Les ordres de marche étaient un peu bizarres, pensait Eli, mais c'était un sérieux SNAFU de toute façon. La sélection a donné une dispersion relativement décente du feu, un équilibre de l'assaut et du surveillance, et a gardé leur bout de cul couvert. Un bon traqueur, bien que pouvait comprendre combien de survivants, et avec une unité décalée, ils ont doublé les chances d'attraper une mine ou un tréfil, mais cette profondeur, il n'était pas susceptible de déclencher un. Charlie n'a pas bousillé son propre jardin où un de leurs enfants pourrait attraper un piège à étain à la place.
Normalement, Dodgers avait sa propre équipe de pompiers à diriger, mais on aurait dit qu'ils n'étaient pas sortis de l'accident. Il a déjà raté la fiabilité de ces gars. Ils étaient beaucoup plus vulnérables, mais au moins cette situation n'était plus leur problème. Hefting Becca, son M16, il se positionna pour prendre un secteur de feu différent du reste pendant qu'ils obtenaient leurs ordres, mais maintenant, il montait à l'arrière pendant qu'ils se formaient pour partir à l'est. Non seulement il aurait dû regarder où il marchait, mais là où tout le monde le faisait aussi, et garder un œil derrière.
Une fois qu'ils ont quitté la clairière, il a maintenu un rythme régulier gagné par des années de marche dans le terrain rocheux autour de Borger, avec l'argile rouge et les collines de terre rouge, les barres de sable autour de la rivière canadienne avec la tache occasionnelle de sable rapide et plus fréquente de sable lent (oui c'est une chose), et puis quelques années dans la jungle ici, il a trouvé le voyage plus facile pour lui que beaucoup de nouveaux gars. Il pouvait se déplacer sans déranger autant la végétation, ses yeux avaient appris à trier la jonque visuelle de toutes les vignes, buissons, rameaux, branches et arbres. L'humidité a sucé, il vous a fait chaud, vous a fait transpirer, mais vous n'avez jamais pu vous sécher, et donc vous n'avez jamais réalisé combien d'eau vous avez vraiment perdu. Avec la région d'où il venait, c'était une région semi-aride. La survie du désert et la conservation de l'eau qu'il connaissait aussi.
Avec l'écrasement d'adrénaline qui s'est produit après un incendie, une urgence soudaine... ce genre de choses, il savait que les gens allaient bientôt s'ennuyer. Le stress, en particulier le stress de combat, était la meilleure chose pour causer la fatigue mentale et même physique, et avec les gars qui commencent à descendre, cela pourrait conduire à de mauvaises erreurs. Ils allaient aller dans un buisson méchant aussi. En plus de VC il y avait des serpents, des tigres, des sangliers (il pensait), et quelques autres choses qui pouvaient rendre la vie... intéressante. Sans parler des pièges et des mines et de tout ce qu'ils pourraient rencontrer. C'était une des raisons pour lesquelles Eli a essayé de rester détaché émotionnellement... en utilisant sa tête pour quelque chose d'autre qu'un porte chapeau.
Qui savait combien de kilomètres ils allaient devoir faire avant qu'ils puissent être extraits? Il savait que les onces allaient se transformer en livres, dans leur équipement, avant la fin de la journée. Des livres se transformeraient en tonnes. "Bienvenue à la suceuse," il murmura pour emprunter à un couple de copains de Marine. Une partie de lui espérait qu'ils n'auraient pas à remonter tout le chemin. Peut-être qu'un bateau de patrouille fluviale ou une huey pourraient les récupérer.
Elijah s'est arrêté de temps en temps pour écouter la jungle autour d'eux, ainsi que pour des signes de poursuite, à la recherche de mouvement derrière eux aussi. Ses pas ont été conçus pour tomber dans les pas des autres pour aider au moins partiellement à cacher leur nombre, et il a continué à prêter attention aux signes de pièges et de mines, même si d'autres avaient voyagé devant lui, dans le même espace. Mais surtout, il a prêté attention à ses instincts intestinaux, aux poils sur le dos de son cou, au genre de chose qui s'est développée avec un long temps dans la brousse, et dans le pays.
Name: Elijah Dodgers
Nicknames: Dodge
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Rank: Cpl
Ethnicity/Nationality: Caucasian/American
Physical Description:
Standing 5'9" with brown hair and green eyes, Eli is of average but sturdy build. With outdoor life in the semi-arid desert of the Texas Panhandle being the norm until the Nam, he is well tanned, and in good shape. Basic has hardened his frame.



Skillset:

Eli has a couple tours under his belt at least, giving him some familiarity with the VC, the jungle, and operation of his weapon systems. He as proven to be capable under fire, and has demonstrated leadership capabilities among his peers. As such he has recently been minted as a Corporal and given charge of a few others.
With a youth spent outdoors, a gun in hand, hunting, exploring, and being in dangerous country sometimes, has attributed to his survival in the jungles of Viet Nam.
M16 Expert
M203 Qualified
Land Navigation Qualified
Army hand to hand
History:

Elijah was born in Borger Texas in 1945. His father was Dale Dodgers, a WWII vet. His mother was Helen who was the daughter of a displaced farmer from the dust bowl. Dale spent most of his time working the oilfield and carbon black after returning home from military to provide for his wife and son. Eli attended public schooling in Borger. He gained a few friends, and even had a girlfriend, Regina Warren. For a time, Regina was all he was about, and intended to marry the girl until the Draft came along.
His dad taught him to shoot and Elijah took to hunting and fishing with his grandfather and father (When he had the time). During his school years, he was a typical kid of the day, when he wasn't parked next to the radio or TV, he would sometimes venture down to Electric City, the small township that had sprung up around the steam-based powerplant that had been erected to power the Phillips-Chevron Refinery as well as the oilfield drilling locations in the area when his dad was a boy. By the time he was old enough to go to Electric City, it had been all but abandoned. Exploring old houses and structures was a fun activity, and occasionally he found something nifty while he was there. More than once he'd found a rattlesnake there, but he'd learned how to handle them, and was always careful about such things.
Something of a loner because of this, as mentioned before he had only a few friends, maybe enough to count on one hand. But those that he had were good ones. Occasionally he would spend time with his cousins, of whom he had several, which between his friends and family allowed him to be decently well-rounded and instilled the value of family. He still maintains a sense of independence and self-reliance.
It was during the last year or so of high school he took an interest in Regina Warren, a dark-haired girl with blue eyes who'd grown up in the same town. At first she turned him down, but with charm and persistence she finally decided he was serious, or at least seriously interested in her. The two started seeing each other outside of school, a little at first, but then more so, even going out on dates.
By this time, Eli's mother had become a working woman at the local J.C. Penny's. Better that than the alternative, as inflation soared. Being well old enough to take care of himself, Eli was left to his own devices much of the time, especially with his father becoming increasingly absent from his life, spending more time at the local watering holes after work, and often stumbling home drunk. This meant it was much harder for his parental unit to wrangle in his 'extracurricular' activities. This gave him something of a badboy vibe, which Gina was drown to, and Eli probably didn't do much to dispel it.
Just before graduation, his father wound up running his car off the bridge of the Canadian River on Highway 136, after traveling down it the opposite way in a drunken stupor. The car dropped a couple stories below and crashed into the river. Unable to free himself, his father drowned, leaving his mother a widow. A month later the Draft came through, and pulled him away from his mom and Gina.
At first Eli resented the military and the draft pulling him away from his little life in Borger, sometimes it was the thought of home that kept him going, as well as the letters back and forth. Basic training kept him pretty busy, and was a distraction needed. After that he attended training at Fort Benning for training regarding the new 11th Air Assault Division. Serving with the 11th, he gained several tours, but wasn't entirely happy about the 11th being rolled over into 1st Cavalry Divsion (Air Mobile) but since then not a whole lot has changed
Equipment: 
M79 grenade launcher - "Thumper" - 5 grenades, 3 smoke
M16A1 (w/ brass deflecter, newer model), "Rebecca" - 3 extra magazines (1 mag empty)
Colt 1911, 4 extra mags (one loaded in weapon)
M1942 machete, scout carry (small of back)
Gerber Mk II fighting knife
Jungle fatigues, boots, boonie hat, OD Bandana,
Canteen, e-tool, poncho, 50' 550 paracord, FAK, other soldier sunderies
pictures of mom and Regina
couple cans of "dip", pack of cigs, zippo lighter, pack of playing cards