7. The Deadly Landing

They landed just near China's eastern coast. All of the crew members were soaked in the freezing cold water. They struggled to swim against the current and waves. Finally, they made it up to the shore.

"Hite. Barr. Spatz." The bombardier cautiously called out his crew members' names, trying to look for his pals.

"Over here. Good golly. I'm going to freeze to death before the enemies kill us."

"Shhh," Robert Smith warned them, "This way."

Robert had the ghosts in his head guiding him where to go. One of them happened to have lived in the coastal province, so he could tell from experience where they should go.

Unfortunately, they soon heard whistle blowing urgently. That meant someone discovered them.

It was entirely dark, but Robert could see some people with guns moving towards them.

Oh wow! Robert realized he kind of had a bit of night vision ability now.

"This way, I saw—"

Before Robert could finish his sentence, three shots were fired. Robert saw Hite, Barr, Spatz falling to the ground.

Shit.

Robert quickly lied down flat on the rocky ground. He could see them being taken away by three soldiers. His pals were shivering.

He lifted himself up and hiked one leg up. His shin was cut by a sharp edge of a rock. But he didn't feel pain so he didn't even notice.

He was the only one among them that got soaked in the sea water but didn't feel cold at all. On the contrary, he felt warm and full of energy. The cut on his leg now just made him feel stronger and he quietly stood up.

One ghost directed Robert:  "Go there. There should be an outhouse. It stinks, but hide behind it." 

So Robert tip toed and went over to the outhouse there.

But immediately, he heard dogs barking. Then some shouting by a Japanese soldier.

"I think the dogs smelled your blood." One ghost said.

"Do you think standing by the stinking outhouse could distract the dogs and they would lose track?" Robert asked.

"This... I don't know. Anyone here is an expert on dogs?" Tao asked all the ghosts in Robert's head.

It was nice that Robert kind of have a team of helpers with him at all times. Each helper... or ghost... had different life experience and could contribute to help him.

At this point, Robert was kind of unsure how many ghosts were in his head. Because he asked to eat some more snow before he left Yunnan, the snow consequently added more ghosts to his head. He believed he had seven ghosts with him now... at least. He hadn't greeted each one of them properly because he never had an alone moment after being reassigned and going through rigorous training.

"Sorry, Robert, no one here knows about dogs enough to tell you what would happen."

Robert now had to decide if he should stay behind the outhouse or run somewhere. He decided to make a run.

He could see in the dark. The Japanese soldiers certainly couldn't see him. OK. Here we go.

He dashed towards inland and he saw a bush. He planned to hide there until the search patrol soldiers pass.

Before he squat down in the bush, gun shots were fired at him.

He actually could detect the gun aiming at him before the shots were fired, but he was too confident he could out run the bullets. 

Nope. He was not that lucky. One bullet hit him right in his knee. He didn't feel pain, but it did physically impair him now. The bone and muscle were pierced through. He was injured. So he had to slow down.

Therefore, he was shot again. Two more bullets firing at him. He was shot in the chest and in his stomach.

He fell down on his back. He started to gurgle in blood as his lungs were now filled with his blood.

He had superpowers, but he still could get hurt. He still had a human body.

There was some more yelling in Japanese. And then he heard the footsteps and dogs approaching.

He started to think in his head: Come one. Leave the dogs out of this. You found me. I don't need dogs barking at me. I have super hyper sensitive hearing. The barking is going to be so loud. Why can't I at least die in peace?

Robert never felt this way. His body was lying there, impaired, but his mind was still so clear. And he didn't even feel pain. It's like his body is sleeping and his mind can't fall asleep.

Is this it for him? The end of his life, finally?

Fortunately, the dogs didn't come near him. A soldier, however, approached his body. Robert almost wanted to lift his head up to see this soldier.

This damn soldier is going to fricking kill me again!!  Make sure I am totally dead!!

Just as Robert thought, the soldier raised his weapon up, and then stabbed him with the bayonet twice.  Robert could hear the knife going into his body twice but he didn't feel pain.    The soldier walked away a few steps, and returned, standing there, with the bayonet pointing at Robert's head.

The soldier wanted to make sure Robert was extremely dead, through and through.

"Ah, he made a mistake before," Tao said in Robert's head, "He shot some Chinese peasants in the past but only later learned the Chinese peasants didn't die by the gun shots. So he makes sure each person is dead with his knife on his gun now."

The solider finally stabbed Robert one last time, and walked away, satisfied.

Well, Robert was sure it was it. Funny how he could even feel his heart stop beating now.

"I'm sorry, ghosts. I'm dying now. You guys might have to find other trees to stay on. Can you guys float back to Yunnan?" Robert said in his head to his ghost friends.

"You crazy? Yunnan is super far from here right now."

"It'll take us quite some days. It can be done." One ghost said.

"Hey, guys," Robert said in his head, "I think I just realized, I could understand you all. But you guys are not all speaking in English, right?"

"No."

"How do I understand you all. Ah! Oh my gosh! I'm becoming a ghost, too. That's why I can understand you all. This is great! I want to be a ghost with you guys." Robert wanted to clap his hands.

"I guess. You could be our first American ghost friend."

Robert was now accepting his death, "Why don't I teach you all some English. How come you guys never just learn English from me or from Tao? I'm sure English is easier to learn than Chinese. I'm not going to learn Chinese now that I'm dead. Too difficult."

"Um….," One ghost said.

"What?" Tao asked.

"Maybe Mr. Robert is not going to die."