Brian looked at his watch and cringed. He had been hoping the party would continue to cover the sound of the truck’s return in the quiet of the night. He watched as one after another retrieved bed-rolls then began bedding down. The fire waned and became little more than a red glow of coals. He checked his watch again and realized it had been almost forty minutes. He heard a snap of a branch in the distance and turned to see five shadows making their way toward his hiding place. “Damn!” He cursed under his breath.
He eased back into the shadows and waited. Each of the figures approaching clutched weapons. Real quickly he recognized Leon, Juan, and Billy. Then he saw the two women following a few feet behind the three men.
“Crap.” He whispered as he slipped out of the shadows and duck-walked back down the side of the road to meet the five members of his group at the base of the hill. When he met them, he realized each carried a bladed weapon and a gun.
“We brought both vehicles. They’re parked a quarter mile down the road. The girls didn’t want to be left alone, and after a discussion, we decided it was better to stay together.”
“This is not a fucking democracy!” Brian declared. He took a deep breath through his nose and exhaled through his parted lips. Finally, he spoke again. “Alright, you’re all here, so all the dry-firing is going to pay off or not. We have a dozen bad guys. We have to make sure to take them all out to save the two captives.”
The two women stood staring at him while gasping for breath after running from the vehicles.
“I need to get in shape.” Margo quipped.
“What are you two doing here?” Brian demanded.
“My fault. Leon told us what happened. Those women are going to be scared. We can help.” Margo answered.
“Besides, what if you aren’t successful? If you fail, we’re left to fend for ourselves. We need to help just to protect ourselves.”
“We loaded up the rest of our supplies and brought both vehicles,” Juan announced. “Just in case.”
“Well, that was a vote of confidence.” Admitting defeat, Brian held up his hands, palms out. “When the shooting starts, I’ll take out the guard. You get to the girls. The keys for the chain are in the shirt pocket of the guard. Get them and head back this way. If you see anyone besides one of us coming over the hill, get in the truck and leave. You have the map. Dump the big truck as soon as you can and keep going. Don’t come back because we’ll be dead. Get as far away from here as you can.”
Margo gave a quick nod then she and Paula stepped aside.
“Okay boss. What’s the plan?” Leon asked.
Brian outlined his plan. “We got twelve men, four are on guard duty. We each take care of a guard and take their place. I’ll hunker down from the little rise over there and take out as many as I can with the silenced rifle. Soon as the closest guards are taken out, Margo and Paula gets the girls and, take them out of here. I only have half a dozen shells, so we take out the rest by hand. No guns if we can help it.”
Leon leaned close. “Stab them?”
“Use the knife.” Brian pointed to his back at the kidney. “The pain will keep them from calling out giving you time to grab their head and slit their throat.”
“Shit!” Juan whispered.
Brian looked to Billy then studied each Leon and Juan. “If you can’t do this, we walk away. Billy and I can’t do this by ourselves.”
“No.” Leon looked at Juan, and he nodded. “We can do it, boss.”
Charlotte Hoaks. . . .(C. A. Hoaks) 