Fortunate Sons

Chapter 10: Night of the Hunters January 31st, 1968

Tet, the biggest holiday of the year, had finally arrived. Everywhere Taylor, Mitch, Dix and the rest of their comrades went there was an air of celebration and excitement awaiting the coming of the New Year. People lit joss sticks at the temples, visited the pagodas or visited relatives in their homes. Many more made offerings to their ancestors in the hopes that they would see them through another year and that the coming one would be full of better fortunes.

"You coming by to visit Uncle and the rest of the family?" Sue asked.

"Later if we don't have anything going on," Taylor replied. "I'll let you know if something comes up."

"Sounds good," Sue said. "Once I'm off shift I'll meet you out in front of the house. I might be a while though. I don't think you'll want to see me covered in blood or gunk from the hospital."

"Hey," Taylor said. "Don't work yourself to death. You're still gorgeous even if you're covered in dirt and somebody else's blood."

"I'm flattered but that's kind of gross."

She and Taylor shared a good laugh until he heard the other nurses calling for her. "Ah-ah no, wait, kiss...." Taylor said before she could leave.

The pair shared a brief kiss before Sue was off with the other nurses in the back of an army truck. Taylor watched as they pulled away and didn't leave until they became nothing but a small speck in the distance. Later in the day he had finally met up with the others, gathered his things and headed out for their duties.

"So what's the deal this time?" he asked Dix as the jeep drove down the road.

"Marsh and river patrol duty tonight and it looks like it's going to be a long ride," Dix answered.

"Any word on Cao?"

"Last we heard he was spotted somewhere along the river with some of his minions," Ma Ahn replied. "River Rats have been looking everywhere for him."

"People all over town are looking to turn him in too," Mitch informed him. "I guess a few of his minions killed seven people on the town outskirts or something like that."

"Really?" Ma Ahn said. "I heard it was seventeen."

"Well whatever the number is," Taylor said. 'We'd better get to him and fast."

Each of them had been thinking the same thing. If the General was still out there, they had to find him before he did any more harm. The thought of The Book of the Fallen falling into his hands weighed heavy on Taylor's mind. If that thing had fallen into the hands of such a ruthless killer there was no telling the level of destruction it could bring.

After the debriefing, the group was sent along its way and when night came once again, they headed out for their patrol route. The men hiked their way through muck and stagnant water, traipsing across the marshlands that stunk of rotting vegetation and wet mud. The skies above were velvet black and the moon nowhere to be found while the marsh grasses stood up to their shoulders. The night critters were the only other thing that could be heard aside from their boots being sucked into the mud, a choir of chirps, cheeps and the guttural ribbit of the bullfrogs.

The slosh of heavy boots along the water, the rustle of the grasses and the quiet breathing of the soldiers filled the air and drowned out the chirpers. A warm, humid breeze formed goosebumps on their bare arms but something didn't feel right at all. The marshes, just barely a mile away from Than Ahn, were as quiet as the grave.