Surviving the Fog (30 page)

"Are there any more kids up there?" the
Lieutenant asked.  The silver bars on his shoulders gleamed in
the bright moonlight.

Erin shook her head.  "I don't think
so," she said.

The two oldest girls looked at each other.
 "No, we're all here," one said.  "We were in the dugout
earlier, but they took us back to the RV when they finished with
us."

Embarrassed, she hung her head.
  Hearing this, Erin felt her face flush with anger.
 She looked at the grim faced lieutenant.

“I hope you kill all those bastards,” she
stated fiercely.

Kennedy had some of the soldiers lead the
children down the road, while he and the rest started up the track.
 Just as the soldiers arrived in the vicinity of the dugout,
they heard a shot.  The soldiers ducked for cover.

A man came out of the dugout cursing loudly
and carrying a rifle.

“Who was that?” he yelled.  “If one of
you rats stole a gun, I’m gonna beat the shit out of you.”

Lieutenant Kennedy yelled back. “You are
surrounded by the United States Army.  I order you to put down
your weapon and surrender.”

Cursing, the man fired a shot in the
direction of Kennedy’s voice and then he fled back to the dugout.
 Kennedy called again for their surrender.  He was
answered by several more shots from the dugout.  Kennedy
ordered a volley to be fired, and the soldiers shot a withering
hail of bullets into the dugout.  The men in the dugout fired
again, and there was another exchange of bullets.   Then
the firing from the dugout ceased, and the soldiers heard only
groans, and finally there was silence in the dugout.  At dawn,
the soldiers cautiously approached the dugout and found six bodies.
 A lucky shot had grazed one of the soldiers; it was a serious
but not life threatening wound.

Well below the dugout, in
the safety of the trees, Jacob wondered if the Chief would be mad
at him.  Jacob had carried a handgun as part of Mike’s plan,
but firing into the dugout as the soldiers arrived had not been
part of the plan.  
Maybe I won’t tell
the Chief,
he thought.

By then, the children had
arrived safely back at the Army post.  Major Collins felt very
satisfied when he heard Lieutenant Kennedy’s report.  They had
rescued eleven children.  Counting Mike and Nathan, he knew
that he now had thirteen more mouths to feed.
 
But we can do it.
 They were US Army, after all, even if most of them were
engineers.

The post medic examined the children, and she
pronounced them relatively healthy, at least physically.  Most
were malnourished, and all of them were suffering from vermin on
their bodies and in their hair.  Almost all had been
repeatedly molested.  Emotionally, they were in bad shape, and
it would take them a long time to recover from their trauma.
 But they were alive, which was more than could be said for
the three small skeletons that had been found and buried, along
with the adult remains.  The major was tempted to leave the
thugs to the vultures, but he ordered the bikers to be buried,
also.

After only a day, some of
the children were noticeably more cheerful.
 
These children are
survivors
, the Major thought.  The two
boys who had been the first to find the post had found a baseball.
 They were playing catch, not far from the edge of the knoll.
 One of the older girls, the only one who had adamantly
refused to be examined by the doctor, was actually sunbathing on
the same side of the post, but she was closer to the wall.
 The major pondered what compromises she had made, so that she
could survive.

Mike was enjoying playing catch, but the game
had a secondary purpose.  He threw the ball past Nathan.
 Nathan had to run into the bushes by the small oak tree to
retrieve the ball.  There, he waited.  A sharp eyed
Ranger standing on the palisade parapet saw Nathan go into the
bushes.  When he didn't return in a few minutes, the Ranger
yelled at Mike to find his friend, and to get him back in sight.
 Just then, Nathan emerged from the bushes.  He and Mike
walked back to the fort.

"You kids stay where I can see you," the
soldier told them sternly.

"I had to pee," Nathan explained.  I
can't pee in front of people.  And there’s a girl here."
 He pointed to Erin, lying on the grass.

The young soldier looked
over at Erin.  
There certainly is a
girl here
, he thought.
 
And she’s a real looker with a great
rack.
 He felt a twinge of guilt.
 
She was probably
abused
.

The following afternoon, the
kids were back.  The boys were throwing the ball.  The
same boy went frequently into the bushes to pee.  He was only
gone for a minute or two, so the Ranger did not yell at him.
 The Ranger wondered if the boy might have a urinary problem
from his experiences at the bikers’ camp.  
Poor kid.  Probably caught some kind of disease from
those assholes
.  The girl was
sunbathing, today.  But this time, she had taken off her
shirt.  Her wonderful breasts were covered only by her bra.
 The Ranger kept sneaking guilty peeks at her.

Later that day, Mike was interviewed by Major
Collins.  He was assured by the Major that he was not in
trouble, and that all of the kids were being interviewed, so that a
brief account of the crimes committed by the men could be recorded.
 The Major did not ask for graphic details.  The Major
smiled later when he thought about the interview.  The boy was
extremely curious.  He had asked more questions than the Major
did.

"We were sent here to develop a training camp
for the Rangers," the Major had explained in answer to one of the
boy’s many questions. "They needed a high altitude mountainous
camp.  Given the situation in Central Asia, I can think of
several reasons why.  A squad of Rangers was detailed to us as
consultants.  We weren’t here a week, when this mist appeared.
 We started pulling in all the civilians we could find.
 After a while, we realized that there was a gang of men
preying on people who were trapped in the mountains.  We found
some gruesome evidence.  We've been looking for them ever
since.  I know we covered that hill.  They must have set
up their camp after we checked it."

The next day, the Ranger on
the palisade catwalk watched the two boys play catch again.
 Once more, the same girl was sunbathing.  This time she
not only took off her shirt, she unhooked her bra to avoid getting
a tan line.  
This is not bad
duty,
the Ranger thought as, for a few
minutes, he openly watched the girl.  Unnoticed, the boy who
needed to pee went into the bushes.  He was gone several
minutes.  When the Ranger looked for him, he emerged zipping
his pants.  The Ranger did not realize that he was a different
boy.

Later, Mike, Erin, and Kevin conferred.
 "Everything is set, Chief," said Kevin.  "Jacob has both
lines ready, and he made the trail that he wants them to follow.
 We should be gone by the time they start to search.  If
they do search."

"Oh, they'll search," Mike replied, and Erin
nodded.

"Are you still okay with this, Erin?" Mike
asked.  He was not happy about this part of his plan.

"Sure, Chief," she replied.  "I grew up
around people like this.  It's like home, to me.  I'll
miss my friends, but I'll make some new ones.  Starting next
May, I'll check the tree the first day of every month to see if
there is a message from you.  And don't worry about your
getaway.  I've got my own plan."

The next day, their routine continued.
 The boys were out by the edge of the knoll, and the girl was
sunbathing with her bra strap unhooked.  The Ranger stood
watch, occasionally sneaking peeks at her.   And then, as
he watched, the girl started to rise.  She fumbled for her
bra, but it dropped to the ground.  Her wonderful breasts
sprang into view, and the young Ranger’s eyes bulged.  As he
watched, she bent over at the waist and retrieved her bra.
 The Ranger sighed as she put it on and hooked the clasp.
 Suddenly she yelped, and she fell to the ground, moaning and
clutching her leg.

Almost instantly, the young Ranger jumped
down from the palisade parapet.  He yelled to a fellow soldier
to take his place.  The Ranger rushed out the gate and ran to
the girl who was still moaning as she lay on the ground, holding
her leg.  He helped her to her feet.  Gingerly, she put
her weight on her foot, and then she whimpered and leaned against
the Ranger.   He held her against his side, as he
awkwardly bent down and picked up her blouse.  He helped her
put on her blouse, and then she leaned on him as she limped into
the fort.

Up on the palisade, the other Ranger watched
enviously as his fellow soldier helped the well endowed girl enter
the gate.  When the two of them disappeared, he turned his
attention back to the field and to the view beyond.  The field
was empty, but the view was simply magnificent.

At dinner, there was a head count.  Two
boys were missing.  Lieutenant Kennedy reported to Major
Collins that they were the two boys who had first found the Army
post.  The Major sent men out around the edge of the knoll to
look for the boys, but there was no sign of them.  The worried
Major swore, but there was no way to search for them in the
dark.

The next morning, the soldiers searched
again.  Soon, they found a heavy rope tied to the small oak
tree at the edge of the knoll.  The Lieutenant and some of his
squad climbed down the rope.  They found fresh tracks which
they followed.  The trail led in a circular way into the
forest.  In the late afternoon, they followed the trail out of
the woods and onto the saddle land.  There, the trail
disappeared.  They searched the area, and they found signs of
a camp.  The Lieutenant reported back to the Major.

"We lost them, Sir," he said to the Major.
 "They seemed to have met some other people.  The others
had a vehicle with them."

What the hell is going
on,
Collins wondered.

The Major was suspicious, but there was no
time to worry about two boys who didn't want to be at the fort.
 There were too many preparations for the winter still to be
made, but he vowed to find out what had happened to the boys and
who they had met.

One day in December, Major Collins noticed
one of the young Rangers talking to the big breasted girl that had
been rescued from the bikers.  A small notion occurred to him.
 He did some investigating, and when he was certain, he called
the girl in for a visit.

"Your name is Erin, I believe," Major Collins
said, once she was seated.

"Yes, Sir," she replied.

"Erin, I have a question for you.  Do
you know what happens to spies?" he said sternly.

"Yes, Sir.  In wartime, enemy agents of
a foreign power are executed.  In peacetime, they are usually
exchanged for our own agents,” the girl replied.

The Major's eyes widened.  "You are
remarkably familiar with the rules of espionage, Erin."

She grinned.  "I'm an Army brat, Sir.
 Grandpa and Dad were both Army.  I grew up by Ord.
 My Mom and I lived in Monterey.  Sir, I have a question.
 How did you figure it out?"

The Major stared at her, and then he laughed.
 "It wasn't easy," he said ruefully.  "I saw you talking
to one of the Rangers one night, and it suddenly occurred to me
that you were in remarkably good mental health for a girl that had
been systematically molested for over a year.  Most girls have
an aversion to men after that."

Erin remembered Maria’s slow recovery.
 "Oh, rats," she said.  "I should have thought of
that."

"Then I remembered that you were one of the
few people who were on the knoll, on the day that the two boys
disappeared.  I grilled the Ranger who was there that day, and
I heard about your mishap.  He finally confessed that it was
not only your leg that you had trouble with."

Erin blushed.  The Major continued.

"So, I have a pair of boys who show up
unexpectedly.  They bring news of a gang I’ve been itching to
find.  One of them knows the way back.  We get there, and
the kids are not chained up, they are down on the road waiting for
us.  What luck.  Lieutenant Kennedy did notice the chain
on the door, by the way.  It finally occurred to me that after
the boys escaped, there should have been more security, not
less.”

“We couldn’t think of everything,” Erin
explained.

Collins nodded.  “So, we have a very
successful mission.  A few days later, the original two boys
disappear, obviously with help from someone outside the post.
 I suppose I didn’t want to admit to myself that I had been
conned by a couple of kids.  I talked to Lieutenant Kennedy.
 It turns out, that you were the one who met the soldiers at
the gang’s hideout.  You told him that all the kids were
there.  And you were there, the day the boys disappeared.
 You created a remarkably effective distraction.  And you
were the only one who refused to be examined by our medic.
 I'm guessing that you’re still a virgin.”

“Please, don’t make me answer any questions
about that,” Erin pleaded, suddenly embarrassed.

“I won’t,” the Major assured her.  “But
now that the cat is out of the bag, I want you to have a medical
examination.  Don’t worry.  The results will be
confidential, even from me.”

"Anyway,” he continued.  “I've talked to
the rest of the kids.  No one remembers you before that night.
 They thought you were with us.  It’s time to come clean,
Erin.  Who are you, and where are your friends?"

Erin sighed.  "I told you who I am, and
that is the truth.  My friends are back at our Lodge.  We
planned this, so that you could rescue those kids.  That was
our only goal.  I stayed to see what kind of people you are,
because I’m comfortable around military personnel."