Chapter Seven—You'll Come A-Waltzing…
Hank's POV
19 May 42
I watch as Gage slips silently into the camp. I see two men fall, and the chilling thing about it is, they never make a sound. He drags them behind some rocks, and just as quickly, he is back with the two uniforms. I know he has slit their throats, but there is no sign of blood on either uniform. His expression is completely impassive as he hands the uniforms over and makes his report.
"I got a chance to peek into the tent. Stoker is in very bad shape. I could barely see him, but he is bleeding badly, from his wrist or his arm…. Something is very wrong. Something more than what they did to him, I think. You must hurry if you want to save him. I don't think he has much time left." Only then am I allowed to see the sadness in his chocolate eyes, and the anger. The mask falls firmly into place once again; and I realize what the Brainiac must have done. And I am furious and horrified and panicked all at the same time. I quickly regain control, and we return to the men.
DeSoto and I hustle into the uniforms, as I fill him in on Gage's observations. He frowns and puts a few items in his pockets, and our ruse begins. Gage and Kelly take their places as our "prisoners," and we march them towards the camp, praying this plan works. Lopez has hidden himself as close as he dares, burrowing down close to the edge of the field where the sentries are keeping watch. He had taken the precaution of rolling in the mud, so he is fairly hard to see. As long as he doesn't smile, he should be okay. That's not a joke…more than one camouflaged man has been shot when he opened his mouth and the enemy caught sight of his teeth.
Fortunately, my German is pretty good, so I was able to make the first part of our ruse work, as two soldiers called to us and came out cautiously from the camp. I offered the two prisoners to them, by telling them I was looking for an American I was supposed to pick up from a camp in the area. Told them I would trade for him. They didn't fall for it, as I knew they wouldn't, but all this time, we had been slowly inching towards the camp. In a matter of moments, we were close enough to reach our targets.
As planned, DeSoto and I dropped down and headed for the tent as Lopez, Kelly, and Gage opened up on the camp. The three outer sentries were dealt with by Lopez, as planned. I glanced back once, and was amazed at the incredible accuracy displayed by the two sharpshooters. Neither missed a single target as they calmly took out every single soldier in that camp, firing in tandem. They worked as if they had been teamed together for years—a very deadly team. I would never underestimate any of my men again. Now, we had to get Stoker out of this hellhole. We finally reach the tent, and as I enter, I get my first look at my best friend—and my heart nearly stops. "Oh, my God…" I whisper.
Mike's POV
I had been semi-conscious for quite a while, I think. I knew the Shadow-man was due, but not yet. There was suddenly a lot of gunfire, and it made me wonder if he was back—if maybe the soldiers here had made him mad and he had shot them. It was possible…
I figure he's going to be plenty mad at me for ruining all his pretty plans…as my eyes drift closed again, I hear a familiar voice, and I smile, thinking I must be dead for sure.
"Hey, dumbass, whaddaya done to yourself now?"
I smile, but can't respond. Too dry. Too sick. Too late. I think I'm dying…
I can sense his presence to one side of me, while on the other side of me; someone is attempting to turn me onto my side. I groan without meaning to, but it's just too painful.
A quiet, reassuring voice. "Cap, help me. We gotta get these cuffs off him. I've got to get that stick out of his arm and get the bleeding stopped quick!"
And that is when I fade back into peaceful oblivion…at least he's here.
Hanks's POV
There's no key for the cuffs handy, but I have an idea. "Go tell Johnny to come here." DeSoto shoots me a look for a moment, but obeys immediately.
In less than a minute, John is there, looking at me quizzically. "I have an idea you might be able to get these off him." I tell him flatly. He glances at the cuffs, and then asks for one of my rank pins. I give it to him, and in less than thirty seconds, Mike's hands are free, and the pin is back in my hand. He smiles crookedly. "I'll go rig a travois to haul him with. It'll be ready in ten." And without another word, he leaves.
Shaking his head as he watched our mysterious Shadow leave, Roy set to work on trying to do what he could for Mike. "He is in bad shape, Cap. I think I've got the bleeder in his arm under control, but I don't know how much blood he lost for sure. Plus, he's taken an awful lot of abuse here. Not really sure what all's wrong. We probably won't really know till we get him checked out at a hospital."
"Get him as ready to go as you can. I'll have the others gather up whatever supplies we can scavenge, and then we'll head out. We'd be smart just to keep heading north. We're close to the border up here. The Allies aren't that far away. If we can signal them, then we can get some help for Mike, and maybe keep our tails out of a crack in the process."
Suddenly, the sound of a Jeep pulling up and gunfire breaks out in front of the camp. The next sound was that of vicious hand-to-hand combat going on right in front of the tent. I grabbed my rifle and peeked out to see what was happening. A blond man nearly twice Gage's size was squared off with him in the clearing in front of the tent. The men's escorts were lying around the clearing. They didn't look as if they would be moving anytime soon. Kelly was now sporting a large gash across his bloody shirt, apparently having been hit by gunfire. He didn't seem particularly fazed, however, just angry.
The blond had a pistol in his right hand. Gage's left fist was closed around his dagger. The blond was taunting Gage in German. Gage was doing the same, in Lakota. Suddenly, we all sensed the change in him. He was no longer a Marine: he was Shadow, a Lakota Warrior. And he was not just intent on counting coup on his enemy. He would kill this one with his bare hands…and it would not be pretty. And there was nothing anyone could do to stop him. And if I was honest, I didn't want to. I knew, somehow, that this was the man who had hurt Mike; the one who had driven him to the point of trying to take his own life.
I turned to the others, and gave my orders. I spotted the travois Gage and Lopez had completed. "DeSoto, you and Lopez, get Stoker ready. Kelly, you okay?"
Still intent on the battle, Kelly replied, "Yes, sir. Just a crease. I'll take care of it later."
"See that you do. Haul as many rations and supplies as you can. Fit whatever you can on the travois without making Stoker too uncomfortable. Make sure the others have packs as well. "Pack up and move out. Shadow," I saw him slant his eyes toward me. "Catch up."
A slight nod of acknowledgement. We turned and marched away from that camp, and not one of us looked back. I know, because I had Kelly take point, and I was on drag, just in case Shadow needed me, although I knew he wouldn't…
About twenty minutes later, there came a blood-curdling scream, followed by a victor's cry, shouted in Lakota. If anything, that sound was even more chilling than the scream had been. We continued our march in silence, with Mike still unconscious on the travois. When Shadow silently caught up to us about a half-hour later; it was if nothing, and everything; had changed.
TBC
