@@@@@He could see his face clearly, far more
@@@@@He could see his face clearly, far more vividly now in the cruel dazzle of the morning sun than he had the night before, and in his memory he traced over every motion the Jap had madeOnce again Martinez could feel the blood trickling over his fingers, leaving them stickyHe examined his hand, and with a pang of horror discovered a dried black thread of blood in the webbing between two of his fingersHe grunted with disgust and the excessive fear one feels in crushing an insectAnd immediately afterward he could see the Jap picking his nose
For what? They were on the mountain now, and if he didn'tNo kill Jap, go back to beach, he told himselfBut that made no sense either, and his anxiety prickled along his backHe gave up the effort to think and trudged along in the middle of the platoon, finding no release in the exertion of the ascentThe more tired he felt the tauter his nerves becameHis limbs had the heavy painful sensitivity of a man in fever
In the break he flopped down beside Polack and GallagherThere was something he wanted to talk to them about, but he was not quite sure what it could be
Polack was grinning at him"Whadeya say, scout?"
"Oh, nothing," he said in a low voiceHe never knew what to answer to "Whadeya say?" and it always made him uneasy
"They ought to give ya the day off," Polack said He had been a poor scout the night before, he had done everything wrongIf he hadn't killed the Jap -- that was the keystone of all his mistakesHe could not have named them, but he was convinced that he had made many mistakes
"Nothin' happened, huh?" Gallagher asked
Martinez shrugged, saw Polack looking at the dried blood on his handIt would look like dirt, but he found himself saying, "Japs in the pass, I kill one
"Huh?" Polack said, "what's the score? That looey told us the pass was empty
Martinez shrugged ag