the Last Run (1987) (18 page)

"Quit?" said Thumper, already seeing the answer in the soldier's eyes. 4 4I thought you probably would. I just wanted to check to see if my hunch was right."

Thumper turned to leave, feeling a twinge of sadness. 4'No sense you hangin' around to run. The first time you give another Ranger instructor one of your 'give a shit' looks, you'll be out on your ass ... if not knocked on it." Thumper began to walk for the door and motioned to the soldier's equipment.4'Might as well pack your bags. You'll be gone by noon tomorrow."

"Fuck you," growled Stecker.

Thumper spun around. "Pack 'em now! You're out!"

Stecker jumped to his feet in rage. "Fine! You assholes in your berets make me sick anyway! You all walkin' around like you're somethin' special, and you ain't shit! I got more experience than most of ya, and you treat me like a fuckin' cherry!"

Thumper glared. "So that's it? You thought you'd just come here and get handed a beret? You expected to volunteer for the Rangers and that'd automatically make you one? Well, I got news. It's a helluva lot more than that."

"Says you! I got plenty of experience in the bush. I'm the best 60 gunner around and could go out on a patrol right now. But no. You assholes wanna play stupid-ass games and go on runs that don't mean nothin'."

Thumper turned his back and walked for the door. He wasn't going to waste his time any longer. He began to push the door open but stopped himself. He remembered when he'd first arrived at Penn State to play football. He'd been the most sought after high school fullback in the state and had thought the team would accept him with open arms. They hadn't. In fact, it seemed the coaches and older players wanted to get rid of him by the way they rode him. He'd thought he was good and would easily make the team, but he was almost cut the second day out. The head coach had told him, "Meeks, you have an attitude problem. You think you're good. You were, in high school, but this isn't high school. You're either going to play our way and change your attitude or you're gone."

Thumper knew Stecker had something strong inside of him that made him compete against the Indian. It was that something that separated some men from others-something that was worth saving.

Thumper turned around to try. "Do you know how to use 'resection' when you're trying to find your location on a map? How about the bursting radius of a Mark-82? Okay, an easy one. What is a salute report message?"

Stecker mumbled a "Screw you" and sat down on his bunk.

Thumper stepped closer, pointing his finger at the redhead's face. "No, Mister Experience, I'm not letting you off so easy. Answer the questions. Do you know any of them?"

Stecker shook his head with disgust. "Games, man. You're playin' games and it don't mean nothin'."

"It isn't games! You can't answer simple questions that any Ranger could. You can't navigate in the jungle without reading a map, and resection is used to pinpoint your exact location by using a compass. You can't call in air support if you don't know where you are, and you sure as hell can't drop bombs, Mark-82s, unless you know their bursting radius, or they'll splatter you or the team. You spot some dinks but you can't tell higher headquarters over the radio because you don't know how to use the salute report format. S-a-l-u-t-e-size, activity, location, unit, time, and equipment.

"Woodpecker, you may be good in the field, but you aren't a Ranger. You gotta know everything I just told you and a helluva lot more. Tracking, advanced first aid, artillery, and gunship fire adjustment, enemy weapons and uniforms, radio codes, ambush techniques . . . shit, I could go on, but I think you get the idea,"

Stecker's intense gaze met Thumper's. "And runnin'? What the hell does that teach?"

"It tells us who really wants to be here and who doesn't. It tells us who's weak and who'd flake out of a mission. You saw the ones that fell out today. Would you want them on your team?"

Stecker lowered his head. "No. But why you-all gotta be such assholes? There's other ways to get your point across."

"Charlie is an even bigger asshole, and he gets his point across with an AK-47. We don't have time to be nice guys and convince you this training is necessary. You either accept it or you don't."

Stecker sat silent for a moment, pondering Thumper's words. At last he said, "You reckon you could at least call me Stecker instead of Woodpecker? My buddies in my old unit called me 'Woody.'"

"Sure, maggot, I could, but I won't. Woodpecker is to remind you you're in this unit.... Now, what's it gonna be? You wanna be 'Woody' in a leg unit or 'Woodpecker' with us?"

Stecker stood up and sighed. "I guess Woodpecker ain't that bad." He held out his hand. "Thanks."

Thumper ignored the gesture and walked for the door. "Don't thank me. You haven't made it yet. . . maggot."

Woodpecker snickered. "I will . . . and I'm beatin' that ragbag, too."

Unseen by the redhead was Thumper's smile as he said to himself, "Thanks, coach," and headed for his hootch.

Highway 1

Matt Wade sat outside, leaning against the bamboo frame of the hootch and holding the .38 on his lap. The old couple and the boy were sleeping behind the rest station store in their thatch- covered hut.

Wade took in a deep breath of the cool night air and quiedy got to his feet. He walked into the hut, knelt by the sleeping woman, and nudged her gendy. She didn't stir. Wade poked her harder and put his hand over her mouth, whispering, "Be quiet and get up."

Her eyes opened wide and she sprang up.

"Shhh! Get your stuff and follow me."

"Why?" she whispered.

"We're moving to another place to sleep in case the dinks come sneakin' around."

She quickly balled up her poncho liner and followed him. Wade walked for several hundred meters to a slight rise and spread out his poncho.

"We'll sleep here and go back when it gets light."

Wade laid down and put the .38 by his head. The woman laid down beside him and spread the poncho over them both. Wade looked up at the stars for a moment, then shut his eyes.

"Wade?"

"Yeah?"

"Eh . . . I. . . well, I just wanted to thank you for taking care of me. I know I seemed bitchy at times, but I just didn't know what to do. ... I know you acted mean to make me angry so I'd forget what happened but . . . but, well, you got me through it and I appreciate it. If I can do something . . . Wade? . . . Wade? . . . \VadeT'

"Huh . . . what?"

"Did you hear anything I just said?"

"Huh?"

"Go back to sleep. I just said 'thank you.' "

The sergeant turned his back to her and sighed tiredly. "No sweat."

For several minutes she lay in silence, listening to his breathing and trying to understand why he bothered her so. It had to be the way he looked at her. His eyes never seemed to see her as a woman, only as a burden. The first time she looked into those eyes in the mess hall, they seemed to be absorbing rather than seeing her. It was like he was reading her life's history in a book. Later, when he sat down, she'd caught him staring again, but then his look was strange and distant. From that moment on, he'd never looked at her in any other way.

Virginia snuggled closer to him, putting her arm over his waist. "No sweat" was all he'd given her in return for her gratitude, but she needed more-even if she couldn't understand why. Well, tomorrow was another day.

Chapter 8

7 September

Thanh Van Vuong stirred the embers of the small fire and pushed the blackened pot closer to the coals.

Pham Do Kinh rose from his hammock and squatted down by the fire. "Do we have enough to buy the ducks?"

Vuong glanced at the two large stacks of cinnamon next to his hammock. "One more tree should give us a full load and more than enough money."

Kinh smiled and leaned over to check the simmering rice. "Your grandfather was right. There are many cinnamon trees in the valley. We will have to give him some duck eggs for his wisdom-once we buy the ducks."

Before Vuong could reply, he heard a noise and looked up. He dropped his chopsticks and froze as three North Vietnamese soldiers approached with their weapons pointed at him and Kinh.

Sergeant Van looked about the camp and stepped in front of Vuong. "Why are you here?"

The squatting men exchanged nervous glances. Vuong looked at the rifle barrel pointing at his head, then up to the sergeant, and stammered. "We ... we are collecting cinnamon. The valley has many trees and we are collecting some to sell and buy ducks for our farms."

The seigeant raised his brow, unconvinced. "What village did you come from?" he snapped. "How long have you been in the valley?"

Vuong gulped several times to control his shaking. 4 4We came from Hien Thien, twelve kilometers to the east. My grandfather told us of this valley and the cinnamon trees he had seen here many years ago when he was a boy. We walked here. . . . Have we done something wrong? We are ... "

Who sent you here?" barked the sergeant, shoving the barrel of his AK-47 into Vuong's Adam's apple.

Vuong eye's widened, and he felt his bowels loosen. He tried to speak but words wouldn't come. Swallowing the last of his saliva, he tried to talk again. 44Naaa ... no one sent us. We are just farmers trying to make money for ... "

Sergeant Van began shaking his head side to side and lowered the rifle barrel. 44You lie. You are spies sent by the puppets."

We are farmers! We only ..."

Sergeant Van fired a single shot into the intruder's head. Vuong fell back into the fire and flopped on the coals as blood spurted from the hole in the side of his head and smoked around the puncture. Van casually lowered the barrel to the squirming body and fired another bullet into the farmer's skull. Vuong's head jerked with the impact and his body ceased to move.

The sergeant raised the rifle and pointed it at the other man, who was crying and holding his open hands out to him. 4 4No, no, we are just farmers. In the name of Buddha, believe me!"

Van raised his weapon and motioned to the newly assigned private. 44Nuu, come here."

Nguyen Nuu was standing open-mouthed, still in shock at what he'd just seen. He felt sick and weak inside as he stared at the body smoldering in the fire.

'Private Nuu, come here!"

As Nuu broke from his trance and stepped forward, the smell of burning human flesh overwhelmed him.

Vann took the RPG-7 from Nuu's hands and gave him his AK. 44Kill him. They came too far into the valley and have seen the small rice and sweet potato fields. He will talk of what he has seen."

Kinh fell at Nuu's feet and grabbed his legs. 44Please don't kill me . . . please believe me. I have done nothing."

Nuu looked desperately at his sergeant. 44He is just a farmer."

Vann's eyes were cold. 44He is a threat. Kill him."

Kinh sobbed and looked up at Nuu pleadingly. 44Be . . . Believe me!"

Nuu looked at the man, who couldn't have been a few years older than himself. He shut his eyes, praying for forgiveness, and pulled the trigger to end the man's pleading. Kinh screamed from the impact of the bullet that tore through his spleen. He rolled on the ground shrieking like a crazed animal, trying to reach the burning wound.

Nuu gagged and quickly lowered the recoiled weapon to put him out of his misery. He stepped closer, putting the barrel on the man's head, and fired. Blood and brain tissue splattered his new uniform as the bullet blew out the back of the farmer's skull and covered the ground with gore.

Van took his rifle and patted Nuu's back. You did your duty.'' He looked at the other private and motioned toward the bodies. 44Bury them."

Senior Colonel Chinh stood in front of a large wall map and pointed at a group of blue pins positioned west of An Khe. 4'Reports indicate the puppets have not set up programs in these villages. They protect only the road to the east. Do we have teams available to bring these hamlets into the liberated zone?"

One of the colonels sitting at the large table nodded as he looked at a map he held in his hand. 4 4Yes, comrade, I have a team in Binh Dinh province. They could be contacted immediately and ordered to the hamlets to begin the project. It is the Thach San team and they are always successful."

Colonel Chinh tapped the map with his bamboo pointer. 44Send the order. We must have another twenty villages within our liberated zone by the time the general meets with the committee. We must show substantial progress or the representative for Political Indoctrination and Expansion will cry for more support. His contacts within the party are powerful and pressure will be brought to bear to increase military support. I do not need to tell you the consequences of such actions. Our force is bled dry as it is. We cannot detail fighting men to civilians who are inept. We must keep control and not let the politicians influence our strategy. I want you all to look at your districts and give me suggestions on which hamlets we could claim or regain using our own assets."

Chinh walked to his chair and gave a quick wink to Major Sy, who had provided him the information about the expansion member who was voicing discontent toward the general's slow and deliberate village expansion program.

Sy left the briefing room. He had three more committee members yet to check and he wanted to see if Private Nuu had received his new RPG-7.