at Eli. Sway jammed the butt of her M4 into his gut, knocking him to the ground.
Stepping on his fingers, he winced in actual pain, for which she felt a little bad. “Spill it or I spill your brains.” Her M4 barrel aimed just aside of his face, in case she accidentally fired. A rubber bullet to the skull at that distance would definitely kill him.
He leered, “We’re going to rape you, and your mommies, and kill your papas. Then we’ll rape your little sisters, and take your little brothers to fight for us.” The talk unnerved the young squad, but they remembered it was just a game. How would they react if a real enemy said that to them? She knew she would execute him, right then and there.
River pulled her glock on him, “We don’t need his intel, and getting him to divulge may take more effort than it’s really worth. All in favor of execution?”
Sway was the first to respond, “Aye.” The rest chimed in with her, except Fabel.
“What’s the holdup, Frederick?” Xander asked.
“Is this really what we’re like? Are we this merciless? We didn’t even give him a chance.”
Leandra patted his shoulder. “We won’t always make the right decision, but we have to make one. We’re losing morning, he’s bleeding out, and unwilling to communicate. We don’t have the resources to carry him around with us for the next six days, it’s not the best idea to separate and drop him off at the community, and without medical attention in the next thirty minutes, he’ll be dead anyway.”
Sway had a sudden epiphany, like a light turning on in her mind. “Wait,” she pulled her gun off Henderson and shoved the handkerchief back in his mouth, requesting the map from Fabel. Spreading it out, she pointed to the locations he’d marked in the dim light from the moon. The campfire, the two enemy combatants to the south, and then she eyeballed the positions of the others.
Leandra and Richard crowded around her as she spoke, “We caught Henderson to the northeast, and he’d been coming in from the east, it didn’t look like he’d circled around. We killed one target to the northwest, hit one to the southwest, and one who was almost directly south.”
“You think they surrounded us?” Leandra pulled her gun to her chest.
Richard mumbled, “If so, they should be on us already.”
As if divined, the camouflaged entrance to the cave ignited in flame, pushing bellows of smoke in towards them.
They all dropped to a knee, guns trained at the opening. They waited as the fire died out, the plumes of smoke clouding their vision. Eli grabbed Henderson by the vest and picked him up, walking him to the smoldering entrance. He looked back to the others, pointing to positions at the mouth of the cave.
River stood at the west side of the entrance, and Fabel the east, ready to spring. They’d have a fraction of a second to pull it off, and if they failed—then what? Suspended? Pulled off combat forever? They had to make a decision, before the enemy stormed the cave with guns blazing.
Eli shoved Henderson out into the sand, and in response, they heard the sound of two rifles firing rubber bullets. River and Fabel were out just as fast, followed by Reese and Sway. They fired on the ridge in controlled bursts, knowing the ammunition was precious and the brass could only be reloaded so many times.
Sway spied her target quickly, launching a three shot burst directly at her helmet. They plinked off with a satisfying sound of success, and she raised her red cloth overhead.
Five seconds was all it took. It wasn’t the cleanest, or the smartest, but they got it done and none of them were hurt—except Henderson. He coughed several times, having taken the brunt of the bullets to his gut. He’d definitely be bruised now.
Xander commended them again as he untied Henderson. “I see we decided to use balls this time around. Well executed, but risky, and now our informant is dead.” Well, he sort of commended them.
Henderson
Stepping on his fingers, he winced in actual pain, for which she felt a little bad. “Spill it or I spill your brains.” Her M4 barrel aimed just aside of his face, in case she accidentally fired. A rubber bullet to the skull at that distance would definitely kill him.
He leered, “We’re going to rape you, and your mommies, and kill your papas. Then we’ll rape your little sisters, and take your little brothers to fight for us.” The talk unnerved the young squad, but they remembered it was just a game. How would they react if a real enemy said that to them? She knew she would execute him, right then and there.
River pulled her glock on him, “We don’t need his intel, and getting him to divulge may take more effort than it’s really worth. All in favor of execution?”
Sway was the first to respond, “Aye.” The rest chimed in with her, except Fabel.
“What’s the holdup, Frederick?” Xander asked.
“Is this really what we’re like? Are we this merciless? We didn’t even give him a chance.”
Leandra patted his shoulder. “We won’t always make the right decision, but we have to make one. We’re losing morning, he’s bleeding out, and unwilling to communicate. We don’t have the resources to carry him around with us for the next six days, it’s not the best idea to separate and drop him off at the community, and without medical attention in the next thirty minutes, he’ll be dead anyway.”
Sway had a sudden epiphany, like a light turning on in her mind. “Wait,” she pulled her gun off Henderson and shoved the handkerchief back in his mouth, requesting the map from Fabel. Spreading it out, she pointed to the locations he’d marked in the dim light from the moon. The campfire, the two enemy combatants to the south, and then she eyeballed the positions of the others.
Leandra and Richard crowded around her as she spoke, “We caught Henderson to the northeast, and he’d been coming in from the east, it didn’t look like he’d circled around. We killed one target to the northwest, hit one to the southwest, and one who was almost directly south.”
“You think they surrounded us?” Leandra pulled her gun to her chest.
Richard mumbled, “If so, they should be on us already.”
As if divined, the camouflaged entrance to the cave ignited in flame, pushing bellows of smoke in towards them.
They all dropped to a knee, guns trained at the opening. They waited as the fire died out, the plumes of smoke clouding their vision. Eli grabbed Henderson by the vest and picked him up, walking him to the smoldering entrance. He looked back to the others, pointing to positions at the mouth of the cave.
River stood at the west side of the entrance, and Fabel the east, ready to spring. They’d have a fraction of a second to pull it off, and if they failed—then what? Suspended? Pulled off combat forever? They had to make a decision, before the enemy stormed the cave with guns blazing.
Eli shoved Henderson out into the sand, and in response, they heard the sound of two rifles firing rubber bullets. River and Fabel were out just as fast, followed by Reese and Sway. They fired on the ridge in controlled bursts, knowing the ammunition was precious and the brass could only be reloaded so many times.
Sway spied her target quickly, launching a three shot burst directly at her helmet. They plinked off with a satisfying sound of success, and she raised her red cloth overhead.
Five seconds was all it took. It wasn’t the cleanest, or the smartest, but they got it done and none of them were hurt—except Henderson. He coughed several times, having taken the brunt of the bullets to his gut. He’d definitely be bruised now.
Xander commended them again as he untied Henderson. “I see we decided to use balls this time around. Well executed, but risky, and now our informant is dead.” Well, he sort of commended them.
Henderson
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