by Steven Bird
Immediately bouncing back and leaping to his feet, Yuri charged the man again, exposing the broadhead-tipped arrow he had pulled from the man’s bow-mounted quiver as he had fallen backward.
As the man tried to draw his knife, Yuri plunged the razor-sharp broadhead into the man’s neck, slicing his jugular vein, and sending him crashing down as blood spewed like a fountain from his neck.
Running over and retrieving the shotgun, Yuri made his way to Britney, who was now trying to scurry away in fear on all fours. Taking her by the hand, he helped her up and insisted, “We must run.”
Leading her through the thick forest, they hadn’t gotten far before hearing the all-too-familiar sound of the cave dwellers’ horn echoing through the trees.
Yuri struggled through the pain of his wounds. His confrontation with the archer who now lay dead had torn them loose, and blood flowed freely once again. Catching a glimpse of movement to his left, paralleling their course, but at a distance, Yuri saw a fur-clad rider on horseback galloping across a small clearing.
Yuri knew the rider was likely racing ahead to cut them off, so he began to think of ways to take evasive action, but was unsure how many pursuers they had or their exact locations. He didn’t want to make a turn or alter their course only to fall into the hands of someone who awaited them.
Leaping over a log, Yuri’s feet no sooner hit the ground than he saw a figure crouching in front of them, aiming a rifle directly at him and Britney. As the stranger reflexively started to raise the rifle, Yuri heard a man shout, “No!”
Seeing that the shout had come from an injured man tied to a tree, Yuri was barely able to make out the silhouettes of soldiers taking visual cover in the brush all around him. They wore the same camo pattern as him. They were UF soldiers.
A feeling of relief swept through his body when he heard a man shouting in his native language to drop the weapon. Doing as he was ordered, Yuri tossed the shotgun to the ground ahead of him, placing his hands on top of his head.
“Raise hands,” he turned and said to Britney.
Yuri’s feeling of relief quickly gave way to the crushing realization that she had been running from the UF, but she was now once again in their hands, breaking the promise he had made mere moments before.
Britney watched as UF soldiers appeared from the brush, pointing their weapons at both her and Yuri. Seeing Nate tied to a tree, she shouted, “Nate!” just as a hand pushed her from behind, forcing her to her knees.
One of the soldiers approached Yuri and began interrogating him in a language that sounded to her like Russian.
Looking toward Nate, she saw him mouth the words, It’s going to be okay. She was both relieved to see him alive and horrified that he had fallen captive to the ones who had set out to kill them both. If they knew who Nate was, he would surely be killed or imprisoned. And she had been witness to an unspeakable crime committed by the UF. If they knew who she was, they could never let her go. Her story would create too much of an uproar with the local population.
In their native language, Yuri argued with the man interrogating him. He pleaded with him to turn their attention to defending against the attack Yuri knew was coming at any moment. Looking to Nate, realizing that both he and Yuri had issued the same warning, the man ordered his men to set up a defensive perimeter.
He turned back to Yuri and told him in Russian, “Secure her to tree next to other prisoner. You watch both. Do not let them escape. Do you understand, Sergeant Kovalenko?”
“Yes, Senior Lieutenant Romanoff. I understand,” Yuri replied sharply.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Running through the woods at a breakneck pace, Jessie could hear the hounds pursuing him. The UF-trained search dogs were gaining on him, and he knew it was just a matter of time before they caught him, pinning him down for their handlers, or attacking him; either way, it wouldn’t end well unless he could find a way to shake them.
Splashing through a creek flooded by recent rains, Jessie attempted to mask his scent, and he ran upstream before continuing away from them. Based on his personal experiences with dogs in the past, he knew he’d have to go a substantial distance to keep them from picking up his trail once again.
As the barking grew louder, Jessie looked back to see that they were now in visual range as the hounds came bounding through the woods, guided by their noses.
Turning and running onto the dry ground on the opposite side of the creek, Jessie began running at a full sprint. The dogs had now picked him up visually and turned to run straight through the creek to intercept him on the other side.
Nearly exhausted and out of breath, Jessie knew he couldn’t pull away from them, so he began to climb a pile of slick, moss-covered rocks, hoping it would slow them down long enough for him to get away.
As he climbed the large rocks in haste, his foot slipped, and he fell backward onto the cold, hard ground below. With the wind knocked out of him, he struggled to bring his rifle up to meet the threat of the dogs that were now within ten yards and about to leap onto him with their large teeth exposed.
Just as he was about to pull the trigger, the dogs slid to a stop, growled, and then turned and ran away with their tails tucked between their legs.
“What the hell?” he mumbled, then he heard a deep, heavy growl above and behind him.
Slowly turning around and looking up the rock wall from which he had just fallen, Jessie saw a large black bear standing at the top looking down at him.
Turning to… “Jessie. C’mon man. It’s time to get moving,” Tyrone’s voice said in a low whisper.
Flinching, Jessie awoke and began frantically looking around and behind him.
“Relax, man. It’s only me,” Tyrone assured him.
Grinning, Jessie chuckled, “And thank God for that,” as he yawned, stretched and sat up. “Man, that was the deepest sleep I’ve had in a long time. I guess knowing you guys had my back allowed me to finally relax a bit.”
“That’s saying a lot considering our current situation,” Q replied.
“So, what did I miss?” Jessie asked.
“Nothing much. After you and Daryl went to sleep, Tyrone and I stayed up. I watched the northern half of our perimeter, and he watched the southern half. All activity seemed to cease for a while. We heard that damned horn sound a few minutes ago, so we figured we’d better get back in the game. It sounded a long way off, but just the fact that we can hear it tells me they’re too close. But just remember, the next break belongs to me and Tyrone.”
“Absolutely, you’ve earned it,” Jessie concurred as he checked his rifle and readied himself for the threats that still lay ahead.
Speaking up, Daryl said, “Hey, guys? Um, I’ve got to take care of business.”
“Buddy system!” Q quipped. “Jessie, you’re Daryl’s buddy. Go with him.”
“Roger that,” Jessie groaned as he stood and stretched.
Walking a short distance from camp, Daryl said, “Okay, man. You stay right there, I’m gonna duck behind that big tree. This ain’t gonna be purdy. You don’t wanna be downwind of me right now.”
“Thanks for the warning,” Jessie chuckled.
As Jessie stood there, scanning the area and keeping an eye out so Daryl could tend to the business at hand, he heard Daryl say, “You know, I can’t figure out why they backed off. They had us on the run. If they would have kept the pressure up, they stood a good chance of picking us off one by one in the darkness.”
“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing,” Jessie agreed. “The only thing I can figure is they were taking too many losses themselves. They may have needed to regroup and evaluate the situation. Would killing four of us be worth potentially losing three or four more of their own? We were keeping their cost-to-gain ratio high. Probably too high.”
“Yeah, who knows? I’m just glad we were able to catch a break. I was exhausted. My eyes were starting to play tricks on me, and given the stress of the situation, that wasn’t good.”
&n
bsp; Rejoining Jessie, Daryl warned, “You really don’t wanna go over there,” while gesturing with his hand in front of his face.
Returning to the group, Jessie asked, “So, what’s the plan?”
Snugging up his pack, Q said, “The sound of the horn came from that direction. Downhill from us and to the west,” he said while gesturing in the direction he described. “Now that the sun’s up and you can see better, how far do you think we are from Nate?
Looking around and thinking it through, Jessie replied, “I’d say right about where you’re pointing.”
Grumbling, Q said, “Let’s go. Nate’s a’wait’n.”
After a half an hour of slowly and methodically working their way toward Nate’s last known position, Jessie gave the others the sign to hold and hunker down. Working his way back to Q, Jessie said, “See those rocks over there next to those fallen trees?”
“Yeah,” Q replied.
“That’s the spot. He was down behind that big fallen oak. Let me work my way over there. I’ll signal if it’s clear. There’s no need for us to walk into a trap. If they found him, they’d know there was a chance I’d be coming back for him.”
Nodding in agreement, Q signaled to the others to hold their positions, keep their eyes open, and to cover as Jessie advanced.
Slowly working his way toward the downed trees, Jessie whistled softly to announce his presence if Nate was still there. He didn’t want to be shot by a scared and injured friend who would no doubt be a bit jumpy by now.
Not hearing a reply, he moved closer, whistling once again.
Watching Jessie’s movements carefully, Q observed as Jessie reached the tree. It was clear to him by Jessie’s lack of reaction that Nate was no longer there. He watched while Jessie surveyed the area and finally motioned them forward.
As the others joined up with Jessie, Q asked, “So… what’s the story?”
“I left him right here,” Jessie said, pointing. “There’s blood over here on the ground at the base of this tree. There’s a muddle of prints. There’s everything from coyote tracks to boot prints. There are at least five or six sets of boot prints, maybe more.
“Those look like Russian, or UF standard-issue boots to me,” Q said. Kneeling down next to the tree, Q touched the blood with his finger and rubbed it between his index finger and thumb.
“This is fresh,” Q added. “Whoever was here hasn’t been gone for long.”
“Over here, guys,” Daryl said, kneeling down and looking at one point in particular on the ground.
“What is it? Q asked.
“Look,” he said, pointing. “These prints are too small to be from a man. They look like sneakers of some sort. And look here—handprints. I’d say someone small was put on their hands and knees right about here.”
“Britney!” Jessie exclaimed.
“So, you think the UF has both Britney and Nate?”
“That’s the only conclusion we can draw from this,” Jessie speculated, unsure whether he was happy or disappointed in the information before them.
“It looks like they went this way,” Tyrone said, pointing at a cluster of tracks leading away from the scene to the north, away from the mountains.
“That would make sense,” Jessie acknowledged, adding, “The UF guys, if they were hunters, would have been inserted by helicopter, which more than likely would have come from the north where the UF has a greater presence.”
Q noted, “They were likely inserted to look for you two. They wouldn’t let that hit go unpunished. I’d say the group that had you pinned down when we found you were on the same page with these guys. Nate being in their hands is just as bad as if he were with those… those furry bastards from the cave.”
Looking to the sky in the direction of the tracks, Jessie stated, “They’re probably moving toward an extraction point, as well as potentially trying to evade those troglodytes, or like you said, those furry bastards from the caves.”
“Troglowhats?” Q asked.
“Troglodytes,” Jessie replied.
“What the hell is a troglodyte?”
“A primitive or prehistoric cave dweller,” Jessie explained. “They fit that category well, almost seeming to be living some primitive fantasy life of a caveman.”
“Except for the high-end night vision,” Q quickly countered. “That kind of clashes with the whole primitive thing.”
“Yeah, except for that,” Jessie conceded. “It sure does make getting around in those dark caves easier, though.”
“Where the hell would they have gotten those things? And battery power? Where… I just don’t get it,” Daryl vented, shaking his head.
“Whatever or whoever they are, we need to get moving,” Q declared, getting the mission back on track. “If this is where you left Nate, and if there are signs of the girl being here, too, we need to assume the UF has them, and we need to get moving. The last thing I want to hear, as long as we have reason to believe the UF has them, is one of those damned ugly Hind helicopters taking off and flying away. If they make it out of these woods with them, our odds of getting them back plummet.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Where are we going?” Britney asked as Yuri led her and Nate in the center of the UF patrol as they worked their way to the north.
“Shhh. Do not bring trouble on yourself. Follow instructions,” Yuri replied.
Yuri’s heart sank in his chest when he saw the look in Britney’s eyes at his dismissal. She looked shocked and heartbroken by his willingness to go along with the UF patrol and how quickly he immediately began following orders, acting as her guard.
As a tear rolled down her cheek, Yuri tried to explain, “You not understand. Just go along.”
“I understand completely, Sergeant Kovalenko,” Britney snarled with ice in her veins. “I get it. You’re just doing your job.”
Stepping over to Nate, who was clearly struggling and in severe pain, Britney pulled his arm around her and urged, “Here, lean on me.”
“I weigh too much for you to carry,” Nate protested.
“Nonsense, you look terrible. You’re pale and sweaty. You’re not well, and I’m getting worried about you.”
Turning back to them from near the front of the patrol, Senior Lieutenant Romanoff snarled, “Silence them, Sergeant Kovalenko!”
“Do as he asked,” Yuri pleaded.
Turning away from him and refusing to acknowledge his voice, Britney held on tightly to Nate while they worked their way north.
Hearing the sound of a horn echo through the woods again, Senior Lieutenant Romanoff grumbled, saying, “Is probably insurgents trying to fool us. Mind games not work this time,” he boasted with a grin, while a few of the others chuckled along with him.
Tripping over an exposed tree root, Nate fell to the ground, nearly taking Britney with him. “Ahh, damn it,” he grumbled, punching the ground out of frustration.
Senior Lieutenant Romanoff turned and stomped his way back to Yuri and barked through gritted teeth, “I give you simple task! You guard prisoners and keep them moving! I’m starting to see why you aren’t with your patrol. Maybe you abandoned post?”
“Not true!” Yuri snapped. “My patrol was ambushed. Everyone was killed but me. I told you. They took me prisoner, and I escaped. That is what happened.”
Drawing his sidearm from its holster, Romanoff pointed the gun at Nate’s head, and seethed, “I should just kill this one now to speed up the patrol. He is dragging us down. I have every legal right. He is insurgent. He is hostile enemy combatant and I am officer of Russian Federation and as such, I am formally recognized by Unified Forces as legal authority in all matters concerning keeping of peace and security. As insurgent, he is threat to both.”
“No!” Britney cried, only to be backhanded by Senior Lieutenant Romanoff.
Watching Yuri’s reaction, Romanoff stepped to within inches of his face, and said, “You do not like that, do you? Pick up pace or I will make much worse things happen. Do you
understand?”
“Yes, Senior Lieutenant Romanoff,” Yuri replied sharply.
“Very well. I expect to not have to question your loyalty again. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes,” Yuri replied.
Romanoff stood there for a moment, reading Yuri’s eyes, and then turned and walked back toward the front of the patrol, getting them moving forward once again.
~~~~
“Q” Daryl whispered as he approached Q’s position.
“What’s up, Daryl?” Q asked.
“Jessie and I spotted a UF patrol up ahead. Jessie altered course to parallel their track, just up the hill from them. He’s confident we can stay out of their sight while shadowing them from our elevated position.”
“Do they have Nate? And the girl?” Q asked.
“We’re not sure. Jessie asked that you and T move on up with us. He’s afraid if we’re too spread out, we won’t be able to react quickly enough if engagement is required.”
“Of course,” Q replied. “Let’s go.”
Moving up to Jessie's position, Q asked, “What do we got?”
“Exactly what we’re looking for,” Jessie reported. “I see Nate, and the girl is with him.”
Handing Q the binoculars, Jessie pointed, saying, “Over there. Beyond that big forked oak tree.”
Adjusting the binoculars and scanning the area, Q confirmed, “Yep. I’ve got’em. I see seven UF guys. That’s an odd number. They usually patrol in teams of six. I’ve never seen them deviate from that.”
“Maybe they’re training a new guy,” Tyrone joked.
Replying with a chuckle, Q shook his head, “They don’t put new guys on the hunter teams. Anyway, now that we’ve got their location, let’s practice a little optical discipline. We don’t want a glint of light from a lens giving us away.”
“Good thinking,” Jessie remarked. “What else do you recommend? You know these guys.”
“Let’s keep on working alongside them just like we’re doing now until an opportunity presents itself. There’s four of us, and seven of them, so we’ve got to hit them at just the right time to keep our numbers from being a disadvantage. The hunter teams are sharp. They’re all damn good shots, too. We need two of them to hit the ground before their comrades engage if we expect to get the best of them.”
