“They’re still distributing the weapons. You done with that rope yet? We have to get to the other side of this ridge.”
“Good enough.” I put the coil of rope over my shoulder and sprinted for the top of the hill.
Black was right behind me with both packs. We crested the hill in a matter of seconds. The other side was steeper than I anticipated and my feet slipped out from under me. I hit the ground hard and slid a few feet.
“You okay?” Black asked when I stopped sliding.
“Yeah,” I groaned.
I rolled over and saw him lying on his stomach peering over the edge of the hill with my binoculars, our packs beside him. I climbed back up to the top.
“Going to be a challenge to hide my slide down the hill,” I complained quietly.
“I doubt they’ll find it any time soon. Looks like they’re setting up camp. It’s a good defensible position and they can see a lot from the tower, if they keep watch. We’ll have to stay on the far side of this ridge for now.”
He handed me my binoculars and I scanned the tower area. He was right. They were setting up camp, all except two of them. They were scouting on ahead and I could see they followed our trail.
“We’ve got scouts.” I handed him the binoculars and he took a look.
“Better get going, then,” he said as he stuffed the binoculars back into my pack. “Stay low.” He slid down the hill on his butt.
Chapter Ten
We hiked steadily until darkness fell. Then we sat down, each with our backs to the same tree. Neither of us removed our packs. Instead, we used them, as well as the tree, for a backrest.
“Take a nap. I’ll keep watch for the first hour, then I’ll get a little rest and we can head out again when the moon comes up.”
I followed my orders and woke up to Black’s deep voice near my face, “Up. Quietly.”
The moon hadn’t risen yet and I could barely see Black in the darkness, but I could hear some rustling in the distance. Black and I moved to the opposite side of the tree from the noise. He quietly unzipped my pack that was still on my back and took out my binoculars. He switched on the night vision mode and did a sweep.
I stayed as close to the tree as possible until he said, “Think it’s a moose.”
He handed me the binoculars. When I put them to my eyes I realized he’d switched over to infrared at some point and I could clearly see a moose nearby.
Black had already sat back down on the ground near my feet, so I joined him.
“Yep. Moose.” I sighed.
“Get some more sleep,” he said.
“No. You take your turn. I’m not going to be able to sleep again for a while. I’ll wake you when it gets brighter.”
“You sure?” he asked.
“Positive.”
The moose stayed nearby for quite some time and I kept jumping at the sounds and scanning the area with my binoculars. Finally, the moon lit up the sky and I gently nudged Black awake.
“The moose is gone and it’s been pretty quiet for a while now. You want to head out?”
“We better get some more distance between us and them. I suspect if the scouts were able to track us after we started covering our tracks they didn’t come any nearer than the cliff face. It was getting dark and that was a hell of a climb with good light. According to the map, the cliff extends at least a mile north of where we ascended. If the scouts are following protocol, they won’t stray too far from the rest of the men.”
He turned his back to me. “Get the map from my pack.”
He cupped his light so it wouldn’t be so noticeable as he did a quick scan of the map.
“If we follow this little valley we’re already in, and move hard, we might be able to make the rendezvous spot by tomorrow. But, that means we’ll leave an easy trail for them to track.” He waited for my input.
“With us not having any weapons, I think our best bet is to haul ass to the cache. If we move fast, we should definitely be able to stay in front of them.” I said. “I worry about those two sniper rifles more than anything else, but I think our only chance is to get our weapons and then get under cover. After we have our weapons, as long as I find a sniper rifle,” I mused, “we can ambush them when they hit the clearing.”
“We have to call in the code before we can take the offensive.” Black’s voice startled me a bit.
“I don’t see how that’s a problem. We’ll call it in after they’re already in range. Then, with our end fulfilled we can take the offensive. If we have at least one sniper rifle I should be able to take out at least five of them before they know what hit ‘em, maybe more with the laser sight since it has a faster reaction time than bullets.” I’d slipped deep into my thoughts. “If we can just get to the cache at least half an hour before they do, that should give me enough time to find a good location—” I grinned as I watched it unfold in my mind.
“You sound pretty confident.” Black’s voice brought me back to reality.
“Do you think there will be a sniper rifle in the cache?” I asked.
“Yes. We each get a pistol and then we’ll get our choice of rifles, but we can only take one each. You sure you want to lug a sniper rifle as we chase after them?”
“Yeah. I’m best with the sniper rifle.”
“Sounds good. Lets get a move on. You take the lead.”
I set out with a purpose. There was a sniper rifle out there with my name on it and I was determined to get to it as quickly as possible.
I pushed on until late morning before Black called a temporary halt so we could eat and get some fluids down. I finished my MRE as fast as I could and not just because I couldn’t stand the taste. I knew we didn’t have much chance of making it out of here alive until we had weapons and permission to defend ourselves.
Black climbed to a higher spot for a better view.
“No signs,” he said when he rejoined me.
“I hate not knowing where they are,” I complained.
“Me too.”
“We better get back to it.” We each took another swig from our canteens and then headed out again.
We stopped periodically, so Black could sweep the area for any signs of our pursuers but by early afternoon we still hadn’t seen any signs of them and we’d found the other tower with our cache. We approached cautiously. It wasn’t likely, but it was possible the opposing force had guessed our destination and were lying in wait.
“I’m going to go for it,” I told Black after we’d sat on the outskirts of the clearing for five minutes.
“If they take me out, you’ll know they are out there and you can get out of here.” Then I realized. “There’s no winning for us if we don’t get this code.”
“Nope. If they get you now, we’re done.”
“Crap,” I said.
“Give me your pack.” He held out his hand and I complied. Then he said, “Run fast, climb fast and grab that code.” With that, he ran out into the clearing carrying my pack and I sprinted out after him. He ran in a zigzag and I did the same. I made the tower in only a few seconds and sprinted up the ladder. If they were going to take me, now would be the time.
I reached the top and my alarm wasn’t going off. I flipped open the box and grabbed the code and two pistols and shoved them in my pockets. Then I grabbed up one of the sniper rifles. I called down to Black, “Sniper rifle or automatic?”
“Auto,” he called back.
I slung the two rifles over my back. It was awkward climbing back down. The guns wanted to get caught up in my legs. I was thankful I didn’t still have my pack on. That would have made the climb down even harder. Ten feet from the ground, Black called out to drop his rifle. He caught it and slung it over his shoulder.
When I reached the ground we each grabbed our own packs, sprinted to the opposite edge of the clearing and took cover behind some trees. I pulled out the code and one of the pistols and handed them to Black.
He pulled out his map and asked me where I wanted to
set up. I didn’t even glance at the map and pointed off behind us. “I saw a great spot when I was up in the tower. It’s not too far that way.”
“Did you happen to see any movement when you were up there?”
“No, I didn’t. I thought the tower might be a good spot to make our stand. But I think we’ll be better off up there. It’s a bit of a climb so we better hurry.”
“Lead on,” he said.
It took us half an hour to reach the locale I’d seen from the tower but once in position I said, “Those towers aren’t in the best spots for fire spotting.”
“No, they’re strictly used for this type of exercise.” He pointed off to our left. “There’s a real fire tower over there. They put them on the highest peaks so they can see everything.” I could barely see it off in the distance.
Black brought his binoculars to his eyes and searched the area while I made myself comfortable in the prone position and started my own search through my scope.
“There,” Black said, pointing in the general direction of the tower we’d recently left.
I drew my vision from my scope and followed the line of his finger. He pointed in the general direction of the tower we’d recently left. The men were coming in hard on our trail.
“You’re sure about this?” Black asked.
He held the radio near his face and dug in his pocket for the code.
“Yep.”
“Let me know when you want me to radio it in.” He readied himself in the prone position with the radio and code in one hand, the rifle under the other hand and his eye on his scope.
I watched. The men hesitated on the edge of the clearing trying to find concealment behind the brush. I expected them to send one out to the tower and then follow when they thought it was clear. That’s when I’d get them. I’d have to take the tower first. I waited.
The men spread out in a half circle around the clearing with their two snipers on either end of the line and the two scouts were actively searching for our trail. Realizing they were taking up defensive positions around the tower I changed my plan of attack. The man on point was scouring the area with his binoculars. I decided he’d be the first to go because he’d be the one most likely to pinpoint my position after I made my first shot.
“Ready,” I told Black.
“Geronimo,” he said into the radio.
As soon as he said it, I watched the men scramble and I pulled the trigger. One… two… three… four… five… six… seven… eight… nine… ten. I counted in my head as I fired.
The silence of the weapon and the lack of a kick was unnerving. I stared through my scope for a full minute. It wasn’t just the silence of the gun that was disconcerting. Black hadn’t said anything either.
I pulled my eye from the scope. Black stared at me.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing. Ready to go?”
“Yep.” I stood and waited for him to lead us down the hill. As we hiked down, I worried that I shouldn’t have shown him what I was capable of, and was having a hard time reading his silence. Black was normally quiet and to the point, but the look he’d given me kept replaying in my mind.
Descending the hill didn’t take nearly as long as going up and we were back at the edge of the clearing within fifteen minutes.
He stopped and said, “That was very impressive, Commander Grey. I didn’t pull my trigger once. Have you been practicing?”
“Every chance I get.” I didn’t lie.
He nodded, raised his eyebrows, and donned a knowing grin. “How about we head back to Headquarters tonight? There’s a road to the east of here. It’s less than a quarter of a mile away. I could call in for transport.”
“Sounds good to me,” I said.
Black pulled out his radio and changed the frequency before speaking into it. When he finished, we walked into the clearing together. The men milled about until they caught sight of us, then they fell into ranks and stood at attention. As soon as we stopped they all saluted.
Black and I didn’t salute back and Black said, “At ease. The mission is completed. Our rides will be here shortly. Lets get to the road and get home.”
A resounding “Yes, sir!” from the men set us in motion toward the road.
We were all back at Headquarters within the hour. After we’d filed out of the vehicles, Black addressed the group.
“Good job, men. Too bad you couldn’t win.” He paced in front of them. “There will be no discussion about this training op between you until all of the testing is complete. Is this clear?” He wasn’t yelling, but his tone made me cringe.
“Yes, sir!” they said in unison.
“Dismissed!” He yelled.
The salute they gave made Black’s brow furrow and he looked at me accusingly.
“Who the hell keeps telling them to salute?”
“Not me,” I said with a grin.
“We need to talk.” He marched into the building and straight to my room.
I sat at the table and waited for him to start talking.
“You aren’t going to make us some coffee?”
I shuffled out of my chair and rummaged through the kitchenette until I found the coffee and started a pot brewing.
“There.” I regained my seat. “What did you want to talk about?”
“I’d only planned on the one time out, but we’re here and have the time. Do you want to do it again?” He asked.
“Sure.” I shrugged.
“It’s a little unfair to the other recruits, since we’ve already run the course, but,” he smiled, “I had fun.”
“I missed the trees.” I sighed.
“I missed it all.” He added and the two of us sat quietly until the coffee was brewed. I got up and retrieved us each a cup and we savored our first couple of sips.
“I didn’t think you’d done anything like this before.”
“I haven’t,” I lied.
While we finished our coffee he made a couple calls to set up our next excursion.
“Get some rest. We’ll leave first thing in the morning.”
We cycled through three more teams of ten with the exact same outcome. Not one team was able to out maneuver us at the last clearing. Even though the end result was the same, each run was unique. We decided to leave a clear path for all of the men to follow so they’d be close on our heels and we wouldn’t have to wait too long for them to get to the last tower before we picked them off. One of the teams sent a single man to the tower to do some scouting before they came at us. If only the outfits we wore would have allowed for some camo we wouldn’t have been located. All the same, we took them out as they crossed the clearing to get to us.
With the fourth exercise complete, Black and I sat in my room at Headquarters, sipping our ritual after mission cup of coffee. Four pots wouldn’t alleviate my exhaustion. A full night in a real bed is what I needed.
“What would you say to switching it up a bit?” he asked.
“What do you have in mind?”
“You didn’t need me out there. You seem to work better alone.”
“You want me to do the next one alone?”
“Not quite.” His eyes narrowed.
“What then?” His expression made me more than a little nervous. What did he have planned?
“I’ll give you a full day head start.”
“Just you and me?”
“No. Just you and us.”
“You mean the entire compound?” I was flabbergasted.
“No, just the men that we’ve taken through once before.”
“Are you nuts? That’s forty men. I’d never make it back.”
“Forty-one,” He pointed to his own chest. “And, I’m not so sure. You’ve already taken them all out once before. Did you realize I didn’t pull my trigger once? I specifically didn’t even try after our first outing.”
“What? You didn’t even try to help me?” I put my hands on my hips.
“When you took ten men out in less than
ten seconds, I was curious. You even went through the motions of pulling back the bolt with each shot as if you were really taking the shot. You could’ve taken them even faster had you just pulled the trigger, like the gun allows.”
“Were you trying to get me killed out there? We were supposed to be a team.”
“We were never acting as a team, I was just a weight around your neck each time out. I watched you. You could have done it alone, and done it better.”
Was this a veiled accusation?
“I’m a team player.”
“I know that, and that’s why I never got shot. I’m not saying you’re not a team player. What I’m saying is that I think we found your true calling. You’re a hunter. You didn’t hesitate, you didn’t flinch, you didn’t stop.”
I sat quietly. If I could have a full day head start I could probably make a nice dent in his troop.
“Think of it as an experiment.” Black interrupted my thoughts.
“Your experiment.” I added.
“Yes. Mine. I can’t help it. I’m curious. I think you could take out more than half of us before we get you.”
Why am I even considering this?
I couldn’t take them all at once. I might have gotten them all in groups of ten, but this was forty men and Black. Yet, the temptation to try was strong. I kept replaying possible scenarios through my mind.
“Do all of my kills have to be with the rifle or pistol?”
“No. If you can get up close and personal and inflict a killing blow, it’ll count. But, only if you promise to be careful. I don’t need any training accidents on my hands.”
“Are we talking twenty-four hours or twelve hours as a full day?”
“Probably sixteen hours. Normal waking hours.”
“It’s going to be really hard without any real camo.”
“So? Tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow sounds like a good day to die,” I answered.
Chapter Eleven
Midnight and my alarm beeped on the nightstand. My pack was right next to my bed and I’d slept in my clothes. In one solid motion I shut off the alarm, got out of the bed and slung my pack over my shoulder. About two seconds later I knocked loudly on Black’s door.
Traces of Grey: Book Four of The Alexis Stanton Chronicles Page 11