The Ghost Of An American Soldier

Chapter One

It was almost dead silent. the only noise being made was the sound of the wind through the tall, green trees and the sound of a few birds whistling their favorite tune into the hot, baby blue, afternoon sky. I have been walking, listening, tracking for hours now and still, no sign if the sniper that had got away from me nearly one week ago. I am beginning to question myself about seeing two snipers now. CRUNCH. CRUNCH. CRUNCH. CRUNCH. Somebody's walking through the leaves about 35 to 50 yards out. I lean up against a giant kapok and quietly looked around the 6 foot waist of the tree. I immediately dropped down into some nearby shrubbery so I could not be spotted. CRUNCH. CRUNCH. CRUNCH. The noise got closer and closer and closer until finally they were less than 6 feet away. I dared not to make a sound or move an inch. They were there for moments but it felt like forever. I waited an extra fifteen minutes after they were out of sight to be sure that I wasn't still in ear shot. I got up slowly and ever so quietly. I crept over to where the Korean patrol had stood, admiring the ground. They were tracking me. If it had not been for my guilly suit, I would have been spotted, shot, killed, or even worse...tortured. It was getting dark so I had to keep moving. I needed to find a safe, natural shelter from the bitter cold that was going to come again tonight. I found it in some shrubs under a giant kapok. I was on high alert and I was ready to attack anything that came to near. I was as silent as possible. Laying there waiting, watching, listening. I must have dozed off because when I came-to the sun was up and the sky was partially gray with rain clouds. It was 0900(9:00a.m) and i was already soaked to the bone with water from the rain. This wasn't rain like it was back in the states. This rain was warm and lasted for days on end. This was the worst thing that could have possibly happened. It was nearly impossible to track the enemy sniper in this kind of weather. "It's raining to hard" I said to myself "I need to get some supplies to make shelter and quick". I was dragging some tree limbs that I had picked up off the ground with me when.....CRACK!!! I dropped my branches and looked left, then right. Nothin. I heard it again...CRASH!!! I opened my eyes to see that the sun was high and there was no cloud in site. "Like a day in Idaho" I said to myself giggling. I have been having a tremendous head pain. I put my hand on the back of my head and I felt a sticky, warm substance. I had cracked my head open the night before when a branch from the giant kapok. "Shit" I said to myself as I tore a piece of fabric and tied it around my head. "Where in the hell is my gun?" "You mean this thing?" said a voice with a Korean accent. "Who are you" he asked. I didn't answer. "Why are you here?" he asked. Still no answer. WHACK!!! He hit me across the face. "Who are you and why are you here?!" he asked again angrily. I sat there and watched his face His eyes. His mind. "I'm going to give you one more chance before I kill you" he warned. But I had something that he didn't expect....my knife.