“Here we go,” Tucker said to ready himself. He raised into as much of a sprinter’s starting blocks stance as his cover would permit and bolt for the car. His muscles were still weary from his last encounter, and the vegetation and mud didn’t give him the best traction. Uh, oh! Fat target! Fat Target! He thought as his spine tingled from the feeling that eyes were watching him.
Please, don’t shoot! Please don’t shoot! Please don’t shoot! Tucker prayed. Only a few feet from the car, he heard the sound of a sound of a gun cocking.
Hell, I’m not going to make it! Tucker thought. Anytime now Edge!
With three feet remaining between him and the car, Tucker dove behind it on the opposite side of where he had heard the gun.
Holy hell, I made it! I made it! He rejoiced, silently, elated at his success.
CRACK! The sound of a rifle went off, causing Tucker to jump. Then he heard someone running and returning fire.
Edge watched a section near the base of the cabin, certain that at least one of the two remaining mercs was there, covering the car. Sure enough, as Tucker began to run, Edge saw the movements of someone adjusting to take a shot. It was all Edge needed. Looking down the scope, he saw what looked like an arm; he estimated where the head would be, and once Tucker was safe, he fired. A red spray shot into the air.
Top that Doom, Edge thought, satisfied, as he scanned for the final merc.
Bull popped up and fired towards the sound and muzzle flash of Edge’s shot. Edge rolled away as the bullets splintered the tree. The merc fired into the ground to the left and right of Edge’s location trying to flush him out. It worked, but not as Bull had planned. Edge popped up and hit the man with two solid shots to the shoulder, knocking Bull backward, blood coming from his wound.
“Cover me,” Edge shouted to Tucker as he moved in on Bull.
Tucker leaned on the hood of the car and aimed at the last member of the squad, much more confident now that it the odds were now in their favor for the first time.
Edge approached slowly, gun aimed directly at Bull’s head. He kicked the rifle away and removed the sidearm. Bull put up no resistance.
“That’s some nice high-tech armor,” Edge complimented. “It’s keeping you breathing. Well, painfully, but it beats the alternative.”
Bull sat up slowly, holding his good hand up in surrender.
“We’re clear, Tucker,” Edge called. “Come on over and let's have a chat with our friend here.”
Tucker came walking up to them; his gun still pointed at Bull. The SAS soldier just looked to Edge.
“This must be the pussy analyst,” Bull said, trying to get a rise out of Tucker.
Tucker ignored the barb and Edge indicated that Tucker should keep his gun trained on the prisoner.
Kneeling a few feet from Bull on his wounded side, Edge asked, “Who are you and what do you want?” Bull remained silent, raised his eyebrows and gave the one finger salute.
“I had to try,” Edge said, to no one in particular.
He turned back to address Bull. “I’m sure that shoulder hurts like a bitch, but there’s a reason I shot you there instead of in the head. You have information in your possession that we believe should be in our possession, and if you tell me what I want, I promise to let you live,” Edge mocked, throwing Bull’s earlier words back in his face.
Bull just stared at Edge.
“Now, I know a lot of ways to make that wound feel a lot worse than what it does, but I don’t want to do that. If, however, I don’t get some information soon, I’m going to get frustrated and then, I can promise you it’s going to get messy. Plus I’m sure I’m sure that I could find some interesting creature out here that could make things really nasty.
Bull stubbornly remained silent.
Standing up, Edge took his rifle, drove the butt into Bull’s face and stabbed at his shoulder wound. Bull snarled in pain but still said nothing.
Tucker was shocked at Edge’s unexpected brutality. Is the same guy who told me that I was intimidating and treated that kid like a father earlier this afternoon? And now he’s beating this man without mercy.
“Well, Tucker,” said Edge, “sometimes pain isn’t the right tool for the job. This one’s got way too much macho to ever give in to that. Maybe we should try an alternate approach, like cutting his balls off and giving him a high voice.”
“Y’ know,” he continued, addressing Bull, “it’s going to be really hard to get your men to take you seriously if you sound like an eight-year—old girl when you give orders.”
“You want to know who we are?” Bull finally growled. “We are the guardians of the world and enforcers of change. And you have yet to see what we want!” With that, he quickly pressed a button attached to a black band around his left wrist.
Tucker and Edge instinctively jumped back with their weapons aimed at the agent, wondering what he was doing.
Bomb? Both men wondered, backing a few steps further, ready to run for cover.
Looking up at them from his back, Bull taunted, “You will see us again! We will never stop!” Then his body began to jolt and convulse, his eyes rolled back into his head, and blood flowed from his nose. Within seconds he was dead.
“What... the fuck... was that?!” Tucker shouted, staring at the corpse.
“Some kind of suicide device to be used if they’re captured. I’ve heard of such things being used before, generally by secret societies and spies. It prevents them from cracking under torture and revealing whatever they know,” Edge responded as he knelt down to inspect the device on Bull’s wrist.
After a moment, Edge stood up and looked squarely into Tucker’s eyes. “Tucker, what is going on here? This is much larger than some Turkish terrorist leader being killed.”
“I honestly don’t know,” Tucker admitted. “But I intend to find out. I’m hoping Arslan’s video will tell us what this is about and make all… this… worth it.”
As the rain continued to drizzle on them, the two stood overlooking the dead soldier’s body, contemplating the depth of this case.
What else should I expect to happen? Tucker wondered.
RISE of the PHOENIX: Act II - Available Now
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A Scare-Kratia Productions:
Other Works by Dameon Gibbs
The Hole: Book I-V
The World Around Them
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Rise of the Phoenix Page 19