Going Camping, Part 3
Disclaimer: Same as before…
Toad and Roadblock's Campsite
20 k.m. West of Sherman Annex
Roadblock and Toad
09 March 2002, 1142
After Roadblock and Toad had set up their campsite the two of them began to walk through the rainforest with their backpacks on their backs. Roadblock had an M-16A2 rifle slung over his right shoulder in case of trouble.
Walking, however, was a relative term. Roadblock was walking while Toad gleefully hopped from tree branch to tree branch a few meters above Roadblock's head.
Toad hopped to yet another tree branch, looking around at the tropical greenery all around him. "Wow! Look at this place! This is wild yo!"
"Kid," Roadblock called out from the ground below, "I've been meaning to ask you where you got the habit of saying 'yo' all the time?"
"I dunno," Toad shrugged his shoulders,"Streets of New York, maybe."
"Figures," Roadblock replied as Toad glanced upward.
"Hey what's up there?" Toad asked before leaping higher into the canopy.
"Hey Tarzan! Get back down here where I can see you!" Roadblock called after him.
"There's a lot of birds up here!" Toad's voice floated down from the canopy.
"Get down from there!" Roadblock called back.
"Wow, look at all the colors!" Toad excitedly clamored, "Hey! Watch it! Stop pecking me! OW!"
Feathers and leaves began to fall to the ground, all around Roadblock's head and shoulders. Roadblock, as he shielded his eyes with one hand shouted, "Todd!"
Toad's shouts drifted to the ground as well, "Quit it birds! Ow!"
Toad quickly hopped back down to the forest floor, rubbing his arms, "Stupid birds…"
"Kid," Roadblock said with a patient sigh, "do us both a favor and stay on the ground, huh?"
"Okay." Toad replied, before hopping off.
"Lord give me strength," Roadblock groaned to himself before running after Toad, yelling, "Kid, stay close to where I can see you, okay!"
Roadblock continued running only to come to a halt when he saw Toad on all fours looking at something on a fallen tree limb. What the…? Roadblock thought to himself. Oh.
As he got closer he could see a beetle about the size of his hand crawling along the branch. Then Toad said, "Be very, very quiet."
The boy's eyes followed the beetle moving along the branch, "I'm hunting. The mighty hunter stalks his prey."
THWACK! His tongue shot out, swallowing the beetle in a single gulp, "Yum! Tasty!"
The boy licked his lips and belched slightly. Roadblock shot him a look, "Well, at least you know how to find food in the jungle."
Suddenly a gunshot rang out through the trees. Toad's eyes went wide, "What was that!?"
Second Campsite
8 kilometers West of Sherman Annex
Kate, Conrad, Recondo, and Sedgwick
09 March 2002, 1235
Kate set her pack down during the break. "I'm just going to the bushes over there for a bathroom break."
"Right," Sedgwick said.
Kate took her shotgun with her before she ducked behind the bush, undoing her trousers. She'd only just finished when she heard rustling deeper in the bushes. She raised the shotgun.
Maybe it's a capybara or something. Kate thought, still aiming the shotgun in the direction of the movement. The rustling moved closer. Get a hold of yourself. It's just some animal...just some big harmless rodent...
The rustling came closer and then the bushes parted to reveal a man wearing flecked camouflage in brown, green, and light grey-blue. A red Cobra's head adorned the center of his chest, rifle in one hand, looking down as he fumbled with the closure on his pants to attend the call of nature.
He looked up, and saw a woman crouched down, pants halfway up. He raised his rifle, "Get down on the ground."
Kate jerked the shotgun up and squeezed the trigger. The Cobra viper fell backward, a smoking hole just below where his neck met his chest.
Rustling from the bushes, Kate reached over to the slide of the shotgun only to tip over face forward as another Cobra came running, rifle at the ready.
"On ne passe pas!" came the shout from behind her and Kate, spitting leaves and dirt from her mouth, turned her head up in time to see Conrad charge forward, his AMD-65 at the ready, firing as he ran.
The Cobra viper shook as the 7.62 slugs from Conrad's PDW ripped into his body before he fell on top of his dead colleague. Kate rolled over onto her back, managing to get to her knees and then her feet before she chambered a round in the shotgun and hurriedly pulled her pants back up.
"Kate, run!" Conrad shouted as he pulled a grenade from off of his webbing and lobbed it deeper into the bushes.
Kate ran towards Recondo and Sedgwick, still hearing Conrad firing his weapon before the grenade went off with a bang that was followed by a pained scream. She glanced behind her in time to see Conrad running behind her. Ahead of her to her left and right she could see Recondo and Sedgwick firing their own weapons.
Kate took a position behind a tree, just slightly behind Conrad. She could see him pull the mostly empty magazine from his AMD-65 before he stuffed it down the front of his shirt. He reloaded and started firing as Recondo and Sedgwick turned and ran, reloading as they went.
After a bit more running they regrouped near the edge of a stream. Kate gasped a couple of times to regain her breath before she asked, "What the Hell was that back there?"
"Cobra Jungle Vipers," Recondo explained, "Jungle warfare experts. I haven't seen them active in this area in years."
"What do you think they're doing back here?" Conrad asked after taking a slug from his water bottle.
"Something has their interest," Sedgwick replied, "And I'm certain I know what it is…"
"Todd," Kate replied, worry creasing her features. "I mean if Cobra wants mutants for experiments..."
"We've got to warn Roadblock and Toad," Conrad urged.
"We've got to let HQ know first," Sedgwick replied before keying the microphone for the radio on his back, "Sherman Annex, this is Delta Six Eight, Sherman Annex…"
"Agent Hart, keep an eye out for any pursuit," Recondo began. Conrad nodded, turning towards the direction they came.
"Damn it…" Sedgwick cursed, clipping the radio handset to his combat webbing.
"What's going on?" Kate asked.
"Someone's jamming our signal, I can't raise Sherman Annex," Sedgwick replied.
"We need to get out of their jamming and warn base," Recondo began, with a quick glance at his map.
Toad and Roadblock's Campsite
20 k.m. West of Sherman Annex
Roadblock and Toad
09 March 2002, 1236
"Somebody else is in the jungle, " Roadblock said, unslinging his M16A2, thumb on the safety and trigger finger straight, ready to place on the trigger, "That's usually not a good sign. Follow me."
Toad nodded his head, eyes wide, breathing shallow and fast. He ducked into the jungle growth following Roadblock. The pair stopped, and from hiding they heard the sound of footsteps, the sound of underbrush breaking under booted feet.
He saw the men in flecked green, brown and light blue camouflage, with red Cobra insignia on their chests patrolling through the jungle. He felt Toad tugging at his sleeve.
"Who are these guys?" Toad asked.
"Cobra Jungle Vipers," Roadblock replied, "We've just stumbled on a nest of uglies. This is not good!"
A tall man with a black moustache, salt and pepper black flat top haircut, three vertical scars on the left side of his face and an eyepatch over his left eye struck one of the men on the back of the head.
"You stupid fool," the mustachioed man growled, "What do you want to do? Give our prey notice that we're here?"
"I thought I saw it, sir!" the viper protested.
"You probably saw a bird, you dolt!"
"I know that snake," Roadblock whispered to to Todd, "That's Major Bludd, a real mean maniac and also a favorite of the supreme snake himself, Cobra Commander."
"What's he doing out here?" Toad asked.
"I'm wondering the same, kid." Roadblock whispered back.
"Now listen up," Major Bludd gestured toward the Jungle Vipers, "Our prey probably realizes we're out here by now. So keep your ears and eyes sharp, understand?"
Several muttered acknowledgements and nods followed. "If we fail to capture the creature I'll skin the lot of you alive."
"These guys are hunting something?" Toad whispered with a gulp.
"They are," Roadblock replied, "But for what? What could Cobra possibly want?"
A pair of Jungle Vipers walked within feet of where Roadblock and Toad were hiding. As they did so one of them said to the other, "Are you sure there's only two of them?"
The other viper replied, "Yeah, our informant was very clear about that. Mindbender wants them both, especially the mutant."
The two vipers passed Roadblock and Toad's position. As they did so, Roadblock's mind raced. Mutant? Good God! He thought before he felt a tug at his sleeve.
Roadblock turned to see Toad looking at him, worried, "There's another mutant around here?"
"I don't think so," Roadblock replied, "Todd, listen to me. I need you to do exactly as I say, understand? No matter what happens. Promise me!"
Wordlessly the boy nodded.
"Alright," Roadblock began, "Now have no fear. We're going to get out of here. We get away and radio Sherman Annex for help. Got it?"
Again Toad nodded and the two of them slipped away from the Vipers as quietly as they could. When they were far enough away, Roadblock reached for the handset on the radio stuffed into a pouch on his load bearing harness.
"Roadblock to Sherman Annex. Roadblock to Sherman Annex…" Roadblock whispered urgently, "Uh-oh."
"What?" Toad asked, eyes wide.
"They're jamming our signals. This is not good." Roadblock clipped the radio handset to his webbing.
"What do you mean?"
"That means we can't radio Sherman Annex. Somehow Cobra knows about you and that you'd be here alone."
"Who's that Mindbender guy they were talking about?" Toad asked.
"A sick diseased excuse for a scientist who likes to play with DNA the way kids play with Legos, only messier. Trust me, you don't want to know him." Roadblock replied.
"What do we do?" Toad asked.
"We have to get you to safety." Roadblock scanned the jungle ahead, before turning to check for signs of pursuit, "Then I'm going to sneak back and see if I can't steal one of their radios. If what I remember is true, Cobra radios can transmit through their own jamming. There are too many of them to take on, I don't know if we can keep playing hide and seek with them for four days."
Roadblock paused, glancing around again searching for signs of pursuit. With a sigh he added, "Even if we could avoid these guys for four days they could still ambush the Osprey when they come back for us. I'm not gonna let them blow our buddies out of the sky."
As they continued to try to creep away from the Cobras a gunshot rang out, a bullet passing between Toad and Roadblock.
"Oh Great!" Roadblock exclaimed, "Move it, kid!"
Branches and vines smacked against their faces, and tore at their limbs as they ran through the underbrush, bullets whizzing by uncomfortably close. They managed to get some distance away when a round smacked into Roadblock's leg.
Roadblock pitched forward into a puddle of mud and standing water. Toad rushed to his side screaming, "Roadblock!"
Roadblock rolled onto his side, sputtering muddy water, "Todd! Run!"
He rolled onto his stomach, in the prone position, aiming his M16 towards their pursuers. "Get away while you can! I'll hold them off as long as possible!"
"I'm not gonna leave you!" Toad protested.
"That's an order boy!" Roadblock gritted through the pain shooting through his leg, "GO! NOW!"
With a whimper Toad obeyed. As he hopped away he could hear gunshots and Roadblock shouting, "Come on you slimy reptiles! Come and get me!"
As he hopped deeper into the jungle Toad could hear shots and Roadblock's cursing. The shooting stopped. The shouting continued, however. He couldn't make out what was being shouted, but he knew what had happened. Roadblock had been captured.
With tears in his eyes Toad ran blindly through the jungle, not thinking at all. Hopping blindly through trees and branches for what felt like an eternity he wept openly. Finally he stopped, back against the trunk of a huge tree. Sinking to the ground as he felt raindrops smack against his face.
Rain? When did it start to rain? Toad thought. I'm alone. Again!
As the rain fell in drenching sheets Toad whimpered. How could I just leave him like that? I know I was doing what he told me, but it wasn't right! I should have stayed...I could've helped him.
Toad clenched his fists as another choked sob racked through him. Yeah right Toad! Like you could do anything but cower and whimper. Useless! You stupid useless...what was that noise?
Toad sat upright and turned his head just in time to see a huge panther leaping towards him, claws extended and fang filled mouth open…
Second Campsite
6 kilometers West of Sherman Annex
Kate, Conrad, Recondo, and Sedgwick
09 March 2002, 1406
"Sherman Annex, this is Delta Six Eight…" Sedgwick began.
A faint crackling reply sounded, "Delta Six Eight this is Sherman Annex, send your traffic."
"We've made contact with Cobra Jungle Vipers. Unknown numbers at our position," Sedgwick began before glancing at his GPS to get the latitude and longitude.
Kate craned her neck as she watched her section of the small perimeter. She glanced over towards Conrad, scanning his own sector before giving him a small smile. Despite the rain and the dire circumstances she felt a surge of hope. They've made contact with base. Help is on the way.
Conrad turned briefly, acknowledging her small smile with one of his own before turning back to scan his sector of the perimeter.
"Delta Six Eight, acknowledged. We'll get the QRF your way." came the radio
"Roger," Sedgwick replied, "ETA?"
"Half an hour," came the call.
A gunshot cracked and then another, answered by a grenade explosion as Conrad lobbed one towards the cluster of bushes the shots came from. A Cobra Jungle Viper fell, dead, from cover as Conrad fired two short bursts from his AMD-65.
Conrad heard more shots to his left and slightly behind as Kate opened up with the shotgun at the group of Jungle Vipers that had stumbled upon their position.
"Set!" came the shout from Recondo.
Conrad nodded as he and Kate ran, reloading as they did so, passing between Sedgwick and Recondo.
As soon as Kate and Conrad were clear Recondo fired the 40mm M203 grenade launcher underneath his M16's barrel. As soon as he did so, he and Sedgwick ran as well, joining their retreating teammates.
As the four of them continued to run, Kate thought to herself. I hope we're still around in the next half hour…
TBC