One by one, Jorgenson aimed at every single VC in front of him. He was firing short-successive rounds as he specifically targeted each and every adversary. He quickly realized however, that maintaining that kind of precision wasn’t enough and the situation was beginning to get out of hand.
They were losing control.
If they didn't change the way things were going, and fast, Team Baker would never make it to the rally point.
Consequently, Jorgenson made a run for the other side of the paddy in an effort to block the Vietcong upward advancement. The Team needed to keep them from widening any further as they advanced.
Stop right there, ass holes – he said to himself and continued blasting his M16 as he did.
Jorgenson quickly made his way across the field and only stopped long enough to shoot or reload. Once reloaded, his resumed his offensive, with a firestorm of bullets as he continued his sprint to cross.
No, no, no.
They were still advancing and it wasn’t enough.
He needed to draw enemy fire elsewhere.
He needed to be the target.
He had to get the VCs away from where the wounded were, where the dead were actually – said the voice in his head before he could stop it.
Essentially, Krakauer is dead.
That’s not true – said another voice.
Don't give up.
Keep 'em busy, give your team the time it needs to stabilize Krack and move him.
No one’s giving up till he’s really dead.
WOOOOOOSHHHH - hissed the second RPG.
This time however, they weren't aiming at Coletta.
This time, it was heading in his direction, directly at him.
Jesus fucking Christ.
Jorgenson dove behind the biggest tree he could find, just to the left of him. The rocket exploded behind him, whizzing past him fortunately, only scattering mud all over the back of him, as he lay face-down on the ground.
As he fell, Jorgenson cradled his rifle in his arms, like a child, as he’d been trained to do when he was back in Fort Bragg.
“Fuck you assholes!” he cried out in a moment of rage.
Then, without even getting up, he fired his rifle, randomly straight to the sky, just to let the Vietcong hear that he still posed a threat to them. They needed to know that they couldn't advance, not yet anyways.
But he had seen the RPG shooter.
He’d got a good look at him actually, and as far as he was concerned, the shot was do-able.
But when he finally got up and came out from behind the tree to aim, he realized they’d reloaded the RPG with a warhead and it was ready to go.
Oh, Jesus fucking Christ!
Jorgenson took an extra split-second to make sure he didn't miss what may have been his last shot, but he was lucky. Jorgenson managed to hit the second shooter right square in the chest before he’d even shot the second rocket.
Now it’s your turn to die, asshole.
As the RPG tube slipped off his shoulder, the man collapsed to the ground with his hand against his chest where Jorgenson had hit him.
Jorgenson could almost see the explosive warhead planted in the ground but he didn't have a
clean line of fire.
someone else on the Baker team did however, and he’s the one who hit it.
Someone with exactly the same idea but strategically speaking was positioned right in the middle of the paddy.
The device exploded right in front of two VCs tearing them to shreds and sending pieces flying through the air.
For a moment, Jorgenson could have sworn he saw a head go one way and its body in the other. In reality, it was far too dark to point out those kinds of details, and he certainly didn't have time to just stand there and figure out what he had actually just seen.
In fact, when there in the dark, right in front of him he saw something move, he began firing his M16 right back at them again.