Dulles and I worked quickly to clear fire lanes. When we first set up this position we expected that any threat would come down the road to us. But the Chicoms were coming from the east. Instead of our defenses just facing northwest, we needed 360 degree coverage. We had been lucky so far, but our luck may not last the night.

I needed to know the situation, how my guys were. I left Dulles on watch, staring out. His M1 resting on the lip of the hole and made a dash from our position. The moon, behind clouds, hid its light and gave me cover to move, hidden from enemy eyes.

The ground was frozen, and as hard as concrete. The bodies of the men we had killed were laying around our positions, in various poses of death. I saw one, the top of his head was missing and his brains were spilled onto the ground in a kind of puddle. He had a surprised look on his face, what face he had left below the eyebrows.

As I got closer, I got onto my belly and started to crawl.

“Thorvald, it’s me, Hardee. I’m coming in.