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Posts: 4011
Join Date: May 2005
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JOHNNY REB
And the Maverick Men
In
‘The Clockwork Atoll’ Part 1.
Character Created by Tim Frady / Story by Wayne Clayton
“Hey, Vinnie will you slow down? I’m trying to load film back here.” Shutterbug ‘s voice was almost lost with the sound of the rushing wind.
The noise wasn’t helping him concentrate either. It was hard enough trying to feed the film into the spool of the camera, blind inside his thick black velvet bag, yet alone been banged up and down in the back of the bag of bolts Vinnie claimed was a Jeep.
“Quit ya complaining, you’re lucky the Capt. dragged you along at all after what happened in Stalingrad” Yelled Vinnie over his shoulder.
‘Shutterbug’ Jones looked up, his face almost white. He lifted the darkroom bag to his face, fearful to remove his hands just in case light got in and spoiled the film and pushed his round rimmed glasses back on to the bridge of his nose.
“That wasn’t my fault and you know it.” “Anyway I missed didn’t I.”
“ Sure you missed, Lucky for us you’re the lousiest shot in the God damn United States Army. No wonder they gave you a camera to shoot with” Vinnie smiled as he score a direct hit on Jones’s already flagging ego.
Shutterbug opened his mouth, but the Capt. broke in.
“Will you lovebirds stop your yakking for a moment, we need to be at the crash site before the big guns move in”
The Capt pointed over to a rise in the far off distance. Then settled back into his bucket seat.
Vinnie obeyed and letting go off the steering wheel leaned out over the door well, grabbing firmly on to the sill for dear life as he poked his head out under the Jeep.
“Johnny, Capt wants us to set down on that Atoll over there”
“Hold tight” Johnny Reb pitched his shoulder down and the Jeep which he carried on his wide strong back leaned into a steep graceful dive down though the clean crisp air towards the sun soaked island far below.
It was 1946 and the war was over, but for some the battle was only just beginning. The world was changing and so too had the enemy. For men like the Mavericks the war still was fresh in the blood. They hadn’t stopped fighting. They couldn’t. They didn’t want the adventure to end. Maybe that’s why they had enlisted to join the Maverick Men in the first place.
Sure each of them had their own reasons but behind it all the simple truth was they wanted to make a difference. They wanted to be every bit as much as a hero as Johnny Reb. To fight the good fight. But in times of peace those battles were getting harder to find. But when you signed up to be a Maverick Man you jumped to the head of the queue.
“Ok men get ready for dust off” barked Captain Travis as Johnny Reb zeroed in on the landing site. The three men on board the Jeep braced themselves for the landing. Beneath them Johnny flew in low and straightened his legs to cushion the impact.
With the hot solid earth under his feet Johnny gently set the Jeep down. And seconds later the three Mavericks were hitting the ground running finding what cover they could before the dust settled. Only Johnny remained standing in the open.
The atoll was ‘hot’ even though the natives had been evacuated just weeks before the impact was due. Johnny and Mavericks mission was simple, find the crash site and report what they found. But as always, things were never that simple. This was no ordinary island. And in just twenty-four hours all hell was going to break loose.
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Good stuff! 
