The Cold Six Thousand - James Ellroy [129]
He bought the Vegas papers. He checked the missing persons logs and obits. Wayne Senior killed Wardell Gray. Wayne Senior did not kill Janice.
He cut them off. He left them. He walked. He ignored them. He thought about Bongo. He thought about Wendell D.
The kadre trudged. The trail swerved. Bush hemmed them in. Chaffee read his compass. They held northwest.
They crossed clearings. They spread out. They flanked. Wayne switched positions. Wayne took Fido’s leash.
Fido walked fast—good dog—most ricky-tick.
Wayne walked fast. Fido tugged. Wayne caught up and ran abreast. Fido went darty. Wayne tracked his eyes. Fido lurched. Fido weaved.
Marv One yelled, “Chuyen gi vay?”
Marv Two yelled, “Chuyen, chuyen?”
Fido yelled, “Khong co chuyen gi het.”
They hit a clearing. They reflanked. Fido tugged left. Fido squatted. Fido dropped his pants.
Wayne saw a turd drop. Wayne saw a tree stump. Wayne saw an X. Fido grabbed something. Fido threw something. Something blew up.
Fuck—smoke/shrapnel/gunfire.
Chaffee caught metal scraps. Chaffee went down. Two Marvs caught it tight. An arm flew. A foot flew. Stumps spattered.
Wayne proned out. Wayne rolled. Wayne pulled his .45. Pete proned out. Chuck proned out. Marv Three fired wide.
Pete fired. Chuck fired. Fido tugged his leash. Wayne dug in. Wayne pulled the leash. Wayne reeled him in.
He’s close—there’s his neck/there’s his eyes.
Wayne aimed. Wayne popped four shots off. Fido’s teeth shattered. Fido’s neck blew.
Wayne heard yells. Wayne saw three VC.
They charged. They aimed carbines. They got kadre klose. Pete stood up. Chuck stood up. Mesplède waved come on.
Bob stood up. Bob aimed his pump. Bob shot low. A beehive blew—darts blew—darts on fire.
The spread cohered. The spread hit. The spread severed legs. Three trunk sections detached and fell.
Pete fired. Chuck fired. Mesplède fired tight. They popped full clips—.45 ACPs—they ten-ringed head shots.
Wayne walked over. Wayne kicked a loose leg. Wayne saw a Ho Chi Minh tattoo. Wayne saw needle marks.
Pete said no burials. Chuck said no evidence. Mesplède said guts lured wild pigs.
Bob disemboweled the Marvs. Pete disemboweled Chaffee. Bob disemboweled the VC. Wayne flipped a coin. Marv Three called heads. Wayne got tails—tough luck.
He disemboweled Fido. He thought of Maynard Moore. He smelled the rest stop near Dallas.
They walked away. Chuck left hate tracts. Bob left an ace of spades.
They walked.
They lost Chaffee’s compass. They tracked off the sun. Dusk hit. They tracked off starlight.
A haze hit. The stars died. The foot trail bisected. They veered instinct-right. Ursa Minor broke through. They resighted and cut back.
They walked. They used flashlights. They hit undergrowth. Thick shit—leaves and roots.
They kicked through it. A haze hit. The stars died. They cut back. They fried their flashlights. They walked in the dark. They saw lights. Marv Three called it:
Two clicks over—village—que lam beaucoup. I go now. I get village help. I bring guide back.
Pete said go. Marv Three walked. They waited. Nobody talked. Nobody smoked. Wayne clocked off forty-six minutes.
Marv Three walked back. Marv Three brought Fido Two. An old guy—the papa-san type—Ho beard and tire-tread shoes.
Chuck leashed him up. Chuck named him “Rover.” Chuck fed him cigarettes. Rover had good wind. Rover walked fast. Rover leaped limbs and brush piles.
They hit a clearing. They flanked wide. They aimed in a 360 arc. A flare popped at ten o’clock—pink light streaked and poofed.
They cut loose. They blew beehives. Darts disinterred.
Somebody yelled, “Friend!”
Somebody yelled, “Tran Dinh!”
Tran had a campsite. Pete called it Tran’s Fontainebleau.
One acre. Weeds and mulched dirt. Bug nets and grenade nets. Brushed-steel lean-tos.
They slept hard. They slept late. Tran’s men cooked brunch.
Tran scrounged off Stanton. Stanton scrounged the Army. Stanton scrounged pancake batter. Stanton scrounged pork rinds and Spam.
Tran had six slaves—all