A few words from the author: Thanks for reading and big thanks to reviewers
Note: More Apocalypse Now refrences
Warning: do not use this fanfiction for anything other than its original intended purpose. Intentional misuse of this product could lead to death, hallucinations, dizziness, mental retardation and in extreme cases a tendency to sing off-key Elvis songs in public while wearing nothing but a bathrobe, bunny slippers, and a rubber Richard Nixon mask.
Enjoy
March 21, 1969; 1030 local time; Nung River
The sampan slowly drifted down the river, Ichigo and his men had been on the river for two weeks. The C-rations were all gone and they had been surviving on fish, bugs, and anything else they could scavange.
Ichigo's shirt and pants had been ruined, even Ishida couldn't repair them. He had taken the "black pajama" uniform off a dead VC and was wearing it for the time being. He found the loose-fitting black garments to be comfortable, if not a little unsettling. Ishida was able to patch the bullet holes in the shirt well enough. He still wore his helmet, he was the only one who did. They used Ishida's to make cooking fires in, and Renji used his mostly as something to sit on.
Ichigo noticed that Ishida and Kiyone were getting very close, he noticed how Kiyone had an almost magical effect on Ishida. She had a way of keeping him from getting too depressed, she also gave him a reason to survive.
Ichigo looked up from his spot on the boat and saw a wrecked wooden bridge, vines were growing all over the remains. He saw the waves, they broke left and right into eight foot peaks.
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March 21, 1969; 1030 local time; Nung River Inlet (Formerly known as "Charile's Point")
The morning sun shone down through the trees onto what appeared to be two bushes. These "bushes" appeared to be made out of tattered fabric and random pieces of vegetation.
The bushes suddenly stood up and started moving, revealing two men, the bushes in question were really their ghillie suits (1). One of the men had short blonde hair covered by his ghillie suit, his face was covered in green, brown, and black facepaint. He carried his M-40 sniper rifle in his hands at the ready. The other man had short black hair covered by his ghillie suit, his face was also covered in green, brown and black paint. He carried a small Colt Commando carbine with a scope mounted on it and a radio underneath his suit.
The two-man sniper team walked slowly and silently through the underbrush and moved to an old bamboo guard tower that was overgrown with vegetation. They climbed up into the tower and one of the men (the shooter) put down the bipod on his rifle and layed down while the other man (the spotter) set up a small telescope on a tripod. The two men looked down at the river from their spot.
They stayed in their spot for only about five minutes when spotter saw something moving out of the corner of his telescope. He turned it to see a sampan.
"Hawk, we got a sampan down there."
The sniper moved his rifle so it was aimed at the small boat. He looked into the scope.
The sampan looked pretty worn, it's cloth shelter was faded and torn in some places. He saw an American "steel pot" helmet sticking above the wall of the boat. The man wearing the helmet stood up and walked to the other side of the boat and sit down again. He wore the "black pajama" uniform of the VC, and had an AK-47 strapped to his back.
"Looks like a VC sampan, it's about 500 yards away."
The sniper looked at the tattered fabric that was blowing slightly in the gentle breeze. The two dials in the middle of his scope clicked as he turned them to compensate for the wind. He turned the safety off an peered through his scope again. The crosshairs were zeroed in on his forehead. The sniper took a deep breath and his fingers tightened around the trigger. . .
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March 21, 1969; 1042 local time; Nung River Inlet (Formerly known as "Charlie's Point")
Ichigo heard the gunshot, but had no time to respond before he felt something hit his helmet and send it flying off the boat and into the water.
"Shit! Sniper! Get Down! Sniper!" Renji shouted.
Everyone in the boat went prone against the the deck of the sampan as Ichigo deliberated what to do. He peered over the side of the boat and looked around not knowing where the shot came from.
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March 21, 1969; 1045 local time; Sniper position
"Did you see that?" The sniper asked as he worked the bolt on his rifle and chambered another round.
"You ever seen a VC with hair like that?" The spotter asked.
"I don't think that was a VC."
"I'll go check it out, cover me." The spotter said, climbing out of the tower and moving towards the river. He moved from obstacle to obstacle before going prone and crawling. He crawled to the bank among the vines and shouted. "Đi ra với những bàn tay các bạn lên trên hay Tôi sẽ đâm chồi (2)! Mau (3)! Mau!"
Two hands rose from the behind the side of the boat. A man with bright orange hair stood up.
"Do you speak English?" The spotter asked from his hiding spot.
"Yes" The orange haired man responded in a very American accent.
"Are you a VC?" The spotter asked as he revealed himself.
"No, I'm an American. Ichigo Kurosaki, I'm with the 19th infantry division (4), Delta company" the orange haired man responded.
"Is there anyone else on -" Before the spotter could finish his sentence they both heard a rifle crack and saw a big splash come from an area between the boat and the shore.
Ichigo jumped back down onto the deck as the spotter took cover.
"Shit! Tell your sniper buddy to knock it off!" Ichigo shouted.
"That wasn't Hawk, it came from the other side of the river."
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March 21, 1969; 1100 local time; Sniper position
Hawk observed the action through his scope, he could see the man clearly enough to know with reasonable certainty that he was not a VC. He then saw the orange haired man and his partner take cover as they recieved sniper fire from the other side of the river.
Hawk surveyed the opposite bank through his scope and saw a black mass inside one of the trees. He turned the dials on his scope and squeezed the trigger.
The bullet traveled through the air and hit the black mass. The mass slumped over and fell out of the tree with a splash to be shot up by the people on the boat and the spotter.
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March 22, 1969; 1230 local time; Nung river inlet
The huey picked up Ichigo, Ishida, Renji and Kiyone. Ichigo looked out of the side at the shrinking river. He felt glad to make it out alive, but in his heart he knew. . .
He would return to this hellish place, to bring back those who were lost. . .
(1) Ghillie suit: A suit worn by snipers, they usually were made of burlap and had native vegetation attached to them. They are excellent camoflage, but it can get unbearably hot inside.
(2) Vietnamese for "Come out with your hands up or I will shoot." (possibly out of syntaxe)
(3) Mau: Vietnamese for "quickly"
(4) There is no 19th infantry division in the US army, I made it up to make things easier.