| If he stayed with the platoon, there would be better chances later with Croft and the LieutenantHe didn't want any more combat, not like that ambush certainly, but stillIt was Brown's fault, he told himself"If you think I oughta go, I'll go, Sam, but I kinda feel as if I ought to stay with the platoon
"Naw, you go with Brown Any answer would have left Stanley unsatisfiedIt was like spinning a coin to decide your decision, and wishing the coin had landed on the other side
Hearn scratched his armpitWhat a goddam mess! He chewed on some grass, spat it out quietlyWhen they had brought Wilson back, he had beenall right, he had been annoyedThat was the first emotion, the honest oneIf they hadn't found him the men's gucci wallet patrol would be relatively simple, and now they were shorthandedIt was a hell of a thing for a platoon leader to feelHe had to face some things; this patrol meant more to him than it shouldAnd everything was loused up, he didn't know what they were going to do nowHe had to get away by himself, think it out
"Where the hell are those men with the poles for the stretcher?" Croft asked irritablyHe was depressed for once, almost a little frightenedTheir talk was finished and they stood about uncomfortablyA few feet away, Wilson was moaning deliriously, shivering under his blanketHis face was very white, and his full red mouth had turned a leaden pink, pinched at the cornersWilson was one of the old men, and it cartier women's watches hurt more, stirred him more, than if they had lost one of the replacementsThere were so few of the old men left -- Brown, and his nerves were shot; Martinez; Red, who was sick; and Gallagher, who wasn't much use nowThere were all the men who had been lost when the rubber boats were ambushed, the few others who had been wounded or killed in the months on MotomeIt made Croft wonder if his turn was coming dueHis mind would never release the memory of the night when he had shuddered in his foxhole, waiting for the Japanese to cross the riverHis senses were raw, a little inflamedHe remembered with a thick lusting anger in his throat how he had killed the prisoner in the drawJust let me get ahold of a JapHe felt chanel purse white balked on this patrol, infuriated; his rage extended to include everythingHe stared up at Mount Anaka as if measuring an opponentAt that moment he hated the mountain too, considered it a personal affront
A hundred yards away, he could see the stretcher detail straggling back toward the hollow, the poles they had cut balanced on their shouldersHe restrained himself from calling out to them
Brown watched their approach dourlyIn a half hour he would be setting out with his litter-bearers, and they would toil a mile or more, perhaps, and then bivouac for the night, alone in this wilderness with only a wounded man for companyHe wondered if he knew the way back, felt completely unsure of himselfWhat if the rolex air king automatic watch Japs sent out patrols? Brown felt bitterThere was no way out of itIt seemed like a plot against them allThey were betrayed, that's allHe could not have said who betrayed them, but the idea fed his bitterness, was fragilely pleasant
In the grove while they were cutting the stretcher poles, Roth found a birdIt was a tiny thing, smaller than a sparrow, with soft dun-colored feathers and a crippled wing, and it hopped about slowly, chirping piteously, as if very tired"Oh, look at that," Roth said
"What?" Minetta asked Roth dropped his machete and approached it warily, clucking with his tongueThe bird made a little beeping sound, ducking its head to one side like a shy girl"Ah, look at that, it's hurt," Roth new louis vuitton handbags sai |
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