ThirtysDesertion

All Combat! Names and indicia are licensed to: ABC entertainment company, and Selmur Productions… I think. Copyright August 18th, 2004 by Jessica A. Worley.

The Push - Part One
Thirty’s Desertion

The ground shook, and dirt came down on top of him as he ran through the field being blown to bits by enemy mortars. He had no idea where he was, and what was worse, he had no idea where his men were. One minute they had been right behind him, and the next, he was alone in a field full of dead men, both German, and Americans from other units.

He ducked as a young soldier went flying from another explosion, and then ran over to see if he was still alive. Half the boy’s stomach was gone, and his chest wasn’t rising or falling. To do anything for him now would be a lost cause. Again he ducked as an explosion came all too close for his liking, and then he crawled off towards a wooded area.

A bullet missed him by inches and hit a tree he had just passed. He dove to the ground behind a bush and a log, and waited. The bullet had come from in front of him, not behind, which meant he wasn’t alone in these woods. He wasn’t surprised, but he had thought most of the krauts were on the other side of the massive field. Another bullet hit the ground next to him, and he stuck his head up over the log, and fired blindly because he couldn’t see where the enemy was. He missed, and more shots were fired his way.

He wondered how his men were doing just at the moment as he fired again, and heard a shout as a kraut fell out from behind a tree thirty feet in front of him. Was that the only one? He cautiously stuck his head up over the log and found that there had been more than one shooter, who had now moved to a better position. This time he caught one of the bullets in his right leg. He didn’t have time to be in pain though, because he had to get to a safer spot. He rolled over and crawled towards a promising clump of bushes. He reached them and found himself being shot at from yet another angle. How many were there?

A bullet nicked his ear as it went past, and then lodged itself into the ground. “Damn it,” he said to himself, ducking even lower. He didn’t see how he was going to get himself out of this mess if there was no place he could take cover. Another patch of bushes caught the man’s eye, but before he could begin to drag himself over there, one of the krauts shouted, “Halt! You are surrounded GI! Surrender!”

Lt. Hanley rolled over onto his back to face the soldier who had shouted at him. The kraut’s rifle was aimed at his face, so he dropped his gun on his chest, and held his hands up.

The kraut smiled, and gave a look behind his prisoner to his comrade, whom Hanley couldn’t see. The third shooter walked around the bush and the Lt. to stand next to his friend, gun also aimed.

“Wir haben ein Americaner!” the first kraut said happily. Hanley didn’t have to speak German to know what they meant. He was their prisoner and he knew it.

The other one nodded, and then a shot rang out, and he went rigid, falling in an arc to the ground. Before his other captor could duck, a bullet lodged in his throat, and he fell at Hanley’s feet.

Lt. Hanley looked around as he picked up his gun, and yet another soldier came into view, only this time, an American.

“Thanks,” Hanley said. The other man held down his hand for him to take so he could pull him to his feet, and he took it.

“We’d better get out of here Lt,” he said. “There’s more where they came from.”

Hanley nodded, “Lead the way,” he told him.

“You’re hurt.”

“I’ll manage, now come on!” The explosions seemed to be drawing ever nearer, and he wasn’t in any hurry to get back in the midst of them.

The other soldier stepped closer to the Lt. so he could put his arm around his neck, and he did so, before they hurried as quickly as they could further into the forest.

* * *

He limped along, and knew he would have to take a break, sooner rather than later. His wound had to be bandaged to stem the bleeding, or he was going to be in deep trouble.

“Wait,” he told the soldier helping him. The soldier slowed a little, and finally stopped, helping to lower the injured Lt. to the ground.

“We’ve got to stop the bleeding,” Hanley said, motioning to his wound. The other man nodded, and after a quick look around, knelt down to take a look.

“I don’t have a med kit or bandages Lt,” he told him. “There’s a medic with my squad though, and last I knew they weren’t far from here.”

Hanley sighed and nodded. The private was young, and looked fairly uncertain about what to do.

“Are you sure private?” Hanley asked.

The private nodded, and said, “Not five minutes from here I’m sure.”

“Alright,” the Lt. nodded, “help me up.”

The private did as he was told, and they were off again, trying to stay behind cover as they went so they wouldn’t make easy targets for snipers in the trees.

They slowed a minute later, because Hanley was finding it harder and harder to walk, and by the time the private knew they were nearing the rest of his unit, he was carrying most of the Lt’s weight, as he’d almost passed out.

As if from a distance, Lt. Hanley heard someone shout, “Hold it right there!”

They stopped, and he opened his eyes in time to see another GI jogging towards them. “Who’ve you brought Perkins?” the man asked.

“A Lt… two krauts were going to kill him. Help me with him, he’s hurt,” the Private ordered. Suddenly there was someone on Hanley’s left side, putting his other arm around his neck. The two soldiers picked Hanley up, and carried him the rest of the way, but he was out cold before they reached the camp.

When next he awoke, it took him a moment to figure out where he was, and who with. Blurry figures stood and kneeled around him, talking in distant and garbled voices. After a few seconds, he heard someone say, “He’s coming around Captain,” and then his head cleared completely.

Hanley looked up into the face of a man with Captain’s bars, standing over him, watching the Medic work. He tried to sit up, but someone behind him pulled him back to a lying position, and the Captain said, “Easy there Lt. We’re not going to hurt you.”

Hanley closed his eyes again for a second. He knew they weren’t going to hurt him because they were on the same side.

“Where are we Captain?” Hanley asked, opening his eyes again.

The Captain kneeled down and said, “Away from the battle. Don’t worry, you’re safe here.”

“I need to get back to my men as soon as your medic patches me up sir. They were right in the thick of things back there.”

“I don’t think you’re going anywhere on that leg Lt- Lt-“

“Lt. Hanley sir,” he informed him. “Gil Hanley.”

The Captain nodded. “Ok Gil, well you just sit tight until the Doc says you can go, ok?”

Hanley nodded, but reluctantly. He didn’t understand why the Captain was so calm. There was a major battle for more ground going on, and there was a whole squad of perfectly good men just sitting there, doing nothing.

The Captain stood to move away again, but Hanley asked, “Captain, why aren’t these men out in the field?”

He looked down at the injured Lt, pondering the answer to his question. Finally he said, “We’re on a different mission Lt. Don’t worry, your men will be fine,” and with that he walked away to talk to a GI with Sergeant’s stripes.

Hanley looked at his leg now, which the Medic was just getting ready to pull a bullet from. The medic looked up, as if realizing for the first time that his patient was awake, and reached down in his bag to pull out a needle of morphine.

Hanley didn’t want the morphine shot, but had no power to stop it, as the Medic was quicker than he was. Lt. Hanley felt his senses slowly going numb, and soon drifted out of consciousness.

The silence was what woke him. He had been reliving the past two days in his dreams, and suddenly, the noise had stopped. He opened his eyes, and found himself surrounded in darkness.

Lt. Hanley let out a sigh of relief when he noticed the bandage on his leg, and the medic asleep a few feet away. He wasn’t in the midst of a battle, and he hadn’t been captured by Germans. This was saying something considering the odds he had been facing earlier.

The Lt. reached up and wiped the cold sweat off of his forehead. His leg throbbed, and he wondered how long he had been out for the morphine to have worn off.

In the distance he could see the sun beginning to rise over the trees, but only just. It was still quite dark out, as there were no fires or lights lit. He could see a few figures scattered around, hunched over or lying down, sleeping, around him. They were in a sizeable clearing, and he wondered how long the men had been there on their, special mission.

He pushed himself to a sitting position, and was startled to hear someone on his right say, “Going somewhere Lt?”

Hanley looked over at the Medic, whose eyes were still closed. He had obviously heard him. “No Private, I’m just sitting up if that’s alright with you.”

The medic yawned. “Just fine by me Lt. Just stay put will ya? I’m responsible for you.”

Hanley nodded in the darkness, and realizing that the Medic’s eyes were still closed, said, “Right.”

He used his arms and good leg to push himself backwards a foot or so, to lean against a tree. It was going to be light soon, and he didn’t feel much like going back to sleep.

“Private?” he asked.

The medic turned over onto his side to face the Lt, and opened his eyes, wondering if he needed more morphine.

“What mission is your squad on?”

The Private chuckled. “Don’t exactly know Lt. Captain won’t say. Supposed to be classified or something.”

Hanley frowned in the darkness. He supposed it made sense; he’d been on classified missions under someone’s command and not known what it was about before, but something just didn’t seem right to him about the whole situation. He just couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Alright Private, thanks,” he said.

The medic nodded and rolled back over.

When the sun was up over the trees a little more an hour later, Hanley started and woke up again. He’d dozed off, but now there were voices to keep him awake.

He looked over to see five soldiers coming into their clearing, which he now saw, contained a lot more men than he had previously thought. Had more shown up during the night?

The party walked over to the Captain, who Hanley saw, was now awake, and building a fire, next to a young Private, who was handing him pieces of wood he’d collected.

The Captain looked up at the approach of the men, and Hanley recognized one of them as the Private who’d found him earlier the day before.

“Nothing Pete,” the Private said, addressing the Captain, which surprised the Lt.

“Yeah Cap’n, perimeter’s secure,” another of the men said.

“Alright, get some shut eye then.”

One of them nodded, and they moved off to another part of the clearing to find a spot to rest.

Hanley further took in the sight of the clearing now that it was lighter, and noticed that it looked well lived in. For a squad, or what now appeared to be two, on a top secret mission, it sure looked as if they’d been there a while. Finally his gaze moved back over to where the Captain and Private were building a fire, and just as it did, the red haired Private looked away from the pile of wood he was holding, and over at Hanley.

He looked young, and Hanley knew he was probably only 18. His hair still looked freshly cut however, and he wondered if he was a new replacement.

The Captain, still looking at the freshly built fire, looked up at the young man when he hadn’t handed him another piece of wood to keep it going. He noticed his attention lie elsewhere, and followed his gaze to Lt. Hanley.

He stood and said something quietly to the Private, who then knelt and began stoking the fire in his place, before walking over to where Hanley sat.

“Good morning Lt,” he said.

Hanley looked up at him. “Morning sir,” he said.

“How’s your leg?”

He nodded, “Better sir.”

The Captain chuckled, and Hanley wondered why.

“We’ll be pulling out in a day or so, but until then, I think you’d better stay here. Nobody to take you back to your unit until then.”

“I can make it on my own Captain-” Hanley tried to put in, but the Captain put up a hand to stop him.

“I know you’re eager to get back to your men, but I can’t let you go alone, and at the moment I can’t spare anybody. We need every man we’ve got for our mission, and if we pull out earlier, that means you as well.”

“May I ask what that mission is sir?” Hanley asked him.

The Captain sighed and stood again. “Sorry Lt, not at the moment. It’s classified until a later time.”

He walked away into the trees, leaving a perplexed Lt. behind him. Over by the fire, Hanley noticed the young Private looking at him again, but when he saw Hanley notice, he looked away, and quickly busied himself with the fire once more.

* * *

The rest of the soldiers had awoken by midday, and Hanley was starting to get a bad feeling about the situation. For some reason things just seemed a little too at ease, for a group of GI’s under a Captain’s command.

At the moment they seemed to have no agenda, with the exception of a group of five that the Captain had sent out on another recon mission. Everybody else simply sat around, talked, or slept.

The medic didn’t seem to be keeping an eye on the Lt, but didn’t wander too far from Hanley’s side when he did get up to do something.

Sensing that he would get no further answers about the mission they were on from any soldier there by asking questions, he simply listened, most of the time, with his eyes closed, pretending to be asleep. So far, all he could tell was that the Captain hadn’t told anyone there, more than he had to.

“Lt.”

Hanley looked up, startled. He’d been listening to a small group of the men talk about ten feet over, and hadn’t noticed the Medic come up behind him.

“Hm?” Hanley asked, trying not to show how startled he’d been.

“Thought you might be hungry.” The medic held a can of something down to Hanley, which he could only assume were K rations.

He let out a slow sigh, more out of relief than anything else, that he hadn’t been caught eve’s dropping.

“Thanks,” he told the medic, accepting the can, which he was surprised to find some sort of stew inside.

“Know it’s not much,” the medic apologized, “but it’s the best we could do. No silverware either.”

“What is it?” Hanley asked, trying not to sound too rude.

The medic sat down next to him with his own can of soup, and pointed at the Lt’s can, “Fresh beef stew with miscellaneous K rations added in. Bart got the cow this morning and dragged a nice portion back with him. He’s a bad shot, especially in the dark, but I’m glad he thought this ol’ Bessy was a German.”

Hanley looked down at the liquid contents of his can again. The medic saw his look and said, “Don’t worry Lt, it’s fresh. Wouldn’t eat anythin’ if it wasn’t.”

The Lt. nodded, and brought the can to his lips, drinking a bit of the contents. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either.

“Euck. Need’s salt,” the medic said from his position sitting against the tree next to Hanley.

Hanley smiled, and was glad that if he said anything, that he wouldn’t be the only one who offended the cook, whoever that was.

“Who made this?” Hanley asked, swallowing another mouthful of the bland stew.”

“Oh, that’d be Sam… yeah, we were real glad we got him a couple of weeks ago. Only one of us who could cook worth a damn with what we could get,” he said as he swallowed a chunk of beef.

Lt. Hanley was just about to take another drink of his lunch when what the medic said happened to sink in. “Was, Sam, a replacement?”

The medic looked over, and took a second to answer. He wondered just how much trouble his mouth had just gotten him into. “Yeah,” he answered, “Bryant Samson. He’s the one over there with bright red hair…we tried callin’ him Red, but it just didn’t seem to stick.”

Hanley nodded. That made sense, but if they were a normal squad, then when would they have enough time to sit around and cook?

“So,” Hanley said with the air of polite conversation, “what Company you guys with?”

The medic looked straight ahead and didn’t answer him. He knew the Lt. couldn’t see him because they were sitting at a ninety-degree angle in regards to each other, but all the same he made the effort to look over at him anyhow. “Baker Company. 204th Baker Company.”

“Want to try again Private?” Hanley asked him, setting his can down completely now. He knew the 204th wasn’t anywhere near there. In fact, they would have had to travel back a week just to get to where they were.

The medic swallowed, and made one last desperate attempt to rectify the situation. “Sorry? Meant to say King Company sir. I forgot… I’m just used to sayin’ Baker cause I got hurt a few weeks ago and they transferred me into King Company. 361st.”

“Oh yeah?” Hanley asked. The medic took in a deep breath, “I hear they’re really good Private,” and then he let it out again. So he hadn’t caught what the medic had said.

“You know, I know the CO of King’s 361st,” Hanley told him casually. “Real nice guy.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, it’s funny really Private, because we sort of look alike. I mean, we’re both tall and have short brown hair. We talk the same too, and hey! We’ve even got the same name… would you believe that Private?”

The medic closed his eyes. So he did know, and now the Captain would have his head unless the injured Lt. went along with it.

“Now are you going to tell me what’s going on here Private?” Hanley asked, moving with some difficulty to stand, and finally managing it. It was easier to act like someone in command when you were standing than it was sitting, when you were about to chew someone out.

The medic looked up, but it wasn’t him who answered the Lt’s question. “Lt, I think you ought to have kept your nose out of things and just done what I told you to do.”

He turned and came face to face with the Captain, and suddenly things began to fit into place.

Hanley looked the Captain straight in the eyes, and the other man knew he was being scrutinized.

“Well Lt?” the Captain asked.

“Well what sir?” Hanley replied. He felt stupid calling him, sir, now that he had a general idea about what was going on.

“Well what are you going to do Lt?” The Captain clarified.

“I’m going back to my lines,” Hanley paused for a second, “and you’ve got to come back with me,” he finished.

The Captain began to chuckle. “I don’t think so Gil. Why don’t you just sit tight until I figure out what to do with you, huh?”

He did not sit.

The Captain had begun to turn away, but Hanley wouldn’t let him.

“Sir, how long have you been out here?”

The Captain stopped, and looked back over at him. Lt. Hanley got the distinct impression that he was thinking back a great distance of time, and that he didn’t like what he was remembering.

“Too long to go back Lt. That’s for sure. And the same goes for most of these boys here… so you just do like I said and sit the hell down, because I’m not going to have my men shot for desertion!”

Hanley looked down for a moment. So he’d been right. These men and boys weren’t fighting for more ground, because they didn’t want to. He looked back up at the Captain.

“I don’t want them killed for desertion,” he said quietly, “I just want to get back to my men so they’re not getting killed by the enemy.”

“Great sentiments Lt, but I can’t let you do that. The second I let you walk out of here, we’ve gotta pick up and move out, because you’ll report us and then every other GI in France will be after us, and hey, lets not forget S2 and CID.”

Hanley shook his head. “I won’t report you Captain, I-”

“Don’t patronize me Lt!” he cut him off. “I was a Captain! I know it’s your duty to report us. And even if it wasn’t, I can tell you would. For god sakes, you still call me Captain! You’re too much of a by-the-book officer.” His voice had quieted a little by the end.

Hanley tried to look him straight in the eyes, but couldn’t, because the former Captain wouldn’t take his gaze from the ground. There was something in the way that he stood there that told Hanley, that he was ashamed of being there, the deserter, and not the man trying to convince the deserter to let him go.

Realizing there was no more he could say to make the Captain realize he had to let him go, Hanley slowly nodded his head, and turned to sit down. The whole encampment was watching him now. Just as soon as their commanding officer, the former Captain, had approached Hanley, they had begun to watch the fight unfold.

“Just one question Captain,” Hanley asked, leaning against the tree.

The other man didn’t look up, but Hanley knew he had his attention.

“How many others here wish they could go back?” And with that, he lowered himself onto the ground.

The Captain had strode off after the argument, and disappeared into the woods, not to be seen again for hours. The rest of the men went back to what they were doing, some of them occasionally casting odd glances over at the Lt, and again, all was quiet, and Hanley was left to his own devices.

It wasn’t long before the light began to wane again, and another patrol was sent out, as a Sergeant put out the fire. Even if they were deserters, they were still in a war zone, and a fire for Germans, or Americans, to spot at night, was no good to any of them.

Hanley sighed. His stomach was starting to grumble, and after the falling out with the Captain, the others were keeping their distance, even the medic. This was sure some situation he’d gotten himself into. From one enemy to another of sorts. For a few seconds he wondered if he would have been better off with the Germans. At least he knew where exactly they stood. But now he was surrounded by Americans, who wouldn’t let him go if they wanted to.

Somebody grunted as they sat down a few feet away, and Hanley looked over. In the fading light, he could see the Private’s bright red hair.

The Private looked over, and offered one of the cans he was holding to Hanley. “K Rations sir?” he asked.

Hanley watched him, and tried to figure out just what the Private was playing at. Like the Captain had said, things were lax here, rank didn’t matter, and yet, he’d still called him, sir.

“Thanks,” Hanley told him. He paused for a moment as he took the can, and asked, “It’s Bryant isn’t it?”

“Oh, yes sir,” the young man said quietly.

Hanley continued to watch him as he opened his can. “That was pretty good stew you made earlier Bryant,” he told him.

“Oh, you don’t have to lie sir. I didn’t eat much of it myself. I didn’t have any spices or anything…”

Hanley smiled, and couldn’t figure out why. Maybe it was because the Private still seemed so innocent. That was something rare in war. “Well, you did the best with what you had. That made it better.”

Bryant looked up at this remark, but looked away rather quickly again. They sat in silence for a few minutes eating, before Lt. Hanley finally thought of something else to say.

“So, what company are you with?”

“With sir?” he asked, looking up. It was almost completely dark now. Hanley knew it was ok to talk to the Private because the rest of the men were on the other side of the camp. They could hear some of them laughing and talking.

“That’s right Private.”

Bryant looked down to think for a second. “Item Company sir. 320th… third squad, or at least I was.”

“From what I can tell, you still are Private.”

Suddenly he looked up at Hanley, and shot at him, “Why do you keep calling me Private?! Didn’t you hear what the Captain said? We’re deserters. We’re not in your army anymore!”

Hanley waited to hear if he had anything else to say, but nothing came. Bryant was looking down at the ground again as they sat there, as if he was ashamed of what he’d done.

“That look right there Private,” Hanley told him. “You look ashamed of yelling at a Lt. And judging by your fresh hair cut and how uncomfortable you look here, I’d say you didn’t walk off the line more than a week ago. And how many times have you gotten yelled at for calling the Captain sir?”

Bryant looked up at him. “Just leave me alone will ya?” and with that, he stood and walked away, leaving his K rations behind on the ground. The Lt. watched him leave, and wondered if he’d found his out. The Captain might have been right about most of the others being deserters, but if he was right, than Bryant Samson was just over the hill. He still had time to go back.

* * *

“So what about you Lt? Did you ever go AWOL?”

Hanley shook his head. “No Private. Never had a reason to.”

“What if you did? Would you have done it?”

Lt. Hanley had to think about it for a moment. He would have liked to have said no, but he’d never been put in the position. He was more than reasonably sure he wouldn’t, but you could never tell exactly how you’d act in a new situation. “I don’t know Bryant. Like I said, I’ve never had a reason to.”

It was around noon the next day. Private Samson had come to sit back by the Lt around eight that morning, and had only left his spot once since then to cook breakfast for the others, before he’d come straight back. Lt. Hanley didn’t ask questions when the Private came to him that morning and struck up a conversation, he just, conversed.

“Oh,” Bryant said.

Hanley had a feeling he was looking for someone to condone what he’d done, other than other men who’d already done it. As far as he was concerned, he wasn’t going to give it to him. There might have still been a chance to pull him back over to his side.

“How long have you been out here Private?” Hanley asked. “Away from your unit I mean?”

Bryant sighed. “You were right the first time. A week sir. But don’t tell them that. I told em’ I’d been AWOL for a couple of weeks.”

“Why?” Hanley questioned him, watching the young man for his response.

Bryant looked up. “I don’t know… I was just… the guys in my squad… they all…” he trailed away, lost for the right words.

“They all what?”

“I don’t know how to explain it, that’s all.” What he wanted to say, was that he was scared and no one else in his outfit had been, but he couldn’t. He knew that’s why most of the other guys were here, but not Lt. Hanley.

Lt. Hanley was very tempted to say, Well try Private, but thought better of it, and instead said, “Alright, I understand.”

Bryant looked back over at him. He did? “But you’ve never gone AWOL! How could you understand?”

Hanley looked him straight in the eye and tried to make sense of what the Private would have said. “You were scared Private. It happens to all of us. I know you don’t think the other guys in your squad were, but let me tell you something. There’s not a man in this army who isn’t or wasn’t. You’d be a fool not to be. This is war, and that’s what happens. Besides that, you’re younger than most of the men in your squad. Don’t get me wrong; what you did was wrong, but I understand it.”

The Private nodded. “My squad thought I was dead, or captured or something,” he said quietly, “An explosion knocked me backwards into a tree and I was knocked out. When I woke up, they were gone. I wandered around for a while, trying to find them, but I couldn’t remember how to get back to our Command Post. That’s when a couple of these guys found me,” he nodded his head in the direction of a few of the deserters. “I thought they were leading me back to our lines, but I guess I was wrong. That was a week ago. After a couple of days I figured out what was goin’ on and just decided to go with ‘em. They were scared just like me, and they weren’t afraid to show it,” he finished, his head hung lower than the Lt. had yet seen it, and he knew the Private was truly ashamed of what he’d done.

“You know Samson,” Hanley said gently, “it’s not too late to go back.”

“Yes it is. You heard the Captain. They’d shoot me.”

“No,” Hanley told him still quietly, “there’s a man in one of my squads who’s been over the hill more times than I can remember. Granted he’s been court marshaled a couple of times, but he’s one of the best in the squad. He’s our BAR man, and nobody blames him for what he’s done.”

Bryant finally lifted his head again. “How’s that possible?”

One of the Sergeants walked by and they stopped talking for a minute, but as soon as he’d gone out of earshot, Hanley said, “You’ve been out here for seven days?”

Bryant nodded.

“Well thirty’s desertion Private, not seven. You’re still AWOL.”

As another man walked by, a Corporal this time, Hanley gave Bryant a meaningful look, and as the Corporal sat down on a log a few feet away with his back turned to them, the Private nodded.

* * *

The plan was to simply slip away during the night, both Hanley and Samson, but Hanley knew all too well how plans rarely went as they were supposed to. Bryant had retrieved the Lt’s gun, and taken it into the woods in the darkness, along with his own, to be reclaimed later. Hanley pretended to be asleep, and Bryant did the same on the other side of the clearing. They had to wait until the others were asleep.

Hanley was tired, and had nearly done what he had been pretending to do, when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked around, expecting to find Private Samson, and instead seeing the shadow of another young man. He was skinny, and though he knew it wasn’t possible, looked years younger than Bryant.

“Lt?” he asked in a whisper that was barely audible.

“Yes?”

“I want to go with you.”

Hanley squinted through the encompassing darkness. This could be a trick. What if someone else had overheard?

“Go with me where Private?” he asked, trying to sound confused.

“Back to the front. Back to my squad.”

Lt. Hanley tried to discern the look on the young Private’s face, but couldn’t because it was too dark. Clouds had covered the moon completely.

“Who said I was going back?” he asked.

There was silence as the Private sat there on his knees for a moment. Hanley wondered if he was confused.

“Y-you did sir,” he said quietly. “You, c-can’t stay here.”

“Why not?” he asked. Through the darkness he could see the Private shaking his head.

With a shaky voice, the Private continued, “Because you c can’t! I have to go back! I’ll never make it on my own! They’ll come after me!”

“Alright, calm down Private,” Hanley said, putting his hand on his shoulder. “Just sit tight.” He could feel the young man shaking, and knew it couldn’t have been an act.

“I’ve only been out here a few days and- I just can’t live with it if I don’t go with you…”

“Don’t worry about it, just calm down. You sit right here until I tell you to move, understand me?”

The Private nodded, and Hanley did too. “Ok, now do you still have your gun?”

“Yes sir, my Garand.”

“Good. Did you see which way the recon patrol went?”

“West sir.”

“Right, away from the war. Ok.”

They didn’t have to wait long for Bryant to sneak over to them. “Lt? You awake?”

“Yeah Samson. And someone else is coming with us. He pointed with his thumb in the darkness over his shoulder. Even though he couldn’t see the expression on Bryant’s face, he was sure it was a skeptical one.

“Well, ok, we’d better go then. The patrol won’t make it around to the East side for another hour. If they see us, well, I don’t think we’d be able to explain that.”

“Alright, I catch your drift Private. Help me up so we can get out of here.”

Both Privates moved to help Hanley, and he was pulled to his feet in less than a second.

“Thanks. Now, remember, if you shoot, they’re going to hear it and come after us. We’ve got a decent chance if we make it back to the battle before they do.”

“Yes sir,” said the new Private that Hanley did not yet know the name of.

“Ok, stick to the shadows and move out. It goes without saying, but avoid making any noise.” And with that, they began moving stealthily out of the encampment.

They’d been walking for hours, and it was already starting to get light.

“I don’t remember it being this far of a walk,” Hanley told them as he caught the younger private from falling on his face after he’d tripped over a log.

“Thank you sir,” he said quietly.

“You were passed out when they brought you in Lt,” Bryant put in, “who knows how long they carried you.”

Hanley nodded. “Well, we must be getting closer at least. Some of this is starting to look familiar. Keep your eyes open.”

“For the others?” Bryant asked.

“For Krauts,” Hanley said. The memory of the two Germans who had almost caught him two days ago came back to the Lt, and as it did, he took an extra look around, and then up to the trees above them. Seeing no Germans, he took another look around down on ground level.

“Do you think they’ve found we’ve gone?” Bryant asked ten minutes later. The sun was almost up over the trees now, and some of the early morning fog was starting to disappear.

“Probably. But we’ve got a good lead on them.”

“We’re walking though… if they come after us, they might run.”

Hanley looked over at the newest addition to their party, and nodded, slightly impressed. “They might Private, private-”

“Kent sir, Harvey Kent.”

They walked on for another half an hour, when Hanley held up his hand, and with some difficulty on his injured leg, knelt down. The other two followed suit.

“What is it?” Bryant whispered.

Hanley didn’t answer him, but shook his head. He’d thought he’d heard a distant explosion, but couldn’t be sure.

This time it was Bryant’s head that tilted up. He’d heard it too. An explosion, and closer this time.

“Is that ours?” Kent asked.

“I don’t know, maybe.”

There were more explosions in the distance, followed by gunfire, and Bryant asked, “If they weren’t ours, then what would they be?”

“The war Private,” Hanley said, glad that he’d lead them in the right direction, as sad as that was that he had to. “Come on. Can’t be another mile or two. Just keep your heads down and your eyes open.”

They moved off again, and as the explosions got louder and louder, Hanley’s mind wandered back to his men. They were in that mess right now, and he just hoped they were all alive.

The trees began to thin, and they were starting to notice larger and larger charred craters in the ground, some, littered with bodies, so far, all of them German. Hanley knew his men had been on the other side of a hill on the other side of the battle the last time he’d checked, and hoped he wouldn’t be seeing their dead bodies surrounding a crater as well.

He gave a quick glance at both of the accompanying Private’s, and noticed the fear and uncertainty etched in their faces. Just the fact that they came back with him showed they were good men with good conscious, but he didn’t know if he could count on the green recruits to hold up under fire or not. Not much further until I find out, he thought to himself. Just then, another explosion rocked the ground through the trees to their left in front of them, and they dove behind a large fallen log.

There were some shots, and Hanley brought his Carbine around to the front to see who was coming. Five Krauts were running their way.

“Open up!” the Lt. shouted to the two privates. Surprisingly, they did as they were told, and the five men were cut down. There was another explosion, and they covered their heads as they were showered with dirt.

After a moment of silence, they looked up, and waited. They couldn’t be sure who was out there, alive, or not.

“What do we do Lt?” Kent asked.

“Stay put for a minute.”

Bryant nodded, eyes wide. “Sounds like a good plan to me.” Hanley was reminded of Kirby for a moment, but the thought was driven away when a slender grenade was thrown, and landed ten feet in front of them. Instinctively, Hanley pushed the two Private’s heads down, and then ducked down lower himself. The grenade went off, and bits of rock rained down on them.

“More Krauts,” Hanley told them, looking up to see ten or more running at them, guns aimed. “Fire!”

Again they did as they were told, but the last explosion seemed to have shaken the two younger men up, and their aim was off. Hanley saw Bryant take one soldier down, and Kent two, but that wasn’t enough. More Germans kept appearing at the edge of the small clearing. They were greatly outnumbered.

As the Lt. automatically reached to one of his pockets for a grenade to throw, and found none, there was a new wave of gunfire from behind them, and several of the Krauts went down immediately.

“Oh shit!” Kent cried warily, close to tears, as he looked over his shoulder.

Hanley looked too and saw their previous captors, taking cover and firing at the Krauts.

“Keep firing!” Hanley shouted at him, and then unnecessarily at Bryant, who was making a wide sweep of the clearing with the Thompson he’d found.

The Tommy gun sputtered to a stop, and Samson looked around for another clip. He had almost thrown the gun down, but then somebody shouted, “Here, use this!” and handed him a new clip. It was the Sergeant Hanley had seen going on recon patrol the previous nights. Bryant took it without hesitation, reloaded, and kept his barrage of fire up.

The battle lasted for another ten minutes, before there was once again silence, as the last enemy soldier fell to the dirt. New craters, and burnt trees smoked, and Hanley looked around to make sure everybody was all right. The Sergeant looked around as well, and stood up. He walked back to where some of the others had been, and knelt down.

Bryant looked at Hanley, as if to ask what to do, but he just began to push himself up. Once he managed it, he limped over to where a man lay, breathing heavily. It was the Captain.

The Captain looked up at Hanley and sighed. He appeared to be ok, with the exception of the new bullet wound in his left arm.

“Sir,” Hanley said, still holding his gun.

The Captain looked at the two Privates. “This is what you wanted to come back for?” he asked, motioning around with his good arm, as the medic sat him up.

Hanley looked around and said, “I had to.”

The Captain nodded. “What about you two?” he asked the two privates, flanking Hanley. Bryant looked over at Kent, and then at the Lt.

“What I did wasn’t right. I’m here to serve my country and I abandoned it for nothing.”

“Me too sir,” Kent said.

“Was it really for nothing?” the medic asked, looking up from the wound he’d been sprinkling sulfa powder on. “Staying alive is something.”

“It is,” Hanley said, “but there are some things worse than death.”

The Captain nodded at this too. “Alright,” he told them. He looked up at the Sergeant, and then at Hanley. “Let’s go home.”

“Sir?” Hanley asked.

But the Sergeant had already knelt down to help the Captain to his feet, and waved with his other hand towards the sound of new explosions. “Move it out!”

Hanley stood back and watched as the fifteen or so men fell into two lines and began their walk back to the battle.

As the Captain stood, Bryant said, “But sir… they’ll shoot you!”

Leaning on the Sergeant for support, the Captain looked him straight in the eyes, and said, “I won’t tell if you won’t,” and then walked off after the rest of the men.

Hanley nodded, and waved his own hand in the direction of their lines. “Alright, you two heard the Captain and Sergeant, move out!”

Bryant smiled and jogged to fall into line. Kent gave one last confused look, and then did the same. Hanley smiled, and limped off to find his men.

The End