Ten

Two friends on their Vietnam tour cruise through the jungle headed towards a beach and encounter a nervous problem that comes to a quick and dramatic turn of events.

Thomas hacked a grand lob of mucus from his clogged chest. As the moving vehicle bumped over pebbles and dirt hills, he let out his sick token out of the passenger window. 

“Tom, you idiot, keep your head inside the jeep. Lord knows who or what the hell is out here!” yelled David. David was clutching the wheel of his armored jeep, with sweat dripping down his face from shear nervousness. 

“Don’t get your panties in such a big knot. I get that we are in danger, but have some balls man.” replied a clearly flustered Thomas. On his helmet, engraved, were two groups of tallies. Four lines each group with one line each group striking through. To Thomas, this numbered the amount of kills he had racked up while on his tour of Vietnam. Himself, being a true patriot and proud American, was not afraid of showing his dark side for others to judge. 

“Buddy, would you take over driving right now? The sun is going down soon and we need to reach the beach.”

“Sure Dave. I don’t mind.” Dave pulled onto a road with a quick stop. He opened the door and slung his rifle around his back. Then, Thomas slipped into the front seat and took the wheel into his control. Dave hopped into the passenger side of the jeep, slowly closed the door, and with a quick whirl of the engine the jeep sped off into the dying day.

Trees, with sprouting leaves and long stretching branches, tilted back and forth due to the progressing wind. The jeep continued down the dirt path through forested area and open flatland.

“Hey, Tom! Watch out!” Screamed David. Thomas slammed his foot into the brake, but not fast enough. The vehicle pounded straight into a fortified wall. The tall barricade was covered in tall, ragged spikes which were coated in spots of rust. 

Smoke filled the air and the inside of the jeep. But as the smoke cleared, and the stench of gasoline and wet metal became very potent, Thomas opened his eyes.

“David!” shouted Thomas as he peered over at Dave. A long, jagged piece of pointy metal struck right through his chest like a wooden kabab stick. A dastardly feeling of pure pain shot throughout David’s body.

His eyes observed the situation, with his arms and legs without feeling, not seeing any chance of getting out alive. He could hear sounds from far away getting closer to his position. There was a huge spike that had impaled his chest and pierced right through him, with blood dripping down his body and staining his army coveralls. His weak hands slowly moved, with Thomas putting all of his might into reaching. Thomas finally grabbed the m16 rifle and quickly pulled it back to him. He cocked back the rifle, opened the door, and placed his hand on the trigger. 

“Come at me.” whispered Thomas, as he unloaded the rifle right into a group of oncoming soldiers. The soldiers quickly fired back with no precision, missing every shot even though they had just unloaded their only clip of cheap ammunition. 

Thomas dropped the rifle out the door and onto the dirt, with tears of pride running down his face. His body, dripping blood onto the floor of the jeep, began to lock up. The approaching soldiers halted, and equipped their blades. The leader of the group of soldiers began pacing towards the armored truck, with a shaking expression of anger. The man ripped the helmet off of Thomas, and looked right at the ten markings carved into the helmet. 

“I know what this means, you dirty pig. You think this is so fun to come into a war that isn’t yours, and slaughter innocent people. But you are all the heroes, aren't you? Big America coming to save the people from their rebellious friends over the border. Screw you. Go to hell.” 

One stab landed right into the torso of Thomas. Then another. And another. Nine total stabs were landed onto Thomas. His blood dripped out of each hole, until seemingly none was left in his empty void of a body. 

“Looks like the wall already took care of one stab.” 

Author's Note

I have wrote many pieces of writing before, yet this war just a quick little story I wrote to showcase my writing.