it was Troy or Hitchcock.

"Tully, bring a jeep! I'll give them cover until you get here."

Tully didn't answer, he just ran as hard as he could for the hidden vehicles. Grabbing the corners of the netting covering the jeep he gave it a yank. He threw the netting onto the second jeep and ran around the vehicle to slide behind the wheel. He drove back toward the base, pausing only long enough for Moffitt to leap into the back.

The 50 caliber muzzle dropped next to his shoulder and he reached up one-handed to pull the dust cover. Moffitt cleared the chamber before they broke cover and drove out into the glare of the search lights.

The guards had turned the search lights on as soon as the siren blared. At first they had searched the ground inside the base. Seeing nothing to cause alarm, they had turned their beams to light up the open area around the perimeter of the base. Their lights had caught the movement racing toward the darkness beyond their reach. A few warning shots from a machine gun had stopped the runner.

Tully and Moffitt burst from cover to see Hitch standing facing the search lights. The limp form of Sergeant Troy hung across his shoulder. He still held his weapon, watching a small group of German soldiers racing to overtake him.

The Germans paused when they saw the jeep. Forgetting Hitch and Troy for the moment, they aimed at Tully and Moffitt.

Moffitt's 50 caliber machine gun cut them down where they stood bunched together. With any survivors ducking for cover, Moffitt turned his gun on the soldiers along the base wall. Hitch fired a burst at one in particular before he turned to run again.

Tully brought the jeep to a sliding stop next to his teammate. Using another machine gun to help give them cover, he waited as Hitch gently placed Troy in the front seat next to Tully. Hitch jumped onto the hood and the jeep took off in a burst of speed. Moffitt continued to fire the 50 to keep the Germans busy. Gunfire from the Germans followed them into the darkness beyond the search lights. The motor of the jeep was so quiet that the Germans could no longer hear it or follow its progress and they soon lost track of it.

Tully drove back to the other jeep and helped Hitch uncover it while Moffitt took a quick look at Troy.

"How is he Doc?"

Moffitt looked up from the other sergeant and frowned. "Bad; the bleeding hasn't stopped. Get us out of here and find us a place where I can bandage it."

"Right Sarge." Hitch nodded, climbing into this jeep and taking off in a hurry. Behind them the charges they had planted began to detonate. Some of the blasts seemed to come from closer than the base.

"Sounds like they found some of the charges on the halftracks the hard way." Moffitt yelled over the wind as they drove.

Tully nodded that he heard but he didn't bother to answer. As far as he was concerned that just meant fewer Germans to chase them. He glanced over at his unconscious passenger and pressed harder on the gas pedal.

As the sound of pursuit fell behind them Moffitt reached forward and steadied Troy. The other sergeant was swaying dangerously in his seat, nearly falling out every time Tully swerved around a rock or hole. Tully was doing his best to avoid any fast moves or bumps but night driving was inherently dangerous, even without a wounded passenger.

"Hitch, I think we lost them! Find us a place to stop!"

The blond slowed and began to look for a suitable spot. They drove on for another mile before he swerved off the road and headed across the open desert. A few hundred yards off the road they came to a stand of boulders atop a hill that were large enough to hide two small jeeps.

"What happened?" Moffitt demanded as soon as the jeeps stopped.

Hitch jumped from his jeep and ran to the side of his wounded sergeant. "We finished planting our charges and were on our way back when a couple of guards decided to sneak off for a smoke. We had to wait for them to finish their cigarettes; only they hung around and talked for a few minutes after they were done." Hitch explained, his eyes on the lax form of his sergeant. "Sarge said we had to hurry or we'd get trapped on the base. We were coming around a corner, Sarge was leading, and this soldier stepped out of a door. Sarge jumped him and knocked him to the ground but he pulled a knife. He stabbed Sarge before I could get around Sarge to help. I dumped his body in an alley and carried Sarge the rest of the way." Hitch sent a beseeching look at the British sergeant. "He's going to be all right isn't he?"

Moffitt didn't look up from his task as he answered. "The bleeding has stopped but I don't know how much internal damage was done. All I can do is bandage it up and try to control any fever until we can get him to a real doctor. I gave him some sulfa to help prevent infection and a little morphine to keep him comfortable. We'll get him to a hospital as soon as we can."

"I should have reacted faster." Hitch moaned.

"I'm sure that you did your best Hitch. I have no doubt that Troy would say the same if he were awake."

"He's got to be okay Doc." The blond groaned.

Moffitt glanced over at the worried private. He couldn't see too well in the darkness but he was sure the young soldier was close to tears. "Why don't you go stand guard while Tully and I do what we can?"

"All right Doc, I won't let anybody sneak up on us."

"I'm sure you won't Hitch. I'll call you when we are ready to leave."

The blond nodded and took a machine gun to climb onto one of the boulders. Straining to see into the dark desert, he listened and watched for any visitors that weren't welcome.

"Tully, bring the light a little closer."

Tully stepped closer with the flashlight. Using his jacket, he shielded the light so that it couldn't be seen outside of the boulders.

"A little to your left Tully, I need to see if there are any more cuts."

Tully shifted the light. Troy's shirt was soaked in blood and it was hard to tell if there was one wound or several. Hitch had only reported one but in a knife fight in the dark, he may have missed seeing one. Moffitt moved Troy's shirt, looking for holes in the material.

"I think Hitch is right, it looks like only one wound."

Tully sighed. It looked like an awful lot of blood for a single knife wound. "Will he be all right then?"

"I don't know Tully." Moffitt responded with a shake of his head. "I've bandaged it and the bleeding has stopped. I just don't know what will happen now. Troy is strong and you know how stubborn he can be." The British sergeant wet his hands and cleaned them. He repacked the medical kit and stowed it under the jeep seat.