Chasing Shadows

CHAPTER FOUR

  BRUCE JOHNSON

  Bruce Johnson's patrol slowly made its way along a narrow road, hugging the thick vegetation that hung over its edges. Trying to make the best use of whatever cover they could find. In an effort to remain unnoticed by the village they were about to pass through. It being late evening and the light was slowly starting to fade.

  Bruce was in charge of a ten-man patrol that was secretly operating deep inside of Laos, far beyond their normal jurisdiction. The team was spaced out as had been drummed into them during training. They were attempting to snatch a local warlord who controlled a large area of the country. He was to be taken back to headquarters in South Vietnam, where he was to be interrogated and maybe won over by the Americans. In an effort to try and shorten the war in that part of the country.

  Bruce had positioned himself behind his two Laotian scouts, so he could be in full control of any situation that might arise up front. Up till now they had been lucky to get this far without being recognised as infiltrating soldiers. One reason was that they were wearing the same military style uniforms as the local militias. In this way they were able to stick to the main poorly maintained roads that weaved across the country. If they were to cut their own tracks through the jungle the operation would take a couple of weeks longer. Twice they had successfully passed local Laotian troops on the other side of the roadway, that were also on patrol but heading in the opposite direction. The local scouts up front had used the briefest of words to assure the Laotians that they were locals.

  Bruce had been very careful in picking his team for this task. Making sure that he did not pick anybody tall, who might stand out amongst the local tribesmen. Although his own frame bordered on large, he still thought it worth a gamble. Now all that planning was paying off, as they made their way deep into the enemy held countryside.

  However the smoothness of the operation was placed into jeopardy as Bruce came up alongside a young man in a military style uniform, who was walking slowly on his own and in the same direction as the team. Bruce assumed that the scouts had just spoken to him and thought that he was of no threat to them. It was a gamble that would usually have paid off, providing the other members of the team knew what was going on. Unfortunately in this instance there was no way to pass the word back to warn them. Suddenly the young man turned and looked straight at Bruce's camouflaged coloured face, and stared deep into his eyes. Bruce knew that the young man sensed something was not quite right. He had to make a quick decision without informing the other members of his team of what he intended to do.

  He grabbed the young man and cupped one hand over his mouth as he dragged him into and down a nearby narrow alleyway. Where he plunged his commando knife deep in to his side, at that same moment he felt him struggle and to try and bite into his hand that was still over his mouth cutting off his air supply. Bruce knew there would be no noise and as he felt the body become limp and lifeless he slowly lowered it so it was resting on his knees. Then silently he let the body slump down into a heap by the side of the alley. Where he placed a couple of pieces of cardboard that he found nearby on the crumpled heap, in an effort to conceal the body. The longer the evidence was hidden the further the patrol would be away from the village before it was discovered. While all the time he was looking around, just in case somebody might have been witness what had just taken place.

  Bruce then made his way towards the entrance of the alleyway in the hope that he might rejoin his patrol. Unbeknown to him the team member who had been directly behind him had not been close enough to see what had happened in the failing light. So the patrol had continued to advance along the roadway and past the village.

  Before Bruce could reach the road way and look for his men, his attention was grabbed by the sound of somebody moaning very loudly behind him. He turned and was taken aback by the sight of the young man who he thought he had just killed, on his knees and was struggling in an effort to get to his feet.

  Again he had to make a quick decision and turned around rushing back to grab the wounded guy. Then once again holding him in a silenced position, he stuck his dagger into his side around the area of his kidneys and thrust it up under his rib cage, something he should have done the first time.

  Bruce then turned once again towards the alleyway entrance that faced the roadway. Before he could take another step, two Laotian villages started to advance towards him. One of them was carrying a machete while the other one was a young girl. Bruce knew that he would not get past them so he made quick decision to head back down the alley. Unfortunately away from his patrol and safety, not wanting to get involved in a situation that could escalate in to a major incident. He ran down one alley then left into another then left again, all the time trying to head in what he believed was a square shape direction. In this way he hoped that it would bring him back onto the main roadway through the village so he could be reunited with his team.

  He was in a losing battle and it did not take him long to realise that he was completely lost. Every alleyway that he turned down looked exactly like the one before. They were all very narrow, so narrow in fact that at times as he ran he was grazing his elbows along the walls. Occasionally he went past low arched doorways that had people standing in them. He became increasingly worried that it would not be long before others would join in, even though they might not know why he was being chased.

  Finally almost exhausted he slowed to a walk, while still looking over his shoulder. As he turned one of the corners he was suddenly confronted by what he guessed was a young girl. He did not want to go back so he decided to bluff his way past her. As they approached each other he began to sense that there was something odd about her, but thought nothing of it until he was almost up to her. As he was about to squeeze past her it suddenly dawned on him. She was the same girl who had witnessed him killing the young man earlier, and she had something menacing in her right hand. At first he thought about just shooting her, but then changed his mind in case it awoke the whole village. Then he would really be in trouble and so would the mission. Once again he turned to flee back the way he had just come, hoping to leave the problem behind him.

  Bruce was not fast enough, she lunged forward and stabbed him in the top of his arm, but he was surprised that he had not seen a knife. However, he certainly felt a sharp piercing pain that shot down the complete length of his arm. Pain was the last thing on his mind at this moment in time, all he wanted to do was to find a way out of the village and to be reunited with his team. Again he found himself running as fast as he could in an effort to escape any further attacks that she might try and launch at him. All the time his brain was racing trying to work out what it was that she had just stabbed him with.

  Then in a split second he suddenly realised that it had been a syringe. He ran his hand up his arm to feel for the wound, almost stabbed his hand on a broken needle. By sheer luck the needle had been broken in the girls frenzied stabbing attack against him. Immediately he started to try and work out what had been pumped into his body and how much. Whatever it was, he only had a few minutes to find somewhere to hide, before he passed out. If he failed then it would be easy pickings for whoever was chasing him.

  He continued racing first down one alley and then down another until he was completely disorientated. Somehow he managed to find his way out of the village and was on a narrow grassy track. With jungle to his right and a three-meter drop to his left down to a small stream. By now he was staggering and his vision was becoming very blurred. If he did not find a hideaway soon he would end up dead. The last thing he remember before he passed out was falling to his left.

  He then toppled head over heels down a steep embankment narrowly missing several large boulders that lay in his path. Finally ending up in the middle of a very large group of lush thick prickly bushes. By the time his body had come to a halt he was already unconscious. Ending up being completely out of view to those who might pass along the track above. The large cocktail of drugs that his body was now ex
periencing sent him spinning off into a fantasy world unlike anything he had ever experienced to date. At times the fantasies became the worst nightmares that anyone could ever imagine. Then in the middle of this drug-induced coma, just like the eye of a hurricane, the dreams became calm. So calm in fact that his whole life started to unravel in front of him. It was as if he were an angel and that he was gliding through little white puffs of cloud that he imagined heaven was like, while looking down on part of his life history.

  He did not know it, but he had been very lucky, if this is what you can call luck. When the needle broke while it was in his arm only half of the syringe contents had entered his body. A full dose of that highly volatile mixture would surely have killed him, in what would have been a most terrifying death of tortured nightmares.

  Unbeknown to Bruce he had lain unconscious for almost two days. When he finally opened his eyes he found himself imprisoned inside of a small bamboo cage. After being unconscious for such a long time, at first he did not feel like jumping up and running around. Which was a good idea because his cell was so small that he could not stand up anyway, also as he moved his arms he found that he could touch all four sides of the cage. So he just lay there trying to get his bearings and to try and place together the events that had left him in this predicament.

  It was then that he realised that he was not alone, for sitting on the other side of the bamboo bars just a few feet away he found himself looking at a young girl wearing a jungle camouflage style uniform. As he rubbed the top of his arm it did not take him long to assume that she had been his attacker. She did not respond to his request for some water, she just sat there starring at him. So Bruce asked her once again only this time he used the little local language that he knew. Before the words had left his lips she threw the contents of a bowl that she was holding into his face. Lucky for him it was water and his tongue worked overtime trying to lick whatever moisture he could find from around the sides of his mouth. Trying to keep his spirits up he came out with the usual witty lines that some servicemen are well known for. By thanking her for her service and that he had no change so he could not give her a tip. The expression on the girl's face did not change so Bruce continued telling her that he did not like the service she was providing. And that if it did not change then he might take his custom elsewhere. With that she jumped up and started rattling the side of the cage bars with short piece of bamboo. The noise became irritating as she kept it up for some time until she turned and walked away. Leaving Bruce to take in his surroundings and wonder what the future had in store for him.

  From his cell he guessed that he might be on the edge of some sort of village or camp. For he was in the middle of a clearing, with the dense jungle having been cleared for almost twenty meters from where he was positioned. To his right there was a row of huts that were all constructed of local vegetation and were connected by a narrow flimsy walkway that ran the length of the huts. There seemed to be several chickens and a couple of pigs just wandering around the clearing looking for food. In the distance he could hear children's voices, so he guessed that they were playing close by. If he could hear children then it was a good bet that he was near a village. The one thing that he thought strange was that there were no guards to be seen especially around his cage.

  Bruce did not need much time to assess his predicament, within just a few seconds he convinced himself that he was stuffed. Furthermore he had no idea who his captors were, where he was or even what time of day it was. Having been a wake now for some time he now felt the urge to stretch his legs, but seeing as the girl had left him he did not know whom to call. The more he shifted his aching body around in the very tight confines of his cell, the more he became frustrated in not being able to stretch. It wasn't just his legs, now it was his back and no matter how he tried there was no position within the confines of the cell that he could find, to at least stretch out one part of his body. Whoever his captors were they had used a lot of science in designing this hellhole, into one of the most uncomfortable pieces of deprivation furniture he had ever known.

  Not knowing the time of day and the loneliness was his worst enemy, so he had to devise ways of overcoming this. He had once read of a Russian guy who was imprisoned for twenty years in solitary confinement. While he had lain on his straw mattress, he had noticed that the sun shining threw his prison bars made a pattern of a chessboard on his cell floor. Then over the next twenty years he had taught himself how to play the game by imagining where all the pieces were. Upon his release from prison he had gone on to become some sort of grand master.

  The pattern the sun cast beside Bruce's cell was not exactly like a full size chessboard. It was more like a striped board, but at least it gave him a challenge and something to occupy his brain. At least if he were to learn this way he would be able to brag that he did it harder than the Russian.

  It was almost dark when his favourite little female friend returned, and in her hand was a rusty looking flat tin. She approached his cage slowly and placed it by the bars, in a position where Bruce would be able to reach through the bars to get to it. She immediately left after pointing to the tin in a gesture that he under stood as being for him. It only took him a few seconds to realise that it was just a few leftover food scraps. Left over's from what he had no idea, although he did notice a small piece of green coloured bread amongst the swill. He knew he had to eat some of it, as he was almost at starvation point, and of not knowing when he'd had his last meal. If he was going to get out of this predicament and escape he would need to be reasonably fit. Suspecting that he was a couple of hundred kilometers from the safety of his camp in South Vietnam.

  That night was long and cold and Bruce found it hard to get any sort of rest. One of his legs was cramping badly and there was no way that he could stretch it out. Halfway through the night it went numb so at least he could not feel the pain anymore.

  Just before daybreak the girl along with two other males in military uniforms came over to his cage, unlocked it and dragged him out. The relief was immediate for Bruce as his cramping limbs were able to unfold and become out stretched. He was then manacled by the ankles, and found that there was now a twelve-inch piece of chain between each foot. Once the guards were happy that he would not be able to run away, they allowed the girl to take him to a nearby river. It was hard going for him shuffling along as the manacles were cutting into the flesh of his ankles. He was also experiencing problems with the leg that had been numb all night, he had thought that by now the blood would be circulating once again, but it was not to be. At the river the girl pointed towards the water ordering him in.

  Bruce could not help himself and once again his wit came out quite naturally when he asked the girl if she had some soap. She made out that she did not understand, although Bruce thought otherwise as she produced a pistol from her pocket. His immediate thought was that she was going to shoot him and leave his body to float away. This was one of the most common ways that the people in this part of the world used to get rid of unwanted bodies.

  He wanted to take full advantage of what he expected to be a short-lived freedom. So he went into the water to wash his battered body, have a drink and to also exercise his numb leg. Just like he thought his freedom was short lived as the girl shouted and gestured him out of the water by waving the pistol at him. Then it was just a short shuffle back to his cage where he was bundled inside once again and the door closed up behind him. She could not help herself as she picked up the piece of bamboo and proceed to strike the side of his cage as if he were an animal. It had not taken Bruce long to realise that she definitely hated him, and that he was not going to get any favours from her while she was in that frame of mind.

  The evening meal arrived just like it had the day before, still as unappetising as previous one had been. Hence a routine had been set, this would give Bruce a chance to try and work out a way of trying to make his escape. If in fact he was lucky enough to be able to work out a way of getting out of his cage. br />
  Each day he went through the same routine he watched the girl very closely trying to see if there was a chink in her armour. Just that little something that she had changed in her routine over the days that she had watered him. The only thing that he could confirm was that of her hatred against him, or was it the uniform and country that he represented, of which one he was not sure.

  The ice was finally broken the day that Bruce had decided to make a run for it. He was going to dive under the water and even though his ankles were chained he was going to swim as far as he could out in to the middle of the river. Where he would stick a reed that he would grab from the riverbank into his mouth. Hoping to take large gulps of air in order that he might continue his swim underwater to freedom. All of this came to nothing when the girl asked him in broken English what his name was.

  Bruce could not believe it and had to think rather quickly not really knowing what to say next. During his training it had been explained to him that the enemy would use any trick possible in order that they might gain information from captives. He had always been told to give only his name, rank and number and that anything else might be used as useful information by the enemy. Anything else and it could also be considered that he had collaborated with the enemy.

  He had to admit that she was a pretty looking girl and that in other circumstances he might have been attracted towards her. Even though her face always looked dirty with a few smudges of mud upon it. He used to tell himself that it was jungle make up for women. Quietly he responded and told her that it was Bruce, and that as he had told her his name then she must now tell him hers. It went quiet for a few minutes until she looked at him and said it was Lee. Bruce smiled at her, the ice had finally started to thaw and as far as he was concerned it was he who had made the enemy talk first. He went on to tell her that it was a nice name, and that she was also very pretty. Not really knowing whether she understood everything that he had said. He decided to put his escape attempt on hold for a while just to see what became of the gradual melting of the ice that Lee had instigated.

  He had been marking one of the Bamboo bars of his cage by using the edge of his tin plate. In this way he had a little idea of how many days he had been a captive. It was another twelve days before she finally spoke to him again. This time it was while she delivered his favourite evening meal of pig swill. Only this time he was very surprised to find that the plate contained a couple of pieces of meat and that the bread was now brown and not the usual mouldy sort of green colour that he had been used to. She sat down beside the cage while he ate and asked him what part of America had he came from. Her English was a little broken but he knew what she was saying. Once he'd finished eating the meat, he told her that he actually came from New Zealand and that he was looking forward to going back, in the not too distant future.

  He then asked her if she could get him some sort of first aid gear so that he could treat some of his body sores that had started to spread. He was surprised when she passed him a small bottle and a piece of dirty rag. She had noticed that he had been deteriorating in the last few days and had seen the sores on his body when he washed in the river. Bruce guessed that the bottle contained some sort of local herbal remedy and that the rag was to be used in applying the liquid to the sores.

  This was the first day that she had spent such a long time with him and when finally she got up to leave he felt a little sad inside. She had broken up the routine and boredom that had controlled his everyday existence for several weeks. Just before she left, she past him a length of reed through the side of his cage and then she was gone. Bruce looked at the reed trying to understand why she had given it to him and what was its significance. It took almost an hour before he thought he had unravelled the mystery. The reed had several notches on its entire length each about 100 millimeters apart. As Bruce broke the reed at one end he realised that the notch was solid and that it blocked off the hollow tube inside of the reed at that point. Which meant that he would not have been able to use the reed, as a breathing apparatus if he'd have tried to escape, by swimming the river. Somehow she had read the signs and had realised what he had been planning. He wiped the sweat beads from his forehead wondering if in fact she would have shot him, if he had tried to make a run for it.

  That night his attempt to try and sleep in between mosquito bites was further interrupted by what Bruce thought was a US air strike that was on a bombing raid nearby. As was usual with this sort of thing many of the bombs went astray, and several of them landed close by. Bruce's cage was peppered with debris and rocks several times and he expected to be hit by shrapnel at anytime. Somehow he was lucky and came through the raid totally unscathed, apart from a sore throat after having swallowed a lot of dust that had been thrown up around his cage.

  The next morning he was awaken by the sound of children playing around his cage as they collected bits and pieces of the debris that had showered down on to his cage during the raid in the night. Their playfulness turned out not to be friendly as they ended up standing next to him. As he tried to start a conversation with them, they started rattling on the bars of his cage with anything that they had in their hands at the time. The noise became deafening, but there was nothing that Bruce could do. If he made a scene then they would know that he was upset. It would be a foregone conclusion that they would keep doing it out of spite, just to annoy him even more. So he gritted his teeth and smiled at them all the time, until they just got fed up with what they were doing and wandered away. Unfortunately the noise had been so loud that it had given Bruce a bad headache and had left a ringing in his ears. The sun was now high enough into the morning sky so that its rays were coming through the bars and onto him. So there was going to be no way that he would be able to get rid of the pain while lying in the sun.

  He must have become some sort of local attraction by all who lived in the area. Because as time went by a steady stream of people would file past his cage just staring at him. Occasionally some of the people would hurl abuse towards him or at least that's what Bruce imagined they were doing. Some of the camp dogs would even walk up and cock their leg on to the side of the cage taking no notice of the abuse and shouting that Bruce did to scare them off. This act did nothing to enhance the smells that he had to endure daily from within the cage. Because of the limited periods that he was taken to the river, it meant that there were times when he had to answer the call of nature either in the cage or if it were possible through the bars. The quality of the food left a lot to be desired, which meant that he constantly suffered stomach bugs. Which made it hard to control himself by waiting for the routine wash down. At times like that he just had to let it go in the cage. Where as he could wash himself in the river, his cage did not receive the same luxury.

  All of the things that were happening to him did not stop him thinking of the patrol that he had been leading. Imagining them walking into the clearing and saving him from what he was expecting to be a certain death. They must have missed him by now and surely some sort of rescue bid must be under way. The one doubt in his mind was that they had been deep inside another country, and how long had it been before he had actually been missed. In this type of thick jungle it was hard enough trying to find somebody if you had a little idea of where they were. However, if hundreds of kilometers of jungle had to be searched, then that was an almost impossible task.

  It had become a well-known fact to the Americans who landed in South Vietnam, that the country was not very stable. Most of its leaders and military officers were only interested in trying to make money out of the aid that the Americans were pumping into their country. They had no heart of fighting the Vietcong, and of possible being shot and killed. All they wanted was to make money and become rich and fat.

  Most of the so-called evidence that the Vietnamese government produced in an effort to prove to the American's that they were doing a good job. Were photos of so-called dead Vietcong, following a so called battle with them. However, the truth was that they were of
their own men dressed as the Vietcong and pretending to be dead. In this way the people of America were conned into thinking that the aid they were sending was helping to win the war against communism.

  Originally when the Americans arrived they were told that they were only there to assist and that they were not to lead. Most knew what was going on and tolerated the situation, just ticking off the days until they could return home. Bruce had been different, he had thought that he could help make a difference. He had been the first one to be given a new role in the military. He had been given a team and told to lead it into enemy held territory. He was now realising that he had been tricked, because the truth was no South Vietnam officer would have wanted the job, just in case they got themselves killed. If that were the case then there was not going to be a rescue attempt, especially if it had to be lead by a South Vietnamese officer.

  As he scratched off the days on the side of his cage bars, he had to face up to the reality that it was looking highly unlikely that he was going to be rescued. He was going to have to make it on his own, but how he had no idea. By his reckoning he had been a prisoner now for more than three months and he was getting weaker each day. If he did not try something soon then he was not going to be able to go anywhere other than in a body bag.

  Bruce was roused from his sleep by the shouting of the guards as they approached his cage just before sunrise. Once again his routine was experiencing change, only this time he hoped it would be for the better. The guards were the same two guys that took him on his daily trip to the river, along with Lee and they wasted no time in opening the cage door and hustling him out in to the clearing. There they once again manacled his ankles, only this time they used some crude made rope. That consisted of very fine strips of vines that had been twisted together and ended up about the thickness of your thumb. The rope that connected each ankle was left with a little more slack than usual between them, allowing him to take about an eighteen-inch step once he was walking. Bruce's brain was working over time trying to guess what was about to happen to him next. His first thoughts were that he was about to be executed. After all wasn't it always at dawn when the prisoners were dragged from their cells and shot, as in most of the novels and films. He tried asking Lee what was happening, she would not even look at him never mind answer him. The two male guards started prodding him with their AK47 assault rifles forcing him forward in the direction of the river. Bruce was now yelling at them to tell him what was happening. The sharp tone of his voice only made the guards more agitated and nervous and they prodded him even harder. So it did not take him long to work it out and cease his shouting at them.

  Once at the river Bruce was allowed to wash and clean himself up for a few minutes. Then he was ordered out, but instead of heading back to the clearing and his cage, he was pointed in another direction to a track that lead along the river.

  The guards kept prodding him after almost every step, in an effort to try and make him move faster. Lee could see that he was struggling and shouted something to them and they suddenly stopped prodding him, as they slowly made their way along the riverbank. However, after being in the water the vines around his ankle had become wet and had stretched, slightly increasing the distance between his steps. It was now a little easier to walk. While all the time Bruce was looking for what he thought would be the tell tale signs of a cleared river bank. Where he expected to be shot and his body kicked into the river. The further they made their way along the track the more relieved Bruce started to feel. After all why go to all this trouble looking for an execution site, when he knew that the people in this part of the world would normally just shoot whoever it was on the spot, and then just leave them for the jungle scavengers.

  Bruce had looked at the river on some of his previous visits. He knew that most rivers ran to the sea, it had always been one of his plans, that if ever he were able to escape. He would have made some sort of raft and just laid on it hoping that the water flow would take him to the coast. In that way he would be able to conserve some energy. He knew that Laos was a very mountainous country, so this meant there was lots of rivers and most of them would flow into South Vietnam and then on to the coast. At least if he got to Vietnam he would be in what he considered friendly territory. He would then be able to find some way of getting back to headquarters and safety.

  The trouble was he now found himself heading up river and that meant away from help. The sun was on his left so that meant that South Vietnam and the South China Sea was in that direction. He also worked out that his route would now take him either into China or maybe they would change direction at a later date and head into North Vietnam. Whichever it was there was a hell of a lot of walking to do between now and then, something like a thousand kilometers. The thought horrified him after all he had just spent many weeks locked up in his very small cage for almost twenty-four hours of each day. His legs were having a problem trying to work, so he doubted whether they would ever be able to make such a journey, especially at the rate his guards were expecting him to walk.

  As the sun reached its highest point of the day high above them, one of the guards called for a halt and they all sat in the shade of the thickest bush they could find. Bruce was exhausted and welcomed the break. The twisted vines around his ankles were cutting into the deep cuts that the manacles had made over the past weeks. While the vines had dried out due to them being in the sun, and had shrunk cutting down the distance between each step he took. He was also suffering from cuts and abrasions to his feet that he had picked up during the past six hours walking. It was only then that he realised that his captors were all wearing packs on their backs. Having watched them remove them and to take out what looked like food. Lee handed him a small package of something that was rolled up in a large leaf. To his relief it turned out to be a portion of boiled rice and it looked so white. Especially after the dark brown and sometimes black looking stuff he almost got used to in his hellhole of a cage. Lee gave him some water but he was only allowed to take a sip, she then gave him a couple of small local jungle vegetables. After he finished eating, which only took a couple of minutes he leaned back on to a tree trunk and closed his eyes.

  He woke up when Lee shook him and offered him some pieces of rag and some short lengths of a vine. She then gestured towards his feet. It did not take him long to understand and he wrapped his feet up knowing that they were about to restart and continue their journey.

  The group having rested got up and started walking once again. They were now away from the river and walking through thick jungle, but were still heading in a Northerly direction according to Bruce's calculations. His legs were very tired but at least his feet were not exposed to the prickly jungle floor. He tried his best to keep up, knowing full well that if he did not then he would probably attract abuse from his captors. They made steady progress and then just as Bruce's body was about to give up on him, the lead guard called a halt for what he hoped would be a good night's sleep.

  Bruce was allowed to sit down by a tree where he was tied up, while the others set up a camp by chopping down a couple of small bushes for cover and to lay on. Once they had all eaten and Bruce had been allowed a drink he lay on a rough bed of jungle ferns. He had been contemplating trying to escape during the night but his plans all came to nothing as one of the male guards laid beside him, and tied his feet vines to his own wrist. Bruce knew that it was going to be impossible to get away, so he decided to get a good night's sleep instead. If today had been anything to go by then he was going to have to find some energy from somewhere.

  As he tried to sleep he kept thinking about his jungle training and to the part that his old Sergeant had told him, the best time to escape was as soon as possible after your capture. Because then you know the land, you know where you are, and to be able to get you back to friendly lines. Only this time he did not know where he was, thinking back he'd never had a clue where his cage had been positioned either. He did not even know where the village was where his plans had
gone tragically wrong, As far as he knew he could have been held captive miles from that location.

  By first light the next morning they were already up and marching once again. Bruce rechecked their direction just to make sure that they were still heading North, which they were. The jungle seemed to close in as the guards had to cut their way through the thick under growth. This slowed them up to a snail's pace which actually helped Bruce. His feet were still very painful all though Lee had given him some more pieces of rag to wrap around them.

  A couple of times he was allowed to sit down while the guards hacked away with their machetes, until they had cleared away through. Around midday they came across a village and decided to stop for a couple of hours to rest up. It seemed that Bruce was not the only one who was struggling, for him it was his feet, while with the guards it was their hands. He chuckled under his breath thinking that even seasoned jungle fighters get blisters, and he hoped they were painful, in fact very painful.

  Lee sat him under a tree and tied him to it, and she went to find some food for them. While she was away he began thinking about how long this march was going to take. In his estimation yesterday's march had maybe only covered about ten to fifteen kilometers. On his rough estimate that they had over a thousand to go, that meant it was going to take them at least fifty days. That's almost two months he thought. Looking at his badly cut feet and just thinking of the pain that lay ahead was more than he could bear thinking about.

  It was times like this when he let his imagination work over time for him, while thinking of his little bunch that he finally named them. Ennie, Menny, Minny and Mo. The two guards were Ennie and Menny. While Lee was Minny and he was Mo. Within his head that's how he always referred to them.

  He was roused from his self-pity by the return of Lee who sat down beside him and gave him some food that she had managed to find. This meant that the limited rations that they were carrying would last them longer. To his surprise she asked if he wanted anymore and how his feet were. Before he could answer her, because his mouth was full of food, she produced a pair of old badly worn locally made shoes. That consisted of flat thick piece's of bark that had some sort of string attached to them so that he could tie them around his ankles. He wasted no time in fixing them to his feet and turned to Lee and told her that in these he could walk to China. She replied no not China Hanoi, that's where we are going.

  So he was right he had guessed their destination to be one or the other. Not only that he had once again managed to interrogate the enemy in his own way and he had been able to extort information from them. That must be a first for this part of the world. If he were to get back maybe he should think about becoming an interrogator, he chuckled to himself.

  Looking at Lee in astonishment he could not help thinking once again that she was a pretty looking girl. Slowly he reached over towards her and attempted to rub a small piece of mud from her face. At first she pulled her head away from his reach, but Bruce assured her that he meant her no harm. After a little hesitation she brought her face back into range of Bruce's hand, allowing him to wipe some of the mud away.

  The friendly moment was broken by the return of the other two guards who informed them that they would be staying the night. It turned out that one of them had some family relations in the village and that he was going to sleep with them. Before Lee could tell him that she would look after the prisoner the task was given to the other guard.

  The morning sunrise seemed to come around very quickly and once again they were on the road heading North. Bruce had seen the sun come up and had taken his usual early morning bearings, at all costs he wanted to know where he was going. If the right moment came to escape he was going to take it, and he would need to know the general direction that might lead him to safety. Their direction North was still being confirmed even by the smallest of detail. Bruce could see the moss growing on the trunks of the largest trees that thrust their giant trunk skywards through the jungle canopy and out into the open sky. The moss meant that there was no sun on that side of the trees. So the side with the moss meant that it faced North. In layman's terms it meant that the Equator was behind him, what he wanted was to be walking toward it and to his right in order that he might find safety.

  He found it easier walking through the under growth with his new shoes, his feet were still sore but at least they were not being cut quite so frequently. The hardest task was crossing the vast amount of streams and small rivers that seemed to be around almost every corner. They were always littered with large boulders and stones that were slimy and covered with algae. It became almost impossible to cross them without slipping and hurting some part of his body. Bruce thought to himself that at this rate it could be a year before they reached their goal. After all the day before, because they had stopped early he doubted that they had covered ten kilometers.

  His thoughts of walking for a year were given a sharp jolt the next day when they wandered on to what looked like some sort of rough dirt road. After walking along it for a while they were surprised to hear a truck coming up behind them. So they all moved to the side of the road as an old Russian three ton truck pulled up just level with them. The back was open to the weather and Bruce could see that there were six uniformed men on the back all brandishing AK 47 machine riffles at the ready. Bruce's lead guard who he now called Ennie, went up to the passenger side of the truck where a guy in what looked like an officer's uniform was sitting. After a short conversation they were given permission to climb aboard. This was not what Bruce had really wanted, as it meant that he would be taken deeper into enemy territory. However, the good side was that at least he would not have to walk, giving his feet a chance to rest up.

  He had thought that they would not be taken far, knowing that there were not many roads in the outback hill country of Laos. He was wrong the truck journey seemed to go on and on and Bruce could see that it was starting to get dark. Still the truck sped on its way, in what was becoming a very long journey. Bruce guessed the time to be around six in the evening. As they slowed down and pulled into a clearing, and to what he guessed was some sort of camp.

  One of the soldiers on the back of the truck blind folded him giving him a clue that he was at some sort of sensitive location and that there were things that they did not want him to see. Especially if he managed to escape and if later he were to pass that information on. Lee tied a small length of rope to his waist and led him around like a dog. As they were walking she would talk to him telling him if there were any obstacles in his way.

  After being given some food he was led once again by Lee to a small hut on the outskirts of the camp where he was tied to a stake and allowed to lay on some old vegetation. He was pleased when he learnt that she would stay close by him during the night. He was on strange ground and knowing that the military personal were very callous and brutal worried him. If they were to get drunk or worked up in some way, who knows what they might do to him.

  The peacefulness of the night was suddenly broken as the camp was bombarded by an air strike. It was no good Bruce trying to run, because he was still blindfolded and secondly he did not know where to run to. Some of the explosions where very close, and he could hear the debris landing on the roof of their own hut. Suddenly the side of the hut caught fire, Lee untied Bruce and then removed the blindfold from his eyes. She then led him outside and they ran just a few meters to a large hole in the ground where they jumped in, to escape the blasts. There they watched as the hut they had just been in was burnt to the ground. The attack only lasted a few minutes but at one time it was very ferocious and the noise of the explosions was deafening.

  Once the attack was over Lee tied up Bruce and blind folded him once again, and then went off looking for her two comrades. All the time she was away Bruce felt vulnerable, not knowing who was near him and would they take revenge for the raid that had just taken place. Especially if there had been a large loss of life. Lee returned and removed his blindfold, with her was only one of the guard
s, it being Mennie. Even though it was still dark she hustled him out of the hole in the ground and on to a track that led out of the camp. It did not take him long to work out what had happened. It was apparent that the other guard Ennie had been killed or was seriously injured. He was guessing that Lee had got him out fast before somebody tried to take retribution for the attack into their own hands and kill him.

  They wasted no time in placing as much distance as possible between themselves and the camp, which was not easy in the darkness. Leaving Bruce a little confused, after all wasn't he supposed to be the enemy, the person who most people in this area would like to kill. Amazingly it was Lee his captor who was trying to protect him, once again he had seen a chink in her armour, now if only he could use it to his advantage. He just might be able to extricate himself from this hellhole of a place known as Laos.

  Moving in to the jungle at night is not something that a lot of military people do. However, for Lee's little bunch it was imperative that they place as many kilometers between them and the air raid as possible. Most of the dangers are unseen, like trip wires to booby traps, wild animals, but mostly other enemy patrols.

  Playing safe they walked very cautiously for about two hours, then found a spot just off the main track and set up a small camp so that they could get some rest for the remainder of the night.

  Lee left Bruce tied up and tied the other end of the rope to her. Bruce had noticed that she was taking control of the little bunch. He surmised that the leader Ennie, was the one who had been killed by the air raid back at the camp. As they sat together both drinking some water that she was carrying Bruce asked what had happened to the other guard. For a few moments nothing was said but he did notice that she was looking at the other guard while she thought about answering. Finally she told him that he had been in a hut that took a direct hit and that nobody had survived the blast. She went a little further telling him that it was not the Americans who attached the camp. They thought that it had been the Chinese, but before she could finish, Bruce was asking why, after all weren't they all on the same side. Lee could not give him any answers saying that she was just a local village girl helping in the revolution.

  Bruce broke in hey you are more than just a little country girl, asking where she had got her education. She was brighter than the usual village people who were not educated. She then admitted that she had been in Saigon for four years where she went to school.

  Bruce got the subject back onto the air raid, by asking if it was her friends that had been the target or was it him. She told him that she did not know and that was the reason why they had left in a hurry. Maybe it's me, Bruce said, and that they don't want me to be taken to Hanoi, maybe I'll be an embarrassment for them. I reckon you should take me to the border and release me. Lee was quick to give him a convincing no as a reply. Bruce persisted maybe they want to kill you because they don't like what you're doing. Maybe they think that you have changed sides. With that remark he was told to be quiet and to get some sleep, as they will be doing some hard walking once the sun came up.

  Just like she promised as soon as it was daybreak the little band of three set out on the day's forced march. Bruce did his usual checks on their direction, confirming once again to himself that they were indeed heading North. The other guard who Lee had called Hoo lead the way with his machete at the ready, and cutting the odd bush that hung in their way. After what they had been through in the past few days, this day was completely uneventful. The tracks where relatively clear and they made good time, Bruce estimated that they had covered nearly fifteen kilometers. As they did over the next couple of days, one day was just running into another and it did not seem to matter where they were. One part of the jungle looks pretty much like the next and the next. The only reminder for Bruce of what he was going through was his feet and they reminded him on a regular basis that they were still very sore. The shoes that Lee had given him, had been a godsend saving them from complete mutilation. Even so the cuts on his ankles still bled as the ropes cut into them. It was hard trying to take a step with out over stretching and tightening the rope between them and hence pulling the rope into an existing cut. The whole exercise was always made harder by the fact that they were constantly stepping from rock to rock during the constant water crossings.

  They approached the side of a very steep mountain that had a narrow track on a ledge winding along its side. They had to take care even assisting each other by offering a hand. Bruce was having problems trying to hug the side of the rock face in an effort to keep away from the path edge, but was having a problem to take the right sized steps from rock to rock. He had to ask Lee to remove the rope between his ankles otherwise he felt that at some stage or other he was going to miss his footing and fall. It was impossible to know how high they were, without leaning out to try and judge the height. Something he did not want to do, he just knew they were up several meters and that was good enough for him.

  Lee told Bruce to stand where he was and came up behind him and knelt down to cut the rope between his ankles. She was also finding it hard to keep her balance. When suddenly she heard Hoo shout out and when she looked up he was gone. They could both hear him crying out as he plunged down the side of the rock. Once Bruce was free he did what he had not wanted to do and leaned out to see where Hoo might have ended up, and saw him on a ledge about a forty feet below. Lee just sat back on a rock and laid back on the side of the mountain in shock.

  Bruce broke the ice by asking her what should they do, he then decided to say no more. Once she had regained her composure she told Bruce that Hoo had the maps and that most of the food was in his backpack and that they would need it all no matter what she decided.

  Bruce waited a few minutes and then offered to go down to Hoo, who by this time was not moving or calling out. Lee hesitated not wanting to let him go in case he tried to escape. All of a sudden she had been left with the full responsibility of guarding him and didn't like the situation. It was also a problem if she were to go down, knowing full well that even if she tied Bruce up, he'd probable be gone by the time she climbed back up with the backpack. Somewhere along the line each was going to have to trust one another. She needed Bruce to help her get the back pack and Bruce needed what was in that pack, in order that he might make some sort of escape.

  It did not take Lee long to make up her mind to decided to let Bruce go down. After all it would be hard to escape from down there on the ledge, below him lay another thirty feet of rock face. Bruce was going to have to free climb, as the only small pieces of rope they had would only stretch to about fifteen feet in length. Anyway Lee had to confide in Bruce by telling him that she was no good at climbing especially vertical cliffs like these. Bruce just smiled and crawled his way to the edge. He lay on his stomach facing the rock face and hung his feet over the edge then he inched his way over. Then just before he disappeared below the edge he looked up and told her not to worry, to him it was kids play and that he would be back just to see here muddy little face once more.

  It was not going to be an easy climb for Bruce considering the state of his body. In a normal situation he would have been able to complete the task in a few minutes. However, today was different as he cautiously lowered himself down to the ledge below. It took him almost fifteen minutes and by the time he set his feet on to the ledge he was physically drained. It took him a while to get his breath back before he went over to Hoo. What did surprise him was just how small the ledge actually was, it must have been luck that Hoo had ended upon it rather than way down at the bottom of the valley.

  Lee not wanting to go to near to the edge could not see him but kept calling down to see if he was okay. It brought a smile to his face as he kept telling her that he was not going to run off. Followed up by adding that if he had a parachute then that might be a different situation because then he would certainly try it. For the first time Lee summoned up all her courage and decided to have a look. On all fours she crawled to the edge to look down, half expe
cting to find him running away. The height scared her but once she had him in sight she was determining to stay in that position-watching Bruce's every move.

  Once he was rested Bruce checked out Hoo, and was not surprised to find that he was dead, he was covered in blood and had large hole in the side of his head. So he removed the backpack from him and called up to Lee telling her what he'd done. As he did he looked up and saw her looking down. Finally he searched Hoo's pockets, but found nothing of use. His riffle had bounced when it hit the ledge and went over the edge and down into the valley. First it had been Ennie, then it had been Minnie, and now all who were alive were Minnie and Mo. Now the odds were far better and in favour of Bruce, if and when he tried to make an escape.

  Finally happy that there was nothing else he could do, other than leave his body right there uncovered and exposed to the elements. He strapped the pack to his back and started his long climb back up the rock face. If it was slow going down, it was certainly going to be even slower going back up especially with the awkward fitting backpack. Mainly because he was still feeling the exhaustion effect of his climb down. Coupled with the general state of his body after being coped up in that cage for several weeks, and then the long march that had just taken place. Bruce had estimated that so far they might have travelled around one hundred and fifty kilometers, but he wasn't sure anymore as his memory was starting to play tricks on him as one day melted into the next.

  Halfway up the climb his thoughts suddenly turned to his stomach and he envisaged a large meal of beef, Yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes and thick rich brown gravy. Boy he thought it was a long time since he'd enjoyed a meal like that way back in New Zealand, and at this rate it was going to be a lot longer before he ate it again.

  It must have been while his mind was on other things, when without warning the small rock that his right hand fingers were using as a grip suddenly crumbled away from the rock face. It happened so fast that he did not have time to grab at another hold and he slid rather than fell all the way back down to the ledge, a distance of almost twenty five feet. Where he landed heavily with a deep thud and ended up with one leg folded under his body, leaving him in a lot of pain. He felt himself drift off into unconsciousness that seemed to take away the pain he had just endured.

  When finally he came around he could hear somebody calling his name and thought he was back in New Zealand and that it was a member of his family. Reality did not take long to come back to him as he realised his predicament stuck there on a ledge halfway up a mountain. With nobody to help him scale the forty feet above him to safety. His back was also giving him a lot of pain from the backpack that lay all bundled up under his crumpled body. Upon reflection he thought that it had probable save him from the fall, taking most of the final impact as he hit the ledge and fell backwards.

  Lee calling down and told him that he was out for a few minutes and how did he feel. After moving his body and feeling all the areas that ached, he called up telling her that he was okay. Although adding that he thought he might have broken one of his ankles. He also told her to give him a few minutes to get his wits about him and that he would think of something. All the time she kept telling him that she was too scared to climb down to help him. Bruce did not want her to do it anyway. Being as scared as she made out, would only complicate the situation further if she were to fall or get stuck halfway.

  After thirty minutes Bruce told her that he was going to try and climb up, but that he would have to rely purely on the strength his arms, as he could not place any weight on his left leg. He also told her that it would take him a long time and could she lower down what rope she had. Fixing one end to something near the edge. Even if it were only fifteen meters long then at least it would help him during the final few feet of the climb.

  The climb was hard, but slowly he inched his way up to what he hoped would be safety. His big problem once again was the backpack, as it did not sit correctly on his back. He was constantly trying to adjust and move it back to the position he felt comfortable with. After about twenty minutes he reached the spot where the rope was awaiting. So he called up asking if she had secured it. However, she had been unable to find anything stable and near the edge. Instead she had tied it around her waist and was sitting with her back to the mountainside with her feet braced against large rocks that they had been walking over when they first arrived. In this way she intended taking the weight of his body. In the hope that they would both be able to hang on.

  It was almost another ten minutes before she saw his head appear over the edge of the rock face and he looked thoroughly exhausted, almost to the point of total collapse. He surprised Lee with his customary little piece of wit by asking, excuse me but is this the way to Hanoi. She went to move in order to help him over the edge, but he cried out for her not to move until he had a better foothold. The last thing he wanted at this very moment was to fall back down on to the ledge once again. Then with a sigh of relief Bruce rolled over the edge and crawled to where Lee was still sitting and he slumped almost on top of her, pleading with her to let him rest up before they move on.

  Once they had rested Lee had a look at his ankle, not quite sure if it was broken or not. She tore off the sleeve of her shirt and wrapped it tightly around it and told him that they could not stay where they were, and that they had to move. She also suggested that they go back down the mountain and set up a small camp where they could rest up and decide what she would do next.

  The way back down the side of the mountain was both slow and hard, mainly because the track was so step and narrow. while Lee was not able to give him any support by walking along side of him. So he had to lean on the side of each rock where possible, not having a crutch and limping badly on one foot. As they approached the jungle once more it became easier and Lee gave him a little support. Once in the jungle she cut him a crude type of crutch to help him walk.

  Bruce needed no persuading when Lee called a halt for the day, having found a decent spot for a camp. She sat Bruce down and set about making a camp for the night and for the first time he was not tied to anything. He did notice that she was going over the top a little, in fact it looked like they were going to be staying for a while. She had been very smart in the way she had set it up, by not placing it in the bottom of valley where it could flood very easy. This little camp was halfway up a slope, but well away from the main track that they had been walking on. She had also camouflaged their tracks making it even harder to be found by anybody, Bruce had not got a clue why she had gone to all of this trouble. There were only two types of people out there and between then they represented both types. She made a small lean to, covered it with large leaves to make it water proof and finally cut some lush soft ferns for bedding. It was then that Bruce realised that there was only one covered area, either they would be sleeping together or somebody was going to be in the open that tonight. Lee fed him some local berries and disappeared into the jungle, returning after a few minute with some water.

  As it started to get dark Lee told Bruce that they would be lying together in the covered area she had made for them, and that if he gave his word not to escape then she would not tie him up. He then went on to tell her that the pain was so bad in his ankle that he doubted he would get far if indeed he tried to escape. He also told her that in his opinion he would not be walking on it for a couple of days, and that if she let him rest it, then they would be able to continue their journey more easily.

  Once it was dark they laid together but neither could sleep, both were tossing and turning, each in turn waking the other who had just managed to close their eyes. Bruce then asked if she was awake, to which she replied that she was. With that a conversation developed between them. Bruce asking what she intended doing with him. Was she continuing the journey to the North or was she going to take him back. Maybe she was going to get some help locally. At first she was very abrasive with her answers but slowly Bruce could sense that she was mellowing down. She was a little confused and was n
ot sure what to do next.

  He then started asking her about herself and from what village she had come from. In this way he was trying to build a picture up in his mind on his captive. After all this was the first real chance that he had been on his own with her and in this way he might be able to work out where they were.

  Since his arrival in this part of the world he had studied hundreds of maps and knew a lot of area off by heart. Most people at that time did not stray too far away from the area that they lived in, and he could not see why Lee would be any different than most other villagers. She was not a Vietcong, as most of them had infiltrated into the county from the North. Over the years they had indoctrinated the locals into joining the course of unifying both Vietnams. At one time he wondered if she was only taking him so far and then she would hand him over to another team. Who would then take him to another change over point a few hundred kilometers up the line, and so on until he reached wherever he was destined.

  He did not get far, either she knew what he was trying to do, or maybe she just did not want to talk, instead she wanted to listen. She then asked Bruce why had he come to Laos in the first place, and then asked him to tell her about New Zealand and what it was like to live there. He thought hard before he answered, wondering if in fact she was interrogating him, after all many tricks are used against prisoner to make them talk. However, what he had noticed was that increasingly she was becoming friendlier towards him.

  It's a well known fact that captors can change their opinions of the captives and also that the captives can do the same. In some cases they had gone on to even protected the captor in certain situations. Was this was the situation that was developing between them, all though neither was prepared to accept it.

  They were lying very close to each other and Bruce could hear her breathing. He rolled over so that he was resting on his elbow and his face was just inches away from Lee's face as she lay on her back. He wanted to kiss her but was scared in case she reacted in a none friendly manner. Instead he started to tell her that she was a very pretty girl and that he would love to take her to New Zealand and to show her around his country. Lee lay there letting herself be seduced by Bruce's words wondering where this as all going to lead. She had not said anything but had been attracted to him over the past couple of days. A far cry from the feelings she had when she first met him and had been ordered to guard and look after him.

  Bruce slowly inched his lips down on to Lee's and was surprised when she did not pull away or react violently. She just laid back and let him kiss her full on the lips. Not once, but three times. Suddenly the scene developed into a full embrace and they made love that lasted for almost an hour.

  When it was over they both lay side-by-side holding hands and looking up at the roof of their cover. It was Lee who spoke first wanting to hear what it was like in New Zealand once again.

  Bruce was awakened from a deep sleep in which he was enjoying pleasant dreams of his childhood. Lee was leaning over him and told him that if he sat up she would give him some food. She had awoken early that morning, and got up without disturbing him. She then searched the jungle around their camp looking for anything that resembled food.

  As he tried to stand up a sudden jolt of pain shot up his leg from his ankle, he could not help uttering a cry of pain. Lee walked over telling him that he should stay where he was, as they would not be moving until his ankle was better. After looking at it she was convinced that it was not broken, so they were in luck it would not need medical attention, just a few days rest to let the swelling go down.

  Bruce could not believe his luck, not only was he being allowed to stay in bed, but he was being handed his breakfast as well.

  "This is what I've always dreamed of, being pampered by the lady in my life," he told her.

  "It's normal for the women in this part of the world," she replied.

  "Then if I want this sort of luxury and treatment to continue I'm going to have to stay in this part of the world for the rest of my life," he answered.

  "You foreigners are all dreamers specially you men, no wonder you have problems trying to force your way of life on to other countries of the worlds." She replied.

  After putting out the fire Lee informed him that she was going to have a look around to see if she could find some food and to get some idea as to where they were. She also told him that she had no idea when she would be back, and that he should try and keep himself well hidden, not knowing who might suddenly stumble onto their camp. She was confident that she had hid the camp well and providing that he was quiet and did not light a fire he should be okay. As for escaping she only had to look at the size of the swelling of his ankle, to tell her that he was not going to get far before the pain stopped him. She would be taking the weapons so if he were to be stumbled on he would have no way of protecting himself.

  Once she had left the camp Bruce settled in for a long wait and to rest his ankle. After the weeks that he had spent in the bamboo cage and the lack of food, it was nice just to lay back and rest his weary body. Lee had left him some food wrapped up in green leaves. At least this way he would not have to move even if he was hungry, all he had to do was to pick it up from beside of him.

  As the time slowly moved on more than once his thoughts turned to escape. To whether he would get far and if he did how would he be able to remain free. He had a little idea of where he was and coupled to that his knowledge of the jungle. It would not take him long to set a path for his military camp. The big problem was his ankle and his stamina, as to whether he would be able to walk a couple of hundred kilometre's unseen. Food would be no problem after all his jungle training had always pointed out ways to live off the jungle. Even if it was designed to keep him alive living on the bare essentials of a starvation diet.

  Because of his tiredness he found himself constantly nodding off into short bursts of deep sleep easily and quite frequently. Which was a blessing in disguise, stopping his imagination from running riot in his head. Being far better to be into a dreamy state of mind that could conjure up some of the nice things that had happened to him in his lifetime and not the mess he now found himself in.

  When Bruce next opened his eyes he was surprised to find it dark, the sun having gone down below the trees. He tried looking into the darkness but as far as he knew Lee had not returned. Now he started to worry wondering if Lee's own people might have caught her. Maybe she had been killed, whatever the scenario he had no answers. The one thing he was certain of, he had not heard any shots or unusual noises during the times he had been awake.

  Even though he was still very tired he did not sleep much during the night. Instead he found himself thinking of Lee most of the time. She had been one of his sadistic captors a person he thought was a trusted communist party member, and now all of a sudden she had become his lover. Could a leopard really change its spots, could he trust her, these were the questions he constantly kept asking himself. Always coming up with the same old answers and that was that he really didn't know. He had genuinely fallen for her, but was he now deluding himself. Maybe she was just setting him up for the sole purpose of extracting information. After all the communists were well know the world over of their dubious ways and means that they had perfected in their quest of gathering intelligence from their enemies.

  Sunrise found Bruce still lying under the tree where Lee had left him, once again wondering what he should do next, if she did not return in the next couple of hours. His plans included making himself a new crutch to enable him to walk. He also realised that if he stayed a couple of more days resting the ankle, then it was going to be easier to walk on. However, he could not help thinking that if Lee had been captured then there was every possibility that she might give his position away, and that would mean that they might come looking for him.

  He suddenly remembered the backpack and used a stick to drag it towards where he was lying. Then as he shook all of its contents onto the ground he was excited at the sight of Hoo's boots as th
ey fell out. He had grabbed them from Hoo just before he left his body on the ledge. Looking at them he could see that they were going to be too small for him. This was confirmed when he tried to slip one of them on. He had managed to get the boot on but his toes were all squeezed up very tightly together. So he set about cutting away the toe cap area of each boot. Then as he put them on although his toes were sticking out of the front of the boot, at least he had the support of the boot around his ankle area. This was going to make it easier for him once he was up and walking around.

  Just as boredom was about to take over Bruce once again, he heard a noise. He was positive that somebody was approaching his little hideaway. Quietly he dragged some leaves from close by and placed them over his head and body. He then held his breath as he waited to find out what was in store for him. He could now hear whoever it was walking close by, as their feet disturbed the brittle leaf debris around the camp site.

  He felt the large leaf that was covering his head being slowly lifted up. Bruce suddenly thrust his body up and he produced a sharpened stick and thrust it to towards where he thought the intruder's throat would be. Luckily stopping short of actually pushing it in to their flesh. He found himself looking straight in to the eyes of Lee. Who at the same time let out a surprised gasp at the shock of his sudden movement, and the sight of the stake stopping just short of her throat. Both smiled at each other as she sunk down beside of him, he pulled her close and gave her a big hug and a long kiss. She then opened up a bag and laid some cold rice out for them. With a chuckle he said not rice again, and to that she just told him to think himself lucky that it wasn't a cooked rat, and to eat it.

  As they ate she gave him a full account on what had happened to her, and why she had been away so long. It had taken her almost half a day to find a village that was inhabited, after passing through a couple that had been bombed and deserted. The village she had found turned out to be friendly and had a couple of her old friends living there. So she had been welcomed with open arms. However, they had to be careful because as it turned out she had become a wanted woman. Word had spread amongst the Vietcong that their little patrol had changed sides, and that they were returning Bruce back to the Americans. The Vietcong did not know the truth and to what had really happened to the group. They knew nothing about the loss of a member over the edge of the cliff. As far as they were concerned they had not been heard of since leaving the army depot that was bombed. She also went on to tell him that a small price had been placed on their heads.

  Bruce joined in adding that at least they had surprise on their side. Because they now knew where they were, and if they could keep their heads low and out of site for a time. The Vietcong would not have a clue where to start looking for them. Laos was such a vast country and that would work in their favour. Although Bruce pointed out that if Hoo's body were found and it was thought that they had killed him. Then that would give their pursuers a starting point in their quest to find them. He added that they would have to keep their fingers crossed that they would not be found, at least for a few days anyway. Telling her that the longer they could stay where they were, the better off they might be. Firstly his ankle would have more time to heal, making it easier to walk when they finally decided what they were going to do. Secondly the Vietcong might think that they had been walking constantly. So it would not matter which way the Vietcong thought they were going, it would place their assumed position Kilometers away from where they actually were.

  The conversation got round to what they should do. Then Bruce told Lee that he was sorry for killing the young guy that had landed him in the situation he now found himself. Adding that he only did what had come naturally to him, after the training that the military had given him. To Bruce it had been a case of kill or be killed. Plus that was all behind him now. It was something that he could not change, he had to look forward make a decision and get on with it. He told Lee that he had fallen in love with her and that she should return with him to Vietnam. Deep inside he had always planned what was now happening, and he had hoped that Lee was going to lead him back to his base. Now he was feeling different, he was actually falling in love with her and he could not stop himself.

  Then it was Lee's turn to talk and she admitted that she liked him very much and did not want to deliver him into the hands of the Vietcong in Hanoi. She knew what awaited him there, having heard what had happened to earlier downed American pilots who had been captured and taken there. She did not want to see him tortured like them so cruelly and to within just an inch of their lives. In some cases they were put out of their misery by being killed. This was actually a less painful way, but usually death did not come quickly.

  She accepted his remorse for killing the young boy, confiding in him that she had also killed in the past. During the past few months she had been having second thoughts that killing was the answer to every problem. Another reason that had helped to change her mind was the waste of the local tribe's men's lives. All were being thrown into battle at such a young age. Sometimes unarmed and against much higher odds. It was just a total waste, and if or when the war was to end, then there was not going to be any young local people left alive to take up from where they had left off and to rebuild their country.

  As the sun slowly sunk down behind the tree the campsite started to become dark. Lee lay in close to Bruce and he kissed her whispering in her ear that he had missed her. She then returned the kiss by kissed him full on the lips and telling him that she was a girl of her word. That if she had told him that she would return, then she would return, and anyway surprisingly she had missed him as well. The kissing and cuddling developed into a night of love making, sapping some of Bruce's energy that he had slowly built up during the past couple of days.

  Unbeknown to them while Lee had been away not all of the villagers had been friendly towards her. Once she had left the village one of them had slipped away and reported what had happened to the area Vietcong leaded. Reporting to them everything that he had seen and over heard. Which was not a lot as Lee had tried to be smart and discreet by only telling the village elders that she was heading towards Hanoi and needed food and directions. She had told them that there had been an accident and that a couple of her fellow soldiers had been killed. It had looked suspicious that she was asking for directions when if what she had said were true then she would have had maps. She had stopped short of telling them that they had a captive with them, but it came out by accident. Normally her group would have come into the village and stayed the night. The villages had all been brainwashed into caring for and feeding such groups by the threat of reprisals from the Vietcong if they did not.

  The Vietcong had known that something was wrong having lost contact with the group. They should have reported in at a checkpoint and were three days overdue so the alarm bells had already started ringing. All this was unbeknown to Bruce and Lee both unaware that they were already looking for them.

  They stayed where they were for a further two days, all the time keeping a low profile and lighting no fires. The last thing they wanted now was for somebody to walk onto them unexpected. They used the time preparing for their long trip, returning Bruce to the Vietnam side of the border with Laos. He showed Lee the boots that he had altered to fit him, and also a professional looking crutch he had fashioned. Even though he was expecting to be able to walk unaided, it would be comforting to have it by him just in case. Lee made herself a backpack from shredded vines and attap leaves so she would be able to carry a small amount of food, along with the AK47 and its ammunition. She intended carrying the pistol, as it was easier to hide, if they walked onto somebody un-expectantly. So if Bruce needed to use his crutch then a weapon was out of the question. Water was not going to be a problem, as there seemed to be a vast amount of streams in the area, with one around almost every corner. All the same she had managed to find a couple of old glass Coke bottles in the village and filled them up tying a leave over the top of each one and place them in her backpack.
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  They left their little camp very early in the morning just as the sun was starting to rise, after first destroying as much evidence of their stay as possible. Under taken professionally it is quite easy to make the area look like it had been used by local people, thus giving them a chance to place a few kilometers between them and the enemy.

  That first day was uneventful but very slow, just getting one's body back into a rhythm can sometimes be painful. Added to that they had to make sure that they were not walking into an ambush or being followed. That night they made a small camp, with Bruce for the first time adding his muscle and knowledge to the chores. Both had been trained in jungle warfare and it turned out quite funny at times, as they wanted to do the jobs completely differently. Once they had erected some sort of cover over their heads and some dry leaves and ferns to lie on, they lay back to try it out for comfort. Ending up in a tangle of arms and legs as they kissed and cuddled. Even though they were tired from the days slow march an evening of love making antics was to come. Neither managed to get much sleep during the night, listening and trying to analyse every sound that the jungle threw at them.

  If the first day had been uneventful then the second day made up for it, right from the word go. Just as they were about to pack up the camp and move on, a small group of uniformed troops almost walked in on them. If it had not been for Lee's good hearing they would have been caught with their trousers down, at least that's what Bruce told her later. Just in the nick of time they grabbed what few belongings they had and disappeared into the jungle executing a pre arranged plan that they had hatched the evening before. While they had set up the camp Lee had laid a false trail into the jungle for almost half a kilometre. Where as they now found themselves heading carefully in the opposite direction desperately trying not to leave any tell tale signs behind them.

  A few kilometers on and as they approached a small river they walked onto a couple of villages washing themselves on the bank. Although they posed no threat it was a foregone conclusion that their presence would be reported to somebody. They just waved at them and Lee spoke a few words in the native tongue. They then crossed over the river and headed straight into the jungle walking for half a kilometre. They then swung back in the general direction of the river but further down, hoping to find it well down river from the villages. Unfortunately as they re-approached the river they heard voices. It did not take them long to realise that they had miss judged their position and that they were probably walking straight into the village where the people had come from. So reluctantly they swung back into the jungle. Bruce was not happy as his ankle was starting to give him some pain and he had been looking forward to a raft ride on the river. Placing a greater distance between them and the people who were no doubt following very close behind them.

  The jungle was suddenly thrown into turmoil as Bruce heard the sound of a bullet breaking the sound barrier as it past low over his head. A split second later he heard the bang of the gun that had just delivered the round so close to him. This was an indication that the gun that had fire the shot was very close, in fact only a few meters away. Instead of diving into the undergrowth and taking cover, they both bolted in to the thickest jungle they could find. Lee was in front of Bruce and even with his leg giving him a jarring pain, he just flung himself at Lee pushing her even faster forward through the undergrowth. It was pointless taking cover, as they were so close behind them they would either be shot or captured. Better to be shot trying to escape than to give yourself up and to then be tortured or executed, he thought. At least this way he had a fifty percent chance of survival. Somehow they not only managed to lose their pursuers, but had also escaped being hit by the hail of bullets that had been fired in their general direction. They did not give up the pace and continued to run through the jungle as fast as they could.

  It was almost an hour before Bruce's pace finally started to ease up and he dropped back several meters behind Lee. Glancing over her shoulder she noticing that he was not with her. She slowed up and finally stopped. It did not take her long to realise that he was limping very badly. As he hobbled to a halt he told her, that while they were being fired upon he did not feel any pain, but now it was bloody killing him. Looking around Lee realised that he had not got his crutch. Before she could ask him he told her not to ask where it was, as he had no idea. Once he started running he had only one thing on his mind and that was to escape. As things started falling from his body he just let them go. While panting and leaning over trying to get some air into his lungs smiled at her. Adding that it was a wonder he still had his trousers on.

  They decided to keep going but Lee had to help support him, and so their pace dropped back to only a walk, stopping only occasionally to take a drink of water. Lee had lost most of what was in her backpack and that included the AK47 and the ammunition. In order that she might hold on to the one in her hand she could not hold on to the pack on her back, and so as it bounced about most of the contents was strewn about in the jungle. This was almost to be their undoing as the pursuers now had a trail to follow.

  Once it became dark they had to find somewhere to hide for the night. It would not be safe to try and walk in the dark, as the trees were so dense and no moonlight came through. It also made it impossible to walk on the stars. They had to pray that whoever it was behind them, would also stop for the night.

  Then at the first hint of daylight they were once again on their way heading towards the suns golden rays as they broke through the trees. Bruce knew that the sun came up in the East and that was the way he wanted to be heading. Towards Vietnam and hopefully freedom. However, what of Lee once again he had started to think of the position he was now in. Would the American authorities be sympathetic and allow Lee to stay with him, or would they want to interrogate her and to then imprison her. More and more he was coming to terms with the thought that he would not be allowed to take her home with him.

  The morning quietness was suddenly broken by the sound of shots from about two kilometers behind them. It did not take Bruce long to ignore the pain and to break into a fast hobble on his own as Lee got ahead of him searching for the easiest path through the jungle. Obviously the pursuers had opened fire at what they thought was Bruce and Lee, and in doing so it had given their position away.

  Suddenly they found themselves in a small clearing and Bruce had to take a seat sitting at the base of a rather large tree. Lee was looking around trying to see if they were safe for a short time. As she was walking around she had the pistol in her hand and was waving it around erratically, for what reason she had no idea. She ended up standing just in front of Bruce talking to him while still waving the weapon around. Suddenly Bruce saw two figures appear in the clearing behind her, and in English they shouted to her to throw down the gun. The surprise of the voice caught her completely off guard, as she swung around to face whoever was calling out to her. While still holding the gun that by this time was at waist height. At that very same instant a shot rang out from the strangers hitting her in the centre of the chest. It was as if her chest had just exploded and threw her backwards. By that time Bruce was on his feet and dived forward to try and catch her before she hit the ground. At great speed he moved forward grabbing her limp body and cradled her in his arms, looking down at her face. Bruce leaned forward and kissed her long and hard on the lips. By this time the two strangers had also rushed over, wanting an explanation of who they were. By this time Bruce had realised that they were westerners by their voice. All he could say was that they did not have to shoot her. She was his friend and was helping him escape. He kept repeating why did you have to shoot her, why did you have to shoot her. It was not necessary, she was his captor yes, but was helping him to escape. All the stranger who had shot her could say was that she was waving a gun at them and he thought she was about to shoot him. And that he really did not have a lot of choice.

  After a few minutes the strangers announced themselves as Michael Thompson and Don Hackett asking if he was Bruc
e Johnson. Bruce was quick to answer them by nodding his head, but also wanted them to be prepared to be attacked at any moment by whoever was chasing them.

  At that very same moment Lee passed away in his arms. Bruce he felt that last puff of air leave her body, as it gently flowed past his face.

  For the first time that he could remember a tear slid down the side of his face as he still clutch hold of her. The pain of losing her suddenly struck him like a dagger through the heart, it was a pain unlike anything he had experienced over the past few months. It was a big decision but in order that he might live he had to leave her right there and go. With the help of Michael and Don they laid her body behind a rock and in some bushes. Without further hesitation they left the clearing to meet up with the remainder of Michaels team awaiting just out of sight.

  Bruce explained that they were being chased although he had no idea who it was, and that Lee was helping him to escape. Without realise it he was constantly asking Michael why had he shot her. While Michael was constantly telling him, that he thought she was going to shoot him.

  As it turned out Bruce and Lee had got to within three kilometre of the border and to possible save ground.

  Michael saw to it that they made their way back to a prearranged position a kilometre inside of South Vietnam. Where he radioed for the chopper to come and pick them up.