"Here. Take my hand." The Sarge smiled at him thankfully and took the hand Jake offered him to make the huge step over the rocks. Jake pulled his comrade over; it was surprisingly easy. The man seemed to weigh almost nothing. The only problem the young soldier had to face was getting a good grip on Sarge’s hand because the sleeves of the man's uniform seemed to hang loosely and several inches over his hands.

What could possibly cause changes like these? This Agent Orange shit? Well, there were rumours he’d heard from other soldiers that this stuff was no good... of soldiers puking their own heart out after being exposed to it. It was a chemical originally designed to defoliate the jungle, letting the troops get a better sight of the enemy. - Maybe with some side effects...

Jake found himself agreeing with the rumours. This stuff was no good at all. But could it do something like this? He looked at the Sarge’s thin, slender hand, which he still held in his own. The man, over just two days, had lost literally all of his facial and body hair, and his skin had taken on a significant yellowish tone which definitely wasn't healthy for a Caucasian man.

"Maybe it's jaundice or something." Jake thought while they continued to climb the rocks of the small hill. It was hard work, sure, but it was still better than continuing to cut their way through that goddamned bug-infested thicket of a jungle as they had been doing for the last few days.

But what friggin' disease on god's darn earth changes the hair colour of someone? He was absolutely sure that the Sarge had always had brown hair. Now, as he looked at the back of his head it was undeniably a deep black. No, it definitely must be some reaction to the chemical they got exposed to.

"Eek!" the sergeant’s scream ripped him out of his thoughts.

Thanks to Jake's quick reaction he managed to grab Alex’s arm before he could fall to the ground.

"Tripped again?" Rabbit sighed. This man had to be the one Green Beret with the worst sense of coordination in the whole Airborne. O.k., O.k. maybe speaking a bit too quickly: The dude was really short. But he was also awfully clumsy when it came to climbing.

Jake decided to let the Sarge go in front so he could catch him in case he stumbled again. It turned out to be a good decision. How this fellow had ever gotten through basic training was beyond him. Hell, If you looked at the man from behind one could even think this was a...

"Ah, no... - Don't get irrational. Pull yourself together, man." Jake shook his head. All these months in the jungle obviously didn't have done him any good. Was he perhaps starting to 'see things'?

"Need a hand?" the young soldier asked when he realized that the Sarge seemed to be reluctant to climb up the next step. Without further thinking Alex grabbed the NCO at his waist and lifted him up the rock.

So it wasn't just his imagination. - The man was light as a feather.

It had been a hard day. But Jake was pretty relieved that they had reached their goal and managed to get over that hill before the dawn came. They had had some of the food they obtained from the fallen enemies and then had tried to get some rest, safely hidden under the leaves of a huge old tree. Onlya few minutes later the two exhausted soldiers had fallen asleep.

It felt like heaven. When he woke up the warm morning sun of good ol' New Jersey shone through the glass of the balcony's door and he was just enjoying the moment. His girlfriend Stacy slept at his side cuddling her body against his. She moved her head a little on his hairy chest, smiling in her sleep. He just loved to feel her slender body, her soft breasts pressed against his chest. And the smell of her hair. He wouldn't trade it for gold. He kissed his girl on the head, carefully not to wake her up. She looked just like an angel.

All of the sudden the Sarge appeared up from under the end of the bed, releasing the safety catch of the machine gun he held.

"INCOMING!" he yelled, firing of his weapon into the ceiling, and all of a sudden the room's walls exploded in huge detonations of fire, sending pieces of the furniture and TV-set flying all over the place.

"WHAAAAH!"

Jake started up like a rocket when he awoke. Something had been lying on his chest and just got thrown of due to his abrupt movement upwards. He realised it was someone’s head. When, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the face of the person all thealarm-bells in his mind started ringing. Adrenaline began pumping through his veins when he rolled over through the leaves and dirt and in a matter of just seconds grabbed his rifle and got up on one knee, quickly taking an aim on his target.

The person in front of him also got up on its knees, seeming irritated.

"BAN DET TU VIET CONG?!!!!"