The next morning on the way back from breakfast, Psycho hung back as he watched the members of C4. It was then he came to the realization that he was where he was meant to be. His stomach knotted, for now he needed not only to act like, but be an Army sergeant who could lead his men into any situation and bring them out alive.
Psycho did not arrive to this point in his life very easily. He lied, manipulated, and with a whole lot of luck accomplished what everyone had told him he could not do. Now doubts rose up from within.
He saw how all the other squad members looked at Mick. By all rights, he should be the squad leader. If it wasn’t for his reputation of getting drunk and picking on commissioned officers, he would be a master sergeant by now.
Sparky has the appearance of always being drunk too much coffee. His constant desire to blow things up reminds Psycho and others that the craving of seeing and feeling an explosion has the same effect on Sparky that drugs have on an addict. So much so that explosives had to be locked up and rationed to him. Psycho maintained the underlying dread that Sparky would blow the squad up just for fun.
The only worry Psycho had about Dave was him sitting around and smoking dope all day long. If pushed hard enough, Dave would follow orders.
Ruben and Shadow were untested as to what they would do when bullets started flying in their direction. He would have to keep an eye on them.
When it comes to Leroy, Psycho knew all he needed was to give Leroy a target; he would be dependable. The same would go for Pham.
C4 approached their hooch; several soldiers were spotted carrying crates into their hooch.
Psycho asked Dave, “Were you expecting any deliveries?”
“No, Sarge.”
Psycho motioned for the squad to hang back until the delivery truck was out of sight.
C4, led by Psycho and Dave, cautiously gathered around the four shorter crates and the two longer ones.
Psycho didn’t waste any time opening one of the long boxes. Dave went to work, opening a shorter one.
Psycho held up a rifle to Mick, “Are these the CAR 15s you had me request?”
“Yes, they are. I didn’t expect you to get them so quickly, if at all.” Mick said.
“I didn’t expect that you could get us any,” Dave added.
Psycho rubbed his knuckles on his chest. “I told you I have juice to get whatever you think we need.”
“I’ll never question you again. Sir.”
Psycho went to work, passing the rifles out. A troubling look came over Mick.
“What is it?” Psycho asked.
“Sarge, these need to be disassembled and oiled before we can use them. We don’t have enough time before we head out.”
“In addition to having time to test-fire these,” Sparky added.
Psycho took one and examined it closely. “What’s wrong with taking both the M16 and CAR15 with us?”
“That would be double the amount of gear we would have to carry.” Dave said.
“Then we’ll carry just a few clips of M16 and the rest for the CARs.”
“What if we run into trouble and have to fight our way out and the CARs don’t work?” Mick said.
Psycho raised his index finger, “One, you convinced me that these new rifles would give a big edge over the M16s.” Psycho added a second finger. “Two, from the way this assignment was explained to me, we shouldn’t run into any enemy.” He raised a third. “Three, we should have more than enough time while out there to test-fire them.”
“What if things don’t go as planned?” Leroy asked.
“We’ll just have to deal with it as the situation arises.”
***
The two Hueys had finished refueling. The crew chief from the first Huey motioned for C4 to start loading. Seeing that each soldier carried two rifles and extra ammo caused both Huey pilots to raise their eyebrows. The pilots were told C4 would only be going out for three days and they wouldn’t be carrying any extra gear.
Ruben and Shadow weren’t used to toting eighty-plus pounds on their backs. Mick carried his two rifles and extra ammo, and the radio along with his regular gear.
“You know these birds have a weight limit.” The first Huey pilot commented to Psycho.
The crew’s chief just shook his head. Sparky saw it and yelled at him, “We believe in being prepared if things don’t go as planned.”
The pilots from both Hueys motioned to each other; they were loaded and ready to go up. The first Huey’s engine complained as it lifted up. The second Huey didn’t complain as much; it had a noticeably lighter load.
Sgt. Psycho sat with his feet hanging out the side of the first Huey, staring at the jungle canopy as they flew over. Inwardly he reviewed each man’s strengths and weaknesses. He prayed to God that nothing would go wrong, regardless of what Capt. Phillips said.
