By ValerieRichards
Disclaimers: See chapter 1.
Author's note: Sorry it took so long to update, the other diskette with the original chapter on it broke. I had a lot of stories on the other one and they're lost like chapter 7 of A Tale of a Greaser Girl and all of the original chapters of the story along with all the chapters of this story. This chapter takes place after Pony's done with training.
Chapter 3: War
The time had gone so fast and I was in Vietnam. I missed my brothers a lot. I loaded my gun up and made sure I had everything near me incase of an attack. I didn't use my head, I wasn't ready for this. Ready to see death up close. Ready to have to kill people.
"Curtis at attention! We're getting briefed for tomorrow's mission" another soldier yelled to me. We had a small amount of people, but we were all advanced in weapon training and maneuver tactics.
"Right" I yelled back. He turned to leave and I made a face at him. He didn't look at me, but stuck his middle finger up. Mac, that soldier, was my best friend in the army. I went to the main room where we get debriefed. Everyone was there including the Commander and Sergeant.
"Nice of you to join us Curtis" the Sergeant said. I laughed coldly. They explained our next move and we planned our positions. Then, we went to sleep, we'd be out early. The next morning, Mac woke me up by pulling me out of bed. I lazily got up and got ready. By the time we had to meet out on the field, I was fully awake.
"Alright men, charge" the Commander yelled. We all knew that there was Vietcong all over. The enemy had some soldiers up at night watching and then some during the day. We ran forwards with our guns and weapons ready. We had to be extremely careful, the enemy was all around us.
"Look out" someone yelled. We all ducked and a bullet whizzed past our heads and into a tree. We held our guns ready to shoot any Vietcong that we saw. Then, I saw another one of my friends stand up. The thing that shocked me was that there was a Vietcong a couple of yards away pointing his gun at him.
"RON" I yelled. I ran for him with my gun pointed at the Vietcong as best as possible. The Vietcong heard me and pulled the trigger. I was almost to my friend and lunged. I pointed my gun at the enemy and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit me in between two rib cage bones. I saw the bullet hit the Vietcong square between the eyes, lucky shot. I passed out.
"Curtis! Can you here me" the Commander asked when I came to. I moaned and my vision slowly came back. I was in a hospital similar to the ones in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
"Wh-Where am I" I asked weakly. The Commander smiled bitterly.
"You're lucky Curtis. You're back in Oklahoma, in a hospital. It is unknown to me how they got you here so quick, I've never seen anything like it" he said. Then, something registered in my mind.
"Why are you here? You should be back with all the other bozos in Vietnam" I asked him.
"The army's got another commander substituting for me. I have to go back there in a day" he told me. I smiled gratefully and then closed my eyes again. I wanted some peace and quiet to rest.
"Ponyboy Curtis" a nurse asked. I nodded without opening my eyes. I opened my eyes when there was silence.
"Yes" I asked. My voice was still raspy and it was starting to annoy me. I looked at her and she was smiling sweetly.
"Your…….brothers are here to see you" she said. I gave her the okay sign and left smiling. Then, I looked up and saw something that I never thought I'd see.
"Hold on mom. Hold on dad. I've gotta say goodbye to Soda and Darry" I said. I was the only person in the room.
Please R&R!
