Day 13-2
Another lost day, and we still had not been able to get any further than the notorious ridge. What was it about that? It seemed almost like an invisible barrier was keeping us from our goal.
Returning to the camp, we used the rest of the daylight hours to restock our supply of fire-wood. I have to admit, Kelly did more than his fair share of splitting and stacking logs. He and Jimmy were still outside. Despite his little 'attitude-problem', the boy turned out to be a lot less trouble than I had anticipated. But the idea of him sticking around bothered me. This was not a vacation, and what we had encountered up here so far was more than enough to raise concern. Besides, the possibility of finding his father and getting them both safely out of the area was rather slim.
"Hey, Chase," Cut interrupted my thoughts, opening a can of pinto beans with his KA-Bar, "I's just thinkin' of somethin'."
"What's that?" I asked, losing track on how many scoops of coffee grounds I had already poured into the pot.
"Well," he peeked over my shoulder, "we been up here what...two weeks now? Ain't we supposed to check in with your buddies down there, once in a while?"
"Supposed to. But what am I gonna tell 'em?"
"Hmmm," he mused thoughtfully. "Got a point there. I just thought, if they didn't hear from you they might send someone else up, and that wouldn't be all that good."
"Not likely, Cut." I started a new count on the coffee grounds. "It would be quite a while before they'd consider us MIA. Besides...damn!" I dumped the pot for the second time.
"Oh, gimme that!" He pulled the spoon from my hand. "I'd like some today, not next week. And besides what?"
"Well, like I said, what should I tell 'em? That we had a couple encounters with Bigfoot up here? Boy, that'll go over real good," I laughed.
"Yeah, they'd definitely send someone then...to pick us up and lock us away," Cut snickered and—dumped the coffee pot. "Shit! Wait a minute...one, two, three," he counted out aloud this time.
Kelly stuck his nose in through the door. "That coffee ready yet?"
"Oh, shut up!" Cut snapped, turned around and threw the spoon at him.
"Hell, I just asked," Kelly muttered confused. "Chief an' I got all that wood done, and he sent me to get him a cup."
"Looks like he'll have to wait a while, huh, Cut?" I grinned, earning myself an indignant frown. "Is Buck out there with you?" I asked the boy.
"Nope! He took off about ten minutes ago," Kelly shrugged. "Guess he's got him a girlfriend somewhere around here."
"Like you'd know about that kinda thing," Cut grumbled. "Get your little skinny ass back out there and tell Jimmy to come eat."
"Sure hope you're better at cookin' than makin' coffee," the boy smirked, and ducked out another piece of silverware—actually in our case it is aluminum—flying in his direction.
Coming through the door at that moment, Chief snatched the fork out of the air, right in front of his face. Don't know what he signed to Cut, but since Kelly crumpled into a fit of laughter, I figure it wasn't very favorable.
"Ah, hell," Cut scolded, "you'n all kiss my ass! Fix your own damn food." He handed the can of boiling hot pinto beans over to me and plopped down on his bunk, pouting.
"He get that often?" Kelly gasped between spurts of giggles.
"Every time someone makes a remark about his cookin' skills," I chuckled. "So if you wanna eat around here, you better keep your mouth shut."
"I'll remember that," he answered, trying to look serious, but cracked up again when Chief added some more signs.
"Oh, stick it, Jimmy!" Cut gave him 'the finger', and I actually regretted catching only half of the conversation.
"When you're all done…" I pulled up a chair and got comfortable with my plate of beans. "Help yourselves, 'cause our cook's on strike."
I didn't have to repeat that twice. Hell, when it came to eating you better got out of Cut's way, unless you didn't mind getting stuck with a fork. It did a lot for his mood too, at least after he had finished the first and went for a second helping.
"By the way, Kelly," he muttered with a mouth full of beans, "what's your uncle Bill doing nowadays? We ain't seen him in years. Lost contact."
"Well," Kelly answered, chewing, "after he got back from Saudi, he kinda figured he'd take it easy for a while. Got himself transferred to Alaska."
"Fort Greeley?" I inquired.
"Nah, Wainwright…1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division. Says he loves it up there. Good huntin', great fishin', and a whole lotta beautiful countryside."
"Lucky bastard," Cut grumbled. "They's gonna send me back to Fort Polk, Louisiana. Ain't no way I'll sit around in that damn swamp again. Hell, the fuckin' mosquitoes down there are big enough to carry you off. So I got out while I had the chance..."
"And regretted it ever since," I threw in.
"Well, I just can't right get used to being a civilian, Chase. Don't seem to fit in with all them business people out here. Just ain't the same, you know," he mused, a little regretful.
"I don't get it," Kelly frowned. "You Army-guys get up at five in the morning, do a couple hours PT, bitch about it the rest of the day, and when it ain't there no more you can't stand it. Billy's the same way. He got out three years ago, 'cause his ol' lady didn't feel like movin' around all the time. Two month later he told 'er to go to hell, and signed back up so he wouldn't miss any action. Now what's wrong with that picture?"
"Hard to explain," I shrugged. "But Bill is a lot like me in that matter. He really believes in what he's doing. There ain't too many of us hard-core soldiers left. Hell, everything's gettin' so high-tech nowadays, they don't need us old grunts anymore. That's why Cut got out too, but I guess some of us just ain't got the nerve to start over."
"Seems to me, they still do," the boy argued.
"Do what?"
"Need you! Otherwise you wouldn't be here right now. Seems all that high-tech Government shit don't do much good up here, does it?"
"Nah," I laughed, trying to pull him off the subject. "Got nothin' to do with that."
"Like hell it don't. Look, I told you I know what's goin' on, so don't try to fool me. Between the Feds runnin' around and then you showin' up...come on, man. I know damn well they sent you lookin' for 'em."
"So you seen 'em up here?" Cut queried since Kelly wasn't about to give up on it.
" 'Course I did," he answered indifferently. "Ain't nothin' unusual. Just figured they's coming to check before they'd launch another blast."
"What in the hell are you talking about?" I started to get suspicious. Apparently he really knew something and was beating around the bush. Or... I wondered, was he trying to sneak information out of us? Certainly a possibility. The nosy little brat sure could manipulate a conversation. Better be careful, Chase.
"I'm talking about the stuff they got in this area." Kelly replied seriously. "Y'all ain't got no idea, do you? Man, this place is a tickin' time-bomb, and we're sittin' right on top of it."
"Seems to me, you watch too many Rambo movies," Cut said with a forced laugh, and since he started fiddling with his KA-Bar, you could tell he was getting a little anxious.
I wasn't sure whether Jimmy had caught our whole conversation. He definitely looked like his mind was on something else when he got up to get a beer. Ain't gonna find a cold one, I thought, watching him check several different cans. We had simply stowed them away in a corner. Too much trouble to lug a bunch of ice up here, and it wouldn't last anyway.
"Where's mine?" Kelly complained because Jimmy returned with only three cans.
"Damn, boy," Cut laughed, "you smoke, you cuss like a sailor, you drink...what else?"
"Ah, a couple of Buds never hurt anyone," he shrugged. "Never mind, Chief, I'll get my own," he said with a quick gesture, walking over.
"You alright, man?" Cut inquired when Jimmy handed us the cans and sat back down with a noticeable wince.
"You don't look too good," I added as he nodded curtly. "Shouldn't have busted your ass out there with that wood. Me and Cut could've done that later."
He just waved me off and leaned back against the wall.
"Hey, guys," Kelly interrupted low, and we turned around. "Where'd you get this?"
The look on his face was pretty close to desperate as he held up that shredded field rucksack. I had carelessly thrown it into the corner back there, more or less to get it out of Buck's way since he still cringed every time he smelled it. Seemed we had forgotten all about that. Until now!
"This is my old man's," Kelly mumbled, turning it over in his hands.
"Your dad's?" I frowned and exchanged a worried look with Cut. "How's your dad get a rucksack like that? That's military..."
"I got it for 'im, alright?" the boy shouted in anger. "Look, man, I got connections, okay? But I still wanna know where you got it. It's all tore up. What y'all do to my old man?" He was close to tears now. Understandable, considering how this must look to him.
Chief sat up, snapping his fingers to get Kelly's attention, and signed to him.
"I know it is," the boy answered to whatever the question was. "It's got his initials written on the inside of the flap. See, F.B.H., Frank Benjamin Hughes. Damn, I know it's his."
Chief signed something else and—I pitched my beer can against the wall in frustration.
"Damn it, Chase!" Cut jumped up as he got hit with the spray. "Snap the fuck out of it! Jimmy just explained to 'im that the rucksack was already ripped when you found it."
"Well, thanks a lot for filling me in on that," I scorned. "Why don't you all just write me a fuckin' letter next time, and I'll catch up on what's going on later."
"Oh, shut the fuck up!" Kelly now got onto me. "I don't wanna listen to your bullshit, I just wanna find out what happened to my old man."
"Yeah, so do we. But..."
A sharp whistle from Jimmy cut me off , and he signaled 'time-out', looking irritated.
I rubbed my forehead, embarrassed that I had allowed myself get so carried away.
"Alright, let's just calm down here for a minute, guys," Cut helped me out. "Ain't no sense in jumping at each other's throat over this. Look, Kelly, we found that rucksack about a week ago. Didn't know who it belonged to...hold on, I said," he snapped when Kelly started to open his mouth. "We figured it was from one of the boys we'd come up here to find," Cut continued with a sideways glance at me.
"Yeah, well, it ain't," the boy threw in. "It's my old man's, for sure. Y'all find anything else?"
"Nothing that could belong to your dad," I shrugged. "Well, except for that can- opener over there. It was inside the rucksack."
"Damn," he mumbled, "I knew this was gonna happen sooner or later."
"What was?" Cut queried.
"Told ya, there's been stories 'bout people disappearing up here. My old man just figured they'd made 'em up, to keep everyone out of the area."
"Who are they?"
"Government...Military...hell, I don't know," he answered me. "I never really thought about it. Guess I should've, huh?"
"Maybe it would help if you told us what you know," Cut suggested calmly, but received no more than a hesitant shrug for an answer.
"Kelly!" Chief spoke up—to my surprise, I might add.
"Hell, I didn't know you could talk." The boy flashed him a quizzical look. "Oooh... now I understand," he suddenly grinned. "That's why you got so pissed, huh, Chase?"
"Damn right," I muttered. "You all start rattlin' off in sign-language, leaving me sittin' here like a complete idiot."
"How does it feel?" Chief replied dry, and I slowly began to comprehend. He was right!
Damn, Chase, you're an inconsiderate asshole! "Look, Chief, I'm sorry," I said, feeling stupid when he shrugged off the apology.
"Forget about it…Kelly," he turned back to the boy, "what do you know?"
"Look," Cut added since Kelly still hesitated, "we got a much better chance of findin' your old man, if you fill us in on what's goin' on around here."
"Guess you got a point," he finally gave in. "Alright, but you gotta promise that no one ever finds out I squealed, okay?" He looked from one of us to the other, stopping with me. "Chase...?"
"What!"
"Promise?"
"You just don't think very highly of me, huh?" I smirked. "Look, whatever you tell us, let's just say we'll consider it top-secret, okay?"
"Right!" He grinned crooked. "But y'all ain't gonna like what you'll hear."
"The suspense is killin' me!" Cut rolled his eyes and Kelly sighed.
"Alright, listen…" He drew a deep breath. "You know, after that wall in Germany came down, the Russians and us kinda gave up on that cold war shit, right?"
We nodded without interrupting.
"Well, when that was over, I guess our Government figured they might not need all that much military equipment anymore, and started puttin' away with it. I'm sure you know all that, too."
Some more nods, slightly bored this time.
"Anyways," Kelly continued, "someone had the bright idea to take this place here, and turn it into a dump for chemical warfare leftovers..."
"Wait a minute!" I stopped him quickly. "They what?"
"You heard me," he replied in a grave voice. "They needed a place to dispose of some of that shit, so they started bringin' it up here. Think I'm kiddin'? I'n show you right where it's at. Whole bunch of it."
"You sure it's chemical agents?" Cut inquired with a doubtful frown.
"Positive! Look, I found out by accident. Guess I snooped around a little too much down on base. Just happened to come across some paperwork..."
"Bullshit!" I scolded. "If something like that was going on, the information would be coded and the papers destroyed as soon as they were read."
"Yup!" Kelly nodded. "That's exactly what happens, but I figured it out anyways."
"Oh, and how'd you manage that?" Cut interrupted again.
"Simple! You wouldn't believe what a little computer-literacy can do for ya. Besides, like I said, I got connections."
We quietly looked at each other, hating to admit that he might actually be telling the truth.
"So what did you find?" I finally asked.
"Well," he scratched his head, "definitely enough to get ya worried. They bring this shit up here, dump it between the mountains, and then cover it up later. That's why I thought them Feds had come up here to check on it."
Cut raised an eyebrow. "And you know where it is stored?"
"Stored ain't quite the right term for it," Kelly squinted uncomfortably. "More like discarded carelessly. Look, I know what that stuff can do to ya. Every bit of it is deadly, and it's not like somethin' that's biodegradable or so."
"Not if we're talking about chemical agents, no," I agreed. "But I'm not convinced that anyone would take a risk like that. Bring it up here? It's State property, sure. But hell, they know there's people coming up here all the time. I been huntin' up here for years, and have never seen anything suspicious."
"When's the last time you's up here? Before now, I mean?" Kelly smarted.
"Let's see...'bout four or five years ago, I guess."
"See, that explains it. That shit didn't start until three years ago or so, 'bout the same time the rumors started going round about people disappearing. That's why we figured they'd made 'em up, to scare everyone off from coming up here. Look," he sighed, "if you don't believe me, I'n show you where it's at, and you'n see for yourself."
"Alright," I consented. "But answer me one more question..."
"What's that?"
"If all that bull you just fed us is true, then why did your dad keep coming up?"
"Told ya," he huffed impatiently, "we wouldn't if we didn't have to. But this is about the only area where we'n get away with it. Besides, we always stayed clear of that stuff after we found it."
"So how far is it from here?" Cut wanted to know.
"Just about a mile past that ridge where I was," Kelly shrugged. "I's headed that way when y'all showed up. Thought my old man might've got a wild hair up his ass, and gone over there to see if they'd brought up any more since the last time."
Cut, Jimmy and I exchanged a knowing look when he mentioned the ridge. Weird, I thought, chemical agents still wouldn't be responsible for what we had come across.
Apparently Chief was thinking along the same line, and Cut translated as he signed the question to the boy. "You said before, you always had a creepy feeling coming up here. Why? Because of the chemicals?"
"Nah!" Kelly hesitated, then answered along with signs, "This might sound real stupid, but sometimes, when we shot something, it disappeared."
"What do you mean?" I queried, trying my best to seem indifferent.
"Well," he squirmed, "like this one time, my old man shot a buck...huge animal, 'bout a ten-point or so, I guess. I watched 'im hit it, I know it was a dead-on shot. But that damn buck took off like a bat outa hell, and we couldn't find a hair of it nowhere. Shit, y'all must think I'm full of it, but I swear that's what happened, and it wasn't the only time."
Boy, was I glad that Cut and Jimmy were so surprised, they actually forgot to start laughing. Damn, that story just hits a little too close to home.
"You say something like that happened more than once?" I inquired.
"Yeah! Sometimes you'n be following some tracks up here, they'll be clear as anything one minute and the next...like somethin' just swept the floor, if you know what I mean."
Oh yes, we knew. Did we ever! But to admit that?
Chief signed another question, and I guess Cut's mind was a little too preoccupied to worry about a translation. No problem, though, at least not in this case.
"Traps?" Kelly queried. "How'd you know? I wasn't gonna mention that, 'cause it sounds even weirder than the thing with the buck. Why? Y'all find one, too?"
"We didn't find it," I smirked, looking at Jimmy, "it kinda found Chief."
"Oooh!" The boy didn't quite manage to suppress a grin. "So that's why you're limping like a...a...hell, I can't think of a good comparison right now."
Jimmy just rolled his eyes in response.
"Tell me something, Kelly," I brought the conversation back on track, "going by your story, your dad knows about what's going on up here too, right?"
"Well, I had to tell 'im after I found out about it. You know, make sure he knows where it's at, and stays clear of it when he comes up."
"That's not good, not good at all," I mumbled.
"Why? He'd never let on..."
"No, you don't understand," I interrupted. "If this gets out somehow, both of you would be in all kinds of trouble."
"Hell, I know that," Kelly shrugged again. "That's why I made y'all promise not to tell."
"You sure got a lot of nerve, boy," Cut shook his head. "You don't even know us, and go babblin' off the mouth about shit like that?"
"Ah, I know all about ya. Once I figured out who you was...hell, the stuff Billy told me, it's like I known you all my life," he declared.
"Is that right!" I drawled, grinning. "So you figure we're the good guys?"
"Yeah! Like Billy said one time, he'd walk straight into hellfire, never thinkin' twice, as long as you's there to cover his ass."
Cut's eyes widened. "Lieutenant Hughes said that?"
"Sure did!" Kelly nodded.
"Damn, that's pretty high praise, considering where it's comin' from."
"Damn right, man," I agreed. "And we always figured, he thinks we're a couple of no-good, party-animal, rednecks, eh, Cut?"
"Yeah," he laughed, "but don't let it get to your head. It'll ruin your reputation."
"Know what you mean. Better keep 'em guessing, right?"
"Well, anyways," Kelly interrupted, "what y'all wanna do? Like I said, I can show you where that stuff's at, if you think I made it all up."
"You gotta admit that whole story sounds pretty farfetched," I mused. "But somehow I almost tend to believe it. Still would like to go have a look though. Just to see what we're dealing with."
"No problem! We'n head up there, soon as it gets light, okay?"
"Fine with me," Cut mumbled. "Jimmy, you alright to make it up there again, or you gonna stay here?"
"I'll go!" Chief answered with an impassive look.