by Timothy V. Gatto
CHAPTER 20
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Patty was dreaming. Peter was teaching Wendy how to crow. He was on a
rock below her and Wendy was on a small cliff above. It was almost like
the play, except Wendy was Korean. Peter looked like Vitamin Tim. Patty
opened his eyes and realized where he was.
The window above the bed told him it wasn't very late in the morning. The sun was hardly illuminating the dawn. A rooster crowed from somewhere nut in the distance causing him to dream of Peter Pan. Patty wondered where they kept roosters in a crowded city. The girl was sleeping next to him with her head on his shoulder. His arm was around her shoulder. Patty moved his fingers and realized that his entire arm was asleep. He gently removed it and she stirred turned over away from him and continued sleeping. Patty flexed his arm. Pins and needles told him that the circulation was coming back. He looked at the girl. The blanket was just covering her hips. Her shoulders and back were bare. Long black hair was spread across the sheets and over her arm. Patty pulled the blanket up and pulled her close. He could feel her warmth against him. He reached down under the blanket and felt how full and smooth her buttocks were. Full, smooth and warm. He quickly became aroused. He felt himself grow against her. He moved his hands under the blankets and cupped her breast. He sought her nipple and gently rubbed it between his fingers. It grew hard beneath his fingers. Patty's other hand stroked her side. He thought he felt her shiver as he traced the outline of her thigh ever so lightly with the tips of his fingers. He got ever so bolder as his passion increased. His hand slowly moved over her soft fleshy thighs and traveled between her legs. He gently stroked and probed. He moved his fingers and found that she was wet. As he slowly explored her he felt her tremble and heard her breathing become deeper and faster. His hand took the cue and it too became deeper and faster. He kissed her neck and his other hand became more possessive of her breast. She turned and locked her arms around him. As the rooster crowed in the distance they shared each other bodies. Twice they made love with not a word passing between them. Patty wanted this to go on forever, but a knock on the door and Tim's voice telling him that they had better get to the compound told him that this particular adventure was at its end. Reality was something that came at dawn, and it looked like Vitamin Tim.
CHAPTER 21 "Didn't sleep at all." Tim said wearily. "How are you going to work today?" "Same way I always go to work Kemasabee. I takum party cure." With that Tim said something to the cab driver. Patty was starting to realize that almost every conversation started with Yobosayo. He didn't know exactly what it meant, but he gathered that it meant something like "Hey You." The cab driver stopped in front of what looked like a drug store. Tim jumped out of the cab and told Patty to wait. Patty started to feel the effects of drugging and drinking all night. He probably looked as bad as Tim. Patty wished he hadn't indulged quite so heavily. Tim came back to the cab a few minutes later with a small bag. He opened it and showed Patty the contents. Inside the bag were four small bottles of what looked like rough syrup. The labels were in English. They said Tussuprin-C. Patty reached into the bag and pulled one out. "This is cough syrup!" Patty exclaimed. "What the fuck are we going to do with cough syrup?" "Look: kid, trust me. This stuff is 50% codeine. It'll cure what ails ya. Drink these down with the first bottle." Tim handed Patty three white pills. Patty looked at them. All they said was CIBA. "What are these?" "Doriden. Goes good with the codeine. You'll feel mellow as a Jello. Take my word for it. You'll pull the most contented set of dailys you ever pulled." Patty started to unscrew the cap on his bottle. Tim stopped him. "Don't take it now. Wait until we get to the village. That way it'll start on you just when you get to the shower. Great rush." Patty looked out of the window while Tim closed his eyes. As the taxi left Inchon the scenery grew worst. Between Inchon and the Missile Battery the taxi passed an industrial area. Patty looked at the buildings. The whole area seemed gray. A cold fog seemed to wrap itself around the structures. This is gloomy Patty thought. Looking out the window, Patty Felt his spirits being crushed. He wished that he could be back in the states. He wished that he could be in his own kitchen, drinking hot coffee while the friendly sun threw light on the clean even streets of Long Island. He didn't want to be in this place. More than ever before, it felt foreign, and hostile. He saw people moving nut on the streets in their layers of clothing. They seemed to move as if in their own depression. Puffs of vapor came out of their mouths and noses as they walked. Old people walked with a stoop, and young men hurried past them. Patty noticed that there were very few women out and about this early in the morning. "Makes you wish you were back in the world, doesn't it?" Tim said. Patty looked over at Tim who was awake now and seemed to be studying him. Patty suddenly felt waves of depression slide over him. He had a hard time trying not to let Tim see it. He swallowed and he could feel the constriction in his throat. "Don't let it get you down Partner. You're going through cultural shock. It'll pass. The speed you took last night isn't helping you feel any better either. You'll be all right." Tim said gently. "I'll be all right." Patty said. "Yeah, you'll be fine." Tim said. The taxi started down the dirt road that led to the Battery. Tim grabbed a bottle out of the bag , opened the top, popped three pills in his mouth and chugged the syrup down. Patty did the same, except that as he took a giant pull on the liquid, he started to feel like he would vomit. He resisted the urge to puke all over the cab , but Patty managed to get it down. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "You forgot to finish your medicine." Tim said. Patty looked at the bottle. It was only a little more than half empty. He took a deep breath and gulped the rest. He was surprised to find that the second half of the bottle didn't taste so bad. In fact, he didn't find the taste half bad at all. His belly warmed as the liquid made its way to his belly. "This stuff isn't so bad." Patty said, and he grabbed another bottle out of the bag. "Don't drink another one." Tim warned. "You'll get fucked up. Besides you'll need it for a pick up later on in the morning." The cab stopped at the gate. Tim paid and they walked up the hill to toward the barracks. Patty cursed under his breath as they walked. He didn't like mountain climbing so early in the morning. Why couldn't the Army find a nice piece of flat land to put the battery on? Patty undressed and headed toward the latrine. He wished he could have just stretched out on his bunk for a few hours. Damn that curfew. It didn't leave you a choice he thought, you had to be back at midnight, or you had to stay out all night. The latrine was , as usual, a crowded boisterous place far so early in the morning. The showers sent out bales of stream. He hung his towel and walked into the shower room. It felt good to have the hot water splash onto his skin. He washed the night off his body and felt the warmth of the water penetrate into his muscles. It felt great. Patty realized that he really did feel great. It was amazing that he could feel like this with all the drugs and booze and just a few hours sleep. Suddenly he felt a rush and remembered the pills and the cough medicine. His head was light and the sound of the water seemed far away. He walked out of the shower, grabbed his towel and headed towards the sinks. It felt as if he were walking on air. Somebody said hi, but when he glanced up to see who it was, the guy was already in the shower. Patty felt as if he were moving in slow motion. Shaving was a bitch. He could hardly feel his face. He didn't mind the cuts though, in fact they were kind of interesting. It was neat how the rivulets of blood kind of crisscrossed each other. Other guys came and went at the sinks next to him, but Patty kept on shaving. This was the closest shave he had ever had. Brushing his teeth took some time. Everything took some time. It wasn't long before he realized that he was the only one left in the latrine. He grabbed his towel and skipped off to the barracks. The guys were already dressed and headed out to the porch to smoke their morning bowl. Patty let his houseboy dress him. "Wassa matter you?" asked Kim. "Wassa matta me?, Wassa matta you'" Patty asked laughing. The houseboy just shook his head. He put Patty's boots on. He was ready for work. The steps leading down to the messhall didn't seem as long as usual. The cold nip in the air actually felt good this morning. Patty thought that this was a great day to be alive. He opened the door to the messhall and the smell of bacon and eggs made Patty think of Sundays back on Long Island. He looked over at the food and decided that he wasn't really hungry. We walked over to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. Everybody in the messhall looked so friendly this morning. He wanted to stop at each table and tell the people sitting there how much he enjoyed their company. This was a great place Patty thought. This was just a great day to be alive. He walked over to the IFC table and sat down. A few of the guys had come down early and were surprised to see this new guy with this shit eating grin sit down next to them. Patty nodded hello to each one individually. They just looked up and stared. "How you doin Fallica?" asked Staff Sergeant Brown. Patty was glad he had somebody to talk to. He felt like talking. He wanted to let his new section chief in on the prior evenings events. He wanted him to know just how happy and pleased he really was, It came out in a long giggle. Everybody just looked at him. Drool started to run down his chin. Patty's eyes seemed a little cock-eyed. He realized that they were staring. He felt the drool run down onto his hand. He looked down at it. He must look like a jerk he thought. He started to giggle more. "Did you have a good night Fallica?" Brown asked. "You must of had a good night. You're sure having a good morning, or do you always, drool at breakfast?" Vitaman Tim stepped up to the table with his breakfast tray in his hands. He looked at Patty and immediately knew what was going on. Brown looked up at Tim. "Do you have something to do with this?" Brown asked. "As a matter of fact Sarge, I do." Tim told Brown. "I was just coming over here to inform you that I believe Fallica is the victim of some Korean hanky-panky." "Hanky Panky!" Fallica repeated. "Hanky panky"" Wagner said. "You got it", Tim said gravely, "hanky panky." "You do the hanky panky and you turn you turn your self around, that's what it's all about." Fallica mumbled and started into another fit of laughter. Brown frowned. Other men in the messhall started looking over at the table. Trying to avoid any more attention, Brown asked Tim to take Fallica up to the barracks and to try to straighten him out. Tim told Patty to follow him outside. Patty did just that. Once outside, Tim gave Patty three hits of speed. "Take these, It'll straighten you out." "I feel great!" Patty protected. "You're not going to feel too great if you can't get to work. You're completely fucked up." Tim said. Patty popped the pills into his mouth. Tim walked up the stairs to the barracks. Patty followed. When they arrived at the barracks door, Tim started back down. "Where you goin'?" Patty asked. "Back to the messhall. Come on." Patty followed back down. As they arrived at the messhall door, Tim turned and started walking toward the stairs leading back up to the barracks. "Where are you going now?" Patty whined. "Back to the barracks, I forgot something. "I'll wait here ." Patty said. "No, come with me. I hate to walk by myself." Patty followed Tim back up the stairs. At the top, Tim stopped and looked at Patty. "How do you feel?" He asked. "O.K. How do you feel?" "Like a baby sitter." Tim said tiredly. "Did I make an ass out of myself down there?" "Yeah. "Am I in trouble?" Patty asked. He had a worried look on his, face. "Not if you are straight enough to go to work." "I can make it to work." Patty said. "Good. That's good. You see Patty, it really doesn't matter what you do over here, as long as you can get to work. Understand?" "No sweat G.I. I can make it. Thanks." Tim could see by the embarrassed look on Patty's face, that he did understand. They both trudged off to work.
CHAPTER 22 "Get up man! Crew Drill. Drop your cock and grab your socks!" He screamed. Patty threw off the blanket and reached for his boots. The siren was screaming in his head. "Damn, he thought, another Goddamn crew drill! Why can't they let us alone." Even though Patty had only been in country lees than a month, this seemed like his hundredth crew drill. He shoved the laces into his hoot and ran toward the corridor. The crew was all there. As he ran into the radar control van and donned his headset, he heard the tracking supervisor report tracking station present, and heard the battery control officer roger his report. He started on his checks. All the checks came from rote. He was hardly aware of what he was doing. It seemed like only minutes later when he shut the cabinet doors and seated himself in the center chair of the three man radar console. He fired up the B scope that showed him a quadrant of the larger acquisition radar that was in the next van. The tracking supervisor took the Missile tracking operator's ready for action report and reported to the BCO that the tracking station was ready for action. The BCO rogered that and Patty listened in as the launching area reported. Everyone one was ready for action Patty thought. Patty prepared for the command of Blazing Skies! That was the simulated command for Battle Stations. All dressed up and nowhere to go Patty thought. He heard the BCO click his headset and he unconsciously fingered the toggle switch that would automatically slew his radar to the same place the acquisition radar operators and the BCO were looking at. The light above him clanged red, and the BCO reported. "Red status, Battle Stations!" Patty's finger moved on the toggle switch as soon as the designate buzzer sounded. He was stunned. Battle Stations" There had to be a mistake. The BCO meant Blazing Skies. He turned and looked at the Track Supe. Tim looked at him. His teeth were showing, and sweat dripped off his forehead. Battle Stations it is thought Patty. The B scope showed them what the BCO was looking at. Patty noticed that the azimuth was north. He grabbed an overlay and slipped it over the scope. He could see the north--south border. On the south side he saw two or three targets. The north side had about two hundred! The trails on the blips showed that they were heading south. Patty felt his intestines crawl into his stomach. "Holy Shit!" He said. "Unkey your headset!" Tim said. "Keep it together!" The BCO roared. They slewed onto a target. The elevation operator searched and the target popped into the gate. The range slewed onto the target and they locked it up. "Locked on one AC inbound, 75K. Negative ECM." Tim reported. Patty looked at the target. Suddenly the scopes got fuzzy and looked almost like a bad TV. "ECM condition two BCO." Tim reported.. They had a difficult time tracking, They went to manual tracking mode and managed to hold on. Patty could see on the B scope that there were now almost as many targets in the south as there were in the north. They were heading north. The targets in the north were heading south. "Track Supe!" "Track Supe." "Give us range and azimuth." Tim reported range and azimuth once every thirty seconds. The border was getting closer and closer. Sweat coming off his scalp made the headset itch against Patty's ear. The van was deathly quiet. the usual banter was absent. The B scope showed the two opposing forces getting closer to each other. Tim continued to give reports. Azimuth continued steady and range decreased. It would be less than a minute before they were over the border. Patty noticed that his error line started to move. He turned his azimuth to keep it straight. Tim reported the azimuth change. Looking over at the B scope they noticed that all the aircraft in the north were turning. The ECM that blurred their scopes abruptly stopped. Range started to increase as the changed direction northward. The aircraft coming up from the south started an orbiting pattern near the DMZ. "Stand down to Blue Status!" The BCO ordered with relief in his voice. "Blue Status received, Track Station." Tim said, also with a sigh of relief. "Jesus, said Patty, What the fuck was that?" "That was the way the Mother fuckers up North see if we are on our toes. It's also a good way to make us spend a lot of money sending up all those airplanes." Tim replied with a note of disgust. "What would have happened if we didn't respond in time?" asked Phillips. "That's anybody's guess. All I know is that I hope that I have my ass back home when that happens. You newbies will have to take that responsibility. Let's do post firing checks and get out of here sometime tonight." Tim sounded tired. The crew went about it's business. From outward appearances, it seemed like any other night, but this night seemed a little different to Patty. He knew he did his checks with a little more attention to the small details. He also noticed that the others were not rushing through their checks either. After tonight he would think a little differently. This was not a game like he thought it was. This was for real. It was real for him, for the other guys on the crew, and for the pilots in those aircraft. Everyone else was sleeping, not knowing what was happening in the cold black sky above Korea. He knew though, and that was enough for him. There was a reason to be here. Whatever the North Koreans wanted to achieve out of this little exercise, all they accomplished was to make the men on the south side of the thirty-second parallel believe. Believe that they had an enemy to the North. When Patty left the van to collimate his radar, the sun was making its way over the mountain tops. The horizon was a brilliant shade of red, He remembered a poem that his mother used to tell him.
Patty looked over to the North. Less than fifty kilometers away was the DMZ. He wondered if a North Korean soldier was doing the same thing or something similar to what he was doing. He figured probably so. By the time checks were complete, the other crew was already on the hill. They would perform another set of checks. Yesterday it seemed stupid to pull the same checks twice. Today it didn't seem stupid at all. The Section Chiefs briefed each other while both crews listened in. When the briefing was over, Patty walked out of the corridor and climbed up the tailgate of the Deuce and a half. We was glad to get off the hill today.
CHAPTER 23 Patty also learned alot of Korean. Besides the language, he learned a great deal about the people and their customs. Tim was a great teacher, and he never tired of explaining things. Miss Im also took Patty under her wing. She called him "brother". She introduced him to her cousins in Inchon and a few that lived in Seoul. Patty enjoyed the excursions with her. Tim refused to go, telling Patty that he didn't want to forge any more ties than he already had with her. When he told Patty this, he seemed sad somehow. Patty thought for the second time that there was more to this story than met the eye. The day Tim was supposed to DEROS rapidly approached. Patty convinced the other guys on the crew to throw a party for Tim at the NCO club the night before he left. They protested at first, but reluctantly agreed. The biggest obstacle to having the party was that nobody except Patty really knew him. He won the argument by reminding each and every one of them how Tim had shared his knowledge of the system with them all at one time or another. SSG Brown readily agreed with this assessment. It was to be a surprise Party. The crew was in charge of the details of the party and Patty was tasked with inviting the Koreans that Tim would want to come. Patty was also given the responsibility of making sure Tim showed at the right time. Patty accepted this assignment. The day of Tim's party found Patty and Tim at the Frog. Tim was remembering all the guys he had served with and all the good times. He was getting pretty drunk. Patty noticed that Tim didn't mention the World at all. Normally, somebody on his last day in country would be thinking about home, but not Tim. Patty had the feeling that he really didn't want to leave. It was about seven PM and Patty put his plan to get Tim back to the compound in effect. He told Tim he wasn't feeling well. Tim seemed concerned, but Patty knew it wasn't enough to get Tim back. That's when Patty told Tim he was feeling faint. Tim watched Patty slump over in his chair and fall on the floor. It wasn't long before Tim had Patty in a taxi, and they were both headed toward the compound. Patty noticed that Tim seemed preoccupied. Patty surmised that Tim didn't really want to go home. After all, what was home to Tim? For the last four years he had called this place home. This was where his friends were, this was where his world was, and here he was a king. Back home he would be just another guy. Patty couldn't imagine Tim being just another guy. Everyone over here thought of him as something of a legend. The taxi pulled up to the gate and they weaved toward the Club. Patty asked Tim if he would go in and have a farewell drink with him. "I thought you were sick?" Tim asked. "I am." Patty replied. "I thought a little food might make me feel better. Tim looked at Patty with a hint of understanding on his face. " You dipshit." He said. "You got me here for a goddamn party. Don't you know I party alone?" "Just this once Tim. Come on." Patty pleaded. "All right asshole. Just this once. "They walked toward the Club entrance and Tim walked in. Over Tim's shoulder Patty could see everyone. There were just as many Koreans as there were Americans. The guys from the hill had two tables by the bar. Jimmy the gangster was leaning against the jukebox. Miss Pak, the black market Mamasan was there. So were a couple of waitresses from the Frog. Tim scanned each and every face and gave them all an almost imperceptible nod. He stopped at every face almost as if he were committing them to memory. Which, Patty thought, he probably was. Tim continued to check every face. Some he waved to, some people got a nod. Everyone seemed to want to be acknowledged. Tim was an institution, and he was leaving. It seemed to be the end of an era. Toward the back of the room was a girl. Tim's eyes fell on her. She waved and a look of infinite sadness showed on her beautiful face. Tim looked away. It was too much for him to bear. Someone launched into a version of "He's A Jolly Good Fellow" and the entire Club followed suit. After the song a few guys yelled for a speech. Everyone quieted down and all eyes went to Tim. He was out of his element. Panic seemed to grip him but Patty saw him shake it off and get his emotions under control. "I want to thank everyone for coming to this party. I'm not used to being the center of attention. I just want to tell you all that I'm going to miss each and every one of you." He looked over at the First Sergeant and scowled, "Well not all of you." Everybody laughed. "These have been the best days of my life. I know a lot of you guys count the days until you go home. I used to count the days I had left. I wish I were staying, but I can't. Now I'm so short I got to look up to look down. Let's do it one more time. Bartender" The crowd went crazy. You'd have thought General McArthur had delivered his farewell speech. Even the Battery Commander was standing and clapping. He was short too. His party would be at the BOQ with four or five officers and the same amount of senior NC0's. It would be a nice quiet party for a nice quiet guy. The party broke up sometime after midnight. Patty looked around for Tim, but he was nowhere to be found. In fact, Patty reflected, he hadn't seen him for awhile. Patty had faith that he'd show, Tim could take care of himself. He hoped that he didn't head off for Kimpo by himself. That would mean he wouldn't see him again, and it would also mean he couldn't go with him to Kimpo. SSG Brown had given Patty the day off as long as he was back by six-hour checks. He didn't want to miss that time off. Patty staggered up the stairs towards the barracks. The guys were pretty much asleep when he walked in. Looking over at the door to Tim's room he saw the padlock secure on the hasp. Tim didn't come back here, that was certain. Patty crawled into his bunk and didn't think for the rest of the night. Kim the houseboy shook Patty's bunk. He was concerned that Patty hadn't gone to work. The barracks were empty, his crew having left for the hill and the other crew still on the way down or in the messhall. Looking at his alarm clock, Patty saw that it was after seven. Tim had better get up here soon, or they were really going to be stretching it. His flight left at one, and he was supposed to be there at least an hour before. Patty dressed and showered and headed for the messhall. The other crew was there. They wanted to know how the party was. Patty told them and they all felt badly because they had missed it. That was the way it was when you worked twenty four on and twenty four off. The other crew might well have not existed. The only thing his crew shared with the other crew was the equipment. Breakfast was over and Patty still had no idea where Tim was. It was after eight now and he was getting worried. He got up and headed for the gate, not knowing where he would look for Tim, but anything was better than sitting around. He was approaching the gate when a Kimchee cab screamed around the corner and slid to a halt with it's nose just grazing the chain link. Tim stepped out, obviously in a hurry. Patty was relieved to see him. He ran up to the taxi and noticed that he had a girl in the back seat. Typical he thought, right up to the end he was running true to form. Patty dismissed the girl from his mind and accompanied Tim to the barracks to get his things. They returned a few minutes later with a two suitcases. The driver got out and put the suitcases in the trunk. Patty got in the front passenger seat and Tim got into the back. They were heading down the village street at a brisk pace when Patty turned around to talk to Tim. He got the shock of his life. Sitting beside Tim was Miss Im!. She was nestled into Tim and holding his hand. Patty must have looked surprised and Tim just smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "I saved the best for last." Tim told Patty. "I'm jealous. Jealous and glad at the same time." Patty said. Their destination arrived all too soon. Miss Im and Patty escorted Tim to the terminal. Miss Im kissed Tim and cried. Patty felt a lump in his throat. He tried to say goodbye but Tim stopped him. "Friends don't say goodbye." Tim told Patty. "Then what the fuck do they say?" Patty asked. "I'll see you later." he said. "Yeah, see you later." said Patty. Tim turned and walked toward the boarding area. Patty watched him as his figure got smaller. Tim suddenly turned around and yelled to him but Patty couldn't make out what he said. He fumed to Miss Im and asked her if she heard what he said. She shook her head yes. "Well what did he say "He say don't fuck everything up for him." "What the hell does that mean?" He said. "That mean he come back." She said simply.
CHAPTER 24 There were more people an the hill than usual tonight. The new Battery Commander and the fat First Sergeant were up there. Fred didn't like either. The First Sergeant smelled bad to Fred. He wanted to bite him, but the fat bastard always kept his distance. The new BC was mean looking and Fred figured that he kicked. It was best to know what he was like so Fred went over to where he was eating and sat down and just looked at him. He was ignored. Fred didn't like to be ignored. In fact, this asshole was lucky to be on this hill. After all, it wan Fred's hill. He had been here longer than any of them. He growled at the intruder. The Battery Commander jumped. He looked at Fred. Fred looked back at the Battery Commander. Stalemate. "Don't be alarmed Sir, Fred just wants some of your meat." SSG Brown said to diffuse the situation. "I don't give a shit what he wants Sergeant. That mutt growls at me again and I'll have him thrown off the hill." The BC said testily. Rope came over and grabbed Fred by his collar and dragged him out of the ready room. Fred looked at the BC all the way out. "You really should try to make friends with him Sir." Phillips said. "He's really a good dog. He keeps us company on guard duty and he doesn't let any slikie boys in" "Real fine son. That's real fine. Just understand something soldier, when I want your opinion, I'll ask for it. Meanwhile, That fuckin dog is up here on probation. One more fuck-up like he just pulled, and he's out of here." The Captain went to eating his food. Rope whispered to Patty. "That bastard don't want to share his mystery meat with Fred. I guess he don't know it'll get you sick." Patty laughed. "What's so funny Fallica?" Asked the First Sergeant. "Want to share it with us? Are you telling New Yawk jokes or something?" "No, First Sergeant, heard this one in Texas. "It was so stupid we laughed. The First Sergeant turned beet red. He was from Texas. "You're a wise ass son. Do you know what happens to wise asses"" He asked. "Yes , First Sergeant," Patty answered," They put them on a godforsaken hill in the middle of Korea." "It could be worse." The First Sergeant said between gritted teeth. "Yeah Patty, you could be sleeping with Mrs. Marshall in El Paso." Rope whispered in Patty's ear. Patty choked. He ran out of the ready room and spit his food out on the sidewalk. Fred came over and ate it. After regaining his composure he returned to the ready room cleaned his tray and walked out to the guard shack. Murphy was out there. He was stoned again. Patty wondered if Murph really gave a shit about anything. He asked him if he did. Murph said he didn't. Patty rolled a joint and smoked it with Murphy. He waited awhile until the smell went away and went into the corridor for six-hour checks. It was cold out. Cold and windy. Fred couldn't go into the ready room, and he didn't want to go into the corridor because of the four hundred cycle noise the vans put out. It hurt his ears. Fred just decided to lie down on the sidewalk. The Battery commander walked out of the ready room and headed toward Fred. Fred was lying on the sidewalk directly in front of the steps leading to the corridor. The BC would have to step over him if he wanted to get into the corridor. He did just that. Fred bit him. On the ankle, just above the boot. Hard. Hard enough to make the BC scream. Fred booked. By the time the crew came out to see what the commotion was all about, the Commander was lying on the ground with his foot in the air, and Fred was gone. "What happened?" asked SSG Brown. "That fucking Fred bit me!" The BC cried. "Are you sure it was Fred?" Phillips asked. "Shut up you imbecile!" Said the Battery Commander as he got up and limped towards his jeep. "Drive me to the aid station!" The First Sergeant hopped in the jeep, gunned the engine, and headed down the hill. "Fred's in trouble." SSG Brown said. Later that evening the medic called the hill to report that the BC had to have three stitches. It would have been worse, but the largest part of the bite got the top of his boot. They needed Fred down at the aid station so they could test him far rabies. If they couldn't find him, Captain Williston would have to have a painful series of rabies shots. Fred was nowhere to be found. It was almost as if he knew he was a fugitive. He just disappeared. The Captain disappeared for awhile too. He went to the hospital in ASCOM to get a painful series of rabies shots. The guys on the hill just assumed that the Fred got off on the wrong foot with the Captain.
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