Chapter 16

  Five minutes after they left the crash site, gunfire erupted behind them, and they instantly stopped and turned around. They paused for just a moment and then moved out again. Two minutes later, they heard a massive explosion. The pilot had set off the claymores. The Huey went up in a fireball that also took out four NVA soldiers who had gotten too close. After the blast, Jesse immediately rechecked his watch. They didn’t have much time before they were overrun by the enemy.

  Captain Hung was on point, and he turned to look at Jesse and the other men behind him.

  “That was close. They’ll do a perimeter check, and it won’t take long to find our trail. And after that, they’ll move quickly. There’s not much more than thirty minutes before the sun is down, and I’m sure we will be engaged before that.”

  They all nodded in agreement and picked up the pace. The men made good time despite the terrain being anything but smooth. Ten minutes later, they came upon a partially dry feeder stream and headed down the steep incline to the bottom. Jesse took the lead this time, and Shawn, who was the least injured, helped Dang down the slope.

  Climbing the opposite side of the wash proved more difficult than going down. Dang was exhausted from the climb that was ten feet higher than the opposite bank. When they all reached the top, they stopped to rest. They had traveled just over a klick from the downed chopper, yet it seemed that they had traveled twice that far. It had taken thirty minutes to travel that distance despite the thick underbrush, uneven terrain, and the added disadvantage of an injured man. Time was running out, and they knew it. Hung was right about one thing: they didn’t have to wait long.

  Jesse and Hung worked on Dang’s splint again while Shawn kept a sharp eye on the opposite bank forty yards away. Dang’s calf had swollen to almost twice its size, yet he didn’t complain.

  *****

  Long shadows were beginning to form in the dense jungle when the first soldier appeared without a sound. He was quickly followed by another, then another. If they moved down the incline, they would be exposed in the open wash, and they were very aware of that fact. Finally, after looking over the entire opposite bank, the three soldiers started down the incline. When they were almost at the bottom, Shawn aimed his thumper and fired. The grenade was a direct hit, and the blast instantly killed two NVA soldiers and severely wounded the third. Two more enemy soldiers had just started down the incline when the grenade went off. They returned fire almost immediately, but not knowing the location of the shooter, they simply sprayed the opposite ridge with rifle fire. Shawn reloaded the thumper and fired again, taking out the two on the steep incline. Now, the entire opposite side of the wash came alive with heavy return fire from AK 47-assault rifles, machine guns, and mortar rounds. All four men took cover behind the ridge as the vegetation around them disintegrated over their heads. Trees were stripped bare of leaves, and mortar rounds fell all around them. Luckily, none came close enough to do any damage.

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  Jesse grabbed the M60 and slithered into a hole close to the bank's edge. He placed the barrel over the edge and looked for muzzle blasts on the opposite bank. He found a tight-knit group and opened fire. While Jesse opened up with the machine gun, Hung and Shawn fired grenades from their thumpers, and Tang crawled next to Jesse and opened up with an M16. With Hung and his men holding the higher ground, the battle turned when the thumpers and the M60 started to take their toll on the enemy below. After a brief ten-minute battle, the guns became quiet as the enemy fell back into almost complete darkness. Hung regrouped with his man to assess the damages. Finding everyone intact, he said.

  “They’ll try and outflank us now; we need to keep moving just to stay ahead of them. How are we doing for ammo?”

  “We’ll have to leave the 60. It’s almost out of ammo,” Jesse said. Shawn looked at the grenade situation and said, “We’ve got about ten grenades left and about 500 rounds for the M16s. Another firefight like that, and we’ll be down to pistols and knives. From the return fire, I think we just ran into a squad, not anything larger. We probably took out at least half of them.”

  “I agree. We’ll need to find a good spot to rest before it’s completely dark. I don’t want to be overrun. How many rounds for the 60?” Hung asked.

  “About thirty,” Jesse answered.

  “Ok, disable it, and let’s move out.”

  Hung checked his map and plotted out the fastest route to Xuan Loc. Moving as quickly as possible over the rugged terrain, they made better time with the lightened load. They had covered almost another klick without further enemy engagement before they found a natural funnel between two small hills, and they stopped to rest. Hung found a spot up against a cliff and heavy boulders for cover.

  “We will rest here for ten minutes,” Dang said softly.

  After they settled in, Jesse pulled out his flask and passed it around. Hung and Dang politely turned down his offer, but Shawn grinned as he put his back against a hard rock and accepted the flask from Jesse.

  “Thanks, man; I could really use a drink right now.”

  “Amen to that,” Jesse said with a sigh.

  Shawn took a long drink and handed the flask back to Jesse, who took a short pull. All the men were quiet for a while, and then Hung started to speak quietly in his native language with Dang.

  Jesse and Shawn said nothing for the longest time until Shawn spoke up. “I’ve been thinking about what you said about Sanders and that letter you saw in his hand.”

  When Shawn didn’t continue, Jesse pushed the issue. “Okay, so what the hell are you thinking?” Wondering why Shawn was even thinking about that, given their current circumstances.

  “You said that his demeanor seemed to change when he saw Jeffery and Sydney and that he hid the envelope in the cargo hold.”

  “Okay, so what’s your point?”

  “Well, I think you were right about Jeffery. I don’t think he would hurt a fly, but that just leaves Sydney. I hate to say this, but do you think she had anything to do with Jensen’s death?”

  Jesse said nothing for a moment, then handed the flask to Shawn.

  “I hate to admit it…but that thought did cross my mind.”