The soldiers were resting around a tiny fire in a small clearing. The fire was only for cooking and illumination; the steamy jungle night required no extra heat. Dan Hansen was sitting with his back propped against a tree trunk, totally exhausted, gazing at the tall figure standing at the edge of the clearing. Harris was so far away from the light that Dan imagined he could see the dim jungle THROUGH Harris' body.
The fire brightened slightly, illuminating Harris' face. He smiled at Dan for a moment.
Phantom became flesh as Harris approached Dan. Stopping in front of the fire, Harris opened his fly and removed his penis from his fatigue trousers. Exposed and erect, he continued advancing, finally stopping with the tip of his cock inches from Dan's mouth.
As Harris opened his mouth to speak, the machine gun in the darkness began firing with a series of soft popping sounds, each as quiet as a single kernel of popcorn bursting.
Dan saw the shots tear Harris apart in horrible slow motion. Blood and flesh exploded from his chest and groin as he tumbled backward, crashing to the ground beside the fire.
The rest of the platoon jumped up and returned fire. The enemy machine gun fell silent.
Dan cradled Harris in his arms. Harris appeared to be trying to speak, but his mouth was full of blood. An instant later, the pain and light vanished from his eyes. Dan continued holding Harris' body, sobbing softly as blackness engulfed them . . .
Dan sat up straight in the darkness. After a few seconds of panic and disorientation, he realized where he was and what had happened. "It was just a dream," he whispered. "The same goddamn fucking dream."
The bed was too soft. The air was too cool and dry. The worst part was when, half asleep, he dropped his hand to the floor under the bed and the reassuring feel of the M-16 was gone.
It was two full weeks since Dan had come home to Cheyenne following his discharge, but he was still having trouble going to sleep. When sleep finally came, the dream, which he should have left on the other side of the world with his weapon and Harris, was waiting to ambush him. Tonight was even more difficult than usual. His parents had taken off for Hawaii that afternoon and he was alone in the house for the first time.
No sense in trying to go back to sleep. Dan threw the covers off and climbed out of bed. His jockey shorts suddenly felt tight and confining, so he pulled them off. He stared down at his hardening member. Unbidden and unwanted, memories of Harris suddenly inhabited the bedroom.
"Happy Birthday," Dan thought. He'd actually turned twenty-one on patrol, three months earlier. A few days before that, Charlie had celebrated the beginning of 1969 with a mortar attack on the base. Dan had spent New Year's Eve in a foxhole, resisting the impulse to shoot everything that moved in front of him and hoping that the perimeter hadn't been penetrated.
The air now seemed oppressively hot. Dan went into the bathroom and opened the window. He stood in the breeze, looking out at the sea of lights. His parents' house was on a hill and a good deal of the city was spread out below him.
There was one light that didn't come from the city, Dan realized. A dim glow was coming from his parents' fifth-wheel trailer at the far end of the back yard. "Dad must have left the light on when he was getting stuff out of the trailer," Dan thought. Suddenly the light went out.
Dan pulled on his shorts and got a flashlight. The only weapon he could find in the house was a crowbar, so he took that. He slipped out the back door and glided across the yard to the trailer. There we no more lights showing, but he could hear faint sounds from inside when he pressed his ear against the trailer's side.
He opened the door soundlessly and stepped inside, keeping low. There was enough moonlight streaming through the windows and skylight to show that the main room, a combined kitchen, dining room and parlor, was empty. The door leading to the bathroom and bedroom was closed. On the other side, someone was gasping and moaning in a high-pitched voice. Dan noticed that the trailer was rocking gently on its supporting struts.
The crowbar was in Dan's right hand. His left hand was holding the flashlight but he could still work the knob with it. He opened the door quickly and quietly. The sounds were much louder now.
Although the drapes in this area were closed, the skylight over the bed provided faint illumination.
The bathroom was about five feet square with a small sink and medicine cabinet on one side and a tiny shower on the other. The toilet was by the door, facing the three steps leading up to the sleeping area in the overhang above the pickup bed. The curtains dividing the bedroom and bath were pulled back and Dan could see two figures struggling at the far end of the room.
When Dan switched the flashlight on, the first thing he saw was a boy's pumping buttocks. He was standing on the second step and bending over the bed. Dan's dick started hardening at the sight of the boy's flexing ass muscles and swinging balls.
A figure with long blond hair was spread-eagled on the bed, legs braced against the closets that flanked the stairs. Dan relaxed. This was no potentially armed burglar, just some teenager giving his girlfriend the business. He must be doing a really good job. She was still screaming rhythmically in a surprisingly deep voice and the couple was so intent on their screwing they hadn't noticed Dan or the flashlight beam.
Still, they had no business in his parents' trailer. Dan snapped on the overhead light and shouted, "What the hell is going on here?" The boy was so startled, he tried to straighten up. There was a solid whack as his head hit the low ceiling and he collapsed on top of his companion.
"Can't you find a better place to screw your girl than my folks' trailer?" Dan asked as he pulled the boy to his feet. The kid was short and stocky, well muscled, with black hair cut extremely short. He looked like a junior Marine. Although his eyes weren't quite focusing, his long thick dick was still standing out from his body.
Dan got a shock when he looked at the figure on the bed. The shoulder-length blond hair and delicate facial features were feminine enough, but he now saw a flat chest, a big stiff cock and a bulging pair of balls.
It was hard to keep his voice stern while his penis was becoming painfully hard, but Dan managed. "Well, well. I've caught a pair of teenage faggots. You guys, or maybe I should say girls, are really in trouble now!"
"You're really dumb, you know that?" Dan continued. "While you're butt fucking in someone else's trailer, you play stupid games with the lights." He looked around the room and spotted a hand-rolled cigarette laying on the counter. "Ah, ha!" he cried, seizing the joint. "Sex and drugs and rock and roll. You fairies are in trouble, big time."
The blonde on the bed spoke up. "Please let us go. I promise we'll never come back. We just used this trailer to fool around because our parents grounded us for staying out late and took the car keys. You can keep the joint."
Dan looked at him steadily. "What's it worth to you?"
