The Independents Read Online Free PDF

forget th ose howling scream s – I didn’t know a human being could make sounds like that . It was another hour before dawn and another two before the choppers would be there. Those three hours w ere the worst I can ever remember. Reaper somehow managed to survive for one of the three. Even so, it was a couple of days later before two Brazilian police men found his body . Those Hezbollah animals had tied him to a tree and done who knows what to him. I don’t know if they were trying to get information out of him , or if it were just revenge. All I know for sure is h e didn’t die quickly . God rest his soul. That’s no way for a soldier to go out . I ’ll tell you this – he took about 20 of those son s-of -bitches with him. I bet he ’s still chasing them through hell. ”
    Terri shook her head, now questioning if it had been a good idea to guide Bishop into all of this. What had begun a s a simple enough question about his checklists and habits had somehow become a journey i n th is deep, dark part of his memory. Perhaps B ishop would have been in a better place if that part of his life had stayed buried deep in his mind. She was about to change the subject , when Bishop resumed his tale.
    “Terri, there we were, in the dark , listening to our co-worker’s agonizing screams and unable to do shit about it. Elvis was bleeding badly, and I couldn’t leave him . I ’ve never felt so incapable of controlling a situation . Mr. Mossback was curled up with his head buried in his arms and whimpering. Elvis was s till talking, but his words came sporadically as he faded in and out of consciousness. You know , I was the team leader and in charge of the blow-out bag – our medical kit . The simplest little thing might have saved his leg – tampons. We always kept them in the kit because they were just about perfect to stuff in a bullet wound and stop the bleeding. In the time before help arrived, I dump ed that kit out and checked the contents ten times. I remember saying , ‘I’m sorry man. I ’ m so sorry, but they just are n’t here. I’m so sorry.’ We kept torqueing the tourniquet , and both of us knew it was too tight. It was his leg or his life . A nd to tell the truth, in the end, it really didn’t make a hell of a lot of difference. ”
    Terri sat silently, knowing an explanation was coming and sure it wasn’t going to be uplifting. “Fir st, let me tell you about Elvis,” he continued. “This was a tall, lanky guy from Tennessee . I didn’t know much about his military background , but he held all of the records for shooting at the company. Nobody could get close to his times on the courses. He was very quiet , but death incarnate with that rifle strapped across his chest. The only thing he really ever talked about were his kids back home. He had pictures of them all over his locker and was always pulling out his wallet to show off his family. ”
    Bishop’s voice became almost a whisper and then grew incrementally louder. “ He lost the leg. I know HBR took care of him financially, but I guess he never adjusted to it. The Colonel got a call about seven months later – Elvis had put a barrel in his mouth and end ed it all. Several of us flew to Memphis for the funeral. I spent the next day wit h his wife and kids. Elvis had told his wife I was his really good friend . She went on and on about how he always liked working with me because my smartass remarks helped him relax . She told me he believed I saved his life that day. I ronic, huh ? ”
    Bishop stopped again and shook his hea d from side to side. The room was eerily quiet except for the sound of his heavy sigh. A minute later , h e surprised Terri by looking up and smiling at her.
    “Soooo very pretty girl, you wanted to know why I have all these ch ecklists and time tables. Well, now you know. Female hygiene products are the root cause of all of my anal-retentive habits. Tampons. They might have saved a life one time , but I didn’t have