“I can’t breathe Johnny, put me down.”
Rambo propped him up against a tree.
Once he’d caught his breath, Jorgenson looked to Rambo and shook his head.
“No, uh-uh, that’s it, enough is enough, It’s over, Johnny.”
Yet, it wasn’t over and Rambo knew it.
It all actuality, it wasn’t even remotely close to being done.
Like hell it was.
Not for Rambo anyways.
As long as Jorgenson was alive, he wouldn’t leave him.
Not for any reason.
Not on his life.
Then, for no reason, Rambo suddenly got up.
He stood there just staring up at the sky, the same way a dog would when it listened for noise.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s been over for a while, Johnny,” continued Jorgenson.
“Shhhh!” hissed Rambo.
Almost instantly his hand had moved forward to cover Jorgenson’s mouth.
Neither of them moved a muscle after that, still looking intently up at the sky.
It sounded like distant thunder, but with a beat.
Johnny felt a lump in his throat, and his eyes began to burn.
It was a chopper, maybe even more than one.
Johnny took his hand off Jorgenson’s mouth, rummaged quickly through his pockets and pulled out his beeper.
He turned it back on as quickly as he could.
Then, knife in hand, he unscrewed its handle and took some matches out of it.
He only had three left.
Gathering a bed of leaves together, he set fire to the remaining bandages.
Before long, there would be thick, dark, smoke funnelling upwards into the sky and over the jungle’s canopy.
Rambo was still hoping a chopper would show up so he grabbed his bow and arrow and checked the area out while they waited.
He could feel his heart pounding hard in his chest.
He surveyed the area repeatedly, making sure there wasn’t anybody there.
He could hear the helicopters getting even closer.
They had probably tracked the beeper signal. They must have.
The sound of the engines moved once more and slowed down.
It was then that Rambo was certain that they’d just stopped above Jorgenson.
Too soon – he thought.
There may still be some Vietcong around.
Rambo started running towards Jorgenson. After only a few yards, he was close enough to see what was actually going on.
Jorgenson had somehow gotten back on his feet and leaning up against a tree and was waving his arms all about at the helicopter flying above him.
It was a real-life Huey.
Rambo knew he had to fight back the emotion because it was far from being over. Even if it wasn’t over yet, he still couldn’t get over that there was actually a Huey in front him.
Rambo looked everywhere for potential enemies, but there weren’t any around. His heart was beating like crazy. After being in the jungle, just waiting for all that time, he truly couldn’t believe how everything was happening and all so fast. It was crucial that he keep calm and stay focused up until the very end.
Putting a winch through that kind of vegetation was dangerous because of how easily it could end up getting tangled in it. It had happened before and that was exactly the kind of flora it could happen in.
Rambo saw the cable come down through the trees, slings and all, so he set off running towards Jorgenson. He was still looking out for the enemy especially in the surrounding trees as he did.
Jorgenson pulled out his 1911.
The winch made it through the trees down to the ground carrying its two safety harnesses.
Once close enough, Jorgenson put one leg through the harnesses and then the other. Then he stretched his hand out in Rambo’s direction and signalled to hurry.
Calm down, just calm down – thought Rambo running as fast as he could.
There was no way he could though because it felt beyond him. He just couldn’t stay calm.
All he wanted to do was get the hell out of there.
Rambo made it to Jorgenson although in great disbelief! Stepping into the harness too, the two of them put their arms around one another and stood face to face. With the rope between them and the Huey above, they were about to fly.
Rambo jerked the rope two times, and the helicopter began its lift off, taking them off the ground.
The chopper slipped through the branches easily as it climbed higher.
Once out of the jungle, rather than ascending further, the helicopter moved forward, in its final effort to get the hell out of there.
The fact that they hadn’t run into a single Vietcong team at lift off was, nothing short of a miracle. A miracle, indeed.
Rambo didn’t think he’d seriously be able to outrun them, not after killing those last two Vietcong two days earlier, but especially because of having to carry Jorgenson over his shoulders for such a long time. Being there now, hooked onto that cable in the sky seemed surreal.
Rambo lowered his head in a prayer-like manner, as to thank God.
A while later the jungle had faded quickly out of sight and out of bullet range.
All they could see under their war-torn combat boots now were clouds.