Part 6 (1/2)
Garcia stood up, brushed the snow off her uniform and walked over beside Agnar. ”It's ok, big fella, there's nothing we can for the man. Come on, Marine, we've got a job to do. Now up on your feet.”
With a nod of his head, Agnar got up and resumed his post.
Cole walked over to Sheridan. In a hushed voice, he said, ”That friggen bear will be back. Once an animal has a taste for human flesh, it'll keep coming after us.”
”I know. What do you suggest?”
”I bet we've got a day or two before it comes looking for its next meal. We'll have to make some improvised explosive devices and ring them around the camp at night and hope that we get a shot off next time or we're all doomed.”
Chapter 9.
Without Shawul to slow them down and the thought of a four-armed bear with a taste for human flesh tracking them, Sheridan's group made good time. They arrived at the base of the tall mountain range a day earlier than antic.i.p.ated. When Sheridan couldn't spot an easy way around, they slowly they began to walk up a narrow rocky path that led between two tall jagged peaks. Agnar named them Freyr and Freyja, after a pair of twins from Norse mythology.
The snow had been coming down continuously for the past day. Everyone was cold and tired, but they still kept their heads up and didn't complain, all except Tartov, who looked like a drowned rat.
”Ok, we'll rest here for the night,” announced Sheridan, pointing to some overhanging rocks.
”I'll get a fire going,” said Agnar.
After supper, Cole insisted on checking everyone's feet. Days of marching over some of the worst terrain the sergeant had ever seen had taken its toll on the inexperienced soldiers' feet. Agnar had a blister the size of gold coin on the back of his right heel. If it bothered him, he didn't let it show. Garcia just needed to dry her feet and change her socks. The worst was Tartov. The bottom of his feet looked like raw hamburger. Garcia shook her head and admonished the PO before getting to work cleaning and bandaging up the wounds.
”Sir, would you like me to check your feet?” asked Cole.
Sheridan didn't answer.
Cole looked over and saw Sheridan staring out into the dark. His eyes were fixed on something.
”What is it?” asked Cole as he reached for his rifle.
”We're not alone.”
Cole stood up and joined Sheridan.
”What did you see, sir?”
”I didn't see anything, I heard it,” replied Sheridan as he moved his thumb over and changed the safety on his weapon from safe to fire.
”What did you hear?”
”It sounded like someone moving about out there.”
A shot rang out.
Sheridan and Cole instinctively dropped to one knee and brought their weapons up.
A voice called out. ”Drop your weapons and stand up with your hands on top of your heads.”
”Obermman, it's you, isn't it, you dumb a.s.s!” yelled out Agnar. ”I know it's you. Only you could miss a target standing out in the open less than twenty meters away.”
”Agnar, is that you?” replied Obermman.
”No, you idiot, it's his ghost.”
A second later, a disheveled looking Marine walked next to the fire. Sheridan recognized the man as the tall, black-haired soldier who had lost his cool when the Churchill was fired upon.
”Marine, are there any more people with you?” asked Sheridan.
”Yes, sir,” replied Obermman. ”I've got Andrews with me and three crewmen. We had two more, but a couple of them saber-tooth cat things got 'em the first night we landed.”
”Don't be shy, people. Step forward,” said Cole.
Andrews led a couple of dirty and exhausted looking men carrying an injured woman on a stretcher made from a blanket and a couple of long st.u.r.dy branches over beside the fire.
”What happened to her?” asked Garcia as she moved over to examine the woman's injuries.
”She broke her leg two days ago,” explained Andrews, his accent had an Australian tw.a.n.g to it.
”Lay her down on the ground and let me take a look at what you done,” ordered Garcia.
Obermman looked over at Sheridan. ”Sir, do you know if anyone else from the platoon made it?”
Sheridan shook his head. ”I think we're it. Where were you and Andrews when the s.h.i.+p was. .h.i.t?”
”We were on duty guarding the engine room. When the order to abandon s.h.i.+p was given, Andrews and I ran for the nearest pod.”
Sheridan asked, ”How did you find us?”
”Purely by accident, sir. When we saw your fire, we knew we had stumbled across more survivors, or perhaps some refugees fleeing the Kurgans.”
”You all look like c.r.a.p. When was the last time you ate?” asked Cole.
”Two days ago, Sergeant. After the cats attacked us, we ran for our lives. We left most of our rations back with the pod.”
Cole snapped his fingers to get everyone's attention. ”Ok folks, listen up. Give me all of your rations and pile them up here at my feet. If I find you've kept so much as a stick of gum from me, you'll wish you were never born.”
Sheridan was the first to drop all of his food. ”I take it we're going to start rationing our food.”
”Yes, sir, with four more hungry mouths to feed, we're gonna have to stretch out our rations until we can find some more.”
For two more miserably long and cold days, Sheridan led his party through the mountain pa.s.s. Everyone took turns carrying the stretcher. Garcia had re-splinted the woman's leg, but the injured crewman would require surgery to fix her shattered bones. With their thermal blankets draped over their shoulders to keep them warm, they looked more like a rag-tag mob than a group of fighting soldiers.
Agnar walked with his eyes glued to the rocks. He hoped to kill something they could eat. An expert shot, Agnar had grown up hunting in the woods of northern Europe with his father. If it walked on four or six legs, Agnar figured he could bring it down and cook it.
Andrews looked over at Sheridan. ”Sir, why haven't we been able to communicate with the forces in the capital?” My communicator is fully charged, but I haven't heard a thing since we landed. We don't need a satellite to use these comms devices. Do you think the city has already fallen?”
Sheridan slowed down so he could talk with the Marine. ”Andrews, the Kurgans will have established an electronic bubble around the capital, isolating it. Nothing our people send can get in or out of the bubble. As for the city, who knows? It could have been taken the first day the enemy arrived, or it still could be in our hands. I suspect we'll find out in the next couple of days.”