The War and Clem Forrest

Clem Forrest heard the planes while eating breakfast. He went outside and watched a squadron of enemy bombers and their fighter escorts flying north. Their likely target was Siler City, fifty miles north. A large group of Arcon fighter planes flew south to intercept them. He might see a good air battle today.

The war between Estova and Arcon was in its second year and it was hard to tell who was winning. The news said Arcon was, but the bombing raids of the enemy told a different story. Slier City was getting bombed twice a week, and this was another daytime bombing raid.

Clem was too old to serve, so he raised corn and cattle for Arcon's war effort. He didn't have any kids and his wife died of cancer before the war. He was away from the fighting, but there was the menace of the cropdusters.

Cropdusters were small, maneuverable Estovan planes that flew low and sprayed poisons to kill crops and livestock. The Arcon Home Guard had armed half tracks patrolling the countryside for cropdusters, but they had limited success. He heard stories from other farmers about the cropduster's devastation and he figured it would be a matter of time before they visited his farm.

In the distance Clem saw several bursts of black smoke and the distant booms of anti-aircraft fire bloom around the enemy bombers. The Estovan fighter escorts zoomed ahead and started engaging the Arcon fighters.

The battle went for a few minutes and Clem watched a enemy bomber take a direct hit. The plane broke in half and did a slow decent to the ground. He saw three parachutes. He heard the Estovan bombers had a crew of seven.

Clem almost didn't hear the low buzz of the cropduster coming from the east. He turned to see the plane make a low approach towards his cornfield on the other side of the road. Watching helplessly as the cropduster bore down on the cornfield, He heard the chatter of anti-aircraft fire above the cropduster's engine and noticed some of the bullets slam into the wings and fuselage. The cropduster belched black smoke from the back of the engine and violently yaw to the left before crashing in his field 100 yards away.

Clem watched the smoke and flames rise from the wreckage masked by the tall corn. He didn't see a parachute and figured the pilot was either dead or wounded. He ran into the house, grabbed his rifle and took a position behind an open window that gave him a good view of the cornfield, just in case the pilot did survive.

A couple of minutes later the cropduster pilot came out of the cornfield, dazed and bloodied. Clem thought he saw a half-track approach the wreckage, but his focus was on the pilot. Clem aimed his rifle at the pilot, a young looking man in his early twenties. A gun was on his hip. He walked with a limp towards Clem's house with no emotion.

Clem had the advantage, but he felt his heart pounding. He never shot a gun in anger, just hunting and target shooting. He hoped the Home Guard would arrive, but that wasn't likely. The pilot crossed the road onto Clem's property, still dazed.

Clem hoped the pilot would pass out, but he kept walking towards the house. The pilot was about 20 feet away when Clem yelled in the pilot's language, "Halt! Fall to the ground. Now!"

The pilot either didn't hear him or didn't care. He kept limping towards the window. Clem didn't want to shoot him, but if the pilot went for his gun, he would. The pilot was fifteen feet away.

Clem noticed a ball in the pilot's right hand. As the pilot fell to his knees, he used the last of his strength to throw it towards the window.

It wasn't a ball, it was a grenade. Clem didn't realize he shot the pilot until after he fired. He heard the grenade thunk against the house. He fell to the floor and curled into a ball before the grenade exploded.

A few minutes later a squad of Home Guard soldiers found Clem injured, but alive. He spent two weeks in a hospital recovering from a concussion, temporary hearing loss and a few cuts and bruises. Once in a while he would think about the young cropduster pilot he had to kill, a reminder the war had come to Clem Forrest.