Morning glory
Title : Morning glory
Author : Stephanie Welles AKA Stephanie Orban AKA " crazy soldier
"
Copyright date : 2001
Rating: PG-17 , because of violence , I guess .
Archive: yes
Warnings:
I personally know some Vietnam veterans and they all tell me that I should
never ever believe the television shows , movies or books , as they're not
totally accurate .
I'm probably going to piss these men off so badly that they'll refuse to talk
to me , but this is a hell of a show .
Well yeah ... This IS MY FIRST ToD fanfic . A FNG here .
Disclaimer: Tour of Duty and its characters are the property of Zev
Braun Productions and New Line. These stories are for entertainment purposes
only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: Lots of rock 'n' roll...
" For those who fight for it
, life has a flavor the sheltered never know."
Pinned to a notice board at the US Command Post at Khe Sanh .
Morning glory
The sun was high on the sky and all ten men of the Bravo's third squad were
sweating fluid out of their bodies faster then they could absorb water out of
their plastic cups . About some 12000 meters away from the base , they had
discovered a path that lead to a village , that , at first , looked abandoned .
Skinny dogs and pigs wandered all over the village , looking for food , and the
dozen or so chickens made the only loud noise in the camp , which surprised Lt.
Myron Goldman tremendously . Dogs usually barked and twisted their tails when
visitors came , but none of those present did that . He guessed that even dogs
learned to be quiet in Vietnam . All the other men were silent , only having a
slight suspicion of what was going on . It didn't take very long before they
found the first actual sign that this village indeed , had been abandoned in a
hurry .
" I don't trust this at all ." , sergeant Zeke Anderson stated as he
picked up a bowl that contained a fish head boiled in hot water . The water had
gone cold , which made it impossible to Zeke to tell what time they disappeared
. He carelessly threw it away to have a quick look around to overview his men .
Zeke knew that the chance that they were going to catch some gooks alive were
nil .
" Hey Sarge , LT , come here ! " It was the voice of Taylor . "
I found something ! "
" Freshly dug graves . They must've seen us coming ." Taylor rested
his arm on his weapon , making himself look more relaxed then he actually was .
Sergeant Zeke Anderson felt it as being funny ; as the tenseness in the air was
electricity .
" I'll say it again , I don't like the sound of this ." , he said
with a shake of his head as he looked at Lt. Goldman . " I get a strong
feeling that this is an ambush ."
The open , empty graves enhanced the feeling that death was around , for both
sides , VC or GI's , and that it was a constant thing . It was everywhere , and
came up any time . Fuck , maybe ten minutes from now , he could be shortened a
man or two . He shook his head again as he took a last look at the graves and
then wiped off his forehead again with his shirt .
" What do we do ? " Zeke stared at the Lt. who looked scared . Dead
scared. Damned , being scared before battle began wasn't a good sign . But the
Lt. had a good reason . This place even gave HIM the creeps .
" Do we stay and get some of these gooks , or do we pull back to base ?
" , Zeke continued .
" Take someone with you and scan the environment for some VC. Heath wants
a prisoner ."
" Fuck Heath ! We could get our asses blown to stardust here ..." But
before Zeke Anderson could finish his sentence , a shotgun fired , not so
damned far away from them . Strangely , the single shot scared more shit out
him than some dozen guns rattling .
It all seemed out of place , especially with the rustic and peaceful setting of
the village . The dogs and pigs didn't even look disturbed and continued
sniffing the area for eatable food .
"God dammit
!" It came out of him before Zeke realized it . He ran up to the place
where the shot came from and found the new guy in the squad sneering like a
maniac as he pointed at a dead pig on the ground , which still bled profusely .
Well , the motherfucker wouldn't keep on smiling for long . It felt so unreal ,
like it was Miss Piggy lying on the ground .
" Who the fuck did this ?! " , Goldman screamed after he'd overseen
the mess . The closest man near him was Baker . His face crimped together as he
heard the Lt. scream .
" The new kid , sir ." , Baker answered silently as he grabbed his
gun and shouldered it faster as he'd ever done in military basic training .
" What the fuck do you think you're doing ? " , Zeke jumped in .
" We're possibly in a fucking ambush and Mr. is playing Davy Crockett ! Do
you , in that narrow minded brain of yours , have any idea who we're dealing
with ? "
When the kid didn't answer quickly enough to Zeke's liking , he slowly walked
up to the soldier , and stood still , their noses barely an inch away from each
other .
" VC ." , Zeke stated coldly , his voice failing to show every sense
of emotion . " Next time you do something like that , maybe , in God's
sake , the VC will come storming out like whirlwinds and shoot us all ! "
Lt. Goldman calmly put his hand on Zeke's shoulder, in a way to calm him down ,
which worked .
" Scan the environment . ", the eltee ordered as he rubbed his palms
trying not to show off how nervous he actually was.
The lt. looked at Sarge and Zeke saw that there was doubt in his eyes. He
looked like a little kid , as he was standing there ; his right hand now was
clenched around his M-16 so that his knuckles looked white .
" If Zeke's going , I'm going too . " Taylor , who had taken off his
helmet because of the intense heat ,stepped closer to the sergeant .
" Okay . If you're in trouble , just scream ." The Lt. looked like he
meant it , but a sneer came upon Zeke's dust-covered and perspired face .
" Yes , mom ." , Zeke answered sarcastically as he took his M-16 in
his hands , loading it . " I'll scream . At your orders , sir ."
Goldman shook his head as the two men marched away and then entered one of the
huts , where everything was , like it usually was , empty .
- - - - - - - - - -
The ultimate greenness of the jungle blurred all together until the sergeant
couldn't make trees from bushes , let alone Charlie sneaking around .
" You okay , Sarge ? " , the private whispered as he saw the sergeant
standing on not too straight legs .
" Don't worry 'bout me , Taylor .Better take care of your own butt .
" , Zeke tongue-tied him quickly , slowly regaining his usual strength and
alertness .
" Maybe we'd better go back to the village . They might be waiting for us
."
" Dreadful ." , Zeke sighed as he took off his helmet to wipe off
some more sweat off his face . " This heat is really bugging me ."
" Calm down , sarge." Taylor ripped his plastic canteen water bottle
off his rucksack and gave it to the sarge. " Drink some water . Don't want
no officer to pass out on de-hydration ."
But without words , Zeke roughly pushed the water bottle back , put his helmet
on and continued his march . Taylor stared at him for a couple of seconds
, shortly shook his head in disbelief
and then followed the sarge without a further word.
Zeke was right . It
was difficult to see anything but a sea of green and it unnerved them
tremendously . With their M-16's drawn , they pushed branches out of their way
and tried to see some more . But wherever the VC was , they were not here . At
least , not in their nearest environment .
" We'll go back , no , sarge ? "
Zeke nodded shortly as a sign of yes and then walked the way back , less
concentrated .
- - - - - - - -
" Nothing out there . If they are , they sure as hell are hiding well .
"
" I got orders from Heath to return to the base . "
" We might as fucking well do so . This is a fucking ambush .
Might as well go for the fucking arty . "
