To Hell With Hell

To Hell With Hell

A Short Story by Bob Headrick

Chapter 1

Peter Maxwell was recently promoted to Platoon Sergeant of 1^st Platoon, A Company in the 82^nd Airborne and they were going on their last mission before cycling home.

It was hot and humid as it always seemed to be in Vietnam, everyone in the company was tired and excited to be one week away from leaving this hell hole of a country. And, everyone was scared they would get wounded or killed on this last mission, the anger and resentment of having to do one last sweep and clear mission so close to getting out of danger was frustrating everyone from the Captain down.

It took two days to advance to their forward area of operation from their staging area. Two days for advancing through rice paddies and jungles, it seemed that was all there was in this God forsaken country.

That night as the Company established its base camp and set out its pickets; Max, as he was known within 1^st Platoon; set out five two man rifle teams on their perimeter. Just after midnight as he was making a last check of the pickets there was a flash of light and explosions as grenades went off all around the area followed by wild yelling and the report of AK47s. Bullets were whizzing past Max who was half way between two pickets when he hit the ground. He could hear the shouts and sporadic firing of his men’s M16s, as he lay prone he raised the barrel of his weapon and started firing.

In seconds he knew that they would be overrun and he called out to his pickets to fall back. He knew that they had to get back to their first defensive line or they would be caught between the two fighting forces. Max raised up and turned to fallback when he felt the bullet strike him under his left arm, he knew it was a kill shot, as he fell back he raised his rifle and fired a burst at the advancing Vietcong. As he hit the ground a passing Vietcong shot him again hitting him in the right shoulder.

Everything when black but Max could still hear the screaming, slowly he realized that the pain of his wounds while excruciating was not debilitating and the sounds of yelling and agony were not the sounds of combat. It was pitch black, he could not see anything but he was alive, he could move his arms and legs. As he tried to rollover to get up he felt the oppressive weight of the darkness, his chest and shoulder hurt but he was able to use his arm. “Wow!” he thought, “I’m alive, I thought that first shot hit my heart, I can’t believe that I’m alive.” He tried to push up onto his hands and knees but there was no resistance from the ground.

Max realized that something was seriously wrong, he knew he was lying on the ground but he could not actually feel it any longer. When he tried to push himself up his arms just when straight out and his knees came up toward his upper body but there was nothing under them. He felt like he was floating in a heavy black something that he could not describe.

Then it dawned on him that the sounds of anguish that he heard all around were not just from men but from men and women. But, there were no women in the combat zone, unless they were Vietcong. But they were not the sounds of combat, no guns firing or grenade explosions just moaning and wailing, “Yes, wailing?” he thought, “What the hell?” “YES” “Who’s that?” Max called out, the voice that said “YES” was creepy scary like a really bad nightmare. “Who’s there?” he called out, but no one answered. He realized that he was not hearing with his ears, but was hearing inside his head, that made no sense.

Max could still hear the wailing and moaning of others so he called out, “My name is Pete Maxwell, who else is here, Johnston, Rodriguez, anybody?” There was no answer just the continuous droning of wailing and moaning. As fear began to creep into Max’s mind he called out, “What’s happening where am I?”

Chapter 2

“HELL” the creepy voice said, “What!?” Max said. “HELL, YOU ARE IN HELL.” answered the creepy voice. Max was stunned, “Hell?” he thought, “than I really am dead.” “YES YOU REALLY ARE DEAD AND IN HELL.” Max thought, “How, why, what did I do to deserve to be in hell?” “YOU WERE KILLED AND NOW YOU ARE IN HELL.” “Wh.., who are you?” Max asked; “I AM THE ONE WHOSE PUNISHMENT IT IS TO TORMENT YOU UNTIL THE JUDGMENT.”

“How is it your punishment to torment me, I don’t understand?” “MY PUNISHMENT IS TO BE STUCK HERE WITH YOU AND TORMENT YOU AND LISTEN TO YOUR WAILING AND TEETH NASHING AND MOANING UNTIL THE JUDGMENT.” “But, why am I in hell and being tormented? I believe in God.” “HA! YES, SO DO I, IN FACT I KNEW GOD FACE TO FACE.” “So why are you here?” “THE SAME REASON AS YOU.” “Which is?” “I REJECTED GOD’S WILL FOR MY EXISTANCE.” Every time the voice said God Max could hear its anguish. “Wait I never knew God had a will for my existence so how can I be in hell and tormented for what I did not know?”

“DID YOU NOT KNOW THE SON OF GOD?” “You mean Jesus?” “AWWWWWWWWWWW! I CANNOT STAND TO HEAR THAT NAME!” Suddenly Max was withering in painful agony, the screeching sound in his mind was unbearable and it seemed like it would never end. Then just as suddenly the terrible agony ended and Max found himself panting, “Why am I panting?” he thought I’m dead and I don’t breath.

“CORRECT, YOU ARE DEAD AND YOUR BODY IS STILL ON THE EARTH, BUT YOUR SOUL WILL FEEL WHAT THE BODY FELT UNTIL THE JUDGMENT.” “What is this judgment you keep talking about?” “IT IS THE LAST DAYS JUDGMENT OF ALL CREATURES BEFORE THE ONE TRUE AND ALMIGHTY GOD.” Max could hear the torment in the voice as it said “the one true and almighty God”. “What do I do to get out of here?” “THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO GET OUT OF HELL!”

“Wait a minute, I was a good person! I may have drank, smoked and cussed, but I never murdered anyone or robbed or raped or any serious crime.” “EVEN SO THAT IS NOT WHY YOU ARE HERE. YOU ARE HERE BECAUSE YOU DID NOT BELIEVE IN THE SON OF GOD.” Again Max could hear the agony in the voice when it said “son of God.”

“That can’t be all there is? A person lives and when they die they go to hell for not believing in Jesus.” Suddenly Max was overwhelmed again by the intense screeching in his mind when it subsided and he was panting again, he asked, “So if I call on the name of Jesus now He won’t save me?” “!NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” screamed the voice and the screeching agony in Max’s mind returned. But in the midst of the agony of the screeching Max heard another voice say, “YES HE WILL.” “!NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” screamed the first voice. “NO! YOU CANNOT TAKE HIM HE IS MINE TO TORMENT UNTIL THE JUDGMENT!” “YOUR LORD AND MASTER WILL DO AS HE WILLS, HE HAS PLANS FOR THIS ONE WHO WAS NOT MEANT TO DIE NOW!”

Chapter 3

Max was suddenly pain free and seeming to float in a cloud of white, he still had no tactile feel for any surface around him he just was floating in comfort. The second voice said, “PETER MAXWELL, YOUR CREATOR AND REDEEMER, THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY HAS CALLED YOU FOR THE PURPOSE OF SERVING HIS ETERNAL KINGDOM. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO EXCEPT THIS CALL, YOU CAN RETURN TO HELL AND WAIT FOR THE DAY OF JUDGMENT OR YOU CAN RETURN TO YOUR BODY AND GIVE YOUR LIFE TO THE SERVICE OF JESUS THE ONE WHO REDEEMS FROM DAMNATION THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN HIM AND CONFESS HIM AS SAVIOR BEFORE MEN.”  

Max was stunned silent he did not know what to think or say, he mulled what had just happened to him and the conversations he had with the two voices, it was incomprehensible that God had a plan for his life and was going to give him another chance to live it. “What about my wounds?” he asked; “THEY WILL HEAL OVER TIME.”  “But, I’ll live?” “YES IF YOU SERVE JESUS WITH ALL YOUR LIFE YOU WILL LIVE A LONG LIFE.”  “Ok, what do I do now?” “TRUST!” “Trust?”

Max was in the dark again, but not the pitch black darkness of hell, he was in tremendous pain in his chest and shoulder, he felt cold and he could hear the sounds of people moving around and talking in low voices. He could not understand what was being said so he didn’t know if they were Americans or Vietcong. He lay there thinking, “Ok God, what happens now?”

Max felt someone kneel down at his side he kept as still as he could, then he heard, “Hey its Sergeant Maxwell, he’s alive! Quick get a medic!” Max opened his eyes and saw the face of a Corporal from 2^nd Platoon, Max smiled through his pain as the relief flowed through him, but he couldn’t say a word.

Chapter 4

Three months later Max was at home with his family still recovering from his wounds. He had received a medical retirement with a 50 percent disability but even more miraculous was what the doctor who treated him at the evac hospital said about his chest wound.

The doctor told him that the bullet must have passed through his heart and lodged in his breastbone, but there was no damage to his heart, it was perfect. The doctor had told him that, “Where the bullet entered under your left arm and its track on both sides of your heart showed that it had to pass through your heart, but your heart is perfect, it was a miracle!” Mac had tried to tell the doctor about his death experience but the doctor had just shrugged his shoulders and said, “Whatever you want to believe, but you should be dead and in the grave.”

So after his three weeks of rehab at Fort Sam Houston he was back home and trying to adjust. Telling his wife, Cindy, had been difficult because she was Jewish by birth but did not practice the religion. Now Max wanted to go to a church to find out about Jesus and she was totally against it. She had been raised to believe that Jesus was not the Messiah but a false prophet and that Christians hated Jews for killing Him. So, Max was now learning how to pray by trial and error as he sought how to find out what God’s will for his life was.

He was going to the local VA Clinic for his outpatient physical rehab of his right shoulder twice a week, where he met a WWII veteran who volunteered at the clinic, who was a Christian, Sam Johnson. Sam was a great help for Max, but he still had so many questions, he was reading the Bible daily and some of it made sense but much of it was still a mystery.

Max was on his way, he started going to the church Sam attended, after six months Cindy and their two children started attending too when they realized that Max was really a better man and was serious about serving God. By the end of the year his whole family was saved and they were all growing in faith and hope in the Lord Jesus. Another victory for the One True GOD and His Son Jesus Christ.