"I think I'm asleep and you're my nightmare for tonight. I'm going to catch some shut-eye-even though we both know I'm already asleep. I just hope you and that crazy old gook are gone when I wake up."
Chapter 20
The first sound wasn't long in coming. A thatched hut crashed. Remo was unable to see what was happening, but the noise was unmistakable. Bamboo splintered. Dry roof grass crackled as if on fire.
There was yelling, panic, and Vietnamese voices raised in shrill confusion. And in the midst of it all, a bellowing animal sound.
Dick Youngblood jumped to Remo's side. "What's happening. What's going on?"
"I don't know," Remo said. He moved from vent hole to vent hole, trying to see.
Knifelike fingernails suddenly appeared in a cluster of bullet holes near Remo's face. He recoiled.
"Uncle Ho again!" he cried.
The fingernails slashed down. The sound of steel being sheared hurt their eardrums. Youngblood scurried to the furthest corner of the conex.
"I don't believe what I'm seeing," he said.
One section of the conex wall hung in strips. The strips were swiftly peeled back, opening up a man-size hole.
A wrinkled parchment face poked into the conex interior.
"What are you waiting for?" Chiun inquired. "Come." Remo didn't hesitate.
"You coming?" he asked Youngblood.
"I know I'm dreaming."
"You can wake up later."
"Or you can die now," Chiun said sharply. "Come."
Youngblood crawled out of the conex, saying, "I read somewhere back in the world that if you die in a dream you're dead when you wake up, so I figure I got nothing to lose."
"This way," said Remo.
The camp was in a panic. Surprisingly, there was no shooting.
"What did you do, Ho?" Remo asked.
"The name is Chiun. I am Master of Sinanju."
"And I'm the King of Siam," Youngblood said.
"You are going to make what I must do easier," Chiun warned.
He led them into the bush. Remo threw himself to the ground. He scrambled back to see through the reeds.
"What's that you said, gook?" Youngblood asked.
"Nothing," Chiun told him. He turned to Remo. "What are you waiting for? We must be gone from this place."
"Lan's still in there."
"My men too," Youngblood added. "I ain't leavin' 'em, either. "
"Agreed," said Remo.
"Not agreed," said Chiun. "I rescued you. Therefore you must do as I say."
"I don't remember agreeing to that. You, Dick?"
"Nah, the old gook is crazy anyway. See that barracks hut? Think we can get to it?"
"Maybe. All the commotion seems to be on the other side. Sounds like a tank run amok."
"Tanks don't sound like that thing. You're hearing an animal. "
"It is," Chiun said. "What is?" Remo asked. Suddenly a spotlight was turned on. It showed a rearing gray monster. A Vietnamese soldier was scooped up by a snake of flesh and smashed against a wall. A hulking mass descended on a thatched hut. It fell like a house of cards.
"Holy shit!" Youngblood breathed. "That's a fucking elephant. "
"Not an elephant," Chiun said with satisfaction. "It is the elephant."
"What elephant is that?" Youngblood asked, wide-eyed.
"The elephant of surprise you Americans always speak of. "
"What'd I tell you?" Remo said.
"I don't want to hear it. Listen, we gotta get us some weapons. What do you say?"
"I'm game."
"Yes," Chiun said sternly. "You are both dead ducks if you blunder ahead. Wait here, I will find your friends."
"Who put you in charge?" Remo asked, turning around.
There was no reply. Remo nudged Youngblood with an elbow.
"What?"
"Look behind you," Remo suggested.
Youngblood looked. There was no sign of the old Oriental. He groaned.