Chapter 4

Was this a trick, Hannibal wondered? His first thought was that maybe Lynch had moved Murdock to another room and was staking this one out. However, the lack of MPs did not point to that conclusion. Murdock must have been transferred sooner than expected, but where? Hopefully he would have left some sort of clue as to where they were taking him, if he'd had the chance. He would have known that they would try their escape again. After all, he had given them a key. . .a key to something.

Hannibal went into the bathroom, checking it first. Nothing unusual here. He checked the cabinet behind the mirror, glanced in the shower, looked behind the door. Nothing. Sighing with frustration, he glared at the room, then shut off the light.

He visually searched the hospital room, and saw nothing out of place. There was the typical furniture. Hospital bed, bedside table, chairs. He started with the bed, kneeling down to scan underneath it. Then he moved to the chairs, feeling underneath each one. Nothing out of place there. He checked the bedside table. Its drawers were empty. He checked the closet as well, and found that a tiny origami tiger had been carefully placed on the top shelf. Definitely a sign from Murdock, he thought, grinning.

He examined the paper creature at first before moving it, noting it pointed towards the bedside table. He slipped the tiny animal into his pocket while wondering how long it must have taken Murdock to make something like that with one arm out of commission.

He went to the table and removed the bottom drawer, finding a note stuck to the back with some medical tape. "Bingo," he murmured to himself with a smile. He tore the note off, and replaced the drawer. He scanned it as quickly as possible before heading back to the hallway.

Face raised an eyebrow at him as he came out.

"He's gone," Hannibal said.

"What?" Face asked disbelievingly.

"He's gone. I'll explain in the car."

They had just turned and started down the hall when a doctor intercepted them. "Excuse me! What were you doing in that room?"

Face and Hannibal froze for a moment. 'Never let them see you sweat' Face reminded himself, then he began speaking. "We were looking for Captain Murdock. We're here to transfer him to the stockade."

"At night?" The doctor asked suspiciously.

"Well, Colonel Lynch is just dying to get him over there. Feels the captain made him look bad, with the attempted breakout and all. Probably wants to make him start cleaning the latrines right away."

"Humph. Sounds like Lynch, all right. Had to pull him off the captain myself a few days ago."

Hannibal and Face glanced at each other, anger burning in their eyes.

"Gave Lynch a dressing down for that, not that it did much good. Man has no common sense." The doctor continued on. "In any case, Captain Murdock isn't here anymore. I'm surprised you didn't know that."

"I guess Colonel Lynch hasn't been notified yet. You know how slow paperwork moves around here."

"Humph." The doctor didn't look totally convinced.

"Well, good night, doctor." Face said, and he and Hannibal walked down the hallway before the doctor could press them any farther.

They moved through the hallways as quickly as they dared. Reaching the back entrance, they found the generic sedan BA he had 'borrowed.' Hannibal slipped into the front bench seat while Face got into the back.

"Let's go. But take it easy…" Hannibal ordered.

Slowly, BA began to drive through the parking lot. "Where's Murdock?" He asked, eyeing both of them. "Nothin' happened to him?"

"I'm sure he's ok," Hannibal replied. "He just got transferred earlier than we thought. And not to the stockade." Hannibal smiled when he thought of how mad Lynch would be when he found out.

"He left us a note behind one of the drawers in his room. I'll read it to you." Hannibal nodded toward the upcoming guard checkpoint. "Let's wait until we get out of here though."

They were waved through the checkpoint with no problem, and they sailed down the empty nighttime streets. Each moment put them further and further from the base. It seemed like all three held their breaths for a long time, until Hannibal finally spoke. "I love it when a plan comes together." He grinned, wishing he had a cigar.

BA turned the radio on low to scan for "news" of their jailbreak. "Now, what'd the crazy fool say?" BA asked as he concentrated on the road. He was doing right at the speed limit, so as not to draw attention.

Hannibal pulled the note out of his pocket and began to read by the moonlight. On the surface, the note seemed to ramble incoherently. "'I hope the aliens haven't got ya. I have to go somewhere in California, but they won't tell me where. Maybe they'll let me have a dog when we get there. I've always wanted one. A greyhound would be nice. I'll name him Billy. And I'll put a key around his neck, so he can keep all my secrets safe.'"

"So, what do you think?" Hannibal asked. He thought he had it figured out, but he wanted to see what Face and BA thought.

"There's a Greyhound bus terminal in town." Face said.

"I know where it is," BA said. "That's got to be what the key goes to—one of those lockers in the terminal." Before being told, BA turned down several side streets, heading to the bus station. Living in a big city his whole life had given him an excellent sense of direction. If he had been somewhere once, he usually remembered how to get back.

"There's more," Hannibal nodded to the note and continued reading. "'Sorry I let you down, but if you're reading this, maybe I didn't mess up too badly.'" He looked up after flipping the note over to the other side. "He got shot, and he's apologizing to us." He shook his head, and tucked the note back into his pocket. "I never expected he'd try to rescue us." Hannibal admitted. Murdock had been a part of the team in Vietnam, but he'd usually only flown them to where they were going; he hadn't actually been on the ground with them for the missions. He had to admit that he was impressed and touched with Murdock's loyalty.

"I told you over there in 'Nam, and I tell you here. He's a crazy fool." BA said. "That's why he came to rescue us." Even though BA's remarks were disparaging, his tone told a different story. BA had a lot of respect for Murdock.

"He stuck with the unit." Face said from the back seat. "Just like you taught us." He murmured. "None of those other guys that flew us before Murdock would have done that."

Hannibal's eyes flashed as he glanced back at Face, then at BA. "We're gonna find him. We owe him that much, and more." The exhilaration at the escape began to fade as more realistic problems began to creep in. They had no money or change of clothes. Their military uniforms would stand out like neon once they got out of town. They'd need to eat soon, not to mention providing for other necessities. Well, things had been worse, he reminded himself. Right now, they had to see about the locker. He fingered the brass key that Murdock had given him, then glanced up in time to see that BA was pulling the car into the parking lot at the bus terminal.

Hannibal left BA and Face in the car and walked inside. A few passengers were sitting in the lobby, either flipping through magazines or sleeping. Only the lone ticket lady looked up at him. He nodded at her, then followed the signs to the lockers. He located locker #347 and opened it, finding a very large black duffel bag inside. He quickly removed it, slung it over his shoulder, and was out the door and back in the car mere minutes after they arrived.

"Did anyone see you?" Face asked.

"Just the ticket lady. Let's see what Murdock left us, shall we?" Hannibal unzipped the bag, feeling a bit like a child on Christmas morning.

"Ahhh -- all the essentials for fugitives on the run. We have some money -- here Face -- see how much we have." He handed a stack of cash to Face in the back seat.

Face thumbed the cash, listened, and smiled. "Sounds like about $2,000."

"And some extra clothes." Hannibal remarked, pulling out shirts, pants, vests, and hats in various sizes.

"You've got to be kidding me." Face groaned upon seeing the clothes. "Where is his sense of style?"

"I think you're looking at it." Hannibal replied. "Besides, Face, beggars can't be choosers. Maybe you'll like this better." He handed Face several fake IDs.

Face held the IDs under the glow of the parking lot lights and smiled. "That's more like it. He did a good job on these -- looks like he was paying attention all those times I made them."

"Anything else in there?" BA asked.

"Sure is. How about this, BA?" Hannibal pulled out 2 colt .45s and a .357 Magnum, along with 3 boxes of ammunition.

"Maybe he's not such a fool after all." BA replied, grabbing one the .45s and slipping it under the seat. "So what do we do now?"

"Well, BA, you're going to go into the station and buy three tickets on the first bus out." Hannibal replied.

"Me? Why me? Face's the one who's good with scams. Could probably even get us the tickets for free."

"True. But we need to throw Lynch off our trail. The bus station will be the first place he checks. And let's face it, you're the most memorable one of us -- the ticket lady will never forget you were here. Besides, we need to pay for the tickets. If Face scammed them, the ticket lady would never admit it. We need her to tell Lynch were we went. Well, supposedly went."

BA nodded, took some money from Face and went into the terminal. He came back with three tickets to Atlanta. He handed them to Hannibal when he slipped into the driver's seat. "Here. The bus leaves in half an hour."

"Perfect. Hopefully the bus will be gone before they find out we're missing."

"So, where to?" B.A. asked as he started up the car.

"We need to put as many miles between us and the base as possible," Hannibal began. "I have a friend in DC that would probably put us up for a few days -- Matthew Murphy, a retired colonel. We served together in Korea."

"And you can trust him?" Face asked, obviously worried. A colonel? Even if he was retired, he might feel it was his patriotic duty to turn them in. Not to mention there was sure to be a generous reward for them.

"Yeah, Hannibal. . .I don't know if that's such a good idea . . ." BA began with hesitation in his voice, thinking of the dangers as well.

Hannibal cut him off. "Relax, Sergeant. I know we can trust him, in the same way I know I can trust the two of you."

BA and Face really couldn't argue with him when he put it that way.

They drove for a while, each man lost in his own thoughts.

BA knew that as soon as their jailbreak was discovered, they'd have to ditch the car and get another one. He was surprised how easy stealing this one had been. A million thoughts raced through his mind as he concentrated on the dark road in front of them. He wondered what his mama would say about her son hot-wiring a car that didn't belong to him. He wondered if they would get caught, and how Murdock was doing. The crazy fool had taken a bullet for them. Had he really lost his mind out there? BA wasn't sure anymore. This whole thing could make a guy go crazy, he thought as a million worries buzzed through his mind like bees around a hive.

Face stared out the window, even after there was nothing to see but darkness. The decision to break out of prison had been a relatively easy one for him. And he didn't regret it. He had never been fond of military rules. And, other than the team, nobody in it seemed to appreciate his talents. With a conviction a forgone conclusion, there was nothing the military could offer him anymore but misery. At least on the run, he would have a chance at a life. Maybe not the one he had planned, but a life nonetheless. He just hoped Murdock's life had not been ruined in the process. Once they were settled, the first thing he would do is find out where he was.

Hannibal, too, was lost in his thoughts as the miles rolled by. There was no getting around it now. They were fugitives and people were going to be looking for them. It would take all their talents to keep from getting caught, especially here at the first. They had to keep doing the unexpected -- the opposite of what Lynch would look for them to do. It looked as if it were working so far, yet he couldn't help but feel like he'd failed his men. He couldn't voice it because it would erode their confidence in him, but he felt as if this were his fault somehow.

He looked down at his hands, hands that had been splattered with the warmth of Murdock's blood. He remembered the expression on Murdock's face. Face and BA were looking to him for the answers. Following his lead. He thought of the many times they had depended upon each other -- put their lives in each other's hands. He knew that whatever happened, they would put all their talents, all their skills into whatever direction he led them. These men under his command had become more than just soldiers. No matter how hard he tried to remain remote, he cared. Too much. He couldn't ignore the nagging voice warning him that this was going to lead to trouble.

The drive was a long one, and the men were silent, the only sounds coming from the radio and the hum of tires on the pavement. They all listened for any hint of their jailbreak, but there was no mention of it. BA found himself scanning the dial every half hour or so to see if anything had come up. The longer they went without any news, the better, Hannibal reminded them.

When they finally made it into DC it was almost sunrise: pink and yellow streaks of fire began to paint the sky. They all found themselves watching the gradual lightening with a new appreciation. A new day was beginning.

To be continued…