Shadows of War (56 page)

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Authors: Larry Bond

BOOK: Shadows of War
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The lock on Little Joe's door gave way and the door sprang open. The SEAL flew out with it, then lost his weapon as he scrambled to stay aboard the truck. Kerfer tossed his own gun back in the cab and reached over for his shooter, swinging him back in.
Little Joe howled as his arm was caught against the door frame. Zeus hit the brakes.
“What the hell are you stopping the truck for?” screamed Kerfer.
“Get him in.”
“I didn't tell you to stop.”
“Just get him the hell in.”
The helicopter they'd heard earlier buzzed toward them from the east, its searchlight augering through the darkness toward their hood. Kerfer tilted his gun upward and fired. As he did, the woods on both sides of the truck lit up with gunfire.
 
 
Jing Yo, rising from the ditch where he
and his men had hidden themselves, zeroed in on the front of the truck as the helicopter came overhead. The truck suddenly stopped, hesitating for a moment before starting backward.
“Fire! Fire!” yelled Jing Yo.
His men, posted with regular army troops from the scouting group that had occupied the area earlier, began complying. The truck jerked backward, then disappeared in fog.
Smoke.
A grenade—several grenades, covering their retreat.
“Keep attacking!” yelled Jing Yo.
The helicopter was above, but not close enough to blow the smoke away. The truck wheeled to the side and crashed into something.
Bullets flew back toward the Chinese troops. A tremendous fury rose from behind the trees. In the confusion, the jungle seemed to be exploding on its own, branches and even trunks flying around as the human enemies emptied their weapons against each other.
“Don't let them get away!” yelled Jing Yo. “They're retreating!”
Across the road, Ai Gua rose. He brought his gun up to fire, then fell, hit by a bullet. Sergeant Wu ran toward him.
“No!” yelled Jing Yo, but it was too late—a grenade launched by the Americans exploded nearly in the sergeant's face.
Jing Yo started toward them. Something hit him hard in the shoulder, spinning him downward. His head lost its weight; he tasted the bitter water of pain and felt the admonishment of his mentors, the stern glance of the monks who had overseen his studies.
“You will try harder,” they told him.
Their words seized him, and he struggled to his feet to rejoin the battle.
 
 
Josh pulled M
beneath him as the truck
shot backward. The canvas top above them seemed to disintegrate into flying lead. The SEALs scrambled toward the tailgate, pushing over him, but the truck was still moving, lurching from side to side. It slammed into something hard. Josh and M
slipped into someone; before he could react, the truck spun back the other way and jerked down into a ditch.
Josh felt himself being pulled or pushed out. He grabbed hold of M
.
“We'll be all right, we'll be all right,” he told her, the words an incantation.
“Down, Josh, down!” yelled Mara, pulling him from the truck.
Josh shoved himself out, curling M
in his arms as he fell. He clung to her tightly, trying to spin so he would land on his shoulder. To his surprise they landed in water, sinking in a big splash before bottoming out. He jerked upright, then fell back under the surface, once more trying to spin to his side to keep M
from getting hurt. This time he was only partly successful, and heard the girl yelp as he pushed back to his knees. The cry reassured him—she was still alive.
“This way, this way!” yelled one of the SEALs.
Josh got to his feet and began following in the direction of the voice, wading through the calf-deep water.
“Come on,” said Mara, taking hold of his side. “Go! Come on!”
“I have M
,” he said, starting to run.
“I know. Come on.”
A light lit above, an illumination flare shot by one of the Chinese ambushers. The gunfire stoked up.
“If I die,” Josh told Mara, “take the video to the UN.”
“You're not going to die,” she said. “Run!”
 
 
As soon as Zeus felt the truck going
down into the embankment, he knew he'd never get it out. He braced himself, revving the engine but not really in control as the vehicle bounded across the rocks and then wedged itself against a tree and the side of the ditch.
“Get out!” he yelled, but he was the only one left in the cab. Kerfer and Little Joe were already on the road, providing covering fire.
Zeus opened his door and threw himself out of the truck. His left arm hit the door side and he went into the dirt face-first, slamming into the side of the embankment. His legs were in water.
He rolled over. Remembering that he had left his gun in the cab, he pulled himself up and went to grab it. As he did, a grenade or rocket shot through the passenger side of the cab, flying through the missing window and through the thin back panel into the back. Zeus fell backward, rifle in his hand, as it exploded in the jungle behind the truck.
He landed under the water. Sputtering, he pulled himself up and started crawling on his hands and knees away from the truck. Someone had fired a flare, and the sky had become white with its harsh light, casting the jungle in alternating shadows of green and white. One of the SEALs lay on the edge of the road, gun pointing toward the area they'd just left.
“Let's get back,” Zeus told him.
The sailor looked at him, then leaned his head forward, collapsing on the road. He'd been shot in several places.
“Shit,” said Zeus.
He scooped himself under the man's stomach, wedging himself in so he could lift and carry him. He struggled up, then lost his balance and had to drop to his knees. His right knee hit a rock and the pain shook his entire frame.
“Come on, damn it,” said Zeus, pushing backup.
Bullets were flying everywhere. He ran along the road in the direction of the troops they had just driven past.
 
 
Mara flung herself down
as the SEALs in front of her began firing at the pair of Chinese soldiers in the intersection. The two men seemed bewildered, unsure of what was going on, frozen by the suddenness and ferocity of the fight. They paid for their surprise with their lives; the SEALs quickly cut them down.
“Over there, over there!” yelled Mara, spotting two more soldiers up the road.
Even as she yelled, she began firing. One fell; the other threw himself back into the shadows.
She looked back. Josh was in the ditch, carrying the girl.
“That van!” she yelled to him. “We'll take it!”
 
 
Jing Yo felt the truth of the battle
in his mind, understanding what was happening without the interpretation of words or logical reasoning. He had taken a gamble, and not entirely won—the Americans had been driven back, but the army soldiers he had alerted for assistance had not been able to rally quickly enough to overcome them. As a consequence, his small force had been overwhelmed.

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