Chapter 17: Ia Drang Valley (Part 5)

A/N: Last three chapters for Arc 1

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As Jim returned back at the grove, the other looked at him in mixture of awe and amazement with a sliver of fear. It wasn't everyday someone can see a seen like that with a one man charging alone to a platoon and killed them all - yeah with a little bit of cover fire helping him but it doesn't change the fact that he slaughtered tens of mens with little to no injury to booth.

Sergeant Savage was the first to break the silence with him reprimanding his Corporal.

"Do you have any idea how fucking dumb that was Jimmy?!?!!" Sergeant Savage bellowed and berated Jim as he comes back from his reckless charge

"I had to do it Sarge! I have to avenge Chuck and Carters death, I ain't taking that lying down." Jim shot back with rage still present in his voice.

"I understand you, we've lost a lot of great men today, we've lost our comrades we can call brothers I don't want to lose you as well! So don't ever do that kind of stunt again and let your rage consume you." Savage said to Jim, clearly worried about him.

Jim's eyes flared but he bit back his retort. "But thanks to that, it gives us a space for a breather. Now we need to get out of this shithole before another waves of NVA comes." Sergeant Savage said as he peek slightly over the grasses, scouting for enemies

As if sensing the opportunity to reassert control, Lieutenant Herrick issued his order. "Alright men, check ammo and gather the wounded. We need to regroup with the main unit as soon as possible."

Hearing this, Jims simmering anger boiled over as he lashed out to the Lieutenant. "Shut up fuckface! We shouldn't be here! If it wasn't because of you chasing an obvious bait for an ambush! We shouldn't have lost all this men and my buddies because of your fuckin retardness!"

The others looked at Herrick with clear anger but decided not to voice it. Only Jim dared to speak out.

Hearing this, Herrick gritted his teeth. "I made a tactical decision, Corporal. That scout was a high value target, potentially leading us to a larger NVA force."

Jims face twisted with fury. "Bullshit! You were just fuckin inexperienced and you led us straight to a trap!"

Before anyone could react, Jim lunged at Herrick with his right fist flying. He landed a solid punch to Herrick's jaw that send him staggering back. The lieutenant barely had time to recover before Jim was on him again pummeling him with a barrage of blows.

"Jim, stop! That's enough!" Mack shouted as he rushed forward to pull Jim off Herrick. Savage joined in and grabbed Jim by the shoulders and dragging him back.

Herrick wiped the blood from his lip as his eyes narrowing dangerously. "You're going to pay for that Corporal. When we get back, I'll see to it that you're court martialed."

Herrick looks comical, he looked like a panda and clearly in the wrong but still threatened Jim. 

Jim struggled against Mack and Savage's grip, the effects of overly using his abilities left him pretty weakened but can still beat a person or two to the ground. "You think I give a damn about your threats? You're the reason Chuck and Carter are dead! You're the reason we're in this mess!"

Savage tightened his hold on Jim. "Calm down, Jim. This isn't helping. We need to stick together if we're going to make it out of here."

Jim finally relented, allowing Mack and Savage to lead him away. Savage commanded the 'healthy' ones who can still walk carry a wounded person each while Jim, Mack, Bungum, Sergeant Savage, and Herrick leads the way and be the one that guards them.

The original thirty men is now reduced to fourteen with four wounded. If Jim and others don't get out of there as soon as possible, that ditch will be their grave.

As they started to move, the sound of distant gunfire reached their ears. The NVA were coming again, and this time, they were determined to finish the job.

"Incoming! Get to cover!" Savage shouted.

The jungle erupted in chaos once more. The peace they temporarily experienced was just a fleeting moment when a steady stream of NVA soldiers attack once more. The soldiers returned fire even the wounded.

Bullets tore trough the measly grasses they called cover culling the already small mean they have left. This fueled Jims rage once again as he fought with ferocity, tearing the enemies ranks as he racked up kill count over fifty and still adding up.

Mack's machine gun spat out rounds in a steady stream, keeping the advancing gooks at bay while Tom lobbed grenades that sends their body flying. While the Lieutenant is busy contacting the main unit for reinforcements. "Trojan Six, we need immediate reinforcements! We're heavily engaged and cut off from the main force!"

The NVA kept coming in wave after wave after wave, their sheer numbers threatening to overwhelm the cutoff squad that desperately fighting for their lives.

This goes on for hours as the sun keep lowering from the sky as the evening arrives but the enemy soldiers shows no sign of stopping. 

At last, the squad is approaching their limit.

"Were running low on ammo Sarge!" Tom shouted.

"Ammos is not a luxury we can afford right now Tom, so pick your target one shot, one kill alright?" Savage said while killing another NVA soldier.

"Roger that!"

Jim heeding the Sergeants words, only shot when his sure his bullets can kill as he fire with deadly accuracy. He saw the enemy fall, one after another, but they kept coming. Anyone who rushed at them was met with the machete his carrying.

Savage crawl to where the wounded's are as he assess their status. "How are we doin Bob?"

"Were out of water Sir." He quickly responded as he bandaged a wounded soldier.

Savage take his canteen water and gave it to him. "Here, that's the last of it."

"Jesus, they're like fucking ants, they just keep coming and coming!" Tom said in frustration. He was about to lob another grenade when another three soldiers charge at his direction.

They charged in reckless abandon at Tom as he was caught off guard, resulting for one NVA soldier bayoneting him in the stomach making him cry in pain.

"Shit!! Arghhhh!!!"

Jim sees this as he quickly rushed for Toms aid, killing the three enemies with his rifle before assessing's Toms wound.

"Godbolt! Godbolt! Toms hit!" Jim shouted as Godbolt quickly arrived with bandage to stop the bleeding.

"Don't worry Jim, his gonna be fine no organs was stabbed."

This brought a sigh of relief to Jim as he returned to the frontline, keeping them at bay.

Finally, as darkness fell, the NVA began to retreat while dragging some of their wounded but Jim did not let them as he quickly shot those whose attempting.

While Savage checked on Bungum. "Hey Bungum are you hit?"

"N-no I'm okay, our guys gonna come for us aren't they?" Bungum stuttered and clearly hoping for someone to rescue them.

But Savage wasn't too optimistic, he knew that no help is coming for them and clearly knew they're also occupied and had their hands full. But he can't drop the morale at this critical time.

"Yeah, just focus on surviving through the night and were good."