Prisoners

By: AliasCWN

Chapter 9

The new arrival rode his horse right up next to the prisoners. Looking them over slowly, he finally nodded his head at their captors. He turned his horse and rode up alongside the leader of the band. The two men exchanged greetings and hugs, obviously not strangers.

Troy glanced at Tully who shrugged. "Same tribe. Same color headdresses." Tully told him in a whisper.

"Close to home."

"My guess, yeah." Tully nodded.

The new arrival kneed his horse and the entire band followed him out of the wadi. The horses the prisoners were riding were pushed to the center of the group to continue the journey.

Hitch sighed in relief as the tents of the camp came into view. The jarring of his high spirited mount had kept him in a constant state of dizziness and forced his captors to tie him to the saddle to prevent his falling. The ropes on his wrists had long since rubbed the skin raw from friction. When the band stopped in the middle of the camp, Tully and Troy slid off the horses gratefully. One of their captors reached over and cut the ropes holding Hitch in the saddle. Tully stepped over to catch the blond as he slid to the ground. Troy braced Tully as he staggered under the falling weight.

Hitch groaned and tried to stand, throwing Tully against the horse. The animal sidestepped and only Troy's grip on Tully's arm kept them both from falling. The two privates stood holding onto each other as the horses were led away. Several of their captors took Hitch by the arms and led him toward one of the tents. Tully, not to be left behind, followed on their heels.

Once inside the cool tent, the Arabs helped Hitch to sit on a pile of cushions. Tully followed their every move. As the Arabs stepped away, Tully hurried to take their place, kneeling by his fellow driver's side with concern.

"Are you okay Hitch?"

"Yeah," Hitch nodded wearily, "it sure feels good to get off that horse for a while."

"I know, give me a jeep anytime."

"Where's Sarge?"

Tully spun at the question, having assumed that Troy would follow them into the tent. "I don't know, he was right behind me a minute ago."

"They aren't going to separate us are they?"

"I don't know. I'll check on Sarge." Tully rose and headed for the door. He was a few steps away when the guard blocked the passage. The Arab glared at him and refused to move. "Where's Sarge?" The Arab continued to glare without speaking. His only response was to cross his arms over his chest.

Tully engaged in a staring contest with the silent guard. Dark eyes stared into brown ones, neither blinking. Tully broke off contact first when Hitch tried to climb to his feet and nearly fell. Tully turned and helped support him. "I guess they wanted to talk to Sarge alone." Tully helped Hitch sit, making sure he had his balance. "We'll just have to wait and see what they want."

"That's what Sarge keeps saying."

"Yeah, I know." Tully responded. "But what else can we do?" Sitting next to Hitch, Tully began chewing on the knots binding his hands.

"Here, let me." Hitch helped Tully untie the knots on the ropes, freeing his hands. They both sat rubbing their wrists, waiting to hear from the sergeant.

Tully helped Hitch climb to his feet when the guards returned. Realizing that the Americans didn't understand them, the guards didn't bother to try to explain what they wanted. Two of them gripped Hitch by the arms while a third motioned for Tully to follow. Having lost Moffitt, and now Troy, there was no way Tully was going to allow them to separate him from Hitch. Satisfied, he followed the guard from their tent, across the camp, toward another tent.

The two privates were ushered into the second tent. The first thing that they noticed was Sergeant Troy kneeling next to a bed.

"Sarge."

Troy turned to look over his shoulder. The look of relief on his face at the sight of them was clear. "Are you two all right?"

Hitch nodded as Tully stepped closer to look past Troy.

"Moffitt?"

Jack Moffitt smiled up at Tully from the bed next to Troy. His thin frame was wrapped in white bandages to support his broken ribs.

Hitch gasped and tried to pull free of the Arabs to reach Moffitt. The Arabs held him back, supporting him as he swayed in their arms. At a command from the Arab standing next to Moffitt's bed, Hitch was led to another bed and lowered to the ground.

"Stay down Hitch." Troy ordered his driver. "Moffitt will explain everything. Just relax."

"Moffitt?" Tully repeated, still trying to convince himself that he was actually seeing his friend.

"It's all right Tully, I can explain everything."

Tully nodded and knelt next to Troy, waiting.

"I woke up alone, trapped under the jeep." Moffitt began. "I tried to do everything in my power to survive. I knew you would come for me if you could." Tully nodded his agreement. Moffitt laughed. "Actually, I was worried that if I died, you, Troy, and Hitch would never forgive me for giving up."

"We didn't want to leave you." Tully whispered.

"I know Tully. Troy told me the whole story. I truly believed that you would come back for me. That thought kept me going. Then I heard the German patrol car. I didn't know if they were there to save me or finish the job. Unfortunately for them, they never got the chance to do either. Zamir, the leader of this band, found them first. That lieutenant, Lt. Baurer, and his men had visited Zamir's village. They killed several of the elders, trying to scare the others into helping his side. Zamir and the others were hunting them, they found me."

"Lucky for us they aren't mad at the Allies." Tully stated quietly.

"Actually Tully, Zamir and I are old friends. We grew up roaming the desert together." Moffitt smiled at the Arab who sat next to his bed. "Zamir and his men brought me here to a doctor. I'm afraid that I gave them some trouble about staying. I needed to know what had happened to you."

"They promised to rescue us if Moffitt would stay still and follow the doctor's orders." Troy continued the tale as Moffitt showed signs of tiring. "They kept us tied because they weren't sure that we were the right guys and they couldn't communicate with us."

"So we're not prisoners anymore?"

"Honored guests, not prisoners." Troy explained. "They've called the doctor to come look at Hitch. He'll stay here with Moffitt until he's well enough to travel. Zamir has offered us the use of some horses to return to our base as soon as we're ready to go back."

"Great, more riding." Tully grumbled sourly.

Moffitt laughed at the comment and reached out to pat Tully sympathetically on the arm. "We'll get you a jeep as soon as we can Tully, but for now, a jeep would only draw unwanted attention to the camp.

"That's okay Doc, I can wait, as long as we all stay together."