After The Raid
By: AliasCWN
Chapter 3
Hitch stopped in the deepest depression he could find and pulled off his red cap so that the color would not draw attention to them. When Troy looked at him with the unspoken question Hitch shrugged and grinned.
"I don't know if they can see us in here. My hat might stick up high enough to give us way. We wouldn't want that."
"No we wouldn't." Troy agreed, grateful that his driver was thinking of the present situation and not dwelling on their wounded teammate. He ducked lower over the 50 in case they could see him standing in the rear of the jeep. Then he waited, listening as the German column drew near.
Hitch sat quietly until the column was almost on them, then he twisted in his seat. Troy looked down to see the blond picking up a canvas bag full of grenades. The driver dropped the bag on the seat next to him and opened it, ready for action.
"Give me a few of those." Troy ordered. Hitch handed him six, which he quickly tucked into his shirt. The sergeant checked the 50 and added another belt of ammo.
With preparations made, both men adjusted their goggles and braced for combat. The wait was a short one as the German column apparently spotted Tully's fleeing jeep. They increased their speed, ignoring the immediate area in front of them. Troy and Hitch made them pay for their mistake.
"Get ready Hitch, whatever happens, we can't let them follow Tully." Troy's voice was soft, eerily calm.
Hitch nodded and popped a bubble. His knuckles turned white on the steering wheel as he waited for the command to charge into battle. Greatly outnumbered and outgunned, their only advantage was the element of surprise. Hitch felt the added responsibility of covering Tully's escape like a heavy weight on his shoulders. There was no way he would let them get past him. Using his tongue, he shoved his wad of gum between his teeth and bit down hard. Like the old time cavalry, he prepared to take the battle to the enemy in a wild charge with rifles blazing.
When Troy yelled 'go' Hitch hit the gas and the little jeep popped out of the depression like a jack-in-the-box.
Troy raked the lead vehicles with the 50, taking out half of their crews in his first volley. The Germans reacted fast, having been on alert ever since spotting the fleeing jeep. Still, Hitch and Troy did manage to catch them a little off guard by popping up out of a seemingly flat desert. The bullets flew fast and furious in both directions. Hitch kept the jeep dodging and darting among the trucks where the Germans had more trouble selecting a target. The Americans didn't have to worry about hitting a friend; they were alone in the battle.
One of the gunners in a halftrack took aim at the jeep, leading a little to try to anticipate where the Americans would be in the next few seconds. Concentrating on the jeep, he failed to take into consideration what was behind the jeep. His bullets flew wide, hitting the crew of another halftrack, sending the driverless vehicle into another one. His one mistake took out two of his own vehicles.
Hitch made two passes through the German column with a wary eye out for the machine gun that had accounted for Moffitt. Ducking bullets and shells, the jeep bucked and jerked under him, forcing him to concentrate more on the jeep than the trucks they targeted.
Troy kept up a steady stream of bullets headed toward the Germans, hitting men and machines alike. The men screamed and fell as the vehicles either exploded or ground to a creaky halt. A string of bullets hit the jeep, leaving a line of holes across the front of the vehicle. One halftrack limped along trailing a thick stream of smoke that Hitch used to cover their retreat from the battle. Ducking into the black smoke, he guided the jeep away from the column.
"Find us some cover Hitch!"
The blond nodded and coaxed the bucking vehicle into the depressions that now dotted the landscape. The column didn't try to follow since they had problems of their own. The depressions led into a small series of short hills that led in the direction they wanted. Hitch kept the jeep moving, alert for any German vehicles.
"Everything okay Hitch?" Troy called as they left the battlefield.
Troy's voice seemed far away to Hitch. It sounded as if the sergeant was talking through a tunnel.
"The jeep took some damage." Hitch called over his shoulder. "We had to get out of there or they would have had us."
"How bad?" Troy asked, watching the desert behind them.
"Bad enough." Hitch answered. "It sounds like a bullet may have hit the engine, it's missing pretty badly."
"Check it out!" Troy was still watching their back trail so he didn't see Hitch pull himself out of his seat. Using the jeep for support, the blond hobbled around to the front of the jeep and raised the hood.
"The fuel line got hit." Hitch called with his head still under the hood. "I might be able to patch it to take us a little further but it needs to be fixed."
Troy jumped to the ground and started around the jeep. "Don't we have anything in the jeep we can use to fix it?" He stepped around the fender to find Hitch leaning heavily on the grill.
"No Sarge, we don't carry spare fuel lines. They don't get hit that often and we don't have any spare room for parts we don't use very often."
Hitch's face glistened with sweat and he swayed on his feet. When he tried to straighten to face his sergeant his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed into Troy's arms.
"Hitch! Hitch!"
Hitch opened his eyes slowly, turning his head to avoid the light slaps to his face.
"Wake up Hitch."
"I'm awake." Hitch reached up and gripped Troy's hand. "Where's the column?"
"They turned back." Troy answered, worry making his voice gruff. "I guess they finally had enough."
"About time."
"Yeah, for a minute there I thought they were going to come after us again." Troy shifted his body to block the sun when he noticed that his driver was squinting up at him. "Stay still, I have the bleeding stopped for now. How are you feeling?"
"Okay Sarge, I just got a little light headed." Hitch tried to sit up but Troy gently pushed him back down by pressing on his shoulder.
"Just stay down. Rest. We're not going anywhere for a while." Troy waited for Hitch to settle before he glanced at the jeep. "Are you sure we don't have anything in the jeep to fix that line?"
"No." Hitch shook his head carefully. "We don't carry anything that will work to fix it."
The sergeant let out a sigh as he sat back on his heels. "That's it then, we'll have to find another form of transportation."
"Did the Germans leave any vehicle behind?"
The quiet question stopped Troy's restless movements. "Two halftracks are burning. One's all shot up but it hasn't caught fire yet." Hitch was nodding as the sergeant listed the abandoned vehicles. "There's one patrol car still intact but if it ran they would have taken it."
"The patrol car, can we reach it?" Hitch's voice was weak but it hummed with excitement.
"Yeah, I think so. The Germans didn't leave anyone behind to watch it."
"If we can get to it we might be able to salvage a piece of fuel line to fix out jeep."
"Will it fit?"
"We can make it fit. At least I think so." The blond murmured. "Just give me a minute to catch my breath and I'll take a look."
Troy looked at his driver, noting the beads of sweat on his face. The blue eyes looking back at him were wide with pain but he knew the boy wouldn't admit to hurting.
"All right. Catch your breath and then you can tell me what to do." Troy responded. As the blond started to shake his head, Troy put his foot down. "You're in no shape to run if we get caught in the open. I want you to stay here and cover me if I need it."
Hitch slumped to the ground at Troy's tone. He knew he had already lost the argument and he didn't have the strength to keep trying. Closing his eyes, he willed away the pain that radiated up his leg and made his head spin. Slowly his stomach settled and the sky stopped making circles around his head.
"You okay?"
"Yeah Sarge." He answered weakly.
"Why didn't you tell me you were hit?"
"I didn't think it was bad…I barely felt it…then." He added with a grimace. He glanced down at his leg to examine the neat bandage that Troy had applied. The bleeding had stopped and it was already drying. Moving his foot, Hitch tested his leg to see how much mobility he had lost. The result was instantaneous; the pain shot up his leg and hit him like a sledgehammer. He gasped in shock and gripped the leg tightly above the wound.
"Hurts like a bugger doesn't it?" Troy grinned as he watched his driver try to hide the pain.
Hitch looked up and nodded reluctantly.
"Figured it would. Just tell me what I need to do and I'll do it. What do we need off of that patrol car?"
Hitch explained where to find the fuel line and what tools he would need to get it. "Don't kink the line getting it out." He warned as Troy moved to get the tools.
"You just rest." Troy responded. "I'll get the tools I'll need and then I'll come back and help you to the top of the hill so you can keep watch."
"Okay Sarge, if you need any help, just yell."
Troy looked at the pale face and nodded with absolutely no intention of taking him up on the offer. Collecting the tools only took a moment but getting Hitch to the top of the hill took far longer. They had to stop several times for the younger 'rat' to catch his breath. Finally Troy got him settled so that he could start for the battle site. The burning vehicles were still sending up columns of thick, oily smoke that could be seen for miles.
Lugging tools, a canteen, and a machine gun, it wasn't long before Troy's feet felt like lead bricks. Distance in the desert can be deceiving and the sergeant, in the heat of battle, hadn't realized that they had traveled so far in the damaged jeep. His eyes constantly scanned the desert for a sign of anyone who might decide to investigate the smoke plumes.
Turning to look behind him, even knowing where to look, he could no longer spot his driver lying atop the hill. He thought that if anyone did show up they would have the same difficulty. Trudging on, he finally reached the patrol car. After one final look around he dropped to his knees and rolled onto his back. Pushing with his feet, he pushed himself under the car, dragging his tools with him.
It occurred to him that he should thank the German engineers. They had designed the car with plenty of clearance to give him room to work. Thanks to Hitch's clear instructions he soon found the line he needed to salvage. With the tools he had brought he managed to free the line in only a few minutes. Carefully, making sure to avoid any kinks, he dropped it down to where he could slide it free.
He was sliding out from underneath the car when he first noticed the sound. It wasn't loud, just a brief snort as a horse cleared its nostrils. Troy froze, listening as Moffitt had taught all of them. The soft plop of hooves on the sand was transmitted to his ear through the ground. Realizing that the sound was coming from the other side of the burning halftracks, he quickly pulled his legs underneath the car and rolled onto his stomach. Laying his tools and the salvaged fuel line safely to one side, he pulled his knife.
The noise came nearer until he could see the feet of both the horse and the Arab leading it. From the sounds it was plain that the Arab was searching the vehicles for anything of value. The sergeant remained where he was, hoping the Arab wouldn't look under the car.
With a triumphant yell the Arab ran toward the car. Dropping to his knees, he reached for the machine gun that Troy had leaned against the side of the car while he worked. His face dropped below the edge of the bumper and he cried out in shock as he spotted the sergeant. He tried to point the machine gun but Troy was ready for him. Troy's arm stretched forward and his knife penetrated the Arab's chest, silencing him forever. As the dead man slid to the ground Troy rolled to the side to look past the body. He scanned the area looking for any more Arabs. To his relief the only other living thing in sight was the horse. The Arab had tied the horse to the disabled halftrack that hadn't burned. As he crawled out from under the car the horse looked toward him with large, gentle eyes and nickered.
"Wasn't that considerate of your owner?" Troy grinned as he approached the horse. "He left me a ride so I don't have to walk back." The horse shied as he reached out his hand. Belatedly he realized that his hand carried the smell of fresh blood. Returning to the body, he dampened the bottom of the man's robe and used it to clean his hands. Gathering his tools, his weapon, and his salvaged fuel line, he prepared to ride back to the jeep. This time he was able to gather the reins and tie all of his supplies to the saddle. Searching the desert toward the German base one more time, he rode toward the distant hill.
At first his attention was concentrated on the direction from which he expected the Germans to appear. Further from the scene he began to look around. With a start he realized that he was following a trail of horse tracks; tracks that were coming from the hill where Hitch waited! Cursing under his breath he urged the horse into a faster gait. He was still a long way from reaching the hill when the first shots rang out.