One early summer afternoon, at the bus station of Cam Lo town, a slender old man, with a black scarf wrapped around his neck, stepped down with difficulty from the passenger bus with the license plate 50C... His whole body was bent down towards the arm that was leaning on a cane. Unlike his emaciated body, his face was resolute, with a high forehead and bright eyes...
-Illustration: NGOC DUY
He walked along Tran Hung Dao Street, then turned into a small alley, absent-mindedly standing in front of a two-story house. The house was covered with moss, and on the second floor in front of it were hanging many purple orchids, a flower that he had seen a lot in the Truong Son forests in the past...
A woman with silver hair stepped out:
- Hello! Who are you looking for?
- Excuse me... is this Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thuy's house?
- Yes. Please come in!
Mrs. Thuy glanced at the "People's Army" newspaper he was holding in his hand and then gently said to him:
- I am Tri's younger sister. There are only two of us in the family. Our parents have both passed away a long time ago, and Tri died during the war against America, and his remains have not been found yet. I recently posted an ad "Looking for comrades" in the People's Army newspaper, but... You were Tri's comrade in arms?
The old man stammered: - No!... I... I am Tan...
... ...
Mr. Tan knelt down before Mr. Tri's altar: "Mr. Tri! Please forgive me. It's been more than forty years, and today I've come back to you. I've come back to a real person, the true "person" that you found for me that day, Mr. Tri!"
He walked out to the second floor courtyard, where there were purple orchids. Mrs. Thuy said: Tri loved this flower very much. When he was a student, he had a girlfriend named Hoang Lan. They were both in the student organization. After that, Tri went to the forest, Hoang Lan stayed in the inner city to continue her activities, was captured by the enemy and died in prison...
He fell silent, gazing at the gentle, faintly purple flowers. The petals spread out like flying cranes, wetting the purple sky before his eyes...
That year, Tan's Crazy Buffalo Battalion was ordered to urgently march to occupy the Rockpile mountain forest in Cam Lo district, Quang Tri province. This was one of the fiercest military positions on the battlefield at that time. Tan had commanded the battalion in major battles. But this time, the dense forests filled with snakes, centipedes, leeches, mosquitoes... made Tan waver. The Viet Cong were not like Tan had imagined, they appeared and disappeared like ghosts, approaching anytime, anywhere, with unimaginable bravery. Tan's nerves were tense, always anxious; only after each sleep did he realize he was still alive. The number of soldiers kept dwindling...
Tan reported to his superiors for urgent reinforcements. But before he could replenish his troops, the unit was surrounded and beaten to a pulp by the Viet Cong. Tan's fortifications were shaken by heavy artillery, mortars, machine guns, AKs... There was even the sound of AR15s exploding indiscriminately. The soldiers ran away like a broken beehive, some died, some screamed miserably. Tan screamed until his throat was hoarse but he was completely helpless. Finally, Tan ran headlong, plunging face down into the reeds, crashing into tree trunks... Tan lost his direction...
Only when the blood-red sunset appeared before his eyes did Tan suddenly wake up. He sat leaning against a tree, his whole body limp, his stomach churning. The AR15's magazine was still intact. Tan shouted, forgetting all his fear, "I must take revenge!" But his scream was drowned out by the deafening explosions. The forest before his eyes was torn apart and shook. Tan got up again, running for his life...
A sharp shout made Tan jump: - Stop! Put down your gun, put your hands up!
Under the dim moonlight, Tan realized that a gun was pointing straight at him. Shocked and stunned, the AR15 slowly slipped from Tan's hand.
- Take five steps forward!
Tan saw a liberation soldier bend down to pick up the AR15. A flash of light appeared in his mind, with the reflexes of an animal, Tan rushed forward like lightning... Too late. A loud explosion, the ground under Tan's feet flew up.
- You bastard! Do you want to die?
Tan paused, his whole body cold. From his spine to the top of his head, he felt like there were thousands of ants tingling. “Please... I was forced...”
- We are ready to show clemency to those who know they have lost their way and return to the revolution...
- Trust me!...
- Trust a stubborn person like you? Here, tie yourself up, I won't bother tying you up.
The liberation soldier, whose name Tan later learned was Tri, threw the parachute cord at Tan. Tan grabbed it, confused and hesitant, and Tri shouted.
- Tie your legs together, tie them tight!
Tan followed like a machine, thinking: This Viet Cong is really a jerk! Seeing that Tan had finished tying him up, Tri slowly walked over, the gun still at his side. When he got closer, Tri dropped the gun, grabbed Tan's hand, twisted it behind his back, and pulled another rope from his pocket to tie it tightly. When the rope was finished, Tri stepped back, held his chest, felt dizzy, and fell to his knees. Tan was surprised to see that Tri's shirt was soaked in blood.
Ah... so this guy is injured. I fell for his trick, crazy! Anger rose in his chest and made Tan fall down. Tri struggled to get up, struggled to walk back to his old place and sat leaning against the tree...
Night forest. Frost descended, soaking every leaf and rock. The mud and blood that had stuck to the body during the day had dried out and now melted. The weak moonlight of the first week of the week filtered through the withered treetops, casting a tattered light on the ground. Dead bodies lay scattered beneath the bomb site. Flocks of crows flapped their wings and emerged from deep caves, making terrifying cries. They swooped down on the corpses, tearing them apart.
Tri silently bent down to open the backpack. The smell of dry food made Tan salivate. His stomach was rumbling, his eyes glued to Tri's every move, seeing him slowly open the package of cakes, take one and put it in his mouth, chew it noisily, swallowing it with difficulty. Tan couldn't stand it, he kept turning over, swallowing his saliva... Then a voice that didn't seem to come from Tri came out: Are you really hungry? Have some!
Tri took the piece of cake and put it in Tan's mouth. Tan opened his mouth to receive the cake and chewed it greedily. Tan tried to swallow but it was stuck in his throat, tears welled up in Tan's eyes, he tilted his head back and stammered.
- Water here!
As Tri spoke, he slowly poured the water into Tan's mouth. Tan took a gulp and swallowed it. After Tan finished swallowing the cake, Tri poured more water for Tan. Tan swallowed it all at once, wiped his mouth on his shoulder, and said: I am truly grateful to you...
Tri's voice was soft: - Where are you from?
- I'm from Quang Ngai .
- Why join the army?
- My village is located in a low-lying plain, flooded every year so I am very poor. When I was ten years old, I had to leave my hometown to go to the city to sell bread at bus stations and markets to make a living. When I was fifteen, I worked as a porter at Da Nang port and then was drafted into the army. I have a wife, three children and a disabled mother in my hometown. The whole family depends on my soldier's salary. Every time I go home to visit, I lie to my mother that I am just a lowly supply soldier who knows nothing about guns and bullets to reassure her... What about you?
- My hometown is about ten kilometers away, also a low-lying area. I have an old mother and a younger sister...
After a pause, Tri continued: But I don't know what their fate is now, which prison are the American puppets holding them in?...
The wind suddenly changed, the rain pattered on the branches and then poured down like a torrent. Tri was startled. He opened his backpack, took out the umbrella and covered Tan. So the two of them shared the same umbrella to shield themselves from the rain. One was seriously injured and covered in blood, the other had his hands and feet tied.
Then, out of nowhere, water rushed in, threatening to drown the two of them in the ravine. Tan saw Tri fumbling to untie Tan's legs. The two of them tried to crawl up. Once out of the ravine, Tri fell unconscious and Tan was so exhausted that he had no strength left. The two of them collapsed next to each other under the soaked umbrella and fell asleep...
... ...
Tan woke up with a start, white light streams through the forest leaves, gentle and gentle. After a moment of regaining consciousness, Tan was surprised and wondered: I wonder where I am? Before Tan's eyes was Tri. He was very exhausted, blood was flowing red all over the seat, from the chest down was a dark purple. The color of the blood and the blue of the uniform were mixed together. Tan knew Tri was seriously injured. But strangely, on Tri's face there was almost no expression of pain, on the contrary, he was strangely calm. Tri struggled to say to Tan:
- Did you hear that plane? In a few minutes, this whole forest will be destroyed. You know how they clean up the battlefield. Get out of this forest now!
- You let me go?
Tri loosened the rope and said to Tan: - You are free. We never kill deserters... The war will definitely end. Time won't be long, sir! We all have mothers...
Tri's face wrinkled, his breathing was rapid, he leaned over and let go of the AK on the ground. Tan rushed forward to support Tri. Tri tried his best to pull out a piece of blood-soaked paper from his breast pocket and gave it to Tan, whispering: - You... please... go!...
Boom... The sound of the bomb exploded, shaking the whole forest. Rocks, dust and smoke filled the sky. Tan rolled around like a rock...
Boom boom... Tan's ears were ringing, Tan's body was lifted off the ground, his limbs and face were bloody. Tan tried to crawl up and then stood up, running towards Tri who was lying. There was nothing left. A deep, burning bomb crater. Tan was lost. Tan was like a soulless person. Suddenly, thick drops of water fell on Tan's face. Looking up, Tan was shocked, purple orchid branches. Tan's eyes were wild... The orchid branches were dyed purple. "Oh my god!... Blood... Blood...". Aiming the AR15 towards the roaring sound of the plane, Tan pulled the trigger and used up all the bullets. Tan smashed the gun into the broken tree trunk and rushed away...
“Ms. Thuy! After that return, I was arrested and sentenced to 5 years in prison for desertion. I kept the paper that Mr. Tri gave me hidden during my years in prison and until the day the South was completely liberated. It was a diagram of the graves of Mr. Tri’s two comrades who died the day I met him. Their common grave was only a few dozen meters from where Mr. Tri died. Mr. Tri marked the grave very specifically. Later, the two graves were gathered in the martyrs’ cemetery in his hometown. As for Mr. Tri...”.
Something stuck in his throat made Mr. Tan choke and unable to speak. He raised his hand to wipe away the tears that were wet on his eyelids, then looked up at the purple orchid branches...
Van Xuong
Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/truyen-ngan-nhung-nhanh-lan-tim-189440.htm
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