by Saxon Andrew
Green stared at AG and knew he meant it, “It’s suicide, Gardner. You don’t stand a chance; there’s a battalion waiting down there.”
“I’ll try not to kill them all, Sir but I can’t make any promises.”
Green shook his head and looked at Gomez who shrugged, “What can we do to help?”
“Come with me.”
AG ran over to the mortars and began adjusting them. He went to the edge of the sandbags and looked down at the jungle below the camp. He saw six dim black lines going into the jungle below. As he stared the black lines grew darker and changed into arches that went high and then into the jungle. Another talent had revealed itself. He came back and made several adjustments to six of the mortars. He then went to the mortar rounds and went through them until he found the six he wanted. He placed one round beside each mortar and said, “When I go over the wall, I want you to fire all six of these rounds simultaneously.”
Green stared at him and nodded.
AG looked at Gomez and said, “I need an M60 machine gun, one can of rounds, and a bag of thirty bayonets.” Gomez did a double take and AG said, “Now Sarge.”
AG went in his bunker and put on his vest and colored his face with white paint. He grabbed Charlie’s samurai sword and put it over his shoulder. He came out just as Gomez and Jackson arrived with the M60. Gomez said, “I’d like to go with you.”
Captain Green shook his head, “Permission denied. You’re filling in for the Lieutenant and I need you here with the platoon.”
Sgt. Slade said, “I’ll go.”
AG stared at him and said, “You’ll only slow me down.”
“You need someone to carry the gun and bayonets. I’ll stay out of your way.”
AG stared at him and said, “You will do exactly what I tell you and nothing else?”
“I will.”
“Come on, the sun’s getting low.”
They ran over to the sandbagged wall and AG said, “Here’s how we’re going to do it. When I go over the wall, you’ll follow and grab the gun and bayonets. You will then climb on my back and hold on. Is that clear?”
“How are we going to get to the jungle?”
“Just do it!”
Slade nodded and AG looked at Captain Green, “If we’re successful I’ll launch a green flare to let you know that we’re coming back. Cover us.” Captain Green nodded and AG pointed at the mortars, “As soon as Slade clears the wall, Captain.”
• • •
The Witch watched the captured American soldiers and smiled. They were sitting on the ground and bound to posts; they were scared. She had watched them as she announced what she was going to do to them and determined what order to follow to get the most out of their deaths. The tall one wanted to go first and end it quick but she was going to save him for last. He should be ready to scream once the others were done. The Lieutenant was petrified and had already soiled himself. He would make the most noise and he was going to be the first to her party. She kept telling him that if he could scream loud enough, she would make it easier on him. He soiled himself again and she decided that scaring him more would only make things smellier than they already were. She looked up at the sun as it touched the horizon and smiled; not much longer.
Charlie listened to the other members of the squad tell the Lieutenant what they thought about his leadership skills. They told him what a coward he was and how he put his precious career over their lives. They said they were glad they were going to get to see him die for his stupidity. Bingham, for his part, knew they were right and saw his death in front of him in a middle aged Vietnamese woman who was sharpening her blades and oiling her pliars.
• • •
AG went over the wall and Slade came over behind him. Slade grabbed the mini-gun and black bag of bayonets and climbed on AG’s back as he bent down waiting. The sound of the mortars let them know that the rounds were on the way and Slade felt AG straighten up and start moving toward the Jungle. Something was wrong. The jungle was getting closer much faster than it should have. He waited for the mortar rounds to hit and they did just as they were halfway down the hill. They entered the jungle as the sound of the blasts dissipated. Slade knew that Gardner had made that run in less than six seconds, which was just not possible. Gardner dropped him off his back and said, “Follow me as quietly as possible. I want you to leave these white strips of cloth on bushes as you move forward and wait where I tell you to and guide the squad back to this point; understand?”
Slade nodded and Gardner disappeared in front of him as the sun went below the horizon. Gardner had taken six bayonets out of the bag before he left and Slade picked up the bag and M60 and quietly moved forward, placing white strips on bushes.
• • •
AG went into the super slow motion domain and moved forward at a speed that was unbelievable. He stopped and took a bayonet and threw it up toward the top of a tree. A sniper had heard noise below and had looked out from the branch he had tied himself to and a bayonet went through his left eye. He collapsed and hung on the branch. AG moved quickly forward and came to the first machine gun nest. He stepped in as the three Vietcong were getting up from hitting the ground as the mortar rounds arrived. AG drew the samurai sword and took off all three of their heads. He turned and threw another bayonet into another sniper above the nest and moved forward. He shifted to the right and threw six knives at a squad of North Vietnam regulars, hitting all six in the throat and used the sword to take out the other five. Another bayonet went into the trees and he moved forward again. So far only four seconds had passed since he left Sgt. Slade and not a sound had been made by those he passed.
Sgt. Slade followed and began coming up on the ones AG had killed. He saw they had not been able to make a sound and the numbers of dead Vietcong was staggering. Suddenly, AG appeared in front of him and took the bag of bayonets, “Continue on this path, Sergeant.” Then he disappeared. It was starting to get dark and he was finding dead men all along the path he was following. This was frightening. It was as if Gardner was an invisible monster killing everything in his path. He continued to put white strips on bushes and tried not to look at the silent dead soldiers scattered along the path.
• • •
Major Huang watched the witch prepare the Americans for slaughter and shook his head. He despised the barbaric brutality used by humans on other humans. This was not honorable and he chose not to witness it. He had been ordered to go with the witch wherever she went and see to her safety. The leaders in Hanoi valued her as a great tool against the foreign invaders. He sighed and knew it was just about time to start the butchery, so he got up and left the small clearing and went out to check on the perimeter defenses to the north. He saw the two guards that assisted the witch in her tasks smile at what was coming. Those two were as bad as the witch. He entered the edge of the jungle as the first scream rang out.
• • •
Slade heard the scream and knew he was close. He almost dropped the M60 and can of ammo but suddenly saw AG in front of him again; he grabbed it before it fell. Slade looked at AG and backed away. His white face and body were covered in blood and he looked like a demon from hell. AG took the M60 and said, “Go back two hundred yards and wait. If no one comes in fifteen minutes, leave and go back to camp. Take this and use the flare to let them know you’re coming.”
Slade took the black bag from AG and saw there were no more bayonets in it. He also noticed that there was blood all over the knife vest he was wearing. He took the black bag and Gardner disappeared again. He turned and retraced his path and saw more dead Vietcong he had not seen before. He knew there were more than a hundred and not a sound had been made nor a shot fired. He continued to move forward and count dead bodies.
• • •
The Witch said, “Good, good, very good; that was an excellent scream, Lieutenant. Would you like to see the two little fingers I’ve removed?”
She held them up in front of Bingham’s face and ran a needle t
hrough them and hung them around her neck. Bingham’s face was ashen and he watched as the witch grabbed one of his feet and hold it up in front of her, “Now which toe shall I take for my daughter? Let me see; how do you Americans do it? Oh yes; this little piggy…” and she cut the little toe off his foot with a scalpel. The scream was incredible. The witch smiled, touched the cut with a hot iron to scald it shut, and waited for his screams to subside. She reached for the other leg and felt something on her shoulder. She turned and saw a long blade that suddenly went up to an inch from her right eye. She froze. The blade tapped her on her shoulder and she turned and saw a blood covered being standing between her two guards. As she watched, the heads fell off her guards and their bodies collapsed to the ground. A hand quickly went over her mouth before she could scream and squeezed hard enough to almost make her pass out. The blood covered being dragged her over to the bound soldiers and cut the bindings on the tall one and handed him the sword. Before she could move a knife with a needle point was one inch from her eye again.
“Charlie, cut the others loose and get them moving on the path leading south of here.”
Charlie said, “AG what are you doing here?”
“Charlie, shut up and do as you’re told. Now move.”
Charlie cut the others lose and went over to their weapons that were stacked close by. AG said, “You won’t need those going out. Follow the white strips until you get to Sgt. Slade; he’ll take you the rest of the way.” AG looked at Bingham who was almost delirious in pain and tapped his foot with his boot. He screamed again. AG thought about leaving the Lieutenant behind and say he was too wounded to move. As he thought about the idea, something inside him rebelled. AG said, “Two of you grab the Lieutenant and take him with you.”
The men just stared at AG and then they saw his expression and moved quickly to move the injured officer. “Charlie, wait for me for about twenty minutes. If I’m not there by then, launch the flare and get to the camp.”
“I won’t go without you.”
“Yes you will because you follow orders when no one else will. Now get the men out of here.”
Charlie stared at AG, turned, and led the seven men out. AG turned his attention back to the Black Witch and said, “I should just kill you but I don’t believe in killing those that are being used through manipulation.”
The Black Witch stared at the blood covered white being and sneered, “I’m not forced to do anything.”
‘You do this because of a lie. You think it was the Americans that killed your daughter and her child.”
“I’ve seen the recording.”
“I am going to ask you three questions that you should have asked yourself but didn’t. Your daughter was a very smart woman; why did she go out of a door into the middle of a firefight when there was a back door she could have used to escape?” The Witch continued to glare but AG saw her thinking.
“Two, the American patrol was caught out in the open and fired at by a squad of Vietcong Special Forces. Why were no Americans hit?” The Witch’s sneer disappeared.
“And lastly, why did your daughter’s chest come out of the door first with both arms around her baby. I think you can figure it out from there.”
The Witch saw the recording in her mind. It had been burned in where she couldn’t forget any detail and she thought about it and saw that this creature was right. Then she heard Major Huang say, “You will drop that sword and back away from the Witch.”
AG looked over and saw the Chinese Major with a line of North Vietnam regular troops aiming their weapons at him. AG had the sword in his left hand and was holding the M60 that had the ammo belt trailing out of it in his right. The witch turned and said to AG, “Why?”
AG nodded toward Huang, “Ask him; he knows. It was Colonel Pham-van Bao that did it.”
The witch looked at Major Huang and he saw she now knew the truth. She saw it in his expression. She said, “Why?”
Huang took a deep breath and said, “I have never been able to understand the evil our leaders do to save our people. It brings me great sorrow.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“If I allowed you to learn the truth, my family will be murdered very slowly.”
AG said, “Pham reported to General Zheng. Is he the one that ordered it?”
Huang slowly shook his head ignoring Ag and said, “Witch, I cannot say anything. My family will die.” Huang turned back to AG and said, “Now drop the weapons on you will die.”
AG said, “Major, I really don’t want to kill any more of your men; so if you will all just drop your weapons, I’ll allow you to live. You have come into my valley uninvited taking life and I will not allow you to continue.”
“Who are you?”
The witch said, “He is a White Demon.”
Huang glared at the witch and said, “You know I can’t do that.” He paused and ordered, “Kill him.”
Before the word kill was out of his mouth there was a ripping noise that sounded like a screech of metal against an iron plate. Huang and the witch stood there waiting for the hundred and fifty troops to fire on the bloody white creature but nothing happened. Huang turned and looked at his troops as everyone one fell to the earth with a hole through the center of their forehead. He snapped his head back to the white creature and saw smoke coming out of the M60’s barrel. There was no possible way that gun could have fired a single shot into all his troops that fast. The machine gun was not designed to fire at that rate and the accuracy was impossible.
Huang looked at the White Demon and heard, “I am going to allow the two of you to live.” It turned to the witch and said, “You because you were an unwitting tool and you have done your evil because of love for your family. However, if you kill here again, I will come after your other three children and their children. When I’m done with them, I’ll come for you.” The witch heard him, looked at his face, and felt her fear.
AG turned back to Huang, “I’m not killing you because there will come a time in the future where you will have the opportunity to try and persuade your leaders not to attack my domain. If you don’t make them listen; they will pay a price that will make what happened to your men in this jungle pale in comparison.”
Huang said, “How did you get through my men to the south?”
“Go ask them. However, your leaders will pay a price that will be unimaginable if you are unable to get them to change their plans. Do not forget this night, Colonel.”
Huang and the witch stared at the Demon and suddenly it disappeared before their eyes. The Witch said, “I will not kill you, Huang. I believe the Demon will do that for me one day. Take me back to Hanoi. I have a message for General Zheng that only I can deliver.”
“If you do, they will kill you.”
““It will be worth it.”
Huang and the witch went into the jungle and found the one hundred and sixty eight dead soldiers. Most of them had lost their heads. Huang looked at all the snipers in the trees and saw the blades sticking out of their eyes. When the two of them left, Huang had no doubt; the White Demon was not a creature to be ignored.
• • •
Charlie waited and finally knew that he could not wait any longer. He pulled the flare and started to ignite it when he felt a hand on his shoulder, “Let’s set it off half way up the hill.”
Charlie handed the flare to AG and said, “You do the honors.”
Sgt. Slade followed AG up the hill and knew he was going to start knife training the next day. Lt. Bingham moaned as they carried him up the hill and AG said, “Hold on.”
The group stopped and AG bent down where Bingham could see him, “Lieutenant, you’re going to be alright. We’ve managed to rescue you so I need you to be quiet; can you do it?”
Bingham looked up and saw Gardner standing over him. He nodded and quickly put a hand on Garner’s arm, “Thank you.” AG nodded and the group continued up the hill. Four hundred yards from the camp they set off the flare and they saw men
rushing down the hill to help them. AG finally arrived and as he was pulled over the wall by Sgt. Gomez, he collapsed from exhaustion. The men he saved carried him to his bunker and put him on his cot. The company that went into the jungle the next morning was shocked at what they found and had no way to explain what had happened. Captain Green came to talk with AG but he slept for another eighteen hours. Sgt. Slade told them he didn’t do anything but follow Gardner and carry the weapons. The Major wanted a report on what happened and Captain Green knew he could not tell the truth. The story he told was not too far from the truth and AG was given the Medal of Honor for his actions, but in the new version he was assisted by twenty very well trained soldiers and the rest of D Company. The men heard the official report but they knew what had really happened. The Legend started that day and soon was known by both sides of the war being raged in South Vietnam.
• • •
Captain Green sat next to Lt. Bingham’s bed before he was airlifted out. Bingham had a morphine drip going and was able to bear the incredible pain. He looked at Captain Green and said, “I was pretty stupid, wasn’t I?”
“You were.”
“I should be dead. Thank you for saving me.”
“I didn’t.”
Bingham stared at Green, “It was Gardner.”
“I ordered him not to go but he informed me that I would have to shoot him to stop him. He went after you with Sgt. Slade carrying his weapons. He saved you.”
Bingham said, “Well, with the battlefield promotion you gave him, he will be my replacement, won’t he?”
Green opened his mouth and stopped. He smiled and Bingham said, “The men deserve him to lead them. They didn’t deserve someone like me.”
Green smiled, “Some lessons come hard, Lieutenant. I think you’ve learned yours. By the way, you were involved in the attack to save our captured soldiers. Make sure your story jives with the official report. I’m putting a copy in your bag.”
“I don’t deserve that.”