¦'Moved to where is the problem," Sergeant Halverson said. They hurried back topside, and found half of Bravo Squad clustered around Ed DeWitt and one of the translators.
DeWitt looked up. "Cap. we found a live one. He picked up a couple of rounds but he talks real well. This South Korean interpreter isn't the gentlest guy I've ever met. So far the prisoner has earned one broken arm and lost two teeth. Now he's starting to talk."
"Ask him where they put the civilians," Sergeant Halverson said. The South Korean ROK looked up and nodded. He chattered at the prisoner a moment, got no response, and backhanded the wounded man across the face. The prisoner tumbled to one side, but the other translator lifted him back to a sitting position and the question was asked again.
The prisoner said something.
The ROK shot the prisoner in the thigh with his .45 caliber pistol. The North Korean screamed and spat at the gunman. A moment later the muzzle of the .45 was rammed into the prisoner's mouth and his eyes went wide. The interpreter cocked the hammer and the prisoner nodded.
With the black muzzle of the pistol out of his mouth, the North Korean spoke fast and at length. When the North Korean finished talking, the interpreter looked at Murdock.
"Sir, this unworthy one has guaranteed me that the twelve civilians held in this bunker for several hours have been moved by truck to a building on the other end of the camp. It is guarded by an infantry squad and two lieutenants. The officers don't know what to do with the civilians. One officer wanted to shoot them so they didn't have to bother with them. He was overruled by a major who is now five miles into South Korea."
"Have him show us the building now," Murdock barked.
The North Korean prisoner, with a gunshot wound in his leg, his shoulder, and his arm, ran with the two South Koreans at his side. They kept telling him that if he fell down or stopped, they would blow his head off.
The platoon found no resistance as it moved a quarter of a mile west. They slowed when the prisoner told his captors that the next building was the one with the civilians in it.
Murdock figured the building was a mess hall and kitchen. "Silencers on all weapons," Murdock said into his Motorola. Those who hadn't used them now screwed on the sound suppressors.
They worked up toward the target slowly. Murdock took Alpha Squad around the side of the shielding building, and went to ground behind some sparse grass and weeds.
"Sentries," Lampedusa said into his mike.
"How many?" Murdock asked. "Two on this side. Fixed posts. No rovers."
"Bradford, take them out," Murdock said.
The first North Korean soldier had just turned to stare at the building near where the SEALs lay when the 7.62 NATO slug took him in the chest just under his heart, splashed two vital arteries, and put him down and dead in a minute without uttering a sound.
The second sentry must have seen the first go down. He blew a whistle and ran toward cover. He was too late. Bradford's second round hit him directly in the heart and slammed him back against the building. In response to the whistle, three more guards rushed around the corner of the building.
"Take your pick," Murdock said, and fired a three-round burst at the men. They were less than fifty yards away and well within the range of the suppressed subgun.
All three guards went down from more than thirty rounds that hit them. One tried to get up, but three more slugs dropped him into the dirt and he didn't move.
"Let's take the back wall," Murdock said. Alpha Squad lunged to its feet and charged the building silently.
Ed DeWitt had his Bravo Squad on the other side of the building to offer covering fire. It wasn't needed. Murdock and his squad pressed against the wooden building, and the men caught their breath. Lam scurried to the far corner and looked around. He waved Murdock up.
"No windows or doors back here, Cap. But there's a door in front. Has a machine gun set up out there with sandbags."
Murdock took a quick look. "Not over twenty yards. You have fraggers?"
Lam grinned, and pulled an M-79 fragmentation grenade from his combat vest. They were on the right-hand side of the building, making a throw by a right-hander easier.
Murdock waved Lam forward. He pulled the safety pin on the grenade, leaned around the corner, and heaved the missile at the target. As soon as he let go of the fragger, he dropped to the ground and Murdock lifted over him and threw his grenade. The first fragger went off with a roar, and three seconds later the second one shook the sky with sound and shrapnel.
"Both sides of the building, let's get around to the front now," Murdock said into his mike. SEALs raced around both corners and met at the front door. Both North Koreans who had been on the machine gun lay tattered in bloody rags at one side. The gun had been slammed to the back and lay upside down.
Murdock tried the front door. It was not locked. He edged it open three inches and looked inside. No weapons challenged him. From the slice of the room he could see through the opening,
Murdock confirmed it was a mess hall.
Lam lay on the floor looking through the same slot. "Cap, I got some bodies back by the serving line. Looks like some cots or something back there."
"Any guards?"
"Don't see a shit-assed one, Cap."
"Still should be some inside. They know we're here and are waiting for us."
"Flashbang?" Lam asked.
"Too many good guys inside."
Murdock made up his mind quickly. "I'm going in at an angle and get behind that tipped-over table on the right. You and Doc Ellsworth give me cover, spraying rounds into the ceiling or the walls up front. Just enough to keep the NKs heads down. I'll be able to eyeball the place better inside. Then I'll cover as you and Doc slam inside to the left." Murdock looked at Lam and Doc. "Ready?"
They nodded. Murdock kicked the door open, took two steps, and dove in a double roll toward a turned-over table ten feet from the front door. As soon as he went through the opening, Lam sprayed three-round bursts of .223 zingers into the ceiling. Doc hit the front wall with four rounds.
Two weapons returned fire from inside. Murdock heard one of them fire from high up. He rolled twice, made it to the table unscathed, and began looking for the high shooter. He found him on a small balcony near the front on the far side. Murdock kicked the lever to fully automatic and sprayed the balcony with ten rounds, then ten more. A moment later he saw a weapon fall over the rail, then a body pivot forward and hang head-down over the balcony, blood running down and dripping off his head.
In the sudden quiet Murdock heard someone wailing near the front.
"Americans, are you up in front?" Murdock bellowed.
"Yes, yes, all twelve of us. Careful where you shoot."
"Where's the other gunman in here?"
"Don't know, we're all blindfolded and tied."
Murdock scanned the areas he could see. No other balconies or high spots. Had to be someone on the ground floor. He looked at the front again. It had a serving line that separated the mess hall from the kitchen, a typical army setup. Could the other gunman be in the kitchen? Maybe. But now it was going to take a scalpel, not a broadax, to get the Vice President out of this trap and not have any of his party killed.
Murdock motioned to Lam, who jolted through the door and dove for the left side of the big room. Murdock slammed six rounds into the left wall, then six more into the far front wall. There was no answering fire.
Murdock nodded. So it was going to be a cat-and-mouse game. He could do that. He lifted up and stared at the whole area again, trying to figure out where he would hide out in here against a superior force.
Murdock could almost feel the North Korean watching him. He jolted down after the quick scan. There was no gunfire aimed at him. That could mean the other side had a good position and didn't want to give it away as they waited for a telling shot.