Savage Sniper

“You know me, Deke. I wouldn’t ask someone to do something that I wasn’t willing to do myself.”

“Deke is right, Honcho. For once. If the Japanese pick him off, that’s better than losing an officer,” Philly said.

“I wasn’t planning on debating it,” Steele said, but his voice had lost some of its certainty. The lieutenant could be as stubborn as any of them, but even he had to realize that it was true that it would be far worse for the patrol, even their small one, to lose their leadership.

“Aw, Honcho, you know us better than that. We’re just saying we can’t afford to lose you.”

Finally, Steele cracked a grin. “And we can afford to lose Deke.”

Deke said, “You ain’t gonna lose me, you dumb sons of bitches. Honcho excepted, him being an officer and all. Now somebody come over here and take my shit. The only thing I want to drag through these paddies is my rifle and my ass.”

Deke got Philly to carry his haversack, since he might as well be useful for something. In addition to his rifle, Deke hung on to his canteen and his bowie knife. A rifle might get clogged with mud, but with a sharp knife, a man was never defenseless.

Danilo stepped forward as if to go with him, but Deke waved him back. “I appreciate it, but if I get killed, then somebody has to make sure the rest of these boys get their sorry asses back to Ormoc.”

It was always an open question as to how much English Danilo understood, but he gave Deke a nod.

“Yeah, yeah,” Philly said. “I think the rest of us can find a whole goddamn town if we need to. Anyhow, get back here as soon as you can, all right?”

“What, you miss me already?”

“Nah,” Philly said, hefting Deke’s haversack. “I just don’t want to be hauling your crap around for you.”

“You know what, I have one more thing for you to carry.”

Using Yoshio’s shoulder for balance, Deke took off his boots. As a boy, he had often worked the fields barefoot. He knew that the muddy combat boots would be only a hindrance. He tied the laces together and hung them around Philly’s neck.

“Are you shittin’ me?”

“I reckon it will be easier to walk barefoot. My boots will just get stuck in this mud.”

“I know where I’d like to stick these boots.”

“That’s just gonna have to wait until I get back.”

CHAPTER THREE

Deke headed out, leaving the rest of the patrol behind. They were still sitting ducks out in the rice paddy, but at least there didn’t seem to be any Japanese in the immediate vicinity. The closer that they got to Highway 2, that was unlikely to be the case.

He moved ahead, feeling as exposed as he ever had. The open rice paddy stretched around him in all directions. But he was headed straight ahead, where there were certainly enemy lookouts. Deke just hoped to hell that he would see them first.

Sunlight glittered off the muddy brown water. It was a tough slog. Even without the boots, mud sucked at his feet. He would take a few steps and hardly be in water that was more than ankle deep. At the next step, he would suddenly plunge up to his calves or even to his knees in mud.

As for snakes, he ignored any that he did see — that was the least of his worries.

The heat beat down and he moved on. If what they had been moving through previously was no-man’s-land, then Deke supposed that he was behind enemy lines by now — even if he hadn’t seen any actual enemies.

It wasn’t long before that changed. There was a collection of huts in the distance, surrounded by a handful of scrawny trees. To be sure, it was one of the few places that offered any shade. It would have been home to the rice paddy workers if they hadn’t wisely fled due to the fears of war. He watched the oasis warily, keeping a steady grip on his rifle.

Sure enough, he spotted movement among the huts.

Enemy soldiers. At least a half dozen of them.

If he could see them, then they could sure as hell see him, exposed as he was in the middle of this flooded field.

As he watched, the soldiers emerged from the scattered huts and started moving along a slightly elevated road in the direction of the highway. There was no longer any doubt that he was behind enemy lines.

There was also no doubt that the soldiers had seen him. They stopped and looked in his direction. One man shaded his eyes against the glare and stared at Deke.

There was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, short of diving down into the water. But it was too late for that. Any effort to hide would only raise their suspicions.

He didn’t like his chances trying to shoot them all. There were six of them, and it was beyond the range of an easy shot. They would be shooting back. If there were more Japanese in the vicinity, the sound of gunfire would alert them. The enemy would already be on edge, expecting the American advance. It was the last thing Deke needed.

Instead of opening fire, he lowered his rifle and waved. Two or three of the Japanese waved back; then the whole group moved on, not even giving Deke a second look.

I’ll be damned.