~ * ~ * ~ * ~
“Well there she is Rick, Cuba,” Danny said looking thru his binoculars. “We’re right where we should be. Bayarno is three miles inland.”
“We have several hours before we head into Cuba.” It was the fifteenth of May. It was just getting dark out. I looked at my watch and saw it was 8:45 PM.
“The zodiac is ready to go Rick. The 60hp outboard is mounted and it’s fully fueled. All we need to do is lower it over the side of the ship.”
Time went by quickly. Soon it was one in the morning and time for us to invade Cuba. I stood on the fantail of the Sea Eagle with my old Seal Team. All of us had our faces blackened to break up the whiteness.
“Let’s do a final equipment check men. Make sure you have everything you’re supposed to have.”
“The men are all set LT and ready to go,” my second in command informed me after the equipment recheck.
“Okay, load up, let’s go,” I said to my men as I stepped into the zodiac for our trip into shore. We had twenty miles to travel but with the powerful 60 horsepower four stroke engine the trip shouldn’t take any more than 30 minutes.
Brian fired the engine up and soon had us skimming over the waves. We got within a half mile of the shoreline and I ordered the engine shut off.
“Everyone get your com unit and your night vision goggles on,” I instructed my team “We paddle into shore from here,” I said grabbing my paddle. We didn’t want to make any noise that would be detected by anyone who may be watching from shore. The blackness of the rubber of the zodiac would be hard to see as long as we were silent. Before long we were pulling the boat up on shore.
“Cover the boat with brush,” I instructed. “We don’t want anyone discovering it. This is our transportation out of here.”
While we were hiding the boat I had Patch scouting the area looking for a trail going in the direction we wanted to go in.
“LT a couple of hundred yards to the left is a trail. I followed it down to the water and found a tiny cove where I could see boats have tied up from time to time. I think if we follow the trail it will take us right to the village we want to go to.”
“Good job Patch, you have point. We’ll stay 100 yards behind you. Take your time we have all night. I don’t know what to expect so be ready for anything.”
I’m on it LT,” Patch said as he disappeared into the darkness as silently as a ghost.
I waited a couple of minutes, crouched in the dark with my team. “Okay men, let’s go and stay spread out,” I said taking the lead.
The trail led steadily uphill winding around rocks and downed logs. It was a well traveled trail, hard packed and vegetation free. We’d followed the trail for what I thought was nearly three miles when suddenly Patch was back by my side.
“LT, I got to the top of the next rise and could hear gunshots and screams. I think the village is under attack.”
“Take off your packs and put your silencers on your rifles. Scott and Dave leave your sniper rifles behind. Make sure you have plenty of ammunition on you. Patch lead the way in, double time it. Stop a hundred yards from the village. From there we go in thru the trees, let’s move it,” I whispered.
As we topped the rise I could hear the gunshots and screams for myself. It sounded like there was a massacre going on. “Com units on, night vision goggles activated, hit the trees.”
The cries of pain and the pleas for mercy hastened our pace as the sounds of shots echoed thru the trees. We weren’t going thru the trees very quietly but with the noise from the village I didn’t think we’d be noticed. We came to the edge of the forest. I couldn’t believe the carnage before me. Old men and women and children were scattered everywhere I looked.
“Spread out, sweep the village. Drive those bastards out and send them to hell where they belong!” I said over my com unit as I fired my first shot, taking a Cuban soldier down.
We laid down a lethal barrage from the edge of the forest. Our silenced M4 carbines were completely silent with the noise of the suffering that was all around us. The Cuban regulars were in total frenzy. They were seeing their comrades dropping all over but couldn’t figure where the shots were coming from.
They tried to regroup to get control of the situation. It was just the opportunity I was looking for. “Set you weapons on full automatic,” I instructed. “Lob in grenades and follow it up with the rifles.”
Those closest tossed in their grenades. Bodies were flying thru the air from the tremendous blasts.
“Hose them down, kill the bastards!” I screamed firing my machine gun into the ones still standing. Soon there were no enemies left.
“Sweep the village, do a house to house search. Make sure this is all of them,” I said as I sprinted across the clearing and into the village itself. This would now be urban warfare, the deadliest kind. An enemy could be hiding inside or behind any building, fence or car.
I hadn’t gone very far when I heard screams from a home. I shouldered my M4 and pulled out my Glock for the close-in work. I found a Cuban soldier trying to rape a woman on the living room floor. I grabbed him by his hair and pulled him off of her. Holding him from behind I put my handgun against his ear and pulled the trigger and let him drop.
“I’m an American, I’m here to help,” I told the panicked woman. I didn’t know if she understood English or not.
Coming out of the house I saw a Cuban soldier chasing after a young boy and took off after them. I didn’t even waste a bullet on him. I dealt him a death blow with my foot, snapping his neck.
Patch was sickened by what he was seeing. Old men and women and defenseless kids’ dead everywhere. He wanted to scream out in anger his rage was so great. Patch tossed his rifle aside and pulled out his bowie knife. He was going hunting the old way. His knife thirsted for blood and would soon have more of it than ever before.
Entering an alleyway Patch spotted three of the bastards around someone laying on the ground motionless and waded in among them, his knife flashing in the early morning predawn. He slit the first two’s throats and grabbed the last one from behind and slid his knife between his ribs and into his heart. He let the man fall and went hunting for more to kill. He didn’t have to go very far.
Coming out of the back side of the alley he saw two more beating a boy of around ten. One of the brave bastards was holding the boy’s arms behind him while the other beat the already unconscious boy even more.
“You fucking cowards, my name is Patch, I’m a Chiricahua Apache warrior. My people are the greatest guerilla fighters the world has ever known. Drop the boy and face a man, face your deaths!” This time Patch didn’t work so fast. He savored his work cutting the two men to ribbons before finally allowing them to die.
By now Patch was covered with the blood of his enemies and it was far from over as he went looking for more of them to kill.
The Lofton brothers worked in tandem going house to house watching each other’s backs while doing the searches. Slowly their body count was growing. Walking past a shop they could see several Cuban regulars ransacking it. Scott indicated that he would come in from the back side of the shop so they could get them in between them. Scott called Dave when he was set to go and the two entered the shop as one firing their handguns as they stepped thru the doors killing the four men inside.
“Damn it all to hell Doc, I’ve never seen anything like this,” Brady said grimly.
“It’s senseless, if this is the way El Diablo treats the locals it’s no wonder he got his name Brady. You take that side of the street and I’ll take this side. Kill anyone wearing a uniform,” he said as he knocked down a man crossing the street in front of him.
Brady put his M4 on full automatic and sprayed a group of three soldiers thru the pane glass window of a shop. “How the hell many are there?”
Sam and Chief Morrison found a large group of civilians hiding in a church. “Does anyone speak English?” the chief asked.
“Yes senor, I speak it very well,” said the church priest. “What kind of guardian angels has our lord sent to us in our hour of need?”
“We’re Americans; we’ve come to help you out Padre. Keep your flock quiet we’ll make sure you are kept safe, no one will bother you here.”
“Thank you senor, may God go with you,” the priest said making the sign of the cross.
“LT, we’ve secured a church on the north end of the village. Direct all of the villagers you run across here to us and we’ll keep them safe.”
“Alright chief, you heard the chief men send any villagers you can to their location for safe keeping,” I said into my com unit.
Bill and Brian were working as a team. Already they’d killed nine Cubans since they left the clearing at the edge of the village.
“Bill look,” Brian barked out pointing with his finger. A group of six men were struggling to carry a lone woman into the woods so they could have their way with her.
The two Seals ran full out in pursuit of the six catching up to them just after they entered the trees. You could see the flashes of light from their weapons in the still dark forest from the village. Over the sound of the echoing shots you could just make out the screams of pain and terror coming from the soldiers as they died.
Patch let out an Apache war cry as he landed among a group of five soldiers cutting and slicing them up as fast as he could. The Cubans had never experienced anything like Patch. Instead of fighting all they wanted to do is be somewhere else far, far away. In less than thirty seconds they got their wish, they were all in hell.
“I think the village is clear. Regroup at the church on the north end of town,” I said into my com unit.
The team was trickling into the church yard. “LT, I’ve never seen anything like this. We need medical supplies, as much as we can get from the Sea Eagle. I’m going to need all the help I can get and then some,” Doc admitted. “I know you don’t want Karen dragged in here LT. But I need her help to try to save as many of these people’s lives as I can.”
I rubbed my face. I was numb from what had happened in just a few short hours. “You’re right I don’t want to bring Karen into this dangerous situation but we have to. A lot of people can be saved if we have her here to help out.”
I turned looking for Bill and spotted him a ways off. “Bill,” I yelled, “come on over here.”
“What do you need LT?” he asked. His eyes were always moving all around. Making sure none of the Cuban regulars were still around.
“Run back to where we dropped our packs and get the satellite phone and bring it back here pronto.”
“I’m on it LT,” he said as he took off on a dead run for the forest.
Patch came stumbling into the church yard. Jesus, he was covered head to foot in blood. None of it seemed to be his own though. He kept pacing back and forth like a caged animal. I was worried about him and walked over to where he was.
“Patch, are you alright?” I asked grabbing him by the shoulders. He kept shaking his head back and forth not saying anything.
“Patch, come out of it,” I yelled in his face with no effect. I gave him a sharp slap across his face. His bloody knife flashed and was instantly in his hand.
I jumped back and took a defensive stance. In all of the years I’d known him he’d never been like this before. “PATCH,” I screamed into his face “SNAP TO AND THAT’S AN ORDER SAILOR!”
Slowly Patch’s eyes lost their glazed look and came back into focus. He looked down at his hand wondering why the knife was in it.
“I’ll be seeing you around, LT. I have something that I need to do,” Patch said with a trembling voice.
“Where do you think you’re going Patch,” I said stepping in front of him blocking his path.
“There’s a man that needs killing and I plan on taking care of that before the sun hits noon.”
“The hell you will sailor. You’ll follow orders like the rest,” I said to him while standing toe to toe with him.
“You don’t understand LT. In my world we protect our women children and old men. I cannot let what happened today go unpunished, he has to die.”
“And he will die Patch. But you are not going to jeopardize the mission in order to get to him. You will get your chance at him. I give you my word on that, but the mission comes first. Now that we’re here he won’t be able to touch this village again, be patient. You’re too good a man to lose because you went off half cocked.”
Patch nodded, “Okay LT, we’ll play it your way for now but know this. I will not be leaving Cuba until he is dead.”
Bill came trotting back with the phone and handed it to me out of breath from his run.
I called the Sea Eagle and Danny picked the phone up right away. “I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon Rick.”
“There’s been a massacre at the village. We need medical supplies and we need Karen. Have Red Dog bring her in on the Sea Demon. We’ll meet her with the zodiac off shore.”
“I’m on it LT. It won’t take long for the Sea Demon to make landfall so you’d better have the zodiac ready to pick her up.”
“I have men on the way now. They’ll meet Red Dog off shore,” I said ending the conversation.
“Patch, take four men with you. Go back to the zodiac and pick Karen up and bring her to the village. We need her to help treat all of these injured people.”
“I’m on it LT,” the old Patch was back. He motioned to four of his teammates and they took off on a steady ground eating jog.
“LT, I want to set-up a triage here at the church. Have the villagers go out and bring back anyone who they find still alive. We’ll operate inside the church, it’s the best we can do for now. Also see if any of the villagers have medical training. I could use all of the help I can get.”
“I’ll take care of it Doc. Is there anything else we can do for you?” I asked my medic.
“Have someone bring back my back pack. I have medical supplies in it. Hopefully that will hold me until Karen gets here with the supplies from the ship.”
“Scott, run and get Doc’s bag. He needs the medical supplies in it. Chief we need the injured brought into the church yard.”
The satellite phone in my hand rang, it was Karen.
“How bad is it Rick?” Karen asked. “Danny said there was a massacre in the village.”
“I’ve never seen anything like it. There are women and kids and old men dead and injured everywhere. I hate to bring you into a situation like this Karen but they really need you.”
“I understand. Red Dog is lowering the Sea Demon into the water now. I have all of the supplies on the fantail. There are a lot more supplies back at our isle. If it’s that bad maybe you should send Brady back in the helicopter to get them for you.”
“That’s a good idea. Brady is one of the men I sent to get you and the supplies. When he gets there, have him go back to the Sea Eagle with Red Dog.”
“I’ll see you shortly,” Karen promised as she ended the call.
She came trotting into the village in less than an hour and a half. She couldn’t believe the wanton destruction of life she saw around her.
“Doc where do you want me to start,” Karen asked, out of breath from her run from the sea.
“Karen, thank God you came. I have the injured separated into three groups. The ones by the courtyard fence are the ones that can wait. The ones by the church steps are the ones that need to be treated right away.”
“What about the group around the side of the church?” Karen asked, pointing to the group she was talking about.
“Those are the ones we can’t do anything for, the dead and dying,” Doc answered grimly. “We’ll operate inside the church. You take one table and I’ll take the other. Don’t get fancy; we don’t have time for that. We’ll get a couple of the team members to assist. That’s the best we can hope to do.”
Karen nodded her head, “let’s get to it,” she said more bravely than she felt.
All thru the day the two worked to save lives. Some they saved and some they couldn’t. It was grueling work not for the weak of heart.
Around six in the evening there was a disturbance followed by a group of younger men running up the street.
“Chief, spread out,” I ordered. “We may have more trouble coming our way,” I said as I raised my M4 carbine to my shoulder. I then realized I was looking at Carlos Estaban for the first time.
A woman ran out into the roadway and grabbed at his arm trying to stop him. “Carlos, Carlos, no they are friends. They came just in time to save us or we’d all be dead.”
He stopped thirty yards from me. “Who are you people and why did you help us?”
“We’re Americans. We came here to try and get Philippe Quentes out of El Diablo’s Alcazaba.”
“No one can get into and out of that hell hole. You will only find your grave. Look around you at my people and see for yourself what happens to those who oppose El Diablo.”
“We came and we saw cowards killing women, children and old men. I didn’t see any men that I needed to be afraid of. We are former United States Navy Seals. I will get my man and in the process I will kill El Diablo. You don’t kill women and children around us and live to brag of it.”
“We will talk of this later, but for now I have my people to worry about. There are many injured and dead to attend to.”
“We have set-up the church as an operating room. I have people inside the church trying to save those they can.”
“What can we do to help?” Carlos asked. “We don’t have much for medical supplies.”
“Do you have anyone trained in medicine? That would be a big help to my people.”
“We have a couple of midwives who can act as nurses. I can get them to do what they can to help out.”
“We’ll take any help you can get us. We brought medical supplies and we have more on the way here now.”
It was late into the night before Karen stepped out of the church spattered with blood. “Oh Rick, it was just awful,” Karen wept into my shoulder. She had been strong while saving lives but now that it was over the shock of what she’d been thru set in. “All of those little babies…. I lost three of them. They died in my arms.” I could feel her tears soaking thru my shirt.
“You did what you could for them Karen, I’m proud of you,” I said honestly. “It took a strong person to step in and do what you did.” What I said fell on deaf ears. Karen had already fallen asleep from her ordeal.