Slinging his M4, Leary moved over to the man who’d stepped in the trap. The square jaws of the trap weren’t closed because the man’s boots had stopped them, but Leary saw the long screws that were stuck in the man’s leg.
‘Snap’ sounded to his right and Leary looked up as the man who’d gone to look for something to pry the trap open dropped into the ferns screaming. As Leary stood up, ‘Snap’ sounded behind him and he spun around to see one of the group behind him had moved off the game trail into the thick ferns.
“Everyone freeze!” Leary shouted and even the two screaming, stopped. Looking around between some ferns, Leary saw a chain that he knew was used to secure a trap to a stake in the ground. Bobbing his head and looking through gaps in the ferns around him, Leary spotted four more chains.
“Okay, there are traps all around us, don’t move,” Leary said pulling his M4 off his shoulder.
“There aren’t any on the trail behind us!” one of the ones in the back shouted.
“Oh, I’m sure there are. We just stepped over them,” Leary said using the barrel of his rifle to prod the ground moving over to the first man who’d stepped in a trap. “There’s another trap beside your head, don’t move.”
The man on the ground grimaced in pain, but nodded as Leary moved over to him. ‘Snap’ sounded behind him and he looked back to see the others, pointing to another man who had stepped in a trap. “Tell him to stop moving until I get there. There are traps everywhere. The only place we know for sure there aren’t traps is where we are standing right now.”
The other six men were noticeably pale as they looked down at the ground, visibly trembling. Leary saw a stick beside the point man and picked it up. “This is me, so don’t freak out,” he shouted as he jabbed the stick around the man’s head. He only saw a small section of the chain and finally moved his stick over to the chain and traced it down, finding the trap.
Probing the area of the trap, it took Leary a few pokes before he found the pan to set the trap off. ‘Snap’ sounded as the trap slammed shut on the stick breaking it and everyone, including Leary jumped. “I can see two more beside you, so don’t think you can move,” Leary said loud enough so the others could hear and even the other two men in traps kept quiet. Afraid their crying would make the traps around them jump up and get them.
Leary knelt down by the man’s leg and looked at the box-shaped jaws. Each jaw had long wood screws wired to them and since the violent action of the trap closing knocked off the paste Joshua had packed on the screws; the threads were exposed. The two screws in the man’s leg had shoved their poison into his body.
Looking at the deep threads, Leary shook his head. “Hey um…” he looked at the man trying to remember his name.
“Tony,” the man grunted.
“Yeah, Tony, sorry,” Leary said looking at the screw shoved in the front of Tony’s leg into the bone and one shoved into the back of his leg into the calf muscle. “This is going to hurt because those are screws. I’m going to unwrap the wire holding the screws to the jaws of the trap and just leave them in because I don’t have anything that can pull out the ground stake the trap is chained to.”
“Just get it off, it’s burning,” Tony panted.
Pulling out his multi-tool, Leary went to work. “That’s probably from the dirt on the screws when he covered it up.”
Tony watched and tried to keep his leg still. “So, you think it was the suspect we’re after who set them?”
Leary looked up nodding. “Yes, trappers don’t set traps like this, especially with screws wired to them.”
“They said he was watching the other group,” Tony grunted as Leary pulled the wire off of the first screw.
Waving his hand around, “If he’s watching us, he’s feet away,” Leary said. “Trees and these damn ferns are all around us and he would’ve done something by now. He watched the other group I think, to see how they moved so he could set these animal traps for us.”
Looking up the narrow valley, Tony motioned with his chin. “He could be watching from there,” he said.
Looking over his shoulder, Leary saw a slope at the head of the valley. “Tony, that’s almost a mile away, even if he is watching, not much he could do from there,” he said grabbing one of the jaws in each hand. “I’m not going to be able to hold them open long so when I say, carefully take your foot out and don’t knock the trap out of my hands or it will just snap closed again. Probably sinking another screw in your leg.”
“I understand completely,” Tony said nodding. Giving a grunt with his exertion, Leary pulled the jaws apart and Tony slowly moved his foot, guiding it out between the two jaws. When Tony’s foot was clear, Leary let go of the trap. The jaws snapped shut and Leary checked to make sure all of his fingers were still there.
“Oh shit, thank you,” Tony sighed with a grimace.
“No problem, but stay here until I get the other two out. Then I’ll find us a way back, so we can get you and them to a hospital,” Leary said looking back at the others, who all seemed relieved that someone knew what they were doing and they were leaving.
The entire group stayed within arm’s reach of each other and from Leary to the last man was only ten yards. He turned to the two closest to him and Leary fought not to sneer. They were two Homeland agents from some kind of SWAT team and were decked out in full tactical gear. As far as Leary could tell, none of the others liked the two either. They’d both barked orders at the others from the time the team entered the field, three days ago.
As he was looking at the two, Leary heard a dull ‘Slap’ and saw both men grimace and grab their chests as they started to fall down. Then he heard a sharp ‘Slap’ followed by a dull thud and saw the man standing just off the side of the trail drop his M4 as he reached for his chest. “What-,” Leary started as he heard another ‘Slap’ and saw the next man grab his chest.
‘Boom’ echoed down the valley from the far away gunshot. “Kneel down where you’re standing!” Leary shouted ducking in the ferns. “Don’t move or you’ll step on a trap! I’m going to get the others out and we are leaving!”
“Fuck you!” the last man shouted and took off running back down the valley.
Leary could hear the man running through the ferns. “Ugh,” the man cried out as Leary heard the ‘slap’ of the bullet hitting the man.
“Stay down!” Leary bellowed. “He’s a long way off! Does everyone understand?”
“Yeah,” the other man not hit or in a trap shouted back. “I think Glen was shot!”
“Was that the idiot who ran?” Leary asked pulling out a stick buried in the loam that covered the ground. A loud plea for help sounded out from Glen.
“I’m shot Reggie! Help me!”
“Hey, he was a friend!” the man shouted at him. “Hold on Glen, we’re coming!”
“He’s still an idiot!” Leary said using the stick to probe the ground as he crawled over to the second man. “You see? We didn’t get shot because we got out of his line of fire.”
A long pause filled the quiet as the man thought about it. “You need me to do anything?” the man finally asked and heard the metal snap of a trap snapping closed. “Hey ah…Leary, you okay?” he shouted.
“Yeah, I’m good, just found another trap,” Leary called back. “Just stay there until I get the others freed because we’re going to have to help them out of here.”
Freeing the man who’d gone to look for a stick to pry the first trap open on the point man, Leary crawled back to the one behind him who’d stepped into a trap and sprang another on. Getting closer, Leary saw a trap snapped shut on the man’s forearm. “Now you understand why I said to stay still,” Leary said moving over and undoing the wire holding the screws on.
“Sorry, I panicked. Name’s Reggie,” the man grunted. “They allow these things to be sold?”
“Yeah, Reggie, you can buy them in a lot of places” Leary said, prying the one on the man’s forearm open and he pulled his hand out. Letting the tr
ap go, Leary started working on the one on his leg. “I never thought these Conibear traps could be used on a human though.”
With the three freed from traps, Leary led them in a crawl to the ones who had been shot. He looked at the two Homeland agents, seeing both were dead and realized they had been hit by the same bullet. They both had tactical vests on, but didn’t have the armor plates in them. Unzipping the vests, he patted their chests and found they’d both had on bullet proof vests. Rolling the second one on his side, Leary saw the bullet hadn’t come out of the back of the vest.
Reggie and the others looked on as Leary crawled to the next man, who was the one shot after the Homeland agents. He was FBI and he was wearing a tactical vest with plates, but the bullet had passed through the front and out the back.
“I only heard one shot,” Reggie said as Leary moved to the next man shot and found him dead as well. “How could he hit five people with one shot?”
“Those Homeland jerks were hit by the same bullet,” Leary said crawling past the next shot man, seeing he was dead also. “They were standing one behind the other and the rifle that killed them didn’t have a silencer on it. The others were shot with a rifle that had a silencer.”
“We still should have heard it,” Reggie said as Leary started crawling back to Glen who had tried to run away.
“Reggie, you do realize that Mr. Anderson was almost a mile away, right? From the time those Homeland morons were hit till we heard the report was close to three, maybe four seconds.”
“You said we didn’t have to worry about that slope,” Tony, the point man who stepped in the first trap, shouted.
Probing the ground as he crawled, a loud snap went off making the group startle as Leary found a trap they had walked past. “Nobody told me Mr. Anderson was a sniper, and you have any idea how hard it is to hit a target from that far away?”
“Sorry,” Tony mumbled.
“Guys, make sure you’re only crawling where I crawled. I’ve seen the chains to over twenty traps on both sides of this animal trail,” Leary said and everyone crawled in single file behind him till each man’s face was in the boots of the man in front of him.
When Leary reached Glen, he fought not to puke. Glen had been shot low in the back just above the pelvis on the left side. Leary didn’t know what size gun Mr. Anderson was using, but knew it was big just to travel that far. But seeing the exit wound on Glen, Leary wondered if it was a cannon.
“Glen’s guts are hanging out!” Reggie shouted.
“I can see that,” Leary said and crawled past Glen. “We need to crawl to those trees down there where that stream comes down that slope. From there, we can head up to the ridge and call for a chopper.”
“A chopper can’t land up there, so how is it supposed to pick us up?” Reggie asked.
Not stopping as he crawled, probing the ground in front of him, “Okay, we’ll get to the trees and look for a clearing and call for the chopper.”
“How about you go up to the ridge and call the chopper to pick us up down here?”
Leary stopped and rolled on his side looking at Reggie who was right behind him. “What? So Anderson can shoot my ass? The two who left the last group died that way.”
“Oh,” Reggie said and jerked his head back toward the bodies. “We just going to leave them here?”
“I don’t know what kind of gun he’s using, but it looks big enough to hurt the choppers,” Tony said behind them. “They aren’t going to land where they can get shot at. We have to move away from here.”
“I don’t like it either, but you and I are the only ones not wounded and we’re going to have to help the three that are, so they can get to a hospital. They have those SWAT teams at the command area that can come and get the bodies,” Leary said rolling back on his stomach. “This is not what I signed up for, having to crawl away just so we can call in a chopper to pick up wounded,” he said as he started crawling.
“I can agree with that,” Tony grunted in pain as he bumped the screw still sticking out of his right shin.
***
From three-quarters of a mile away, Joshua took his eye away from the spotting scope, watching the men crawl through the ferns. He knew two were alive and not wounded, but it didn’t do any good to kill everyone. Some had to live to tell the others, so they would know to be afraid.
Picking up the spotting scope and putting it back in the case, Joshua turned to look at King and Jack. “Did you see that?” he grinned, grabbing his Sharps. “The old Sharps hit two with one shot.”
Standing up, he saw King and Jack just looking at him. “Well, I’m proud of that shot,” he mumbled and gathered up the rest of his gear. “Don’t have long, so let’s get moving. I hope they like the trouble I’m going through to impress them.”
***
It was seven hours later when Griffey looked at Moore in shock. “You want to repeat that?”
“One of the men who stepped in one of the traps is dead,” Moore repeated. “The doctors told me one of the others will be dead soon, and the third will be lucky if he sees sunrise.”
“From a trap?” Griffey shouted slapping the table.
Winters looked up from her notes. “No, from whatever Mr. Anderson put on those screws,” she said looking Griffey in the eye. “Sir, no sooner than Park Ranger Leary Pinon and BATF agent…” she paused glancing at her notes, “Reggie Vincent gave their reports, they ran to the tents where the other search teams are and started talking. I’m not being mendacious when I say the others are getting scared.”
“Stop them now!” Griffey shouted.
“And just how do you suggest we do that?” Moore asked cutting his eyes at Winters.
“Transfer them out,” Winters said turning to Moore. “But before they leave, remind them they signed a nondisclosure.”
Nodding, as he raised his eyebrows impressed with her suggestion. Moore turned to Griffey. “That would work, Griffey.”
“Do it,” Griffey snapped.
Holding up the report from the two surviving members of the team as he read, Wagner leaned back in his chair. “We have any idea what was on those screws?”
“One is being flown to Washington for analysis,” Winters said passing Moore a note.
Seeing the note, Griffey looked at Winters. “This isn’t grade school, Moore thinks highly of you, so just ask?”
Reading the note, Moore nodded at her. “Winters was just saying, we need to get to the site and process it as soon as possible.”
“Choppers will lift off at first light, if the weather holds,” Wagner said.
Turning to Wagner with a grin, “So, are you coming to evaluate the scene with us?” Winters asked.
“Yes, he is,” Griffey said snatching up an ink pen. “So, out of a ten-man team, only two survived?”
Moore turned to Winters and nodded. “Yes, but that’s only because he let two go,” Winters said looking at her notes. “Looking at the map and aerial photos, I’m sure Mr. Anderson could’ve shot them, especially since they were crawling. From his elevation, I have little doubt he could see them.”
“So why?” Griffey asked looking at Moore who reached over, patting Winters’ arm for her to answer.
“To spread fear among the search teams,” she said looking up at Griffey. “Since we are denying that he blew up our first command area, Anderson is letting others escape.”
“Our teams are made up of federal agents who all have arrest powers, Winters. I know some will be scared, but not many,” Wagner snapped.
Winters looked across the table. “So, the three hundred who suddenly said they were sick and couldn’t go out tomorrow to relieve the teams that are out, is a coincidence?”
“Nobody gets sick call unless I approve it,” Griffey said.
Moore shook his head, “Griffey, you can’t rule them with an iron fist, they work for us.”
“And they will work,” Griffey spat. “Now,” he said opening a folder up. “I’ve been able to call in an expert w
ilderness tracker, Giles Burton. He will be here in a few hours and will go out with you in the morning.”
“Giles Burton? The guy on that reality TV show who chases people around the woods?” Moore asked as Winters' mouth dropped open.
“Yes, I’m told he is good,” Griffey said. “He also chases them around mountains and deserts. If a group can evade him for ten days, they get a million dollars. For the two seasons he’s been on, nobody has collected.”
“Griffey, it’s reality TV, it’s make-believe,” Moore said.
Closing the folder, Griffey passed it to Moore. “He was a game guide in Africa for three years, then a hunting guide in Alaska for a year.”
Taking the folder, Moore opened it up. “Then he sucks. A good guide in Alaska can pull down a hundred thousand a year and those in Africa can make more.”
“He’s tracked fugitives before,” Griffey said as Winters leaned over to read the folder.
“Ah, yeah,” Moore said pointing at a paragraph, dragging his finger along as he read and then looked up. “He found a man half-starved in Texas who had no outdoor experience.”
Snorting, Winters stifled a giggle. “He gets all book and movie rights for doing this?”
“Yes, but we get to approve the book, so he must leave out some of our aspects,” Griffey said.
“I like it,” Wagner said. “I request that one of my response teams accompany him.”
“He will only allow five and they must be physically fit,” Griffey said with a nod.
With a huge grin, “I’ll choose them personally,” Wagner said.
Moore looked up, trying not to laugh. “Well, Griffey, at least you made him sign a waiver releasing us from liabilities.”
“Well Moore, since you haven’t given me anything to go on, I have to find other avenues to pursue,” Griffey grumbled. “So, did you read these reports?” Griffey asked holding up the reports from the surviving team members.
“Griffey, I’m the one who took those reports.”
The Bonner Incident: Joshua's War Page 8
