The Handle With Care Raid
By: AliasCWN
Chapter 2
Hitch stopped next to the jeep to stare down at his sergeant. Troy was still unconscious.
"We'll keep him in our jeep so that I can support him." Moffitt explained, stepping back so that Hitch could check on the sergeant.
Hitch nodded wordlessly and went to his jeep. He wasn't about to argue with Moffitt. Sarge was better off in Tully's jeep. Hitch knew the others would take good care of him.
He knew his facial expression had revealed his worry; he just hoped it hadn't revealed the guilt he felt. Moffitt hadn't blamed him and seemed convinced that Troy wouldn't either, but he blamed himself. In his head Hitch knew he had done everything right. They all knew the risks they took. Every one of them was capable of taking care of themselves. Getting hurt on a mission was an acceptable risk, one they took every time they left the base. They even expected someone to get hurt from time to time. Hitch knew all about that because he was usually the one who got hurt. He wasn't careless, or clumsy, or even reckless, he just had a tendency to be unfortunate enough to be the one to get wounded. But the others always took care of him, making sure he was safe and got the help he needed.
His head said he had done what needed to be done; he had killed the German and carried Troy to safety. He had needed Tully and Moffitt's help at the end but he had done his best. He had gotten Troy far enough that the others were in a position to help. They would get the sergeant to a doctor. He knew that without a doubt; but he kept hearing Moffitt's voice saying 'I don't know.' Troy had to make it, he just had to!
Hitch went to keep watch. As he stood on the top of the boulder and stared out over the desert he thought about Troy.
He knew he had been the cause of a lot of worry for the sergeant. Every time he got hurt he could see the worry on the sergeant's face. When the shrapnel had hit him in the belly, ending up next to an artery, the sergeant had insisted on taking him to a German field hospital for medical care. The other two had insisted on going along, but the original idea had been Troy's. Troy had even been willing to face the danger alone to get him help.
It was Troy who had killed the German soldiers in the ammo depo after they had shot him with an arrow. And Troy who had helped him back to the building after he got shot going after a trapped dog.
He had helped to save Troy from a court martial but only after he had gotten hurt and left Troy to guard Colonel Beckman and Captain Seidel alone. The sergeant wouldn't have been in that situation if he hadn't let him down in the first place.
They counted on each other for their very survival. It wasn't just the assignments, or the fact that they were assigned to the same unit. Troy took care of them, all of them. Hitch began to wonder what would happen to them if Troy didn't survive. He didn't want to think about it, the sergeant was a friend, a close friend, and he didn't want to lose him.
As he stood looking out over the desert he thought about the other soldiers he occasionally worked with or socialized with in the desert campaign. They mostly seemed content to be where they were. It seemed to him that it would be boring to sit around waiting for something to happen. Waiting for an attack on the base or for the Allied command to launch an attack on the Germans was not for him. He liked the action, the freedom to roam the desert and look for the enemy, not wait for them to find him. Being assigned to the Rat Patrol was so much better than he had ever expected. He liked and respected every other man in the unit. They were like the brothers he had never had. They might get on each other's nerves from time to time but he always knew that they had his back no matter what.
He smiled as he thought of Troy. The sergeant could be gruff and bossy, demanding even, but he never pushed the others as hard as he pushed himself. Hitch glanced back toward the jeep and said a prayer that Troy would survive. He could hear Moffitt speaking to Tully in a low tone.
Turning back to the desert, Hitch was determined to make sure that no one caught them off guard. If anyone was out there, he would make sure that they had time to get Troy in the clear.