chunk: Jacob is approached by a distressed Michael Newman, the man who treated his wound in a medevac helicopter in Vietnam and who dragged him away from Paul’s burning car. Newman tells a story of having been a chemist with the Army’s chemical warfare division in Saigon. He designed “the Ladder”, a drug that massively increased aggression, taking people straight to their most primal urges. A dose was secretly given to Jacob’s unit, who then turned on each other in a homicidal frenzy.
  At various times Jacob experiences the aftermath of his attack, such as being found gutted in the jungle and being evacuated under fire. At one point he awakens in his home before the war with his wife and all three sons, telling his wife he had a dream he was living with another woman, Jezzie. Eventually he re-experiences the traumatic moment, where it is a fellow American soldier who bayonets him.