by Eric Vall
“True,” I said. “But only one reached for his gun and he went down immediately. Nobody fought with us after that.”
“So what you’re saying is having a couple snipers is basically like having a whole team surrounding someone,” Paige said with a smile.
“Pretty much,” I laughed. “Unexpected shit happens, but if you count on your team and remember your training you’ll be fine.”
I looked at Bailey and saw her smiling down at the forest floor.
“Bailey, you’re like, a whole frickin team just by yourself,” Tara assured the other blonde.
“I guess so,” Bailey said with a smile.
“Don’t forget about Rolly,” I said. “He’s on guard tower duty too, and two good shots are always better than one.” I smiled at the old man and clapped him on the shoulder. “Besides, we all have our strengths and we’re all important members of this team.”
“So does that mean we get to hit the showers together after this is over?” Tara asked with a wink.
It seemed like the morale of the group was getting back to normal.
“I’m sure we’ll all have earned a shower by the time this is over,” I grinned.
“I don’t know guys, can Tav handle all of us in the shower with him?” Anna asked as she raised an eyebrow.
“I think the real question is if our shower could handle all of us in it,” I laughed.
“I’ll take my shower alone, thanks,” Rolly muttered.
“I bet Betty would join you,” Tara said with a laugh.
The old man blushed hard and looked down.
“Alright, alright,” I chuckled. “We can tease Rolly later. We should go over our plan once more.”
I had each girl draw a line from their letter to the positions they would take on the crude sketch I had drawn out. When I was confident there was no confusion I stood up and clapped my hands.
“Alright ladies, and Rolly,” I said with a smile. “Let’s get into our first positions.”
“I’m so ready,” Paige said with a grin as she double checked her shotgun chamber.
“You’re always ready to do the dirty work,” Anna said as she gave her a playful push.
“I just get excited about taking out assholes,” Paige responded with a grin. “Besides, that adrenaline kick is something else.”
“Come running with me sometime, and you all can get your adrenaline going,” Anna said.
“Hard pass,” Tara responded. “Besides, if I want some adrenaline I’ll just go find Tav.” She flashed me a quick smile that showed her perfect white teeth.
As much as the girls had got me going with all that shower talk, I knew we had to focus. That idea of the five of us together would have to wait until after we took out these National Guard assholes.
I gave my team one more look before we headed up the hill. They each had a look of determination about them.
“Ready?” I asked with a smile.
“Ready,” Anna said as she grinned at me.
“Me too,” Rolly said as he adjusted his kevlar vest.
“Thundercats are go,” Paige said with a grin.
“Hammer and Anvil out,” Tara said with a smile as she started to walk toward the hill.
“Alright then,” I grinned. “Let’s go kick some ass.”
Chapter 9
We reached the top of the hill by the outpost just as the sun fell behind the trees. I looked to Anna, and she nodded at me and then motioned for her group to follow her. Tara, Paige, and I headed to our side of the perimeter and surveyed the area.
We waited until the guards had moved on, and then I snuck closer to the fence to plant the coyote meat. Once it was in place, I moved back to where the girls were hidden in the shadow of the forest and waited for the guards to make their rounds once more.
I looked to my right and saw both of the girls’ faces barely illuminated by the light of the outpost. Their stark features were made even more so by the stern expressions they both carried. Both had their weapons drawn and were in a crouched position that would be easy to move from. I looked back to the fence line as I heard two male voices approach.
“The redhead is the best,” the first guy said.
“Nah,” the second responded as he took a drag off a cigarette. “I like the blondes.”
“No way, man,” the first scoffed. “I mean, I was no ladies’ man before all this happened and now that I can have my pick I’m definitely going for the rare ones.”
This shit really pissed me off. They were talking about women like they were just things to be used and nothing more. I clenched my jaw and waited for the chance to kill these fucks.
It didn’t take the dog long to smell the meat. I watched as the brindle dog pulled the sorry excuse for a soldier closer to the fence line. Its black face went close to the ground as it sniffed intensely. The dog whined as it pushed its face up against the razor wire, then backed up and let out two quick barks while its tail wagged quickly back and forth. It reminded me of the way dogs often barked at someone who held a tennis ball aimed to throw. I saw the animal’s ribs pressed out against the skin of its belly, and realized the dog was probably so excited because these assholes weren’t feeding it properly, and that just pissed me off more.
“What?” the soldier holding the leash snapped.
“Dude, what’s its fucking problem?” the other asked as he finished his cigarette and flicked it to the ground.
“I don’t know man,” the first said. “Shut up ya mangy mutt.” He kicked the dog in the hip with his boot so hard it let out a yelp.
I heard Paige and Tara move as the dog yelped, and I put my hand out to steady them. I didn’t like it either, but that dog would be safe soon enough, and I just hoped he wasn’t so abused that he snapped at us.
The dog cowered for a moment after the kick but then barked at the fenceline once more.
“I don’t see anything,” the first guy said.
“Let’s just go check it out,” the second responded.
“What the fuck ever, I’m over dog duty after tonight,” the first one snapped. “Fuck this dog. I never liked dogs.”
The men used their boots to push the lower razor wire to the ground and climb between it and the upper wire. Then they followed the dog as it sniffed low to the ground. Both men had rifles slung over their shoulders but neither pulled them out. The second guy held the lantern out to try to get a picture of what the dog was sniffing at.
“What the fuck?” the first guy asked as the dog reached the mangled coyotes and tried to pull closer to them.
“How the hell did those--” the second guy’s sentence was cut short as Tara’s first shot hit him straight in the mouth.
“Fuck,” the first guy said as he dropped the dog’s leash and reached around for his rifle. Before he even had a hold on it a bullet pierced his neck as Tara took her second shot. There was the barest sound of her silenced pistol’s slide flying back, and then blood shot from the hole of in the asshole’s neck. He dropped to his knees, but the only sounds he made were gurgles as he bled out and fell forward.
I slowly moved from my position toward the still lit lantern in the hand of Tara’s first victim. I eyed the dog the whole time, but it focused more on the coyote meat than me.
I made my way back to the girls, never turning my back on the dog.
“Good work,” I said as I squeezed Tara’s arm.
“Yeah, Ninja Girl,” Paige added as she grinned at Tara. “Fuck those guys. Who doesn’t like dogs?”
“I’m going to try to get the dog under my control,” I stated. “Move yourselves out in the open with me, but no sudden movements, we don’t want to startle it.”
“Got it,” Tara said.
“Let’s get this cute little thing in a safe place,” Paige added with a smile.
We made our way from behind our cover but Tara and Paige hung back by the treeline. As I approached the dog it began to growl at me but didn’t move from its meal.
�
�It’s okay,” I said softly to the creature. He had a beautiful short brindle coat and a large black head. From the way he chomped down on the coyote he was definitely hungry.
“Stand,” I commanded.
The dog eyed me warily before it stood, a mouthful of meat still in its teeth.
“Good,” I said. “Now stay.”
I reached for the coyote and slowly pulled it toward me. The dog looked down but did not move.
“Heel,” I said as I picked up the meat and walked toward the treeline.
The dog didn’t hesitate this time. He followed me to the treeline where Paige and Tara stood. I picked up his leash and handed it to Paige, along with the coyote.
“Tie him up somewhere close but out of sight of the outpost,” I instructed.
“Come on sweetie,” she said as she led the dog into the dark.
“Pretty impressive,” Tara said with a smile. “Maybe later you can give me some commands.”
“Let’s get through this first,” I laughed.
I scanned the area and saw the light on the other side was still lit. I was sure my girls and Rolly had got the job done, now it was time to take out the .50 cals.
Paige returned with a smile on her face.
“Okay,” she said. “The puppy is all taken care of.”
I raised my eyebrow at her use of the word puppy, but didn’t remark on it.
“Time to take out the guys in the tower,” I said. “You ready?”
Tara made sure her silenced pistol was loaded once more, then they both nodded their agreement.
I pulled a pair of small wire cutters from my back pocket and snipped the razor wire fence. I crept through first and kept close to the fence line as I made my way toward the tower where the .50 cal guy was posted closest to us. Across the clearing, I saw Anna’s team pass through a small lit up section as they too made their way to their assigned guard tower.
I scanned the area as we crept along the fence line and saw that the guards had two campfires set up near the main school building. Around one of them a group of guys sat drinking from dingy beer cans with most of the color worn off. They passed cigarettes back and forth and laughed loud enough to be heard across the clearing. One guy was laid out on his side, he called out to another man that exited from the small gym to the right of the main school building.
None of these guys seemed on edge, and that was good for us.
“You done now, you asshole?” the sprawled out man asked. “Took your sweet ass time in there didn’t you.”
“You would too if you could last any longer,” the other douchebag said as he zipped up his pants.
“Guess it’s my turn now,” the first guy said as he stood and downed his beer. He let out a loud belch and threw the can into the fire. “Don’t wait up boys.”
“Yeah, right,” another guy called out. “I give him five minutes,” he said as he elbowed the guy next to him and they all laughed.
I almost hoped that Bailey’s nerves got the better of her, and she got a few in the chest instead of the head. These assholes deserved to suffer.
I looked around to see if they had any other guards patrolling besides the ones my team and I had just taken down. I didn’t see anyone walking the yard. I didn’t even see anyone with a rifle on them. It seemed the only two left doing a damn thing were the two on guard tower duty. Everyone else had their assault rifles laying on the ground near them or propped up against the picnic table just off to the right of the fires.
I saw that a few had pistols in hip or arm holsters, and anyone who came or went from the small gym kept a pistol on them, but the rest were acting like this was a damn wilderness retreat. Six guys sat at the picnic table playing cards, and those around the second fire were making quick work of some MREs.
I counted seven civilian men still wandering around the camp. Three of them were chopping and stacking wood, and the other four were on the far side of the gym digging what I presumed was going to be a latrine. The men looked worn down, and their clothes hung from them in a way that showed me just how scrawny they had become under these assholes’ care.
One of the men stacking wood tripped, and the wood fell around him. He rolled onto his side and clutched his left arm as he took in a sharp breath.
“Hey!” one of the soldiers called out. “Get the fuck up you dipshit.”
Another of the civilians moved toward the one on the ground, but the soldier pulled his pistol from his hip and waved it at the men.
“Did I fucking stutter?” He asked. “Get the fuck back to work!”
The second civilian quickly picked up the first and helped him gather the wood he had dropped.
“Fucking ungrateful little shits,” the soldier spat. “If they knew what the fuck we had to do to keep their asses fed, they’d work a lot damn harder.”
Another soldier nodded and downed his beer.
“Watch this,” the second soldier said as he stood. He hucked the beer can at the civilians, and they all laughed as it hit the man chopping wood.
The man dropped the ax and looked at the soldier.
“What the fuck are you gonna do?” the soldier taunted, and the first soldier behind him waved his pistol once more.
The civilian shook his head and picked back up the ax.
“That’s what I thought,” the soldier said as he sat down and reached for another beer. “Fuck those guys.”
“He’s just pissed cuz you’re bangin’ his wife,” another soldier said with a laugh.
“Or maybe he’s pissed ‘cuz she likes it so much,” the other one retorted.
I pushed these assholes’ conversation to the back of my mind as I scanned the area for signs of their leader, ‘The Colonel.’ I couldn’t find any and I figured he must have been holed up in one of the buildings. Still, nobody seemed to notice our presence.
Fucking idiots.
As we arrived at the tower, I turned back to Tara and Paige.
“Tara, use your silenced pistol to take out this guy,” I said in a whisper. “Make sure you have a kill shot, we don’t want him to make a sound.”
“With pleasure,” she said with a cold look on her face.
I knew seeing all these assholes up close was going to get to the girls, but I had to trust them to keep a level head and do their jobs. Anna and her team should have been in position, and I knew she would follow my lead.
Tara lined up her shot and pulled the trigger, and the first guy slouched over the .50 cal.
“Tara, make your way to the other tower and get Anna’s team,” I told her.
“Okay,” she nodded, then made her way along the fence towards the opposite tower. She returned a moment later with Anna, Bailey, and Rolly.
“Mission accomplished?” I asked Anna.
“Yeah,” she said. “I climbed the tower and took the guy out with my knife.”
“Good work,” I told her.
I crouched into the darkness and waited for my team to follow suit.
“Okay,” I started. “Now that these guys are taken care of we need to take our second positions.”
“The kid and I got the towers,” Rolly said as he turned to grin at Bailey.
“I’ll find a good position to see the front of the building,” Anna said.
“Try to find one that covers the main building and the gym next to it,” I told her.
“On it,” she said with a nod.
“Most of them are to the right of the main building by the camp fires,” Paige pointed out. “I think two of us should make our way that way and one should get on the other side of Anna.”
“Okay, Tara, you’re with me,” I said. “If anyone gets close enough to you that you can take them out with your blade, do it.”
“Fuck yeah,” she said with a smile. “These assholes deserve a good cut to the jugular.”
“Just don’t make too much noise,” I told her. “You don’t want to give away your position. I need those ninja skills of yours.”
“You
got it boss,” she said with a wink.
“Paige, cover Anna,” I said. “And if you can get the attention of the civilians chopping wood, tell them to run for cover, just be quiet about it.”
“On it,” the brunette responded as she pushed her thick glasses up on her nose.
“There are only seven civilians in the yard,” I said. “The sooner we can get them to safety, the sooner we can take all these assholes out.”
“Should I try to get the attention of the ones digging?” Tara asked.
“No,” I shook my head. “That hole should provide plenty of cover for them. They just have to be smart enough to duck once the firing starts.”
“Anyone in particular I need to take out first?” Bailey asked with a soft smile.
I was glad to see her nerves were doing better. Hearing those cretins talk about the women in the gym probably helped her feel better about putting a few holes in them.
“Anyone who raises a weapon,” I said. “A lot of them don’t have their guns on them so they’ll be scrambling to get to them, but those that do we need to take out first.”
“Got it,” she nodded.
I looked around at the faces of my team. They all stared at me with intense eyes. These women really were warriors, and despite his age Rolly had a fire behind his eyes I’d never seen in him before.
“Remember to check for civilians,” I said. “And make sure you know what’s behind your target.”
They all nodded.
“You got this,” I said. “Now let’s fuck these guys up.”
Anna nodded to Paige, and they made their way to their positions. Rolly and Bailey turned to head towards the towers, but I stopped them with a hand on their arms.
“Don’t be afraid to use those dead guys as cover,” I told them.
“Ew,” Bailey said, and she wrinkled her nose.
“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Rolly said with a smile and then he turned to Bailey. “Let’s do this kid.”
“Right,” she nodded, and they made their way to the towers.
Tara and I used the fence line to make our way towards the campfires. Once we got there, I paused between the two fires and found a nearby tree to perch behind. I sent Tara down farther to the back of the gym building, she nodded at me once she was in position.
