all god's orphans

The assembled crowd jostled for position around the makeshift stage beneath the scaffolding. At the top, men with guns had taken up position and were watching over those below. Most of those gathered paid no attention to this fact, but Brian was now keenly aware that there were close to sixteen riflemen all in elevated firing position in and around the camp. It did not strike him as normal, but then, he had never met a commanding general before.

As the general took the stage, a cheer erupted spontaneously. They were finally getting a glimpse of this man that they had heard so much about.

“Good morning, warriors!” He piped.

“Good morning, sir!” Came the raucous reply. The general shook his head.

“Oh, no no no.” He looked down in dismay. “I’m sorry. I apologize. I didn’t realize you were still asleep. Let’s try that again with some military enthusiasm. I said good morning, warriors!”

“GOOD MORNING, SIR!” Brian was surprised at how quickly this motley group could muster the unit integrity reserved for the real Army units. They certainly sounded like professional soldiers rather than conscripts.

“That’s better.” Approved the general, causing spontaneous smiles to blossom on their faces. He likes us! Brian could almost hear their thoughts and it sickened him. “You all have been doing a great job keeping our great nation together during these tribulations, but I’m afraid that things might get worse before they get better. I’m telling you this because I believe with all my heart that the end result will be worth it. We are going to make this country better than it’s ever been!” With that, another round of applause and shouts erupted. “I am aware that some of you have been without proper supplies for some time and I am here to correct that injustice, and it IS an injustice. We have reports of roving bands of brigands stealing medical supplies and weaponry and I have come here personally to punish them.” Again, cheers. “I have brought with me some of the very best soldiers on the face of God’s green earth, but they can’t do it themselves. I need volunteers to step forward, ready to stand in the face of danger and declare themselves willing to sacrifice for the greater good. Is there anyone like that here in AGO November?”

“YES, SIR!” The crowd was deafening.

“I suspected as much.” The general smiled like a TV preacher who knows the checkbooks are about to come out. “I know that many of you would step forward without a second’s hesitation, and I appreciate that. But this mission is going to require certain skills and I can only bring a select few aboard. Those who are chosen will be given certain rights and privileges for taking on this risk. And make no mistake, there will be risks, but it is for the greater good.” Here he switched his bombastic tone to something more serious. “We have had reports that a shipment of stolen medical supplies will be passing very near here tomorrow. We are going to hit them and hit them hard. We are going to take back what is ours and return it to the people!”

After a few more platitudes, the general dismissed the assembly. Towards the gate, a cadre of the spec-ops guys he had brought with him stood with several of the platoon sergeants. Volunteers were told to present themselves for approval and a line had already formed. Brian had been on that side of the crowd and was near the front of the line. As he stood there, he caught Wes giving him a perplexed look. What the fuck are you doing? He seemed to be asking. Brian couldn’t answer him out loud but he figured Wes should know. After a moment, Wes simply shrugged and got in the back of the line. He wasn’t going to let Brian go off on some stupid plan without him, that was for sure.

At the head of the line, the beefy spec-ops guys stood with their massive arms crossed over their protruding chests. Most of them had beards and they all wore shiny sunglasses.

“What about you, princess?” One of them asked Brian. “You know how to use that weapon on your shoulder? Or did your daddy give it to you to play army with?” Brian took a second to gather himself.

“What the fuck do you think?” He bit back, eliciting a smile from the special forces. Sergeant MacDunn said something under his breath to the beard, which got a semi-impressed nod.

“All right, twinkle toes.” Said the beard. “Let’s see what you got.” He pressed a button on his throat mic and Brian suddenly noticed that under their mostly long hair, they were all wearing earpieces. “Grimm.” He said, and the guy atop the scaffolding looked at him. “Put that Dr. Pepper bottle on top of that spotlight and step back.” Grimm hesitated for a second, but did as he was told. “There’s your target, princess.” The beard said, pointing at the soda bottle. Brian followed his gaze. They were about one-hundred and fifty yards from the scaffolding and the bottle looked like a tiny, red insect from this distance. Brian nodded and made his way to a nearby SUV.

He put his pack on the hood to give himself a stable platform and began lining up his sights. By now, every eye was on him. The beards all stood silently.

“By the way,” Said the lead beard casually. “If you hit my guy I’ll kill you where you stand. Nothing personal.” Brian didn’t even look at him. He knew what these guys were like. He focused on his shot. The tops of the trees were bending slightly in the breeze, but down nearer the ground, there was nothing to throw him off. The sun was behind him and he was silently grateful for that. He put one click left on his scope and steadied his breathing. His thumb flicked the safety off and the tip of his finger slid to the trigger, barely touching it. The beard was watching every move he made.

The top of the scaffold was only about four feet by six feet and there were large floodlights at each corner. The spec-op guy on top didn’t have much room to hide from the impending shot. He didn’t seem concerned that Brian might accidentally shoot him, which wouldn’t have been difficult. He was only about two feet away from the bottle. At this distance, a gust of wind could easily push the bullet a few feet to either side. To make matters worse, the wind was already moving to that side of the platform. If it had been in the opposite direction, he could relax a little knowing that if anything, he would miss the scaffold entirely. Now, he had to thread the needle.

For a long time, nothing happened. The whole camp stood frozen as Brian waited for his shot. When it came, the report of the rifle preceded the explosion of the bottle by the tiniest fraction of time. The beard smiled.

“All right.” He said. “You’re in.” The guy on the scaffolding bellowed out.

“YOU OWE ME A DR. PEPPER!” Everyone laughed. Except Brian.