Hunter Sniper

“Look around, Philly. We’ve barely got a toehold on this place. Does it seem to you like we can send soldiers out of here?”

“Look, I just don’t want to have to carry your ass back here in a couple of days if you get sicker.” Philly sounded exasperated. “Besides, you might not have any say in it once Merrick remembers that you’re sick as a dog.”

“Just keep your mouth shut,” Deke said. “Merrick has got more on his mind than one sick soldier.”

Arguing with Philly had tired Deke out. He stretched in a tire track in the sand, pulled his hat down over his face, and promptly fell asleep.

It soon became apparent that Deke’s prediction about manpower was coming to pass. The medics patched up the walking wounded and sent them back to their units. The division was going to need every man who could hold a rifle for this operation. There simply weren’t any reinforcements to be had.

Captain Merrick went off to headquarters to make his report. Meanwhile, the company awaited orders and slept wherever they had managed to stretch out in the sand, oblivious to the fresh sunburns they were getting. Considering that most of them were already deeply tanned, it might have been said that their sunburns were getting sunburns. Some turned red as boiled lobsters, but they were just too tired to care.

Four figures approached across the beach — or five, if you counted the large dog that trotted beside one of the men. They appeared to be battle-hardened veterans, but what really set them apart was the fact that three of them carried rifles with telescopic sights, instantly marking them as scouts and snipers.

The tallest man in the group stopped from time to time to talk to soldiers that they passed. His body language indicated that the officer appeared to be asking questions. Finally, a sergeant pointed at the company sprawled across the sand. The tall officer headed in that direction.

He walked past the prone soldiers, who didn’t so much as acknowledge him, because most of them were in various stages of sleeping or resting. When he approached the small knot of men who had set themselves apart from the rest of the company, he seemed to have found what he was looking for. One of the three men was not sleeping but sat in the sand, watching the officer approach. It was Danilo, whose face broke into a smile as he recognized the officer.

The officer was about to kick the boot of one of the men who had fallen asleep gripping his rifle, but hesitated with his foot drawn back, and instead used the toe of his boot to tap the bottom of Philly’s boot.

“Hey!” Philly complained, sitting bolt upright in the hot sun. “What’s the big idea?”

“Wake up, Philly. I knew better than to kick Deke — he probably would have shot me.”

Philly blinked a couple of times at the tall officer. “I’ll be damned. Is that you, Honcho? Or am I looking at a ghost?”

“It’s me, all right. I can’t believe that I’m saying this, but I’m actually glad to see you, Philly. I was getting so that I almost missed your wisecracks and bellyaching.”

“I’ll do my best to make up for it.”

“Let me emphasize the word almost. Anyhow, I didn’t think that I’d ever see you sorry bastards again.”

“You know us, Honcho. Always turning up like a bad penny or yesterday’s meat loaf.”

“Better make that sir here on the beach,” the lieutenant said. “There are too many other officers around way above my pay grade, and they get touchy about that sort of thing. Save the pet names for the jungle, when there are Japanese snipers around.”

Philly snapped to attention and gave him a salute. “Yes, sir!”

Steele just shook his head.

Behind Lieutenant Steele, Rodeo, Alphabet, and Egan approached. They shouted greetings at Philly. “Look at these lazy bastards! It figures that we’d find them snoozing. Good thing we weren’t Japs!”

“Aw, shut up, you dopes,” Philly replied good-naturedly. “While you were on a pleasure cruise, our asses were hiking through the jungle. Let me tell you, it was uphill both ways, with the Japanese shooting at us the whole time.”

Egan had to hold back Thor, who started barking in excitement.

Yoshio and Deke had been awakened by the commotion. The new arrivals were slapping Philly on the back. Yoshio sprang up and promptly found himself hugged by Rodeo. Alphabet slapped him so hard on the shoulder that he staggered. It was a sign of the easy brotherhood between soldiers, where even being Japanese didn’t matter to men who had lived and fought together.

The soldiers were more reserved toward Danilo but still gave the Filipino welcoming grins. Danilo returned their grins and nodded at them.

Deke got to his feet more slowly, unfolding himself like a rusty jackknife struggling to open. The bright sun amplified his gaunt features, the scars on his face making him look even more haggard.

“What the hell happened to you?” Rodeo asked, sounding a little taken aback.

“Just tired, I reckon.”

“He’s got malaria,” Philly said. “But he’s too damn stubborn to go see the doc.”