Chapter 24

Present — Jens — Surgery Ramstein Air Field Germany

This is s-o-o-o-o-o fricken cool! It's like I'm floating in the air above my body. I can't hear anything, but I can sure see things! And my vision is sharper than ever! The doctors are working like crazy on me. I see them take some paddles, put them on my chest and then hit a button, my body jumps and son-of-a-gun that looks like it hurts!

I know this is one of those out of body experiences I read about it once in a book. I wonder, does this mean I'm dead? Shoot! If I'm dead I died a fricken v-i-r-g-i-n! What a huge w-a-s-t-e! I really wish now I would have worked harder on Ben to make me a whole woman. But I guess dying a good - well mostly good girl will mean I get to go to heaven. It would be terrible if I went to 7734¹, because then I might be one of the seventy-two v-i-r-g-i-n-s of a fricken terrorist. And there's no way in H-E-double-toothpick² — dead or alive, I would let one of those illegitimate boys without fathers touch me.

¹ HELL — upside down on a calculator.

² HELL

Well if I'm dead and not in my body I wonder just exactly what sort of super powers I have? Wow, I can go up higher in the room and I can get really low - right over my body. I flinch like crazy when a doctor sticks a big needle into my chest and try to hit him, but my hand passes right through his head. He does shake his head just a little, sort of like he's being bothered by a fly.

I zoom around at the ceiling and take a couple laps. Then I get bored and decide to see if I can leave the room. Wow, I can go right through the walls! Oh goodie, it's the waiting room and there's Liz, Matt and ... Oh My God!

It's Daddy and he's in a wheelchair. Boy does he look like a mess - I can see he's even bleeding some. I cry some and yell, "Liz get off your rear and take care of Daddy!" She doesn't move and I realize that if I can't hear them, they probably can't hear me. Shoot someone needs to help Daddy.

I move up close to Liz to try to tell her to take care of Daddy. Shoot, I'm too close and somehow I get sucked inside her. Wow, this is even more cooool! I can sort of feel what she's thinking. She is really upset. But wait - the sneaky little female-dog! Ben was right when he told me she had a crush on him. She's worried about me but at the same time she's wondering what it would be like if I died. Hey Liz you fricken-fracken moron, I am dead and now you can have Ben and ... Oh My God! I wonder if I can blush because if I can I just did. Liz is thinking about what she'd do to comfort Ben. Wow is she one nasty horndog and Ben is going to be s-o-o-o-o-o lucky and I'm s-o-o-o-o-o stinkin' jealous!

Well, if I can sort of feel her feelings, I wonder if she can feel mine. I start to think with all my heart!

Present — Liz — Waiting room Ramstein Air Field Germany

I've felt bizarre for about the last five minutes. I'm really itchy, like I have a bad case of hives or a bunch of ants crawling on my skin. I keep brushing at them but they won't go away. It also feels like, well, like someone else is inside me and sharing my thoughts. I must be going crazy, or perhaps I'm just tired and hungry ... or maybe PMS.

I've been looking at the floor worrying about Jens and daydreaming. How I would comfort Ben if she was to die, then it feels like something or someone tells me to look at Glen. I glance towards Glen - damn is he ever a fucking mess and looks as white as a ghost. Then I look closer and see he's bleeding so I ask, "Glen, how are you feeling?"

He looks at me and says, "Thanks Liz, I'm fine but just a little tired. I wonder how much longer Jennifer's surgery is going to take."

Then it feels like something or someone forces me to get up and walk over to Glen. I squat in front of him and then my arm reaches out and touches his dressing. I pull my hand back and it's soaked with blood. I look at Matt and order, "Glen's in trouble we need to get a doctor."

Glen says, "Ignore that order."

Matt laughs his answer, "Glen I guess you forgot. I don't work for you anymore. Liz, I'll go get someone right away."

My hand reaches out again and I put pressure on Glen's dressing. It's a good thing I do because he slumps forward unconscious in his wheelchair and it's hard to keep him from falling to the floor. But somehow I seem to have the strength of two women and I keep him in the chair.

Matt comes back with a doctor and I inform him, "General Donaldson is bleeding badly and just passed out."

The doctor rushes right over and says, "I told him he'd pull his stitches if he didn't rest. Quick! Help me get him back into surgery."

Matt helps the doctor push Glen and the wheelchair out of the room. As Glen leaves, the creepy crawlies leave my skin.

Present — Jens — Surgery Ramstein Air Field Germany

Wow was that ever stinkin' hard and I'm s-o-o-o-o-o tired. I wonder if I can go back into my body and take just a little rest. I go right through the walls and settle back into my body. Right before I drift off to sleep I hear, "Good work, she's back!"

Present — Mira — Hospital Ramstein Air Field Germany

I hate leaving Ms. Morgan in the care of Matt because he will not take as good care of her as I would. I will give him a long, slow and painful death if she gets injured. But I must get to Ira, she is hurt very badly.

I know Ira was headed to the basement when I last talked to her so I hope she is still there. As I approach the hospital I see there are guards. They are Marines not Airmen, and they look serious. I can fight my way through them, but they would be hurt and it will take too much time. I approach and one commands, "Halt and state your purpose!"

I raise my hands, run close to him, stop, smile and say, "Excuse me private. But I had a phone call from my twin sister and she is still trapped in the hospital. I am just trying to get to her." He looks at me, I smile and show concern with my face. He yells, "Hey Sarge, I need you over here ricky tick."

I continue to smile and even sway a little, but inside I'm anxious as can be. A grizzled old man comes over, a real warhorse. I give him my best smile and the PFC says, "Sarge this lady says her twin sister is still in the hospital and she wants to go in and get her." I watch as he sizes me up as I flirt just a little with him. He asks, "How do you know she's still in the hospital?"

I answer, "She called me on her mobile phone and told me she was trapped."

He squints his eyes at me and says, "Do you know where she's trapped?"

I reply, "She said something about the lower levels. Please Sergeant we really need to go in and find her. I think she's hurt." That is the right thing to say because it lights a fire under the Marines.

The Sergeant commands, "I need three men to go and search the hospital for this ladies twin sister..."

I know it is bad of me, but I interrupt with a big flirt, "Excuse me Sergeant, would it be possible for me to go with them?"

He stops, looks at me, shakes his head and says, "Sorry Miss, but I can't let civilians back into the hospital."

I silently curse myself because this is taking too long and I should have just kicked their rears. I motion to the Sergeant to move closer and he stands beside me. I reach inside the pocket on my coat, pull out my still valid Mossad identification and whisper to him, "Sergeant, as you can plainly see I am not a civilian. And it would mean a great deal to me and my country if I could accompany your men. And just so you know, we are the ones who alerted General Donaldson about the situation in the basement. My twin sister went in to report on the situation."

He steps back and I see him look at me with greater respect. Then he says to his men, "I still need three men to escort this lady into the hospital to look for her twin sister."

All my flirting works and his whole squad volunteers, so it makes me blush just a little. The sergeant selects three of his men and orders, "Okay you three, Miss Swartz (The fake name on my Mossad ID) is Mossad and needs some help finding her sister. Now that we know who she is, I don't have to tell you how important this is, so don't fuck up."

I hear a hearty reply of yes Sergeant from the three and we take off towards the hospital. I start running at top speed and hear yelling behind me, "Hey, slow up we can't keep up with you."

I laugh at them and taunt, "Are you going to let a girl outrun you!"

They start to swear and I laugh even more because this is part of my plan.

Present — Sgt. Anderson - 1^st Battalion 9^th Marines — The Walking Dead - Alpha Company, Zulu Squad - Hospital — Ramstein AFB Germany

I'm still fucking shocked at the treatment by Mrs. Donaldson and I can't believe we are taking her through this fucking hospital death trap. I can only hope we have angels watching over us today and the bastard terrorists don't blow us all to hell.

LCpl. Bascom is covering our six, PFC Slater is pushing the gurney and I'm leading the way. I'm not sure we don't have more terrorist bastards in the hospital so we are taking all the precautions our dignitary demands. The last thing I want is for the Old Man's wife to get captured.

Mrs. Donaldson nicely asks, "Sergeant is there any way we can go faster?"

I motion for my team to stop and say, "Mrs. Donaldson, I know you're in a hurry. But we still need to follow proper procedure to keep you safe."

She smiles at me, gets ready to say something, Then she yells, "No, get the hell away from me!" She lets out a big sigh, seems to pass out and shakes like she's in some sort of seizure."

I look at my men and command, "Shit, we need to get her the fuck out of here and to the medics. Let's haul ass." And we throw all caution to the wind take off like our asses are on fire.

Present — Jens — Surgery Ramstein Air Field Germany

I wake and hear, "Shit we're losing her again!" Then I'm floating in the air above my body again and can't hear anything.

I zoom right out of the operating room, into the waiting room but I only see Liz and Matt. Where the heck is Daddy? I zoom through a couple more rooms and I finally find him. Shoot! They're doing surgery on him again! I take a close look at his monitors and he looks like he's doing well. I slip inside the surgeon, he starts squirming like he has ants in his pants and I giggle because I can sense he feels Daddy's going to be fine.

Well if Daddy's going to be fine, what should I do now? Oh yeah the fat female-dog, I mean mom is here, I wonder if I can find her? I pause for a moment and — yeah I can sort of sense which direction she is from here so I zoom out of Daddy's operating room, out of the triage area and towards the fricken hospital. Didn't I hear the terrorists had some sort of big bomb in the basement? What the heck is she still doing in there?

I flinch when I fly through the hospital walls because I still expect it to hurt and I giggle when it doesn't. I'm well on my way to finding mom when I get distracted and watch in amazement.

Present — Mira — Hospital Ramstein Air Field Germany

I am five hundred meters ahead of the Marines when we reach the hospital and I crash through the doors. I run to the first side door and step inside and wait for them to catch up while I catch my breath. It doesn't take long until I hear them enter the hospital.

One says, "Where the fuck did she go?"

Another replies, "What is she, some sort of track star? Sarge is going to kill us for losing her."

The third says, "Shit, not just the Sarge, did you hear the rest of the guys giving us shit about not being able to keep up with her? We'll never hear the fucking end of this."

I wait for them to pass the door and step out into the hallway behind them. I feel the hair rise on my neck and I look around to see who is watching me, but no one is there. But I cannot shake the feeling that someone is watching me.

I slowly slip up on the last Marine which is easy because they are very noisy and are not following proper military protocol. He never hears or sees me as I grab his head and give him a neck crank, not enough to break his neck, just enough to render him unconscious. I help him slowly slide to the floor and the other two Marines don't even notice. The Sergeant will not be very happy with them when he discovers their incompetence. But this is my plan because I cannot let them see me rescue Ira.

I move to the second Marine and take care of him, but he yells right as I render him unconscious and the first Marine turns back towards me with his rifle pointing right at me and yells, "What the fuck did you just do?"

I smile at him but I know this will not be an easy fight, however my body armor should stop the rounds from his M4. I get ready to attack when something I do not understand happens. The Marine starts squirming like he is being bitten by many bugs then he shakes and falls to the floor. I look around in amazement because I do not understand what has just happened. I go to the Marine and he is alive but unconscious.

I look to the ceiling and say, because I think I have an angel helping me today. The hair goes back down on my neck, and I head towards the basement to find my sister!

Present — Jens — Surgery Ramstein Air Field Germany

It is so much fun watching Mira take care of the Marines. She is a frickin fighting machine! Wow, I'm sure glad I never fought her because she'd kick my rear. I remember her saying her sister was hurt and in the basement of the hospital so she must be trying to rescue her.

She runs into problems with the last Marine and I can see he is getting ready to fire. So I go inside his body and attack him. I have no idea I can do this but I need to do something and it's s-o-o-o-o cool and fun. I can sense he feels he is being attacked by the ants from 7734 and passes out.

Then Mira looks up to the ceiling, right at me and praises God. God? Heck it's me that kicks the last Marines rear - you should thank me!

Uhhhh, I'm so stinkin' tired! Hey! What the heck is going on? I'm being yanked back out of the hospital and ... Shoot! I'm back in my body and...

Present — Samantha — Hospital — Ramstein AFB Germany

"Hello, this is Samantha Stevens of the Truth Network, reporting on the continuing cleanup of the Ramstein hospital. Brave General Donaldson and the Marines have eliminated the terrorist threat and the hospital is once again fully operational."

Yeah, I'm lying through my teeth but we needed to keep the terrorists in the basement in the dark about our knowledge of their evil plans. My phone rings, and I say, "Excuse me one minute; I have an important call from our network."

Bernie kills the audio, I step off camera and answer, "This is Samantha, what do you need?"

"Samantha, this is Darrell. I thought you guys might want a heads up. We picked up some intel that terrorists might be sending some more bastards after Ramstein. I tried calling Liz but I couldn't get through to her, do you know where she is?"

I bite my lip and wonder what's going on with Liz. Then I reply, "Thanks Darrell, I'm not sure what's going on with Liz because she always answers her phone. I think she's at the triage area because Jennifer Donaldson is there undergoing surgery."

Darrell says, "Samantha, you are doing a great job! But we need you to leave Bernie in the hospital to continue the ruse and get over to the triage area. See what's going on with Liz and make sure you give the message about more terrorists to the Marines."

I reply, "Sure will, Darrell. Is there anything else I need to tell Liz?"

I wait and he says, "Yeah have her give me a call. I have some things I need to talk with her about."

I walk over by Bernie as he continues to shoot video and say, "Bernie, Darrell can't get in touch with Liz and wants me to head over to the triage area and find her. He also said there might be more terrorists headed this way."

Bernie answers, "Damn, that's all we need. Get your rear moving, and I will keep shooting video. Take care of yourself."

I take off towards the triage area. I get almost to the door and find three unconscious Marines, it scares the hell out of me and I wonder if the terrorists have already arrived.

Then I hear a crap load of noise behind me around the corner of the hallway. I reach down, take an M4 off one of the unconscious Marines and prepare to fight the terrorists.

Present — Sgt. Anderson - 1^st Battalion 9^th Marines — The Walking Dead - Alpha Company, Zulu Squad - Hospital — Ramstein AFB Germany

We are running through the halls like maniacs to get Mrs. Donaldson to the medics. I round the corner of the hallway, see three Marines on the floor and that young news reporter pointing an M4 at me. I dive to the floor and yell, "Don't fire we're Marines!"

I'm too late and some rounds hit the wall over my head. Then I hear, "Oh crap! I'm so sorry! I almost shot you!"

Damn fucking civilians! I'm sure happy she can't shoot worth shit; otherwise I'd really be the dead part of the walking dead. I stand up, get ready to chew her a new asshole and see she's shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. I walk up to her, take the M4 out of her hands and say, "What the hell went on here?"

She starts crying and blubbering and I can't make any sense out of what she's trying to say. I hug her and say, "It's okay. You didn't hurt me. Now relax and tell me what the hell has you so upset."

I feel her slowly start to calm down. She finally says, "Gee I'm so sorry. I found these three Marines on the floor and thought you were the new group of terrorists that hurt them."

What she says doesn't make total sense to me, plus I've been looking at the Marines and I can't see any physical injuries to them. It looks like something has knocked them out. I need to find out what she is talking about. I ask, "What's this you're saying about a new group of terrorists?"

She takes a deep breath and answers, "My network called and told me there might be more terrorists headed towards Ramstein. I was headed towards the triage area to tell them when I found these Marines just lying here."

We need to get this new intel to the brass as soon as possible. I order, "Bascom, you and Slater figure out some way to get these three Marines out of here. Young lady, I hope you can run like hell and push a gurney at the same time because we need to get this intel to the brass and Mrs. Donaldson to the medics. And since you've already shown me I can't trust you with a weapon, you have to push the gurney."

She answers, "I'll try my best."

I look at her and say, "Don't try, just do! Now let's roll." And we take off running towards the triage area.

Present — Jens — Surgery Ramstein Air Field Germany

Uhhhhhhh! Wow that was a huge struggle getting out of my body again! But I need to find mom and see what's going on with her. I stop just for a second and watch the doctors working on me; they sure get excited every time I leave my body. I don't know why I can come and go as I want and for the most part it doesn't matter what they do.

Now on to mom, I head back into the hospital, past the three Marines, past Mira and I look out and ... ah there she is. She's on a gurney with three Marines escorting her. I watch and the Marines are good, no they're fricken great. Shoot I miss being a Marine and now that I'm dead I never will be again.

I get really close to Mom and think, so you're the fricken-fracken female-dog that almost got Ben killed. I should strangle you right now for all the 7734 you've put the two of us through. My anger gets the best of me and I dive inside her and attack.

Present — Mira — Hospital Ramstein Air Field Germany

I pull out my flashlight when I enter the stairwell to the basement because the lights are out in the hospital and even the backup power is off. I giggle because this sounds like the work of my sister. Even though I want to run down the stairs, I know I cannot because I am sure there are traps on the stairs.

I get one level above the basement and I notice the tripwire on the stairs. I stop, bend down, see how rudimentary it is and quickly disable it. But I become even more cautious, if the bomb was still active on the stairs that means Ira went to the basement some other way. I reach the door to the basement, I touch it then I pull my hand back because something doesn't feel right. I pull out my mobile phone and the snake camera connector, hook them together and slide the snake under the door. It is so dark I cannot see a thing, so I switch the camera mode to night vision, it flickers a couple of times and I can see why things didn't feel right. There are two grenades wired to the door handle. I quickly scan the rest of the room and I can see bodies everywhere.

I decide I cannot waste anymore time so I tie a rope to the door handle, move back away from the door and pull the rope. The door opens the grenades detonate and then I wonder if I made a mistake.

Present — Jens — Surgery Ramstein Air Field Germany

Wow, attacking Mom ended up being a b-i-g mistake! I almost didn't make it back out of her; she-she-she is one scary and messed up woman! Even with all the pooh she did to Ben and me, I still can't help but feel sorry for her. I've questioned before if she was insane and now I have no doubts.

I need to get back to the safety of my body!

Present — Liz — Waiting room Ramstein Air Field Germany

A nurse comes out of surgery and runs right up to me. She says, "Can you tell me where General Donaldson is?"

I jump up and reply, "He's in surgery, what's wrong?"

The nurse answers, "Are you a relative of Ms. Donaldson?"

I reply, "I'm as close to a sister as she has."

She says, "I hate to tell you this, but they're having some complications. Her injuries are much worse than expected and - well I don't know how to put this, we've lost her a couple times. The surgeons are opening her chest to find out what's wrong as we speak."

I start feeling faint and then Matt grabs me and lowers me to the chair. The nurse grabs a bunch of supplies and heads back into the operating room. I start crying and look up towards the ceiling. I don't know whether to curse God or pray to Him.

Matt says, "Come on Liz, we both know Jens and she's a hell of a fighter. She's going to make it through this just fine."

I finally decide to pray and I silently say, "God, I really don't know how to do this. But if you can just find some way to get Jens through this, I promise I will change."

Matt continues to hug me and comfort me and I feel better until Samantha walks into the room.

Present — Samantha — Waiting room Ramstein Air Field Germany

The Sergeant and I make record time getting to the triage area. He takes off towards the C&C tent and I get Mrs. Donaldson to the medics. As they start working on her, I watch for about a minute and it appears they have no idea what's going on with her. So I take off to find Liz.

The minute I walk into the waiting room I realize things must be really bad! Liz looks like a million miles of road in the deepest part of hell. I will need to be careful when I talk to her. Matt's on one side of her, I sit in the other chair, reach around her, give her a big hug and say, "Hey Liz, how are you doing and can I do anything for you?"

She looks at me and says, "Samantha, it's terrible. Jens is in surgery and has died at least twice. Now the doctors are going to open up her chest to see if they can find what her injuries are."

I bite my lip and say, "Liz, Jens is one of the strongest women I know. I'm sure she's going to make it." I remember the message Darrell gave me, but I know I can't tell her right now.

Present — Jens — Surgery Ramstein Air Field Germany

I slowly wake and realize something is going on with Ben! I pop right out of my body, look back and see they have my chest wide open. My mouth drops open as I move closer to get a better look. Wow, that's my heart and those are my lungs and there is fricken blood everywhere! The doctor's hands are flying all over the place and then I feel Ben again. I need to get to my Ben!

I think really hard, and the next thing I know I'm in Ben's room in Walter Reed Army Medical Center. I start to cry when I see my poor man. I look and see he's had surgery on his arm, it's all bandaged up. And Oh Shoot! They have his arms, legs and even his body tied down to the bed. And there are two Marines standing beside his bed watching him. And he's hooked up to some sort of machine, it looks like a pump. I take a close look at it. Those sons-of-a-gun are pumping him full of morphine. I get right over the top of him and look into his eyes but something doesn't seem right.

I look and I see he has moved his arm in such a way he's not getting any of the darn poison in his arm. My sneaky devil-dog, he's trying to do something. Well, there's only one way I know to figure out what's going on, so I go right inside his body and start to sense his feelings.

Mmmm he loves me s-o-o-o-o-o much, and wow he's in a heck-of-a lot of pain and — that sneaky fricken devil-dog he's planning on escaping and — I start to cry — he's going to come. Even in all the pain he's in, he's going to come and rescue me.

I'm just getting really comfortable when Oh My God! What the heck did he just do! No he didn't! He just pooped his pants on purpose. It stinks like heck and the smell forces me out of his body.

This is an emergency, because Ben's going to be hurt if he tries what he's planning. I think hard, trying to get back to my body, but this time it doesn't work. What the heck is going on? I guess if I can't make it back one way, I will have to fly back to Ramstein and my body. I zoom out of the hospital room and head over the ocean. I have to stop Ben before he makes a huge mistake.

Present — Mira — Hospital Ramstein Air Field Germany

Yes I make a mistake. The grenades detonate part of the basement bomb and I am not far enough away. The blast slams me into the wall, I stumble to my feet slightly dazed and confused. My hearing is shot but I my eyes are closed so at least I can still see. I take my flashlight and stumble towards the place where the door used to be; now it's a huge gaping hole in the basement.

I shine the light through the hole and all I see is mass carnage everywhere. I yell, "Ira where are you?" and listen but cannot hear anything." I push aside some debris and stumble into the basement. I shine my light and finally I see her. She is on her back at the foot of the stairs. I rush to her, shine the light on her and see her faintly smile at me. She says something but I can't hear her so is say, "Ira my ears are ringing, please speak louder." She says it again and I hear her, "Mira I knew you would come for me."

I lean over, kiss her on the cheek and say, "Ira we need to get you out of here. Tell me what happened to you."

"Mira, I eliminated all the terrorists but was tired. I slipped on the stairs and fell very hard on my back. I think I made a mess out of my ribs."

I am very concerned as I ask, "Can you move your legs?

She answers, "Yes Mira, it just hurts me very much when I move my legs or arms."

I am thankful because I was worried her rib might have damaged her spinal cord. I say, "Ira, it is going to hurt you very much when I move you."

"Mira, I know you will be gentle."

I slowly slip my arms under her, start to pick her up, she lets out a moan and passes out. I stand up, walk towards the hole where the door used to be and carry my wounded sister to the stairs. I then begin the long climb to get her to safety.

Present — Liz — Waiting room Ramstein Air Field Germany

It takes awhile and just start feeling better with the support of Matt and Samantha when the operating room door opens and a surgeon walks out. I feel my heart sink in my chest as he walks up to me and says, "Ms. Morgan, I'm really very, very sorry. We did all we could but, it just didn't seem like she had the will to live anymore."

I start crying and say, "I want to see her."

He takes me into the operating room and I see the whole surgery team standing by the back wall. Then I see Jens on the table, she's all cleaned up and disconnected from all the machines. She looks so peaceful. I fall on top of her and continue crying. The surgeon has his arm on my back and is comforting me. I silently curse God for letting her die!

Then Jens' body moves, she takes a huge breath and I hear her whisper, "Liz, you really shouldn't be cursing God that way. And you're such a nasty horndog. Shame on you for thinking those sexy things about Ben. But thanks for giving me some great ideas to use on our honeymoon."