They walked single-file. They crossed the Dak Poko. They hit the province hut. The Marvs greased the hut boss--five bucks U.S. The hut boss swooned.
They hit Laos. They walked foot trails. Hills and brush cover. Krazy Glue clay.
The Cong walked ahead. Chuck snapped his leash. Chuck named him "Fido." Fido tugged. Fido walked barefoot. Fido stretched his leash.
Wayne walked rear point. My craaaazy life--Army Airborne to this.
He killed time in Saigon. He read his chemistry texts. He hit the USO. He ordered the Vegas and Dallas papers. He moved into the lab. He stored his Durfee file.
He filed tips. He summarized tips. He ate at the Go-Go. He dug on the weird food. He offered the owner some help.
The fried monk caused damage. The fried monk burned beams. The fried monk scorched the paint job.
Wayne repainted. Wayne redrilled beams. The pimp hung around. Wayne watched him. Wayne learned his stats: Maurice Hardell/aka Bongo/ex-QM PFC. Stockade time and a pervert DD.
He watched Bongo. He watched the kadre men. The kadre men watched him. They knew his stats. They dug on them. Chuck spieled them out.
He got their stats. Pete supplied them: Guery hated Reds. Mesplede hated Reds. They killed Congo rebels. They killed Algerians. Chuck hated Reds. Chuck was ex-CIA. Chuck killed Fidelistos.
Flash hated Reds. Flash killed Reds. Flash used to pimp girls in Havana. Flash split Cuba. Flash hit the U.S. Flash robbed liquor stores.
Flash knew Guery. Flash met Pete. Flash met John Stanton. Chuck knew Bob. Bob pushed hate tracts. Bob mailed hate tracts to prisons.
Chaffee was a blueblood. Chaffee went Army. Stanton was a blueblood. Stanton went to Yale. Stanton knew Chaffee's dad. Stanton owned United Fruit stock. The Beard kicked UF out of Cuba. The Beard fucked with their stock.
Cuba drove them. Cuba drove Pete. Cuba drove the dope plan. Cuba drove Viet ops. Something said Cuba drove Dallas.
They talked: Guery and Mesplede/Chuck and Pete/Flash Elorde. They spoke English. They stopped. They spoke Spanish and French. They said "Dallas" trilingual.
Dallas--a noun--a city in Texas. Dallas--the break point for him.
He waited since childhood. He notched a fast fuck. He dropped his Dallas punchline. He fucked Janice. He jeopardized her. They both wanted out from Wayne Senior. They fucked to burn their lives down.
He bought the Vegas papers. He checked the missing persons logs and obits. Wayne Senior killed Wardell Gray. Wayne Senior did not kill Janice.
He cut them off. He left them. He walked. He ignored them. He thought about Bongo. He thought about Wendell D.
The kadre trudged. The trail swerved. Bush hemmed them in. Chaffee read his compass. They held northwest.
They crossed clearings. They spread out. They flanked. Wayne switched positions. Wayne took Fido's leash.
Fido walked fast--good dog--most ricky-tick.
Wayne walked fast. Fido tugged. Wayne caught up and ran abreast. Fido went darty. Wayne tracked his eyes. Fido lurched. Fido weaved.
Marv One yelled, "Chuyen gi vay?"
Marv Two yelled, "Chuyen, chuyen?"
Fido yelled, "Khong co chuyen gi het."
They hit a clearing. They reflanked. Fido tugged left. Fido squatted. Fido dropped his pants.
Wayne saw a turd drop. Wayne saw a tree stump. Wayne saw an X. Fido grabbed something. Fido threw something. Something blew up.
Fuck--smoke/shrapnel/gunfire.
Chaffee caught metal scraps. Chaffee went down. Two Marvs caught it tight. An arm flew. A foot flew. Stumps spattered.
Wayne proned out. Wayne rolled. Wayne pulled his .45. Pete proned out. Chuck proned out. Marv Three fired wide.
Pete fired. Chuck fired. Fido tugged his leash. Wayne dug in. Wayne pulled the leash. Wayne reeled him in.
He's close--there's his neck/there's his eyes.
Wayne aimed. Wayne popped four shots off. Fido's teeth shattered. Fido's neck blew.
Wayne heard yells. Wayne saw three VC.
They charged. They aimed carbines. They got kadre klose. Pete stood up. Chuck stood up. Mesplede waved come on.
Bob stood up. Bob aimed his pump. Bob shot low. A beehive blew--darts blew--darts on fire.
The spread cohered. The spread hit. The spread severed legs. Three trunk sections detached and fell.
Pete fired. Chuck fired. Mesplede fired tight. They popped full clips--.45 ACPs--they ten-ringed head shots.
Wayne walked over. Wayne kicked a loose leg. Wayne saw a Ho Chi Minh tattoo. Wayne saw needle marks.
Pete said no burials. Chuck said no evidence. Mesplede said guts lured wild pigs.
Bob disemboweled the Marvs. Pete disemboweled Chaffee. Bob disemboweled the VC. Wayne flipped a coin. Marv Three called heads. Wayne got tails--tough luck.
He disemboweled Fido. He thought of Maynard Moore. He smelled the rest stop near Dallas.
They walked away. Chuck left hate tracts. Bob left an ace of spades.
They walked.
They lost Chaffee's compass. They tracked off the sun. Dusk hit. They tracked off starlight.
A haze hit. The stars died. The foot trail bisected. They veered instinct-right. Ursa Minor broke through. They resighted and cut back.
They walked. They used flashlights. They hit undergrowth. Thick shit--leaves and roots.
They kicked through it. A haze hit. The stars died. They cut back. They fried their flashlights. They walked in the dark.
They saw lights. Marv Three called it: Two clicks over--village--que lam beaucoup. I go now. I get village help. I bring guide back.
Pete said go. Marv Three walked. They waited. Nobody talked. Nobody smoked. Wayne clocked off forty-six minutes.
Marv Three walked back. Marv Three brought Fido Two. An old guy--the papa-san type--Ho beard and tire-tread shoes.
Chuck leashed him up. Chuck named him "Rover." Chuck fed him cigarettes. Rover had good wind. Rover walked fast. Rover leaped limbs and brush piles.
They hit a clearing. They flanked wide. They aimed in a 360 arc. A flare popped at ten o'clock--pink light streaked and poofed.
They cut loose. They blew beehives. Darts disinterred.
Somebody yelled, "Friend!"
Somebody yelled, "Tran Dinh!"
Tran had a campsite. Pete called it Tran's Fontainebleau.
One acre. Weeds and mulched dirt. Bug nets and grenade nets. Brushed-steel lean-tos.
They slept hard. They slept late. Tran's men cooked brunch.
Tran scrounged off Stanton. Stanton scrounged the Army. Stanton scrounged pancake batter. Stanton scrounged pork rinds and Spam.
Tran had six slaves--all ARVN rejects. Tran vibed Baby Caesar. Tran vibed diva.
The slaves served chow. Flapjacks flambe--torched in T-bird wine.
Chuck loved it. Pete went yum-yum. Bob gagged. Mesplede gagged. Marv Three scarfed it up. Wayne took a bite. Wayne gagged. Wayne fed Tran's pet snake.
Tran spoke English. Tran spoke French. Tran ran the drill: Two Hueys come. We go then. We co-opt poppy farms. We "negotiate."
Pete took Tran aside. Wayne watched the tete-a-tete. Wayne heard "improvisation." Pete grinned. Tran grinned. Tran went tee-hee. Wayne caught the gist--"negotiate," shit.
Chuck issued ammo. Chuck issued rules: We all carry birdshot--beehives verboten.
Wayne dumped his ammo. Wayne reloaded. Wayne thought it through: Short-range loads. "Improvisation." Pete knows/Tran knows/Chuck knows. They all know--but you.
Tran gave a speech. Tran indicted the Cong. Tran indicted the French. Tran excluded Pete and Mesplede. Tran indicted Ho Chi Minh. Tran indicted Ngo Dinh Diem. Tran indicted gnarly Charlie de Gaulle.
Tran eulogized Preston Chaffee. Tran indicted the Beard. Tran extolled boss-man LBJ. Tran yelled. Tran coughed. Tran chewed an hour up and went hoarse.
Wayne heard chopper thumps. Wayne saw the Hueys.
They closed in. They hovered. They landed and perched. The doors popped. The pilot Marvs motioned them up.
Tran said a prayer. Tran issued bullet-proof vests. Wayne looked at Pete. Pete smiled and winked.
They did staggered takeoffs. Bob took Flight #1. Bob packed a 7-65 sniperscope.
Pete clocked off ten minutes. Flight #2 readied. Tran yelled, "All aboard!"
They climbed in. Wayne grabbed a door spot. Chuck rode the door gun. Pete got a back seat. Mesplede stuck close. Tran stuck by the Pilot Marv and Marv Three.
The Pilot Marv goosed it. The rotors whipped. They climbed. They leveled. They held.
3K level--check that green--green valleys/green hills/green brush.
Wayne looked down. Wayne saw soil rows and hollows. Wayne caught the gray tint.
Sweet soil. Good alkalines--low pH all. Poppy food. Dope slaves burn trees. Ash feeds the soil.
Calcium and potassium. High phosphate counts. Spring burns and fall plantings. Beans and corn for interim crops.
They passed Saravan. Wayne saw tin roofs and spires. Wayne saw stick figures and grids. Saravan came and went fast. The ground regreened.
Chuck got airsick. Chuck puked in a bag. Wayne looked away and looked down.
There-- Dope fields/row furrows/coolie-hat slaves.
Pete grabbed the Pilot Marv's headset. He listened. He laughed. He held three fingers up. Tran laughed. Chuck laughed. Mesplede laughed. Marv Three went bang-bang.
Wayne got the gist: Bob's up in chopper 1. Bob's got a rifle. Bob's popping outland guards. Bob's toppled three.
The Pilot Marv banked. Wayne saw huts. Wayne saw a landing strip. He pulled his .45. He checked the clip. He jacked a round in.
The Pilot Marv leveled. The Pilot Marv rotored down.
There-- A barracks. A slave jail. A volleyball court. A welcome line--Li'l Tojo plus six. Little Laotians/fatigues and jump boots/World War II Nazi lids.
Pete laughed. Chuck pointed way east--check the brush/catch that glint.
Wayne looked over. Wayne caught the glint. There's Bob. There's chopper 1 perched. That glint's off a hog machine gun.
The Pilot Marv touched down. The Pilot Marv cut the props. Tojo saluted. Tojo's goons snapped to.
Tran jumped out. Pete jumped out. Chuck jumped out and tripped. The Pilot Marv jumped out. Marv Three steadied him.
Mesplede jumped out. Mesplede tripped. Wayne jumped and caught him. The ground dipped. There's seven kadre men--up against Tojo plus six.
Tran hugged Tojo. Tran played MC. Tran dropped kadre bios--all last names di di.
Tojo was "Dong." The Tojoettes blurred--Dinh/Minh/whoever. They all laughed. They all hugged. They all bumped sidearms and hips.