Oh Suzannah, Don't You Cry For Me

Chapter Twenty: The Graduation March

School's over! I apologize for the bit of a wait. Finals are finally over and I should have more free time this summer. Here's a new chapter! Enjoy! :)

Congrats to all the graduates out there! This chapter's for you! :D

Chapter Twenty: The Graduation March

Lemay and Garcia were not kicked out of the army. Instead, two MPs joined the barracks and watched every training session to make sure Lemay and Garcia behaved. Extra duties kept their schedule too busy to have time to bother Suzie.

After everything that happened in the past few months, Suzie allowed herself to celebrate the small victory. She slept better at night and her energy showed in training. It must have impressed Stone enough to send her, Richard, Miguel Vazquez—the winner of the fighting tournament and the first man to earn a promotion in Suzie's unit—and two other soldiers in her unit to search and recapture escaped German prisoners.

Early morning at the beginning of March, the small group drove out of the camp to find the escaped prisoners. Armed each with their issued handguns, a small supply of water and food, first aid kits, and supplies for the prisoners, the group followed Vazquez's lead toward the nearest town, Abilene, where the prisoners hid.

When they reached the outskirts of Abilene, Miguel turned the Jeep's engine off and ordered everyone out of the vehicle.

"Okay, soldiers. Lieutenant Stone put me in charge, so here's what we're gonna do." Vazquez stood in front of the quartet and waited for everyone to nod. "The Germans are probably not armed, but for the safety of the citizens of Abilene, we must assume they are armed, dangerous, and unwilling to return. Barnes and Miller, I want you to go to the right. The rest of you are coming with me to the left. We'll meet back here in two hours, prisoners or not. Any questions?"

"No sir!" the group chorused.

"Good. Check back here in two hours and be careful. We don't want to have any panicked citizens," Miguel said.

Suzie and Richard saluted and headed southeast, following the curve of the city's limits. Vazquez led the other two soldiers in the opposite direction.

On high alert, Suzie brought out her handgun while Richard struggled with a map of Abilene. The wind kept blowing the large map and dust into Richard's face. A mile into scouting the outskirts of the city, Richard dropped to the ground in frustration and pinned the unruly map onto the dirt underneath his hands and knees.

"Our first mission and I can't even handle the map," Richard complained. "If I were an escaped prisoner, where would I be?"

Standing over him while scanning the map, Suzie said, "I'd probably pick somewhere secluded but easy to access. It'd also be near food and water."

A moment passed while the duo scanned the map for any possible hideouts. The wind tugged at the corners of the map, threatening to pull it from Richard's grasp.

"What about the park?" Richard said. He pointed at the central park of the city. "It's near the grocery store so they could get food and whatnot. There's shelter too."

"I don't know," Suzie said. "It's not that secluded but we can try."

"If we take this route," Richard said while tracing his finger over the map, "we can reach it without walking right through the city. The fewer people we bother, the better."

"Sounds good."

Not bothering to fold the map again, Richard balled it up and shoved it into his pants pocket, much to Suzie's discomfort.