Jonathan Maberry - SNAFU - An Anthology of Military Horror

OSS : He was graceful?

MARINE : That’s a funny word for it, especially in the middle of a fight. But yeah, that’s it. He, the Jap, moved gracefully, like he wasn’t barely trying, but somehow he wasn’t where he’d been, and the fire just made this char mark on the ground. And I felt it. It was a wave of heat, even from back where I was hidi — watching. It was this wave of heat, like if you open an oven, a big one. My uncle worked in a bakery, and it was like that. But the bakery always makes you hungry, even if you just ate, and this? The heat, the fire, it smelled like hell. Like something died and was rotting. It made my eyes water just smelling it, but the Jap, he was closer than me, and he didn’t care, or didn’t notice. He just moved again, and it burned like a flamethrower, and missed him. The Jap just wasn’t there again. He was moving like he was out for a Sunday stroll, but he just wasn’t where the fire went. Yeah, maybe it was like dancing a little.

OSS : [NAME REDACTED]? Are you all right?

MARINE : Yeah, yeah, sorry. I was just seeing it again, in my head. It was kind of like a dance, I guess. And the fire was burning that weird green, and it was giving everything this hellish glow, if Hell is green. I guess it could be. I never thought about that, what color Hell was. I’m sorry, I know, I’m off wool-gatherin’, that’s what my Pa always called it. My head hasn’t been quite right since that day. I guess that’s why I got the vacation here with all you guys, huh? All I ever wanted was to fight for my country and I’m Section Eight like someone from the loony bin.

OSS : You’re going to be OK. The doctors are helping you, aren’t they?

MARINE : Yeah, some. I can even sleep sometimes now. And I know you don’t care about any of that. The story, you just want to hear what happened. It’s all anyone wants to talk about. Only, the docs, see, they want me to say it wasn’t real so I can get better, “Make progress,” they all say. But you, you know its’ real, don’t you? You’ve seen things. Hell, I might not even be telling you the craziest thing you heard, right?

OSS : We’re here to talk about you, not me.

MARINE : Yeah, you guys never want to talk about you. Ok, so the demon thing… Hey, you know what the sword was called, do those things have a name? The demon thing with the blue skin?

OSS : They are called Oni.

MARINE : Oni. I don’t know what that means, but it’s nice to have something to call it. Are they all blue? Yeah, yeah, I see you lookin’ at your watch, you don’t want to answer my questions, just have me tell this damn story. Again. Where was I? Oh yeah, it’s spittin’ fire, like those English planes? They call those Spitfires, but this was the real thing. It belches fire at him again, and the Jap, he catches it on his sword. I don’t know how, the blast, the flame, whatever, it should have been bigger than the blade was, but it worked. The green fire from the Oni *audible chuckle* and the blue fire on the blade, they met, and the sword held up, somehow. The Jap, he’s saying something, maybe a prayer? I’d have been praying if that thing was trying to cook me, I’ll tell you that for nothing.

The Jap, he’s doing this dancing, moving, whatever, and just barely not getting singed, and the Oni, it’s getting powerful mad, you can tell. And the Jap, he gets too close, and it lunges at him, swiping with that big club, but the Jap knew what he was doing. He just folded himself up, like a damn circus acrobat, and the club missed him, but he cut the thing on its arm. It howled, and that sound was the worst one yet. My hair was standing up, my knees were knockin’, the whole bit, like when Lou Costello sees a monster in the movies? We don’t get many movies in here.

Yeah, the monster. I know. Oni. That. The Jap has the sword there, and it’s pushing the flame away. I guess the prayer worked, maybe? The fire goes out, and it roars, and swings that club at him, and he just dances off to the side. Gracefully, like. And the club hits the ground and it was like a bomb going off, and brother, believe me when I tell you I know what that sounds like now. I’m thinking, how are the boys not hearing this? The roars and the fire and the club hitting like a bomb, how is no one hearing this and yelling, or comin’ running, or something?

They go at it that way a while. The Oni is snarling, and the Jap never says a word after that prayer or whatever it was. The Oni, it’s stronger than he is, stronger than any man. But the Jap, he just keeps moving. Now, you gotta remember, those islands, in the summer? It’s hotter than Hell there. Well, maybe not. Maybe that’s why the Oni didn’t care, if it’s a demon, Hell is home, so it’s used to being hot, right? But the Jap, Hell, I was damn near melting just standing there watching, and he was jumping all over like a frog or something, and I’m not even sure he was sweating. I sure was. It was beautiful and terrible and, I don’t know, fierce, all at once. And the Jap, he’s gettin’ close more than it thinks, and he’s cut it, a dozen times now. The Oni, it’s bleeding and it’s a real dark green, it’s not right for blood, or anything else. It shouldn’t be green. It’s just wrong, that green.

OSS : Are you OKAY? Do you need a cigarette?

MARINE : *sound of chair scraping on floor* NO ! No, thanks. No cigarette. I don’t like fire much anymore. I just can’t stand it. I don’t want it near me, see?

OSS : OKAY, no cigarette, and I won’t smoke either, OKAY? See, I’m putting it away.

MARINE : Yeah, thanks, buddy. I just… No fire, OKAY? So, the Jap cuts this thing over and over, and it’s roaring and bleeding this green that isn’t right green blood, and that’s when [NAME REDACTED] shows up. I guess he’d finished doing his scout, and he was looking for me or something. This kid, he’s green, like we just got him before we shipped out for this cruise. And he sees this blue Oni, demon, and the Jap, and he screams, but it’s not a scared scream. It’s like a challenge. And he yanks his rifle off his shoulder and he shoots the Oni. The Oni and the Jap, they both just stopped when he showed up, like two teenagers caught necking. But [NAME REDACTED] just shoots once, twice, three times, and he’s hitting it, I can tell. I can see it grunting a little, but the bullets, they’re not going in. They’re not getting through its skin. It’s like those guys shooting Superman in the funny books. But this ain’t so funny.

The kid, he’s game, and he blasts it again, and it does that thing with his head, and I want to warn him, but my mouth is so dry, and I can’t get a sound out. Not a word. And [NAME REDACTED], he dies because I can’t even talk. The thing spits at him, like, but it’s that green fire again, and the kid goes up like a torch. He’s burning and screaming, and thrashing around, and the green flame is covering him, and the screams are getting weaker…

OSS : Do you need some water?

MARINE : What I need, they don’t let me have in here, brother. But yeah, water will do. *sounds of movement, liquid, gulping* Thanks. You’re OKAY, even if you just want to hear this damn story, like everyone else.

OSS : Have you told many people?

MARINE : *choking laughter* Enough to land here. But who am I going to tell who doesn’t think I’m totally crazy? *sound of drinking* Yeah. The kid, he dies. All burned up. The Jap, he knows what to do, like he was waiting for it. The Oni is burning the kid like kindling, and the Jap jumps at the thing, and it’s a high jump, and he swings that damn katana? Is that what you called it? Yeah, OKAY, katana, and it takes the damn thing’s head clean off. The head flies through the air like a basketball, and the fire on the sword, it burns brighter, like it’s celebrating. Maybe it was. The Jap, he yells something, like a war cry, sounding all triumphant, you know?