This did nothing to curb the unease Jared saw in Dwight’s face.
“Stop, we are going to get some sleep, stay alert, and leave at four in the morning, walk around whoever is out there, and be on our merry way,” Jared pleaded wearily with a shrug of his shoulders.
“Why didn’t you guys go see who it was?” Dwight finally stammered.
John bit his lip and reminded himself that Dwight did not have the same survival instincts he and Jared had. “’Cause walking into a stranger’s camp these days seems like a really good way to get yourself into a gunfight.”
Jared wasn’t comfortable with Barry and Dwight standing watch and could no longer hold his tongue.
“Let’s double up. John, you and Dwight stand the first watch, and Barry and I can cover the last half. We can move out of harm’s way in the morning, and if we’re in bad shape, maybe we take some time to rest.”
John didn’t so much as blink before turning to Dwight and issuing several instructions on where to position himself and his fields of fire in case they had to engage any hostiles during their watch. Jared and Barry rapidly slid into their sleeping bags and fell asleep—Jared feeling a lot more comfortable knowing John was involved in the watch.
Chapter 20
At 0400 hours, Jared nudged John’s and Dwight’s feet, waking both men. They had all gotten about three hours of sleep, which was not enough in Dwight’s opinion. He kept his opinion to himself as he and John secured their sleeping bags and hefted the heavy packs onto their still-tired shoulders. The men made sure they left nothing behind before trudging carefully up the hill toward the top. John led the group, the night-vision goggles pulled down over his eyes and his head deliberately but as frequently as a fan oscillating back and forth.
They crossed the trail, then moved a hundred yards down the opposite side of the mountain. Once they descended one hundred yards, John turned the group south like Jared and he had done the previous night. Jared brought up the last position of the little party, watching their rear and scanning for any sign of danger. John kept a rough step count in his head as they traversed the slippery dry-grassed slope. Barry and Dwight fell several times as they moved forward. Each time a man fell, John would give Jared a look that told him John wished badly to not have to rely on the brains of these two guys.
John and Jared were careful not to allow Barry and Dwight to see their exchanges for fear of offending the men, who were doing the best they could with their level of life experience. Jared knew both men would be hardened to hikes like this one over time, just as he had become. Walking home from work had not hardened him, but riding to San Jose and all the subsequent scavenging missions Bart had sent him on started the hardening process. Now he was tired and sore, but not in danger of breaking down like Barry and Dwight seemed to be. His feet had held up fine and, other than needing some Icy Hot and a massage, he was no worse for wear.
As the sun revealed itself to the west, the falls became less frequent. They were past what John felt was the location where they had heard the sound the evening before, and when he announced this bit of information to the group, it helped ease the tension Barry and Dwight were grappling with. John pushed the men a little harder than Jared would have liked. No matter how much John pushed, he was thoughtful enough to constantly fuss about Barry and Dwight changing their socks and keeping moleskin on any area of their feet that looked even remotely red.
John didn’t want to wait for a blister to form before addressing the issue.
“A preventative approach will save you both a lot of headache,” he told the two men as they sat inspecting their throbbing feet.
Once the men had applied moleskin and donned dry socks, the four moved out again. John kept them moving along the side of the hill for fear of running afoul of whoever had been clanging around the night prior.
As much as he wanted to walk along the relative flatness of the trail less than a hundred yards above them, John knew this could spell disaster. He remembered a book he had read years earlier about the man who created what was now called DEVGRU or SEAL Team Six. The man had written about an operation he had planned and led in Vietnam. There was the easy way to reach his objective, and there was an extremely hard and dangerous way in. Instead of taking the easy way, he led his men through a near impenetrable jungle filled with thorns and all sorts of deadly creatures to reach his mission objective. The enemy never thought to post a sentry to watch this avenue of ingress but had instead used most of its resources to cover the much easier avenue of approach. This spelled disaster for the Viet Cong.
John never forgot the lesson he learned from that book. It was a basic lesson, but a valuable one to follow, and he applied it whenever possible. Put in the hard work when no one else will, and you will reap the fruits of your hard labor.
John estimated there was about ten hard miles of walking to do before the group reached the trailhead they had used to access the hills on their way to Woodside. His plan was to push hard, then set up camp not far from the city, rest until Barry and Dwight were in tip-top shape, or at least as close as two city boys could get, and then begin the dangerous endeavor of getting back to Devon, Claire and Stephani.
By the day’s end, the group reached
