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

Bats, Guano, and Lava

By Suzie2b

The Rat Patrol was at an Allied base near the Nigerian border into Niger. Troy and Moffitt were in meetings all week working out plans with three generals for three simultaneous raids in Nazi controlled Niger.

On the second day Hitch and Tully decided to go into the nearby city of Khartoum to look around. They'd heard the market there tended to have some interesting finds.

They were snooping through stalls that held everything from food to knickknacks. Something in one stall caught Hitch's eye so he went to check it out while Tully was at another one.

Hitch and Tully met in the middle of the street a few minutes later – Tully with a slice of watermelon and Hitch with a square of leather.

Tully swallowed before he asked, "What'd ya find?"

Hitch held up the supple leather and said, "A map."

"You're kidding, right?"

"No, look at it. The guy said it would lead us to gold."

Tully nearly choked on another bite of melon as a laugh tried to come out. "Gold? That guy was pullin' your leg."

Hitch shrugged good-naturedly. "The last map I bought turned out to be real. We found those jewels and stuff."

Tully tossed the melon rind on a trash heap and wiped his hands on his pants as they walked along. "So, you think you can get lucky twice?"

"Even if we don't find gold, it'll give us something to do while Troy and Moffitt are in their meetings."

"True. Where are we supposed to find this gold, anyway?"

Hitch replied, "According to this it's an old mine over near the Niger River."

Tully looked at the map and said, "That looks to be maybe two or three hours from here."

"We can get picks, shovels, and whatever else from supply when we go pick up our packs."

Tully looked at his watch. "If we get going, we can be at that mine before dark."

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

Troy and Moffitt entered the quarters they were sharing with Hitch and Tully with tired sighs.

Troy tossed his hat on his bunk and said, "I hate these meetings. All they do is argue. It doesn't feel like we're accomplishing anything."

Moffitt smiled slightly. "Well, it's only been a couple of days. I would say things should start improving beginning tomorrow."

"I hope so." Troy looked around the room as he said, "Hitch and Tully's packs are missing."

Moffitt found a piece of paper on the table. "Here's a note. Apparently Hitch has discovered another map at the market in Khartoum. They're going to be gone a couple of days."

"Where to?"

"Two or three hours west of here, near the Niger River."

Troy shook his head with a smile. "Another treasure hunt. Let's hope they keep themselves out of trouble."

Moffitt said, "Perhaps they'll again be lucky enough to find something."

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

Tully drove the jeep as Hitch navigated using the map. After about an hour, Hitch told Tully to stop and said, "I think we were supposed to turn off back there."

Tully started to turn the jeep around as he said, "I didn't see a road."

"Neither did I, but the map says there's one back there."

Driving slower this time, they backtracked until they found what had to be what the map was showing. It appeared to be little more than a disused track that led into the undergrowth and trees.

Tully leaned over and looked at the map Hitch held. "Think that's it?"

Hitch nodded. "It's got to be. There's nothing else around here."

Tully downshifted the jeep into a lower gear and turned off the main road. It was slow going even for the jeep. Tully commented, "This so-called road obviously hasn't been used recently what with how rutted and overgrown the vegetation is."

Hitch kept his mouth shut while he bounced in the passenger seat as he tried to hang on.

Another hour later, the "road" narrowed until there wasn't any sign of it. Tully switched off the engine and they got out to look around.

Tully sighed and took his helmet off. He ran his fingers through his hair and asked, "Now what?"

Hitch was holding up the map and trying to figure out which way to go. "What's a 'weg'?"

"A what?"

Hitch showed Tully the word printed on the map. "A 'weg'."

Tully said, "In German it means 'trail'."

"Why would just one word be written in German?"

"No idea. Maybe someone had a sense of humor." They looked around in every direction, until Tully finally caught sight of something. He called, "Hey, Hitch! Come take a look at this!"

His friend joined him and asked, "What'd you find?"

Tully pushed some tangled vegetation aside with his foot. "Does that look like a 'weg' to you?"

Hitch also pushed aside the undergrowth to look at the bare ground beneath it. "I would say it looks like a 'weg'."

"Let's take a walk."

They followed the trail for about 1000 yards when it came to what looked like a rock wall with a crazy tangle of vines growing all over it.

Hitch checked the map again. "According to this the mine should be right around here."

Tully stared at the wall for a few seconds, then said, "We're talkin' about a mine, right?" Hitch nodded. "That would mean there should be an entrance. Do you see anywhere an entrance could be?"

Hitch nodded again. "Yeah, right in front of us."

"Yep."

They made their way to the wall and began to remove the climbing vines that were clinging to the rock. Tully used his long knife to cut through the tangle while Hitch yanked them away with his hands. It wasn't long before an entrance appeared.

They stood back and looked at the dark opening and Tully asked, "What do ya think?"

Hitch smiled as he replied, "I think we found our gold mine."

"I'll go bring the jeep up."

"Do you think she can make it through the brush and vines?"

Tully grinned. "Olive can do it. She'll probably be grateful to have something to do other than driving in sand." He handed Hitch his knife and said, "Why don't you start clearing a place to set up camp? I'll give you a hand when I get back."

Hitch started cutting and clearing an area next to the mine's entrance. It wasn't long before he heard the jeep plowing through the undergrowth.

Tully came to a stop in a small area that Hitch had already cleared. "That was kinda fun."

Hitch chuckled as his friend slid out of the jeep. "Want to set up camp first or take a look inside?"

"Let's set up camp. Then we won't have to worry about it."

Together Hitch and Tully finished clearing the area, made a rock ring for a fire, and collected wood.

With those chores out of the way, Hitch got two flashlights and tossed one to Tully. "Ready?"

Tully gave a nod. "Let's do this."

Light from the outside didn't travel inside very far and they had to click on their flashlights almost right away.

Hitch commented, "We've been in caves that didn't seem this dark."

Tully shone his light around as he said, "Those ammo and supply dumps are usually small and have more than one opening. If this has another entrance, it's gotta be pretty far back there."

They stayed close together as they slowly walked deeper into the mine. After a minute, Hitch said, "It feels like the ground is sloping downhill."

"Yeah, it's gradual, but I feel it too."

Hitch turned his light on one wall and said, "Look at that."

Tully put his light where Hitch's was, then followed his friend over to that spot. He put his fingers in some marks in the rough porous rock. "I bet these marks were made with a pickax."

Hitch traced one of the gouged out marks with a finger. "See anything shiny?"

"Nope. Maybe there isn't any gold after all."

"Squeak!"

Hitch frowned a bit as he asked, "What was that?"

Tully listened, but didn't hear anything. "What was what?"

"Squeak! Squeak!"

Hitch whispered, "That."

Tully shined his flashlight further into the mine, but didn't see anything.

"Squeak!"

Hitch moved his light up to the high ceiling. "Um, Tully…"

He looked at Hitch, then followed his friend's line of sight to the ceiling. "Bats."

"They're all over up there. I'd swear they weren't there a second ago."

Tully gently pushed Hitch's light down. "Don't scare 'em. They're makin' their way towards the entrance while they wait for dusk."

Hitch shone the light on his friend's face and asked, "Then what?"

Tully squinted and pushed the light away as he answered, "They go out and spend the night feeding. Haven't you ever seen bats before?"

"I'm a city boy, remember. The only ones I've ever seen were in a zoo."

"Well, let's get outta here. I don't want to get caught inside when they decide to take off."

They moved quickly out into the daylight and Hitch looked at his watch. "It won't be dusk for another couple of hours."

Tully said, "With the trees and all it'll get dark quicker here."

Hitch went to the fire pit and began laying tinder and wood down to start a fire. "How come you know so much about bats?"

"I'm not a city boy. Dad and I would go huntin' up in the hills. There's cave all over up there. We'd camp near one and watch the bats come out just as it would turn dusk."

"How many do you think are in there?"

Tully shrugged as he fished a match out of his shirt pocket and handed it to Hitch. "There could be as few as fifty or less, or there could be thousands. Just depends on how big the cave is. We had about twenty-five livin' in our barn one winter when I was a kid."

Hitch took the match. "Do you think the bats are why the miners left?"

"Probably not, but it would explain why they were working closer to the entrance."

"Why?"

Tully said, "Bats leave behind generous amounts of guano."

Hitch asked, "Guano? What's that?"

"Bat feces. The miners probably found their living quarters and bats aren't good at housekeepin'. The smell alone would've forced them closer to clean air."

Hitch struck the match and lit the dry tinder under the wood. Minutes later they noticed a few bats leave the mine, then a few more … then they suddenly burst out in mass by the hundreds. There were so many they blotted out the sky and trees.

All Hitch could do was say, "Wow!"

Hitch and Tully watched the flapping, squeaking bats for a while until their numbers dwindled to the last few.

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

The next morning Tully awoke to the smell of coffee on the fire. He sat up and stretched as he looked around. With the only sounds that of birds in the trees it was hard to believe there was a war on. Tully got to his feet and looked for Hitch, but he was nowhere to be seen. He went to the fire and picked up a mug and poured coffee into it.

Tully walked over to the mine entrance and peered into the inky blackness. It was so dark he started to imagine all sorts of eerie things were looking back at him.

Suddenly a hand came down on his shoulder. Tully let out a gasp as he jumped and dropped the mug of coffee. He spun around and came face-to-face with … Hitch.

With a smile Hitch said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

Tully put a hand on his chest and took a deep breath. "You just startled me a little."

Hitch chuckled softly as he picked up the mug and headed for the fire. "Ready for some breakfast?"

Tully followed his friend and said, "Always ready when food's offered."

Hitch refilled the mug and handed it to Tully before picking up a second one to fill. "Do we want to take the time to heat something up or just have K-rations?"

"I'm willing to have a cold meal. It'll give us more time in the mine."

"That's what I was thinking."

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

After breakfast, Hitch and Tully policed the campsite and put their bedrolls in the jeep. Hitch grabbed two lanterns and as soon as Tully put the fire out, he went to get the picks, shovels, and buckets they'd brought.

At the entrance to the mine, Tully lit both lanterns. He handed one to Hitch in exchange for a set of "mining equipment".

Once inside, they went to where they first saw the marks on the walls.

Tully said, "I'll start on the other wall." He noticed Hitch staring into the mine shaft and at the ceiling. "What's the matter?"

Hitch replied, "Do you think us making noise will upset the bats?"

"They'll get used to it."

"I just don't want to stir them up so they attack us."

Tully smiled. "These little guys won't attack. They eat fruit and insects."

Hitch questioned, "What if they have rabies?"

"Oh, well, if they have rabies they go kinda crazy. They usually go straight for the jugular." Hitch's eyes went big in the lantern light as he put one hand to his throat. Tully chuckled and said, "I'm joking. The bats won't attack us. Let's get to work."

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

They worked hard to chip away at the rock walls and filling their buckets to dump outside to go through later.

It was nearly four hours later when Hitch and Tully decided to take a break. They went outside and squinted at the sunlight.

After emptying their buckets again, Tully sighed. "Think we found anything?"

Hitch stared at the two large piles of rock. "I haven't seen any signs of gold or anything else … but you never know. We'll need to go through this stuff."

Tully agreed and they both sat down to get started. They looked for anything shiny. They took turns using a pickax to break up the big rocks to see if there was anything hidden within, but they weren't finding anything.

When they finally stopped for lunch, Hitch said, "Maybe we need to go deeper into the mine."

Tully nodded. "We can give it a try after we eat. I gotta admit I'm a little curious about what's further in."

"You mean other than bats and guano?"

"Yeah. There's probably nothing, but it wouldn't hurt to take a look."

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

After a quick meal, Hitch and Tully filled the lanterns, picked up their equipment and headed back inside the mine.

The shaft they followed gently sloped down as they walked deeper into the earth. They occasionally saw evidence that some mining had once gone on, but the further they went the less they saw.

After a while Hitch and Tully noticed that it was getting warmer the deeper they went and every now and then they got a whiff of something unpleasant.

Hitch wrinkled his nose. "Guano?"

Tully gave a nod. "Guano."

When they came to a fork, Hitch questioned, "Left or right?"

"Listen." Seconds passed, then they could hear the squeaking of bats and Tully whispered, "Sounds like they're down the right tunnel."

Hitch said, "Okay, left it is then."

As they walked into the left tunnel, Tully stated, "You really don't like bats, do you."

"No, I don't. They're like flying rodents."

Tully grinned. "I think they're kinda … well, cute."

Hitch snorted, "Cute?"

Tully shrugged. "I'm not saying I want one for a pet, but they're fur is real soft."

"How would you know how soft they are?"

"I told you we had bats in our barn when I was a kid. My dad called a guy who came out and captured them to release in the hills. It took several days to catch 'em all and I remember the guy wore these thick gloves when he took them out of the live traps. I was standing at the door watching with my dad when he came over with one so I could see it up close. I asked if I could touch it and I sorta brushed one finger across its head. The fur felt a little like a kitten's."

Hitch said, "I still say they look like flying rodents."

They walked on in silence for a time, both noticing but not saying anything about the rising heat and a pungent odor that had begun to waft throughout the tunnel the further they went.

Then Hitch stopped in his tracks and looked around.

Tully asked, "What's up?"

Hitch held up the lantern. "Look at the walls."

Tully held his lantern high and saw that the walls were sparkling. "Whoa! We found it."

Hitch said, "I can't believe it. Look at it all."

"It's even in the ceiling."

"I don't see any marks on the walls. It doesn't look like anyone's been down this far."

Tully wiped the sweat off his forehead with a sleeve and said, "I'm not surprised. I feel like I'm standing in a furnace."

Hitch agreed. "And what's that smell? It's not like the guano smell."

"Smells like rotten eggs."

The flames in the lanterns flared slightly. Hitch and Tully looked at each other and said in unison, "Sulfur."

Hitch said, "We should get out of here."

Tully said, "Wait. Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Sounds like a broken steam pipe. Listen."

They both held their breath and listened. Sure enough, there was a hissing sound coming from further down the tunnel.

Hitch frowned curiously and said, "Let's take a look."

Tully was curious as well and gave a nod. "Okay."

The further they walked the stronger the sulfur smell got. Then they could hear a strange bubbling sound – like something viscous was boiling.

Hitch and Tully continued, stopping once to tie their kerchiefs around their noses and mouths in hopes of blocking out the smell. They followed the tunnel around a bend and saw a red/orange glow ahead of them.

They looked at each other and silently went towards the glow. When Hitch and Tully could get no closer because of the heat, they could see that there was a pit in the floor and the tunnel was glowing with the light emanating from it. The boiling was producing thick bubbles that would rise out of the hole and pop dramatically.

Tully asked, "Is that what I think it is?"

Hitch nodded. "This isn't a mine. It's a lava tube."

"So, we're inside a volcano."

"Yeah, and I think we should leave now."

Tully nodded. "I think you're right."

They turned and started walking quickly back up through the tunnel. When they got to where they'd first noticed the sparkling in the walls and ceiling, they stopped and took one last look at their treasure.

Hitch said, "I guess we know why the miners didn't stick around."

Tully nodded his agreement. "Let's at least take a sample of the gold with us."

"Okay, just don't make a spark."

Tully set down his lantern, shovel, and bucket. He took the pickax and stepped over to the nearest wall. He took a few good hard swings and broke off several pieces of the porous rock. Hitch and Tully quickly gathered up their prizes and placed them in the buckets before starting off again.

Again they came to the fork. Hitch and Tully could smell the guano and hear the squeaking bats in the tunnel ahead of them. They didn't hesitate to take the other tunnel that would take them back to daylight and fresh air.

Once outside Hitch and Tully put their things down and pulled off the kerchiefs to take several deep breaths. They were soaked in sweat and savored the coolness as the air began to dry them.

They were standing next to the piles of rock they'd worked so diligently on earlier in the day. Hitch kicked several of the porous rocks with a single swing of this foot as he said, "I should've known this was lava rock. It's so obvious now."

Tully picked up one of the rocks out of his bucket. It glittered in the tree filtered sunlight. "Yeah, well, at least we aren't goin' back empty handed."

Hitch took a rock out of his bucket and admired it with a smile. "Think it's the real thing?"

"Know anything about gold?"

"I saw some nuggets in a museum once."

Tully dropped the rock back into his bucket. "Should make a good paperweight if nothing else."

Hitch said, "And we've got an interesting story to tell too."

As the day waned, Tully lit the fire and Hitch picked out a couple of cans of rations to heat for their dinner.

They had just served themselves and sat on the ground to eat when they heard the telltale squeak of the bats making their way to the exit. Hitch and Tully watched for the last time as the leading edge of the colony fluttered out into the open. Soon the rest burst out like a dark cloud.

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

Hitch and Tully returned to base the next day. They dropped their packs in their quarters and immediately went for showers.

A few hours' later Troy and Moffitt walked into the quarters after another fun filled day of negotiating plans and noticed the privates' packs on their bunks.

Troy said, "I wasn't expecting them until tomorrow."

Moffitt smiled as he picked up one of the rocks that Hitch had left on his bunk. "Could be they found their treasure."

Troy picked up a rock and examined it. "Think it's gold?"

"From the coloring I'd say it's Pyrite."

"Let's go have dinner. Maybe they're in the mess hall."

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

In the mess hall Troy and Moffitt sat down with their trays at the table Hitch and Tully were sharing.

Troy started putting salt on his meal and said, "You two are back earlier then I thought you'd be."

Hitch said, "Our mine turned out to be a lava tube … with lava."

Moffitt smiled. "I see you brought back some souvenirs."

Tully said, "Didn't wanna come back without something to show for our efforts."

"You do know that it's not real gold."

Hitch said, "Yeah, we figured that was the case. It's just as well though. The smell and heat in there were killer."

Tully took a small piece of lava rock out of his shirt pocket and turned it with his fingers. It sparkled and glittered, then he set it on the table. "I'll give a piece to Charley and send some home to my sisters. They'll get a kick outta it."

A GI who was sitting at the next table noticed the shiny rock and asked, "Is that real?"

Hitch gave a nod. "It's real all right."

"Where'd you get it?"

"In an old mine."

The GI asked, "Is there any more?"

Tully said, "The walls and ceiling are chock-full of it."

"Could you maybe share where this mine is?"

Hitch took the map out of his pocket and handed it to him. "Sure. Be our guest. That map will get you there." As an afterthought, he said, "Oh, and a 'weg' is German for 'trail'."

Tully said, "And this stuff we got is pretty deep inside. You'll have to watch out for the bats."

"And the guano."

"Then there's the lava pit. Let's face it, if the heat don't get to ya, the sulfur and guano smells probably will. You might want to take a gasmask along."

The GI was only half listening and nodded as he stared with fascination at the map he held. "Okay, thanks for the warning." He walked away looking like the cat that ate the canary.

Moffitt asked, "Why didn't you admit that it's actually pyrite?"

Hitch smiled as he said, "He asked if it's real. It is real."

Tully grinned. "Real fool's gold that is."

"Hey, how are your meetings going?"

Troy sighed. "Slow. The war may be over before the generals actually agree on something."

Moffitt smiled. "We're hoping to have the plans hammered out in another day or two."

Troy reached over and picked up the shiny rock and gave it a closer look. "After what you told that guy, I'd like to hear the story of your little expedition."

The privates looked at each other and Tully said, "You found the map, you tell the story."

Hitch grinned and started, "It began in Khartoum when I came across that map…"