Shadows of War

* * *

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 back up.

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.

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!”