Militia (11 page)

Chapter Fifteen

A
s soon as
Mike was just about ready to go get some rest after the long march Tim came running up to him more excited that he had been when he learned he was going to blow up bridges.

“Mike buddy, you are not gonna fucking believe what we found while you were away.” Tim started. “My guys were searching the city for that intel you wanted and well we found something even better!”

“Tim it’s late brother can this wait until morning? I’m really looking forward to getting a good night’s sleep in a comfortable bed.”

“Trust me Mike sleep can wait. What was that old saying we had in the service, that’s right, you can sleep when you’re dead.” Tim joked. “Nah but seriously Steve is waiting for us to catch back up with him as I know damn well that crazy bastard is going to love this so let’s not keep the big guy standing around.”

Mike had almost forgotten about Steve. He thought about pulling Tim aside and filling him in but decided he could do that tomorrow after he had a chance to talk to Steve in private. Tim started to walk towards a nearby Jeep and Mike followed. Tim drove about half a mile down the road and stopped to let Steve climb into the back. Watching the giant man attempt to squeeze into the back seat of an old Wrangler almost made Mike start to laugh, but he still was too concerned about his old teammate to have much of a sense of humor.

While Tim drove both Steve and Mike were silent. It had been some time since either of them had ridden in any type of motor vehicle and even at the slow speeds that they were moving Mike felt as though they were flying through the city. It felt good to be moving faster than his feet could carry him and he let himself sink into the seat and enjoy the breeze coming at him without a door to hinder its travel. When the Jeep finally slowed to a stop they were in a more urban area of the city. Mike and Steve followed Tim into what appeared to have once been a large office building.

“I can’t wait for you assholes to see this!” said Tim.

He led them through large room and headed straight towards a closed office door that had two young soldiers posted on it as if guarding something inside. Mike could only wonder what surprise could have this old devil dog so excited that he had two of his guys guarding a door. As they approached one of the office guards opened the door and allowed their group to enter, and then closed the door quietly behind them.

What Mike saw staring back at him left him both impressed and wishing he and Tim had talked about Steve before bringing him on this field trip. Sitting, tied to an office chair, and wearing a gag much in the same fashion of Steve’s recent victims was a middle aged Chinese officer.

“Do you realize what rank this asshat is wearing Mike?” Tim asked

“Sure do. Looks like you have captured an enemy general!” Mike exclaimed. “Where and how did you manage to find him?”

“He was right here in this office. My guys were searching through it when they heard something under the desk. Thankfully they decided to check it out rather that just trying to shoot through the desk. They came around from each side and got their sights on him before he had any chance to pull up his pistol.”

“All right,” yelled Steve. “We are going to have some fun with you general sir!” Steve said, sticking his face up to the generals and grinning from ear to ear.

Instantly Mike sensed that Steve being here could be very bad. He was happy about having such a high ranking prisoner and knew that this provided a great chance to get information before moving on but Steve was downright ecstatic about their new guest. Mike knew what Steve liked to do to prisoners after their last mission and while he was sure they were going to have to use some kind of torture to get answers he was afraid that Steve would take it too far and kill the general before they had the answers they needed.

“Alright I’ll stay here with the general but I need you two to hop back in the Jeep and round up Mark and Tom.” Mike said. “I don’t care how tired they are, hell I don’t give a shit if they show up in pajamas, I want them here now.”

Steve looked at Mike and before he could say a word was shot a look that told him he wasn’t getting to stay and play. Looking as if he had just been slapped in the face Steve walked up to the general, spat in his face, and walked out of the room.

“Mike what the hell is his problem? You could have cut the tension between you two with a knife. Is there anything I need to know?”

“Yeah but it can wait for now. Mark and I will fill you in when you get back here. I’m gonna start working on some dialogue with our friend while you are out. Oh and try to find a bucket to bring back. I have a feeling we are going to have to get inventive if we want to make him talk.”

Tim gave Mike a joking salute and left to find the other leaders. As soon as the door was once again closed Mike walked up to the general, put his hunting knife to his cheek, and cut the gag off with one swift slice. He walked around to the front of the desk and stared at his guest who stared back at him with rage in his eyes. There was no doubt that this man knew what was going to happen but if there was an ounce of fear in him Mike could not find it.

“Well general I’m not even going to pretend that there is any chance that an educated man like yourself doesn’t speak English so don’t insult my intelligence and play otherwise.”

The Chinese leader held his stare but didn’t say a word. Mike knew this was going to be a tiring process and by the end of it he might actually have to let Steve play harder that the rest of them would be willing too. He hated the idea of torture but knew that the only way he was going to get answers from this hardened veteran would be through violence.

“Ok, sir, my name is Mike Hoffman and I am the leader of the New American Army, so in a way I myself am sort of a general. What is your name?” Mike waited for the general to answer even though he knew that wasn’t going to happen. “Look the last thing I want to do is start doing nasty things to get the answers that you and I both know I will get so you can make this a whole lot easier on both of us if you just start talking now. I’m sure you know why I told my friend to bring back a bucket so talk now or it won’t be long before you are laying on your back with water pouring over your face. If you feel like chatting let me know.”

Mike turned and went out the door giving the prisoner time to contemplate his fate. It wasn’t long before Tim and Steve were back with Tom and Mark in tow. As they walked into the main lobby Steve brought up the rear holding a large 5 gallon water jug like it was his trophy. Mike shook his head and walked up to the group.

“Well I’m sure Tim and Steve filled you guys in on the recent developments so I’ll spare you the details of what we have behind door number one. I just got done talking with the general, well I did all of the talking, and he is going to be a hard one to break.”

Steve stood there staring at the door with a huge smile on his face, still holding the empty jug.

“Hey Steve how about you go fill that thing up? I’m sure you can find some water source around here, hell I don’t care if you use toilet water.” Mike said.

Steve happily went on his errand while Mike watched for him to be out of sight. “Well guys Mark and I have something you two need to know and I’m going to let Mark do most of the talking.”

“Yeah Mike I figured that’s why you sent him away.” Mark said. “When we were at that big camp Steve took off with a handful of Chinese guards he had decided to take prisoner. Mike and I went out looking for him to see what was going on and well we didn’t like what we found. He had them tied to trees in a circle, gagged and facing each other. When we got closer it hit us that he was playing with them. I watched my only son walk around playing duck duck goose and then shooting the one he called goose in the head while the others watched. The most disturbing part of the whole thing is that he was really enjoying himself. I’m not sure what is wrong with him but we need to keep him in our sights so that he doesn’t do anything like that again.”

“Well then that explains why you sent Steve with me to get these two and why he was so damn pissy about it.”

“Guys Steve is one of us and I love the guy like a brother but what we are about to do works better with a cool head. We are going to have to be very careful as we get further into this, and trust me it is going to take a lot to break this guy. This general will more than likely be very close to death by the time he is ready to talk and the last thing we need is Steve getting over excited and killing him before we can get answers. There is nothing fun about this but we are going to do what we have to and there will be times when those of you with weak stomachs will want to leave the room. The problem with Steve is that I know he is going to enjoy this and we can’t let him get carried away.”

“Well let’s cut the chat before the big guy gets back.” Tim said. “How about we go introduce you two newcomers to our guest of honor?”

Tim led the three of them back into the room. Again one of the young soldiers opened the door for their entrance and closed it slowly behind them. The general was just as Mike had left him, sitting still and staring straight ahead as if trying to break down the wall with a Jedi mind trick. The man was like a rock but Mike and Tim both knew from experience that even the hardest men have a breaking point and this man would be no exception.

“Last chance to start talking general.” Mike said. The general just continued to stare down the wall. Mike walked around the table and spun the chair around to face him. “How many men do you have in the states?” Mike yelled. Still no words came out and the general stared back at him with rage in his eyes. Mike slapped him hard with the back of his hand. “Answer me you fucking asshole! How many soldiers did your government send here?” Again there was no answer and again came the back of Mike’s hand slamming into the side of the generals face.

Tim walked up behind the chair, wrapped his arm around the prisoners neck, and shoved two of his fingers into his eye sockets. The general let out a small instinctual yell followed by a deep growl. Mike took his fist and rammed it as hard as he could into the belly of the general causing him to gasp loudly.

“Are you ready to talk yet?” Mike asked as Tim continued his choke hold.

“Fuck yourself!” the general groaned.

“Well that’s a start now at least you are speaking the right language for the country you’re in. How about saying something more productive?”

Just as Mike was about to deal yet another body blow to his captive the office door swung open and Steve walked in holding a full five gallon jug of water. The group stayed silent while the man outside closed the door.

“Fuck it,” Mike started, “cut this piece of shit out of the chair and put him belly up on the desk. It’s time we offer our guest a drink.”

Tim kept hold of the general’s neck while Tom and Mark untied his hands and feet. The general wriggled around and made every attempt to hit and kick his captors. Mike stepped up and landed another hard body shot which made the general go limp just long enough for the group to get a better hold on his limbs. Mark grabbed his feet and with Tim still holding the neck, the two of them hoisted him up and slammed him hard onto the desk. Steve took his own filthy brown shirt off and placed it around the generals head and then made a beeline for the giant water jug.

“Alright sir, you know what is about to happen so you have one more chance to talk to us like civilized people before we give you a drink.” Mike said.

Mark kept the prisoners feet pinned down while Mike and Tom each pinned down an arm, and Time stretched the t-shirt over the general’s face. Mike nodded to Steve who happily picked his jug up and started slowly pouring water into the fabric covered face of their guest. The general tried hard to get away but he was no match for the three men pinning him to the desk. They listened to the odd noises, screams muffled through gurgling, as Steve slowly poured water over his mouth and nose.

“Ok Steve let’s see if he’s ready to talk yet.” Mike said. Steve tipped the jug right side up and mark lifted the soaking wet shirt off exposing the first signs of fear Mike had seen from this hard soldier. “Can we talk now sir?” The general turned his now freed head to show Mike that the look of anger was once again back in his eyes. Mike looked away for a second and then turned, holding the generals left arm with one hand and landed as solid punch to the man’s jaw.

“Put the fucking shirt back on that ugly mug of his I’m already sick of looking at it.” Mike said.

Tim pulled the shirt tight over the generals face and without needing an approving nod from Mike, Steve went back to water boarding his victim. Again they felt their prisoner pull and push with them, attempting an impossible escape and heard the sounds coming from his mouth and throat. Mike let Steve continue a bit longer this time and called for him to stop only when the general was moments from losing conciseness.

“Take the rag off Tim.” Mike ordered. “Steve go fill that jug back up and this time piss in it. This time when Mike looked into the generals eyes all he saw looking back was pure exhaustion. “Let’s put him back in the chair guys. We can give him a minute to decide how he wants the rest of the night to play out.”

They set him back in the large leather office chair and tied his arms and legs back to it. When the general was once again secured in his seat Mike waived the three others with him out the door and then dealt one more blow directly to the general’s nose, sending blood rushing into his mouth before following his friends.

When Steve was back with more water Mike called the group to an empty office to discuss their current mission. “Ok guys this is what’s going to happen. We are going to work in two man teams rotating shifts with the general every eight hours. Mark and Steve you two go find some comfortable beds and rest up, Tim and I will take the first shift. Tom I know you don’t have the stomach for this kind of brutality so I want you to head back and oversee the care and training of our new recruits. From here on out the general doesn’t eat, drink, or sleep unless I say so. If he falls asleep wake him up…painfully.”