Attack on Nui Ba Den: A Viet Nam War Novel by David Allin

Author:David Allin
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2017-08-07T23:00:00+00:00

NINE

“Yoder!” Mathis called quietly. He and Kasperek were hunched down just above the bunker, trying not to draw the attention of any Viet Cong that might be in the area. Here on the west side of the peak the flickering light of the buildings that were burning was blocked by the Pagoda, so they had only the moon and stars to illuminate the rugged terrain. There were rifle shots and small explosions up around the Pagoda, but the bunker line here was strangely quiet.

“Yoder!” Kasperek said, louder than Mathis had done. “It’s us. You in there?”

There was no answer. The door to the bunker was closed, but no machine gun fire emanated from the gun port. Feeling exposed, Mathis eased down the path to the door, sensing Kasperek right behind him. There was a wide area of flat dirt around the side of the bunker to allow the door to swing open, and Mathis pressed his back against the wall to the left of the door and motioned for Kasperek to slide past him and take a position on the other side. Kasperek obviously knew what Mathis intended, and reached across the door for the handle. He waited a moment while Mathis turned to face the door with his M-16 held ready at waist level. Mathis gave Kasperek a sharp nod, and Kasperek pulled the door open with a jerk.

Slowly swinging the barrel of his rifle from left to right, Mathis waited a few seconds for any response, but the inside of the bunker was deathly quiet. The fifty-cal machine gun, partially blocking what little moonlight seeped in through the gun port, sat unmoving and silent. “Yoder?” Mathis called out softly. There was no reply. He eased into the room, searching the barely-discernable shapes that littered the floor, but saw nothing that raised any alarm. There was something on one of the cots at the back of the bunker, but he couldn’t tell what it was. Behind him Kasperek slipped into the room and fumbled for something laying on one of the two-by-fours that formed the framework of the building. A soft click, and then a weak beam of yellow light sprang into life. Kasperek had found the bunker’s flashlight, complete with dying batteries.

“Where’d he go?” Mathis asked rhetorically as Kasperek played the flashlight beam around the room, revealing only a pile of blankets on the cot and a glittering carpet of spent brass machine gun shells on the floor. Brushing the shells out of the way with his foot, Kasperek walked over and used the flashlight to examine the machine gun and the empty ammo cans beside it.

“He used up all the ammo,” Kasperek said. “Maybe he went to get more.”

“He won’t be able to get in the ammo bunker,” Mathis pointed out.

“Then maybe he’ll come back here. Or not.”

Both men froze when they heard the sound of boots on the path outside.

“Anybody in there?” McDaniel called out quietly.

“That you, Two-dan?” Mathis said with relief.

“Affirmative.” McDaniel stepped in and looked around.

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