Las Hermanas

by Raedene Jeannette Melin

  At first light, Melina took them to the camp only a few miles north of the ranch.

  “They don’t come up here,” she said as they walked. “They’re not interested in the north for some reason.”

  Adi didn’t really care. All she wanted was a safe place to hide as they made their plans and when they finally arrived, she was pleasantly surprised. The building was so overgrown with plants, vines, and lichens that it was as if the jungle had decided to keep it, wrapping it into its loving embrace. Adi walked around, seeing no way in until Melina drew her attention to a rusty, metal handle barely peeking out of the green. She jerked on the knob, the door reluctantly pushing open, and Adi stepped inside.

  Other than the musty smell and some dust, it was unusually clean for an old building. Makeshift beds lined the walls and several tables sat in the centre, with chairs and stools strewn about. The moss over the windows dulled the light that managed to sneak through the trees and as Adi looked past the old, faded flag that hung from the middle of the ceiling, she nodded. It would work.

  As they waited for Melina’s fighters to arrive, they began to prepare, learning as much as they could about what they would be facing. The ranch was owned by Daniel Guzman, whose father acquired it in the late 1960s. It was the typical story: land stolen from its rightful owners and given to political allies, breaking generations of familial ownership and livelihood. So when the landless farmers began quietly working the idle fields, Guzman didn’t just push them off his land, he violently lashed out.

  “He started taking over the neighbouring farms, piece by piece,” Melina explained as she pointed to the spots on the map. “If someone refused to sell, he’d just kill them and buy it from whoever owned it next.” She leaned against the table. “He met some resistance but it didn’t last. Anyone who opposed him died.” Melina paused, the frustration obvious. “And then when the rumours started about him wiping out entire villages,” she whistled, shaking her head. “It’s damn near impossible to fight something like that.”

  “Especially when he has El Diablo,” Jacobo said, his tone low and angry.

  “Tell us about the men,” Adi said before anyone could ask questions. She wasn’t interested in stories, only in how they could win.

  Altogether, Melina estimated that there were about three hundred men, the bulk of them at the ranch. While normally they were spread out, watching over the vast amount of land Guzman had stolen, they returned after the warehouse explosion. He was determined to find the culprit.

  “Most of them are mercenaries,” Melina explained, “but some are locals. Former military mainly.”

  “So basically we’re fucked,” Marcelo said, his arms crossed against his chest.

  Adi looked around the table, watching shades of hopelessness seep into their faces.

  “How the hell are we supposed to beat that?” he asked.

  “Countries have been won with less.” When Salvador had told her he was coming, she wanted to talk him out of it—he was no fighter—but as she watched him walk up, she was glad he was there.

  “We’re not fighting for a country,” Marcelo replied.

  “Aren’t we?” Salvador’s question silenced him and he continued. “They have the numbers, that is undeniable, but that doesn’t mean we can’t win. As long as we’re smart and use our position to our advantage, we stand a chance.”

  “How do we do that?” Giovana asked, leaning against the table.

  “We take them by surprise,” Thiago answered. “Defenses?”

  Melina nodded. “The ranch is surrounded by seven guard towers,” she replied, pointing them out. “They sit just inside the tree line and have some sort of detection system.”

  “Cameras or motion sensors?” he asked.

  “Both, we think. We’ve never gotten close enough.”

  “How many men in each one?”

  She shrugged. “Two to four.”

  Distracted by the door opening, Adi watched as several people entered, nodding to Melina as they passed.

  “Okay, so we take those out first,” Catalina said. “Then what?”

  “Then you gotta get through the field,” Melina answered.

  Pablo chuckled. “There’s no way. They’ll mow us down like sheep.”

  “That’s why we need to draw them in,” Adi said. “Fight them in our territory. These men don’t know the jungle like we do. I’ve seen them move. They’re loud, clumsy, and don’t know shit about the land they live in. That’s what Salvador meant by taking advantage. We use their weaknesses against them.”

  “Lure them into the trees,” Thiago said.

  Adi nodded. “Kill as many as we can.”

  “How we gonna get the house?” Yumi asked. “That’s the goal, right? To get the house?”

  “We sneak in here,” Rodrigo said, pointing to the area directly west of it. “The house sits about a hundred feet from the tree line. All other sides are surrounded by open fields. It’s the only way in.”

  “That’s their weakest point,” Marcelo argued, shaking his head. “They’re gonna guard the shit outta that. We’ll never get in.”

  “We will because they’ll be distracted by what’s happening all around the field,” Rodrigo replied. “What do you think they’re gonna do when all the towers suddenly go out? Just wait? When they send men to check, we take the house.”

  As heads nodded around the table, more people trickled in and Adi turned to look at the fighters Melina had got. While no one jumped out at her as a born killer, they appeared to be in good shape and seemed to be equipped with decent weapons, although Adi would have accepted anyone at that point. When she turned back around, the table was silent. “Okay. Who wants to take out some guard towers?”

  Chapter Nineteen

  They attacked at midnight, determined to take advantage of the darkness. First, they sent out seven teams of two—Giovana, Catalina, Yumi, and Thiago among them—to eliminate the seven towers, while Jacobo and Marcelo led a group of ten to the west side of the ranch. As soon as the men ran south towards the trees where Adi, Rodrigo, and Melina were waiting, they would take the house.

  A cold chill ran down her spine as she waited in the darkness. There were approximately sixty of them spread out among the trees surrounding the field, trying to appear larger than they were. As she watched the first tower catch fire and light up the night sky, she hoped it would be enough.

  The sound of a few gunshots cut through the silence, adding to the already mounting tension as they sat low in the trees, waiting for their prey. The sky brightened again as another tower was set aflame, monkeys and birds protesting angrily at the disruption. Adi looked to her right, spotting Lupita sitting a few trees away, calmly watching the field in front of them. They were the closest to the open pasture, only a couple trees in, and as soon as Adi heard the trucks roar to life, she exhaled slowly. It was about to begin.

  They sped towards her, headlights bouncing as they drove through the field. By the time they arrived at the bottom, all seven of the towers were lit and Adi watched them jump from their vehicles, disorganized in the chaos. When they entered the trees twenty feet north of them, Adi shook her head at Lupita. They couldn’t go yet.

  All was quiet and then suddenly it wasn’t. A scream and several bursts of gunfire erupted into the air. She was disappointed at having to wait, her muscles twitching in restless anticipation, but as she looked back out into the field, she saw that she was about to get more than she asked for.

  Gripping a knife in each hand, she waited as the men exited the trucks, the feeling of steel steadying the adrenaline pumping through her veins. They entered the trees cautiously, automatic rifles aimed in front as they walked single file, oblivious to the danger above. She wanted to pounce, eager to release some rage, but she forced herself to wait, watching as the last man stepped into the bush.

  Nodding at Lupita, she dropped with her knife at a downward angle. She drove it hard into his neck, a surprised groan squeaking out as he fell dea
d onto the ground. Landing on top of him, she pulled her knife out of his body and dove behind a tree.

  Bullets peppered the other side of the trunk as she waited. She was more than happy to be the distraction, knowing that Lupita and the others would be closing in. When she heard the screams and panicked voices as they were killed in rapid succession, she stepped out.

  There wasn’t much left of the men, their bloodied bodies stripped of anything useful. Adi picked up an AK-47 and was slinging it across her back when Lupita handed her a sack. She wasn’t surprised when she saw the grenades, remembering how many were in the warehouse, but just as she tucked them into her pack, a barrage of gunshots ripped through the night sky.

  They crept towards the field, watching as dozens of men unloaded at a single spot up ahead. There would be too many men for whoever was there to deal with. She needed to do something fast.

  “Get ready,” she said to the others and ran out into the field.

  The first grenade she threw missed the now-empty trucks by a mile, sending dirt and grass high into the air as it burst; but the second one hit, the sound deafening as the explosion rocked the vehicle, bright flames and black smoke billowing up. Adi didn’t stick around to watch, sprinting back under the trees as fast as she could. She knew the noise would bring the men back to the field and that’s where she would meet them.

  Running north, she stopped behind a cluster of small trees, searching for her target. She saw the first one, his light skin practically glowing in the dark as he came towards her. She didn’t move, patiently waiting for the group to pass before she crept up behind the last man and slit his throat.

  The gurgle of blood alerted the man ahead but as he turned, Adi lunged forward and ripped his neck open, the curved, serrated side of her knife creating a gaping hole. Before his body hit the ground, she was already safely under cover, calmly leaning behind a tree as the bullets flew. She stayed there, expecting the shooting to eventually stop, but when it didn’t, she lost her patience and climbed the tree.

  She sat about a foot above them, her opponents oblivious to her position as they kept their guns aimed at the ground. Not waiting for them to figure it out, she balanced herself against the trunk and grabbed the gun off her back.

  The first shot caught everyone by surprise, Adi almost falling out of the tree as the gun kicked hard, missing by a mile. She was too busy pulling herself back up to see that they were looking right in her direction, but seeing no one, they turned away. She didn’t miss the second time or any time after that, shooting round after round in quick succession, bodies littering the green floor. As her feet dropped down into the dirt, she heard a whistle.

  Adi stepped away from the trunk, making herself visible in the moonlight as she whistled back. As soon as she saw Catalina running towards her, she couldn’t help but smile.

  “You okay?” she asked.

  Catalina nodded.

  “Come on.”

  By the time they got back to the field, they could see that their strategy wasn’t working. A dozen trucks were heading south and as they sprinted towards them, large angry bursts of gunfire seemed to spit out from everywhere.

  The chaos only increased as they ran into the thick of it, the darkness making it difficult to see whether they were fighting enemy or friend. As Pablo’s dead body slumped to the ground in front of her, Adi whipped out her knives, desperate to gain control.

  She sprinted towards the man on her right, striking him with a lethal blow to the back of the neck, his heavy head pulling the rest of him down. The second one she slashed across the leg, his angry grunt loud enough to block the deadly snap of his neck as she twisted it hard. The third man was already coming at her, so she ran to meet him, dropping at the last second and slicing straight up into his thigh. She could taste the blood as he crumpled on top of her, his weight pinning her down. When she finally pushed him off, she saw that she was in trouble.

  The bullet grazed her leg as she dove out of the way, sending her flying into the dirt. She could see his shadow carefully searching the ground, but just as he came into view, she hurled the small knife tucked against her ankle.

  She had never heard screams like it, the anguish rushing from his mouth like a waterfall. Not stopping for a second, she grabbed her gun and pumped a bullet into his chest. He fell back and she scrambled to her feet, looking at her knife sticking out of his eye as his body went still. It took a couple tries to get it out, the eyeball wanting to come too, but when she finally wrenched it free, the fighting had almost stopped.

  Death had come quick and dirty in the confusion and it didn’t take long for it to be over. Snipers in the trees were picking off what was left of the men. They had forced them back with such velocity that they fled, dropping their weapons as they dissipated. Adi and Lupita chased after them, managing to kill a few more as they retreated, but as soon as the men ran out into the field, they stopped and turned around.

  The night was silent once more as Adi looked at the bodies piled up among the trees, dark lumps covering the jungle floor. It was hard to tell who they were but as she searched, she found more than a few of their own, and as soon as she spotted her face peering out from under someone’s arm, she started digging.

  She carried Yumi out, gently placing her bullet-ridden body on a clump of thick ferns. Looking around at the surviving faces, she asked, “Where’s Gio?”

  A low rumble in the distance caught her attention and she turned, the sound growing louder. It was coming from the field and as she headed towards it, unsure of what was happening, she realized what it was.

  “Get down!” The warning came at the same time the cargo truck crashed into the trees, sending them diving for cover.

  She expected to be attacked, or at least hit with something, but when they heard nothing but the engine slowly ticking off, they crept out. A few of them ran forward, guns pointed at the truck as they checked it over. Shaking their heads as they looked in the cab, they moved to the back, stopping in front of the large canvas tarp that covered it. Glancing at Rodrigo, he nodded and they flung the cover open.

  It was hard to see what was in there, so Adi stepped forward, the shadow of a man coming into view. The closer she got the more she saw and by the time she reached the bumper, she realized who it was. There, hanging in the back of the truck, was her father.

  •

  She couldn’t move, staring at the frail, mutilated man above her as the air slowly left her lungs, sending her down in a heap. She was suddenly exhausted and could feel every single stab of pain as her muscles cried out, unable to look away from the blood dripping down his skin, her name carved deep into his chest.

  “Adi.” Rodrigo gripped her by the shoulders. “Adi, look at me.”

  She could do no such thing.

  “Look at me!” He didn’t give her a choice, roughly grabbing her face as he knelt directly in front of her. “You can’t do this.” His voice broke as he held her face in the palm of his hand. “Not now. Not when we’re so close.”

  She had no words, staring blankly past him as he spoke, not hearing a sound.

  “Hey!”

  The hard shake snapped her out of it, and she finally looked at him.

  “We need to go,” he said firmly. “Now.”

  Adi didn’t resist as he helped her up, her legs shaking as she turned and walked away from the truck. Every step felt like a betrayal, like she was abandoning her father, but when the explosion ripped through the air and slammed her into the ground, it no longer mattered.

  Sight and sound faded in and out as she fought to regain consciousness. She tried to get up, but her arms buckled and she rolled to her side, desperately looking around.

  Very little was left of the vehicle, black smoke billowing up into the air. She watched Rodrigo help someone stand and remembered that Catalina had been right behind her.

  She stumbled towards the bodies with a renewed sense of panic, hoping that some, any of them were still alive. Finding Salvador, she k
nelt down and touched what remained of his face, the smell of burning flesh stinging her nostrils. She looked around and didn’t bother getting up. They were all dead.

  “Come on,” Rodrigo coughed as he ran up. When she didn’t move, he crouched beside her. “Look.”

  Adi followed his arm and saw what he was referring to. There, coming down the field towards them were more men.

  She forced herself up, following Rodrigo as they ran through the trees, hearing the sound of gunfire behind them. The jungle was beginning to thicken and after a few minutes, they stopped, struggling to find a viable path through the trees.

  Adi bent over, leaning against her legs as she caught her breath.

  “We need to regroup. Find the others,” Rodrigo said, recovering much quicker than her. “Then we can decide what to do.”

  Adi crouched down on her haunches trying to think. While they had killed a lot of men, they were losing badly and if something didn’t change, they’d never make it. She stood up.

  “Go.”

  At first Rodrigo didn’t understand what she meant, but as she held his gaze, she watched the realization sink in.

  For a while, he simply shook his head, his hands running through his hair as he looked away. It was clear he didn’t like it, but as he turned towards her again, she knew he wouldn’t try to stop her.

  “Let me come with you.”

  She smiled and shook her head once. “You’d just slow me down.”

  He almost laughed at her attempt at humour, but it died on his lips and he walked forward, pulling her into him. She closed her eyes as she felt his strong arms wrap about her, holding her tight. After a moment, he let go but didn’t look away.

  “Kill the fucker.”

  Adi didn’t wait to watch him leave, heading in the opposite direction. She was tired and sore, but she wasn’t beat—not yet. She made her way through the jungle alone, knowing that this twisted game of cat and mouse that started four long years ago was going to end today, one way or another.