2:00 p.m.
John and his unit reached the spot that Hathaway sent them too. This was the area that men in camp claimed were haunted. John looked around and saw nothing that screamed supernatural, yet he had an uneasy sensation that something was wrong. Looking at his men, he saw that they were equally uneasy. Despite being mostly farmland, Xuan-loc did have a small area of jungle. Hathaway told John there was a small group of Vietcong who were going to raid the camp from that location. Hathaway's orders were very specific. Go in and take them all down. Personally, that made John uneasy. Not taking out an enemy, but a raid that was pointless and could possibly endanger the life of his men. The war was over and although John was a man who hated to lose, he even had to admit that going home alive and defeated was better than not going home at all.
Still an order was an order and while John never liked Hathaway, John knew that his ticket home was following orders. Looking around, John felt his unease heighten, gripping his gun, John took off the safety and signaled to his men to do the same. Creeping forward, the men saw nothing, but their sense of unease began to grow. Looking around, John saw nothing that told him that the VietCong were in the area. In fact, he did not see any marks that showed that any human being had been in the area for some time. Christ, thought John, what the hell was going on here?
"John," said Dean quietly. "We need to get out of here." John turned and looked at Dean. He saw that Dean was still afraid, but slowly that fear became one of resolution. John knew that look well. Dean was going into battle mode. John tore his eyes from Dean and stared at the rest of his men; they all looked afraid. Every instinct in John's body told him to leave, yet he had his orders and John never walked away from a battle.
"Let's move forward" said John. From there, the men crept deeper into the jungle. John's entire body was tense, but nothing was happening. That made him uneasy. Of all the battles John had been involved in, they always started as a result of a trigger. Some movement in the jungle, the whisper of a bullet, the crack of a branch, but there was nothing.
John raised his hand and the unit stopped. Looking out of the corner of his eye, John saw that Dean had move up to John's right. Dean always took a flanking position to John's right, but this time he was not waiting for a signal from John. Instead he was looking around, Dean then looked at John and whispered, "Do you hear that?"
John cocked his head, but heard nothing. It was then that he realized that something was wrong. In the jungle, there was always noise from the sounds of animals to the rustle of trees, but there was no sound at all. At that moment, John realized that Dean was right. They needed to get out of there. Turning to his men, John began to speak when he saw her.
She was a small girl, perhaps around 7 or 8 years old. She was Vietnamese with large dark hair and big dark eyes. She was wearing a dirty dress and was staring at the men with a coldness that made John uneasy. Before he could react, Dean opened fire. John ran at Dean and knocked him down. Grabbing Dean, John screamed at him, "What are you, crazy?" "You never shoot at a child?"
"John," said James, one of the men in his unit, "look."
John got up and let go of Dean. Walking over to James, John stopped cold. The girl was gone. "What the hell!" shouted John in frustration. "John" shouted Dean. Spinning around, John saw the girl was standing on the other side of them. She had not been hit and her eyes were completely black. Behind her came a wave of black smoke. John began screaming at his men, "Run!"
The men scattered in every direction. John began running out of the jungle with Dean matching him stride for stride. Behind them, John could hear the screams of his other men. Stopping he turned and saw James being overcome by the black smoke. Ignoring Dean's outstretched hands, John ran back to James, but when John reached him, James stood up and his eyes were black. James reached for John's throat when shots range out. Dean had shot James down. John fell to the ground stunned. Dean pulled John up and forced him to move. The two men ran when the Dean fell to the ground. John stopped to look back at his friend. The black smoke was entering Dean's body. John pulled his gun, but could bring himself to shoot his friend. Aiming at Dean, John suddenly felt tears form in his eyes. All of his men were dead or possessed and now he was aiming a gun at his best friend. Suddenly, Dean's green eyes rolled back and he looked at John with pleading eyes.
"You've got to shoot me, John" said Dean in his most pleading voice. "I can't hold it much longer."
John reaimed his pistol, but could not bring himself to shoot his best friend. Dean was rolling over in pain. He was fighting with whatever was possessing him, but he was slowly losing the battle.
"I can't fight it for much longer, Johnny." screamed Dean. "You have to kill me."
John took careful aim of his gun and shot Dean through the head. Black smoke streamed from his body. Filled with rage, John went after his other men and killed them as well. He was looking for the girl, but she was gone. In the end, the black smoke streamed back into the jungle. John was left surrounded by the dead bodies of his men. He sat down and wept. This was something that John would never forgive himself for. As the tears streamed, John heard clapping. Grabbing his gun, he turned around. It was Hathaway clapping and his eyes were glowing yellow. Taking aim, John shot him in the head, but the bullet was merely absorbed into Hathaway's system. Hathaway looked at John somewhat nonplussed.
"John," said Hathaway quietly. "You know better than to take a shot at your commanding officer."
John dropped to his knees next to Dean's body. He looked up at Hathaway in rage. "Why?"
"Johnny boy," said Hathaway looking amused. "I've been looking for a worthy adversary for years." "Why else would I send so many men into this part of the jungle?" Eerily enough, Hathaway's smile grew bigger as he looked at John. "It looks like I found him."