Off Limits by Lindsay McKenna

of the jungle. I knew they weren’t friendly forces when they dragged him out into the center of the small village. The leader of these strangers, we found out later, was Binh Duc, the regional VC chief. He started shrieking to his men to gather the villagers. About fifty people were rounded up, and Duc took his AK-47 and started beating the old men, trying to get them to tell him about Stein, who was unconscious.
    â€œI saw Duc pick up Kim, and that’s when I lost it. I leaped out of the jungle and ran into the village. I yelled at the son of a bitch to let go of the little girl. The VC ducked behind the villagers, using them as shields. I couldn’t risk a firefight until Lieutenant Breckenridge got into position on the other side of the village. Duc knew I wouldn’t fire into a mass of people. When Duc turned, he smiled at me and put Kim down. Kim didn’t know what was going on. She didn’t realize Duc would kill her if the chief didn’t tell the truth about us.”
    Jim shut his eyes, and his voice grew hoarse. “I saw the bastard take a black grenade from his belt. He knelt down, all the while keeping his eyes on me. I had my rifle raised, ready to kill any man who laid a hand on Kim. Duc knew that—” Jim’s voice cracked.
    Opening his eyes, his voice thick with emotion, he whispered, “Duc put the grenade in Kim’s hands and crouched down next to her. I heard him tell her to take the grenade to me. She didn’t know what it was. She had no idea it could kill both of us. I watched in horror as Duc pulled the pin, giving us only ten seconds before it would explode. On his command, Kim came running toward me, her hand outstretched with the grenade in it. She was smiling, thinking it was some kind of game....
    â€œI—I screamed at her to throw it away, but she laughed and kept running toward me.” He buried his face in Alex’s hair. His arms tightened around her. “I—I didn’t have a choice. I—oh, Lordy, if I had to do it all over again... I couldn’t run, because Duc and his men had their rifles trained on me. They were all grinning. They knew they were using an innocent little girl to kill me...and they didn’t care if she was killed, too.
    â€œI remember standing there frozen, this horror washing through me. I saw the chief’s face, I saw his disbelief at his granddaughter carrying that live grenade. No one could yell at Kim to throw it away, because Duc’s men would have shot them on the spot. Duc wanted me. Duc used Kim....”
    Alex raised her head, her eyes awash with tears. She felt Jim trembling and gripped his shirtfront. His face looked tortured, his eyes alive with grief, anger and desperation. Tears were running down his taut face. “My God,” she breathed, “did you have to—Did you—”
    â€œI shot her.”
    Silence fell in the tunnel. Alex sat up, her mouth dropping open. His words fell flat against her ears, and she stared at Jim in horror. He glanced down at her, then looked away as he wiped the tears savagely from his face.
    â€œI killed Kim so that I could live,” he rasped harshly. “My miserable life for hers. She was innocent.” Then he covered his face with his hands and sobbed outright. “She was just a little tyke!” he cried, his voice strangled. “And I loved her! I really loved her. Yet I murdered her!”
    With a cry, Alex lifted her good arm and slid it around Jim’s hunched, shaking shoulders. He sat curled up, hurting. The sound of his sobs tore at her. She’d never heard a man cry, and this was worse than she ever could have imagined. She eased Jim against her small frame, his head buried next to hers. Tears blurred Alex’s vision and her heart mushroomed with simultaneous grief and anger.
    Finally Jim stopped sobbing and lay crouched next to her. Alex had lost track of time as she cried with him, cried for the