Barracks Bitch

Zeus 

Gabriel didn’t care for his nickname Zeus. Allowing himself to be referred to as a God, even a made-up one, was prideful. Andrew… he wouldn’t refer to his friend as Assmunch in his head… Andrew said you didn’t get to choose your nickname.  Even calling Andrew that word offended his sense of propriety. But an ass was the name for a donkey, and it was in the Bible, so although it rubbed him the wrong way he could allow himself to use it because Andrew insisted.  He could do it for Andrew.  The justification still felt uncomfortable.

Andrew had gone home for his father‘s funeral and was supposed to return on Monday morning. Gabriel wanted to tell Andrew he understood how he felt but it wasn’t the right time. Gabriel was just ten years old when his father had died.  The old tractor had slipped gear when his father had gone to move a thick branch that had fallen from the old oak in the north field.  Two of his older brothers had been walking the field and saw but they were too far away to stop it from happening. He’d been crushed under the huge rear wheel and they hadn’t gotten him to the hospital before his lungs filled with blood.  Death on a farm was simply a fact of life and life was hard.  You worked from before the sun came up to when it went down, you didn’t whine or complain, everyone pulled their weight and there wasn’t much time for softness and sympathy.  All his eleven sisters and brothers did their part.  Gabriel was the youngest boy, and he had one sister that was younger.  His mother cried on the day his father was buried, and that was all because grief was self-indulgent.  The fields still needed plowed, the cows fed and milked, their two horses, chickens, pigs and dogs needed caring for.  The cats took care of themselves, plenty of mice and small game for them.  Besides, the cats preferred to stick to themselves, barely acknowledging anyone who walked by. The cats also had a job, and they mostly did it well.

It didn’t mean he didn’t miss his father, or wasn’t affected when he died.  You just accepted it and moved on.  Dwelling on what couldn’t be changed was not the Gunnerson way.  Hard work was the Gunnerson way, you did your best, did the right thing, made no excuses, minded your business, devoted yourself to God,  your family and community and left each day complete and unwasted. At ten, he’d struggled with his father’s death, but his brothers and mother had only allowed a short time for him to be sad before setting him straight.  His family wasn’t cold or unemotional, they just accepted that there was a time and place for indulging your feelings.  His brothers had actually taken the time individually to explain that it was okay to remember and miss their father, but neglecting the living was an insult to the memory of the dead.  Honor your father by fulfilling your responsibilities and looking forward, not back.

“Sleeper, do you think Andrew will be back for graduation?“ he asked.

Sleeper was working on his dress uniform for graduation.Sergeant Walters said it didn’t matter what the weather was going to be, it was going to happen.  They were about to get hammered with a system that was going to have winds up to 60 kph and dump up to four feet of snow, and it was coming tonight.

“It doesn’t look like it Zeus but its just a ceremony.  It doesn’t mean he won’t get his qualification.  He took his test before he left, felt good about it.” Sleeper explained. 

Gabriel had already pressed, polished, shined, and covered his uniform then hung it in his locker.  He’d still go over it again Monday night because he wouldn’t leave anything to chance.

“Do you think we’ll see him again?”

Sleeper froze holding a shoe in one hand and a polishing cloth in the other.   “I hope so Zeus.” he replied softly.  There was something about his best friend that brought out the best in him and he didn’t feel quite the same without him.

No one knew what their next duty station would be and they wouldn’t find out until later this week when they got their orders officially.  The entire Company had been hand selected from different Units for this special 6 month training in Germany at the NATO training base, but they weren’t told why, or what the Army intended to do with them, only that it would be valuable to further their careers if they accepted.  They could all go to different Regiments, or all to one. There were 61 Infantry Regiments possible currently. Gabriel thought their performance during this training would dictate their next assignment. It would all depend on which area you excelled in.   A couple of the guys had to repeat tests and qualification but since they were still here he assumed they managed basic standards.

“But if we go to Ranger School we will, right?” Gabriel asked the beautiful man he knew he was falling for.  Addison was more than just a good soldier, more than an exciting body with a gorgeous handsome face.  Addison had a feeling to him that was warm and safe to Gabriel.  He still hadn’t reconciled acting on his sexual feelings for Addison and they hadn’t repeated it mostly because Gabriel knew it was important that they don’t do anything that would cause eyebrows to raise.  But Gabriel wanted to do it again, and more.  At home, before the Army, Gabriel found it easy to steer his mind away from illicit thoughts of men.  Even in the time before he came to Germany when he saw a fellow soldier he considered attractive he could dismiss it as simple recognition of physical qualities.  But Sleeper was GOOD, all the way inside.  Yes, Addison knew he was attractive, flaunted himself continuously and he was prideful.  Andrew called him cocky and arrogant.  Gabriel felt that wasn’t exactly true.  Arrogance would mean Addison used his attractiveness against others to gain advantage, or alternatively considered himself above others who weren’t entitled to be his equal.  Addison didn’t behave that way, ever, with anyone.  He helped anyone who asked, treated the entire Company with kindness and respect and never said a bad word about a single person.  There was a graciousness to him in all things. It was like Addison didn’t see people in that way.  Even if someone messed up, he didn’t get angry at them, he made it clear he was angry about what they did, not them.  If one of the guys insulted him, he just smiled because insults didn’t bother him.  He was much like Gabriel in that way.  Insults said everything about the person expressing them, and nothing about the person being insulted.  That didn’t mean Addison put up with any garbage from the guys.  It was another thing that pleased Gabriel about Addison.  He seemed to know exactly the appropriate response and level to defuse a potentially heated situation while still establishing such behavior wasn’t going to be tolerated by him.  Addison was just perfect.  He had a nobility in everything he was.

Perhaps it had something to do with his family.  Addison had let slip to Andrew that his ancestors had come to America in the 1630’s to help with the spread of Catholic missions in what was now Florida.  Sent by the King of Spain, Addison’s distant ancestor was a minor noble.  Of course, it was a certain kind of exile because the real power was in Mexico where there was gold, silver and gems and the Church held sway over the natives.  Florida had nothing.  All the hopes the Spanish had for Florida came to nothing, and by the mid 1600’s it was deemed a backwater colony that was worth no more than land.  

Gabriel knew it was wrong to listen to their conversation, but Addison could see him sitting there talking to Andrew on his bunk not far away so a small part of him argued that he had Addison’s permission to hear it.  He knew it was rude and improper and he’d have been strapped for it when he was younger.  Had been, in fact.  Spare the rod, spoil the child as the Bible said.  He was an I’ll behaved child, so it was only right that his father corrected him with a strapping.  

He watched Addison give his shoe a final close inspection.

“The heel, Addison.  You’re going to need the paint marker.” He observed to his friend.

Addison sighed.  “I’ll get it tomorrow.  We have to mop now, so we can get to the laundry.  Won’t have another chance today.  We won’t go to Ranger School right away, Zeus.  We need Airborne qualification.  That’s the next step.  Then RASP, where they put us through the ringer to see if we have what it takes.  Those are both in Ft. Benning, GA, where we did our first Advanced Individual Training out of Basic.  But Ranger School’s there too, that’s where the 75th Regiment is.  I think they’ll send us all to Ft. Benning.  I just find it odd that they wouldn’t tell us why they offered us THIS training, here.  It was like Basic, AIT and specialty training on steroids and everyone had to master everything, not just their specialty.  You have to wonder... all these guys have some kind of special quality, you can just see it in our performance on all the drills in the field, qualification modules and tests.  None of us are lazy, stupid, or just coasting in the Army.   We’re all set on going career. So it makes me think we’re some kind of test group.  I can read between the lines and when they told us this was just another Advanced Individual Training and that‘s what we’d tell our families it sounded like they didn’t want us or anyone else to know what it REALLY was.  And if they aren’t done with us, it may be a while before they let us become Rangers.”

Addison was just thinking out loud, Gabriel knew.  They’d all wondered what this training was for.   After regular AIT they were given a list of duty stations to choose from.  It didn’t mean you’d get any of your choices, you just went where they needed you.  But with this training they hadn’t gotten a list.  Which meant the Army had plans for them.  At least that’s what Gabriel thought.  The few conversations with the others said everyone suspected the same thing.  This wasn’t ordinary in any way. 

“I hope we stay together, Addison.” Gabriel said seriously.  He hoped Addison read between THOSE lines and understood he wasn’t talking about the Bravos. 

Addison smiled at him with that charming handsome face.

Just then, Puta walked up.  “Hey Puta, are you and your boyfriend gonna to do da mopping?” he said with a grin at Sleeper. 

Gabriel scowled at him.   Sleeper couldn’t ignore that Zeus seemed insulted by being referred to as his boyfriend.  

Sleeper put his hand on Gabriel’s arm.  “He’s joking, Zeus.  You really need to read people better.  Maybe we’ll work on that.  Yeah Puta, we were just about to start.  We’ll start out here.  Socks only from now on.”

I’ll let dem know.”  Puta gave Zeus an apologetic look.  “It was a joke, Zeus.  You no have to strike me down.”   

Gabriel suppressed his frustration.  Addison said this was how brothers behaved with teasing and insults.  His own brothers had never done that.  By example he was taught you said what you thought directly and good men weren’t sly or denigrating to the people they cared about.  It didn’t bother him as much when Addison and Andrew behaved that way towards each other, but it was still wrong.

After they got the barracks mopped, which took a while, they gathered their laundry and went to the laundromat.  On Saturdays and Sundays they generally had permission to travel the base on task but they’d better have a reason to be somewhere if they were asked by a superior.  They weren’t given total freedom because it was still a NATO training base and the powers that be didn’t want too much interaction between their Company and their international guests.  Gabriel didn’t actually know why, but that was his guess.  Other American soldiers were allowed to mix.  It was just their Company that wasn’t.  But then, they also weren’t allowed much interaction with the Americans either.  It was more than odd. 

They all knew it was likely that Sergeant Walters and the Lieutenant knew about their Saturday night party.  And their alcohol stash.  Gabriel took note of every camera inside and outside the barracks.   He’d also determined that their superiors allowed it to happen perhaps as a test.  It could also be that Command was trying to allow them to let off the steam and youthful energy that built up over the week of being hyper focused, serious and full of pressure to perform knowing the Platoon was on near lockdown and would need an outlet.  Sergeant Walters knew EVERYTHING that happened inside and outside the barracks.  Gabriel was certain the other Sergeants and Lieutenants knew too.  And they never got an unannounced visit from 2000 to 0000.  After midnight it was anyone’s guess.  But they were left alone to have their crazy Saturday night parties for four hours.

At 1430, the barracks phone rang.  Private Sendahl was tasked with barracks communication today so everyone knew he would answer.  Everyone checked the message board just outside the entry door every time they left or entered, but sometimes orders came by phone. Of course, with Andrew gone Addison was in charge and he’d given out the barracks duties this morning.  At 1500 Gabriel would have to walk the entire barracks for inspection.  At some point today or tomorrow morning the Sergeants would be looking in every crack and crevice to find the smallest speck of dust or equipment out of place or off by a half inch.  The entire platoon was finishing up last minute cleaning and arranging determined by Addison’s duty list.  Saturday nights and Sundays they didn’t have a duty Sergeant watching them from the small alcove off the open bay so Sendahl... Wanker, Gabriel reminded himself, had to run over to get the phone. 

“Guys, it’s Assmunch!” Cade Sendahl yelled into the bay.  Addison appeared quickly to take the phone. 

“BUDDY!  Damn, I was hoping you’d call.  How are you holding up?”  Addison remained quiet, listening to whatever Andrew responded.  “Yeah, Zeus and I got your stuff secured.  Zeus did the packing so you know it’s done right but you can kick his ass if it gets to you and something is fucked up.  Tomorrow I’ll have Bootlicker take your issued gear and sign it back in at the Quartermaster’s before the snow gets too deep.”  Another pause.  “No, we don’t know either.  I don’t think it’s a secret, just that they are waiting to tell us.  You know how it is.”

The rest of the platoon had been slowly gathering as the word spread that Andrew was on the phone.  “Yeah, probably not but I think wherever we’re going will be together.  At least most of us will, you know everyone met or exceeded performance expectations so it’s just a matter of if they want to carve us up.  A few of us are betting on Ft. Benning for Airborne qualification but who knows.” 

Sleeper was sitting on the edge of the Sergeant’s desk playing with the phone cord while he listened.  “I hope so too, buddy.  He’s right here.  Zeus, Assmunch wants you next.  The rest of you hang around, he wants to talk to you too but make it quick he’s calling long distance.” 

Gabriel took the phone from Sleeper’s hand.  “Hi Andrew….Yes, we know.  It will probably be Tuesday during or after graduation……Friday?  I don’t know why they’d make you wait that long but if you want to call us on Wednesday we’ll tell you what we know……Me too, Andrew…..Julio?  Okay.“

Gabriel held the phone out to Puta.  “You’re next.” There was only a little surprise that leaked through when he said it.  The order that Andrew called for them was being noted.  Puta wasn’t usually one of Andrew’s top choices. Even Puta seemed surprised. 

“Ay, Puta.  You got everyting tightened down over der?”  Puta‘s smooth accented voice said.  “Jess... we no slackin’ off but dat Puta Footlong embarrassed us by finishing da 4 miles way before da rest of us.  We gonna tie him to his rack and beat him wit our boots tonight.  It’s no fair, he got three legs to run wit.  Si, hermano mio. Me too.” 

Puta held the phone out to Wanker.  “Here Puta.” 

Wanker held the phone to his head for a half a minute, just uttering an ‘uh huh, okay.  Yes.  Sure Assmunch.”  then he passed the phone to Troll. 

Slowly over the next twenty minutes, Assmunch had talked to everyone in the whole platoon.  After Andrew hung up, the mood was generally happy and upbeat, but with an underlying current of somberness.  Most of them wanted Assmunch with the platoon.  Without him, Gabriel felt like they were missing a crucial limb, or marching into battle without a weapon.  

They were gradually filtering back to the duties they’d been taking care of before the phone call when the door at the end of the bay flew open. 

“BRAVO PLATOON FORM UP!” Sergeant Walters yelled at the top of his lungs. 

They all scrambled to form up at attention.  It took a full 45 seconds for everyone to get to the bay from where they’d been cleaning the barracks. 

Sergeant Walters looked angry.  “You grunts think you’re done?  When I say fall in you don’t kiss your girlfriends goodbye, you don’t wipe your ass, you don’t let your FUCKING FEET TOUCH THE GROUND!  Fifty!  Now!” 

As one they flung themselves to the floor and started pumping out the push-ups.  While they paid their penance, Sergeant Walters continued. 

“ECWCS... that’s level 6 EXTENDED Cold Weather uniform Private Demon, if I catch you without them again you’re scrubbing my barracks roof free of every spec of snow.  You have 12 minutes to get to bugout location.” 

He turned and left through the door. 

“You think we’re going somewhere?” Wanker piped up first.  He was hammering through his pushups almost doing two for everyone else’s one.  Footlong was not far behind him.  The rest kept a slower steady pace. 

“Guess we’ll find out.” Cellblock said.

Gabriel liked Quincy Washington.  The man the rest called Cellblock was a fit 185 lbs of the most amazing dark skin, with large hands and feet, long sleek legs, no body fat and a behind that was almost as nice as Addison’s.  Being from rural Wisconsin, Gabriel had never seen anyone like him.  He was absolutely beautiful and not long after he’d met him Gabriel knew he was a good man.  And he was smart.  Gabriel thought he might actually be smarter than Bootlicker.  After Addison, Quincy was one of the soldiers in his platoon Gabriel had to remind himself not to have illicit thoughts about.  

It only took them a minute to complete their exercise after which they all scrambled to don their ECWs and get out the door for the run to building 237.

When they arrived, the other Platoons were already in formation.  They wasted no time assuming their space between the Alphas and the Charlies.  Private Lamont scanned their ranks as they passed by, and Gabriel saw a puzzled surprise on his face.  His face never left forward, but he spoke out the side of his mouth.

“Where’s Assmunch?” He whispered loudly enough for his voice to carry, and no more.  

“Home.”

“Fuck.  Booted?”

“Funeral.”

“Fuck.”

“Listen up!” Sergeant Horvath yelled from the front.  “Platoon leaders front and center!”

Lamont, Taylor, and Kincaid stepped away and moved to the front.  Addison, being Andrew’s second joined them.  

Gabriel couldn’t hear what they were being told, but they soon returned with a package sealed in plastic. 

“Squad leaders, to me.”  Addison announced.  Privates Washington, Simmons and Davidson stepped to Addison’s side.  “Demon, check your boots and tighten those laces.” Addison said before turning to his squad leaders.  Lamont, Taylor and Kincaid were doing the same with their Platoons.  “Zeus, come up here.  You’re acting squad leader while I command the Platoon.”

Addison opened the package and produced four sealed envelopes that he handed to the squad leaders.  “Those are your orders.  BRAVOS, LOAD UP IN THE TRANSPORT AT THE SOUTH OF THE LOT.  MOVE OUT!”

As one, the Bravos grunted in a yell “UNH!” And ran in step to the transport, the squad leaders running beside and slightly behind them.  Addison was out front.  Gabriel saw that the other Platoons were doing the same toward their transports at the separate cardinal locations of the lot.

They packed into the troop transport… and they were packed.  Four of the guys sat on the floor in the middle between the feet of the others, and the rest that didn’t have seats on the benches were on someone’s lap.  Sendahl had taken Gabriel’s lap.  Gabriel didn’t mind.  

“Listen up!” Addison yelled over the sound of the truck engine.  “We’re being dropped at Ottenhoff, 45 clicks due west of Grafenwoehr.  When we arrive, get our support transport unloaded.  Bootlicker, when does the front of the storm get here?”

“Four hours at the earliest, Sleeper.” Bootlicker yelled. “Assuming constant current speed.”

Sleeper took a few seconds to think.  “I want Squad leaders to get me camp locations by the time we offload.  We’re spending the night in the forest, brothers.  Time is not on our side.  We’re moving out fast so everyone check and double check the soldier next to you.”

“Wanker, sit on Troll.” Gabriel ordered.  When Wanker moved, Zeus took his orders packet from his coat’s breast pocket and opened it.  Inside he found a topographic map of the area.  It had a transparent overlay of man made landmarks like roads, towns and farms.  “Simmons, Davidson, Washington… let’s confer.”

Everyone switched places so the four Squad Leaders could consult their maps.  

Forty minutes later they poured out of the transport and had the second transport unloaded of their packs and gear.  The Platoon made quick work of getting everything on their backs and on two sleds.  The Squad Leaders huddled around Sleeper.

“Here, Sleeper.” Cellblock pointed to a location 10 km’s to the east inside the forest.  

“I wish we had a satellite image.” Sleeper mused.  “These packs and the sleds will slow us down.”

“Some.  But The Veldenstein Forest has roads and trails.  Yeah, it’s not a direct route, but what we lose in distance we make up because it’s easier ground to travel. Less variations in the terrain.” Cellblock explained.  “We assumed our orders were to get back to base.  We only have three hours to reach the site and get camp set up before the storm hits.  6 miles gives us a little padding, we can do that in two hours over this terrain, but we have to hustle.”

“I confirm mission is to return to base.  We’re to rendezvous with the Charlies here, by nightfall tomorrow.” Sleeper pointed to another location on the map.  It was 20 km from where their camp would be tonight.  On a nice clear day with no snow on the ground, making their target would be a breeze.  “Plan a route tonight that will get us there before tomorrow dark.  We’ll be marching while it snows, and tonight we’re supposed to get a foot or more so by end of day tomorrow it’ll be two feet deep.  There’s going to be problems that will slow us down.  If we’ve got to cut across the terrain to do it, then we do it.”

“No Sleeper.  We stick to the roads.” Gabriel spoke.  “We don’t want to go off into the woods on that much fresh snow.  We don’t know these woods. You’ve never been in a storm like this, I have.  Expect visibility to be limited.  We’re going to need every landmark we can use, and roads and trails are best.  A foot of snow is manageable in the woods.  But by mid day tomorrow we’re going to have problems if we don’t stick to the roads.”

Sleeper sharpened his gaze on Zeus.  “Can we make it back to base by Wednesday with this snow?”

Zeus looked at Cellblock, who shrugged.  “Maybe.  It will depend on everyone keeping up and the weather.  After we leave the Veldenstein, it’s open farmland until we reach the base.  But we’re also marching with the Charlies.  Too many unknowns.”

“Okay.  Let’s just focus on the rendezvous with Lamont tomorrow and hope he’s got more intel.” Sleeper decided.

The Bravos moved out at a steady jog, choosing to eat up distance with speed.  

They arrived at their chosen site just as the first snowflakes began.  The temperature had plummeted a half hour before.  It was expected to drop to 4 degrees by midnight.  

“Everyone pair up in tents.  It’s going to be cold.  From now on everyone sticks to their buddy, you don’t go anywhere without him.” Sleeper announced.  Dimples, Bootlicker, and Spaghetti I need a breakdown of the gear we have.  Zeus, you and I are paired up.”  

A few of the guys looked at each other and grinned.  Gabriel caught it and wondered what that meant.

Gabriel erected the tent he and Sleeper would share.  He put their packs inside and rolled out their sleeping bags.  He watched Sleeper speak with Dimples, Bootlicker and Spaghetti presumably receiving a report on their supplies.  Then he went to speak with Cellblock.  By the time he returned, Gabriel was heating up a couple MRE’s over a sterno flame.

“Thanks, Zeus.” Sleeper said, taking one of the hot meals.  While he ate, they talked.

“Zeus, you might have the most practical experience out of all of us with this kind of weather and wilderness.  What are we looking at?  We have three days to get back to base.”

Gabriel gave it some thought.  He had the map memorized except for the minor topographic features.  “Ottenhoff  is at a slightly higher elevation than Grafenwoehr, a difference of 60 meters or so.  We don’t have to travel the whole uphill, that will help. But the forest isn’t flat, it’s very hilly.  Walking through deep snow will tire us out a lot faster, and cut our distance per day down.  We need an average of 12 km per day.  If we can do 20 tomorrow, that will help but I think it will take everything we have to make 14.”

Sleeper was thinking.  “Cellblock, come over here.” Sleeper called.  “In fact, Mini Hulk (that was Squad Leader Simmons) and Shark (Davidson ) you come too.”  The three of them brought their meals over and squatted next to Sleeper.

Mini Hulk was a 5’8” block of muscle, nothing but muscle piled on muscle.  He looked like a stack of wrapped tires in his insulated uniform.  A stack of tires without a discernible neck.  You couldn’t see his fiery red hair hidden under his balaclava.  Like most of them he’d thrown the hood of his coat back for freedom of movement and vision. 

Shark just had a strange face and that was the only physically remarkable thing about him.  He was 5’10”, 170, light brown hair deep brown eyes.  His face seemed to come to a point centered on his nose and mouth, sloping forward from his hairline to his nose.  His nose turned up at the tip, and his jaw and front teeth jutted forward before pulling back to an unfortunate chin.  His teeth were gapped and misaligned even though they were all there, just a mangled mess of a mouth.  Shark was the least insulting nickname they could come up with.  Demon wanted to call him Dickshredder.  Andrew had vetoed that being more cruel than funny.  Shark was wily and could be as vicious as his namesake, as quick to lash out as he was to drop it so that you always had the sense he was never without a plan of attack and escape.  Shark would hit and then be gone before you felt the pain.  Gabriel was certain the guy had been picked on mercilessly when he was younger.  

“Who in your squads has experience with deep snow?”  Sleeper asked them.  He wasn’t talking to Zeus.  

“Olympic in my squad worked winters at a Vail ski resort and almost made the U.S. freestyle team for the ‘92 Games.  He’s got winter rescue training too.” Mini Hulk replied.  “And Chunk grew up in Central Washington State.  He was saying there’s different kinds of snow and you have to know what you’re dealing with.”

“All mine are from the central U.S. or the south.” Shark answered.  “No help there.”

Cellblock, always patient, spoke last.  “Alaska is our guy, boss.  Ice, snow, storms, wilderness … he knows it all.  He said his father would take them out hunting in some awful weather.”

Sleeper nodded.  “Looks like we have our guide team.  Get them over here.”

They all downed the last of their meals while the others joined them.  Sleeper had Wanker police their trash.  A light snowfall of large flakes had started.  The sky was already dark and the eerie quiet was only broken by the hushed conversations happening around the camp.

“Alaska, you take the lead.” Sleeper began.   “We go where you say, when you say, how you want it to happen.  Zeus, Chunk and Olympic are your team. You all have different experience with this weather, terrain and movement.  Don’t take crazy risks, but let’s try to reach the rendezvous before the Charlies.”  Sleeper waited a moment before continuing.  “We’ve got level 7’s in the gear they sent.  Do you think we need to suit up?”

Alaska spoke up.  “Not tonight.  It’s going to be cold tomorrow morning, but unless the wind during the day gets bad our movement will keep us warm enough as we march.  Our tents and bags will be fine tonight.  Keep the freezer suits packed up.  Some do better than others in near zero conditions, so if anyone needs to go level 7, we can always pull them out but most of us will be sweating our asses off tomorrow.  We need to let everyone know NOT to de-layer, no matter how much they sweat.  Conserving core heat is critical.”

Chunk chimed in.  “The snowfall will be heavy tomorrow.  We can’t spread out so everyone stays within eyesight, and we rotate the lead so no one is breaking new snow for more than an hour.  Anyone in the rear will have the easiest time so the lead and the group right behind move to the rear each hour. I’d recommend a two man column.”

Sleeper nodded.  “Sounds smart.  Zeus, any thoughts?”

Gabriel squinted his eyes in thought.  “We have to think ahead.  Two feet of snow will be extremely difficult and that’s the minimum we’re looking at.  Not seeing the ground and having to lift our feet is bad, but that’s not the real problem.  Our legs and feet will be wet and frozen in under two hours.  We need to be above the snow.  Not only will we move faster, we’ll avoid injuries.  We need snowshoes.  Skis would be better, but we don’t have those.”  Skis and poles would have been apparent if they’d been included in the gear. Gabriel sighed.  “If the storm turns bad, we have to shelter in place until it blows out or wait for rescue.”  

“There won’t be a rescue.  We’re on our own. At least until Thursday.  If it’s bad enough for us to hunker down, they won’t be able to get to us.  Keep that in mind.” Sleeper said.

They all looked at each other.  Gabriel knew they were all thinking the same thing: that disaster could strike in ten different ways between someone getting seriously injured, to getting lost, to the weather turning into a full scale blizzard.  They were in woods, so snow-burdened falling branches were a real danger.  As the snow got deeper it would become more and more difficult to see sudden drops, obstacles, shallow water.  Dense snowfall coupled with gale force winds would make navigation almost impossible.

“You four need to get us there.  Use every trick you know.” Sleeper said.  “Go brief your squads.”

* * * *

Alaska showed Zeus, Chunk and Shark how to make rough snowshoes from thin pine branches, and then how to attach them to their boots.  They would only last them the day… maybe… but were fast to make and the raw materials were readily available.  Zeus finally got to the tent close to 2300 hours after getting the squad to make their snowshoes.  He’d shown them what Alaska taught him by making Sleeper a set, so Sleeper could use the time to figure out a plan, set contingencies and do all the things a Platoon leader needed to do.  

“Boots inside, Addison.  It’s warmer in here and you don’t want to dig them out of the snow tomorrow morning.” Zeus told his friend.  Zeus picked up Sleeper’s boots, knocked the snow from them and put them next to his near the tent opening.  

Sleeper was snuggled in his bag, looking at the map by flashlight.  “Thanks buddy.”  Sleeper watched Zeus unzip his bag and start to crawl in.  “The rest of the guys in their tents?”

“Yes, Addison, except for the watch.”  Sleeper replied.

“Good.  Good.  Um, Zeus?”  Sleeper said, not believing that his voice was shaking with nervousness like a schoolgirl with a crush on the football quarterback.  

“Yes Addison?”

“Uh… do you want to zip our bags together?  We would have more room.  To conserve heat, I mean. These are kind of small, and you’re big, and…”  Oh Jesus that sounded weak as shit, he thought.  “It’s going to be really cold, and -“

“Okay.”  Zeus said in a deep monotone voice with no inflection. Was that reluctance?  His giant friend yanked back his bag, nearly breaking the zipper.  What the fuck was he angry about?

Well shit, he didn’t seem too excited about sharing.  Maybe since Zeus got what he wanted five weeks ago he wasn’t interested anymore.  Zeus hadn’t been anything except slightly friendly the whole time since then.  That kind of hurt Sleeper’s feelings.  He wasn’t even asking for sex and just wanted some companionship.  Maybe a piece of him wanted the sex too, but they had so many layers on that would prove difficult.  

“Forget it.  Just thought we should keep warm.”  Sleeper said.  And even to himself it came off sounding short and irritated.  “Get some rest.”

Zeus was just looking at him, half out of his sleeping bag.  Sleeper couldn’t read anything on his face.  Nothing, it was completely blank just like it always was.   Andrew would know how to read Zeus but Andrew wasn’t here and then Zeus looked away before climbing back into his sleeping bag, re-zipping it and turning away to sleep facing the side of the tent.  Yeah, the big guy definitely wasn’t interested anymore.  Well damn.  Sleeper really liked the big puppy and he was looking forward to finding out if Zeus fucking his ass was really as incredible as it was that first time.  There had been something awesome about the feeling of Zeus’s big body on him, his intensity during sex, the power and strength of him and the thrill of not being in control to being the object of Zeus’s lust.  None of that happened with Assmunch but it looked like he wasn’t going to get the chance to find out.  And that hurt a little too.  

* * * *

What was wrong with Addison?  Gabriel asked himself.  Was he mad at him?  Gabriel tried to think of what he’d done wrong and couldn’t think of a single thing.  Addison must have seen how happy he was to sleep next to him, nearly jumping out of his sleeping bag to start zipping it to Addison’s … too happy.  It was his face, Gabriel knew.  It just gave everything away.  He would have to do better at keeping his emotions under control.  Addison wasn’t gay, he’d said so and that night with him and Andrew was probably just the other two experimenting or being nice to him.  Andrew said they had to cool it for a while because of Puta, but maybe he just said that to get Gabriel to calm down.  And now, Addison was only trying to look out for him in the storm and Gabriel had taken it as a sign, FINALLY, that Addison was ready for more.  They weren’t in the barracks, no one could see in the tent and Gabriel was excited to wrap his body around Addison’s and kiss him.  Just the thought of falling asleep holding Addison’s little muscle body gave him an erection.  But when Gabriel let his excitement show, Addison suddenly backed off hard and told him to forget it.  Maybe Addison had seen his erection and that was why.  No, he was bundled up too much for anything to show.  It had to have been his eagerness that made Addison change his mind.

That made Gabriel sad.  Why wasn’t Andrew here?  He’d know what to do.

* * * *

Time: 0100 hr.

“Lieutenant, we have a problem.” Corporal Evans poked his head into Lieutenant Campbell’s office.  There was always a duty officer assigned when a training operation was in progress.  Campbell had night watch.  

“What is it, Corporal?” the lieutenant asked.  He was looking at his Platoon’s qualification scores, combining them onto the master report he’d have to send up the chain to Command.  He and the other lieutenants had been comparing their groups and it was apparent that Bravo Platoon was exceptional.  Even so, there wasn’t a large performance gap between the Bravos and the others.  The Army had chosen well.

“Radar is showing a depression moving up the Bay of Biscay and crossing into France.   The jet stream is going to carry it right to us and it’s moving fast.  It’s going to hit our arctic front before sunrise tomorrow.  It’s not going to be good.” Evans explained.  “We’ve got men out there.  The models are all over the place, but this could get as bad as the one in 1987.”

Campbell stood up.  “Better call everyone in, Corporal.  And let’s get Motor Transport on standby.  If we need to go get our boys, I don’t want a delay.”

The training team was assembled in 45 minutes. 

“So we’re sure this is going to get that bad?”  Sergeant Horvath asked.  They could all see the path and intensity of what was headed their way.  When it hit the dip in the jet stream hovering over Bavaria where they were, it was going to get violent.  And it was going to pull in warmer air toward the west from southeast Europe.  Jet stream moving fast, easterly with a depression riding along with it pulling warmer air westerly… the whole region was going to become a maelstrom of ice, snow and wind.  

“We can’t assume otherwise, Sergeant.” Corporal Evans said.  “There are too many similarities to ‘87.”

“Do we have a big enough window to track them down in the forest AND get them back here before we get hit?”  Lieutenant Campbell asked.

Sergeant Walters spoke up.  “We have enough time to get to them, but we’ll never make it back.”

“Do we have radio contact?  Can we order them back to their drop off locations?”  Captain Patterson asked.  “Maybe get them to a town to wait it out?”

“Orders were radio silence until all four Platoons joined up.”  Campbell pointed out.  “We’re listening, but as far as they know this is part of the operation and they won’t break radio silence until they realize they can’t handle this.  By that time it’s going to be too late to help them.”

Captain Patterson leaned into Major Ondrian’s shoulder.  They had a quick whispered conversation.  

“Pack out.” Captain Patterson ordered.  “You’re to locate your Platoons  on foot and sit tight until we can extract you after this blows through.  I want status reports every hour until further notice.”

* * * *

Time: 0200 hr.

Sleeper jerked awake to the sound of his name.  “Sleeper!  Wake up!”

“Awake, soldier.  Report.” Sleeper responded, finding the zipper on his bag and climbing out.

“Chunk’s nervous, Sleeper.  He said to get you up right away.”  

After pulling on his boots Sleeper exited the tent, throwing up the hood of his coat.  The freezing wind hit his face and hands, and he quickly pulled his balaclava up over his nose and threw on his gloves.  Zeus stirred behind him.

In the snow and dark, Sleeper took a moment to re-orient himself.  He could barely make out another figure about 10 feet away.  That had to be Chunk.  The snow was already a foot deep and it was falling faster and heavier than just a few hours ago.

“Chunk, what’s going on?” Sleeper asked after trudging over to Chunk who was staring up at the darkness, turning his head slowly around.  The atmosphere was bizarre the way it dampened sound like he was speaking into a pillow.

“We better get Alaska up, and Zeus.  I think everyone needs to get up.” Chunk replied, still watching the air.

“Why?”

“Snow’s changed, Sleeper.  It’s bad.  It’s hard to explain.  Wind direction is all over the place and the snow coming down now is wetter.  Air smells different, tangy and sharp.  Pressure’s dropped, just fucking bottomed out about a half hour ago.  I don’t need to see the clouds.  We’re gonna get hit bad.  My grandfather would say even the wolves would leave the hunt to find a hole. We need to figure out better shelter than two man tents.  And we’re not going anywhere for a few days.”

“How much time do we have?”  Sleeper asked.  

“Maybe 5 hours.”  Chunk answered.  “But every hour it’ll get worse up until then.”

“Get everyone up.  We need a plan.” Sleeper ordered.  

There was some grumbling, but it was hushed.  In ten minutes they were all huddled in a group.  Sleeper explained what Chunk had told him.  “I need ideas.  Our tents can’t handle the heavier snow, especially if the wind is going to drive it up to pile against them.”

“Windbreaks?  We’re in the woods, we could have something together in a few hours.”  Dimples suggested.  

Chunk and Alaska shook their heads.  Alaska spoke up, “nothing temporary is going to hold up against the wind.  And I agree with Chunk, when it hits the wind is going to come from everywhere, strong.  We need a hole.  A deep hole.”

“What about snowpack over a windbreak?  We could dig in next to that rock formation we passed a half mile back.”  Zeus offered.  

Sleeper looked at Chunk and Alaska.  Alaska shrugged.  “It needs to be big enough for all of us for several days. The snowpack will keep the wind from tearing the shelter apart, but it needs to be thick and packed hard.”

“We’ve got 5 hours, tops.”  Sleeper called out.  “Break camp and pack up.  Zeus, you and Alaska break a trail to that rock formation, something we can follow.  Footlong, we need light.  Wanker, I want that radio.  Sorry guys, I’m breaking radio silence, we’re going to blow this op.  If it’s going to get as bad as Chunk says, we can’t do this.  I don’t think they planned on this.  I need updated orders, and to give them our location.  Move!”