The Road to Round Mountain II - The Alliance: By C.G Roberts

by C. G. Roberts

  computer.

  “Bill, you asked, what are we supposed to do and my answer to that is another question? Are you willing to go with me to keep Billy safe”? The Captain went on another pacing spree with the bottle of Wild Turkey in hand. He turned towards the Sheriff, swallowed a healthy gulp and replied, “I believe that I’ve drank just enough courage to say, you bet your ass I’ll help”. That was the old Bill Ackers that the Sheriff had hoped to appear.

  “Where is that blip located at”, Ackers asked? The Sheriff gave a quick look and replied, “They’re in Bend, and the sooner we get moving the better”. The Captain pointed at his closet, “my ready bags in there”. “So grab it and let’s go and I’ll tell you about my contacts four friends that will meet us there”. “You mean in Bend”, Ackers inquired? “Try and keep up; we’re going to Round Mountain”, as the

  Sheriff unplugged the flash drive and slipped it in his shirt pocket and got up and started heading for the front door. Ackers sat there for a second, shook his head as he got up and retrieved his ready bag from the closet; he closed his office door just as the sheriff was telling him to hurry up, “Coming Mother”, The Captain replied and joined the Sheriff in the parking lot.

  19

  I was fumbling around on the ladder trying to figure out how much further to

  go, as the darkness beneath me took away my sense of adventure. Finally feeling solid footing under my feet, I heard a small click and the faintest of light appeared. Upon the sight of what awaited me, I stumbled back into the wooden ladder, lost my footing and ended up on my butt. It took a moment before I realized I wasn’t being abducted by aliens as my four colleagues stood there staring, wondering what was wrong with me. They made no mention that they were putting on night vision goggles as I was climbing down.

  There before me stood four replicas of the creepy killer in “Silence of the

  Lambs”. I was hoping no one wanted me to put anything in the “Basket”. I got up off my seat, brushed off some dust and realizing my pants were dry despite their efforts. “Sorry dude, we couldn’t wait for you to get down here”, Brad offered. I gave a quick wave to acknowledge that it was no big deal, when I noticed an open locker filled with rifles, or at least was filled as everyone had one except me.

  Vargas tossed me a rifle, though I have no idea what kind it is. Gary handed me a set of night vision goggles. This escape room was tiny as it was an effort not to bump into someone when you turned. The lone light actually gave off very little, but enough to see that the room was maybe eight feet by ten feet, and all walls and floor made of wood; very old wood as it seemed to creak in agony every time

  someone moved.

  Miles was over by the wall just to the right of the locker of rifles and pushed.

  The wall gave a small hiss while opening like a door. Miles went through first

  followed by Brad, and then Gary grabbed my arm to escort me through as Vargas

  killed the light and brought up the caboose.

  Now I know why Gary grabbed my arm as it was pitch dark in this tunnel or whatever it was we were going through. It had a damp and musty smell to it. We came to a halt as I leaned against the wall only to find out it was the wall was really dirt; I reached up and hit the top just a few inches above my head. I could feel the curvature of the walls with the occasional small tree root popping out asmy initial guess was correct; it was a tunnel.

  I could feel a slight breeze coming in as we had all stopped, “Where do”……., I was hushed immediately. Brad whispered, “all hand signals from here on out”. Great, I can’t see or talk. Welcome, welcome one and all to see the mysterious

  Blind Mute Billy. My hopes were a little higher than that of becoming a carney, but first I guess we’ll have to see how the night pans out first.

  Miles pushed aside a huge bush that was used to cover up the exit from the

  tunnel . Vargas was the first to step out of the tunnel as I was trying to figure out what they were up to as I thought that we were escaping. Vargas motioned for everyone to bring down their night vision goggles. Not only was I in awe of what I could see utter darkness, but the field of vision reminded me of what the Terminator would see when he locked in on a location; very cool. I restrained myself from telling them that putting on the goggles would have been much more

  useful in those dark rooms we just came from. Sarcastic thought aside, I was getting over a small bout of claustrophobia that I didn’t even know I had. The open spaces and fresh air put a quick end to it; I was relieved.

  With all of us out, Miles placed the oversized bu sh back where it was to cover

  the entrance to the tunnel. Vargas motioned for me to follow him. He was quick

  with the hand signals and either he just told Miles and Brad to go around the left

  side of the cabin, or to steal second base.

  I followed Vargas up past the right side of the cabin. Gary went a little farther right than we did. We ventured uphill for a couple of minutes before coming to a large group of rocks. I watched Gary continue for a moment as I was still amazed at how well you could see through these things. Vargas was getting his rifle setup between these huge rocks, although boulders might be a better description. I gazed to my left and saw Miles about two hundred feet to my left going through

  the same routine as Vargas. About another fifty feet to Miles left was Brad

  getting setup with his fortress of rocks as well. Back to my right about eighty feet,

  Gary was getting situated with his rocky surroundings.

  We were ready to defend our castle, but against how many, we didn’t know. I set down my rifle against the side of one of the huge boulders hiding us, and slowly made my way over to Vargas. He saw me coming and reminded me to be quiet, by making the shushing motion with his finger over his mouth. Barely

  audible I uttered, “How long before they find the cabin”? Vargas replied, “Maybe ten minutes, and since you weren’t aware of our escape plan, I’ll fill you in. You see something move, shoot it. There you’ve been filled in”.

  A great plan it was not, barely a plan at that, but since most of my survival so far has come from winging it, I couldn’t complain. With my rifle propped up against the boulder I peered out in the distance and noticed several thick pine trees not too far away and perfect for someone to hide behind; which got me thinking that my presence might be best used to flush the enemy out, rather than trying to shoot through a tree.

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  I started to pull out a smoke and just before I got the lighter out of my pocket Vargas noticed my intentions and made the cigarette fly out of my mouth, and land a few feet away. I looked up at Vargas, who was currently giving me the death stare, before it sank in, that giving away our element of surprise to our approaching guests might not be a good idea. The look in Vargas’s eyes confirmed that thought.

  A few moments went by before I noticed that Miles was gesturing that there was movement straight ahead. I looked at Brad, Vargas and Gary and they were all on board with Miles signal. It took a moment before we could hear anything, just a light crinkling of stepped on twigs, but that was enough for everyone to

  take aim.

  I could see a sprinkling of light darting back and forth through the pine trees.

  The noise grew louder as the Vargas and company were locked in on their targets.

  I heard a shushing noise coming from right below Vargas and I , about one hundred fifty feet down the side of the mountain. There were three lights, now four, and finally five, as the leader of the group pointed up towards the cabin. They didn’t have the luxury of night vision as we did, but they could see the cabin.

  All five lights were extinguished as two of them started towards the cabin.

  The sound of a whistle followed by a barrage of gunfire ensued. I’m guessi
ng that the whistle was the signal open fire, which they did with gusto. I saw one of the

  men grasping his chest as he was falling down the steep slope. Another was hit in the head; he went down face first in the pine needles. The other three were quick enough to take refuge behind the trunks of the huge pine trees.

  I looked across the way to Miles, who was pointing at one of the trees. The

  other two men were not to be seen. These men, hired killers, whatever you want to call them, were not expecting an ambush. Vargas was motioning for Mi les to make his way closer to the tree that he saw one of the gunman hide behind. I

  tapped Vargas on the shoulder, and the way he flinched about made me pee my

  pants, which I was well on the way to doing before we got this far. He settled

  down once he realized it was me doing the tapping, and I bent down to whisper in

  his ear. His smile told me that he liked my idea and waved at Miles to stop before

  he goes any farther.

  Miles acknowledged the gesture and set up shop by a smaller but still formidable group of rocks . I focused my attention on the tree that Miles said he was hiding behind; hazy at first, then I could see him. He was trying to locate his partners, and try to stay sheltered behind the pine tree. He was in clear view now,

  for me at least. I used both arms as if I was trying to push something out of the way, and he came flying out from behind the tree. As soon as he landed, Miles hit him with four shots from his rifle; there was no movement.

  Miles gave the thumbs up as I used my vision to locate the final two of our elimination party. I scanned the area to try and locate the final two, or hoping that there were no more out there.

  There was no sound, no noise from snapping twigs, just an occasional slight breeze puffing their way through the pines. The silence seemed formidable, but I was determined not to let these jokers get the best of us. I looked to my right, and Gary was still in the ready position, when I heard a small noise just down from me and Vargas and a bit to our right.

  Success was had on the third tree as at first I saw a shadow through the tree, then clearer the longer I focused on it. I nudged Vargas and pointed to the noise; evidently he hadn’t heard it. Vargas waved towards Gary and pointed one finger at him to indicate there was one shooter by him. Gary waved back saying message received.

  This time I used my arms as if I was lifting a heavy item and slowly moving it to

  my right. The shooter appeared from the tree, only it wasn’t of his own doing,

  plus he was two feet off the ground. Panic must have set in as he opened fire

  once he was clear of the tree. He couldn’t have known where we were, but

  unloaded his weapon anyway as a last resort.

  Gary waited until he heard the clicking sound of an empty weapon and put

  one in his chest and a second in his head. I was amazed at Gary’s precision because hitting him in the chest threw him back heading for the ground, then he placed one in his head right before the shooters head hit the ground. Gary has done this before . My friend Gordon would be envious, though he was a good shot in his own right; especially if you piss him off.

  Hopefully that leaves just one shooter left. Brad was waving frantically to our

  left. Vargas and I tried to hone in any noise, as Brads waving indicated that he should be directly in front of us maybe one hundred feet down. There were two trees in front of us. I choose the tree just to our left, focused and got nothing. The tree to the right was smaller in comparison, but still big enough to hide

  behind.

  I leaned on the boulder just to the right of Vargas and started concentrating

  on the second tree. It took only a couple of seconds before I could see the outline of his body on the other side of the tree. Even in a semitransparent state when looking through the tree, I could see that this guy was breathing heavy with his chest expanding and contracting rapidly.

  I tapped Vargas’s shoulder and a much better response this time from him; my bladder thanks you. I did a couple of hand gestures to which Vargas provided a sinister yet satisfied look in his eye’s; he was on board. I focused on the pine as Vargas slightly moved his position to the left.

  This was getting easier as I had the final shooter in clear view; at least I’m hoping he was the last. I focused for a moment, and then made a motion with my left hand like I’m swatting a bug away from my face. The shooter was flying from behind the tree and landed face first into the bigger pine just to his left. Vargas took this activity as if it were skeet shooting as he shot the guy in flight right before he hit the tree. His body became limp after contact with the pine and collapsed to the ground.

  Silence returned with a vengeance as we awaited the possibility of any more

  movement. After a few moments of silence Vargas was satisfied that we were out of danger, for now at least an d motioned for everyone to meet where we

  were. They were all discussing the next plan of action when Brad said, “Where’s

  Billy”? I heard his question but declined to respond as I couldn’t hold it anymore, and making conversation while I’m peeing just did n’t seem appropriate either in a

  bathroom stall or outdoors.

  I appeared from behind a pine when Gary brought his rifle at shoulder level ready to fire. Upon seeing this rifle pointed at my head, I just reacted by moving my arm in an upwards motion causing Gary’s rifle to point straight up. “It’s just me, I told you guys I had to pee”, I declared. Gary’s rifle slowly came back under his control and gave me a look that he was impressed, by giving a slight nod of the

  head.

  20

  Vargas had told me that we need to make sure that they’re dead, and to follow him. I saw Brad, Gary, and Miles spread out to where the apparent lifeless bodies now reside. It was starting to get a bit chilly, which is strange for August,

  but Vargas informed me that the cabin is almost five thousand feet in elevation and at that elevation it gets cool real quick, but warms back up just as quick the next day. I think that I prefer sea level thank you.

  Following Vargas down the side of the mountain was tricky even with the night vision goggles. The footing was littered with twigs, branches and baseball size rocks everywhere. We came upon one of the gunman; he was on his side with a huge hole in his chest. What remained of his head was a sight I would rather forget; I started to get nauseous. Most of the bottom part of his head was still intact, basically from the nose on down. The bile smell coming from his corpse was not helping my stomach issues at all.

  Vargas bent down and grabbed the guy’s wrist, "What are you doing”, I asked in a puzzled manner? “Just checking for a pulse to make sure he’s dead”. The fact that he had no head should give one pause that he might not make it, but I played along. Vargas stood up and declared, “One co nfirmed”.

  Miles must have found another and we heard him reply, “Two confirmed”. I’m

  assumi ng that this was their way to tally a body count. Vargas motioned for me

  to follow again and being the obedient minion that I am, I followed. After about

  thirty yards of downhill stumbling, Brad chirped in with, “Three confirmed, only

  two to go”.

  I heard a noise to my right, but it was just Gary checking out another victim. Vargas tapped me on the shoulder, as I turned I could see another body semi covered in pine needles and blood. Gary added to the count with, “Four confirmed”. Vargas gave him a wave of acknowledgement. Vargas kneeled down beside the gunman as did I. Vargas started to grab the guys wrist when I pulled his arm back, “Look at his chest, he’s still alive”, I declared. He took a quick look and replied, “I’ll be damned”, as he could see his chest expanding and contracting

  also. He stood up quickly, pointed his rifle at the guy’s head and shot him

  between the eyes.

  “Wh at the hell Vargas”, Miles shouted. “Sorry, we had a late bloomer here”,

/>   Vargas replied. He kneeled back down and grabbed ahold of the guy’ s wrist . “So

  is he dead or do you need to shoot him some more”, Miles added with a chuckle?

  “Yeah, he’s dead”, Vargas countered while checking his pulse. “Are you sure”,

  Miles added? “I’m quite capable of counting to zero, you moron”, Vargas added

  sarcastically. “Five confirmed”, he concluded while mumbling something about a

  dumbass.

  I was amazed at the lack of emotion showed during our recent slaughter. I know that they were here to do the same to us, but even when I had an encounter like this in Astoria, I felt horrible, nauseous, and wished that it had

  never happened. They guys made it look like they just finished a day of fishing

  and five were their limit.

  We were making our way to the cabin but Gary was making a dash towards the shiny blue Jeep wrangler parked off to the side of the cabin. “Aren’t we going back in”, I asked? Vargas waved me off with, “Sorry chief, but Gary’s getting the Jeep ready an d I’m going in to retrieve some cash that we’ll need and then we are

  out of here”.

  I was confused since we just eliminated the enemy, “So where are we headed”, I asked Vargas? “We have a second hide out, though not as well set up this place, but it works. We need to get away from here; Just because we got rid of one group, you can bet there’s more to follow, so catch up with Gary and I’ll be out in a minute”, as he strode quickly to the cabin and disappeared inside just as quick.

  Gary was messing with the back of the Jeep and saw me coming, “Hand me your weapon and I’ll put it with the others”. Through all this commotion I just realized that my weapon was still propped up against the sizable boulders just up

  around the left side of the cabin, “Shit, sorry, I’ll be back”, I told Gary as he shook