Kyung-gu, one step up the next set of stairs off the landing that leads to the second floor, was behind the wall and aiming at the door. Seung-heon was positioned in the room to the right as you enter the main room. Both men had a clear view of the door and were ready. They heard the Americans coming, so they knew what was about to happen. Suddenly, the door burst open, and in rushed an American. Kyung-gu fired. Seung-heon also fired and sent his rounds into the wood of the door, and they penetrated it.

Clancy had no idea what he had just run into, as the 7.62-mm rounds from Kyung-gu’s AK-47 entered his body. He looked like a puppet dancing from the numerous bullets driving him back out the door where he landed in a crumpled, bloodied heap.

Parker stood there, and Jake could see the rage as it built up to the point of exploding. Jake yelled at him.
“Parker, hold it. Let’s do this by the numbers.”
But Parker was deaf to Jake. All he could see was red, and Jake knew that he was about to jump in feet first, totally without thinking. And that’s exactly what he did. He went in shooting.

Seung-heon had gotten down to one knee and was ready. Another soldier rushed in and fired.
Parker was standing just past the edge of the door when the bolt of his M-16 locked back; his weapon was empty. He thumbed the magazine release button, and the empty magazine dropped out. He was reaching into his ammo pouch when he saw movement out of the corner of his right eye. He turned his head, and when he saw the AK-47, he took a last deep breath in surprise. Seung-heon saw the surprised look on the soldier’s face as he realized he was about to die. He pulled the trigger and brought death to reality by sending a hail of bullets into him.
Parker’s right arm was immediately shattered, and he was hit at least a dozen times. He was knocked back up against the far wall on the other side of the room where he stayed upright for a moment, then slid down to the floor, leaving streaks of blood against the wall as he went.
Seung-heon quickly advanced to the door and slammed it shut. Then, instead of him and Kyung-gu escaping out the back, they ran up the stairs and took up positions on the next landing.

Jake got on the radio, “Reaper 3-1, we have two more men down, and believe the enemy may attempt to escape out the back door.”
“Roger that.”
“Howard, Pete, we’re going in. Jennings, you, and Rebhouser watch that side. Hammer, cover the upper windows.”
Pete and Howard got ready with Jake. “Y’all ready?” Jake asked.
“Let’s go,” Pete answered.
Jake moved to the left of the door and Pete to the right. Jake pushed it open. Both cleared the area they could see. Jake motioned for Pete to go in low; Jake would go high. Pete nodded, and both moved in, followed by Howard. Once inside, each kept the muzzle of their weapons pointed down range and swept back and forth. They moved further in and cleared the bottom floor.
Jake keyed the handset, “Reaper 3-1, any contact your way.”
“That’s a negative, Reaper Lead.”
Jake indicated to Howard and Pete, pointing upstairs. Both nodded their understanding. Jake moved up the six steps to the first landing and stopped at the corner of the wall where it turned to his left. He looked back down at Pete. Pete smiled. Jake turned back around and prepared.
Lei Chung and Sergeant Kang, on the other side of the stonewall, observed two men watching the south end of the house. He scanned the back of the house and saw the vehicle on the other side of the stonewall, and it looked like it was positioned to cover the rear. His other two men were trapped inside, and he knew they were probably about to die. All he could do now was hope for the best.

Jake got ready. He took a deep breath and quickly peeked around the corner. He saw the barrel of an AK. Kyung-gu was momentarily distracted, so when the soldier peeked around the corner, he was caught off guard. He pulled the trigger, but the soldier had gotten back behind the corner. AK rounds hit the wall on Jake’s right, but none hit him. He figured he’d probably caught the man on the next landing off guard, so his shots were not aimed. Jake waited for just a second and then stepped out and sent a burst of 5.56-mm killers up and into the wall. The soldier had disappeared. Jake did not know the layout of the upstairs. Wish I had at least one grenade, he thought. He motioned for Pete and Howard to move up to him. “There are at least two upstairs, and I know they are waiting for us. That means we are going to have to be very careful,” Jake said as he looked at Pete. “So, we go around the corner shooting and don’t stop until we get up there. I’ll go first.” He ejected the magazine and inserted a fresh one, flipped the selector lever to auto, and got ready.

“Hold it,” Jake said. “I have an idea.” He stepped back down the steps and went outside. A minute later, he came back in. He smiled and said, “203 incoming.”

Seung-heon and Kyung-gu were positioned to put anyone who ventured up the steps in a crossfire. They had plenty of ammo, so it wouldn’t be a problem holding them off. But they were not expecting what happened next. Two explosions right above their heads brought down a huge amount of dust and debris on top of them.
Jake yelled, “Now!”

Pete turned the corner and opened fire as he went up the first five steps. Howard got ready. When he heard the firing stop, he turned the corner, fired, and moved up three steps. Pete was prone and reloading. When Howard got to Pete’s feet, he stopped firing, and Pete was up again and advancing up the steps, firing as he went. He reached the top, and Howard went up. The dust cleared, but the incoming rounds didn’t.

Seung-heon crawled back slightly and got behind one of the beams used to hold up the ceiling. Kyung-gu moved to the left and took aim. They were not going to make it easy for the Americans. If they decided to come up where they were, they would find a wall of bullets to meet them. Pete reached the top of the last step and waited for Howard. Pete had already cleared the front, so he knew that the two enemy soldiers were waiting to his right. At least that’s what he thought.

Pete edged his way forward, so he could see around the right corner. He figured they would have the entire opening covered, so he dared not poke his head too far around. Then a thought occurred to him. “Jake. Gas,” Pete shouted downstairs.“ Good idea. Work your way back down. I’ll go and see if we can put a round up there.”
Pete and Howard slowly made their way down and around to the bottom landing. Jake was back in second. “Get ready.”
They heard the gas round hit. A few seconds later, coughing and choking could be heard, and then stumbling around. Pete got ready. The two men came stumbling down the steps firing wildly. Pete, Howard, and Jake opened fire.
Jake waited for the smoke and tear gas to clear away. He looked at the two dead men at the bottom of the stairs and then keyed the handset. “Reaper 3-1, the house is secure.” Jake waited a few seconds, just to gather his thoughts and to calm down a bit. With so much adrenaline rushing through your body, and especially during a firefight, it takes time to calm down. He reached into his right-side pant cargo pocket and pulled out his Rebel cap. He shook it out and placed on his head.
Lei Chung heard the exchange of gunfire and knew his two men were dead. But it wasn’t over yet. He still had a man to kill. So, in complete control, he focused his full attention.

Jake left the two bodies and went over to the window on the south end and looked outside. He could see the stonewall across the field.
Chung was not sure what to expect. He scanned the house. To his delight, in the bottom-floor window, he saw movement. He paused just to make sure, and then he saw it, the cap. It was him, the man he was looking for. His mind filled with the anticipation of the kill. He raised his weapon and slowly took aim.

Jennings, securing his position, was looking over the stonewall when he noticed a man behind a section of the stonewall about sixty meters from the south end of the house. The man was standing up and appeared to be looking for something in the direction of the house. He scanned back and forth then he got back down. Jennings knew the enemy soldier was either looking for a target or assessing the situation before he made another attack. Jennings was preparing to engage when he saw the man stand up again and bring a weapon up with him. He was now using the stonewall to steady his aim. Jennings took a quick aim at the figure and pulled the trigger.

Lei Chung was so intent on shooting at the man with the strange cap that he didn’t see Jennings. Chung was about to shoot when bullets started hitting and chipping the top of the wall where he stood. He ducked down quickly. What is it about this man that keeps him from one of my bullets, he thought? Either he is guarded by an angel, or he is exceptionally lucky. He wanted badly to kill this man, but he could not prolong his stay. He and Kang needed to get out of there, so he quickly stood back up, shot wildly at the window, and took off in a crouch. Sergeant Kang saw what the lieutenant was doing and quickly did the same, firing as he went.

Jake heard an M-16 fire a few rounds, but no sooner had they stopped when wood chips and splinters started flying all around him. He ducked back inside the window. The firing stopped, and he looked back toward the front of the house. He quickly stood up and ran to the front door. He stopped for a second before stepping outside.

Jennings was moving around the south portion of the stonewall.
“Pete,” Jake shouted. “You and Howard cover the top floor window on the south end. Jennings and Rebhouser are moving around the stonewall toward the jeep. Captain, it’s safer in the house.”

Jake reentered the house and went back to the window he had just left. The captain stood up from squatting down by the door and followed Jake inside.
Jennings, seeing the man duck down, moved slowly, taking each step with extreme caution. When he had covered twenty meters, he was to the left of the jeep’s front bumper. He took the time to stoop down and tried to see under it. But all he could see was the upper left side. The dirt from the embankment blocked any view beyond that. Rebhouser kept Jennings in his sight and was covering him when Jennings stopped, waited, and then stepped out. Rebhouser watched him as he made his way slowly to the rear of the jeep and got down behind the rear bumper.

Chung and Kang made it up the embankment, across the road, and had gone another thirty or so meters before dropping down quickly into a prone position. Looking back at the jeep, they took aim. Chung could see the men approaching and motioned for Kang to cover the left. They watched and soon saw someone at the front bumper of the jeep.

Jennings kept his weapon pointed at the jeep and counted to three. Then he moved up the embankment toward the front bumper. So far, he hasn’t seen anyone, but that didn’t mean they were not there. He stopped and got down, turned to look at Rebhouser, and gave him a thumbs-up.

Pete was at the upstairs window, looking down and to his right. He scanned the area but could not see across the road beyond the jeep. He looked down and to his right at the wall and saw that Jennings and Rebhouser had made a smart move. They had put the wall between them and the road. He figured that Jennings had guessed that the enemy soldier would not stay in his hiding place for long and had made his way across the road and into cover.
Jennings stopped momentarily and glanced back up at the window. He saw Sergeant Steel standing there, so he knew he was covering them. Rebhouser, about five meters behind Jennings, stopped when he did. Jennings looked back at him and made a hand motion telling him they were going to have to cross the open area, to stay just below the jeep. Rebhouser nodded. Jennings nodded back and moved out. Pete watched as Jennings and Rebhouser
stepped away from the wall and headed for the left side of the Jeep. It was only about fifty meters, but it seemed like a hundred. Finally, they reached the lower side of the road, and Jennings crawled up. He figured on using the jeep as cover as he viewed the other side.
“Rebhouser, you take the right. We’ll go on three, but move slowly,” Jennings whispered.

Rebhouser nodded, and both made their way up. Jennings was at the front left bumper, and Rebhouser on the left rear. Jennings waited and put his hand up, counting down, three, two, one. They got up slowly and moved.
Kang watched from his position while Chung watched from his. They brought their individual targets into their sights and pressed the trigger. In less than a split second, 7.62-mm rounds were tearing through the bodies of both Jennings and Rebhouser, shredding flesh and tearing into bone. They died before they hit the ground.

Pete jumped at the sound of the two AK-47s as they opened fire at close range. He turned his head just in time to see Jennings and Rebhouser thrown back by the multiple impacts of the bullets. But before he could do anything, the two soldiers were up and gone. Jennings and Rebhouser were dead, their bodies riddled. All Pete could do now was look down at their dead bodies. Pete lowered his weapon but scanned the area. After a few minutes, he determined that this was probably the end of this engagement. He got up and went back downstairs. “Howard, let’s go,” Pete said. “I think it’s over.” He went around the corner.

“On your six,” Howard said, as he came up behind him. They both went downstairs and met Jake outside the front door.
“We just lost two more. Jennings and Rebhouser,” Pete said sadly, as he surveyed the area. “We’ve got to get outta here.”
Jake nodded, but remained silent as he stood there looking over all the carnage.
Captain Beckman came up beside him. “How many men do you think there were?” the captain asked.
“I counted four.”
“Four! How could just four men do this much damage?”
Jake wanted to tell the captain just what he thought, but the Duck came around the corner. It continued around until it got to the opening in the stonewall and stopped. The side hatch opened, and Griffin jumped out.
“George,” he yelled back inside, “monitor that radio. Pierce stay on that 60. Hathaway, come with me.” Griffin started walking down to the house.
Steel and Howard had now joined Jake and the captain. Kidd was down on the far corner of the house watching the tree line.
“Well, Captain, what’s our next move?” Griffin asked as he came up.
The sounds of battle drew closer and closer. And with each passing moment, the men of the Reapers knew they could quite possibly be engulfed by it. Desperation began to fill their minds and hearts, giving them a feeling of having no way out. And losing hope was not good.