Kombat Kids by GhostRyder
Chapter 46: GhostRyder Forward

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While Jap was at the rifle range using his little boy persona to fuck with the Marine's minds, Colonel Dalton was in the main lounge. General Stanton, the three enlisted Marines and Matt were discussing how they would be able to fit the Army into the busy Unit schedule. Keener entered the conversation by posing the question; "How about mixing the A Teams with the Unit? That way both the boys and your men would get some training and the Marines would be able to train at the same time."

The General shook his head; "I don't think so, I want our people to have at least a chance of winning. If we put an A-Team in the mix, I don't see them having a chance to even get near their objective." Looking at Keener for a second before continuing, he saw that the young Marine was feeling chastised; "It's a good idea Sergeant Webb, but the whole idea is to provide our people with training not beat them into the ground."

The Gunny nodded his head in agreement; "He's right Kee, by putting the A-Team in the mix and letting them do their snooping and pooping, we'd need to use a company size exercise. There just wouldn't be enough men to provide adequate security with any fewer troops. Between the Unit defending the house and an A-Team running around in their rear, a less than company size element would just get bogged down and cut to pieces."

Colonel Dalton spoke hesitantly; "General, what do you think about combined A-Team/Marine operations? There has have been times when an A-Team and a Marine unit have worked together. This would not only provide them with assault training, but training working with another service. I think my men would benefit from that kind of training also." The Colonel thought for a few seconds and then continued; "I'd like to schedule my guys to come against the Unit by them selves at least once in awhile, if for no other reason than to see how they handle the kids."

The General laughed; "I understand, so far, the people I've sent against them have, if not enjoyed the experience, have definitely got some good training and had their eyes opened. Each time my people got their heads handed to them it pissed them off at first, then they started thinking. That's what I wanted most; to get them thinking about what would happen to them if they went in with the attitude that they were unbeatable. The Unit provided them with that lesson."
The men continued their discussion for the next two hours and then broke up for the evening. About the time they were breaking up, Jap came wandering in from the rifle range. Matt gestured for him to come into the lounge. Jap entered and stood before the Gunny and Matt; "What can I do for you Matt?

"You can start by explaining your ambush." Matt stated firmly; "Then you can tell me what you were thinking about when you opened fire at the Marines with a bunch of civilian workers still on site."

Jap stuttered and turned red; "Well you see . . . Umm . . . I . . . I mean we . . . That is we . . ."

The Gunny looked the little redhead in the eyes; "Look Jap, we don't want you to tell us what you think we want to hear. Just tell us your thinking, or rather your lack of thinking about the construction crews being there."

Matt nodded his head at the Gunny's last statement; "You know you literally scared the shit out of the construction workers. For a while, it looked like we'd have to take one of them to the hospital. Did any of you consider what would happen when ninety plus Marines opened fire with a bunch of civilians around? And before you say anything, no, I won't place any blame on the Marine unit for returning fire. Well I'm waiting?"

Jap looked like he was going to cry; "We, no not we, I screwed up. I thought it would be neat to try and ambush them on our own. When we got set up, I figured that if they did use the runway . . . I mean the road they were building we'd have them cold. Honestly, I never even thought about the construction workers, it was already going on 01:00 and I didn't think there was anyone around but us and the Marines. Honest."

Matt considered Jap's reasoning; "Okay I can understand that, and I won't bring you up on charges. THIS TIME." Matt remembered Jap's slip of the tongue; "One more thing, what did you mean 'Runway' when you were explaining?"

Jap turned a deep red; "Well you see, I mean . . ."

Matt looked at him sternly. "Remember what the Gunny said about trying to spin the story, now out with it."

Jap sighed; "Like I told the Colonel earlier, I may only be twelve, but I'm not stupid." Jap thought about how to explain his reasoning before continuing; "We were out there for several hours before the Marines were inserted, so there was plenty of time to study the construction site. After looking at the buildings going up, I mean the way they were being put together with pre-stressed concrete sections in areas cut from the side of the hill and then backfilled. Well it reminded me of some of the scenes from that movie with Jude Law. You know the one, 'Sky Captain' where they had these giant hangers. I wasn't going to say anything to anyone, honest I wasn't."

Matt looked at Jap for a second or two before saying; "Okay Jap, I believe you. In the future I want you to start thinking about your actions before you leap into them. This time you actually did good, but if things hadn't worked out as well as they did, let's just say that there'd be a shit load of pissed off Squadies right now." Matt hesitated for a second before saying; "As far as the runway goes, yes it is and the buildings are hangers. That's all I'm going to tell you right now and I want you to promise me you won't discuss what you saw with anyone. Well okay, you can talk to Jacky, but no one else."

Jap looked relieved and hurriedly said; "I promise Matt, like I said I haven't talked to anyone but you two. And I'm sorry about going off on my own last night; I promise I won't do that again."

Matt smiled at the boy; "Okay Jap, take off and get some sleep or whatever you do after an exercise."

The weekend continued, the Marines and the Unit One's members worked together, played together and learned from each other. Monday morning came and the Marines and Colonel Dalton boarded the buses and departed for the coast. Matt headed into town to visit James and see how his therapy was progressing. He took Mitch and Justin Stanton along to help encourage his brother. After visiting with James for two hours, he, Mitch and Justin stopped off at Doctor Allyn's lab. Matt visited with the Doctor for a few minutes to see how the 'Arm' was progressing.

When asked about the new processor he was hoping to get from Intel or AMD, he just shook his head; "I just got finished with a conference call with them. Neither one are having much luck in developing a processor bigger than ten GHz. I think what I'm going to do is try and use several 3.2 GHz processors in parallel and see how they work. I talked to the Microsoft people and they don't feel they can give me what I need for the control program unless I increase the computing capability. Right now, I'm at the maximum, I'm not sure how to increase the 'Arm's' computation capability in the space I have available for hardware."

Matt didn't know that much about Doctor Allyn's field so he just said; "I got faith in you Doc; I know you'll figure it out. If you need anything, let me know and I'll make sure you get it."

By the seventeenth of August, the Unit was making preparations for the last exercise of the summer. The General had agreed to let the Army use this time slot for one of their A-Teams, then the next several would be joint Army/Marine Corps exercises. School was scheduled to start on the Monday the twenty first, the day before the projected release date of James from the hospital. The exercise would be the first evolution where the Army Special Forces and the Marine Recon teams would jointly assault the Unit. Whatever the outcome, it promised to be very interesting for everyone involved.

The heavy construction on the south end of the Bateman property was completed on the fifteenth of August. The heavy equipment had been removed and the remaining workers were busy finishing the interiors of the newly constructed buildings.

On the sixteenth of August, Matt drove to the Medical Arts building where Doctor Bahari had his offices. After sitting in the waiting room for half an hour, he was shown into the Doctor’s Office. "Good Morning Matt, how may I help you?" Inquired the doctor.

Matt quickly explained the upcoming exercise set for the coming weekend. "What I'd like to do is take James home Friday afternoon for the weekend. I'd bring him back Saturday for his therapy session and then take him back home for the night. The whole thing will be over by Sunday morning and I'll have him back to the hospital by 4:00 PM.

"Matt, James is going to be released on Tuesday; do you really think it's necessary for him to be out there for this 'exercise' as you call it?" The Doctor asked with a bit of reticence.

Matt nodded his head; "Yes I do Doc, he's been out of the loop for three months now. I've seen the way his eyes light up every time one of the guys talk about the different evolutions we've had. He's been chaffing at the bit ever since he started his therapy."

The Doctor thought for a minute before replying; "I am not sure about this Matt, it may be too much, too soon for him to handle right now."

Matt didn't hesitate; "Doc I know my brother, if anything can help, it'll be him getting involved with this drill. This is the first time the Army will be here and I know he wants to be there for it.”

"I don't want him to get overly excited. I realize he has made great strides toward his recovery, but if he gets too excited or agitated, he could have a relapse."

"I understand." Matt agreed; "I've already got his room set up for his release from the hospital, Doctor Davidson has agreed to spend the weekend, Hell Doc, I even got the Unit Corpsman set up to be on hand and follow him around."

The Doctor smiled at Matt because of his last statement; "Ahh yes and how is young Mr. Stevens doing?"

Matt returned the Doctor’s smile; "Really well as a matter of fact. After the work he performed on the Alcorn kid, he's really been considering medical school. Doctor Davidson already told him he'd give him a letter of recommendation to the U Dub Medical School." Matt continued to push for James’ furlough from the hospital; "We really do have all the bases covered here Doc, I even set it up to have the off duty Traumahawk standing by at the house in case we have to get him back to the hospital in a hurry. Plus, I've got an AMMED ambulance scheduled to transport him to the house just to be on the safe side. I really have thought about this, I promise not to let him get spun up over anything."

The Doctor considered what they had discussed and then nodded; "All right Matt, I'll approve the furlough, just make sure he doesn't get put under any stress."

Standing up, Matt shook the Doctor’s hand; "Thanks Doc, I know James will really appreciate this."

After leaving the doctor’s office, Matt drove to Wally World and made purchases coming to over $900.00. When he got home, he called Jap and asked him to get his dad to pick up Jacky and drive the boys out to the house. Then he started to unload the clothing and other items he had picked up at Wally World in preparation for the boy’s arrival.

Just as Jap and Jacky arrived, Mitch and Justin walked into the lounge. "Hi guys, glad you and Justin showed up when you did, I got a job for the four of you."

The boys looked at each other, Mitch asked; "What's up Matt, and what are you doin with the Wally World Specials?"

Matt smiled at them; "These Wally World Specials as you call them are your new uniforms."

"WHAT???" Jap yelled; "No fucking way am I gonna wear that shit."

Matt smiled at the spun up little redhead; "Oh yes you are. You guys are gonna be the bait in an ambush we're gonna pull on the A-Team. Oh yeah here, I want you all to wear these instead of your Kevlar also."

Handing the boys three standard Infantry Helmets and a Tanker Helmet he continued; "I want you guys to look like a rag tag bunch of militia wannabe's. I want you to wear Nike's or hiking boots, make sure you leave you Corcoran's in your rooms."

Jap looked pissed; "Aww come on Matt why me, why us, huh?"

"Because you're all good actors and you do good work. Besides guys, you like to ambush people and this is your big chance to be part of a one of a kind ambush." Matt told the boys.

Jap was pissed, then he turned a deeper shade of red at the next items Matt handed them; "Maaaattttt, don't do this to me, I'll never be able to live it down."

Matt just laughed at the boys as he handed out the single shot .22 caliber bolt action Marlin rifles. Matt didn't think Jap could get any more spun up, but he was wrong. When he handed Jap the short barreled youth model rifle, he thought Jap was going to cry.

"We'll get these fitted out with a Miles gear module that will function when you pull the trigger. I even got you some .22 caliber blanks for them." Matt explained.

As the boys accepted the rifles from Matt, each of them made sure the muzzles were pointed in a safe direction and opened the bolt to insure their rifle was unloaded.

After the gear and clothing was passed out, Matt had the boys sit down and he explained how he wanted to run the operation. Then he dropped his bomb on them; "What I tell you now, I want you to keep quiet about. Friday afternoon before the Observers get here, I'm bringing James home from the hospital. I want to put on a really good show to welcome him back, that's where you come in. I'm hoping that these guys are gonna come in with the same attitude that all the rest have had. With you guys acting like our forward OP (Observation Post), they should walk in fat, dumb and happy thinking they're gonna take you out and then be able to take the house with no problems. I plan on having two fire teams positioned under Gilles's in an overmatch position."

Matt continued his briefing, which took another thirty minutes or so and then sent them to the range with 200 rounds of .22 Long Rifle ammunition each to break in their new firearms.

While the boys were out at the range familiarizing themselves with the .22 rifles, Matt contacted the Davidson's and the Stevens via a conference call. When both Jesse and Doctor Davidson were on the line, Matt briefed them about James and Friday night.

Jesse asked; "Are you gonna let him walk around, I mean the last time I saw him, he was doin good on his new leg?"

Before Matt could answer Doctor Davidson replied; "I don't think that's wise, other than letting him go to the bathroom by himself, we need to keep him in a wheel chair. The Physical Therapists have him on a strict regimen of exercise and his mobility is still limited. If we let him run all over the building and grounds on his own, he could slow the healing and therapy process down, or even reverse it."

Matt knew that James would be chafing at the bit once he got home, but he also realized the Doctor was right. "Okay Doc, we'll put him on wheels." Speaking next to Jesse; "Jess, will you play nursemaid to him while he's at the house, I know you wanted to be involved in the exercise, but he really needs to be supervised?"

Jesse groaned; "Okay Matt, but I want to be in on the next Op, besides, think how much fun it would be to watch Jap or Phil Martin get spun up about playing nursemaid."

All three laughed at the mental image of Jap or Phil arguing with James about staying in a wheelchair.

At 13:00 on Friday afternoon, Matt and the Gunny walked into James’ hospital room, Matt pushing a wheel chair. "Hey big brother, you ready to go for a ride?"

James looked confused, then smiled; "What's going on Matt, I don't get released till Tuesday?"

Smiling, Matt said; "You aren't being released, we're just going to take you home for a few days. One thing though, you have to follow all the rules and mind your attendant." Matt turned to the door and spoke to someone in the hallway; "Squadie Stevens, come in here please."

A Blond headed boy, dressed in MarCams with a gunbag slung over one shoulder entered the room and moved to the side of James' bed. Matt introduced the boy by saying; "James, this is Jesse Stevens; he's going to be assisting and looking out for you over the weekend. Doctor Bahari made me promise that we'd keep you quiet and out of trouble otherwise he wouldn't release you."

Jesse held out his hand and spoke while shaking hands with James; "Sir, it's a real pleasure to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you from the other Squadies and I look forward to getting better acquainted."

James smiled at the good looking boy; "Thank you Jesse, I've heard a lot about you too. I promise I'll try and be good for you, just bear with me if I sometimes get a little cranky."

Jesse chuckled; "After working with some of the guys in the Unit, I don't think I'll have too much of a problem sir."

After talking for a few more minutes, a Hospital Aide entered the room and informed everyone that the ambulance was waiting at the front entrance. James still in his hospital issue PJ's moved from the bed to the chair and was then rolled out of the room to the bank of elevators.

The three men talked about the upcoming exercise with the Green Berets and what the members of the Unit thought about it.

Jesse spoke for the first time since leaving the room; "The guys don't know what to expect from the Green Beanies, but are looking forward to going against them."

Out front was the AMMED Ambulance parked at the main entrance idling in park. The two man crew was waiting at the back of the vehicle with the rear doors open. After assisting James into the rig and strapping him down on a gurney, they both climbed in the front after Matt got in to ride with James. James had seen the HUMVEE parked behind the ambulance when he was being assisted into the ambulance and saw the Gunny and Jesse get in it. The ride to the house took a little over a half an hour, as the vehicle stopped at the front door, James was starting to become a little misty eyed."

Matt noticed his brother's distress: "Take it easy Bro." Matt said softly; " everything's going to be fine."

James gave his younger brother a little smile and reached up with his right hand and wiped his eyes. "Thanks Matt, for everything."

When the rear doors were opened, James heard; "Unit one ten-hut." and the clicking of close to a hundred pair of heels coming together. As he was helped out of the ambulance he saw the entire Unit, men and boys, standing at attention. The color guard was centered in front of the formation and the Unit Flag was dipped forward in his honor. James didn't know what to say, so he raised his hand and saluted the Unit. His emotions running high, he sat down in the wheelchair and turned to Jesse and asked softly; "Jesse, please, get me in the house before I start crying."

Jesse turned the chair away from the formation and hurriedly moved James in to the house and then to the kitchen. Head bent, James sobbed softly into his hand. Jesse knelt before him and hugged him; "James, please don't cry, all the guys love you. I've heard nothing but wonderful things about you and your brother Matt. I had just gotten here when these guys came together to save one of their own. After it was all over, I asked a couple of the guys why they went to such lengths to get Jacky back. You know what the answer was?"

James looked up into the startling green eyes of the boy and shook his head no.

"All of their answers were different, but they all meant the same thing. It was because of you and Matt. You two showed them that it was okay to care for another guy. You showed them that no one had the right to pick on or harm them because of the way God made them. You. Matt. All of the other adults who love them showed them that it was okay to be themselves. That's why. So please, don't cry, besides, we got a bunch of Army pukes coming and you'll embarrass me if they find you crying."

James let out a short bark of laughter; "I've only known you for a couple hours now, and already you're bossing me around. How old did you say you were, thirty five?"

Jesse chuckled; Oui, mon ami. I am like the hero in Dan Kirk's novel 'Do-Over,' a thirty five year old man in a sixteen year old body."

James laughed and it felt good; "Great, just what I need, a nursemaid with the body of a sixteen year old and the mind of a thirty five year old, and a brother who's twenty five with the mind of sixteen year old. "Wonderful, just fucking wonderful."

The man and the boy were laughing when Matt walked in. When Matt got a confused look on his face and asked; "What?" It caused both of them to laugh harder.

While Matt stood there looking confused, the parade of Squadies started trouping past the kitchen to the stairwell. A chorus of; "Hey James, or way to go James, welcome back boss." Could be heard as they trouped past.

At the end of the Squadies, Bobby Bauer broke away from the line and entered the kitchen. Looking James in the eye, he leaned forward and kissed James on the cheek and said; "Thanks." Bobby then turned and hurried to catch up with the rest of the Unit.

James didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he did both. Jesse handed him what looked like a wad of toilet tissue and James wiped his eyes. When he looked at Jesse, he was stuffing a roll of T.P. back in his gunbag. Looking up from the gunbag he saw James staring at him; "What, it works just as good as Kleenex and it's a lot cheaper."

Before James could flip any shit at Jesse, General Stanton entered the kitchen followed an Army Bull Colonel. Phil Stanton walked over too James and grabbed his hand; "Damn I'm sure glad to see you again."

James smiled and nodded his head, not trusting himself to say anything lest he break down.
Jesse saw that his charge was getting uncomfortable; "Gentlemen, would it be permissible to move the discussion into the lounge so that James can sit in a recliner?"

The general and Matt looked startled, Matt answered; "Thanks Jesse, I hadn't thought about that, good thinking."

Once in the lounge, Jesse helped James get settled in one of the big recliners, then moved the wheel chair to an out of the way section of the room. Just as everyone was settled, an Army Major entered the room and reported to the General as the senior officer present; "Good afternoon sir, Major Johnstone reporting as ordered." The General stood and held out his hand to the Major; "Good afternoon Major welcome, have a seat we were just about to talk about the forthcoming exercise."

The Major took a seat on one of the couches, while they waited for the other Army, Marine and Navy Observers to arrive. Matt studied the Major. Matt asked; "Is there a problem Major, you look a little perturbed?"

The Major looked at Matt; "Not really sir, I was just wondering on the propriety of having a child present while we discuss the upcoming exercise."

Colonel Dalton saw both Matt and James turn pale at the Major's comment. Before either one could say anything he spoke first; "Major Johnstone, please come with me."

Standing up he faced the General; "Please excuse us sir, I have to discuss a few things with the Major." The General just nodded and the Colonel turned and left the lounge, closely followed by the Major.

After stepping through the front door and making sure it was closed, he turned to Major; "Not one fucking word Johnstone don't you dare say a fucking thing, you just stand there and listen."

The Major went pale and came to attention as the colonel started talking. It took close to fifteen minutes for the Colonel to explain the facts of life about the Unit in general and Jesse Stevens in particular. "That CHILD, did a HALO from close to 25,000 feet not more than three weeks ago. That CHILD went into a combat environment as hot or hotter than anything either one of us has ever seen. That CHILD helped save the life of a kid with a sucking chest wound under primitive conditions. If I ever hear you berate him or any other member of this organization again, you can plan on spending the rest of your career as the Welfare and Recreation Officer in the smallest unit I can find in Alaska. AND, you will never advance beyond your current rank. Do you read me mister?"

By the time the Colonel was finished, the Major was even paler and sweating like a pig. "Yes sir, I understand and I assure you that I will refrain from any more similar remarks."

The Colonel looked him in the eye for about thirty seconds before nodding. Colonel Dalton turned on his heel and returned to the lounge. It took Major Johnstone a couple minutes to get his breathing and emotions under control before he could join the rest in the lounge.
After the briefing was over, Matt, James, with Jesse pushing him in the wheel chair, General Stanton and Colonel Dalton took the elevator down to the Cavern. As they entered the Cavern, Gunny Mcnaughten saw them and called out; "Attention on Deck" The entire unit stood and came to attention. The General replied; "As you were, continue with your briefing."

The Gunny answered; "Aye, Aye Sir." The briefing continued for another five minutes or so before the Unit was dismissed and told to go to supper.

As the Unit headed to the EDF or elsewhere, Jap, Jacky, Mitch and Justin Stanton walked over to James and the others. James took one look at the four boys and broke up laughing; "Hey guys, Halloween isn't for another couple of months, what's with the costumes?"

Naturally Jap was the first to speak; "Blame it on Matt, HE's making us wear these." Jap said in the way only a twelve year old boy could who was pissed off at something.

In comparison to their standard set of MarCam's, the camo outfits they wore put forth the exact image Matt was trying for. Mixed sets of different camouflage patterns, gym shoes or hiking boots and the cheapest looking knives he had ever seen. Jap had a "Rambo" special hung on his belt that almost made it to his knees. The overall effect made them look like the bunch of amateurs that the unsuspecting military units thought they were. That is until Unit One hit them with a shit storm.

Jap continued his complaining; "He took away my Kevlar and gave me a Vietnam era tin pot. That's not the worst of it, he's making me carry a single shot youth model Marlin .22 bolt action rifle. The fuc . . . I mean the darn things only one step up from a Chipmunk (a very small light weight beginner's rifle). Help me James, I just know God sent you back today to protect me from this big bully, pleeeeeeeeeeeaase."

To make it worse for poor Jap, not only did the grownups laugh at his rant, but so did the other three Squadies. James looked up at Matt and didn't even ask what was going on. As Jap was finishing his whining, the Gunny came over and looked at the little redhead; "Are you bothering these gentlemen?"

Jap looked up at the Gunny and cringed; "No Gunnery Sergeant, I was just pointing out some things that might have been done different."

The Gunny looked at Matt and asked; "He been whining again?" Matt smiled and nodded. Turning back to Jap the Gunny raised his left arm and pointed in the direction of EDF.

Jap sighed and turned and started to walk away. He could be heard saying; "Damn, I don't get to have no fun, a fucking .22, why me Lord." The other boys followed him and continued laughing at his antics.

After getting their food and finding a table, they sat and started eating while talking about the upcoming exercise. Shortly after the boys sat down, Bill Tilden showed up with a tray full of food; "Mind if I join ya'll."

Jap looked at the Lcprl and smiled; "Grab a chair Bill, I didn't think you'd be here this time."

Tilden nodded; "General Stanton decided that it would be best if the Corps provided the transportation. I think it's to make sure the doggies know who really has first dibs on the Unit, know what I mean?"

The boys laughed and nodded, Jap asked; "You wouldn't a heard anything about when the Beanies are coming would ya?"

Bill laughed at Jap; "After the last time, OpSec is tighter than a bull's asshole in fly time. Believe me no one said anything, as a matter of fact, everyone was told not to talk about the exercise unless they were in a secure location."

Jap scowled; "Damn. Well I guess we can't have everything."

Tilden got a startled look on his face, turning to each of the boys, he studied each of them before asking; "What the fuck are you wearing them fucked up cammies for?"

They all continued to eat, finally Jap looked at Bill and said; "It's part of the exercise, we're going to give them what they expect to see.”

Bill laughed; "Like I said the last time, I'm sure glad I don't have to go against you guys."

On August eighteenth, the sun officially set at 20:58:45. Matt helped James climb in the front seat of his F250 Crew Cab pick up. Jesse tossed his gun bag in to the back seat and helped the four boys who were going to act as bait in the ambush load up the pick up. After they climbed into the bed, they closed the tailgate. After Jesse climbed into the rear seat of the cab, Matt moved the pickup to the location that had been decided upon.

About a klick and a half from the house, Matt stopped the pickup and climbed out of the truck. Jesse helped James out and then helped the others unload the gear they would be using from the truck bed.

After all the gear was removed Matt called the boys to him; "Okay guys, you got about a quarter cord of cherry wood for your fire. Don't make the fire so big that you'll run out before sunup. There's enough gedunks and pogey bait to last you all night so have fun and I'll see you in the morning."

The boys set up their OP and started a relatively small fire. Mitch picked up a Handy Talky (very old military short range portable radio transceiver) and performed a radio check; "GhostRyder Base, GhostRyder base this is GhostRyder Forward . . . Over"

It took him three attempts to contact the HQ; "GhostRyder Forward this is Base . . . Over."

GhostRyder Base, Forward, how you read . . . Over?"

"Ahh Forward, Base, I read you five by five . . . Over."

"Roger Base, I read you same, GhostRyder Forward Out."

The boys gathered around the fire and ate potato chips, told stories and generally had a good time. It was going on 23:30 when Jap looked to the north side of the shallow arroyo. Shaking his head he said softly; "Fuck." Jap got up from where he was sitting by the fire and walked over to a deciduous boulder that was a left over from the last ice age. Spreading his feet a little he unbuttoned his trousers and pulled out his cock and then started pissing against the boulder. While he was pissing, he spoke softly; "Jesus guys, you sound like a fucking herd of pregnant Yaks. Try being a little quieter will ya?"

Just as softly a voice replied; "Fuck you Jap. Next time you gotta pee go somewhere else, huh, what the fuck you been eating anyhow?"

Buttoning his trousers as he moved back to the fire, Jap chuckled and sat down again, rejoining the conversation.

The Night passed slowly for the four boys by the fire and even slower for the eighteen boys secreted in their hides at the top of the arroyo. At 06:00 Matt drove his pickup out to the OP and the boys loaded up their gear and equipment in the truck. Matt drove them slowly back to the house. A half hour later the remaining Squadies followed an old brown Chevy pickup with a couple of the adult members standing behind the cab holding old bolt action rifles. The boys were all dressed in parts of cammies, but most were dressed in civvies. As they passed the ambush hides, the boys of the two fire teams moved from cover and joined the "Patrol." After walking for another couple hundred meters, they turned and re-traced their route to the house.

Back at the house Jap looked at Matt and said; "There's always tonight."