Thanks for the reviews so far, the next few chapters are going to be coming kind of slow as I'm back in school, I'll try my best to update it as much as I can
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We are still in the flashback faze and will probably stay there for the next 2-3 chapters, depending on how I want this story to turn out
Kim Possible is still owned by Disney, they refused my offer again.
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Chapter 5
Death Awaits You at Every Corner
Ron and Josh loaded up on supplies, with help from Wade Rod determined that moving in a standard line they should hit the Air Calvary in about 15 hours. If everything went smoothly, and that was a big if.
Josh sat on a bunch of crates and looked out at the squad who already assembled at the north of the base.
"Ron, I really don't like this. I have a bad feeling about this trip" Ron joined Josh in watching the squad.
"You beginning to regret coming with me aren't you?" Ron said looking Josh in the eyes seriously.
"I don't know Ron, it's just that. Even with all the training Barkin gave us nothing really prepares you for when it really happens. When it really is a kill or be killed scenario, that and the thought of the children they use"
Josh's whole body shivered on that sentence, Ron felt himself get a chill go through his spine.
"I just don't know if we will succeed, if we are doing this in vain." Josh hung his head, hoping Ron wouldn't see the tears in his eyes.
"Fuck Ron, we have been here for not even a whole day and this war is already affecting me. I must be soft"
Josh was crying at this point, he fully expected Ron to beat some sense into him, get him back on track.
Josh felt a hand on his shoulder; he looked up and saw that it was Ron's who had tears in his eyes.
"Goddammit Josh you are not soft. You are not the only one affected by this, but we have to over come it, we have to beat it, fight it, and kill it even. No matter what happens, we will get to her alive"
Josh sat there in shock; he knew then that even though they had their differences and that they still didn't really trust each other that they would help each other out.
'Like a true team' Josh thought as he wiped his eyes.
"Well Sergeant," Josh said getting up "Lets get this show on the road, you have the stuff from Wade?"
Ron pulled out some small pieces of paper "Right here, come on Corporal, We need to decide who gets point"
The two walked out to the men who casually lay around shooting the breeze when Ron and Josh showed up.
"McCormick, you have point, now let's get going men" Ron stated to the men.
Soon they all filed out McCormick leading the way with Josh and Ron right behind him as the left the relative safety of the base and walked into the Jungle, where Death awaits at every step.
Vietnam Jungle
10 clicks south of the 7th Air Calvary
It was about 6am when the squad left the base, now that they were 10 clicks from the Air Cav. It was 435pm.
The trip through the jungle was rather uneventful, Ron felt. Just avoided some patrols, and disarmed a few traps Charlie left for them. It was eerily quiet for some time; call it the calm before the storm.
McCormick was still on point, ten feet behind him was Josh, and 10 feet behind him was Ron and so on. Josh's eyes scanned the Jungle around him with every wary step, a trap or ambush could be anywhere, they had to be alert.
Just then McCormick raised his left arm up, making a fist with his hand. The squad stopped where they were, they hit another trap. Ron slowly walked up to a few steps behind McCormick, with Josh crouching down and staying back.
"What is it Private?" Ron whispered
"Another trap sir, looks like a trip wire attached to some kind of device there in the tree"
McCormick motioned to the wire concealed in the jungle grass; Ron's eyes followed the wire to the base of a tree where it wrapped around the tree trunk.
"See what you could do" Ron told the Private, McCormick nodded and pulled out a pair of wire cutters.
Ron slowly made his way back to where Josh was.
"What is it?" Josh asked, never averting his eyes from the jungle around them
"Trip wire, probably attacked to a spent bazooka tube that they filled with grenades" Ron said.
"Really?" Josh raised an eyebrow
"Saw it on the history channel" Ron said.
"Sergeant!" McCormick called
Ron turned around to see the Private standing there, putting the wire cutters back.
"Its disarmed Sir, we should be good" McCormick smiled
"Good work McCormick Alright lets continues squad" Ron said to the rest of the squad.
They soon returned following the path through the jungle, things were still quiet, too quiet for Josh's liking.
Before there was wildlife, birds, insects. But now it's as if they entered a barren part of the Jungle, or the creatures knew what was about to happen.
SNAP!
The squad froze where they stood and immediately raised their weapons, scanning the Jungle
CRACK!
The sounds were close,
CRREEAAAKK!
"Where the Fuck is it coming from!" Johnson cried
"It sounds like wood, wood under stress" Wilson said
"Why the Fuck would wood be under stress?" Dobson asked
Suddenly the answer dawned on all of them
"Oh FUCK; one of us is standing on a trap!" Jacobson said.
Immediately after he said that there was the sound of wood creaking and cracking, this time at a much more alarming rate.
They turned back to McCormick whose face was full of absolute terror.
The Ground Private McCormick was standing on suddenly gave way,
"OH SHIIITTTT!" McCormick cried as he fell into the hole.
"Jesus Christ, McCormick!" Josh said as he rushed over to the edge of the hole, he peered down into the spot. All the color drained from Joshes face, he suddenly felt very ill, like he was about to throw up.
"My God" Josh said as he dropped to his knees, he brought his left hand to his mouth as the smell hit him. He crawled to the side and threw up.
The rest of the squad ran to where Josh was. Josh had just crawled to the side to vomit when the rest of the squad peered into the hole.
"Son of a Bitch" Wilson said, pulling a rag from his pocket to cover his nose and mouth.
"God dammit" Johnson said as he turned away.
Ron just looked into the hole, the smell was one of the foulest he had ever had the displeasure of smelling.
McCormick had fallen into one of Charlie's "Pungy Sticks". Ron covered his nose and mouth with one hand as he assessed the situation.
Pungy Sticks were nasty little traps Charlie loved to use; it's basically a pit with sharpened sticks of Bamboo. To ensure a painful death to whomever was unfortunate enough to fall in the trap, they smeared their own feces on the sticks, ensuring infection and a painful death.
However as Ron looked in he realized that McCormick was still alive
'Well barely, but alive none the less' Ron thought
McCormick fell in at a bad angle, the sticks had pierced both of his legs in multiple places and his left arm got it pretty bad too.
He was lucky that he didn't get one through the chest, other wise he would certainly be dead.
"H-help, me" McCormick was able to mutter as his face turned pale white.
"Christ he's going into shock, we have to get him out of there" Ron said as he turned to the squad, Wilson helped Josh back up after Josh was finished emptying his stomach.
"I've got some rope Sarge" Jacobson said, pulling a large roll of rope off of his belt.
"Good, we need him to tie it around himself so we could pull him up" Ron said as he grabbed the rope.
"Corporal" Ron said turning to Josh who was slowly regaining the color in his face.
"You get to work on a stretcher for him; there is a town 2 miles from here." Ron turned back to Jacobson "When we get him out, I want you to relay a call to base requesting for a medic" Jacobson nodded
Josh got to work on the stretcher using pieces of the trees around him, while the rest of the squad pulled the wounded private out of the trap.
With every pull he screamed in agony, it cut through the men like a knife hearing someone scream like that.
An hour after the incident happened they had McCormick on the makeshift stretcher; they covered his body with a blanket, as Jacobson called in for medical assistance in the next town. Josh sat on the ground watching Dobson tend to McCormick.
A Hand was placed on his shoulder, which made Josh jump a little.
He looked up to see that it was Wilson, which was a surprise as he was expecting it to be Ron.
"You ok Corporal?" Wilson asked
"Ye-yeah, I think I'm ok." Josh got up to his feet, never taking his eyes away from the wounded private.
"First time?" Wilson asked
"What do you mean?" Josh asked, finally looking at Wilson
"First time seeing someone get hurt that bad, I could tell that you are still not used to this 'war' here" Wilson gave a half smile.
"Is it that obvious?" Josh asked
Wilson laughed a little "Yeah, it is. You act like I did when I first got here, that was 9 months ago"
Josh's jaw dropped, "So Corporal, how long have you been here?" Wilson asked curiously.
Josh sighed as he looked toward Ron who was with Jacobson discussing what to do about McCormick.
"The Sergeant and I got here last night, before this we were behind desks" Josh smiled a little inside when he said that.
'Well it is true; accept it was high school desks' he thought
"Damn, how the hell did you two end up in this shithole? Piss off your superior or something?" Wilson asked
Josh got very nervous, he couldn't think of a good excuse as to why they ended up here, so he lied.
"Yeah, that's it, I think" Josh finally blurted.
"Hey man, don't worry about it; we are a family out here. We protect each other." Wilson said as he turned to McCormick.
Josh slowly made his way to the wounded private; Dobson was using the last of McCormick's first aid kit bandaging some of the bad wounds the sticks gave him.
His legs were soaked in blood, his face was pale white and his one good arm was shaking.
Ron came up to where Josh was "Dobson how's he doing"
Dobson shook his head "If he doesn't have help in the next 20 minutes he is a dead man."
Ron sighed looking over at Josh,
"Corporal, you and Dobson are carrying McCormick. We are not that far from the village where the medics will be waiting, let's go now"
Ron was already off pointing toward Jacobson to take point; Josh had no choice in the matter. He picked up the front of the stretcher as Dobson grabbed the back, they slowly made their way up to the village, to hopefully get McCormick patched up.
Small Vietnamese Village
5 miles south of the Air Calvary
It took the squad 10 minutes to reach the village; it was a remote village with one main road going right down the center.
The squad got a lot of uneasy looks from the locals as they entered the village. Ron gritted his teeth.
'Anyone here could be a NVA; I got to keep on my toes' Ron thought as he led the squad to the center of the village.
"Alright, we wait here till the medics get McCormick." Ron said turning to the squad.
Josh gently set down the stretcher, he was glad to lose the extra weight, and being able to hold his M16 again. They left McCormick's rifle in the trap, it was useless as the guns had a reputation for jamming when dirt got in them.
Josh took a knee and assessed the village, noting the uneasy looks the villagers gave them.
"What's on your mind Josh?" Wilson asked crouching next to Josh.
"I don't like this, this is a NVA village. We shouldn't be here" Josh said ejecting the clip from his rifle.
"I know, I got the same feeling. Just keep an eye out for anything suspicious" Wilson said moving back to his position.
Josh looked at the magazine in his hand, it was full. Josh slapped the mag back into the rifle and pulled on the primer in the back of the handle, making the weapon ready to fire.
"Hey GI!" The cry startled the squad as they turned toward the source, it was a 6 year old girl.
"We love you! Thank you!" the little girl cried. Making Josh and Ron feel better than they were. But that was short lived when they saw the little girls' next action.
"Oh God no" Josh said, his eyes growing wide with horror.
The little girl started running toward the squad.
Every member raised their weapons at the girl, but Josh was the only one who would be able to hit her, as she was running right toward him.
"Hey Stop!" Johnson yelled
"Don't come any closer!" Wilson said
The little girl didn't understand them, didn't hear them, or just didn't care as she continued toward Josh.
"Corporal! Take the Shot!" Ron cried looking at Josh.
Josh had tears in his eyes, the rifle was shaking in his hands as he got the girl in his sites.
"Damit Mankey Take the Shot!" Ron screamed
'I can't do it, I can't kill a little girl' Josh thought 'but you have to Josh, you don't have a fucking choice in the matter' Josh was arguing with himself as the little girl got closer and closer.
"MOTHER FUCKER!" Ron screamed
Josh closed his eyes, his finger wrapped around the trigger.
BAM!
The sound of a M16 firing echoed through the village
Josh opened his eyes to see the little girl on the ground, 40 feet away from him. Smoke was pouring from his weapons barrel.
The girl on the ground stirred around, screaming in pain. It cut through Josh like a knife.
"My God, what have I done?" Josh asked himself as he lowered the rifle.
Josh felt a hand grab his shirt and forcefully pull him too his feet. It was Ron.
"What the FUCK was that Corporal?" Ron asked, sounding really pissed off.
"Ron, I just couldn't……I just……" Josh was lost in his actions, looking over to the girl on the ground.
"Jesus Christ Josh, She is one of the enemies. You want to live through this and get back to Middleton!" Ron screamed at Josh.
Josh slowly nodded.
"Then Get your Fucking head in the game! You Know how low they will go, we have to get to her before they do" Ron said, anger was still in his voice.
He turned to head back to the rest of the squad when he stopped and turned back to Josh, who was still upset "Next time, Kill her too" With that Ron turned back.
Ron was pissed.
'He knows what they are capable of, stupid son of a bitch. Why the fuck did he comes if he didn't like the situation' Ron thought
'I don't like it anymore than he does, but goddammit I am not going to lose anyone because of it'
Ron turned back to see Josh slowly making his way over towards the rest of the squad.
Ron looked past Josh toward the stretcher, Dobson wasn't by McCormick's side.
Josh saw Ron's eyes start to get wide with fear. Curious he looked behind him, the sight froze Josh where he stood.
Dobson was standing over the little girl, shotgun pointed at the still body as he nudged it with his boot.
"DOBSON NO!" Josh Screamed, but it was too late.
The little girl's body exploded, sending Dobson sailing through the air and into a small cart filled with baskets of rice.
'Shit, the Girl was a trap' Josh thought as he rushed toward the cart where Dobson landed.
The rest of the squad was right behind him.
Dobson was a bloody mess, he had a piece of shrapnel sticking out of his chest, part of his right leg was completely gone, and his face was frozen in a twisted look of horror.
"Dobson! Dobson!" Josh screamed, but he never got a response. Dobson was dead.
"Motherfucking Gooks" Johnson said as he looked back toward where they first saw the girl, the figures there started to run away.
"You better run you Rice eaten MotherFuckers!" Johnson screamed as he fired his M60 towards the fleeing VC. Dropping 2 of them rather quickly.
As if on cue the medical jeep arrived in the village, the two medics rushed over to where the squad was standing while Johnson still fired in the fleeing enemy's direction.
"Who's in charge here?" the first medic asked.
"I am, Sergeant Stoppable" Ron said turning away from Dobson's dead body.
"Where is the patient?" the second medic asked.
Ron pointed behind them where McCormick rested on the stretcher
"We also have this one here, happened before you pulled up." Ron said motioning to Dobson.
The first medic rushed over to Dobson "He's gone, we'll load him up after we get that guy" the medic said as he rushed to help his partner load up McCormick.
They returned to load Dobson in the back, throwing a blanket over him.
Josh watched as they finished loading the two into the jeep, he picked up Dobson's shotgun. It was singed but still worked.
Josh walked over to Ron and handed him the weapon, Ron accepted the weapon and nodded.
They watched the medics drive off, probably toward the Air Calvary base.
When the jeep was 50 yards ahead of the squad, a group of children ran out in front of the jeep, the driver braked to avoid hitting any of them.
The Jeep stopped just in time, when 2 teenage Vietnamese girls ran over to the jeep and tossed their disk like hats into the back of the jeep and started to run.
"HEY, HEY!" Ron screamed as he started running toward the jeep.
"Squad move up and attack now!" Ron yelled to the squad as he closed in on the two girls, The Jeep in front of Ron exploded into a large fireball. Killing all of those that were in it.
Ron stopped in his tracks and raised his rifle on the fleeing girls,
"You Bastards!" Ron cried as he squeezed the trigger, a hail of bullets cut down the two girls, dropping them to the ground.
Josh rushed to Ron's side, and looked at the devastation in front of him.
The Jeep was on fire, they could smell meat cooking making the men nauseous. Josh saw one of the girls start to move.
Josh became filled with rage, he just saw 2 of their squad members get killed by these two and one of them was still alive.
Josh walked over to the still moving girl and kicked her over on her back.
She was young, maybe Joshes age or younger, she had a look of mercy in her eyes.
But Josh didn't care, it soon became clear what they all had to do to stay alive in this hell hole.
Josh brought the barrel of his rifle inches from her nose, seeing her eyes fill with tears as she started to plea for her life.
His pleas fell on def ears, Josh was fully engulfed by anger as he said something to the girl.
"I hope it was worth it you Bitch" Josh squeezed the trigger.
BLAM,BLAM,BLAM!
Josh fired three rounds into the girls face, spraying her blood on him. Ron and the squad looked on in disbelief.
Josh turned to look back at the squad, blood still spattered on his face.
"Come on squad, there is nothing more we could do here" Ron said as he started back north, leading the squad out of the village heading towards the Air Calvary.
2 Miles to the 7th Air Calvary
Ron had put Josh on point as they headed down the dirt road toward the base, they could hear the choppers flying around them, But Ron wasn't thinking of that now.
Ron looked at Josh, as he led the squad. He thought about the look in his eyes, it was a look Ron has seen too often.
It was a look of pure hatred.
'What the hell is happening to Josh? It's like he snapped' Ron thought. For once in his life Ron was feeling worried about Josh, he had seen what happens to people with that look.
The Blind rage that fills them, the way they act around others.
Ron figured it would be best for Josh to collect his thoughts, hopefully snap himself out of the rage he was in.
Ron couldn't believe he was actually starting to care about what was going on with Josh. He never wanted him to be with him in the first place, He still had that distrust for his reasons for coming with him.
Ron thought of that day in the hall where Josh told him he was coming with him, and that emotional hug that they had.
Yet he wondered why they hugged in the first place. There was no need for it, so why did it happen? What caused the two to go into a hug?
Ron shook his head, he couldn't really figure out why they had hugged.
'Maybe it was an emotional moment, and I didn't have anyone else to comfort me' Ron thought, still unsure.
"Sergeant!" Josh called, snapping Ron out of his thought.
"What is it Corporal?" Ron asked. Only to see a smile on Josh's face as he pointed up.
Ron's eyes followed to the sign hanging over the dirt road.
7th Air Calvary US Army
They had made it to the base.
Ron soon smiled as he spoke "BooYah!"
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Sorry for the delay on chapter 5, started next semester at college so updates are not going to be as frequent.
Next chapter, will involve a trip from the Air Cav. More violence and some old fashioned Napalm for good measure.
The story will soon end with the flashback and pick up where chapter one left off (Remember ch2 was the start of Ron's dream on the past 3 weeks.)
Kim will be appearing within a chapter or two, but it won't be a happy reunion. Drakken and Shego will appear later in the story as well, this is mainly Ron's devotion to Kim, then going after Drakken. Read and Review please.