Wurzburg Army Medical Center
Wurzburg Army Post
West Germany
03 December, 1987
1330 Hours

The snow was blowing when I stepped out of the door. I stood for a second, my field jacket in one hand and my softcap in the other, closing my eyes and feeling the wind and the brush of snowflakes on my face.

It felt good to be out of the hospital, to feel the wind on my face, to smell the outdoors instead of triple filtered air run through the positive pressure system the hospital used.

"Bomber!" The yell made me turn, opening my eyes.

Specialist Kreutz was walking toward me, with a big grin on his face and a cigarette in his mouth. He slapped me on the shoulder when he reached me.

"Good to see you up and around, man," He told me.

"You too. How ya been?" I asked.

He tapped his collar, grinning ear to ear.

His Corporal rank was gone, replaced with the triple chevrons of a Sergeant. I grinned and tapped my collar, which just made his grin get bigger.

"Holy shit, this new CO, I mean, goddamn," The big man said. He dug a pack of Camels out of his pocket and popped them open with his thumb. "Want one?"

"Oh yeah," I told him, taking it. He lit it for me and I inhaled gratefully. Goddamn it had been awhile since I had a cigarette and it tasted good.

"Not looking too shabby for someone who took two in the chest and one in the head," Kreutz said, waving me over to the bench. "Sit down, let me catch you up. We gotta wait for your family to get back anyway, hero."

I nodded. Made sense why he was here. Probably Colonel Henry had left him behind to make sure I didn't wander off on my own or get confused. I sat down as Kruetz walked over to the pillar he had been standing by, picked up a six-pack of Budweiser from behind it, and came back. Before he sat down he handed me one and I twisted it open.

God, it tasted soooo good.

"They sent my wife back to the States when all this shit went down," Kruetz told me. I just nodded. Made sense. He grinned at me. "Fucking Henley wasted the dude who was assigned to me, and I heard they had some big fucking SOG dude and his crew here killing fucking KGB all over Western Germany, so I didn't eat a bullet like you."

I laughed at that. "Serves 'em right," I told him, and took a long drink off the beer.

"Anyway, I heard you got on-post housing from PFC Smalls, so I told Sergeant Wicker that until you can get your own car, you can borrow my wife's," He told me. He raised his cigarette up to his mouth, blocking the view to his mouth with his hand, and murmured: "In the trunk, under the spare, is your operations orders."

He exhaled smoke and leaned back.

"Man, you've missed all kinds of shit," He told me.

"Like?" I asked, looking around the parking lot out of habit. Last time I'd been near the parkinglot of a hospital, about forty ass kicking country boys had arrived to take me and Ant back to his family's farm by force.

"So, first we find out that Henley got jumped, only he took the pistol away from the guy and flat out killed his ass with it, then it starts rolling in that about twenty of us got killed," He cracked open a bottle of Bud and leaned back on the bench. "Then this big fucking Special Forces dude shows up. I seen him, this dude was huge, man. Had a whole bunch of snake eaters with him. This Ess-Eff dude sends all our dependents packing, sends his men to collect them and shit."

I just nodded.

"Then, Colonel Henry, Major Miner, and Sergeant Major Stanford show up, only they're all wearing E-5 and E-6 rank, all lurking around the company and shit. Not asking questions, just listening to people bitch. Then they started showing some of us orders, swearing us to secrecy, and asking how the unit's been running," He grimaced, "I flat out told him that we could have our legs blown off, and Group would have us crawling through the mud on our stumps six hours later."' He shook his head. "Then, they take over the unit, and the shit hit the fan."

"How?" I asked, scanning the parking lot again under the cover of taking a swig of my beer.

He caught me up. On how everyone E-5 and above had been handcuffed and loaded onto buses, how new guys were moved in, how the crews were broken up, how things were starting to move smoothly. Complaints were actually documented.

The biggest shock was the news that a work crew had been sent to Bremerhaven to unload Conex's full of tools, parts, and equipment that were all brand new. For the first time in Group history, every vehicle at the sites were working and the sites had gear that worked like it was supposed to.

"Yesterday, that big Special Forces dude and two of his men gave everyone a class on handling classified data, as well as breaking down that everything, right down to our training schedule, was to be considered classified data," He said, shaking his head. "Then we were introduced to the new Ranger teams on QRF for our sites."

That got me to raise an eyebrow and he nodded. "No shit. These guys have their own pilots, their own helicopters, and are going to be doing training for fast insertion, landing under fire, all that shit, out at the sites."

That made me whistle. Normally being part of our QRF just meant it looked good on their evaluation reports when they went to their next dumbass snake eater posting. Still, the idea of the Rangers being actually on the stick was a little startling.

"Johnny! What are you doing?" Honeybee's voice, full of indignation and righteous anger.

"Gotta go," Kruetz told me, jumping up. He slapped my shoulder, "Keep the beers. Good to have you back."

"Coward," I grinned as he left.

"Johnny, why aren't you inside?" Honeybee asked. Behind her, Prudence rolled her eyes. "Why are you in your uniform?" My sister's voice was a combination of outrage and worry.

"Been released for duty," I told her, lifting up the camo'd folder. "CO gave me till Monday off."

"You shouldn't be out of bed," Honeybee said.

I stood up. No pain, no stiff joints, no inner ear problems. I swigged down the last of the beer and tossed it into the trash can. "I'm fine. I'm not going to get any better out of bed, and the best way to check to see if I'm suffering any long term effects is to get back to work."

"But Johnny," Honeybee started.

"Bee, enough," Prudence said, her voice soft. "John and the Army've made the decision, it's up to us to abide by it."

Behind them, my two brother's grinned at each, looked at me, and shrugged their shoulders.

"You guys can follow me and Prudence," I said, looking around. There, I could see Kreutz's wife's car. "We'll get you a place in Ober-Wildflicken and me and her will head up the mountain."

"What? Why?" Honeybee asked.

"We'll be going home," I told her, holding out my hand. Honeybee went to take it, but Prudence shouldered her aside, taking my hand and staring at Honeybee as if she was daring my sister to object. Honeybee looked away.

"We'll follow you," Billy-Joe said. I nodded and walked out to the car, stopping once so a car could whip by. I cursed and shook my fist, the driver gave me the finger, and we crossed the street.

Prudence was silent until we got into the car. When I fired it up, some god-awful Mexican country came on, blaring out the speakers. The singer was complaining that if he showed up at his girlfriend's house, her father would cut him in half with a shotgun. Prudence popped the cassette out, dug in her purse, and pulled out a tape.

Bon Jovi filled the car when she popped the tape in, and then turned down the volume. I reached under the seat, and found exactly what I knew would be there.

A Colt M1911A1 pistol in a holster. I pulled it out and jammed it under my crotch. Prudence didn't say anything, just nodded. She watched out the window as I manuevered out of the parking lot, leaning on the horn to urge a gaggle of dumbass Privates out of the crosswalk. One of them gave me the finger and I grinned at him, getting a surprised look in return.

"Don't tell Honeybee, but I'm glad you're in good enough shape to leave," She said, her hand reaching out for mine. I took it, putting my hand on the top of the steering wheel to drive. "I heard that big black guy, Colonel Henry, arguing with the doctor about releasing you. He took a lot of convincing that you were fit for duty and didn't need to go home for a few months, or even a few years."

"Huh," I said. It was hard to believe that the Colonel would have been willing to put me out on TDRL (Temporary Disability Retirement Listing) rather than risk my health. Usually they pushed me right back to work before the bleeding had even stopped around the stitches or staples.

She squeezed my hand as I made a lane change.

"So, this house, is it just yours?" She asked, and I could feel the hesitation in her voice.

"Nope," I told her, "Colonel said it was for the two of us. Implied you should get used to the demands on me before we're married."

"Like we can get married," She said, shaking her head sadly.

That made me snort. "You'd be surprised just how far the government will bend over for me," I told her. She looked at me, raising her eyebrows questioningly. I nodded, making another lane change and putting down the accelerator. "We wanna get married, they'll give me what I want, or I'll drop on request and they lose me."

"Is it that big of a deal? It isn't like you're special forces or something," She said.

"Prue, over a couple hundred snake eaters graduate each year," I told her, "They stay in snake eaters for ten or twelve years, maybe even their whole career," I pushed the car up to eighty miles per hour and eased off, cruising. The snow had stopped and the roads were clear. "My MOS graduates maybe hundred a year at five times the cost of each snake eater, and usually we only last about five years if we're not killed or put out from injuries."

I could see the wheels turning in her head. Prudence wasn't stupid, not by far. She had a Master's in Business with a minor in Accounting. She was running the cost numbers.

"I get it," She said softly.

"So, the Colonel will force a chaplain to marry us at gunpoint if he has to," I told her.

"Would you?" She asked, her heart in her voice.

I chuckled, "Prudence, I've always been worried you'd turn me down."

She sighed, and I felt the tension leave her body. "I've wanted nothing more than to be your wife since we were fourteen, Johnny."

I let go of her hand, reached my arm out, and pulled her close. Hell, my chest muscles didn't even hurt, I'd healed up real nice while I'd been out. She sighed and leaned her head on my shoulder.

We drove like that for a while, till we got to Ober-Wildflicken. I stopped at a Gausthaus (Guest-House) I knew, got my brothers and my sisters some rooms, made them pay for it, and left, steering toward the mountain.

"Gives me the shivers," She said, looking up at the peak through the windshield.

"Anything above main post, and the mountain will do its best to kill you," I warned her. "Hell, anywhere on its slopes, it might try to kill you."

"I have you, I'll be OK," She said, softly. "As long as I'm careful and follow the rules, I'll be fine. I'll treat it like a twister, respect and fear it. That should placate it."

She was right. As long as you obeyed the rules, the mountain wouldn't crush you to make a point.

At the gate I showed my orders, my ID, had Prudence show her driver's license and passport, and to my surprise she pulled out a piece of paper from S-2 that allowed her on post. The gate guards waved us through, and we started up the steeply slanted road.

It was already getting dark when we pulled in.

"Home," Prudence said when we got out of the car, staring at the crackerjack house.

"Home," I agreed, taking her hand. We walked to the door, and she waited while I unlocked the door, then reached in and hit the lights. Before she could react I grabbed her, sweeping her off her feet and into my arms.

"Johnny, what are you... oh..."

Her voice dwindled off as I carried her over the threshhold, and then kicked the door shut. The place was bare bones furnished, and I carried her through the frontroom.

"Oh, oh Johnny, I love you," was all she said as we walked down the hallway to the master bedroom.