The Kill Box by H. Ripley Rawlings

Author:H. Ripley Rawlings [Rawlings, H. Ripley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pinnacle Books
Published: 2021-07-16T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 22

Outside Huntington, West Virginia

Tyce made it up to the top of the hill and into the open pasture there just in time to see one of the SF platoon’s leaders, Lieutenant Shmalcs, in the middle of issuing orders to a pack of NCOs. “Then I want you to spread load the rest of the ammo out to the squads.”

Tyce had already been over to visit Ned’s departed remains and say a few words to wish his friend a safe journey. His duty now was to the living, and it wasn’t going to be any easier. But he had choked back emotions for so long that he was able to remain stoic. He listened to the hasty field briefing without interrupting.

One of the sergeants spoke up. “What about the dead men’s ammo, can we grab that, too?”

“Goes without saying, troop. Grab it and move on. They won’t be needing it in Valhalla,” said Lieutenant Shmalcs.

The men had been kneeling around their lieutenant, all of them looking completely fatigued by combat. Tyce was encouraged just by their faces and the fact that after such a hellish battle, they all seemed ready for more. Some were reloading magazines, some sucked down MRE rations from foil packets or drank water as they’d listened, but all, as if of one mind, stood and trooped off to carry out the instructions. It was impressive to see, and Tyce was in awe of their esprit de corps—especially because he was certain by now everyone had gotten word that they’d lost their popular commander.

“How’d we do, Lieutenant?” Tyce said the words, even though they sounded stupid. He was pretty sure he knew how they did: a Pyrrhic victory. Tyce had been actually afraid to ask him that. He hated voicing objective questions, such as requesting casualty counts from his subordinates during a firefight, and the like. It made him sound callous, out of touch with the men directly in the battle and just plain administrative. Unfortunately, it was all part of leadership. He couldn’t make decisions without knowing how his units were faring.

Shmalcs turned, brightening at the sight of the colonel. “Hey, sir. helluva a fight. More intense than I think I’ve ever been in, and that includes actions on my deployment in Syria against ISIS.” Tyce knew of Shmalcs as a real warrior type but had forgotten he’d been deployed into combat once before. The lieutenant continued, “But we did good, sir. We hit them so hard, they retreated. The last command we got from Captain Blake was to pursue without mercy. The men went on a rampage. By the time I made it up here, the last Russian helicopter was already on the horizon, but the NCOs from my platoon got a good piece of them as they were trying to skedaddle. Killed about five as they were loading onto their helo. One of my men even capped a guy as they were lifting off. They said it was sick watching him fall off the bird at about two hundred feet.

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