Brothers at War

Brothers at War - Part 12

The morning of the first mission Chase noticed that the some of the snow was beginning to melt. A warm spring would soon be upon them. The platoon had been separated into groups of five and the Taylor brothers were with Private Foley, Private Dale and Private Laurence. It was an interesting group and although Chase and Gerard had spoke to Laurence and Dale before, Foley had always been someone they avoided. They knew Foley had been in this position before. It made them less nervous, knowing there was someone who knew what he was doing with them.

They were strapped into their protective vests and combat uniform. Suddenly they looked a lot bulkier and prepared for a war zone, which brought a little more confidence to the brothers.

They were loaded into an army vehicle and headed towards the small town. The roads were dirty and bare; there was mud everywhere from the rain and the humidity from the changing season. There was definitely evidence of invasion from the North Korean border and Chase could tell that the small town had taken it badly. Some houses had been ransacked and windows and roofs were left with large gaping holes. Another sign that there had been an invasion was the silence that filled the streets. It was eerie and made you feel uneasy and uncomfortable.

The 5 men that made their small company were unloaded in a poorer part of the town. There was little sign of life anywhere apart from a stray dog ravaging a trashcan. Chase could hint a smoke smell in the air but the smell soon disappeared and then it only smelt like grey nothingness. It was hard to describe how the street they were on felt like. Chase soon forgot about it as Foley took charge of their patrol. He split the group into two. Dale and Taylor (Pointing at Gerard) you’re with me, and Laurence, you go with the other Taylor. We’ll take two streets each. Chase didn’t really think it was the best idea to split up but he hated to disagree with Foley. They went their separate ways.

Laurence and Chase were silent for a while. Chase liked that he was with Laurence. He was the oldest in their platoon and the one with the three kids at home. Chase really respected this man; he was wise and always respectful to everyone. Everyone knew that if someone deserved to go home it was Laurence. He shouldn’t have ben there.

After ten minutes of tightly gripping his gun and walking in silence Chase attempted to make conversation. Secretly he had been looking for an excuse to talk to Laurence for a while. He wanted to know more about his family and his life.

“What did you do before you came here?” Chase asked.

“I had a vineyard,” He answered calmly. He didn’t say anymore than that as though he was thinking. He looked like the type of man that thought a lot. Just as Chase was going to give up the conversation believing that he was annoying him, Laurence spoke again. “The Vineyards was beautiful this time of year. We would do most of our planting soon.”

“How big was the vineyard?” Chase asked.

“About 2 square miles.” He laughed as he said, “Takes forever to harvest.” The laugher gone he turned to Chase, “How about you Taylor what did you do before you got drafted”

“Lawyer” He said plainly.

Just as Chase had finished speaking there was a scream in the distance. Chase immediately looked up and tried to see where the scream had come from. Private Lawrence had looked up at the same time and they walked towards the sound. Chase knew that if he was back in Boston and had heard a scream he would not have hesitated to run but this could be some sort of trap. They had learned not to take chances. The scream came again a few minutes later. It was louder. Against all orders the two of them automatically started running. Chase couldn’t understand his urge to run faster and to get to the person screaming and help them. It was an incredibly strong feeling. He looked over to Lawrence running at the same pace as him. What was making him break orders and run faster? Chase would have assumed that he would stop Chase running and tell him to obey orders. They kept running until they could no longer remember where the scream had come from. Lawrence stopped first. “We’ve gone too far” he said between breaths. “We need to go back and search harder.”

Suddenly Chase felt the need to question Lawrence. He wanted to say, “What if it’s a trap?”. He felt incredibly venerable running to the scream. Lawrence sensed this and he looked back at Chase. He took off his helmet and looked hard at Chase. “Do you know why we both ran Taylor?”. Chase felt like a boy being questioned by his father. “Do you know why we disobeyed orders?”

Chase shook his head slowly.

“We ran because it was a child screaming. You have a daughter Taylor and I have three kids. That’s why we ran.”

Chase suddenly gained confidence. “But what if it’s a trap?”

“Even if it’s a trap. They’ve got a small child and something is making it scream. I don’t know about you Taylor but I answered that draft letter to help people.”

Chase understood what Lawrence was saying. He would regret not rescuing the child but he didn’t want to lose his life in doing so. He had his own child to get home to. He started running and he could feel Lawrence close at his heels.

In the time that the men were running two grenades exploded somewhere. The noise could easily deafen someone and the two men both automatically ducked. Smoke was everywhere and suddenly Chase couldn’t think. He couldn’t see anything. Two gunshots were fired and suddenly two women and a small girl ran towards them emerging from the smoke. It had all happened incredibly fast. Lawrence pulled Chase to his feet and they walked towards the women.

The way the two women were yelling at the men was quite traumatizing. Chase had never seen that amount of fear in anybody’s eyes before. Although somehow he knew that would be the first of many experiences like that. Suddenly all he wanted to do was make their yelling stop and their fear go away. The two men couldn’t understand the women though. How do you tell someone they are safe when you don’t speak their language? Private Lawrence had the answers to this as well. He pointed to the American flag on his and Chase’s chest and then gestured for them to follow them.

“Take the girl” He said to Chase. The young girl who Chase knew had been the source of the scream had been crying quietly and trying to get as close as she could to the two women. She didn’t trust Chase and Private Lawrence. Chase had to admit that they did look quite frightening.

Chase then bent down to the small girl’s height and pulled out the handkerchief that Aisfifth had recommended in case you needed to wrap it around an injury. He offered it to the girl to wipe her eyes. She took it and held it in her arms. Chase knew that she was no older than 5. The girl wiped her eyes and then tried to pass it back to Chase. Chase shook his head and forgetting she couldn’t understand him said, “You can keep it” with a smile. She smiled back as she obviously had gotten the message. Chase then stood up and took her hand. Tightly grasping the handkerchief she followed Chase. It was amazing how a small act of kindness can translate “you can trust me” into any language.

Lawrence called for backup and explained over his radio what had happened. Everyone had heard the grenades go off and there was already 3 different platoons ordered to make their way to the site where the grenades went off. Over the radio Lawrence and Chase were ordered to stay with the civilians until a chopper arrived to take them back to base. Within minutes of the radio call the area was swarming with army personnel. The chopper arrived and the 5 of them were air lifted back to base.

So much for a safe and peaceful defense mission.

The town patrol missions continued for another two weeks. Chase and Lawrence were given leave for the next days patrol however having experienced the grenades after shocks. Chase had used that day to check on the young girl however. She was in the base hospital and there he was informed that she was an orphan who lived with her aunt. Her aunt was missing however and therefore she would be handed over to the South Korean government once she was finished with her medical inspection. Chase hoped she would end up somewhere safe.