Missions of the Retrieval Team - Kilts in a Cage

[Jock Scot]

Oh No!

[davedove]

Scene 28

Factory Compound of General Ricos

The sound of the explosion roared through the area. We spun around to look at where the children’s barracks had once stood.

Smoke and flaming fragments of boards filled the area. Dust that had been torn up by the blast created a massive cloud, making everything hazy.

None of us could believe the General had actually done it. How could anyone be so cold?

Jaime and his wife were hit the hardest. They sat on the ground, holding each other, grief and shock evident on their faces.

Ms. Pleater silently stared. She held onto Julie who was sobbing.

Even the old Marine, James, looked on in shock, tears running down his cheeks.

I felt completely helpless as I sagged to the ground, unable to take my eyes from the scene. The rifle I held slipped from my fingers.

Ms. Stork sagged to the ground beside me and we embraced each other in our grief. All of our training, all our work and we had been unable to stop this one horrendous act.

“Look!” Di cried out in surprise. She pointed to the cloud of settling dust.

As I looked, I could see movement within the cloud. The movement slowly formed into people walking towards us.

I wiped away the tears that had formed in my eyes. As I watched, hope began to grow within me.

As the people moved through the dust cloud, their features became clearer.

Walking at the front was a large man who could only be Mikey. In his right arm, he was carrying a small girl, holding her to him. With his left hand he had the hand of a small boy, leading him along. As he drew closer, I could see that the children he had were Jaime’s, Xena and Sinbad.

Following closely behind Mikey came Grant, who was supporting a limping Mr. Standard.

And then, from behind them came dozens of small children.

Mikey walked right up to Jaime and his wife, who still stared at him in disbelief.

“I believe these belong to you,” he said with a smile on his face.

Jaime and his wife snapped out of their trance and jumped up to embrace their children. Mikey moved away to let the family have their moment.

Di and Ms. Stork quickly moved to help Grant with Mr. Standard.

I stepped up to Mikey and shook the big man’s hand. “Well done,” I said. “What happened? We thought you had run off.”

“No, when we encountered the guards we had to run into the trees to avoid capture. After all, we only had the one rifle at the time. We watched as the guards led the others away, and then moved around to the back side of the barracks. We couldn’t use the door, as there were more guards there. I managed to tear enough of the boards from the side to let Standard slip into the building. He helped the children through the hole as Grant and I guided them to cover.”

Mikey paused a moment then continued. “After Grant and I had guided the children to safety, Standard was slipping through the hole when the explosion occurred. The force of it threw him several yards, but that probably saved his life. If he had still been inside, he would be dead now.”

“As the smoke and dust started to clear,” he finished his tale, “We saw you here by the gate and made our way to you.”

As the others tended to the children and our wounded comrades, Mikey and I turned to check on the guards.

As we examined the scene, all the guards were lying helpless on the ground.

General Ricos, however, had slipped away during the commotion.