One Soldier
I walked
along the path, pausing a moment to wipe away the sweat that was starting to
drip into my eyes and blur my vision. I could hear the heavy breathing from the
other seven men on the Tiger-team.
The
crunching of the other men's feet on the ground were a little too close for my
own comfort, so I tried to speed up a little. The footsteps behind me sped up
as well, until one of the new ones was right behind me.
"Look,
either fucking let me walk ahead or get back," I told him in an irritated
tone. "They're more likely to shoot as us if we're clustered than if we're
far apart."
The man--
more like a boy, really-- who was behind me dropped back a few paces, though he
didn't say anything. Some of the others did, though.
"Hey,
you're gonna take orders from him? Not as if he's the fucking lieutenant or
some other shit, just another lowly one of us. He doesn't rule this
place."
"You
fuck, if you want to get killed, that's your business," I snapped at him.
"But just don't take me with you."
"We're
all going to die in this fucking war anyway. Just a matter of when."
He was
sneering, but I knew that if I looked back I'd see hopelessness in his eyes. A
bit of it was in his voice.
"Shut
up." I didn't look back. "If you want to survive this long, then
spread out. I've been here a year, I know that I'm talkin' about."
The rest
of the way where we were going, it was pretty quiet. I guess all of us were
pretty nervous about the ambush. Even after all this time, it didn't get any
easier.
It was
dark when we got there. "Alright, guys, we're splitting up. Four groups,
keep together and watch each other's backs."
One of the
new guys stared. "But it's fucking nighttime! We have to go with one other
person?"
Nobody said
anything as we split up. Walking through the enemy camp, at night, I was scared
shitless, and unless someone was insane the rest were too. I grasped my rifle
so tightly that my fingers began to lose circulation as I crept along in front
of my partner.
I heard
the sound of a gun going off before I saw anything. I spun around as I tried to
figure out where it was coming from. My eyes fell on my partner, Yen. He was
clutching his side, where I could see blood coming out. I rushed over to try
and help him, when I heard firing again, close. I stood up, trying to find out
where it was coming from, and jogged out a few yards
I heard a
gasping from behind me. "Please," I heard Yen gasp in a broken voice.
"Please, don't leave, just say here, please!"
I went over
and knelt beside him. "I'll come back, I promise." With that I got up
again and tried to find where the shooting was coming from. I didn't see
anybody--
Suddenly I
saw a head dart out of the ground with a gun. Staring, I realized that they
must have some sort of trenches dug... In the middle of a village? I
wondered. Hesitating a moment, I went over to the hole. Seeing the commanding
officer, I ran over to him.
"They
have some sort of underground tunnel system," I told him breathlessly.
"Yes,
I noticed," the lieutenant said tiredly. "Listen carefully; we need
to flush the bastards out. Get in there and make 'em come out. Or kill
them."
I held my
breath, nodding. I'd have to crawl, so my rifle would do no good. I made sure
that my shotgun was accessible, and went over to the hole. By now there were
the sounds of guns going off left and right. There were probably men-- the
enemy-- right inside this hole. One? Two? Ten? I didn't know, though I would in
a moment. Could I survive?
I watched
as one of the Vietcong fell to the ground, injured. None of the people even on
his own side seemed to care at all. They'd abandon their own in a second, so I
knew that they'd spare no pity or mercy with me.
With the
knowledge that I might not survive, I descended into the tunnels.