To Be a Hero
BY: AliasCWN
"Sargent, look out!"
A shout from a nearby alley sent Sgt. Sam Troy diving for cover. A bullet whizzed past his head, narrowly missing. Rolling to a stop, he jumped to his feet and ran toward the alley.
He found a soldier sitting on the ground holding his head in his hands. A thin trickle of blood ran between his fingers. As Troy hesitated, searching for anyone else, the soldier climbed unsteadily to his feet.
"Are you okay Sargent?" When he dropped his hand Troy could see the cut and bruise on his forehead. The soldier swayed and Troy reached out to keep him from falling. "It's okay Sargent, he's gone."
"Who's gone?" Troy studied the man before him. About five feet ten, average build, average features. At least in the dark they looked average. In the shadows of the alley Troy strained to pick out enough detail to identify him.
"The guy who shot at you. After I yelled he took the shot and then he knocked me head first into that wall right there." The soldier pointed to a spot head high that glistened faintly in the weak light with wet blood. "He took off in that direction. I would have followed but I'm kind of dizzy. Anyway, I wanted to make sure you were okay."
Troy nodded absently. "I'm fine, thanks to you."
The soldier ducked his head with a smile.
Troy was about to ask another question when several MPs called to them from the street.
"What's going on over there? Is everybody alright?"
"We're fine." Troy called to them. "Someone just tried to kill me. Lucky for me, they missed."
The MPs entered the alley cautiously. Seeing that neither man held a weapon, they relaxed and started asking questions. Troy and the soldier were separated and questioned individually. A search was made but no assailant was found and no other witnesses came forward.
Troy waited around after they finished questioning him so he could thank the private who had yelled the warning.
"You'd better get that head treated." He smiled at the other man.
The soldier nodded then winced as he moved his head. "Yeah, I'll take a walk over to the medical building and have a doctor check it out."
"Sam Troy." Troy offered his hand to the private.
"Walter Jefferies. Walt."
"Do I know you from somewhere Walt?" Troy had the feeling he'd seen the other man around but he couldn't place him.
"No." The other man answered, careful not to move his head. "We've never met."
"Well the least I can do is make sure you make it safely to the doctor. You look a bit unsteady there."
The private laughed at Troys' offer. "Are you sure it's safe to be seen with you? After all, you were the target, not me."
"I doubt anyone will try again tonight." He watched the private as he considered the answer. "I can have an MP walk you over if you'd rather."
"No Sargent, that's alright. I'll walk over with you."
There was something strange going on but Troy couldn't put his finger on it. Something was making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
"Let's get moving while everybody is still milling around. Safety in numbers you know." Troy added dryly.
They made it to the doctor without any further excitement. Jefferies had a contusion but nothing serious. They gave him something for his headache, cleaned the wound and applied a temporary dressing. Troy walked him to his barracks before returning to his own room.
They ran into each other several times over the next week and a half, exchanged greetings, and parted company. Troy stayed alert but there were no more attempts on his life.
There was still another hour or two before darkness would settle on the desert. Sgt. Jack Moffitt left his quarters to head to the mess tent and a late meal. The latest book his father had sent him was clutched in his hand, a fascinating history of an ancient Egyptian king. The book was the reason he hadn't left earlier to meet his friends. He hurried now, knowing that they would be waiting for him.
The three Arabs who jumped him from the alley were armed with wicked looking knives. Jack used the book to deflect the first blade, knocking it to the ground. He grabbed the unarmed Arab by the front of his tunic and spun him into the other two attackers. As he stepped back to regain his balance, Jacks' foot twisted under him, throwing him against the wall. All three of the Arabs were moving toward him again when a shout and a shot sounded from the other end of the alley. The Arabs darted into the street and ran off in three different directions.
Jack straightened his clothes and dusted himself off as the private drew closer.
"Are you hurt?"
"No. No, I'm fine." Jack answered breathlessly. He noticed the pistol gripped casually in the others' hand. "I suppose I owe my rescue to you."
"Me?" The private ask. He appeared to be lost in his own thoughts. "Oh yeah. Glad I could help." He tucked the pistol in his belt before offering Jack his hand.
"Walter Jefferies."
"The same Walter Jefferies who saved Sam Troy the week before last?" Moffitt compared the man in front of him to the description Sam had given him.
"You know Sam Troy?" Jefferies appeared surprised. "I'm surprised he told anyone about me. The sargents' a nice guy."
"Yes he is." Moffitt agreed. "Thank you for helping him by the way. It seems we both owe you."
"Naw. You don't owe me anything. Just glad I could help." Jefferies was looking around as he spoke. "The MPs should be here soon. That shot should bring them running."
"I'm sure they'll be along shortly." Moffitt assured him.
"Would you mind handling this and leaving me out of it? I don't feel like answering all their questions. They take too long." He laughed shortly. "I don't need the notoriety either. I didn't do anything special and they treat me like some kind of hero."
"I'll tell them a shot scared off my attackers but the 'hero' didn't stay around to be thanked." Moffitt answered with a smile. "How is it that you just happened to be carrying a pistol around with you on base?"
The private got an odd look on his face at Moffitts' question. "Oh, after that thing with Sargent Troy I decided it might be a good idea to be armed. The guy who tried to kill him saw me that night too." The private started walking away, glancing nervously around him as he walked.
"Thanks again Private." Moffitt called after him.
"No problem." Jefferies called over his shoulder with a small wave. He was gone before the MPs arrived.
The Rat Patrol pulled into the base after a tough two week mission. Tired, Troy and Moffitt went to tell Capt. Boggs they were back and deliver their reports while Hitch and Tully took care of the jeeps. They refilled their gas tanks and radiators, restocked their supplies, and left the mechanics instructions to give each one a tune up. Satisfied that the vehicles would be ready when they needed them again, they headed for their quarters. After two weeks of blazing sun, blowing sand, and ground in grime, they were looking forward to a bit of rest and relaxation. Grab clean clothes, get a quick shower, find a hot meal, then hit the sack for a day or two of blissful sleep.
Tully reached the door first and turned the knob. The door opened easily. Instantly both men tensed. They never left their door unlocked while they were out on patrol.
Hitch moved to one side while Tully moved to the other. Tully gave the door a hard shove and it hit the wall with a bang. One look into the room and both privates froze in surprise.
Their personal belongings were thrown all over the place. The beds were stripped. Someone had cut the blankets into ragged strips and tossed them about. Deep slashes in the mattresses left the stuffing hanging out in clumps. Their foot lockers had been emptied, the contents smashed or torn. Nothing in the room had escaped damage.
"What the heck?" Hitch looked at Tully in confusion. "Who did we make angry?"
Tully shrugged without speaking. Pulling his knife he checked to be sure that they were the only ones in the room.
"We're going to have to report this. Might as well get it over with." Tully urged Hitch from the room and pulled the door shut behind them. He started to lock the door but stopped, laughing humorlessly to himself, the lock hadn't done them much good so far.
Troy and Moffitt arrived while the MPs were still there.
"What happened?" Troy demanded as soon as he spotted Tully.
"Someone destroyed our room." He rolled his matchstick to the other side of his mouth. "Took their time and did a real good job of it too." He led the sargents into the room so they could see the damage for themselves.
"Are you alright?" Moffitt ask as he surveyed the mess.
"Fine Sarge. The damage was done before Hitch and I got here. Could have been done any time in the last two weeks while we were out on patrol."
Hitch finished talking to the MPs and joined them in the corner.
"They don't think they'll have much luck finding out who did this. So far they haven't found anyone who saw or heard anything." Hitch shook his head woefully. "There must have been some noise."
"Not necessarily Hitch." Moffitt answered quietly. "They didn't have to hurry. Whoever did this took their time. They certainly were determined."
They stood together and watched the MPs finish their investigation, put their notebooks away, and gather what little they considered evidence.
"They wanted to know who we thought might have done this." Tully drawled as he watched the MPs. He turned to look at Troy and Moffitt. "We couldn't give them a single suggestion. We have no idea. Neither of us have had any problems with anyone."
"No arguments?" Troy ask.
"No." They both responded.
"You met any new girls lately Hitch?"
Mark Hitchcock stared at Troy in surprise. "Not lately Sarge. You think this might have been an angry boyfriend?"
Troy shrugged. "It's one possibility."
Hitch shook his head again. "I haven't met any new girls. Besides, they wrecked Tully's stuff too."
"We're done here privates. If you think of anything else let us know. You might want to keep alert until we get to the bottom of this." The MP excused himself with that warning. They filed out, leaving the Rat Patrol to discuss this latest development.
"See if you can salvage any clean clothes so we can shower and get something to eat. This mess will wait. Moffitt and I will help you clean up when we get back."
They ate in silence, all of them lost in their own thoughts. Together the four of them made quick work of cleaning the room and the privates were able to get some sleep. It wasn't the peaceful slumber they'd envisioned, but they were too tired to care. Tully locked the door but this time he propped a chair under the knob.
Tully and Hitch stayed together wherever they went for the next few days. There were no new developments in the investigation. No one knew who to suspect or if it had been an isolated incident. Gradually the team started to relax again. When another week passed with no new trouble, they began to think it had been a random act of vandalism. Perhaps their absence from camp had made them an easy target. Everyone on base would have known they were out on patrol. The matter was forgotten in the day to day activities.
Tully and Hitch were going to the motor pool to check on their jeeps. Tullys' clutch had been giving him trouble, slipping at the worst times. The mechanics had the work orders to fix it but Tully wanted to make sure they didn't delay the repairs. Hitch checked on his jeep while they were there. He discovered that one of his water cans was empty.
"Hey Tully, I need some water. Want me to get you some while I'm there?"
Tully checked his cans and found they were all full.
"Didn't you check the water when we got back from our last patrol?"
"I thought I did. I must have missed this one." Hitch answered with a shrug. "Either that or someone used it and didn't refill it."
Tully watched him take the can and walk away. Something didn't seem right. They always checked all their cans.
There was a water truck behind the motor pool that they used to fill the cans. Hitch took the cap off and set the can under the spigot. As he reached to turn the water on he sensed movement behind him. Spinning and throwing himself backward saved his life. A knife flashed in front of his face. He threw his arm up to protect his face and throat. The blade caught his forearm, slicing it open. His momentum took him out of his assailants' reach. He scrambled backwards and tried to get his feet underneath him. The Arab attacked again, knife hand weaving, looking for an opening. Hitch yelled, hoping to get Tullys' attention. There was a second shout but it didn't come from the motor pool. It originated at the other end of the line of trucks. Hitch could hear someone running toward them from that direction. The other soldier yelled again and the Arab paused to look in his direction. Hitch took advantage of the distraction to climb to his feet. He had his own knife in his hand, ready to fight. The attacker turned and fled, the other soldier in hot pursuit.
Tully came running as Hitch started to follow. Seeing the bloody arm, he pulled his scarf free and wrapped it around the wound.
"What happened?"
"I don't know Tully. I was filling the can and this Arab attacked me with a knife. I never saw him before. Then some guy yelled at him and he turned and ran. The other guy went after him." Hitch was looking around trying to spot the other soldier. "You don't think he's in trouble do you? Maybe that Arab decided to turn and fight."
Tully didn't have a chance to answer before Hitch spotted the other soldier returning.
"Hey, thanks for your help." Hitch called to the other man. "Hey are you alright?" The other soldier staggered and grabbed for the water truck for support. Hitch headed toward him but he waved him off.
"I'm okay. Just a small cut." The other soldier leaned on the truck and groaned slightly.
Tully looked up from Hitchs' arm to see blood seeping between the soldiers' fingers as he held his stomach.
Hitch and Tully helped the other private slide to the ground. Tully gently pulled up his shirt to reveal a shallow cut about three inches long.
"He just nicked me. Slippery cuss. He got away."
"You're lucky." Tully murmured as he pressed a piece of cloth to the wound. "Those Arabs are usually pretty good with a knife."
"He didn't kill Hitchcock." The other soldier protested. "Maybe this one wasn't that good."
Tully shook his head but he wasn't about to argue.
"Walter Jeffries." The injured private introduced himself.
Tully and Hitch exchanged startled looks.
"Mark Hitchcock." Tully nodded toward Hitch. "I'm Tully Pettigrew. Hold still, I need to get this bleeding stopped."
Jefferies stopped moving while Tully pressed on the knife wound.
"Thanks for your help." Hitch offered. "I'd better find an MP and report this."
Jefferies jerked his head up at the mention of the MPs.
"You need to get some stitches in this arm." Tully interrupted. "That Arab is long gone. He can wait."
"Like your friend said, it can wait." Jefferies smiled at them. "I guess I''ll find a medic too. " He hesitated while he looked around. "Do you fellas think you could leave my name out of this? Like I told your sargent, I don't need the attention."
Tully and Hitch exchanged another look.
"I guess we could do that ." Tully answered slowly. "We will have to report this though. Hitch is going to need stitches for sure."
"I appreciate this. Just tell them you scared the Arab off. You can be the hero this time." Jefferies got to his feet and started to walk away. As he stood up something fell from his pocket. Tully bent down to pick it up. It was a folding knife, small and compact.
"Hey, you dropped something."
Jefferies turned and Tully handed him the knife.
"Thanks. See you around." The private made a hasty retreat before anyone else could investigate the commotion.
"We need to get that arm cleaned and stitched. Then we need to report this to the MPs. Then I think we should find Troy and Moffitt." Tully was staring in the direction Walter Jefferies had taken.
"Wasn't that the same guy that….."
"Yep." Tully interrupted. "And Sarge isn't going to like it much." He predicted.
"So Walter Jefferies saved Hitch from an Arab assailant?" Troy wasn't happy at the news that Hitch had been attacked too. "Now how do you suppose he just happened to be there to save him?"
"Does seem a bit suspicious." Moffitt agreed.
The four of them were in the sargents' room where Hitch and Tully had just finished telling them about the attack.
"I never saw the guy before. You told us about him but we never met." Hitch explained.
"What are you getting at?" Troy ask.
"He knew my name."
"And we never mentioned you or Moffitt but he knew you were our sargents." Tully added.
"Now that you mention it, he knew my name as well." Moffitt spoke softly, trying to remember exactly what had been said the day he was attacked. "I never told him."
Troy was silent, thinking back on the night someone had shot at him.
"When he called the warning to me, he called me sargent." Troy spoke slowly, remembering the feeling that something had been off. "I thought at the time that something was strange but I couldn't quite put my finger on it."
"And now?"
"I don't wear any stripes announcing my rank. How did he know?"
"Maybe he recognized you from somewhere. We do have a bit of a reputation around here." Moffitt, ever the voice of reason, tried to come up with a plausible explanation.
"Yeah maybe, but it was so dark that I had a hard time seeing his features from ten feet away. Yet he called me sargent while he was more than forty feet away."
"Our friend does seem like a fairly amazing person." Moffitt said with a straight face.
"And he seemed familiar, like I'd seen him somewhere before. I just couldn't place him." Troy was thoughtful, the situation puzzled him, and he was a man who disliked puzzles.
"There's also the matter of the gun." Moffitt realized that he had observed another puzzling aspect of the mystery. "He said he took to carrying it after the incident with you. Yet he didn't have a holster. He just tucked it into his belt. Not a very safe way to carry a loaded weapon. You would have thought that he would have known better." The British sargent thought for a moment before he continued. "He claimed the person who shot at you saw him that night too. If it was too dark for him to see the shooter clearly, how would the shooter recognize him?"
"Sounds like we need to have a chat with our guardian angel." Tully suggested with a growl. "With friends like him we don't need enemies."
Troy frowned but shook his head. "No Tully. We aren't going to talk to him."
"But Sarge." Hitch protested.
"Easy Hitch." Troy waved a hand at him to be silent. "Nothing has happened to Tully yet and I have a sneaking suspicion that he's about due."
"You're going to let him try to kill Tully?" Hitch was indignant. He couldn't believe his ears. He looked from Troy to Moffitt to Tully.
Troy nodded. "We're going to help by making it easy for him to get to Tully. " The sargent announced with a smile. "We'll have to make sure that everyone knows that Tully is going to go someplace alone."
Tully grinned with anticipation. "When are we going to do this?"
"Not right away. We'll all stay together for a while. He'll expect that after this latest attack. Right after we get back from our next patrol ought to be soon enough." Troy considered his plan carefully. The last thing he wanted to do was put one of his men in any unnecessary danger. The four of them spent the rest of the day refining the plan to reduce the risks.
The patrol had been a short one but the Germans had wreaked havoc on the jeeps.
"Hitch, Tully, take the jeeps to the motor pool and see how long they think it will take to make the repairs."
"Right Sarge." The two privates answered together.
"Jack, you and I are going to make our reports and have a little talk with Captain Boggs. Then we'll have to get written orders for the repairs on the jeeps. That will probably take most of the afternoon."
"No doubt. The Captain will certainly have questions about the information we collected. Are you planning on setting your plans into action?"
"Seems like as good a time as any. It would be reasonable to assume that we will be with the Captain. We can use the jeep repairs as a reason for Tully to be alone. Hitch can go get his arm checked and use it as an excuse to turn in and get some rest. Tully can volunteer to supervise the repairs. Everyone knows we are particular about those jeeps. We don't want this guy to get restless and go after Tully when we don't have anyone in place. " Troy prepared to head to the Captains' office. "Hitch, you and Tully stay together and near other people until we have everything arranged and in place."
The two privates nodded their understanding. Determined to end the threat to his team, Troy set out to lay out all their suspicions and evidence in front of Captain Boggs.
When Troy sent word that all was ready, Hitch and Tully set off for the medical building. The medics redressed the cut on Hitchs' forearm while the two privates loudly discussed their plans for the rest of the day.
"The motor pool will take care of the jeeps Tully. My arm hurts and I'm ready to call it a day. I'm going back to our room and get some sleep."
"You know Sarge." Tully responded in an equally loud voice. "He'll want to know that the jeeps are going to be ready the next time we need them. One of us has to stay awake and keep an eye on those repairs. You go get some sleep. I'm going back to the motor pool and make sure they get started on those work orders right away. I'll stay all night if I have to."
Hitch thanked the doctor and the two of them left for their planned destinations. Hitch walked in the middle of the street and made sure to stay near groups of soldiers headed in the same direction. Tully hurried straight to the motor pool.
Nothing happened for the next two hours. Tully sat around and watched the mechanics work on the vehicles. Their jeeps were the next in line to be fixed. Restless, Tully stretched and yawned. Pulling a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, he headed out behind the tent to have a smoke. He was starting to worry that they may have figured Jefferies wrong. That the other private might be planning on going after one of the others again. Tully considered going to check on Hitch. He dropped his cigarette butt and ground it into the sand.
A sudden rush of feet and Tully was knocked to the ground. He twisted and landed on is back. He caught the hand plunging a knife toward his chest and pushed. The Arab tried to pull free but Tully had a good grip. They rolled on the ground, each trying to obtain sole possession of the knife.
Someone shouted and the Arab released the knife. He tried to twist away but Tully refused to release his hand. The knife fell to the ground and Tully rolled on it so it was no longer a threat.
Private Jefferies ran up and grabbed the Arab by the shoulders. Pulling him off Tully, he gave him a shove. Jefferies watched him regain his feet and run off into the darkness.
"You okay?" Jefferies ask as he reached down to help Tully to his feet.
"Fine." Tully answered shortly. Brushing himself off he glared at the other private. "What's the big idea?"
Jefferies looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"How come you always seem to be around when we get in trouble?"
Jefferies took a step back at Tullys' angry question. "You ought to be glad. I saved you."
"I wouldn't have needed saving if you hadn't sicced that Arab on me." Tully answered angrily.
Jefferies looked insulted. "I don't know what you're talking about. You owe me." The private had adopted a smug look.
"Not quite."
Jefferies spun to face Sam Troy and Jack Moffitt. The two men blocked his retreat toward the other trucks. Backing toward the motor pool, he tried to act indignant.
"You guys sure have a funny way of showing appreciation for all I've done for you. I heard you guys were something special. But you're just like all the rest. You wouldn't know a hero if you tripped over one." He turned and tried to walk away.
Several MPs cut off his escape. When he turned back toward Troy and Moffitt he saw two more MPs walking toward them accompanied by the Arab who had attacked Tully. Troy watched his face as he realized that he'd been caught.
"Why'd you do it?"
Jefferies turned to face them. "I saved you guys. If it weren't for me, some of you might be dead. I'm a hero. You should be grateful to me! You owe me! " His voice rose with each sentence. "I'm a hero!"
"You're a fraud. You set us up to be killed just so you could rescue us. That Arab over there told us that you paid him and his friends to attack us."
"I saved you! You aren't the only heroes around here!" Spittle flew from his mouth as he screamed at Troy in a rage. His wild eyes reminded he sargent of a trapped animal.
"We're not heroes." Troy calmly informed him. "We just do our job."
The Mps had to drag Jefferies away as he seemed to have lost all self control. He jerked his arms trying to free himself. He was still yelling, telling anyone who would listen that he was a hero, as they loaded him into a jeep and drove off.
Troy and Moffitt met Hitch and Tully for lunch the next day. Captain Boggs had summoned the two sargents to his office immediately after breakfast.
"Is everything okay?" Hitch ask as soon as he spotted the sargents.
Troy smiled and nodded. "Everything's fine."
"What happened?"
"Jefferies confessed to everything. From shooting at me to setting the Arabs on the rest of you. He decided on the Arabs after the MPs ask too many questions and made him nervous."
"Why'd he do it?"
Troy understood the confusion in Tullys' question. He hadn't understood much of it either.
"The docs say he's sick. He has this need to be recognized as a hero. He set us up so he could come to our rescue and save us. He thought we would tell everyone he was a real hero. It fulfilled some weird urge of his. It's like when a firefighter starts a fire so he can be a hero and put it out. Sometimes they set fire to a place with people inside so they can save the people. They don't care about the people, they just want the attention. They'll even risk their own lives in the process just so others will see them as heroes. He admitted he hit his own head on the wall and cut himself."
Tully shook his head sadly. "There are lots of chances to save people in this war without putting them in danger on purpose. He could have tried to save some of them. Then he'd have had the right to be called a hero."
"Maybe he did Tully. I don't know. Maybe he just wanted to control the danger so he could plan ahead just how to save us. Maybe there weren't enough opportunities and he decided to create some. We'll never know for sure. After he confessed he quit talking."
"What's going to happen to him now?" Hitch, who had saved others more than once, couldn't understand Jefferies. You saved someone because you could, not for the attention. It didn't make sense to him to put others in danger just to save them.
"He'll be sent back to the States. The docs say he needs the kind of help he can only get there."
"Did he wreck our room too?" Tully needed to know that Jefferies was the only after them.
"He did Tully. He wanted to make it look like someone was mad at you so he could draw suspicion away from him. "
Tully nodded thoughtfully. "So things are back to normal?"
"That's right Tully. Now all we have to worry about are Germans and bounty hunters trying to kill us."
"Like I said, normal."