Shadows of War (57 page)

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Authors: Larry Bond

BOOK: Shadows of War
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It was up to him.
He reached into his pocket for the pencil flare, and fired it, signaling the helicopter to pick him up.
 
 
Zeus ran down the road,
carrying the SEAL on his back. With every step he expected to be hit. Bullets flew everywhere.
Troops were firing from the trees along the road on his right—the rest of the SEALs, he thought, and he started angling toward them.
Only as he reached the water on that side of the road did he realize the gunfire was coming from Chinese troops, part of the unit they had rushed past a minute earlier. A bullet flashed in his direction.
They had spotted him.
“Son of a bitch,” he muttered, starting to his left to get into the ditch for shelter.
As he turned, a gun began roaring behind him. Then the woods erupted as a grenade went off.
“Careful with him,” yelled Kerfer in Zeus's ear. “He must be pretty shot up to let you carry him.”
“No bull,” said Zeus.
“Does that van you left behind still run?” Kerfer asked.
“Damned if I know.”
“Let's try it.”
“Which way?”
“
East!
No sense having to do this again.”
 
 
Josh yanked the rear door of the van open
and slid inside. The truck was perforated with bullet holes.
Mara was in the driver's seat, trying to get it to turn over.
“You're going to flood it!” he yelled.
“You worry about M
!” she yelled back. “I got this.”
The SEALs were outside, firing frenetically. One of them yelled something, and all at once the gunfire stopped.
The engine coughed and sputtered. Mara tried again, but the battery whined, too tired to crank.
Suddenly, the van lurched forward.
“They're pushing,” yelled Josh. “You gotta pop the clutch!”
“What?”
“The clutch.” He left M
and went to the front, leaning over the seat. “Put it in first, push the clutch in, then let off when they're pushing.”
Mara cursed.
“Wait until I say to push!” Josh yelled through the window.
“Go, just go!” one of them yelled back.
The van started to roll forward. Mara let off on the clutch too soon and the van stopped abruptly. She pushed back in, then tried again. The engine caught.
“Put the clutch in. Don't let it stall. Don't let it stall!” yelled Josh.
“Hey, I can drive!” she screamed. “Get the hell out of the way!” she shouted to the SEALs. “I gotta turn it around.”
“We're going back that way?” said Josh.
“The whole damn Chinese army is west of us,” said Mara. “The only things east are the guys who were firing at us. Once we're past them, we're home free.”
 
 
Zeus saw the van lurching back
and forth in the road, trying to turn around. The SEAL grew heavier and heavier on his back as he ran, pressing him down, until his chest practically touched his knees. One of the sailors finally grabbed him near the vehicle, pulling his injured comrade down and helping Zeus get the man inside the truck.
“Let's go, let's go, let's go!” he yelled, jumping inside.
Then he realized Christian wasn't there. Cursing, he turned and hopped out the back. As he did, a thick arm hit him across the chest just below the neck, practically clotheslining him.
“Where are you going?” said Kerfer.
“I need Major Christian,” he said. “We can't leave him behind.”
“This bus is leaving,” said Kerfer.
“He's too valuable.”
“I'm here!” yelled Christian, running up with one of the SEALs.
“Go, let's go!” shouted Kerfer. He jumped onto the top of the van. “Don't stop if I fall off! If anybody falls off—don't stop! Just go. It's the scientist we want. Everybody else walks. It's hell or bust!”
 
 
Jing Yo threw himself
through the large hatchway into the helicopter, scrambled to his feet, and ran up front to the cockpit.
“They're getting into a van!” yelled the pilots.
It was a stroke of luck.
Jing Yo turned and ran back to the cabin. “Shoot at the van,” he told the gunner there. “Shoot it when it comes down the road.”
“We have only a few rounds left.”
They had gone through a dozen boxes of ammunition during the mission.
“Fire until you're out of bullets. Then use your personal weapons.”
Jing Yo raised the rifle in his hand. He too was nearly out of ammunition—one more box of shells besides the one he had in the gun.
“Get us over the van!” he shouted as the helicopter swirled. “Get us close!”
The helicopter circled back, following the van. Jing Yo began to fire. So did the door gunner. Bullets flew back at him. The pilot backed off.
Jing Yo's anger exploded. He leapt to the cockpit. “That van must be stopped. Get closer!”
“I'm as close as I dare.”
“You will crash into it if necessary,” said Jing Yo.
“No, I won't, Lieutenant.”
Jing Yo put the muzzle of his rifle against the pilot's neck. The barrel was still hot, and the pilot yelped with pain.
“Crash into the bastards. It is our duty.”
 
 
The van jerked out of Mara's control
every time they hit water. She had to take her foot off the gas, try and hold the wheel straight, and just wait until the steering came back.
The gunfire seemed to have died down, if not stopped. They were past the Chinese, beyond the worst of it.
The van skidded around the corner. Mara backed off on the gas, pushed into the skid, then corrected, trying not to oversteer. She got onto a patch of dry, smooth road and went straight for a few yards, then came to water and began skidding again. The SEALs on the roof—there were at least three—lurched and slid with the van.
Josh had pushed into the front seat beside her, along with one of the SEALs, who was leaning halfway out the window with his gun.
“The helicopter!” yelled Josh. “It's coming back around.”
“Shoot it down!” yelled Mara.
Josh grabbed her gun from the floor. The SEAL began firing. The helicopter arced in front of them, giving whoever was in the cabin a good angle to fire. Mara swerved, trying to stay with the road as it pushed right. The chopper passed overhead.
“Good one!” yelled Josh. “Now go! Get us out of here!”
The road took another sharp turn right. It was rising out of the flooded area. Mara stepped on the gas but quickly went into another skid. She just barely retained control.
“He's coming back!” yelled Josh.
The helicopter swung around in front of them. Everyone in the van seemed to be firing at him, but he was coming in, still firing.
“I think he's going to crash into us!” yelled Josh.
“Hang on!” yelled Mara as the turn came up.
She started to yank the wheel right, to take the switchback, but the wheels of the van kept going straight. She gave up trying to correct it and instead spun the wheel to make the skid worse, spinning into the bend of the road. Mara jammed the brakes, trying to stop as they slid in
among the trees. The helicopter passed within a few feet, its undercarriage ripping into the treetops as it shot by.
“Go, go, go!” yelled Josh.
“No fucking kiddin',” growled Mara, pulling out of the jungle and back onto the road.
 
 
Jing Yo hurtled toward the open door
of the helicopter as the aircraft lurched through the tops of the trees. He saw blackness, then light, and for a moment he believed that he had left the realm of pain and confusion, the world that every devout Buddhist vows to escape. Then his hands slammed against the side of the cabin. They grabbed hold, and he managed to hold himself in the aircraft even though his feet dangled in the void.
The helicopter whirled in a backward circle. Jing Yo clawed at the side of the cabin, pulling himself toward the cockpit.
“The van!” he yelled. “The van!”
The pilots were too busy to hear him. The chopper's engine, hit in a dozen places, had given out. They saw a flat, open space before them—the overflowing creek—and aimed for it.
“Brace for impact!” yelled the copilot.
A half second later, the helicopter crashed into the water.
Northern Vietnam
Mara's hand trembled as they climbed
up the second switchback. The helicopter seemed to have disappeared.
“God, this thing is impossible to steer,” she said, taking the turn. “Did we lose anyone? Josh—where are the SEALs?”
“Don't worry about us,” said the sailor to Josh's right. He turned around, putting his feet on the seat and leaning across what had been the windshield before it was shot out. “Just keep going.”
“I'm not leaving any of you behind.”
“You aren't.” Kerfer leaned over the side, his head at her window.
“Just keep going.”
“Okay, okay.” She downshifted to take the next curve. “I hate manual transmissions.”
 
 
They crested the hill.
There were no lights in front of them, no gun flashes, no explosions.
“I'm going to check on M
,” said Josh. He left the gun and climbed back.
M
was sitting between two of the SEALs, watching as they performed a silent puppet show with their fingers. The girl started laughing as the fingers crashed into each other. They'd finally won her over.
Things are going to be all right, thought Josh.
Then he realized that wasn't quite true. They had escaped, but things weren't all right. They were going to be very messed up for a long time.
Maybe forever, as far as M
was concerned.
He had to get back to America. Once there, he'd tell his story. A lot of people weren't going to believe it. They'd see the video, and probably think he'd faked it.
He'd make them believe. This was a world war, bigger than anything the world had confronted in decades.
Bigger. Neither side could wipe out life on the planet then. They sure could now.
“How you doing?” asked Zeus.
“I'm doing okay, Major. Thanks for coming for us.”
“You can call me Zeus.” He stuck out his hand. “We should be back in a couple of hours. I just talked to my general. Another truck is going to meet us at Tuyên Quang. He's driving it himself.”
“Good.”
“There are no Chinese troops between us and Hanoi. We're home free.”
Josh nodded.
“Hey, cheer up,” said Major Christian. “It's over, right?”
“No,” said Josh. “It's just beginning.”

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