She watched him disappear again, wondering what he had seen inside of the hut. She should have brought medical supplies, but she hadn’t been thinking ahead. Annoyed with herself, she flapped at her ear when an insectbuzzed close, then she jerked away from a spider, spread out in the middle of its web near her elbow. It was a giant, brilliant blue, four inches from top to bottom. She had no idea if it was dangerous, but she wasn’t about to test it. She shuffled away, more aware than ever of how alien she was to this land.
There was a shout from the camp, and she forgot about the spider. A rattling of gunfire jerked the three men at the wagon to life, and they sprinted toward the sound. More gunfire followed, and an enemy fighter fell. One of the Security Forces men from the hospital emerged from the trees, shooting, then two more. They disappeared again, and gunfire erupted deeper in the forest, not too far from where Marion hid. She guessed that some of the Vietcong were fleeing in the trees, and she hunched even lower.
Movement by the hut caught her attention. When she could distinguish its shape, her heart jumped in her chest.Daniel.He had reached the structure and was crouched at one side. It looked like he was busy with some sort of latch. How she wished she had binoculars. Then there was a shout, and he dove into the jungle, dodging bullets. Two men followed him, and she stared in agony, waiting to see who came out.There. Daniel materialized at the edge of the trees, twenty feet from the place where the prisoners were being kept, and as he crept toward the hut again she recognized the effortless brown shadow she’d seen before. The two men who had followed him into the trees were nowhere to be seen. She scoured the tree line, but she was certain they had not come out. Daniel snaked forward, his attention entirely on the small black hut.
Then Marion spotted one of the Vietcong slinking out of the trees, creeping up on Daniel. When Daniel didn’t alter his steady stride, she realized he couldn’t see the enemy, who was rushing up on Daniel’s blind side. He was far too close, and as she watched in horror, the enemy lifted his gun to fire.
“Three!” she screamed, jumping up without thinking. “Three, Daniel! Three o’clock!”
He turned on a dime and shot the attacker, then spun around to stare at her, disbelief written all over his face. That’s when she spotted another enemy fighter approaching him from behind.
She pointed. “Three o’clock again!”
He took care of that one as well, then he sprinted toward the hut, shooting her another incredulous look as he ran. Elated, she hopped on her toes and bit her fist to keep from cheering. Then she felt a sharp poke of metal in her back.
“Ð?ng di chuy?n,” a man growled.
She needed no translation. Marion put her hands in the air and didn’t move until she felt the muzzle of his gun shoving her forward. As she stumbled through the undergrowth into the clearing ahead, terror lodged in her chest. She felt exposed, and very much alone. Where was Daniel? Where were the others? She was shaking so badly she couldn’t control her hands. Her captor did not appear to notice when she dropped them to her sides. Once he had her in the open, he kept yelling, but not at her. She didn’t know what to do, so she just stood there, hyperventilating, as he prodded her from behind.
“American!” he shouted.
“No!” she cried. She knew what would happen next. Daniel would come for her. He would sacrifice himself. He had already made that clear. One of them was going to die today, she realized. Maybe both.
But Daniel did not appear.
“American!” her captor roared again, and the gun shifted roughly to the back of her head, knocking her a step sideways.
Daniel immediately stepped out of the shadows.
“Không có súng!” the man shouted. Daniel dropped his gun, raised his hands, and linked them behind his head. Never looking away from her, he slowly walked toward them.
“It’s all right, Marion,” he said calmly, and she feared she might dissolve, hearing the strength of that voice again. One of his hands lifted slightly above his head and made a fist.Freeze, she remembered, but she couldn’t stop shaking.
“I’m sorry, Daniel,” she whimpered. “I’m so, so sorry.”
“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have left you.” He glared at the Vietcong soldier. “R?i xa cô ?y.”
The soldier chuckled. “Không, American.B?n s? ch?t.”
She didn’t care what they were saying. None of this was real. It wasn’t happening. Somehow she had fallen into one of Daniel’s nightmares,shivering in the sweltering heat of Vietnam, unable to move. It would pass soon, she told herself. She just needed to wake up.
But this was no dream. This was the end.
She took a long, deep breath, willing her pulse to slow so she could think. This couldn’t be the end. There had to be a way.
The man behind her shouted something, and one of his men answered the call. He jogged directly to Daniel, who stopped on command, then he shoved the mouth of his pistol against Daniel’s temple. Daniel lifted his chin and looked at her, and in his expression she saw the most terrible regret.
“I’m sorry, Marion. You’re the most incredible woman I’ve ever met. I wish we had more time.”
Beside him, the enemy was laughing through a mouth of broken teeth, saying something to the man behind her. He was laughing as well. Marion was staring at the small black gun at Daniel’s head, seeking clarity, and in that moment, it came to her.Someone’s gonna get killed, Daniel had said long ago.You don’t want it to be you. They die or you do. Every man in every war understands that.
Daniel’s gaze had been locked on hers the whole time, and now she dropped her eyes, urging him to follow. She needed him to notice the slight, careful motion of her hand.
As cautiously as she could, Marion slipped her right hand under her shirt bottom. When she came into contact with the gun’s metal handle, she twisted her wrist and wrapped her fingers around it.It’s loaded, Bao had said. With almost no movement, Marion slid the gun from its holster then rotated the pistol toward her own body, on its way to finding that of the enemy behind her. Her hand curled securely around the handle while her thumb located the safety, and she clicked it off.They die or you do.
She met Daniel’s gaze again and saw the apprehension in his expression. She also saw the tiniest of nods. He knew what to do.
The man beside Daniel stepped back, extending his arm, making room for the blast that would blow Daniel’s head off. Behind her, the other man was laughing, egging him on. They were too confident for their own good.
