Posted by Moore on May 18, 2003 at 09:03:04:
221645 May 05 (Part 13)
In this part of the story, I, your humble narrator, finally get to introduce myself to all of you.
I was a mid level manager of a department store in a suburb of a large city on the east coast of the USA. After the nukes on Thanksgiving Day 2003, I was commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant in the US Army. I was sent overseas to Gydnia, Poland in one of the last troop and supply shipments. I was a quartermaster.
I met John and Rachgee early in their trading. I was part of the trade circle I wrote about in a previous part. I always looked forward to Rachgee and John coming around. She always brought cookies, or a book - something extra you wanted. Rachgee is the kind of girl you hope has a sister, since she so obviously in love with John. The disappointment you feel when you find out she is an only child stays with you for a while. But you can still see the love Rachgee and John/Phoenix have, just by the way they smile at each other when they see each other.
I like routines, stability and order. I am fit, not hugely muscled, intelligent, but not charismatic. I like pretty women being consentually killed, especially by drowning. It started for me with the movie "Godzilla vs. Mecha Godzilla." In the movie, a Japanese girl in a tight white dress gets shot by the bad guy in her breast. She grunts sexily, then he shoots her in the other breast. A little blood comes out of her scrunched up face - very sexual.
John was guarding Rachgee as she traded with me one day early on. Rachgee's offer was way too low. A case of 5.56 NATO ammo for only one sleeping bag - please. Rachgee is a good trader, but I'm not stupid. Rachgee offered me only one bag, and I said "More." She offered me two and I said "More then that, Rachgee." At three I still said "More". My John bestowed nickname thereafter was Moore. (Rachgee and I settled on three sleeping bags, plus a nice pair of sunglasses.)
After Rachgee got too pregnant to trade, I was honored to be recruited by Phoenix to take over the business. My trading partner was a Polish women nicknamed Ousta (lips). Ousta has/had blonde hair, brown eyes, only an average body, but lips like Angelina Jolie's. I don't know if Ousta is still alive or not. I'll be optimistic and use the current tense to refer to her. Ousta is a Pole, but she speaks English well. She is charismatic, but some people didn't like doing business with her. Ousta likes men. We have some leeway in setting bartering values. Ousta set the prices low if the guy she was trading with would have sex with her. Sounds like a good deal, right? Well Ousta required the men to do exactly what she wanted. It is a power thing with her, maybe she was forced to do things she didn't like in her past. I was never intimate with her; I don't know the specifics. Ousta and I worked well as a team. Her outgoing nature balanced my shyness. Although we didn't make as much profit as Rachgee had, we kept her projects going. We continued to help the farmers trade their crops, machinists to trade their products, soldiers to get things the army in its wisdom hadn't supplied them with. (Like winter coats!) We tried to deal fairly and honestly with everyone. We also continued Rachgee's charity work, encouraging farmers to plant as much food as they could, and we bought this extra food so that we could donate it to the Church, so the Church could distribute it to the truly wretched.
We were all out trading on May 22nd while Phoenix and most of his men were on the Vistula River. Rachgee and Mira were getting a chance to get some fresh air more then actually trading. Ousta and I were doing the work. We got word over the radio that Phoenix was back at base. I guess we were rushing the last bit of trading. Rachgee's need to see Phoenix was palatable. Ousta and I didn't rate a Humvee, the fuel costs would eat up most of the profits, so we were usually issued a horse drawn wagon to carry our trade goods. But we had a Humvee that day because Rachgee and Mira were with us. The Humvee had a weapon mount above the commander' seat. A huge M2HB had been installed. A M2HB is the standard heavy machine gun for NATO forces. It fires a .50 SLAP round. Rachgee had just finished nursing Mira, and then put her down for a nap in the car seat and stepped out next to me. The Humvee looked odd with its drab sea foam green interior with a colorful car seat in the back. Ousta was in front of the Humvee with the two guards, trading with the people in line. This was the last trading location for the day, and like I said, we were eager to head home.
There was a guy in line who looked a little odd. He had a longish coat on, even though it was warm. That was not too unusal; people wear heavy coats to protect themselves from the rubble when they scavage for food or salvagables. But what really got my attention was when Poochinie, who had always stayed in the Humvee and never made a sound, started growling.
I have thought about what I could have done a hundred times. I could have got in the Humvee, grabbed the M2HB, and blown that guy into pieces. I could have dove for cover with Rachgee under the Humvee, and let the professional soldiers take care of it. I even could have unshouldered my M16 and pointed it at the odd guy.
But I'm not going to lie to you. I stepped in front of Rachgee to protect her. The guy walked up toward Rachgee and I, about four meters away, then he opened his coat, and brought up a double barrel shotgun in a side-by-side configuration. I would like to tell you I was the omni powerful hero, but all I did was stand in front of Rachgee and stupidly point at the guy and yell "Gun!"
He fired both barrels into my upper chest. Jason says getting shot is like being hit with a sledgehammer. Hawk said he didn't feel the pain until after the fire fight. I felt nothing. I remained conscious, but I was disconnected from what was going on around me.
I fell back into Rachgee. Poochinie was barking at Rachgee's side - but we never gave him the order to attack. I heard the sound of Ousta's and one of the guard's M16s. The M2HB was very loud, and shell casings ejected from it went arcing over my head, shining in the sun. The guy with the shotgun literially came apart under the multitude of bullets sent his way. But I saw fear in the eyes of the guards, a look I have not seen since. Was Rachgee hurt?
The guy was dead, very dead. Rachgee ran to Mira, who was unhurt, but screaming from all the noise. The men checked Rachgee, then Mira, then they threw me in the Humvee and took off. "We have a situation. Rachgee and Mira are OK, but we need the Doc. Base ETA 4" someone radioed.
Then the pain started. We got to the base. When they took me out of the Humvee my MOLLE Load-Bearing System fell off. It had been cut into ribbons. Phoenix ran over to his family. He hugged up Rachgee and Mira. The Doc came over to me. She is a Brit, and damn good at saving people. She is the doctor who put John's head back together in the spring of '04. My Kevlar had stopped the pellets. I was smart to have traded for the ceramic upgrade plate.
Please see: http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/rba.htm
One pellet had ricocheted and cut my chin. It really hurt when they took off the body armor. Phoenix got Rachgee and Mira inside, then he came over and looked at me. I was still out of it. The Doc spoke to Phoenix quietly, but I remember every word. "...maybe broken ribs. Without an X ray I can't be sure. I'll tape them to be on the safe side. His breathing is good. He should be OK. I'll keep an eye on him for the next few hours. He should be placed off duty for awhile, or on light duty if he wants."
"He can have anything he wants." Phoenix said. He sounded choked up.
I tried to make a joke. "Leeann Tweedon, a case of strawberries dipped in chocolate, and a month with her in a cozy cabin. That's what I want, Phoenix." I had no idea Leeann was only 400 kilometers away in Szczucin, stranded by the USO tour she had patriotically volunteered for.
They brought me inside. Doc kept a eye on me. I even got some ice to reduce the swelling, which was quite a luxury. Phoenix came in later with Rachgee and Mira. Rachgee hugged Phoenix, gave him Mira, and kissed me on my balding forehead. She thanked me for protecting Mira.. After they left, the rest of the men came in. Owl, Vulture, Jason, Stevens, Hawk, Eagle, and all the rest - by now their names should be somewhat familiar to you. They saluted me. Although I outranked them, no one saluted an officer, at least not one they liked. Snipers liked to target officers, and saluting an officer was a good way to point them out to the sniper. I also had never really been one of them; I was more of one of the support guys.
I realized I had done something the tough killers, Marines, and Special Forces soilders, hadn't been able to do. I protected Rachgee and Mira and kept them alive. The men treated me differently after that. I was one of them, despite my lack of combat experience. I'm still milking it: that is why I'm allowed to share their stories with you.
We never did find out what the guy was up to. Was he trying to rob us? We will never know.
I have never been prouder of myself then I was on that day. Have you ever had a single, shining moment when your best was good enough? When you made a difference? When you saved someone's life? I get asked if I would do it again. I usually list the ways I could have done it better. But if I had to, I would do it again, even without the Kevlar. And that is not a testament to my courage, but rather an indication of the type of woman Rachgee is. I think if any of you met her and got to know her, you would step in front of nut with a shotgun for her too.