SESSION TWO: Does a Bear Sh*t in the Woods?

Bill took first watch while Hank and Layla tried to get some sleep. Mr Wilde sat on the back of the VW as the rain eased off, his RPG laid down on the flatbed next to him just in case of emergencies. After only an hour or so Bill was spooked by something in the forest to the east, his ears picking up the sound of branches being snapped and a snuffling, snorting noise echoing through the trees. Not wanting to face whatever it was alone, Bill climbed down from the back of the truck and tapped on the window by Layla, waking her and Hank, alerting them to the potential danger.

Hank turned the van’s lights on and, through the sparse trees at the edge of the woods they all saw the shape of a large bear lumbering towards them, attracted by their earlier noise and scent, keen to see off any intruder in it’s territory. Bill had Layla pass her hunting rifle, with Hank making a quip about it being as useful as a crutch in her hands and quickly jumped onto the back of the van, bracing the rifle against the side of the flatbed before taking aim at the bear, some 60 meters away.

Bill’s shot rang out though the forest, the bullet tearing a furrow along the flank of the bear, wounding it, but also angering it further. Rather than turn and flee, the enraged bear ran towards the source of it’s pain, intent on killing whatever had entered it’s domain. Layla pulled out her pistol, though elected (sensibly most would say) to stay in the cab of the van while Hank also drew his service pistol, waiting to see what would happen next. The bear lumbered closer, with Bill’s aim deserting him as a second shot went wide of the mark, hitting a tree instead and allowing the bear to get within 30 meters of the van before both he and Hank were able to fire off a round each that scored hits, Bill’s rifle finally dropping the bear before it managed to get too close to the van.

There was a brief debate on what to do next, with the suggestion that the bear be skinned and portioned up as food, though the group decided against that as the idea of skinning and preparing the bear in the middle of a wet forest at night was perhaps not the best of ideas. So, the trio spent the next 15 or 20 minutes manhandling the 200kg bear onto the back of the VW with the intention of moving off to a new position in case someone had heard the gunshots and came looking. As if this was some kind of premonition, just as the group had secured the tailgate of the flatbed, the sound of an approaching vehicle reached their ears, and a moment of panic took over the group.

After a hurried discussion, Hank took the hunting rifle and hid in a dense patch of woodland twenty meters or so from the van, with Layla and Bill preparing to start the engine and race off, should the approaching vehicle be hostile. Headlights appeared through the trees and slowly drew closer before pulling up a dozen or so meters outside the treeline. Two figures emerged from the jeep (as it was quickly identified) and started searching the area, flashlights sweeping the treeline. As the two people passed the edge of the area illuminated by the headlights, Layla got enough of a glimpse to recognise US Army uniforms and the white star emblem on the door of the jeep. After a few tense moments, the flashlight of one of the soldier’s caught the van in it’s beam and Bill stepped forward, arms raised “Friendly, we’re friendly” he said, hoping to assure the soldier that he and Layla were no threat.

A brief conversation ensued, at the pointy end of the soldier’s rifle, where Bill convinced the US Soldier that he and ‘his Egyptian friend’ were friendly and simply hiding out in the forest while they tried to escape the violence that had recently erupted in Kalisz. Taking no chances, the soldiers shone their flashlights in the cab of the van and were a little surprised to find Layla sat in the driver’s seat. Hank remained in the undergrowth a short distance away, waiting for a while to be sure the soldiers were genuine and after a few more moments, thought he recognised the voice of one of the soldiers.

“Lightning” Hank calls out, using one of his unit’s old callsigns as he carefully emerges from his concealed position.

“Thunder” came back the response from Sgt Rob Emmer, the first soldier to have approached. “Brookbeck? What the hell are you doing out here?” He asked incredulously his Brooklyn accent unmistakable.

“Trying to find you guys since you dumped me in Kalisz!” Hank says, not entirely without a grain of truth, though his explanation of his separation from the 5th to Bill and Layla is still under scrutiny.

Emmer and the other soldiers (there were another two in the jeep) were surprised to see the bear on the back of the van and the two parties agreed that Hank, Bill and Layla would accompany them back to the US camp just a kilometer or so to the south, Layla confirming she was a doctor quite possibly a determining factor.

On their arrival, the party sees a camp of a half dozen or so tents erected around a small fire, another jeep and a Bradley APC. There is some excitement in the camp as they realise the party’s van is accompanying the unit’s other jeep and Sgt Emmer and the others explain that they found the trio out in the woods and then tell the group that this small group of US soldiers are the remnants of a larger unit, part of the 5th Mechanised that escaped the chaos after the Soviets pushed them out of Kalisz, with their Captain, Carmichael, being seriously injured in the process. The man had been in and out of consciousness ever since, with the unit having no surviving medics with them. They had been cut off from any larger allied forces since and just a few nights ago had fled to the forest, losing a truck full of supplies in the process. Emmer tells Hank that Private Brad Phillips, indicating one of the young soldiers in the camp, had lost his older brother who was driving the truck.

Hank hands Sgt Emmer the dog-tags they recovered from the dead soldier, and Emmer quickly slips them into a pocket, shaking his head and cursing under his breath. “This is gonna break the kid.” He mutters, before thanking Hank for passing them on. The group tell Emmer that the truck had been stripped of anything useful. Bill subtly makes sure his sleeve is pulled down to keep the purloined watch out of sight while in camp, looking a little guilty.

Layla offers to take a look at the injured captain, who is indeed in a bad way, with injuries to his face, ribs and a potentially deadly arterial bleed in his thigh.

Bill and Hank sit around the camp fire for a while, grabbing some much needed chow and warming themselves by the fire. While they do so, the radio in the Bradley APC receives a transmission and a few other soldiers listen by the open hatch.

*…zzzzz… Got it! Damn, I got it…zzz… Down, it’s …zz… into that building, zz… It’s down…z.. hit the bastard, whatever it was…zzzz..*

Whatever ‘it’ was, is unusual as there hasn’t been much air activity for a long time, aviation fuel being extremely scarce and neither the US or Soviets having many aircraft left after the war escalated. There is some excitement among the US unit, with much speculation about what exactly was shot down and where it was. The radio operator seems to have pinpointed the transmission to the town of Złoczew, some 25-30 km to the southeast.

A few hours (and a nice Medical Aid roll) later Layla has stemmed the bleeding and stabilised the captain’s injuries, saving his life. Once she has cleaned up, Layla too is able to get some much needed sleep.

Being woken up by the GI’s at first light, the group are informed that the soldiers are moving out and attempting to link up with whatever unit is in Zoczew. Neither Bill nor Hank fancy that idea, wanting to stick to their original plan of fining a river crossing over the Prosna and head southwest, towards the German border. After some discussion with Emmer, the two parties agree to travel south together to the road to the south as their maps indicate a bridge over the river at that point. If the US forces are all pulling back to regroup as their intel suggests then maybe the US force that made the transmission would be headed that way too. Sgt Emmer says that they would head to Zloczew if there is no sign of them near the bridge and then it’s up to the group to decide if they want to stick together.

With that agreed, the US unit starts to break camp and prepare for the drive south, along with our trio of survivors (and the bear on the back of the truck.)