World War III (24 page)

The tracker, still bent down on one knee, screamed as three snakes landed directly on top of him and sank their fangs into his face, neck and shoulder. The other soldiers came running from the bushes where they’d been searching for Kye. They immediately tried to help their fellow comrade, pulling him from the pile of snakes, when several more of them screamed out in pain.

Due to the darkness and lack of visibility, the Chinese soldiers were unaware of the fact that they were surrounded by angry, poisonous rattle snakes. Several soldiers began firing blindly into the ground around them in an attempt to kill the slithering reptiles, as they slid over their boots and between their legs. Those that were still able picked up their fallen comrades and fled from the area, heading in different directions. Their flashlights could be seen bobbing up and down through the dark forest, as they ran away.

“What a hoot!” laughed Jeremiah, slapping the palm of his hands on his thighs. “I doubt they’ll be coming back this way anytime soon!”

As Kye followed the old man into the house, his skin began to crawl. The incident had not improved his feelings towards snakes, and the image of the soldiers dancing around and screaming as the snakes bit them, would forever be burned into his memory. When he entered the cabin he was surprised to find Sylvia fast asleep on her bed. Apparently the commotion below had not disturbed her. Either that or she was used to her grandfather’s shenanigans.

“Here you go young feller,” said Jeremiah, handing Kye a pillow and a couple of blankets. “There’s plenty of room on the floor. Make yourself comfortable.”

“Thanks,” said Kye.

The old man was fast asleep and snoring loudly, before Kye had a chance to finish spreading the blankets on the floor. It was going to be a long night.

Up a Creek without a Paddle

World War III – Day Seven

Clearview, Nevada

Shiloh brought the vehicle to a screeching stop near a large cluster of trees and bushes. In their rush to arrive as fast as possible, the truck’s tires kicked up a large amount of dirt. The subsequent dust was still settling, as all five men piled out and quickly grabbed their rifles and extra ammo, just in case.

“Dude, why are we stopping here?” Cole asked, taking a puff of his hand rolled cigarette.

“Because it’s a good place to leave the truck,” answered Shiloh, “we’re on foot from here. Come on,” he added, picking up some loose branches and laying them on top of the Chevy, “help me hide the truck.”

The men quickly set about covering the truck with whatever branches and brush they could find. When Shiloh felt confident that the vehicle was adequately concealed, he turned and said, “Alright that’s good, now let’s go find that pilot! The last time I saw him he was floating down over there,” he added, pointing to the west. “My guess is that he landed somewhere on the other side of that knoll.”

“Only one way to find out,” grinned Ian, always excited for a new adventure.

The five men set off towards the west, their rifles loaded and held ready to fire. They spread out in a line with about ten to fifteen yards between them. Shiloh was at the center with Ian and Alfonso to his left and Mason and Cole to his right.

When they reached the top of the knoll everyone dropped to the ground in unison. No one spoke or made a sound. They immediately saw the pilots white parachute tangled high up in a tree and blowing in the wind. But what startled them were the hundreds of Chinese soldiers surrounding the tree and the abandoned parachute.

Using his binoculars, Shiloh was able to see that the Chinese soldiers had not yet found the pilot. They were searching the landing site for any sign of the American’s tracks, when suddenly one of the soldiers started waving to the others, shouting something in Mandarin Chinese.

“I wonder what he’s saying,” whispered Shiloh.

“He’s found the trail of the American pilot,” answered Mason.

“You speak Chinese?” asked Shiloh, a little surprised.

“Of course,” smiled Mason. “I speak many languages including several dialects of each language; it’s one of my specialties.”

“Wow dude, that’s Awesome!” said Cole, nodding his head.

“So what exactly are they saying?” asked Ian.

“The soldier waving his arms found some droplets of blood in the snow down by the creek,” explained Mason. “Now they’re discussing which direction he might have gone,” Mason paused, straining his ears to hear the conversation below. “They’ve decided to send out three search parties of twenty men each,” continued Mason. “The first search party is going to cross the water and head north, while the other two have been ordered to follow the creek in either direction.”

“What do you think?” asked Ian, looking at Shiloh.

“Well,” Shiloh hesitated, trying to put himself in the pilots shoes, “I suppose if it were me, I’d have walked in the creek to avoid leaving any trail behind.”

“Ok dude, that still leaves us with two options,” said Cole, “east and west.”

“My guess would be east,” replied Shiloh. “I think he saw us from the air and knew we were on our way to get him. So it makes more since that he’d head towards us, instead of going west and heading deeper into the mountains.”

“I agree,” said Mason.

They watched, as the enemy forces broke up into three different search parties. Each group set off in a different direction in search of the pilot. About a dozen of the soldiers remained behind to guard some of the vehicles, while the main body piled into the remaining trucks and headed back in the direction from which they’d come.

“They must have a forward base camp set up somewhere close by,” pointed out Ian, as he watched the enemy’s main force head southwest.

“I agree,” replied Mason. “You four go after the pilot and I’ll follow the main force to their base camp. If their encampment is close by then we need to know about it. The entire town could be in danger.”

“That’s true,” agreed Shiloh. “Will you be able to find your way back?”

“I’ll be fine,” grinned Mason, with a confidence that somehow raised the groups’ spirits. “I’ll see you fellas back in town.”

“Good luck,” said Shiloh.

“Yeah, you might need it,” added Ian. “But whatever you do, don’t let them follow you back to town.”

“No worries,” chuckled Mason with a wink, before standing up and disappearing into the forest. He made no sound, as he descended the backside of the knoll on a heading that would intersect with the tire tracks left from the Chinese convoy.

“Alright, let’s go,” whispered Shiloh, before climbing to his feet and heading towards the creek. In the corner of his eye he caught movement from the tree line near the Chinese soldiers below. He stopped briefly and peered into the forest using the binoculars to find the reason behind the movement.

“What is it?” asked Ian.

“I thought I saw something move down there,” explained Shiloh, handing Ian the binoculars.

Ian scanned the area thoroughly but found no sign of movement. “I don’t see anything,” he said.

“Must have been the wind,” replied Shiloh, but deep down he didn’t believe that. He’d learned long ago to trust his gut instincts and right now his gut was telling him that someone or something was down there. “Let’s wait just a little while longer,” he suggested, dropping to his knees.

Ian shrugged and joined his best friend on his knees, followed by Cole and Alfonso. Five minutes passed and then ten, without any movement from below. After nearly twenty minutes Shiloh was about to give up when once again his eyes caught movement, only this time it didn’t come from the tree line.

“There!” he whispered, pointing at a pile of snow near one of the Chinese trucks.

“What?” Asked Ian. “I don’t see anything.”

“That large pile of snow,” said Shiloh.

“What about it?”

“It wasn’t there a few minutes ago,” he explained.

Ian looked closer, this time using the binoculars. The pile of snow was about one foot high and six feet long, and located smack dab in the middle of the Chinese camp. As Ian watched, the pile of snow shifted, moving closer to the nearest truck. He couldn’t be sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him, until it moved again.

“You’re right, it is moving!”

“What is it?” asked Alfonso.

“I don’t know,” admitted Ian.

“Look!” whispered Shiloh, pointing at the moving pile of snow.

The mouths of all four men dropped open when they saw an arm reach out from beneath the snow and attach something to the bottom of the truck, before disappearing once again.

“Did you see that?” asked Shiloh.

“Yeah,” said Ian.

“Totally dude!” agreed Cole. “What the heck?”

“He’s moving again!” observed Alfonso, as the white mound of snow began to inch its way towards another truck.

“Now where’s he going?” asked Cole.

“I think he’s placing explosives beneath the trucks,” said Ian.

The mound of snow reached the next truck and once again an arm darted out from beneath the blanket of white. With the use of the binoculars, Shiloh saw light reflect off an object in the mystery man’s hand before his arm disappeared. “I think you’re right!”

The men from Clearview watched, as the white mound of snow slowly moved from one truck to the next, before finally inching its way back towards the tree line and out of sight.

“Come on,” whispered Shiloh, “let’s follow him.”

By the time they made their way down the knoll to where the man had disappeared into the forest he was already gone. All four men quickly set about scanning the area for tracks or any sign of the mystery man, when suddenly the Chinese trucks exploded in one huge fire bomb. The men immediately dove for cover from flying debris.

Shiloh slowly climbed to his knees, his ears ringing from the blast. He shook his head back and forth, trying to focus. In front of him, about ten feet away, he could see Alfonso waving to him and pointing to the ground. Shiloh struggled to his feet and joined the old Mexican. On the ground near Alfonso was a partial boot print left by the mystery man. Shiloh nodded and signaled for Ian and Cole to join them. The four men quietly backed away from the disoriented Chinese troops and set off into the forest following the tracks.

The trail was hard to follow, very hard. It soon became obvious that the mystery man was not only an expert in camouflage, but he was also skillful at covering his tracks. Every now and again the men would find a broken twig or partial heel print, as they fanned out and scanned the area for tracks. It was a good thing that all four men from Clearview were avid hunters, and therefore proficient in tracking.

After almost an hour of wondering through the forest while scanning the ground for any sign of the mystery man’s passing, Ian suddenly held up his hand, signaling for his friends to stop. Shiloh, Cole and Alfonso froze in mid-step, their rifles held high and ready to fire. Following Ian’s gaze, Shiloh saw a flicker of movement in the distance.

Ian signaled for the men to quietly drop to the ground and out of sight. After a moment of silence, Shiloh slowly began to crawl towards Ian’s position. He desperately wanted to see what it was that had caught his best friend’s attention. “What is it?” he asked, when he was laying behind the same bush as Ian.

“There!” said Ian, pointing through the thick shrubs.

Shiloh followed Ian’s finger but didn’t see anything. He was about to repeat the question when a large bush, about one hundred yards away, suddenly stood up and began to walk towards a cluster of tall, thick trees. Shiloh was immediately impressed with the stranger’s ability to conceal himself out in the open. They watched quietly, as the bush disappeared behind one of the largest trees in the cluster. Although a portion of the bush could still be seen from their position, it made no further movement.

Shiloh was about to make his way down to the cluster of trees when he felt Ian’s hand on his shoulder. He looked at his friend and was surprised to see that Ian wasn’t looking at the base of the tree where the bush was sitting, but rather higher up in the tree. Shiloh followed Ian’s gaze, peering into the tree branches, until he finally found what had attracted the ex-Marine’s attention. About three quarters up the tree, a man’s hand could be seen gripping the bark. Both men watched in astonishment, as the hand slowly and meticulously worked its way higher and higher.

“Well would you look at that!” whispered Shiloh.

“If you think that’s something,” replied Ian, “look where he’s headed!”

Shiloh followed the trunk of the tree all the way to the top and his mouth dropped open. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. High up in the air was a full-size house, built into the tops of the trees. The tree house was made from the same type of wood as the trees that held it in place, providing it with the perfect camouflage. Even the outside of the walls were covered in pine needles and pine cones, adding to the disguise. The dwelling itself was wrapped around the largest tree, with the trunk going right through the center of the house. It was by far the most impressive design that Shiloh had ever seen. They watched in awe, as the mystery man disappeared through an opening built into the bottom of the porch.

“Well,” said Ian, looking at his friend with a large grin, “what do you want to do now?”

“I’m not sure,” admitted Shiloh. “The American pilot might be up there as well.”

“True,” agree Ian, “or he might not be. There’s no way of knowing for sure. It’s possible that he went in a completely different direction and we’re just wasting precious time.”

“I know,” replied Shiloh, sitting on the ground with his back resting against the trunk of a tree. He watched silently, as Cole and Alfonso quietly crept over to where he and Ian sat waiting. He was trying to decide what to do. Should he split their group in half, sending two men back to where they’d left the Chinese convoy and the pilot’s tracks, while the other two remained here?

“I have a feeling this is where we are meant to be. Let’s just sit tight for a while,” he suggested.

The other men nodded in agreement and gathered together some pine needles, creating four small piles. Although the pine needles provided a little extra cushion for the men to sit on, the idea was to keep each man’s buttocks from direct contact with the frozen ground. They desperately wanted to light a fire but knew that doing so would attract the Chinese soldiers, and that was the last thing they wanted.

As the sun set over the mountains the temperature quickly dropped and the men from Clearview huddled together for body heat. Shiloh could hear the heavy breathing of his friends and an occasional snore come from Cole, who was fast asleep, his head resting against the trunk of a tree. Resting his hand on Cole’s shoulder, Shiloh gently shook the younger man until his eyes open.

“Stay alert,” whispered Shiloh.

“Yeah,” agreed Ian. “Falling asleep is one of the quickest ways to freeze to death.”