The Fall of America: Enemy Within (Book 3) (2 page)

He tossed the handset to his radio man and thought,
Damned fools. All Moscow sends me are drunks and fools.

“Colonel, we caught this man on one of the swamp trails.” Major Falin, his executive officer said as he neared with a partisan.

The partisan had his head lowered and his hands were secured behind his back.

“You mean to tell me after four hours all we have to show for our searching is one man?”

“So far, but we know there are many more at the mansion.”

A bright flash filled the sky and when Sokol looked up, a sharp crack of thunder was heard.  
Damn it, now it will rain and make it even harder to locate the partisans. But, maybe this man can lead us to the mansion.

“Uh, you speak English, don't you, Major Falin?”

“Yes, sir, I was college educated in the United States and had four years of English lessons while here. My excellent command of the English language is the main reason I was assigned to intelligence, sir.” Falin was the propaganda officer and as such, he was a good writer, and understood the psychology of Americans better than anyone else in the command. His suggestions on how to handle Americans, however, were often ignored as being too soft or lacking in sound military reasoning.  He was a tall and thin man, with his brown hair worn in a crew-cut for ease of cleaning.

“Tell this bastard to take me to the mansion or he'll be tortured to death. It's important that he understands I will do exactly what I say to him if he refuses.”

“Sir, I don't think —”

“Major, you work for me, and I'm not interested in what you think. If I need your opinion, I will ask for it. Get his name and then ask him the question about the mansion.”

The Major spoke for a moment and then said, “His name is James and claims he has no last name. He also demands to be treated according to the Geneva Convention as a prisoner of war.”

“Tell him to lead us to the mansion or the torture will start in a few minutes.”

The American and Russian spoke and then Falin said, “Uh, he said go to hell and you can kiss his red, white, and blue, ass.”

Sokol slapped the prisoner hard enough he fell to the mud.

“Did you tell this Yankee bastard about the torture?”

“Yes, sir. He knows.”

“Master Sergeant Rusak, have two men tie this man to a tree and do it now.”

“Yes, sir. Corporal Babin and Junior Sergeant Shubin, secure this man to the big tree on the left.” Rusak ordered and then thought,
We are doing this all wrong. Hell, it is more than likely this man has no idea where the swamp mansion is; I have heard the whole swamp is a maze of trails. A man cannot tell what he does not know. This death will just add more fuel to the flames of anger the Americans already have for us.

Once James was secured to the tree, Sokol moved to the man and pulled his bayonet. He gave an evil grin and then with a quick slash of his knife, an ear fell to the mud.

James screamed and jerked at his bonds, but he would go no place and his thrashing around splattered blood on the Colonel, Major, and Master Sergeant.

“Shubin, you and Babin, hold his legs open. I will remove his penis next.”

The two soldiers looked at Master Sergeant Rusak, who nodded.

Once his legs were pulled apart, Sokol said, “Tell this damned fool of an American, I am going to remove his penis and balls next, if he does not talk.”

James yelled, “Tell yer Russian Commander to untie me and I'll kick his ass!  He's a damned coward!”

“James, you must take him to the mansion in the swamp or he will make you less of a man.  He is not making an idle threat.  He is most serious.”

Knowing he was a dead man, no matter what he did, James closed his eyes, raised his head and prayed, “Lord, I'll be seein' you in a short spell. I've always lived as good a life as I can.  I —”

“What is he doing? Is he telling you how to get to the mansion?”

“He is praying.”

“Praying? Is he asking God to spare his life?”

“No, actually, he is letting God know he will soon be there. He knows we will kill him no matter what he does.”

The knife in the Colonel's hand flashed in the dim light and the long blade entered under James's rib cage at an upward angle, so it went in deep. A horrendous scream was heard from the captive and then Sokol jerked the knife from side to side. The scream grew louder as his whole body shuddered violently. Suddenly the scream died, a loud sigh came from James, and as his bowels emptied, he quivered, and then died. His upper body was leaning away from the tree, with blood pooling at his feet.

“These sonsofbitches never talk!” Sokol said in anger. He wiped his knife blade clean on the grasses and then ordered, “Get the men moving into the swamp and do it now!”

Corporal Babin looked at the dead American and thought,
Why are we here? I see nothing here that I need or want. This war is confusing to me, but I must follow orders. I am only a Corporal and not paid for my thinking. He died bravely, but praying to God did him no good at all. There must be something about this country I do not understand. These people, these Americans, they are determined, only why?

“Vodka, you are our point man.” Master Sergeant Rusak said to Private Alvang, who detested the strong tasting alcohol, thus his nick name. “Keep your head out of your ass and you will survive the day; daydream and we will send you home in a box.”

As the men started moving, Rusak called out again, “Dvorkin, you are my drag man. Let us move, and keep your eyes and ears open. Make a mistake today and some of us will die.”

The point man was understandably nervous and after a few minutes, Lieutenant Markov said, “Alvang, increase your speed. Hell, it will take us all day to cover two kilometers as slow as you're walking.”

That is easy for him to say, because it is my ass that will get blown up or shot if I overlook something. I am expendable to these bastards,
the Private thought as he scanned the trail and increased his speed.

The morning passed uneventfully and it was at their noon meal when Private Konfer had to pee; he'd taken two steps from camp when his world exploded into flame and smoke. The men scattered, which resulted in another explosion, followed by a loud scream. Konfer had not made a sound since the first detonation. Then a second scream was heard and Rusak yelled, “No one move! Konfer set off a mine. Medic, check out the three men, but look for trip wires or bumps in the soil as you move.”

A thin man, actually little more than a boy, eighteen year old Private Elout moved slowly forward, scanning the ground around him. He moved to Konfer, rolled the injured man on his back and felt for a pulse on the bloody neck, “Konfer is dead. I will now check the other two men.”

When he neared the victim of the second mine, he could see the man's right leg was gone from the knee down and his right arm was mangled badly. He examined him and called out, “We need a helicopter for this man, he has suffered the loss of a leg and arm. I see some smaller injuries, but none look to be life-threatening.” He applied tourniquets and bandages to the injured man, a Private named Flits. He then shot him full of morphine and his screaming soon stopped.

“Medic!  Private Gise has stepped in a stake trap and has a sharp stake through his left foot and another in the calf of his leg.” Corporal Babin said from beside the injured man.

“I'm coming, but don't move the man until I get some morphine in him. His pain is severe and it will become worse as we remove him from the pit.” Private Elout said as he gathered his medical bag and started moving.

As the medic moved, he could hear the Master Sergeant on the radio and finally the man said, “The helicopter will be here in about ten minutes. In the mean time, all of you check yourselves and each other for injuries. In this swamp, infection will come quickly and to even the smallest wound.”

 Private Elout squatted beside Gise and pulled a syringe with morphine. He injected the powerful painkiller and then pulled a tag out and began filling it out with a pen. The tag identified the medic, date, time, known injuries, and what drugs were given to the wounded man in the field.  He then attached the tag to Gise's shirt pocket.

Once the tag was complete, Gise was feeling no pain, so Elout said, “We have to jerk his leg from the pit. It will cause extensive tissue damage, but there is no other way to get him free of the stakes. I need two strong men to pull him from the stakes, using his shoulders.”

The Master Sergeant ordered two of the biggest men to help removed Gise. They both moved forward cautiously, suspecting other traps, but discovered nothing. Once in place, they grabbed the injured man under his shoulders and pulled him from the pit. Thanks to the powerful analgesic, only a few grunts were heard from Gise.

“Damn, he is in for a long hospital stay.” the medic said to no one in particular.

“These stakes are smeared with shit?” Master Sergeant Rusak asked.

“Yes, so he is infected. At the hospital, they will run an IV with antibiotics into him for a few days and see if it clears up. I'm treating him with penicillin right now, too.”

“Will he live?”  Corporal Babin asked.

Looking up from his medical bag, where he was looking for his antibiotics, Elout replied, “I think he has a better than average chance, once I get some penicillin in him, but it will still be a difficult injury to treat.” He pulled out a syringe and raised it, pushing the plunger just enough to release any trapped air, and then gave the injection into the injured man's good leg.

“I see the helicopter approaching from the west.” Junior Sergeant Shubin said as he pointed at the aircraft.

The radio operator said, “He is unable to land, of course, so he will hover next to this trail. He wants the dead and wounded loaded quickly. He will return to base once loaded, refuel, and then come back out.”

Glancing at Lieutenant Markov, Master Sergeant Rusak said, “Sir, he must suspect we will have more trouble or he would not have said what he did.” Then glancing around, Rusak said, “Get the dead and wounded ready to travel and do it now.”

Soon the
whop-whop
sound of an approaching helicopter sounded and the men made ready to lift their loads.  

When the chopper neared, Rusak saw Warrant Officer Paley was the pilot, so he waved, and then spotting for the bird, he lowered it by hand signal, until about a foot above the water. The dead and wounded were quickly loaded and the aircraft lifted almost straight up, then the nose lowered, and away the chopper flew.

Paley was known to Rusak as a trader, thief, and man that all units needed and most had on hand. He'd take things they didn't need and trade with another unit for something they did need. All organizations did it and in many ways it made life easier for the soldiers, because it provided things the normal supply system couldn't or wouldn't. It was faster, too. Paley drank and smoked too much, and played a lot of cards, but he was also a brave man. When combined, these traits made him the ideal man to trade things and often his trading was desperately needed.

“Move them down the trail and now, Master Sergeant.” Markov said.

The rest of the day was uneventful, but with a lot of stress. Twice, booby-traps were marked on the trail and the men stepped over them and continued on, their senses on guard for danger. It was an hour before dark when the Lieutenant had them move off the trail a little and make camp for the night.  

Sergeant Bluska, the line NCO, said, “If you want to eat, do the job now. Before dark all fires will be extinguished and covered with mud.”

Rusak didn't like being in the platoon leading the invasion into the swamp. He knew they'd start having more and more problems the deeper they went. The American traitor didn't know the location of the ancient mansion, but had revealed the number of men, their arms, and also the names of some of the leaders. As far as the Master Sergeant was concerned, he didn't want to tackle any group led by the prior Green Beret, Willy. He'd heard them compared to Spetsnaz, and they were some coldblooded men in his mind. He suspected they'd not do much except move around in the swamp and get the hell shot out of them, or be blown up by mines.

He'd just placed his canteen cup on the flames to boil water, when a man to his left gave a short scream and fell to the mud jerking with half his head gone. Then everyone heard the shot.

Going to ground and crawling behind a log, he thought, s
ince it took some time to hear the shot after our man was hit, the sniper must be at a great distance.

Another man fell, with a long finger of blood shooting from his back, and then the shot was heard. Unlike the first man, this one continued to scream as his fingers dug into the mud and his legs kicked in all directions. Private Elout moved to the injured man and, as he was dragging him to safety, a bullet burned his ribs. The minor injury just made him move faster.

“Does anyone know where the sniper is?”  Lieutenant Markov asked.

“I would estimate a thousand yards or more, to the north of us, sir.” Rusak replied.

“Sir, we need another helicopter, if we can get one.” the medic said.

“Give me a minute.” Markov replied.

He took the handset from his radio man, stood and spoke. A few minutes later, he said, “Rain due to hit at any time, huge front with high winds, so the helicopter commander and operations officer declined our request. Can you keep Private Gavlik alive?”

“He is lung shot and I can keep him alive, only I am not sure for how long.”

It was growing darker now and Rusak knew the sniper was long gone or he would have killed the Lieutenant when he stood to make the call for help. “Two of you men get a shelter over our injured man and medic. Then, each of you buddy up and construct shelters of your own. Sergeant Bluska, see that this is done properly.”

“I'll see to it, Master Sergeant.”

A bright flash of lightning filled the sky and a dull
boom
was heard a second later. Rusak felt a gentle breeze and then rain began to fall. He glanced at the western horizon and saw a long finger of light and as he watched, it exploded into many smaller fingers, and an earsplitting crack was heard.