Interactive Combat! Story

          Lying on his belly between Caje and Kirby, Doc lifted his face away from the soupy mud beneath him and spit out another mouthful of mud.

          "Keep your head down, Doc!"  Kirby told him, using an elbow on Doc's helmet to enforce the words.

          "I gotta breathe!"  Doc protested as another .88 exploded nearby.

          "What?"  Kirby yelled.

          Doc just shook his head, trying to press even lower in the cold, slimy mud.  The heavy rain on his back felt like rocks while the rain drops bouncing off of the log in front of him felt like little bits of glass peppering his face when he lifted his head.  The ground underneath him was shaking, but he couldn't tell if it was from the thunder or the German artillery.  Whichever it was, he didn't like it.  Above him, Caje and Kirby kept up a near constant firing and he could make out the sound of Saunders' Tommy gun a short distance away.  This was supposed to be a simple recon mission; nobody expected to run into a Kraut patrol.  Especially one with a machine-gun.  They were pinned down at the moment, even the slightest move drawing fire from the Germans.  Something had to give pretty soon, and Doc hoped it wasn't them.

 The ground bucked again, and a tremendous crack drowned out even the echo of

the artillery.  Kirby looked upward, expecting to see a tree come down on them.  Instead, he caught a movement on the far edge of his vision.  Jerking his head around, Kirby thought he could see two man-sized shapes scrambling up the slight incline off to the right, silouetted by the flash of lightning.

          "Hey Caje!"  Kirby's bellow was swallowed up in the roar of thunder. Reeling off a group of shots in the general direction of the machine gun, he elbowed Doc.

          Spitting out even more mud, Doc yelled "What?," wincing at the sound joining

those already richocheting around in his skull.

          Leaning over as far as he could, Kirby shouted, "Get Caje! Krauts flanking

right!"

          Even with taking a breath and turning his head as fast as he could, Doc still got a faceful of mud.  Flailing out with his right arm, he managed to get a handful of  fatigues.  Caje cursed under his breath as his arm was jerked down, sending his rifle barrel skywards, putting a few holes in some unsuspecting leaves.

          The world quieted down enough for Caje to hear Doc sputter, "Germans

flanking to the right!"

          Caje squinted into the hazy darkness, trying to see beyond the rain pouring off of the lip of his helmet.  The lightning flashed again, and he saw the men running, with some slipping and sliding, along the top of the small rise.

          Saunders was the closest to the oncoming Germans.  He was far enough off  that it would be hard getting his attention in all this mess.  Caje glanced over to Kirby, then down to Doc.  He hoped his squadmates would figure out what he wanted them to do; conversation was impossible.

          Making sure he had their attention, he held up three fingers, then two, then one...

          In the split second between another 88 and crack of thunder, the three men

called, "Sarge!!"

WGKirbyCat...

          Saunders heard them and spotting the two Krauts he quickly halted them with his Thompson. 'That was close', he thought.

          Looking at Caje, Kirby and Doc, Saunders thanked them with a nod which was quickly returned, they then refocused their attention back to the Germans on the machine gun as another .88 rocked the ground as it exploded.

TXMedic...

          Tilting his head so the water dripping from his helmet didn't run into his face, Saunders looked to the flanks.  He simply had to find a way out of this mess.  The mud had made the radio useless and they wouldn't be missed for another three hours at least.  He looked over at the others, then ducked as another .88 exploded.  This one was close enough to rain mud and debris over the huddled Americans.  At least the Germans were in the same boat when it came to the artillery.  If they didn't move that barrage, the Germans were going to be killed by their own army.  It wouldn't be the first time soldiers would be killed by friendly fire.  When Saunders raised his head once more, he noticed the others had gotten the worst of the debris.

          Lifting his head, Kirby wondered which would kill them first...the German machine gun, or the .88s.  He wouldn't want to be the one giving odds on the four of them getting out of there unscathed.  He heard Caje open fire again and raised up to let loose a few shots from the BAR.  Kirby quickly scanned the trees for the Sarge.  He sagged with relief when he saw the sergeant's outline moving among the branches.  A sputtering noise next to him reassured Kirby that Doc was still okay.

          Coughing and choking, Doc managed to clear his mouth and nose of the watery mud.  If they didn't get out of there, he wouldn't have to worry about the Germans...he'd drown.  Reassuring himself that Sarge, Caje and Kirby were okay, he dragged his medical bag closer and tried to ease himself out of the mud puddle he seemed to have landed himself in.  He found himself shoved right back in as Americans and Germans alike ducked for cover as another shell exploded between them.

EagleLady....

          Motioning for Doc and Kirby to stay where they were, Caje squirmed sideways through the mud, trying to keep the muddy water from jamming his weapon as he moved.  If he could get to the end of this log then get from there to that mutated three-trunk tree, he just might get a grenade far enough to do some good.  When he glanced back, Doc was spitting out another mouthful of mud, and Kirby was watching him, waiting to see what he had in mind.  Thank God for hand signals, Caje thought as he signaled Kirby to provide covering fire.  As soon as the BAR opened up, Caje sprinted toward  the tree.  He made it all of three feet before he slipped and splashed face first in the mud.  Kirby's heart skipped a beat when he saw Caje go down. Not Caje! He  was unaware that he'd said it out loud untill Doc asked what he'd said.  Kirby had lost too many friends in this stupid war, and sure didn't want to add Caje to that list.  He sighed with relief when Caje             scrambled to his feet, spitting mud, and continued toward the tree, sliding to a splashing stop.  Grasping one of the tree trunks, Caje spit out more mud and tried to wipe more out of his eyes without much  success.

          He reluctantly slid a hand inside his jacket to rub the mud off on his relatively drier shirt so that he could get a solid grip on the grenade.  He sure didn't want to drop it at his feet in this mess.  When he looked to Kirby to signal him to cover his move, he found the

BAR man watching him and grinning like an idiot.  Now what was the matter with him?  With a mental shrug, Caje signaled him to start firing.  He waited a couple seconds then threw the grenade as hard as he could.  A red-hot streak of pain lanced through his arm and he fell on his back in the mud, clutching his arm.

WGKirbycat....

          A bullet from the Kraut machine gun had slammed into Caje's left arm as he launched the grenade towards it. Kirby had seen his friend go down just as the grenade landed right on target and then exploded sending the Germans flying.

           ''Caje is hit, Doc!'', Kirby said as he turned towards the medic.

           ''I know Kirby, I saw'', came Doc's reply.

          With the machine gun out of business it was easy to take down the rest of the Krauts in the patrol. When the last of the Germans had been neutralized Saunders, Doc and Kirby left their positions and made their way to the wounded Caje.

           ''Okay Caje'', Doc said when they reached their injured friend. ''Let me take a look at that''.

          As Doc began to treat Caje's wound Saunders signaled Kirby to check out the area of the Kraut machine gun.

TXMedic....

          Gently peeling back Caje's sleeve, Doc was relieved to see that it was only a flesh wound.  It could have been much worse.  After liberally covering the wound with sulfa powder and gently applying a bandage, Doc gave Caje a hand up from the mud.

           "Looks okay, Caje.  Just try to keep it clean."

        Squelching through the mud, turning up his jacket collar, Saunders wandered over to check on Caje.  "What about it, Caje?  You okay?"

        "I'm fine, Sarge."  Bending down to retrieve his Garand, Caje winced when the skin on his arm pulled at the newly bandaged wound.

        Smiling at Saunders' skeptical look, Doc hastened to reassure the sergeant.  "He's telling the truth this time, Sarge.  It's not too bad; he'll be okay."

        Wiping the mud from his watch, Saunders frowned and gave a low whistle to get Kirby's attention.  "Alright.  We need to get going; we still have an OP to destroy.  We're already late for our rendezvous with the demolitions guys."

        Double checking his map for a moment then slipping it back inside his jacket, under his rain gear, Saunders jerked his chin at Kirby.  "You have the point, Kirby.  Let's pick up the pace, we only have half a mile to go."

        Picking up the pace in the heavy rain and storm darkened woods wasn't easy.  Saunders just hoped that when they got to the rendezvous point, the demolitions sergeant would still be there waiting for them.

Shadowcat..

          The mud was ankle-deep and very sticky. Feet became harder and harder to lift and the squeltch noises coming from their drenched boots was far too loud for Saunders' tuned ears. The rain still fell, dripping off of helmets and managing to find every way possible to get under the men's ponchos. Both Kirby and Doc had slipped and almost fallen.

          However, the dreary rain and mud did have an up side; the mud would make it all but impossible for any major movements. Both sides were now reduced to small, quick strikes, stratgic hits. Yet even these were hampered by the weather. So both sides briefly rested, gathering their strength. But their mission was necessary. As soon as the weather broke, the Americans were planning an immediate, all-out lunge at the deeply entrenched Germans. And to pull that off, the OP that was their destination had to be destroyed.

          The woods suddenly stopped, opening into a clearing sliced in half by what was probably a gentle creek under normal conditions, but was now an angry small river. And to get to their rendezvous, they had to wade across it.

          "Well," Kirby's voice broke in, "we're already soaked, so what's a little more water?"

          "I don't...." Doc's reply was broken off as his foot connected solidly with something, sending the medic falling forward.

          Only a quick grab by Caje with his uninjured arm saved him from getting another faceful of mud. As soon as Doc was upright again, the squad turned to see what had caused the trip. It was hard to see the shape well in the rainy darkness. Saunders reached down and scooped the object up. It turned out to be a helmet. A German helmet with fresh bloodstains on the inside.

          "What the hell?"

WGKirbycat...

          Saunders had looked up as he spoke and as the others followed his gaze they saw what had caught his attention.  There dangling from a near by tree they spotted a parachute and following  it down they'd spotted a form dangling from it. As they approached they discovered that the form was that of a British paratrooper. His chute had gotten tangled in the tree but instead of a friendly finding him, he was found by Krauts.

          "This guys from a team of British commandos that were sent in a few days ago to take out that OP," Saunders explained to them. "But they never made it."

          Below the lifeless paratrooper they noticed a single dead German, the Krauts had obviously left him to guard the commando.  After examining the bodies, Doc had discovered that the German had died from a single gunshot wound to the head. The German was young, late teens to very early twenties Doc had guessed. He had obviously been under orders to guard the paratrooper.

          "While the Germans pretty obvious but the paratrooper," said Doc. "Seeing as how there aren't any injuries on the commando and based on what you said, I'd guess he died from dehydration."

          "What a lousy way to go," quipped Kirby.

          "There are no good ways, Kirby," Caje replied.

          "By the looks of it, and I'm just guessing here," said the medic. "That paratrooper died a couple of hours ago, while the German died recently.  I'd say within the past hour."

          They wondered why the German hadn't cut the poor guy down but they didn't have time to do anything about it. They couldn't help that commando now and they still had to get to that rendezvous. So after cutting the commando down they still had to come up with a safe way to cross the swelled water.

          As Saunders examined his map in an effort to find the best place to cross, Doc couldn't stop his mind from wandering back to the paratrooper and the young German. He wondered just what had happened and who killed the German. Was it a sniper, self inflicted or maybe it was German friendly fire. Whether the Krauts had mistaken the kid for the paratrooper or what, they would probably never know. Doc had shrugged off the thought as he removed the commando's dog tags and put them in his medical bag.

TXMedic...

          Saunders bent over his map in a futile attempt to keep it dry, frowning at what he saw. This was about the best place to cross. It was the narrowest part of the river within four miles, and they couldn't afford a four-mile detour. The rain-swollen river didn't exactly look inviting, but they had no choice. They would just have to be careful.

          "Alright, we have no choice. We gotta cross here. Stay close together this time, so you can help each other if you need to. Caje, you go first and I'll take the rear. Let's go."

          Holding his rifle over his head, Caje slowly waded into the swiftly moving current. He sucked in a quick breath when the water reached his thighs. The water was cold as ice. Placing each step very carefully, he made sure the footing was secure before shifting his weight to take the next step.     

          As Caje started across, Saunders gave Kirby a nudge. "You're next Kirby. Be careful."

          "You better believe it, Sarge." Lifting the BAR above his head, Kirby waded in behind Caje. As if his arms weren't tired enough, here he was having to hold the heavy weapon out of the water. Just as Caje was doing, Kirby was very careful in his movements. The last thing he wanted to do was get swept away with the current.

          Saunders turned and slapped Doc on the back. "Okay, Doc, your turn."

          Nodding apprehensively, Doc started across, with Saunders following right behind. He could see that Caje was three quarters of the way across. So far, so good. The thought had barely entered his mind, when he saw Doc lose his balance and start to slip under the water.

EagleLady...

          As the medic's head disappeared under the roiling water, Saunders lunged forward, his fingers closing on the collar of Doc's jacket.  Bracing himself against the current, he hauled on the jacket, bringing Doc up out of the water, spitting and coughing.

          "You alright?"  Saunders kept his hold on the medic.

          Doc nodded, frantically feeling for his medical bag, sighing with relief when he found it.  Clutching Saunders' arm for balance, he got his feet back under him and started across again.

          "Want me to come back?"  Kirby called.

          "No!"  Saunders waved him back.

          They made it the rest of the way uneventfully, Caje and Kirby helping them out onto the bank.

          "Let's go back a different way, huh, Sarge?"  Doc panted, wiping his face.

          "Yeah."  Kirby nodded an emphatic agreement.

          "We've still gotta find that OP. Move out, Caje."  Saunders ordered.

TXMedic...

          As they fell into step, Kirby nudged Doc when he walked past.

          "You okay?" Nodding ruefully, Doc gave a half-hearted smile. "Yeah. At least it washed off the mud."

           "Yeah. I guess it did, at that." Kirby shook his head, laughing quietly, and dropped back to cover the rear.

          He couldn't help but be a little spooked by the bodies back on the other side of the river. Who knew what was lurking in the stormy woods? The lightening continued to flash, casting strange shadows in the flickering light. The pounding rain made it difficult to hear anything else, as it drummed into the ground and splattered on the leaves. Kirby shivered, and it wasn't just due to the chilling rain.

Shadowcat...

          Saunders cursed under his breath as he took advantage of another flash of lightning to check his watch. It showed they were over 30 minutes late. Between the rain, the mud, the run-in with the Germans, the bodies, and almost losing Doc in the river, it was a miracle they weren't further behind. The murkiness suddenly thinned, momentarily confusing Saunders. He then came within an inch of running into Caje, who had stopped.

          Swinging his head back and forth, the sergeant realized they were standing in the center of a mire that had once been a road. This wasn't right. They weren't supposed to cross a road. Caje threw a look over his shoulder asking the same question. But the open was no place for a conversation. Saunders waved his hand forward towards the trees on the other side of the road. Once under the relative shelter of the trees, Saunders fished out his sodden map. He realized the ink and paper was losing the battle against the water that had found a way underneath his poncho. Squinting at the blurring lines, he saw they had swung to the north. But not too far. They were still under a mile away from the rendezvous.

          "Don't tell me we're lost, Sarge," Kirby muttered, rubbing at where a stray branch had whipped across his face, leaving a red welt behind.

          "Not too bad." Saunders beckoned Caje closer and pointed out the angle they needed to follow.

          The scout nodded as Saunders patted himself trying to find a relatively dry place to stow the map. He finally settled on underneath his belt inside his shirt. The foilage above was thicker, and as a result the mud was shallower, allowing the men to move at a faster pace. Finally, the dim outlines of a ramshackle house and barn could be seen through the thinning trees. That was their rendezvous point. But Lady Luck's evil twin wasn't through with them yet. The thunder had died away enough to hear voices....speaking in German.

WGKirbycat...

          Saunders realized that the voices were coming from inside the house which was where they were to pick up the demolitions team. The sergeant could only hope the demolitions guys got out in time.

          "I don't speak German, Kraut." A voice rang out and Saunders closed his eyes for a second. English....that's what he was afraid of. The demolitions men had been captured. A fact they had all realized.

          "What do we do, Sarge?" Caje inquired. "We need them in order to complete the mission."

          "We do what we have to, Caje," replied Saunders. "We get them out of there."

EagleLady...

          "What do you have in mind, Sarge?" Kirby asked.          

          "Caje, think you can get a look inside without being seen?"

          "I think so." He nodded. "I don't see any guards, do you?"

          "No. Move out, Caje. We'll wait here."

          Careful to step on vegetation instead of the slippery mud, Caje worked his way around to the side of the farmhouse. He crouched underneath the window for a moment, listening, then very cautiously stretched up to peer inside.

TXMedic.....

          Peering over the window sill, Caje could make out three Americans.  The three were kneeling on the floor with their hands clasped behind their heads.  Caje counted five Germans, and there was likely another one out patroling the area somewhere.  Caje would have to be careful going back.

          Taking a final look, Caje could see the demolition packs piled up in the west corner.  That was good, because if they managed to pull this off, they were going to need those packs.

          Slipping back into the darkness, Caje made his careful way back to the others.  The German sentry was almost on top of him before Caje saw him.  Fortunately, Caje saw the enemy first.  Whipping his bayonet free, he jumped the startled German.  Clamping a hand over the man's mouth, Caje slid the bayonet between the unfortunate soldier's ribs.  When he felt the weight of the body sag, he lowered the dead man to the ground and wiped off his bayonet before returning it to it's sheath.

          Caje encountered no other trouble on his way back to his squad, and hurried to kneel next to Saunders.  "There's three of our guys in there and I saw the demo packs.  They're definitely our demolition guys.  I saw five Germans in there.  I ran into a sentry on the way

back, but he won't be a problem any more."

          Picking up a stick, Caje drew the farmhouse's floor plan.  "Three of  the Germans are here in the main room with the demo guys.  I saw one through the door into the kitchen.  And the last one I saw walking into this small room, here."

          Saunders wiped the rain from his face and stared at the makeshift map.  How to kill the Germans, without killing the Americans?

          Impatient, Kirby leaned forward.  "Well, Sarge?  What do we do?"

WGKirbycat...

          Looking at the map Caje drew then to Kirby, the sergeant said, "Well for starters we need to figure out how to kill those Germans, without the Americans getting caught in the crossfire."

          "Sarge," Doc said after a few minutes of thought. "Is there anyway we could use that German sentry that Caje killed?"

          "Yeah Sarge," Kirby said. "Can't we use him as a decoy....."

          "To bait the Krauts out," Caje finished.

          Five Germans. Saunders had to admit to himself that the idea did have potential. If they could get the Krauts out of the farmhouse and away from the three demolition guys the Germans could be killed without the Americans getting caught in the middle. There were only two questions.....how would they do it and would it even work.

Shadowcat...

          "But....," came a thoughtful voice, "in this mess, we don't need a decoy, do we?" Every head turned toward Doc, sending small showers of water cascading off of helmets. "I can barely see you guys and you're right in front of me. I don't think they could tell friend from foe in this weather."

          "Huh, maybe we all ougta eat some mud. Sure is makin' Doc smarter." Kirby mumbled.

          Unsure whether he had been insulted or complimented, Doc decided not to waste a glare on the private. He wouldn't be able to see it anyway.

          "Caje, do you remember anything about that Kraut you killed? Tall, fat, anything like that?" Saunders asked as he stamped out the remains of Caje's artwork.

          The Cajun furrowed his brow as he thought. "Shorter than me, kind of scrawny."

           Immediately Kirby moaned, "Oh no....."

*******

          *How do I keep getting myself into these things?*  Kirby said to himself as he picked his way along behind Caje. The two were heading to the spot where the bayoneted German lay. Once there, Kirby reluctantly shucked out of his poncho. *Not like it was keepin' any water out or anything.* Whatever part of him hadn't been soaked before was now. Caje peeled the raincoat off of the body and handed it to the smaller man. Kirby tossed it on and buttoned several of the buttons. It was a bit too large for him, but it was close enough. Replacing his netted helmet with the plain steel one, Kirby passed his BAR to Caje and picked up the German rifle, resisting the urge to cringe. He hated these things. He had used one or two in the past, and they kept jamming at the worst times. Caje gathered up the helmet, poncho, and BAR. He gave Kirby a whispered "Good luck" before melting back into the murk.

          Kirby swung around toward the back of the house. He was to get close enough to the small window looking into the kitchen, get the one Kraut's attention, draw him out, get rid of him, and go from there. Sarge made it sound so easy. Sucking in a deep breath, he strutted past the window, hopefully more confidently than he felt. Looking in, he saw the dark haired German with the insignia of a captain rummaging around in a cabinet. Two more trips by. No reaction. This wasn't working. Muttering under his breath, Kirby thought about heading back to the squad. But then an idea hit him. It was pretty stupid, but what was it they said? "If it's stupid and works, it ain't stupid." He was going to test that out. Striding up to the window, he rapped on the glass.

Eagle Lady...

          Looking up, the captain could barely make out the shape of one of his men standing outside the window. Shoulders hunched and helmeted head tilted against the sluicing rain, the soldier was motioning for him to come outside. Kirby held his breath while the captain obviously debated about stepping outside. Hoping to convince him, Kirby glanced over his shoulder then motioned more urgently for the captain to come out.

          Intrigued, the captain slipped into his raincoat and started for the door, calling out something to the other men who simply nodded in response. Amazed and pleased that his 'stupid' idea had worked, Kirby squelched across the yard. He paused far enough away that the captain wouldn't realize he wasn't one of his men, but close enough that the captain could still see him in the heavy rain.

Kirbycat...

          As the German captain came out the door of the farmhouse and began heading toward Kirby, the private realized he was going to be in some serious trouble if the captain got close enough to see his face or begin speaking to him in German. Kirby knew he had to come up with a quick way to take out the Kraut, if he was given the opportunity to double back and raise the alarm to his men, those demolition guy's wouldn't have a chance.

          Kirby raised his hand, beckoning the officer to follow him as he began slowly walking away toward a tree he had noticed making his way to the house. Kirby had gotten far enough ahead that he had slipped out of sight of the German just long enough to duck in behind the tree and, withdrawing his bayonet from its sheath, he waited.

TxMedic...

          Dropping the limp body into the mud, Kirby pulled the dead officer behind some bushes and left him there. He wondered what he should do next. Should he go back to the Sarge, or return to the farmhouse and pretend that nothing was amiss? With a long-suffering sigh, Kirby decided to go back to the farmhouse. Even if someone came out to ask him questions, that was one more dead German.

          Picking up his discarded rifle, he slung it over his shoulder and trudged back to the farmhouse. Kirby hoped Saunders had a plan to get him out of whatever jam might be waiting for him back at the farmhouse.

Shadowcat...

          Kirby hunched his shoulders forward, trying to keep his eyes on the house while also keeping his face turned away from the raindrops that the wind had made into tiny needles.

          He wasn't really sure what he was going to do, but things were going to start happening fast now that the captain was dead. As soon as the others realized the officer was gone....

          Suddenly, a long string of guttural German came out of the darkness right behind him. Kirby jumped in surprise and just managed to catch himself before he instinctively spun and fired. The voice continued in a friendly tone, and he realized that the other man believed him to be his comrade. The German repeated something, a question. And he was waiting for Kirby's answer.

          For a split second, Kirby contemplated just opening fire and taking his chances. *Yeah, and you better hope you die in the shootout, otherwise Sarge is gonna kill you.*

          Resisting the urge to cross his fingers, Kirby replied, "Ja?"

          Apparently, he'd guessed right. The German chuckled quietly and clapped his hand on Kirby's shoulder. Then, keeping his hand on Kirby, he started walking toward the house.

*****

          Saunders, Caje, and Doc huddled under the dripping tree canopy, silently keeping watch out for Kirby. Saunders shifted his shoulders beneath his poncho as he told himself not to look at his watch again. That feeling, the one he always got before things went to hell, was creeping up on him. Kirby was taking way too long.  Something was wrong.

          Making a decision, he whispered loudly to the other two men. "Stay here. I'm gonna see if I can get close enough to see what's keeping Kirby."

          Even through the murk, Saunders could see the relieved looks on Caje and Doc's faces. They too were feeling uneasy, and he fleetingly wondered which one of them would've brought up going after Kirby first.

          Slipping over the fallen tree, Saunders wove his way closer and closer, ready to flatten out at the slightest human sound. He could see the faintly lit house, but nothing else. He didn't see anything at all. The proverbial hairs on the back of his neck would've been standing on end if not for the rain.

          Two shadows suddenly became outlined in the dim light. Saunders froze, immediately recognizing Kirby's slightly sidewheeling walk. The second shape was walking slightly behind Kirby, his hand on his shoulder. It was just too dark to see anything else, but when the door swung open and Kirby was ushered in, Saunders cursed colorfully under his breath.

          As soon as the door shut, he whirled and beelined back to Doc and Caje, miraculously not falling as he flew through the mire. Lunging over the log, Saunders looked over to them.

          "They've got Kirby."

TXMedic....

          Heart pounding, Kirby stepped through the door. He made a quick headcount of the Germans and his stomach began to knot up. Counting the one who'd ushered him into the house, there were five of them.  Nobody bothered to spare a glance at the two newcomers. Three were guarding the windows, while the fourth questioned the Americans who were seated on the floor.

          Having no clue as to why he'd been brought inside, Kirby sidled over against a wall and tried to blend into the woodwork. When two of the men by the windows reluctantly donned their rain gear, Kirby understood why he'd been led inside. It was a changing of the guard. Knowing how his own squad would do things, made it a little easier to keep up the charade.

          Taking a place by the window vacated near him, Kirby pretended to focus intently on the driving rain. Maybe Sarge would attack the farmhouse now. Since Kirby was inside, there was a chance he could get himself and the American prisoners out this mess. During a firefight, everyone would be too busy trying to defend the house to notice one of their comrades wasn't a comrade.

          There were only three left inside. Kirby thought briefly of trying to take them out right then, but was afraid the prisoners would get caught in the crossfire. No, he needed a distraction. 'Come on, Sarge. I need a little help, here.'

EagleLady...

          Kirby nearly dropped his gun in startled response to an explosion just outside the farmhouse.  The old building shook violently, knocking a picture off of the wall.  Instinctively, the prisoners dove for the floor, their arms covering their heads.  Quickly recovering, Kirby spun around and fired, taking out one of the window guards with a lucky head shot.  The other was still staring at Kirby in shock when his chest blossomed red and he wilted to the floor as Kirby turned to the last German whose face registered shock, disbelief, and finally fury. 

          Kirby pulled the trigger on his borrowed gun and nothing happened.  It was jammed. He watched in terror as the German brought his gun up, carefully aiming it at the American's stomach.  Oh God, Kirby thought, not in the gut!  He'd seen men die from a gut shot and he didn't want to have to go through that.  In the head or the heart, but please, not in the stomach!  Grinning maliciously, the German slowly tightened his finger on the trigger.  Unconsciously, Kirby braced for the impact, closing his eyes.  There was a burst of gunfire and he automatically clutched his stomach.  He felt no pain, but maybe that would come later.

          A hand clasped his shoulder as he heard a familiar voice. "Take it easy, Kirby.  You're okay.  Sarge got him."  Doc assured him sympathetically.

          The relief was so great that Kirby swayed against the medic, nearly passing out. Doc slipped a supporting arm around his shoulders, turning him away from the others to give him a chance to recover.

          "Great job, Kirby!"  He praised enthusiastically.

          Pulling himself together, Kirby straightened and looked around to find Saunders talking to the demolitions men as Caje entered the building.

          "Sorry, Sarge."  He said.  "One of them got away.  I couldn't follow him in this rain."

          "All right.  Good work, Kirby."  Saunders eyed Kirby's pale face. "You okay?"

          "Yeah, Sarge."  Kirby managed a wan smile.  "Just don't ask me to do that again, okay?  My nerves aren't what they used to be."

          "Let move out.  We're already late. We've got an OP to take out."  Saunders grinned.

          "In this rain?  You can't even see a tank comin' at you in this stuff!"

          "What rain?"  Doc asked, looking at Kirby as if he was crazy.

          "What rain?  THAT rain!"  Kirby turned to point out the window and stopped with his mouth hanging open.  The rain had stopped completely, along with the wind and the lightning.  "Damn!  Even the weather in this country is crazy!"

          Chuckling, Saunders waved them out the door.