Love and Lies
By: AliasCWN
Chapter 5
"Wes!" Pete jumped forward and grabbed the Corporal's arm as he lunged. The two struggled for control of the weapon until Tommy joined the fight. For a skinny, bean-pole of a man, he was strong, and with his help, Pete was able to gain possession of the blade. "Wes! We lied!" Pete yelled his confession in a panic. "We lied." He repeated in a softer, more subdued tone.
The Corporal stopped fighting to stare at the others, anger and confusion on his face.
"What?"
"We lied Wes." Pete indicated the others and himself. He couldn't meet the Corporal's gaze. He glanced at the others for support and they silently moved to stand beside him in a show of solidarity. Raising his head, Pete looked at Hitch and Tully, who were watching the drama unfold. "We never meant for it to get so out of hand. We never thought that Wes would ever show up in North Africa." Looking back at the Corporal, he explained his earlier declaration. "We lied about how Arnie died." At the look on the Corporal's face, he hurried on. "We loved Arnie too Wes. We really did. He was like a brother to us. I grew up with you and Arnie. You were the brothers I never had. All my life I can remember how Arnie and I followed you around. You never treated us like pests, like some guys treated their younger brothers. Arnie and I both, we looked up to you; you were our hero.
Wes shook his head, "I was just being a big brother."
"Not to us. Arnie used to talk about you all the time. He always said that someday he would do something to make you really proud of him."
"I was proud of him, I loved him." Wes argued.
"He knew that, he loved you too. You were always there for both of us, taking care of us, making sure that the older kids didn't pick on us. Arnie loved that about you. But he wanted to make you really proud, not just because he was your kid brother, but because of something he did to deserve it. We talked about that a lot."
The Corporal shook his head again. "He didn't need to do anything, I knew he was a good kid." He sighed heavily as he realized that he had almost made a horrible mistake. "So what really happened out there?"
Pete took a deep breath, reliving that day again in his head. "We were assigned to the convoy, just like I said. Captain Tyree, the officer in charge, called us all together to tell us that the Rat Patrol was going to be our escort. He said that they had plenty of experience and a good record of getting the trucks through. I don't know….maybe we just got too comfortable, feeling safe." Pete glanced at the prisoners again, asking their forgiveness with his eyes.
"Things went really well the first half of the trip. We saw the jeeps occasionally as they searched for Germans in the area. Then we saw one of the jeeps stop at the bottom of a hill and the sergeant climbed to the top to stand watch. The second jeep pulled up next to the lead truck to talk to Capt. Tyree. The jeeps drove away and the Captain called a halt to cool the engines, check the trucks and grab a quick bite to eat. While we ate he told us that our escort had reported a possible ambush site ahead and that they were going ahead to check it out. He said we were going to keep moving but we should stay in line and stay alert. If he gave the signal we were to scatter but everyone should follow the lead truck, just not in single file. According to the Captain, the driver of the first truck knew what to do and he would lead us through any trouble." Here Pete paused to look at Jimmy and Tommy. Both privates nodded at him to go on.
"We heard gunfire ahead of us, it sounded like American 50's and some German guns. The radio started to squawk and the Captain ordered us to disperse. We all scattered, getting off the road; the Captain had explained that sometimes the Germans have the road taped."
The Corporal looked confused at the last explanation.
"If they have enough time before an ambush, they mark off the distances so they can aim with more accuracy. It helps if they know the correct distance. Sometimes they set up mortars with preset targets and just wait for a truck to get to that point in the road." Tommy rushed to explain.
The Corporal nodded that he understood. "So what happened?"
"We don't know." Pete continued. "Like I said, we all scattered, but we were supposed to follow the lead truck. He circled to the left to avoid the ambush and the rest of us followed….all except Arnie. Arnie drove off to the right, toward the Germans. I yelled into my radio, I tried to call him back…I tried." Pete hung his head; unshed tears glistened in his eyes. "A halftrack came over the top of the hill above Arnie's truck. He only got off a short burst of fire before one of those guys," Pete nodded toward the captives, "came up behind him and blew his fuel tank. The halftrack exploded, but it was too late; his bullets stitched the cab of Arnie's truck. He was dead when I got to him."
"What about the Germans?" The Corporal asked in a low voice.
"There were four halftracks waiting for us; our escorts accounted for all four of them. None of the Germans survived the battle." Pete looked up to meet the Corporal's eyes. "Arnie was the only man we lost."
"What was he thinking?"
"We don't know. But I knew how much it meant to him for you to be proud of him. I thought if I told you that he died a hero, somehow he'd know, and it would make him happy. I never meant for it to come to this Wes. I loved Arnie, and I love you; I thought if he died a hero it might make it easier for you to accept." Pete broke down and began to cry, guilt and loss warring to control his emotions.
Wes stepped forward and wrapped his arms around the younger man. Jimmy and Tommy placed their hands on his shoulders for support. The four men mourned the loss of a brother, a friend, and a brother-in-arms.
Hugging Pete tightly, Wes cried for his brother, the first tears to get past his anger since he had learned of his death. "You didn't have to lie Pete. I always admired Arnie for who he was; the fact that he was my baby brother was just a bonus."
Pete nodded into the Corporals shoulder. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." He kept repeating over and over.
The four were so engulfed in their grief that they didn't hear the door open or notice the two men who stepped inside.
"Don't move!" A gravelly voice full of anger ordered.
Despite the order, they all spun to face the speaker.
"You must be Sergeants Troy and Moffitt." Wes spoke for all of them, pulling himself together. "I'm…"
"Can it!" Troy ordered. "I don't want to know who you are." He jerked his head toward the bound prisoners and flicked his eyes to Moffitt. The English sergeant pulled a knife and rushed to cut the privates free. They wiggled their hands and arms to restore the circulation as Moffitt removed the gags.
"Are you two alright?" Troy kept his eyes on the four men as Moffitt pushed Tully and Hitch toward the door.
"We're okay Sarge." Hitch answered.
"Fine Sarge." Tully added.
"Okay, you two wait outside."
Hitch started to protest, uneasy about leaving the four men with an obviously enraged Troy. A look from Moffitt and another nod toward the door changed his mind. He nodded quietly and led the way out of the room, followed by Tully.
"I'm sorry Sergeant, this was all my fault." The Corporal started to explain.
"Somehow I doubt that Corporal." Troy snarled angrily. "We were outside, we heard it all. Good intentions can't fix bad mistakes." He looked pointedly at the privates. "The truth could have avoided all of this. You came real close to getting innocent people killed."
All three privates dropped their heads in shame.
"I don't know why your brother made the choice he did Corporal, I guess no one ever will. In battle decisions are made in seconds and sometimes people make the wrong ones. Maybe he was trying to distract the Germans to save the rest of the convoy. Maybe he just got confused. You'll have to make your own guesses as to that. My suggestion, give him the benefit of the doubt; you knew him better than anyone else." Troy paused to let his words sink in for the four men.
"The thing is, most people out here don't get second chances. This is your second chance, make the most of it. I don't want to see any of you ever again. You'd be wise to request a transfer to some other theatre of war, we get around a lot over here. Stay away from my men, all of them. If anything happens to any of them, you're the first guys I'm going to hunt down." Troy glared at them, waiting for a reaction. "Do you understand?" He yelled when they didn't respond.
Confused that he wasn't calling the MPs, they nodded silently.
"This is the only warning you'll get." Troy growled before backing toward the door. Moffitt ducked out ahead of him, rifle ready. While both sergeants were willing to give them a second chance after hearing their story, neither was willing to turn his back on the quartet.
The walk back to the motor pool was quiet as Tully and Hitch continued to flex their hands and fingers trying to get rid of the tingling from the lack of circulation.
They were almost to the jeeps before Hitch asked the question that had been bothering him. "Sarge, how did you know where to look for us?"
"Easy, we tracked you, Moffitt is a regular Indian scout." Troy smiled at the younger 'rat'.
"Across a base, in a truck?" Hitch looked at the English sergeant with renewed respect.
Moffitt laughed at his expression and winked at Tully, who grinned in return.
"No, really Sarge, how did you find us?" Hitch persisted when he saw the wink.
"Remember those matches you spilled?" Tully drawled.
"I offered to get you new ones." Hitch protested in his own defense.
"I know." Tully agreed. "But you put the ones that were on the ground in my back pocket, remember?"
Hitch nodded, uncertain what this had to do with their rescue.
"Well, I left Sarge a trail of matches every chance I got. I could still reach them with my hands tied behind me and nobody was watching us that close."
"Matchsticks?"
"Well," Tully grinned, "I didn't have any breadcrumbs to drop."