Lucky

The Voice called out to him from beyond the light, as he

sat in the tiny room sweating, trying to remember all that

had happened.

“Please state your name, rank, and social security number

for the record, soldier. “, the Voice repeated.

“Um Private First Class Lucky 478-69-9540, Sir” he croaked,

in a dry, weak voice.

The Voice followed with another question,” What is your

unit and duty description, Private Lucky? Please include

any extra duties you routinely perform.”

“Engineer Brigade Headquarters of the First Armored

Division Sir. I work in the S-1 Shop.”

“S-1 Shop?” the Voice interrupted.

“ Yes, Sir. I’m the admin clerk. I am also the SAW gunner

and combat lifesaver for my squad, and assistant armorer

for the Unit, Sir.”

“All right, Private Lucky, could you please tell us about

the events leading up to the incident? Try not to leave out

any detail.”

Straining his eyes to find the source of the Voice, Private

Lucky started his tale. “I think it all started from the

beginning of operation. On December 11, we rail-loaded the division

in Germany and deployed it to Croatia. 

After living on that train for two weeks, everyone was a

little stir-crazy and very excited. When we rolled off in

Zupania CNN was there to greet us. We leased a local hotel

to set up the first base camp. I think that’s where we

first encountered the thing, but we didn’t know it yet.

Everything seemed great; all the Croatians were happy to

see us waving U.S. flags and everything, but the sleeping

area was what set me off. We set up a 4 GP medium tent in a small

yard that appeared to be a pen for some animals before we

got there, and, well, Sir, it just wasn’t right.”

“Please elaborate,” the Voice replied.

The young soldier took a labored breath and continued, “

Well, there was tension in the air from the first day, but

we stayed in that chicken coup through Christmas and the

New Year, but while we were there, strange things kept

happening. First, there was the stink. The other guys said

that they didn’t notice it, but I did. It was hot and thick, like a rare porterhouse, but sweeter. I smelled it from the

first day we were there. No, wait, that’s not true. I

didn’t smell it till after Hutzel got shot.” He said as he

paused to take a sip of water from the glass on the table

in front of him. “It was Christmas Eve, and the supply

sergeant had found a tree somewhere, so we decorated

it with MRE packages and anything we found in the area.

Then, all of a sudden, there was gunfire. At first, nobody

moved. We had learned that Croats and Serbs fired weapons

off all the time for holidays and family celebrations. So,

we just ignored it. They told us it was the usual

celebratory fire. Then, there was a yell for help. I grabbed

my aid bag and ran back to the tents. I found Hutzel lying

out on the ground, bleeding in the female tent. Private Del

Toro was standing over him sobbing. “

“Then what happened?” questioned the Voice.

“Well,” continued the private, “Del Toro had actually shot

Hutzel in the chest, so I dropped down beside him to

evaluate and treat. I had never done it in real life, but

my training just kind of kicked in, before I realized what

was happening, I was covered in blood, and I had already

applied a butterfly dressing and dropped an IV in Hutzels

arm. We were waiting on the medics, so I was just

monitoring Hutzel, when I noticed Del Toro was in shock or

at least it seemed like shock.”

“You don’t think it was, Soldier?” the Voice interjected.

Nervously, Duane answered, “ Well, Sir, I treated her for

shock just like I was taught, and when the medics got there,

they took her and Hutzel away in the Hummer, but she never

came back to the Unit. Shock doesn’t last that long, Sir;

the whole event was just hushed over. If she was held by

the MPs we would have heard about it, too, but they just

didn’t come back. “

The Voice patiently asked, “What happened next”?

Private Lucky sighed and picked up his story, “From that

point on, I felt like things weren’t quite right, but I

could never figure it out completely. But things got really

odd, all the locals started disappearing,

and there was the odd animal that attacked a couple of our

guys on patrol. They never caught it. But that’s not all.

There were strange sounds at night and the smell nobody

noticed but me. The worst part of that is that I never

smelled it when I was alone.” 

“Do you smell it now, soldier?” the Voice interrupted. 

Lucky sniffed the air around him and said, “ Yes, Sir, but

only a little bit.”

Behind a glass wall, the Voice turned off the mic so Lucky

couldn’t hear and said, “ He can smell us through the

glass, General”

The old warhorse replied, “Is he aware of what’s

happening?”

The Voice paused for a second and stated flatly, “ No, Sir,

I think he honestly has no recollection of what he did in

the Balkans.”

The general stood and turned to the door, giving one last

order as he departed, “Good, begin phase two.”

The Voice sounded again in the room, “That will be all for

today, soldier. Follow the guard back to your quarters. We

will pick up where you left off tomorrow. Try to get some

rest.”

As the door opened and the guards stepped in, Private

Lucky was overwhelmed again by the smell. He didn’t notice

his own reaction as his mouth watered.