The Distant Stars (Những ngôi sao xa xôi) - Lê Minh Khuê

[10] Burried

-Get down! - Thao shouted.

 As if I had just received a punch in the belly, I doubled over and then threw myself on the ground. Bomb! It sounded like they thudded as they fell and then exploded. The surface of the earth was like a shaking giant.

 It seemed like thousands of airplanes were turning somersaults overhead. I dragged myself back into the cave. Thao did the same. "Damn it. They can't give us a chance to breathe..." she mumbled. 

 Slender, well-proportioned, with hair down to her shoulders, her scar invisible in the dark, she stood with one hand clinging to the line where we hung our washcloths. If she had had a good voice, she would have been better off in the theater. On the stage, she would have looked presentable. But her squeaky voice hurt people's ears. She admitted it by herself. 

-Bring the radio over here. - Nho made a sign.

 I carried it over to Nho, then picked up the yardstick and went back outside with Thao. We had to run a lot, so the wound in my thigh began to hurt. I just hoped the wound didn't make me limp. Thao was very determined. Of course, she wouldn't worry about going up the hill by herself. There were so many bomb craters. We measured them and, doing some mental addition, shouted to each other the results. Thao recorded them in the logbook. There were no time bombs, but we would need a lot of dirt. The total came to two thousand cubic meters. Suddenly, as if something had shoved her in the back, Thao flew forward, grasped me against her chest, and together we fell to the ground. In a flash, an avalanche of the earth came down on us. Big chunks of wet dirt mixed with the dry dirt from deeper underground. It was hot. Something pulled my head down. Thrusting my legs down for momentum, I pushed myself up, up, and up... Grains of dirt filled my nostrils. Shaking my head, clods of earth fell off. All around me was the steely, ponderous grey of billowing smoke.

 I couldn't see Thao anywhere. "Thao!", I tried to scream but I was choked. Dirt filled my mouth. Damn it! I spat out a clump of earth. Groping around, my hand touched Thao's hair. I turned around and, pushing myself forward, used both hands to claw at the dirt. I found her, but I couldn't sense her breathing. Then, she flung an arm around my neck and shakily stood up. Nho grimaced like a child:

-Again?

 Thao smiled strangely and slowly regained her composure:

-A piece of bad luck. But it was really nothing.

 It couldn't just be bad luck. Her body had already carried nine wounds, both big and small. Nho had five. I had the fewest, only four. I had one severe scar on my stomach that had made me be kept in a military hospital for three months. Being buried like this was normal...

 I looked at my friends. Thao was very pale. She was exhausted. Nho brought her a mug of water and, using her pinkie, flicked the grains of dirt from her hair, then suddenly philosophized:

-That's life on a strategic hill! 

 Thao burst into laughter, motioning with her head in my direction:

-Log in the numbers before you forget.

 As I dialed the two-way radio, Thao hurried over to my side:

-Tell them everything, but let them know that we've stood our ground. 

 It wasn't the company commander but the liaison officer who answered the radio. He was a polite and hospitable guy who didn't smoke or like the girls. 

-Where did the commander go?

-He's out giving orders out there, the trucks are coming through with the missiles soon. But it's late afternoon already. Nobody can sleep. What about you guys?

-We're pretty tired. More than two thousand cubic meters of dirt already. It's not even near dark yet. We're still standing our ground...

-If things get worse, fire off some shots immediately, heard that? The unit always cares about you up there. The assault troopers will get up there quickly...