Chapter Four
A few more days had passed, and still no call from Thompson. Charlie and Scott were starting to get worried that all the blood and sweat was for nothing. However, the wait had allowed Charlie to completely heal up and was as good as new. The wait wasn't good for Scott though; he was slowly losing it.
The rain was pouring loudly and caused a drowsy effect on everyone. No one wanted to have a beer. Scott was sitting at one of the tables, leaning back and forth. He could feel that some of the times he might fall backwards, but he didn't show it off.
Lot's of thoughts were going through Scott's mind. Like, how he was sober on such a pathetic day. The deal with the barkeep was still in effect, because of Thompson.
Scott heard footsteps coming from behind him.
"Thompson just called," it was Charlie.
"Really?" Scott put his feet on the ground.
Charlie took a seat across from him, "Yeah. He says that we should go tonight. Even if it's still raining."
Scott wasn't pleased, "What are we supposed to do till then? Why can't we go now? I'm too bored for this shit."
"Stupid. Even though it's raining, it's still broad day. Remember, we are trying to keep a low profile."
"Yeah. Whatever, you don't have to remind me. I'm just so sick of this waiting shit," Scott put his feet back up on the table.
Charlie got up and began to walk away.
"Hey, where are you goin?" Scott asked.
"I'm going to go lay down, and maybe read a little. You should get some sleep too, it might be a long night," He continued walking away.
"Yeah, whatever."
Scott continued to rock back and forth for about fifteen minutes till Lu came up. He gave an interested look at her as she sat down across from him and put a bottle of beer on the table. Scott got off the table and put his feet back on the floor.
"For you," she said.
"But, what about the deal between me and the fag?" Scott asked.
"Don't worry, I paid this one myself," she smiled and pushed it towards Scott.
Scott smiled and opened it up and took a big hefty drink, then sighed with relief.
Something seemed to have hit him and he looked back at her, "What do you want?"
"What?"
"You heard me, what do you want?" Scott leaned closer to her.
Lu took a moment to respond, "Well, since it's raining and it looks like nobody's coming in for a while. I was wondering if you could tell me the story of how you met Charlie."
"Mm-Hmm," Scott took another drink, "You really want to know?"
"Yes," she said staring at him.
There was a moment of silence as Scott listened to the rain poor.
"Okay, you wanna know. I'll tell ya," Scott put down the bottle and took a breath.
"Back, right when I joined the war. I would say I was a good eighteen or nineteen years old. I was one of the top marksmen and I was under the third hundred and second squad, along with my father.
"God, I would have to say, there at least had to be one hundred to one hundred fifty of us walking down what used to be the Mississippi River. We were a fresh squad that hadn't yet tasted a battle. We were sent to patrol the Mississippi River because it was a pretty dead place. The people that sent us there couldn't have imagined what would happen.
"Of course it was hot and humid and hell under the thirty pounds of gear that I was wearing, but I kept pushin on. After about thirty to forty miles of just straight marching, the squad leader…my father decided to take a break. Everyone was glad there was no fighting yet, and they got the chance to take a rest.
"Just as I was about to ask my father a question, I heard a gun shot. Kinda like a sniper shot. The bullet hit a private next to me and his head blew open. I can still feel to this day, the brains of that man splattered on my face.
"My father yelled the squad to fight, but we were resting so we were taken off guard. Many men died before we even were ready to fight back, and when we were it didn't help any.
"Of course, none of the bullets hit me and when I grabbed my AK I was ready for the fuckers. I dodged from tree to tree and under rocks. Around bushes, and out in the open. I was untouchable. I can't even believe it myself that I didn't get hit. And I took a good lot of them out too.
"Well I started to get cocky over this and let my guard down. A man came up from behind me with a magnum and my father noticed him. My dad jumped in the path of the bullets and as I turned around from the surprise I saw half of his head get blown off.
"The man who had killed him, had released all of his shells into the body and I ran at him with my knife before he could reload. I ripped him to shreds in the worst ways imaginable. Ways I couldn't even describe without making you sick. All I can tell you is he died in extreme pain. Then I-"
"That's horrible," Lu interrupted.
"Hey, do you want me to tell you the rest of this story or not?" Scott took another drink.
"Yes, please. I'm sorry," she closed her mouth and watched him.
"Okay, well. Then I grabbed my AK, ready for more. However, when I looked I notice that their army had grown. It was a battle of at least four thousand against fifty. Since my father had died, I was now in command. I called a retreat and everyone tried their best to run.
"I remember running with people and seeing out of the corner of my eye, each one getting picked off. However, I just kept running till my heart almost exploded. I couldn't run anymore, if I wanted to stay alive. So I looked around for something to hide myself in. That's when I noticed this really big tree with a lot of branches.
"I climbed up the tree quickly and hid up there, regaining my breath. After about five minutes or maybe less, I started feeling better and was about to drop down the tree to continue running. Right before I dropped though, I heard coming footsteps. I took out my knife and put it in between my teeth and sat waiting for the moment to strike. Just as the person came under me I dropped and landed right on him. Taking my knife and holding it to his neck.
"It turned out that the person was one of our own. I quickly let go of him and helped him up. I asked him his name and he said he was Charlie Threlkeld. I told him my name and my rank and nothing else. I didn't ask anything else either, cause we were in a hostile area.
"Both of us ran until we found this cave that was pretty deep. The rain began to fall, just like outside, so we took shelter. It was the coldest night I can ever remember, but I remember asking him questions, and letting him ask questions. To take our minds off of the shit predicament.
"I told him all about my father and everything that ever happened in my life. Like how long I had been in the army. Where I lived, and I told him about you."
"Me?" Lu asked.
"Yeah, you," Scott continued, "He then told me about his life. How his parents had always tried to make him be a more active person. Cause even back then Charlie was a super book nerd. He told me that his mom and dad had gone into service too, as doctors for the three hundred and second squad.
"I knew by the tone of his voice when he said that, that he knew they were dead. I didn't bother asking any more about his parents. After a brief moment of pause he told me more about his life.
"The next day, the sun was shining and any feelings of war or battle had washed themselves away. Me and Charlie grabbed our stuff, which wasn't much because we had to drop it all. Thirty pounds is too much to sprint miles with.
"Since we had no money, or belongings we went to work as mercenaries. We knew the military wouldn't take us back because of the failure. Plus, we didn't want to go back into that shit-hole war anyway.
"So, I was only in war for a good two years out of the three or four I was missing. All me and Charlie did was go from town to town as the war worsened. Trying to get our selves back here. Since I had connections here and all.
"Well, we met a lot of fucked up people, that's all I can say. You wanna know the stories about them, your gonna have to get me more beer. Anyway, from then on, me and Charlie have been working together like pros. Charlie gets the info and tries to help me get it done. I do most of the dirty work, but it's okay."
Lu was silent for a moment as Scott finished his beer.
"Wow, I never knew," Lu said.
"Well, now you do," Scott replied.
"Thanks for the story," Lu said.
"No prob," Scott leaned back in the chair.
Lu got up and grabbed a broom and got to work while Scott just stared at the ceiling staring. He twiddled his thumbs, then thought, would his father be proud of the path he chose?
The night grew quickly upon them and Charlie woke up from his long nap. He walked out into the bar and rubbed his eyes. He let a yawn as he scanned for Scott. Scott was still leaned back, sitting by himself, dozing.
Charlie walked up to him, "Hey, wake up partner. It's time."
Scott opened his eyes, "Okay."
Lu gave a beer to a drunken man and looked up. She saw Scott and Charlie walk out of the bar, and felt somewhat left out.