Page 56 of Bear Hunt

“In the black outfit, you’ve got the earpieces and vests to put underneath your parkas. In the gray one are the weapons. Choose wisely and choose comfortably.” With a collective grunt, we all head to the two trucks he points out.

This time, we’re all quiet, getting in the zone and visualizing the hours to come. With quiet and efficient movements, we gear up, making sure every inch of our bodies is covered. Our parkas are lined with fleece, same for our gloves and caps. Psycho, who usually has Ninja sleeping in his hoodie, has pulled it up to cover his head.

Ninja and Bandit would fucking hate this weather.

“It’s time. Only speak when there’s an emergency, voices carry far and wide out here. Be safe and take out these pieces of shit. Oohrah!” Normally, Sarge belts out his Marine corps battle cry, but this time he nearly whispers it, and for some unknown reason, we all respond in kind with a small echo.

We slip and slide down the mountain. Point out the guards and get as close as possible. One of them has his head down,the light from his phone illuminating his face. He’s alone, like a wandering gazelle that no longer has the herd to protect him.

Psycho pats me on the shoulder before I point my semi automatic equipped with a silencer and shoot. Straight for his head. We’re close enough that I can see the phone falling to the ground and the contrast of the red blood sullying the pureness of the freshly fallen snow.

Crouching low, we make our way to the dead guard and pull him to the side, a little less in plain view. Bash grabbed a branch as we came down that hill, and just like in the movies, he trails it behind him to erase our footprints. Not sure how efficient that is but it’s a good initiative.

This guy is the only guard outside the walled perimeter on our north side, the other two are closer to Sarge’s position.

“One down,” Psycho announces and we all hear him in the earpiece. Not an emergency but it’s good to keep count.

Bash is the one who climbs up the wall, with a leg up from me, to peer over to the other side. All the lights were on in the house, that much we could see from the side of the hill, but there wasn’t much we could decipher when it came to the man walking around.

“I see two men walking away from each other. One is going east, the other west. Nothing else.” I nod at Bash’s words even though he can’t see me.

“Copy that.” Psycho’s words are hushed

Bash comes back down and we decide to put our knives in closer reach to avoid using guns when possible. Silence is key because I don’t want to alert anyone and put Athena’s life in more danger than it is now.

Placing my arms around Bash and Psycho’s shoulders, I pull us into a huddle so I can give them some final instructions. I may not be as good as Sarge but we’ve been on deadly missions before.

“I don’t give a fuck who is in that house. Unless you recognize Athena, you shoot first and go for a kill shot.” I meet Bash’s eyes then Psycho’s so I’m sure they see just how serious I am.

“What if there are other prisoners in there?” Bash’s question throws me off a bit. I didn’t think about that, my mind was too focused on Athena to consider other victims.

“Duh, you save those, Bash,” Psycho answers for me, and I’m grateful for that.

“Don’t get hurt.” I’d hate myself if I lost either one of them. Any of them, to be fair.

“Ain’t happenin’. Mac would have my balls.” Bash and I both nod at Psycho, knowing he’s not being dramatic.

“Let’s get my girl.” With a grunt, we climb over the wall, drop down with a near-silentthud, and crouch at the base.

Psycho does a few finger signals and I’m not even sure he knows what he’s saying, but ever since Sarge showed us how to communicate silently, he’s been practicing. It’s not like it matters, we all know where we’re headed and what our end goal is on this mission.

At this point, we’re not hiding our tracks anymore, we’re going in for the kill but hoping they see us only when it’s too late for them.

From the corner of my eye, I see movement just as I reach the corner of the gigantic ranch-style home. Pretty sure those are four floors up there, it’s fucking insane. When I look back, I see Psycho sneaking up on a guard, one gloved hand on the guy’s mouth as he slices his throat with his free hand. Quick and clean, just the way I like it. Well, besides the now blood-red snow at Psycho’s feet as he cleans his knife on his pants leg and looks around for more prey.

Just as Psycho takes cover, I hear boots coming up along the side of the house. Nothing hurried, just a normal pace.

And soon, they’ll be silent.

Sure, I could think about how the guy coming my way has a spouse or kids or parents or whatever the fuck he may hold dear to his heart, but this motherfucker is part of the problem. This fool decided to work for scum so he’s gonna die.

Just as he rounds the corner, I hook him around the throat and smash him into the wall, hard enough to stun him but not enough to get the attention of the others.

With my lips at his ear as I cover his mouth with one hand and the pointed end of my knife digging under his chin, I whisper, “Where’s Athena?”

The guy just shakes his head. I don’t have time for this shit so I slam my knife all the way up until he starts choking on his own blood. Then I take pity and slice his throat wide open. If he ain’t gonna help then he’s better off dead.

To be fair, either way, he’d still be dead.

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