John was sitting watching Willy and the others
playing with their New Mexican friends. Lucy and the twins along with Ben were there also.
Thiago was Willy’s shadow. There were three boys and a girl, perhaps nine or ten years
old that had been north to the states sometime in their life. They were acting as interpreters
and ... sort of like protectors. Suddenly there was a level of excitement among the
young people. They were getting into line. Willy was counting on his fingers.
It all started on
the day Ben was being honored at school for his quick action. A man had
gotten hit crossing the street. Ben got to him and transported him to Jenny’s office.
The principle wanted to use this incident to teach all the students the modern-day version
of First Aid or maybe Quick Aid. An hour later, the man was fine and, on his way, again. John
was working with the twins on their math. Lucy and Willy were watching and even Ben
and Sally were at the table with their homework. Everyone realized that W
illy and Lucy were
answering faster than Fanny and Terri. Ben and Sally got in on the action and Willy and
Lucy held their own until they got past 12 X 12. They had been watching several old VHS
tapes on English, Spanish and of course, Math, while everybody else was in school. Willy
touched Ben’s Black Lanyard and asked “Fifty?” John had five of them hold up ten fingers.
Willy pointed to Ben and said “10.” Then to Sally, “20.” Jenny had volunteered
to clean up the kitchen as everyone else workin
g on learning. She sat down once she had the
dishwasher going. She held up ten fingers. “30.” Then to Terri, “40.” Finally,
to Fanny, “50.” Jenny asked, “What are we doing?”
When she was told, she rolled her eyes up in her head and giggled.
“Mr. President, what is he doing?” Sam was sitting next to John, asking quietly.
“My guess is he is getting ready to go to God with 50 kids.” John shared.
“What do you think we should do Sir?” Sam asked.
Tony with Willa and Peter were sitting to John’s right,
“Tony, Willa maybe you two
can go with him. Just to observe, make sure he is alright. Please don’t disturb his
really big achievement.” “When the student is ready the teacher will
appear.” Tony shared. John and Sam both looked in Tony’s direction.
“Sorry dad, he’s been hanging around me too much.” Peter laughed, “I get it from
Master Sun.” Everyone laughed.
Jenny and Renata were coming out of a tent. Demetri and Sally had proceeded with them
and were searching for anything that might not be oka
y. Renata was carrying a little
bundle. Her husband caught up with her and the two were laughing as they approached.
Patty and Beth were following along behind. The new mom was moving kinda slow but seemed
to be without any pain. Willy looked over at John with his index finger
on his right hand pointing upward. It was near his chin with his head tilted slightly.
John had seen this look before when Willy wanted to ask something important. John smiled
and nodded his head. Willy smiled and 50 of th
e children disappeared. Before Tony and
Willa could follow Willy, there converged hundreds of kids that wanted to go too. Tony
and Willa talked, then looked over at John. Tony also pointed to the heavens. Right hand
over his head making a small circle. John laughed and nodded again. Tony responded,
“Uno, Dos, and TRACE!” Hundreds of children disappeared.
“Mr. President, what on earth did we just see?” Sam asked.
John looked at Sam, then to Peter and Patty. Peter had moved over and was next to Jo
hn
with Patty sitting on his lap. Sam was to John’s left and Peter and Patty to his right,
“I believe the kids knew where they were going. God is eliminating reasons for us not
to accomplish things today!” Sam looked around then sat back down, “No
one seems to be concerned.” “The children of Mexico have a bit more
freedom than their counterparts up north,” John stated.
When Jenny came up, John was in deep thought about the last two weeks.
“Hey, Mr. President, what are you thinking about?” Jenny
asked as she sat on his lap.
John looked at his love, “I’m still processing Liz.”
“Once upon a time, you thought you could make a life with her. You do realize you were
with her before I was born.” Jenny hugged John.
“I just hoped she wouldn’t have gone into the sun. I knew from the bottom of my heart
that was going to be where she ended up. It just hurts to have loved someone and see them
go to hell.” “John, I wouldn’t expect anything less
from you. To see what you witnessed has to be up there
with seeing a parent go into the
sun.” Jenny comforted. Liz, the second wife of John from 1990 to
1995 had entered the bank Monday morning. A few minutes after 8:00 AM. John lined up
his day with the kids going to school and was there twenty minutes to 8:00 most mornings.
Jenny also scheduled appointments from 8:00 AM every day. John could drink a cup of coffee
and get a lot done before 10:00 when the tellers started their day. Often once or twice a week
Marvin West would come in with his newspa
per or meet with a friend at John’s worktable
and just talk quietly. John had seen Maiden Nation join Marvin as
they talked about vegetables for the next year. So, it was that Marvin West and Maiden
Nation with three other farmers were making plans for this next year when in walked Liz.
John did not even recognize her. When she stood before his desk, he glanced up, “I
need just one more minute please to finish this home loan. Help yourself to the coffee.”
John’s intuition screamed at him. He ign
ored it as he signed the document. Another
family would have their own home again. This one was a little different, instead of a half-acre
of land, they would have ¾ acres. Their three boys would grow up with their backyard full
of Apple Trees. The mom was pregnant again and stated, this had better be a girl because
this was it for her on having babies. “The funny thing was when Liz fired five
bullets at him, he wondered if his coffee was bad since she had gotten herself a cup.”
John had simply
stopped all five rounds, having them fall to his desktop with several clunks.
He took her to God and watched as she entered the sun. When he returned to the bank, Marvin
asked him if he knew a Liz Wilkins. John realized who that had been. He was stunned. Marvin
showed John an old Washington Driver’s License. Like on Monday, Jenny turned his face and
brought him back with a deep soul-searching kiss.
The kids are back. They had been gone a half-hour and came back with noisemakers, tricycles,
bicyc
les, and all sorts of other things. Everything seemed to have a loud noisemaker or two. Thiago
had a firetruck that he could sit in and peddle. He also had a red fireman’s hat and was
turning a device that made a loud sound like a real fire truck. One of the other little
boys was sitting in the back seat of the fire truck also wearing a fireman’s hat ringing
a real silver bell. Thiago drove the fire truck over to his parents. He asked if he
could give his new little brother a ride in his fire tr
uck. His parents explained, yes,
someday when brother grows up a little bit. The energy spread throughout the 40,000. Conversations
were interrupted, and the story repeated a thousand times, “Where did you get that?”
was the question asked. The answer was “God gave it to me!” The men from Poncho’s
army and the mission were able to explain and prepare everyone for what was about to
happen after the Thanksgiving Dinner. It took a while for everyone to make their
way through the buffet. Cookie and
Carlos and their men worked hard to keep the lines
moving and serving trays full. The many little mountains of food on the 100 tables disappeared,
filled again and again. Finally, a few thousand were making do as they filled their mess kits
for the second time. The officers filled in behind them as the kitchen crew consolidated
everything onto 20 tables. It was noted by thousands of the 3rd Division
that the US President and the two Bautista Generals were last to get in line for dinner.
This was
never the case with the old leaders and the men sat a little taller, felt appreciated
for their position in life. John had been in management all his life. He felt he never
did anything special for his employees, but he treated those that worked for him as he
would like to be treated. On many occasions in his life, he had past employees more than
willing to work for him again and again. Dinner is done, and they were only a half-hour
behind Patty’s schedule for the day. John was up on the elevat
ed dais again. Gloria
was with him. He spoke in Spanish, “My friends and neighbors. I have a letter to read you.
It is from one of your senior citizens.” John paused.
“My family has just returned from Omak, Washington. They have heard you speak then
witnessed the results that fulfilled your words. Things that are important to an old
man such as FREE healthcare and FREE schools. I might add your health system is not caring
but curing. Like Mexico, the US has been enslaved to the medical and pharm
aceutical industries
for decades. The difference in Mexico is the drugs are from the drug cartels whereas in
the US they are both the legal and illegal types that are enslaving your citizens. You
must help us put a stop to this. I ask that you consider having Mexico become one of your
states. I also ask that you send some volunteers to assist us in eliminating the drug cartels.”
John announced who had written the letter, “Jose’ Hernandez”. The man’s name
was a president of long ago. He had retur
ned to Mexico and was killed by a new drug lord
in his home area. Jose’ Hernandez had been forced out of office by a scandal that was
not of his doing. The sons of Mexico reacted. Some positive, some negative. John asked,
“Do you agree with Jose Hernandez? Please stand if you do.”
A few stood, then a few more. The many standing were encouraging others to stand. John watched
as the new daddy stood and shouted, “The man is right, let’s clean up Mexico! For
our CHILDREN!” “For our CHILDREN!” Became
the chant.
Willy did not know what to do. He was supposed to do his ‘sit on daddy’s shoulders trick’
when his daddy said, children. He looked over and made eye contact with John. His daddy
was nodding. Willy took a deep breath, landed, and hung on to John’s head.
The Chanting stopped. John turned on the loudspeaker, “This is
my son, Willy Taylor. He is special as your boys and girls are special. You just got to
witness one of his special little tricks. Willy took 50 of his new friends, your chi
ldren,
to GOD just before dinner. That qualifies him to wear the black lanyard, signifying
him as a master of our martial arts.” John held up a smaller version of a black lanyard.
Willy took it with both hands, holding it up for all to see. He then put it around his
neck. Thiago was sitting on his daddy’s shoulders
like Willy. Thiago screamed “Wil-ley! Wil-ley! Wil-ley!”
The chant “Wil-ley!” was being repeated by 40,000.
Willy waved and put his head on top of John’s. This was a bit overwhelming
even for Willy.
Poncho and Jose’ had climbed the dais and the two men played who is going to tell them
for a few seconds. Finally, Poncho grabbed the microphone to the loudspeaker, “Your
general has some very good news to tell you.” General Jose’ Bautista took the microphone
and bowed to the wishes of Poncho. “Ladies and gentlemen, this man next to
me has made arrangements for us to get paid. First thing after breakfast. Where is Sargent
Thiago Bargas?” “Down here, sir.” Thiago’s daddy said.
“Sa
rgent, congratulations on your new son. Is it possible for you to set up and start
paying everyone starting at 8:00 in the morning tomorrow?”
Thiago senior looked to his wife Renata. “Thi, I’m feeling fine. Pay these nice
men, and let’s clean up this land of ours.” Renata smiled, “For Thiago and our new little
boy.” Thiago senior looked to the General, “Yes
sir! May I ask what we are paying the men with?”
“5 ounces of silver and one ounce of gold Sargent Bargas.” General Jose’ Bautista
smiled, “
Everybody, Officers too!” “Thank you, sir, I will see it happen.”
Sargent Thiago looked to his wife as she held their new son, “I need to get things ready
for tomorrow.” “Go, I need to talk some more with the President’s
wife.” Renata kissed her husband, then watched him move quickly towards the mess area.
Sargent Thiago did not get far when General Poncho got on the loudspeaker announcing that
everyone was going to God. He turned and moved back to his wife and sons.
Gloria led everyone in the L
ord’s Prayer. As it ended, Sargent Bargas picked up his
oldest son and took his wife’s hand. Jesus was on the dais and did his “Uno,
Dos, Trace” with his right fist over his head pointing up with his index finger. In
a blink, everyone was there except for the three that did disappear into the sun. Sixteen
others had done similar crimes, but at some point, in their lives, they had been on their
knees asking God to forgive their sins. God had. No one knew who the sixteen were, but
it was obvious w
hen one gazed upon a man on his knees thanking God with tears streaming
down his face. The 3rd division all got new uniforms and
the Remington R-15. Their uniforms matched General Jose’s. Some men got a new rank.
These people took to God with the “Of Course” attitude. Being able to touch our Father and
ask questions and get heartfelt answers back made perfect sense. The children going and
returning had removed all fear from the experience for the adults.
Willy was asleep on his daddy’s back. His
right hand was holding his black lanyard.
Sam finally heard the story of Willy and Skut stopping bullets. Willa and Sally were there
confirming each step of the way as John told his version. Demetri loved to hear it again.
As the clock hit 8:00 PM in Omak the Taylors and friends said their goodbyes in Mexico.
They made promises to see each other on Christmas Day if not sooner.
The next morning, the Taylors awoke in Omak. While the payroll was being distributed to
the now enlarged Poncho’s Army
of 30,000 troops. The training was underway with 37,500
tennis balls bouncing off new shields. Poncho brought his officers together for a
briefing. The six from Omak were there along with Jesus. Before it started, Poncho asked
the six from up north to turn their collars over.
Tony paused, “Our role here is as advisors and teachers. Our rank came from the promotion
from the success we had in Russia.” Tony and Willa showed their collars, revealing
their Gold Maple Leafs sewed into their collar’s d
esignation the rank of Major. Peter and Patty
did the same showing their rank as Captain and Lieutenant.
Patty pulled her pink mandala attached to her black lanyard, “This has far more important
to me than my rank. I’ve gone through all of the training as a healer, and I have been
highly successful at it.” Brad and Gloria showed their Captain stripes,
“These did not come from President John Taylor. They were voted on by our volunteer
army called the Minute Men and Women. They recognized us for o
ur courage and devotion
for standing with Tony and Willa against the 99 convicts.” Gloria shared in Spanish.
“Have you taken an oath?” Poncho knew the answer but wanted them to share.
Tony looked around and was about to speak. He was surprised when Willa answered the question,
“I live in two worlds. My native blood binds me to a separate people. A separate nation
even. It is, in theory, a separate country on its own. My husband gave me the greatest
gift of all when he felt I had the right indepe
ndently from him to choose to vow to uphold and protect
the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That is
the only path that I know of. I was surprised when I heard President John Taylor also say
the same words when he took the oath for his office. We vow to protect an idea, a set of
rights that protects the people.” Gloria had translated all that Willa had said.
Poncho smiled, “Thank you. Gloria, please translate.” He then turned to his officers,
“Freedom
for every man, woman, and child. It starts with some rights. In a few days,
we will work on an oath for all of us to take. I will take the oath with you. Freedom is
what I want for you, your family, and your neighbors. Let’s do this right. How do you
feel about it?” All around the table men nodded in agreement.
This would be something they could fight for. Jesus covered his mouth to hide his smile.
His head nodded, but he wanted to jump up and tell his mother, so she too could be proud
of his fa
ther. Poncho looked at each of the officers, Good!”
His face changed. “Another matter, we need to train as hard as we can. Our friends to
the south are telling us the first and second divisions have sent between 10,000 and 11,000
troops in the direction of José María Chetumal. “We are willing to help General!” Tony
stated. Poncho looked around, “Captain Peter and
Lieutenant Patty, please say here. I think it is important to maintain a US presence
for our new troops. Major Tony and Major Willa, g
o with Captain Jesus. See if your 300 scouts
can cause the 1st and 2nd divisions some problems. Maybe have a few of them disappear like the
riders?” Everyone nodded and laughed. Tony said later, he had a bad feeling going
through him. “Captain Brad and Captain Gloria, do you
think you can get back into José María Chetumal, see what is going on, and call me to let me
know?” Poncho got a yes from both, “There has been no communication since Monday.”
“We will transport just after dark. New moon ton
ight, the advantage is mine.” Brad
shared with his friends. Gloria squeezed his hand.
Later as the darkness covered the land, Brad and Gloria moved back into the camp area they
had only left a few days ago. They were pulling their rolling cases with one hand and their
Smith & Western 929s with the other. Their backpacks were on and Brad froze. He could
see four little spots about ¾” in diameter. He held his breath.
Out of the darkness came, “Who are you?” A young voice in Spanish, just above a w
hisper.
Gloria answered, “We are Brad and Gloria!” Also, in Spanish, just above a whisper.
“Welcome home, Brad and Gloria.” A man responded. He had a small flashlight, “I’m
Colonel Brownie.” The man was talking quietly in bad English.
“I thought you refused a rank?” Brad asked. Brownie chuckled, “Yes to General Poncho,
but not to God.” “General Poncho said your phones have been
turned off,” Gloria stated in Spanish. The man led the couple to three upside-down
buckets to sit on. When they had sat
, he turned the flashlight off. “They started coming
at us Monday afternoon. They were the 1st Ranger Battalion about 400 of them. They were
followed up that night with my old outfit. The 2nd Special Dogs Battalion. About 360
of them. I was one of the early ones. We were trained by two US Navy Seals. I became an
instructor and company, Gunnery Sargent. We were the best of the best for Mexico. We took
the Rangers and the Dog’s Battalions all out. What casualties we had are all healed
and back rea
dy to fight again.” Brownie had been speaking in Spanish slowly.” Brownie
listened, “Can you understand?” Both Brad and Gloria whispered, “Si!”
“Shields up, we are being watched.” Brownie whispered, “Brad can you see him?”
“Yes, he has night goggles on,” Brad whispered back.
“Shoot him in the head. Gloria, when Brad fires, hit the deck to your left. Brad, go
to Gloria’s left and I’m to her right. Fire when you are ready.” Brownie advised,
“Young men and women, do as you have been trained.”
“Si.
Si. Si. Si. Si. Si. Si.” Was whispered in the night by young voices.
BANG! Brad’s R-15 was fired. Everyone moved. Someone was coming at them on the left with
a flashlight. “Gun’s jammed,” Brad announced quietly.
Gloria fired twice into the man’s chest. No effect. She fired twice at the top of his
legs and the man went down screaming. Brad, Gloria, and the others all fired a full
magazine and over a dozen times from the second magazine. Then things got quiet again.
“Count off,” Brownie said in a
normal voice. He heard 1 through 7 back. Brownie
pulled out a flare gun and fired off a white flair. Everything stayed quiet for twenty
minutes or so. Many more minutes passed. Maybe even an hour
or more. “#1 back.” A young voice said quietly
in the dark. “Report?” Brownie asked.
“421 sirs, 1st DD” The voice informed. “Casualties?”
“Three sirs, they are with God now. They will be fine sir.”
“You did good team!” Brownie whispered. “Thank you, sir! Maybe we will see another
day?” A young voice ask
ed. “Maybe we will.” Brownie smiled as he
realized just what his young boys and girls had accomplished. “25% guard.” For the
third time, they had taken out the best of the best in Mexico.
“Si. Si. Si. Si. Si. Si. Si.” Was whispered in the night by young voices.
“Gloria, remind me tomorrow to tell you about the night vision feature on the military
scopes on these rifles.” Brownie had gone to God asking how he could win against such
odds. He had his R-15 on his lap as he sat in the Christ Seats. G
od directed him to look
at the scope of his R-15. He had to get his eyes within 12” to see the microswitch.
Three positions he was told. Towards the front was ‘ON’ then ‘CHARGE’ in the middle
and then ‘OFF’ towards the rear. He was just barely able to make out a pattern on
the scope itself. He realized he was looking at a micro solar panel formed around the barrel
of the scope. The lines were dark gray on black.
God informed him to charge the scope during the day and that would give the user one
hour
of continued service or up to two hours spaced out in short increments over 8 or more hours.
Brownie heard God ask, “Is there anything else you need Colonel Brownie?” Brownie
realized his new rank was sewn onto his caller. “Thank you, Father.” He then heard, “Do
your best and you will win your portion of this war.” Brownie said with love and hope
in his mind and body, “Thank you very much, Father.”
“Si!” Brownie answered his troops, “Get some sleep, God says it is over by lunchtime.”
Brad
wrapped Gloria up in a hug and the two kept each other warm during the night.
The light in the sky was just turning everything from black to blue. Visibility was 20 to 30
feet. A family of deer was eating the grass over by the waterfall. Everything appeared
quiet. As Brownie sat up, he realized four young eyes were on him. He saluted them by
touching the brim of his hat, and they returned the same salute and looked out to see if anything
else moved. These kids were better at guard and war than t
he twenty and thirty-year-olds
he used to train. He tried to tell himself they would be fine today. His stomach felt
like it was upside down. Maybe he would eat tomorrow if he lived to see another day and
if the sun came up. Brad looked up as Brownie stood and looked
around. Brownie saw the deer spook as a whistle was heard in the forest. He looked over at
the two guards and looked down. They understood and hit the ground. Brad was going to comment
on the holes in the buckets when the hair on hi
s neck stood up. He put his hand over
Gloria’s mouth and looked her in the eyes, shaking his head “not to” as she came
awake realizing something was up. Eight R-15’s opened up over by the chicken
pens. That told Brownie that the west road was full of troops. More R-15’s opened up
on the roof of the Church. Then all was quiet for a bit.
An old man appeared, “Colonel, there is a General with a white flag that demands to
talk with the leader.” The old man saluted Brad and Gloria, giving them a nice
smile,
“We’ve knocked down about 400 hundred of their men last night sir.” Gloria translated.
Most of the older people of the town were out living in the original homes of the Bautistas.
This old man had been in the army and could still shoot and lead men and women very effectively.
He was one of Brownie’s Captains. “#1 front and center.”
Gloria recognized the girl. Maybe 9 years old. Her hair was in a ponytail.
“Here take this. When you hear “Team Killed”, point it to the sky and pull the trig
ger.
Now you seven get to the top of the church and reinforce it. #1, don’t wait too long.
Do it before the general shoots at me.” “Si!” the seven disappeared.
“What will the flair signify?” Brad asked. “We take everybody to God.” Brownie smiled.
“This shooting gun is obsolete!” The four walked down the hill. The gate had
been taken apart. It lay off to one side against the blackberry vines. The pin was still locked
into the receiver, but the hinges had been ripped off the post. From there the f
our were
transported to the south side of the town square. The square must have had 10,000 men.
Most on foot. The General must have been a morning person. It was lucky if it was 5:00
AM. Brownie talked first, “General Garcia, how
nice to see you again.” The General tried to remember where the voice
he had just heard came from. But that man was dead, “Brownie?”
“That’s right General. Now I get to make amends for you having my TEAM KILLED.” Brownie
looked overseeing his #1 raise the flare gun and
fire it. The red streak moved over the
town’s square continuing to raise as it started over the houses. The flare burned
out about the time it hit the west road near the northwest corner of the houses. Brownie
thought, ‘That was perfect!’ Everyone disappeared. Thirty minutes later
a small army of four hundred older women and men rode horses into town by way of the east
road. The two jeeps with machine guns lead the way. Their job was to secure the town
and make a meal. The consensus was breakfas
t. They had been hiding out in the villas. The
six hundred of the army that had gone up the hill, scaring the family of deer was back
down. Obsolete or not a major gun battle occurred. Brad and Gloria watched as almost 10,000 troops
along with their General Garcia moved toward the sun and explode.
This took an hour. When the fighters of José María Chetumal came back, they found their
town square full of dead bodies. The report was that 28 had been wounded in the battle
and they were all sitting
up drinking water. “First Team,” Brownie called out. Within
seconds the seven kids stood in front of Brownie, “Go ask God if any more soldiers are coming
at us, please. And if there is, ask where they are and when will they show up?”
The seven were gone. Four girls and three boys. They were not the best team he ever
had, but they were awful damn good. If he asked them to jump, they would give it their
all and jump as high as possible. The first team returned, six were spouting
corporal stripes a
nd #1 had Second Lieutenant’s bars. Brownie looked up, and sent a thank
you to God, “Report!” “The only soldiers are at the fort. God
said Captain Jesus Batista and Majors Tony and Willa Taylor will take care of them, sir.”
“Thank you!” Brownie went over to one of the jeeps and climbed into the back. He
drew his gun and aimed towards the sky. “BANG!” Everyone looked at him, “God says we have
won our part of this war.” The town square erupted with shouts of joy.
Brownie looked at Brad and Gloria,
“Call the Generals!”
The attack on the First and Second Divisions: Jesus had his nine platoons in a box formation
3x3. Each platoon had four squads of 8 and a platoon commander and assistant commander
for a total of 34. Today his brother and cousin were watching their back with an additional
squad with only ten member’s total. Plus, Tony, Willa, and himself made a total of 318.
Platoons 1, 2, and 3 led the force. They were ten miles from the massive army base for the
1st and 2nd divisions of th
e old Mexican Army. They were going to start the harassment plan.
The three had sat with the two Bautista Generals listening to their plan.
Jesus had tried three times to share his thoughts and those of Tony and Willa. The two boys
thought Willa had the best ideas. Get close enough and take 3,000 to 5,000 at a time to
God! Figure out a way to do those ten or more times and problem solved. Tony’s dad would
have loved the simplistic nature of Willa’s idea.
Jesus had his force upon a small hill. Th
ey could see the base. There was a clearing about
halfway there that looked inviting. There were trees around it for some concealment.
What Jesus and his troops could not see was that the clearing was way bigger than what
it appeared from their hill. Jesus had Tony take a good look. They had bounced around
the perimeter of the base and after five looks see’s this did look to be the best approach.
Tony had his stomach in an uproar. He awoke this morning dreaming of flying in the air.
They had ask
ed God and were told they had a 98% chance of completing the mission.
They agreed and were transported to the clearing. As soon as they got there the three all looked
at a stake made from a 1” x 4” driven into the ground with 4’ sticking out. There
was a white cloth on it. Jesus had raised his arm to transport out of the clearing when
things went impossibly wrong. The 5” artillery rounds started hitting in the center of the
4th, 5th, and 6th platoons. For a tenth of a second Jesus witnessed his
longtime friend
and catcher blown apart. Then one of the sixteen rounds hit where Jesus, Tony, and Willa were
standing. All three had their shields up, but the force of the blast pushed them up
to the north away from their scouts thirty to forty feet.
Tony reached out with his TK and lifted Jesus and Willa gently softening their landings.
By doing that he made his landing that much worse. Every day he had been working on a
tank shield-like John and Willa used. When he hit the ground, his head hi
t the inside
of his shield many times. When he opened his eyes, he did not know who, what or why about
anything. A young Mexican boy was yelling at him. Tony didn’t know why. His vision
and hearing kept going in and out. When the young boy moved towards him on his hands and
knees Tony looked to run, but his vision darkened. He hurt so bad he didn’t think he could
stand. He was also experiencing everything spinning from time to time.
Both Jesus and Willa had their shields only between them and th
e blasts. When they hit
the ground, they had their backpacks ripped off them and the gravel that seemed to be
everywhere embedded in their skin. Willa wondered if getting shot could hurt any worse. She
was able to stand thanks to Tony and stumbled to where Jesus and Tony were.
Jesus was giving Tony a healing. He had his hands on Tony’s head. Tony had his eyes
closed but was sitting up. In his broken English, Jesus got his message
out, “Willa, take command, get us out of here NOW!”
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