By What is Sure to Follow by Donald Burton

Author:Donald Burton [Burton, Donald N.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hellgate Press
Published: 2014-04-28T07:00:00+00:00

The team’s timing was perfect. By the time they straggled slowly to the helo pad, the chopper was making its final approach. Even at this early hour it was hot and humid, sticky.

The men climbed expertly into the Huey gunship, their uniforms already drenched with sweat. Luke realized nervously that only three of the team had done this before–under combat conditions. Luke, Schmidt and Waldo were all cherries, virgins. Only Sgt. Sikes, Hardy and Jarvis were seasoned veterans on missions like this. It surprised Luke that it hadn’t occurred to him before now. It made no difference really, he thought, but it was something to consider. He blamed the excitement and his nerves for not thinking about it before now,

All Luke could think of was that he didn’t want to screw up and let the team down. Looking into his friends faces, beneath the grease paint they wore, he saw fear. He swallowed hard. He pretended to concern himself with the sweat that now stung his eyes. Then the thought hit him. Painfully he realized that he, too, was afraid– terrified to be exact. Then another thought assailed him as forcefully as if someone had hit him with a strong right fist: “Will I kill someone today or will they kill me?”

The whining noise of the gunship’s turbine increased at that instant, telling Luke that lift-off was eminent. In tandem with his escalating fears, reaching a peak just as he felt the chopper jerk forward and up, clouds of dust began swirling madly around them. It was too much for Luke; in one forceful motion he quickly undid his seat belt, leaned out the door, and vomited his breakfast onto the ground. He sat in the darkness, embarrassed by what he had just done. Kindly, everyone looked away, pretending not to witness.

Within seconds of take-off, the sleek chopper zeroed in on a heading of due north. The plan, Luke remembered as he felt the jarring vibrations of the accelerating chopper, called for them to head north then dogleg west just before the DMZ. That way Charlie would think it was just another chopper patrolling the Demilitarized Zone, a daily occurrence they were used to.

It was imperative, Luke remembered the Captain saying, that they not make contact with the enemy on the way in. Orders were to break contact immediately with any enemy force, if discovered. With conscious effort, Luke loosened his death grip on his weapon.

“This is bound to get hairy,” he breathed aloud as he re-checked his gear. The noise of the chopper drowned out his words. Luke glanced at his teammates; everyone seemed to be lost in thought. The three seasoned Recons all had the same blank stare on their faces. Luke couldn’t read them. He looked at Waldo and Johan and saw a reflection of his own feelings–they looked scared shitless too. He cursed as he felt the familiar rash forming on his stomach.

Staying just above tree top level, the chopper raced onward through the night on its predetermined course.

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