Fortunate Sons

Chapter 13: Rescue Me

Sue felt stiff from holding her ground in the closet, her palms sweaty and cold from holding onto the broomstick. She didn't want to wait any longer. The lives of her sisters depended on it. Her life depended on it too.

On the streets the battle still raged in full swing with no signs of letting up. Outside the door she still heard footsteps going up and down the hall and knew that the intruders hadn't yet left.

Somebody just blow the goddamned wall out already......she thought.

She heard an audible gasp outside the door and the unseen figure bolting down the hall. The echo of a rifle firing off on the stairwell filled her with panic. Sue thrust open the door and charged out of the closet, skidding to a halt when she saw the one person she had been hoping to see. Taylor.

"Oh God," she gasped before bounding down the stairs and into his arms. "Oh thank God you're alive!"

She threw her arms around Taylor's neck, relieved he was alive and glad that he had come to the rescue. "Where are the girls?" he asked.

"Upstairs bathroom," Sue told him.

Taylor and Sue hurried up the stairs and knocked on the bathroom door. "Girls," Sue said. "Girls come on out it's clear."

One by one Rosemary, Kathleen, Robin, Linda, Esther and Janis all made their way out with Leah being the last. All of them were relived beyond belief that Taylor and the others had come to the rescue, but deeply shaken knowing that the threat had not yet passed.

"Where's Dix?" Leah asked.

"He's fine," Taylor assured her. "You girls need to leave, right now."

"We'll head for the hospital," Leah replied.

"Take the back exit and go straight ahead," Taylor instructed the nurses. "You go left it'll bring you right into enemy fire."

"Got it," Leah said as she and the others began to leave.

Taylor turned to Sue and loaded the pistol he carried in his belt, pushing the clip in with the palm of his hand. "Take this," he said, handing her the gun. "If you encounter an enemy along the way, you use this before they have a chance bring you down. Got it?"

"Got it," Sue answered.

"Go.....now."

Sue abruptly turned and followed the other nurses down the back stairs that led to the kitchen and hurried out the back door. Taylor watched and waited until they rounded the corner and took off, disappearing from sight.

A furious fight erupted on the streets below. Dix was right, there was no giving up. He opened the windows in Sue's bedroom and began firing on the enemy from above, the ping of the bullets ringing in his ears as they fell from the gun chamber to the floor near his feet. 

An angry shout came from the stairs. Taylor's senses went into high alert with his fighting instincts beginning to go haywire. He pulled the k-bar from his boot and prepared to defend himself against the intruder. He loosed his gear from his back and tossed it to the corner of the room just in time.

Taylor and the intruder went head to head in a raging fistfight, one jabbing at the other in the hopes of striking a killing blow. It was a mess of elbows, knees, knuckles and fists that raged like an out of control hurricane. Taylor blocked every swing from the enemy, kicking the knife from his hand with his toes and sending the flat of his foot right into the side of the enemy officer, knocking the breath out of his lungs.

The two opponents fought like wild animals, one trying to outdo the other like two fighting boars. Taylor tackled his opponent to the floor, catching him in a death roll. A terrible burning sensation ran across his face when the VC officer had scratched him, giving him enough time to wriggle free from Taylor's grasp and bolt for the door.

Taylor reached out with his long, lanky arm and grabbed him by the ankle, dragging him to the floor and pinning him there but it was no use. The two went head to head once more, fighting with all they had until Taylor ended it in one swift blow. He spun on his heel and sent the flat of his foot right into the face of his opponent, knocking him to the ground in a heap with a loud *WHACK!!*

Out of breath and desperate for rest, Taylor leaned against the wall and sank to the floor. He could still hear the dull thump of mortar fire and the noise outside. Knowing what was still at stake, he rose to his feet, gathered his things and headed out.

*BANG!!*

Taylor yelped and fell to his knees on the hard wooden floors, the sting in his shoulder becoming unbearable. Hot, sticky liquid oozed through his sage green shirt, running through his fingers in long red rivulets. He craned his head over his shoulder to find his enemy laughing like a madman, still down but not yet out.

"You don't have the guts to kill me do you white dog?" he said, his laugh frightening.

"No," Taylor said. "But I have the courage to let you live."

A dark glimmer of defeat flashed in the officer's eyes. All of a sudden a frightening whistle pierced the air and Taylor bolted out the door before the blast knocked him against the wall halfway down the stairs. Clutching his badly bleeding shoulder, he took one last glance at his enemy, now dead and lying amidst the rubble, before he stumbled to his feet and left.