Part XII
Evelyn didn't mind the heat. Usually. Her family had often vacationed in Atlantic City over the years, and Evelyn had spent most of that time on the beach, her nose and shoulders getting exceptionally freckled by the sun. She'd liked that heat; a cool breeze coming in off the ocean just whenever it was starting to get too hot. Guadalcanal was different. It was humid, muggy, and any chance of a cool sea breeze was stopped by the dense forest between them and the airfield. The baggy marine uniform and wool socks definitely did not help ease Evelyn's discomfort at all, and she rather missed her bathing suit and sandals. Then, the sand between her toes had been a welcome feeling now, trapped inside sweaty socks and leather boots, it was much more irritating.
"How you doin', Angel?" Chuckler asked, his voice barely above a whisper, as he fell into step beside Evelyn.
"Oh just fine and dandy." She huffed, flapping her shirt collar in an attempt to get a breeze.
They walked until they came across a deserted camp site; a felled coconut palm lying on top of a ruined truck greeted them.
"Must've left in a hurry." Leckie said quietly, nodding towards the bowls still full of rice left on the unmade beds.
"Let's just hope they're not planning on coming back." Runner adjusted the machine gun stand on his back as he eyed the surrounding trees suspiciously.
The Marines walked on in silence, nervous, anticipating an attack. Evelyn's palms were sweaty and she could feel her quickened pulse in her flushed cheeks. The edge of the jungle loomed ahead, dark and dense. Corrigan held up his hand and the column fell to their knees and a zig-zag formation while Captain Jameson pulled out his map. The two men silently conferred with each other before both nodding in agreement and giving the signal to move forward. Evelyn couldn't help but feel mocked by the bird calls as they entered the tree line; what did the birds know that the Captain didn't?
At least there was some respite from the sun, but the atmosphere among the trees had immediately shifted as soon as Evelyn stepped over that threshold. She could still see the camp behind her, but it felt like it was a world away. The hair on the back of her neck stood up and she suppressed a shiver despite the heat radiating out of her collar. Any sound, any rustle in the trees, the snapping of a twig anywhere in the vicinity had heads whipping around. Nervous didn't even begin to describe it; Evelyn's heart was beating so fast she felt as though she might throw up.
They walked single file, holding branches aside for the man behind them, silent the whole way, the threat of an ambush always present. As they went, and the day wore on, Leckie and Chuckler began to slow down, their heavy machine gun and its tripod finally beginning to weigh them down. Runner tapped Leckie's arm and motioned for him to hand over the gun, which he did gladly, stretching his sore shoulders. Evelyn reached her hands out to Chuckler, meaning for him to hand over the tripod, but Hoosier placed his canteen in her hands instead and took the tripod himself.
"Medics can't transport weapons." He said simply, heaving the tripod onto his shoulder while Chuckler took the box of ammunition from Hoosier's other hand.
Evelyn wanted to point out that a tripod is not a weapon, and besides, Major Hartley had given her a gun that morning, but kept her mouth shut as Corrigan looked back over the line to see what the holdup was.
They continued on; fording a creek, Evelyn nearly squealed when the cold water rushed into her boots, then up a steep hill and back into the jungle, always watching for what could be hiding in the shadows of the underbrush. The sun was finally beginning to set, the brunt of the heat going with it, as they reached the end of the trees, still a lush bamboo forest ahead, and it was there at the edge that they witnessed the first real evidence of their enemy.
The bodies of two Marines were put on some sort of macabre display. One, tied to a tree with the roped used to strangle him, the other on the ground beside, decapitated with his head in his lap. Evelyn couldn't look away. She walked into Bob who had also stopped walking to stare in disbelief.
"Goddamn bastards." He croaked, breaking the silence they'd all been in for hours.
"Keep it movin'." Came from Corrigan, a cigarette to settle his stomach, and the column marched to the top of the ridge, just outside the forest.
The sun set as they made camp. Evelyn was unsure of what to do, how close to the front of the line should she be, but the Navy corpsman, Lewis seemed to sense her apprehension and came to see her.
"Now, you wanna be close enough that you can get out to help in an emergency, but you also want to be far enough away that you're not going to get hit immediately in case of an attack." He explained, hand on Evelyn's shoulder as they observed the camp.
Evelyn nodded. This had been her exact train of thought, anyways, the only thing that stopped her shovel was figuring out where any potential attack would come from. Lewis seemed nice enough, but Evelyn thought maybe he wasn't very bright.
"We've got room for her over here, Doc." Runner called, gesturing to his and Hoosier's double wide foxhole.
"There, seems we've got you sorted out. Now remember, don't get out if this hole for anything other than an emergency until morning." Lewis said, giving Eve's arm a small squeeze.
Evelyn thanked him and dropped her pack beside Runner.
"Now, I do have to warn you," Runner began as Evelyn hopped down into the dirt. "Hoosier snores."
A shovelful of dirt came flying from the other side of the foxhole.
"Hey! Watch what you're doing!"
Evelyn stifled a laugh as Runner brushed dirt off his front, Hoosier turned and sat on the edge of the foxhole, smirking as he reached for his canteen.
At first the rain felt like a reprieve from the heat, but soon enough the bottom of the foxhole began to fill up with cold water and Evelyn began to shiver under her poncho. She'd given up on sleep hours ago, despite being exhausted, but had tucked herself against the back wall of the foxhole, Runner beside her snoring softly and Hoosier in front looking out into the jungle.
Suddenly shots rang out, first from the right, then all down the line. Runner jumped up and grabbed his rifle, Evelyn clamped her hands over her ears and tried to make herself as small as possible.
"Cease fire! Cease fire on the line!" Came from the back and the shots stopped.
There was an awkward lull over the camp as the Marines waited for the enemy to emerge from the jungle. But no attack came. It wasn't until morning that they discovered what had happened.
"He went to take a piss. Somebody opened up." Stone explained as two Marines dug a grave for corpsman Lewis.
"Did he say the password?" Gibson asked.
"I dunno. Let's start walking, we're moving to the top of the ridge."
Evelyn watched as Lewis, with all his equipment, was laid into the shallow grave.
"Sorry, could I just…" she stepped forward, motioning towards Lewis' bag.
"Oh you wanna steal his shit?"
"No I don't want to steal anything, but… I just…medic…"
"Lay off 'er, Baker. She's gonna need it before he does." Hoosier came to stand behind Evelyn, cigarette dangling off his lips.
Baker huffed, then nodded, giving Evelyn permission to take the med bag. She unbuckled the bloodstained strap from Lewis' body. By all means, this wasn't Evelyn's first time seeing a dead body; there had been cadavers in nursing school, and she'd been to relative's funerals, but this was her first time seeing death up close, so fresh. She hadn't realized she was holding Lewis' hand, cold and already stiff under her touch, until Baker cleared his throat. Evelyn shook herself out of her thoughts then stepped back, allowing Baker to finish his burial.
"You should stop with the sorry," Hoosier said, waiting for her to catch up.
"Sorry?" She asked, already tangled in her new bag's straps.
"Yeah, you shouldn't say sorry or ask for permission. Just do what you need to do. You shoulda just told Baker you were takin' that gear end of."
Evelyn knew he was right, of course, but she also knew it would be a difficult habit to break. A life long lecture on how ladies should behave, and in the company of men no less, played on a loop in her mind whenever she found herself in social situations.
"You don't have to say sorry to me," Hoosier broke though her thoughts "or please. Just do what you gotta do."
They walked along silently, meeting up with Runner not long after. Seemingly unfazed by the previous night's events, Runner immediately began chit-chatting about nothing in particular, as the company made their way to the top of the ridge.
Once they got to the top, which Leckie named the whale's spine, they could see over most of the island. The airfield lay below them, occupied by the Fifth Marines. Evelyn helped dig the foxhole this time, Runner was determined to keep her close.
"You'll be our guardian angel."
The officers had an impromptu meeting behind them.
"Let's assume the Japs are preparing to come at us." Jameson said, tucking his binoculars into their case.
"Assume? They are." Corrigan stated, almost baffled at Jameson's statement.
"Assume?" Runner whispered once the officers had moved on.
"Well, ya know what they say about assumin'" Hoosier said, lifting another shovelful of dirt.
"You just make an ass of yourself?" Evelyn offered, wiping sweat off of her face.
"I like that, that's funny! See, you fit right in, Angel." Runner clapped her on the shoulder.
That night, the distant sounds of a naval battle could be heard from the bay. Helmeted heads peeked out over their foxholes to watch the lights, and excited whispers ran up and down the line.
"It's like the Fourth of July!"
Runner was out delivering ammo. Evelyn sat tucked behind Hoosier in their hole, Leckie and Chuckler were nearby. A particularly loud bang rang out to a chorus of oohs and aahs.
"That's Admiral Turner blowing the whole Jap fleet to the bottom of the channel!" Evelyn heard Chuckler excitedly whisper to Leckie.
"I love your optimism." came the tired reply.
Evie chuckled to herself and wrapped her poncho tighter, letting the distant booms lull her to sleep.
The next morning, the Marines made their way down to the beach to inspect the damage from the night before.
"Where the Navy?" Chuckler asked, scanning the horizon.
"Gone." Leckie replied, as the men came to the sand.
"We lost four cruisers. Turner took everyone left and headed for open sea," Corrigan explained bleakly. "We're it for now."
Debris, bodies and supplies littered the beach. Evelyn looked around, taking it all in, speechless.
"The Elliot's with Turner?" Bob asked.
The Elliot was the ship they had come in on. Evelyn turned back to Corrigan.
"Zero crashed into her midship. They couldn't control the fire so they scuttled her."
A buzzing began in Evelyn's ears, she couldn't hear the rest of what Corrigan was saying. She tried to make sense of what she had heard. A Zero had crashed into the Elliot. A plane. An airplane crashed into the ship and it had to be scuttled. Scuttled? Deliberately sunk. She took a step back, tripping over a rock. Hoosier grabbed her by the elbow to steady her.
"Y'alright?" He asked her quietly, brow furrowed beneath his helmet.
"Lena was still on that ship...Lena and Jenny were still on the Elliot."
Seven years later and it ends on a cliffhanger? Diabolical! I am so sorry I took so long to get this out. I think I started this one three years ago...no excuses. If y'all ever want to chat, you can come to my tumblr (same name, arealturkeyshoot; it's linked in my bio)