"What's the matter? Scared of a little water?"
He began to laugh as it became clear he had put some safe distance between the two. But the enemy was soon looking around, surveying the scene for a way around. Ross followed its gaze. Water stretched out in both directions as far as the eye could see.
"That's right. You go around. I'll be waiting!" Ross taunted his opponent, though the truth was he had no answer for the enemy. This fall was a stroke of luck. He swam for the shore, glad that the current was weak. He hauled himself out and shook off as much water as possible.
"Goddamn it," he said, looking at his dripping uniform. He'd only just managed to get dry after hours of walking in soaking clothes. A wet uniform seemed the least of his worries with the enemy hot on his tail, but hiking in sodden clothes was never a nice experience.
He looked to where his enemy had been watching him, but it had gone. That sent a shiver down his spine. The question was, where? He needed to keep moving, but he was even more tired than before. He set off into yet more forestry, blindly hoping to find friends or at least allies. He went on for an hour when he came to a sharp drop with a rock canyon below and a small river running in the centre. A little along the way a fifty-metre fallen tree bridged the drop. He looked back and forth. It was the only chance to cross.
He groaned, realising what he had to do. It was a crappy option. He paced over cautiously to the fallen tree. It was old and broad, providing a walkway at least a metre wide. Plenty enough for him, but he peered over the edge. It was a long way down, and much of the fall would be on rocks. He wasn’t keen on heights. He never admitted that, and got on with it because that it part of his job, but this was different. He took a deep breath and prepared mentally for this new challenge. But as he exhaled, he heard a rustling in the trees at his back. He didn't wait to find out what was coming, for he had a pretty good idea.
"Goddamn it, can't I catch a single break?"
He rushed up onto the fallen tree and began his perilous crossing. The tree creaked beneath his feet, and then a violent crack rang out as if it was going to collapse. He stopped, waiting and hoping. A few seconds later, he was satisfied he could continue. His pulse was racing. He hated where he was, but knew his attacker was close on his heels. He made it half way across when he heard what sounded like a growl behind him. He froze. The enemy was at the end of the tree where he had started crossing. It was waiting and watching. It seemed to be evaluating the situation. All the time thinking, as if it were a living being, not like the robots they had fought since this began.
These larger soldiers are on a different level. Are they the ones in charge? They’re not just more powerful and well armoured, but also much smarter.
He smiled as it looked as if the creature was scared to follow him. So he carried on nearer to the far side when he felt a strong vibration through the tree. He froze. The soldier had stepped up onto it and taken a few steps forward, not yet over the canyon, but close to it.
Well, shit!
There was no stopping the creature now, but the wood creaked loudly beneath his feet once again. He smiled as an idea came to him. It wasn't a good one, but it was all he had.
"Come on!"
He gestured with his hands, trying to lure the soldier forward. He wondered if it understood English, although the other soldiers they had met clearly did.
"What are you waiting for? Come on, come at me!"
He went a few more paces as close to the far side as possible, turning back to taunt the enemy further.
"What's wrong with you? Scared to come after me? Come on!"
His words seemed to have the desired effect, and the creature finally came forward. It was pacing cautiously, but even with its light footing, it could not hide its weight. Every step sent a heavy vibration through the tree. Ross kept his eye on his opponent as he backed off further, finally reaching solid ground. He drew out his grenade and held it up in full view for the enemy to see.
"Hey, asshole!"
The beast stopped and fixated on the grenade. He gripped the pin with the other hand, ready to draw it. The creature suddenly leapt forward and sprinted towards him. He smiled, as he had no intention of using the grenade. The hulking enemy soldier reached the middle of the tree when there was an almighty crack that sounded like a gunshot. The tree snapped at its feet. Ross turned and leapt from it as the broken parts plunged into the valley below. He could feel it lifting beneath his feet as he leapt as far as he could. He hit the ground hard, his feet still dangling over the edge. He turned over just in time to see the remains of the tree slide over the edge. He crawled to the edge and peered over as it crashed down below.
"Where are you?" he whispered.
But as the dust settled he could make out the enemy soldier, flat on its back against a rock face, and crushed by one end of the fallen tree.
"That's right, you son of a bitch!" he yelled triumphantly with a wide smile on his face.
He got up and once more slipped the grenade back into his webbing. He was still marvelling at his work when he noticed a glimmer of movement on the bank on the other side. In dismay he could see what he had feared, another soldier, the same kind that lay dead at the base of the valley.
"Well, shit again!"
It was staring at him, but he had no idea why.
"What do you want from me!" he yelled across the valley. It echoed out across the open space, "Why are you even here?"
There was no reply. It was studying him, before looking around at the terrain for some way to get to him.
"Good luck finding a way round, ass hole!"
Chapter 7
"You're lucky you made it out alive." Kelly wrapped a fresh dressing around Donny's hand.
"Frankly, it's a miracle by the sound of it," said Emma.
Dunn looked sheepish, and yet nodded in agreement.
"So, they're setting traps for us now?" Ramos asked.
"It’s hardly surprising. We've been a pain in the ass since they arrived. I get the impression they weren't expecting much of a fight, but here we are," replied Donny.
"How can we go on like this? If they're already targeting us, we don't have the manpower for this kind of fight," said Kelly.
"Then we need to get it."
They all knew what Donny meant, and what it cost last time.
"We don't have the means to launch that kind of operation again," said Ramos.
"Really? What have we got left to lose? We're being picked off out here. We have the weapons stashed, but we need soldiers, people willing and able to fight back. We can't keep going like this. We need help."
"And if we fail. We can't afford to lose a single person. What happens when an assault like that fails, and we are two of three down? What then?" Kelly asked.
"Then we don't fail. We can keep going on like this, getting our asses kicked. Losing more people all the time, or we can take our chances and maybe make a difference."
He was looking at Kelly for answers, but she knew she was the wrong person for it. She wasn't a soldier and knew next to nothing about what they were facing and how to fight against it. She looked to Ramos for help.
"Well, what's it going to be?" Donny asked him.
"We can't think about an attack on an enemy position right now. We can't even secure ourselves. We keep moving, re-establish ourselves at a safe location, and work from there."
"And if they keep chasing us, and there is no safe location?"
"I don't have all the answers, you think you do?"
He was still angry at the loss of Ross. He wanted to believe he was still alive, yet increasingly coming to the conclusion he would have heard by now if that were a possibility.
"Are we gonna fight on our feet, or just keep getting knocked down one by one?"
Kelly and Ramos looked angry at the division he was causing. Kelly moved to say something, but Ramos got ahead of her.
"We keep moving forward. We're not in any position to launch an attack on anything. We need to
find shelter and refuge. I hope the day comes when we can fight back, but that isn't now. They won this battle. We lost, and we have to accept that. Accept we are in a shit situation. We need to re-group and re-evaluate. We will come back from this, but we have to be smart about it."
Donny looked to his brother for support, but found none. None of them wanted to go looking for a fight.
"So what do we do?" Lee asked Ramos.
"Go into hiding, stay away from trouble," said Ortiz.
Ramos nodded in agreement.
"You can't be serious?" Donny asked.
But many in the group were also nodding in agreement.
“On your feet, we’re moving out, now!” Ramos boomed.
Donny wanted to say more, but Ramos looked angry, and wasn’t going to let him continue. They began yet another trek to nowhere. Hoping to find the farm they were looking for. Their morale was poor, reflected in their speed as they trudged on, seemingly without purpose. As they came over a ridge, they all froze, spotting bodies on the ground. Donny went down to one knee as Ramos surveyed the scene. The bodies were human and civilian.
“Wait!” Ramos shouted as some of the group went forward. They’d recognised the bodies, and there was nothing he could do to stop them. So he followed. Emma rolled a body over, and they all recognised who it was.
“Whitely,” she said with sadness.
“This is all of ‘em,” said Lee.
“Poor bastards,” said Jay.
“Poor, more like stupid. We told them not to leave.”
“That wasn’t our choice to make,” replied Ortiz.
Donny ignored him and tried to appeal to the others, the people of Wood Point.
“We can fight these assholes. We have proven that. We have to stop running, and we have to fight. There are people out there who need our help!”
“You can’t help them when you’re dead,” said Ortiz.
A whistle echoed amongst them, and they knew what that meant. They leapt into action. Ramos pointed with hand signals, and they fanned out, taking up defensive positions. A runner rushed into the group. He knelt down beside Ramos to relay the news.
"We've got enemy approaching."
"How many?"
"Half a dozen maybe."
"A scouting party?"
"It looks that way."
"Are we going to run from them, too?"
A scolding look from his younger brother was enough for Donny to stay silent.
"They must have come looking for us," replied Kelly.
"We can't move without them noticing," Ramos said.
"Then we go at them, take them out," she replied.
"Yes," Payne said firmly.
He was smiling and clearly liked that idea, wanting some payback.
"You see, these people, they want to fight," insisted Donny.
"Because they have to. We all want to survive, doesn't mean we want to get our heads blown off for no reason," replied Lee.
"But..."
"Enough," snapped Ramos, "This threat must be dealt with quickly. We have to move on and find a safe location. These assholes are in the way, so we’re gonna take them out, you hear?"
He nodded in agreement.
"All right, which way are they heading?"
"East, just a few hundred metres South of us right now."
"Follow me, and nobody fires without orders, unless you are fired upon, you hear me?"
There was universal agreement, yet as many looked terrified of the fight as did welcome it. Donny was one of the latter. He no longer cared about his own life. He wasn't convinced any of them were going to survive this whole mess, but he was eager to get some payback while they still could. They rushed after Ramos, following him to an embankment where they took cover. Jay was conversing with Ramos, but Donny was too far back to hear what they were saying. He was excited, though, eager to get some blood from the enemy that had made them suffer so much. Ramos gestured for them to stay down, but he couldn't help but stay high and wait for some sight of them.
"Don't rush this. Nobody fires until I do. Pass it along."
Ramos’ words echoed down the line. Jay looked terrified, barely able to speak, and that made Donny smile. He remembered what he was like when he first faced this enemy. He was terrified, unable to move, and now he welcomed them. In the back of his mind he knew that was a bad thing, but he was glad to no longer be living in fear. Ramos pointed for them to get down again as the point man of the enemy came up over a crest ahead.
Donny went down, still keeping his head above the ridge to be able to watch them. He felt his hands clench around his rifle as his pulse rose. Pain surged through his wounded hand, but he didn't let that stop him. He watched with anticipation as the soldiers advanced unknowingly. A dozen of them, a common unit size from what they had seen before.
"No survivors, you hear me?"
Donny could just about make out Ramos’ words, but the command was relayed along the line like the last one. He lifted his rifle onto the ridge, taking aim at the point man. The enemy were still oblivious to their presence, and he smiled.
"Wait for it..." whispered Ramos.
The enemy soldiers were five metres below them, but getting ever closer, and in full view.
Wait..."
Ramos took aim. He watched intently as their leader squeezed the trigger and finally the first shot rang out. He was right back to his sight, firing within a second of that shot. In his impatience he was off target and struck a nearby tree.
"Damn it," he snarled at himself.
He focused and took aim again as his target was about to return fire. Two shots rang out, and the soldier went down. The scene lit up as bursts of gunfire rang out, sounding like simultaneous gunfire. Bullets rained down on the enemy in a ferocious attack, half of their number down before they could even respond. Two went for cover, while four simply stood their ground and returned fire. A shot went right over Donny's head, and he made sure to target its firer next. He fired two shots, but was slightly off centre, and struck its left arm. The soldier staggered back, raising its weapon with its right arm as if to fire back. He took aim at its head and fired a well-aimed shot, and it went down.
Two more in the open went down as the last few returned fire. All three were digging in now. Ortiz drew out a grenade and primed it, launching it with pinpoint accuracy. It landed right among them and behind their cover. The charge blew. One was killed outright, another blown out from cover, and finished by a burst of fire from three rifles. Only one remained, and Donny leapt over the ridge, rushing down to close with the last target.
"Donny, stop!" Ramos yelled.
But he would not. He rushed fearlessly and foolishly towards the entrenched enemy, forgoing his own cover and comrades. He wanted blood, wanted to see them suffer. He fired on the move to keep the enemy in cover, closing the distance at remarkable speed. Finally, he reached the tree and took the bend. The enemy swung its rifle at him like a club, with a blade extended like a sword bayonet. His eyes widened in surprise and horror. He didn't have time to fire, and it wouldn't have stopped the momentum either way. He dropped and rolled under the weapon as is narrowly passed over his head. He landed unceremoniously on his back, but at least he was still alive. He lifted his weapon and fired a burst into the soldier before it could recover its weapon. It slumped down dead beside him.
He was still flat on his back when Ramos reached him. He said nothing first and checked the enemy was finished. He looked furiously at Donny, yet still offered out his hand to help him to his feet.
“What are you trying to do here?”
Donny shrugged. He wasn’t even sure. He was angry and anxious all the time.
“Do you want to die? Do you want to get yourself killed?”
Donny was struggling to find the answers for himself, let alone anyone else. He never could have imagined doing what he did.
“I, I wasn’t thinking.”
“No shit. You listen to me. You are under my command, and yo
u’ll follow my orders, do you get me?”
“Hey, back off, all right?” Lee pushed in between them.
Ramos looked to the others to get some sense of how the group was feeling. They didn’t look to be in support of Donny’s actions, but neither did they want to see him scolded for them. They looked weary of it all, downtrodden, and he understood that feeling well, because he felt it, too. Donny could see that and seized his opportunity.
“Look what we achieved here. We can fight this. We can fight back. We just nailed a whole squad of these assholes without a single casualty. We have to stop doubting ourselves. Stop running.”
“Like how, how would you proceed?”
“Go after the next camp with everything we’ve got. We owe it to them, and we need them, too. We can’t keep going on like this. Our numbers are dwindling all the time. We have to do something big. We’re gonna die anyway if we keep running. I say we go back and break out some more of our friends. There’s an army waiting to join us. They just need our help to set them free. These are our people. Good people. They’ll fight for this town and for us all. What do you say?”
There was silence, but then Kelly sternly replied.
“No.”
Donny went to respond, but he couldn’t get a word in.
“Don’t be so foolish. We got hammered back there. Don’t be under any illusions. The only thing we’re trying to do here is survive. We don’t have the strength or capacity to carry out any kind of operation. We can barely look after ourselves. We must find somewhere to hold up. Recover, heal some wounds, gather supplies, and re-think this.”
“You saw what we did. We can beat these assholes.”
“That was nothing, an opportunistic ambush on a scouting party. You’re talking about going to war,” replied Ramos.
“Yes, and why not?”
“Because I won’t lead these people to their deaths.”
Lethal Strike Page 6