the book so far
He flies awake. Sweat dripping from his face. His eyes are wide and he is trembling. ‘It happened again,’ he thought to himself. He looks at the sleeping body next to him as he slides out and into the bathroom, he knew how to fix it. He stares himself in the mirror after splashing water on his face he reaches for his medicine, a bottle of Jack Daniels and a rocks glass. He pours himself a glass and downs it, after letting out the customary gasp he looks up to see Jeri.
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to wake you,” he says as he tries to hide the bottle under a towel.
“I felt it come on baby,” she walks over sitting on the vanity uncovering the bottle and sliding it away before hugging him tight. He hugs her as she runs her hands over the numerous scars covering his back and sides. “Baby, you need help for this. You can’t deal with it on your own. I…I don’t like seeing you in so much pain” she says with tears in her eyes.
He kisses her forehead, “You know better than that. I can’t talk about it with anyone baby.”
She looks deep into his eyes, “Why did they do this to you?” She got no answer from that question, so she tried another. “What did they do to you baby?”
“They took a punk assed kid turned him into a proud man. Then, they turned him into a monster and tried to leave him to rot in hell.” He picks her up and carrying her back to bed. They pass a picture on the table of a man dressed in a full army uniform with a pair of dog tags draped over it. “I’m so sorry I’m not a man for you anymore. That was a real man. I am just a monster now.”
She stared him down with eyes of worry. “Sweetheart, you are still Command Sergeant Major Jonathan Von Haultmann. It just so happens that now you have more time to spoil me.” She tried to break up the tension with a smile, but that didn’t work. So she took his face in her hands and kissed him softly. “We will get over this. You will be proud again if it kills us!” He placed her in bed and cuddled up to her, kissing her passionately. She rolls him over on his back pinning him by straddling him, “Now listen to me. No more of this trying to sneak out of bed, if you have another one wake me, ok?” He nodded, trying to make her believe that he agreed with her. Knowing him better, she waited another second, testing the waters. Feeling that she wouldn’t win this battle, she just cuddled up to him. It had been 4 months since they made love. She knew he loved her immensely but his ghosts were keeping him down. She knew she had to help him, but she just didn’t know how. Her man had been through so much that she didn’t understand, but she must learn to help him. She wasn’t going to let him go.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was a loud crash down the center of the long barracks. Drill Sergeant Tavish comes marching down the hall.
“Drop your cocks and put on your socks ladies!! If I was Charley, you would have all been dead!!” John looks at his watch it read only 3 a.m..
‘Oh wait,’ he thinks to himself. ‘0300hrs now.’ He jumps out of his rack and stands at full attention as his fellow trainees slowly begin to do the same. There are 39 other men in his squad bay but he is different then the rest of them. The rest were all tagged to become infantrymen, artillerymen, or intelligence men. John however was tagged for a deeper darker job. Plus, he was only 16.
John was a simple enough boy. Tall, blonde hair, blue eyes, semi-athletic. What made John special were his eyes and his shooting ability. John was tagged to join a very secret agency in the US government…the O.S.O. Drill Sergeant Tavish stops at his rack
“Recruit Von Hautmann!! You are to report to the ranges today by 0700hrs!”
“Drill Sergeant YES Drill Sergeant!!” yelled the young man at the top of his lungs.
He was in his 7th week of the training, ‘only one more week’, he thinks to himself. Little did he know what he was in for after boot was over.
At 0700hrs exactly the young man appeared at the range. Sergeant Major Donnely was standing over the table with a beauty waiting for John. At first sight he fell in love with Jess. Jess was not an ordinary girl though. Jess was a Model 700 Remington BDL chambered for 7mm magnum with a 30x variable power scope, 1 in 12 twist barrel, synthetic stock, and Harris bipod.
“Recruit this here is your new lady! You will treat her better then you treat your own girl. She may just save your life someday. I suggest you 2 get acquainted” Donnely leaves the young man with his new toy. While maintaining the hard exterior he secretly smiled at the young man’s expression. He saw great things for John, he knew he was dedicated and skilled. Hell they wouldn’t have given him such a good rifle if the though he was just going to be cannon fodder.
John slowly and carefully picks up the rifle feeling its smoothness, looking down the barrel, checking out the stock. “You are a beauty. So I guess I have to give you a name.” He pauses in thought and can only think about his first love. “Your name is Jess.” He slams a round home and takes a shot. Jess answers back hitting the dead center. “This is the start of a beautiful relationship”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The patrol left early. It was cold out the ground was frozen but the sun was high. ‘Shit! This is gonna get real muddy real fast’ John thought to himself as he moved out ahead of the platoon to recon and send information back.
John reaches the base of Kaiserdov pass, the only opening in the Keiber Ridge, ‘Where are they?’ The weather has turned real bad and John keys up his mic.. “Savoy Foxtrot this is Savoy Papa. What’s your twenty? Over” John pauses then hears a faint voice “Base this is Savoy Foxtrot requesting cover it’s a fucking ambush. Location grids Gamma niner 2 minuets Whisky! OVER!” ‘Mother fucker they are on the ridge!!’ John fumes as he heads west up onto the ridge. ‘I’m coming guys.’ “Base Savoy Papa. Responding ETA. 10 minuets!” “Savoy Papa Base. Roger weather and location has removed the ability of air cover or reinforcements. We are dispatching an Australian unit ETA. 36 hours. Gods Speed.” “Base Savoy Papa. Copy Over and Out” ’36 hours?!? Way too long.’
John stands on a peak looking down on the massacre in progress and knew what he must do. He drops down onto the ground bringing jess to bear. BANG! Shots ring out through the wind and cold. For each shot a Serbian soldier falls to the ground headless or with a hole in the heart. John hears the speaker of his radio key up. “Sniper Savoy Foxtrot Identify yourself!” John goes to grab the mic. but sees the soldier with the radio about to be attacked by a knife wielding Serbian. He fires again dropping him in the spot. “Sniper Savoy Foxtrot. Is that you Savoy Papa?” John keys the mic. twice with his knee. “Savoy Papa Savoy Foxtrot. THANK GOD KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK”
John continues to single handedly hold the Serbs back till nightfall of the second night. He then belly crawls down to the surrounded troops helping the wounded along the way. ‘God damn why didn’t you become a medic john’ he though to himself as he found his way to the command hole.
Capt James was sitting there on the radio trying to raise support as john rolled in. “Sir sorry I’m late” “God damn Corporal were we glad you showed up” John could see the Captain was wounded bad. “Sir can I help there?” John goes over bandaging the wound but knows its too late. “The Serbians have been calling you ‘The Devil’ so I guess we have a new nick name in the pound eh?” Capt. James looks at another soldier. “John your fluent in German right?” “Yes sir” “How do you say Devil Dog in German?” “Teufle Hund Sir” Capt. James takes a deep breath. “That’s perfect!” He calls the attention of the 12 survivors in the hole. “I dub Corporal John Von Haultmann Teufle Hund from this day forth” The other soldier voiced their agreement as they went back to their watch duties or trying to sleep. John moves closer to the Capt. “Sir thank you for the nick name” “You earned it John you’ve given these men a chance to survive this. And yes I know I’m not going to make it much long.” He lets out a gasp. "The sins of my youth have tamped down the sands in my eternal clock shortening the time I have to complete the things I know I must do before my duty is done" With that the Capt. slowly closed his eyes and his battle ended.
Dawn the next day brought a fresh offensive by the Serbians they would get within 20 feet of the hole before being forced back by the directed fire of the few men still able to fight. At this point there were only 5 men still alive all were wounded in some way Jack had been grazed by a round on the head earlier that day.
The sun rose high in the sky, the Serbians came in for the kill just as a mortar round lands on the lead Serbian team. The radio keys up “Savoy Foxtrot this is Her Royal Majesties SAS group B are any of you still alive?” John grabs the mic. in a very groggy voice “Group B Savoy Foxtrot Yea there are umm…” He makes a quick count. “Three…Three of us” He finishes the statement as the first Australian medic reaches the hole and takes John’s helmet off to look at the wound. “Are we relieved?” John asks. “Yes Mate. You men did well.” The young Aussie medic said. John looked around. “I should have saved more!” As he falls to the ground unconscious, he will not wake for 5 days.
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to wake you,” he says as he tries to hide the bottle under a towel.
“I felt it come on baby,” she walks over sitting on the vanity uncovering the bottle and sliding it away before hugging him tight. He hugs her as she runs her hands over the numerous scars covering his back and sides. “Baby, you need help for this. You can’t deal with it on your own. I…I don’t like seeing you in so much pain” she says with tears in her eyes.
He kisses her forehead, “You know better than that. I can’t talk about it with anyone baby.”
She looks deep into his eyes, “Why did they do this to you?” She got no answer from that question, so she tried another. “What did they do to you baby?”
“They took a punk assed kid turned him into a proud man. Then, they turned him into a monster and tried to leave him to rot in hell.” He picks her up and carrying her back to bed. They pass a picture on the table of a man dressed in a full army uniform with a pair of dog tags draped over it. “I’m so sorry I’m not a man for you anymore. That was a real man. I am just a monster now.”
She stared him down with eyes of worry. “Sweetheart, you are still Command Sergeant Major Jonathan Von Haultmann. It just so happens that now you have more time to spoil me.” She tried to break up the tension with a smile, but that didn’t work. So she took his face in her hands and kissed him softly. “We will get over this. You will be proud again if it kills us!” He placed her in bed and cuddled up to her, kissing her passionately. She rolls him over on his back pinning him by straddling him, “Now listen to me. No more of this trying to sneak out of bed, if you have another one wake me, ok?” He nodded, trying to make her believe that he agreed with her. Knowing him better, she waited another second, testing the waters. Feeling that she wouldn’t win this battle, she just cuddled up to him. It had been 4 months since they made love. She knew he loved her immensely but his ghosts were keeping him down. She knew she had to help him, but she just didn’t know how. Her man had been through so much that she didn’t understand, but she must learn to help him. She wasn’t going to let him go.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was a loud crash down the center of the long barracks. Drill Sergeant Tavish comes marching down the hall.
“Drop your cocks and put on your socks ladies!! If I was Charley, you would have all been dead!!” John looks at his watch it read only 3 a.m..
‘Oh wait,’ he thinks to himself. ‘0300hrs now.’ He jumps out of his rack and stands at full attention as his fellow trainees slowly begin to do the same. There are 39 other men in his squad bay but he is different then the rest of them. The rest were all tagged to become infantrymen, artillerymen, or intelligence men. John however was tagged for a deeper darker job. Plus, he was only 16.
John was a simple enough boy. Tall, blonde hair, blue eyes, semi-athletic. What made John special were his eyes and his shooting ability. John was tagged to join a very secret agency in the US government…the O.S.O. Drill Sergeant Tavish stops at his rack
“Recruit Von Hautmann!! You are to report to the ranges today by 0700hrs!”
“Drill Sergeant YES Drill Sergeant!!” yelled the young man at the top of his lungs.
He was in his 7th week of the training, ‘only one more week’, he thinks to himself. Little did he know what he was in for after boot was over.
At 0700hrs exactly the young man appeared at the range. Sergeant Major Donnely was standing over the table with a beauty waiting for John. At first sight he fell in love with Jess. Jess was not an ordinary girl though. Jess was a Model 700 Remington BDL chambered for 7mm magnum with a 30x variable power scope, 1 in 12 twist barrel, synthetic stock, and Harris bipod.
“Recruit this here is your new lady! You will treat her better then you treat your own girl. She may just save your life someday. I suggest you 2 get acquainted” Donnely leaves the young man with his new toy. While maintaining the hard exterior he secretly smiled at the young man’s expression. He saw great things for John, he knew he was dedicated and skilled. Hell they wouldn’t have given him such a good rifle if the though he was just going to be cannon fodder.
John slowly and carefully picks up the rifle feeling its smoothness, looking down the barrel, checking out the stock. “You are a beauty. So I guess I have to give you a name.” He pauses in thought and can only think about his first love. “Your name is Jess.” He slams a round home and takes a shot. Jess answers back hitting the dead center. “This is the start of a beautiful relationship”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The patrol left early. It was cold out the ground was frozen but the sun was high. ‘Shit! This is gonna get real muddy real fast’ John thought to himself as he moved out ahead of the platoon to recon and send information back.
John reaches the base of Kaiserdov pass, the only opening in the Keiber Ridge, ‘Where are they?’ The weather has turned real bad and John keys up his mic.. “Savoy Foxtrot this is Savoy Papa. What’s your twenty? Over” John pauses then hears a faint voice “Base this is Savoy Foxtrot requesting cover it’s a fucking ambush. Location grids Gamma niner 2 minuets Whisky! OVER!” ‘Mother fucker they are on the ridge!!’ John fumes as he heads west up onto the ridge. ‘I’m coming guys.’ “Base Savoy Papa. Responding ETA. 10 minuets!” “Savoy Papa Base. Roger weather and location has removed the ability of air cover or reinforcements. We are dispatching an Australian unit ETA. 36 hours. Gods Speed.” “Base Savoy Papa. Copy Over and Out” ’36 hours?!? Way too long.’
John stands on a peak looking down on the massacre in progress and knew what he must do. He drops down onto the ground bringing jess to bear. BANG! Shots ring out through the wind and cold. For each shot a Serbian soldier falls to the ground headless or with a hole in the heart. John hears the speaker of his radio key up. “Sniper Savoy Foxtrot Identify yourself!” John goes to grab the mic. but sees the soldier with the radio about to be attacked by a knife wielding Serbian. He fires again dropping him in the spot. “Sniper Savoy Foxtrot. Is that you Savoy Papa?” John keys the mic. twice with his knee. “Savoy Papa Savoy Foxtrot. THANK GOD KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK”
John continues to single handedly hold the Serbs back till nightfall of the second night. He then belly crawls down to the surrounded troops helping the wounded along the way. ‘God damn why didn’t you become a medic john’ he though to himself as he found his way to the command hole.
Capt James was sitting there on the radio trying to raise support as john rolled in. “Sir sorry I’m late” “God damn Corporal were we glad you showed up” John could see the Captain was wounded bad. “Sir can I help there?” John goes over bandaging the wound but knows its too late. “The Serbians have been calling you ‘The Devil’ so I guess we have a new nick name in the pound eh?” Capt. James looks at another soldier. “John your fluent in German right?” “Yes sir” “How do you say Devil Dog in German?” “Teufle Hund Sir” Capt. James takes a deep breath. “That’s perfect!” He calls the attention of the 12 survivors in the hole. “I dub Corporal John Von Haultmann Teufle Hund from this day forth” The other soldier voiced their agreement as they went back to their watch duties or trying to sleep. John moves closer to the Capt. “Sir thank you for the nick name” “You earned it John you’ve given these men a chance to survive this. And yes I know I’m not going to make it much long.” He lets out a gasp. "The sins of my youth have tamped down the sands in my eternal clock shortening the time I have to complete the things I know I must do before my duty is done" With that the Capt. slowly closed his eyes and his battle ended.
Dawn the next day brought a fresh offensive by the Serbians they would get within 20 feet of the hole before being forced back by the directed fire of the few men still able to fight. At this point there were only 5 men still alive all were wounded in some way Jack had been grazed by a round on the head earlier that day.
The sun rose high in the sky, the Serbians came in for the kill just as a mortar round lands on the lead Serbian team. The radio keys up “Savoy Foxtrot this is Her Royal Majesties SAS group B are any of you still alive?” John grabs the mic. in a very groggy voice “Group B Savoy Foxtrot Yea there are umm…” He makes a quick count. “Three…Three of us” He finishes the statement as the first Australian medic reaches the hole and takes John’s helmet off to look at the wound. “Are we relieved?” John asks. “Yes Mate. You men did well.” The young Aussie medic said. John looked around. “I should have saved more!” As he falls to the ground unconscious, he will not wake for 5 days.