Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 07:02:25 +1300 From: Arthur Subject: LEFT OF CENTER PART 2 LEFT OF CENTER Part Two By Arthur Jay reached the floor of the valley some thirty minutes later, the 16lb weight of the modified Garrand and the awkward carrying position of the boy in his arms had made him take more time than he would have by himself. Jay was determined that the boy had the best chance he could give him as he picked his way carefully down the scree covered slope, the soft occassional grunts from the boy told him he was still feeling a little of the pain despite the dose of morphine he had been given. Although they were now well clear of the attack site, Jay knew he could not let his guard down for a moment and this, coupled with the needs of the boy, slowed him down considerably. At the bottom of the slope Jay decided to lay the boy down for a few minutes and check his injuries to see that he had not been bleeding to much on the descent. The sun beat down unmercifully and Jay was forced to look for a little shade to catch his breath and for the comfort of the boy. A nearby overhang of rock offered some small respite from the heat and Jay made his way to it, once in the shade of the rock he lay the boy down. Turning the boy over with a lot of tenderness, he saw that the bandage still held good and that the small amount of blood showing through was not enough to get concerned about as yet. The boys breathing had eased and although he showed a little lack of good colour in his cheeks, he seemed to not be in to much distress. The unnatural compassion Jay felt for the small figure began to show on his face as a tear wound its solitary way down his cheek. Somewhere deep inside a voice kept trying to tell Jay to strip the boy and look at all his glory but with deep sucking breathes he shook his head to get the words out of his mind. "Time for that later, if it happens." Jay took out his canteen and took a small sip, then, lifted the boys head and trickled a little water onto his lips, a small pert tongue made itself known at the touch of moisture and Jay smiled at the innocence of the action. The boy was still in the arms of the morphine induced sleep but the needs of his body for moisture over-rode his basic instincts. The tongue ran over the lips and retreated back into its hiding place in the boys mouth as a sigh passed through the small body in recognition. Jay sat beside the boy holding his hand in his own as the breathing settled again as the boy drifted off in his own quiet world. Jay had no idea why a young kid like this one would want to put his own life in danger although by the boys earlier words he could make a good guess at the reason but it was not the sort of thing a teen like this one should have to do. Disposing of the ass holes of this world was mans work and not the sort of thing a boy should be made to do. As he sat watching the small figure resting, Jays thoughts returned to the first time he had been put into the field and the battle in his mind as he looked down the scope for the first time at his target. Even though it was all new to him and the exictment had built up for a couple of months, the ingrained sense of right and wrong had come to the forefront of his mind as he had watched the dictator step into his cross hairs. It had only been the rush of adrenaline in his sytem that had made it easy for him to squeeze the trigger for the first time, then after that it was as they said, "familiarity breeds contempt" but now enough was enough. Jay didn't know how he would do it but if this boy wanted him then he was going to do everything in his power to keep him and to hell with the bloody company and its needs. A small sound brought Jay back to the here and now, his senses alert to the unusual noise in the quietness of the rock strewn valley. Reaching over his shoulder, Jay eased the heavy rifle off his back and lay it over his knees, his inborn training making sure it was ready if needed. The noise of a sliding rock came again from his left, then a bleet of a goat followed by a child like yell and the scattering of more small stones. The fast fleeting movement of the goat as it rushed past his cover made the muscles in Jays arms tense, then the running figure of a small boy flashed past his resting point as it chased the goat along the valley floor. As he rushed by the hiding place, some instinct made the young boy look over to it and with a look of startled terror he saw Jay and the boy under the rock. The boy stopped in his tracks as he looked over the two figures under the rock and then with the innocence of youth carefully turned towards them and with faultering steps began to approach the pair. "Que est, Senor?" Jay put his finger to his lips in a gesture of silence. "Shh." The boy nodded and then came nearer as he stared at the boy on the ground. "Eet ees Manuel, he ees meurto?" "No." "Why a gringo shoot Manuel?" "Not me, others." "You fix heem?" "I try." "Good...has had bad times....Manuel....Popa, Moma,brother, sister, all gone...you take him away?" "Yes maybe." "Ees no maybe...you must take....he needs." "I can't let you tell others we are here." "You don't worry, Manuel was friend....I not tell...you take him away....he needs." "Ok buddy, I'll do what I can." "You must take....I go now...No tell....make Manuel safe....yes?" Jay sighed, the decision had been made for him by a ragtag goat boy. "Yes, I promise to make him safe." "Good....Adio" "Bye boy." Jay eased the rifle back onto his back and with a last look at the disappearing goat boy reached down and lifted his charge up in his arms again to begin the next part of the trek to safety. >From his earlier recon, Jay knew that the valley floor was flat and easy for another two kilometers and then he would have the last long steep haul up the face of a ridge to his pickup point. That last ridge was going to be hard work with a boy in his arms but Jay mentally shrugged his shoulders and kept up the steady pace, his eyes and ears searched ahead of them for danger. The sun never relented in its blasting heat and Jay could feel his shirt wet with the sweat of his activity. At last the ridge came into sight and even though it had only been two kilometers, Jay felt he had run a marathon but the weight in his arms gave him a renewed spurt and a dtermintaion that he had not felt in a long time. Looking around he saw a shallow cave at the base of the ridge and with a final gasping breath lowered himself into a sitting potiton in the semi darkness of the cave mouth, the boy laying in his lap with his head against Jay's chest. The dark head settled closer against his chest as the soft murmer came from the young lips. "Papa." "Shhh, squirt.....it's ok, you're safe for now." A shallow 'Mmmmmm' came from the boy, Manuel. Jay carressed the soft bare skin of Manuels chest as he sat and rested in the shade, gently and without thought he slowly rubbed his thumb over the small brown nubs of Manuels nipples. The boy stirred under his ministrations but was still under the spell of the morphine, only the unconscious rising in his groin gave any indication to what Jay was doing. With a glance at his wrist watch, Jay saw that he had three hours to make the climb up the ridge, if he was late the chopper wouldn't be back until nightfall for one more try and that was seven hours away. Jay grunted as he got once more to his feet, the weight of Manuel, while he was no more than 120 lbs, was enough to tax him with the added weight but he knew this was something he had to do and nothing was going to make him leave Manuel behind. Once clear of the cave, Jay looked up the ridge to plan his ascent and saw as he thought, that it was not going to be an easy climb, even without Manuel in his arms it was tough work. He had sellected this path prior to going in, in the belief that it would make others think before trying to follow him. When the plans had been made, Jay had not expected to have any extra luggage to carry, now what was done, was done, he began his climb. The first fifty meters gave jay a chance to settle into his pace but in another fifty meters the sling of his Garrand was cutting into his shoulder and Manuels slight weight began to have an effect on his arms as they began to numb with the extra burden. The sun had not relented as the sweat poured from his skin and the muscles in his legs felt like hot pokers as he laboured upwards. Four times Jay had to stop to rest and he was only half way up. Checking his watch again he saw that he had less than an hour to make it and knew then and there he was going to miss the pickup. Looking around he began to search for a place to hide and rest until the sun sank lower and he could make a burst for the evening extraction. Jay swore under his breath, not at the weight of the boy, nor the missing of his pickup but at himself for being out here when he should have got out of the business long ago. "Fucking Taylor, that bastard should have known I'd had enough. Always pushing, the prick, fuck him and his 'Company'" Jay searched his pockets for the last of the dried fruit and rattled his canteen to see what water he had left. "Not much but will have to do." He had found a shallow cave, not much more than an overhang of rock again, to settle both of them out of the sun and wait for a little respite from the heat of the day. Trickling a little water onto Manuels lips he saw the boys eyes flutter open and look up at him in astonishment mixed with a bit of fear. "Who.....?" "It's ok Manuel, you're safe here with me for now." "Que est?" "Names Jay, you've been shot, I'm going to get you out of here and then fix you up, ok?" "Si, my thanks, senor Jay." The effort to speak was evident on the face of Manuel as he settled back onto Jay's lap and appeared to return to sleep. Jay smoothed the dark hair that had fallen over Manuels brow while he looked out at the barreness of the land below him. It had always been a mystery to Jay when he went into some of these countries, how the ordinary people managed to survive in such conditions, most of them were penniless and had little apart from a few goats or sheep and a house to live in that was not much more than a single room with a dried out patch of ground dug over for vegetables in the rear. It seemed to Jay that the bigger the despot or dictator, the worse off the people were and he wondered if the do gooders in the civilised world really knew what they were talking about when they cried, "Foul" if someone went in to get the big boys out of power. Jay shrugged his shoulders in resignation and then let his eyes close to rest, his natural inborn senses taking care of their safety. He had been dozing for about a half hour when he heard in the far distance, the throbbing sound of his pickup leaving the area and sent a mental note to himself that he now had four hours to get to the top and wait. Jay settled back to doze for another hour, knowing he would make better time when the sun was a little lower and the heat not so intense. Jay awoke with a small start as his internal alarm clock told him it was time to be on the move again. The sun was now low on the horizon and the heat had gone out of the air around them. With a quick glance at his watch he saw he had overslept by 30 minutes but was not worried, now with less heat he could pick up the pace. With a final stretch of his body, Jay reached down and took Manuel in his arms once again and, after a cursory glance at the boy to see that he was still breathing with ease, he began his climb to safety. The difference in the lack of heat from the sun made the climb a little easier and Jay made good time to the top of the ridge with still an hour and a half to wait. The rough clearing on the stone strewn ridge had very little protection from anything that may come along but he knew that with only one and a half hours to pickup, the possibilities of being interupted were pretty small. The throbbing of chopper blades alerted jay to the pending arrival of his ride to safety as he subconsciously looked at his watch again, something cold ran over his skin as he saw that the chopper was nearly 30 minutes early and as it got nearer he heard the sound of the morotr more clearly. "Shit." The chopper was far to small to be his, it looked to be doing a search pattern as it flew in a small grid pattern, closing slowly on the ridge. Suddenly it turned towards where jay was laying among the stones and boulders. They had been spotted, Jay reached for the Garrand and slid the bolt back then forward, loading the breach with its 12mm death. Jay knew that most of the bad guys carried automatic weapons so he had to take these guys out quick before they could get close enough to use them. The heavy rifle was not made for this type of shooting and its extra weight made using it without the bipod, awkward and difficult. "Only one thing to do." Jay left Manuel partially hidden by a boulder and made a short sprint towards a large rock at the edge of the clearing, he had been seen so it didn't faze him that they would know where he was. Once at the rock he sprang open the bipod and rested it on top of the large boulder. The heavey butt slammed back into his shoulder as he fired off the first shot, the chopper sawyed as the bullet struck the plexi glass canopy but then righted itself and came onward. Jay could see the figure of a man leaning out of the right hand side of the chopper. A line of small puffs of dust close to where he had left Manuel, followed by the sharp bark of an automatic weapon, told him that the chopper was now in range to be really dangerous, Jay settled his breathing again and took slow deliberate aim. The sudden heavy push against his shoulder and the quiet 'Phut' from the rifle told him this might be the last chance as the automatic sent its hail of death towards his rocky shelf. Jay saw the chopper lift skywards as the buzzing of deadly bees rushed past his face and then the stinging of something hitting his face. The hot wet feeling of blood on his face sent jay to the ground behind the boulder as the chopper appeared to turn on its axis and then, with the graceless movement of a wounded bird, it dived earthwards, the sound of a mans scream coming clearly over the silent rocky ridge. Jays shot at the pilot had paid off but the wetness running down his face told him he wasn't unscathed himself. A light headedness overcame him as he tried to get back to his feet, the ground under him swirled monetarily as he grasped for the support of the boulder. Jay shook his head and reached up a hand towards his forehead. Along his temple and running into his hair was a deep groove, wet with the flowing blood, the dizziness tried to take him into a dark world of unconsciousness as he fought to stay on his feet. Jay staggered over to where he had left Manuel and, as he looked down on the boy he heard again the throbbing of rotor blades in the descending light of the early evening. This time they sounded more like the ones he wanted and with a sigh he bent once again, fighting dizziness, to pick up Manuel. The chopper landed carefully on the ridge just meters from where he stood with his burden. The co-pilot leaning out of the side door as he looked at the man and his burden. The rotors continued their whirring as Jay ran for the safety of the chopper, Manuel no longer a weight in his arms. They were safe, at last, now he could get help for his boy. "Come on, move it, we've got to get out of here, there's two choppers further over and they aint ours." Jay gave a last lung searing burst and fell into the open maw of the chopper, turning onto his back to keep Manuel from being hurt further. "Who's this, not like you to carry baggage?" Jay sucked air into his lungs as the chopper lifted under full power and turned towards safety. "A friend." "Yeah, right, nice looking friend, sure he's not something more?" "None of your fucking business, just get us out of here." "Touchy bastard." Jay ignore the co-pilot as he pulled Manuel more securely onto his lap once again. Now all he had to do was sort out the end of his career with 'The Company' and find a place to settle back into a normal life after all the years of death and pressure. If things went right and he was agreeable, then he also had Manuel to think of now as well. "Maybe, just maybe, he was sent as a sign." The voice of the co-pilot intruded on his thoughts. "What, what was that?" "Nothing, just......nothing." TO BE CONTINUED: