Battle

Day Sixty-five, 3:20 PM

James

"FIND THE MAN, AND BRING HIM TO ME. I COMMAND YOU!" one man shouted.

The minute the man stopped talking, the horses charged down the hill. I looked at the man riding right towards me, and I was trying to bring the rifle up to kill him when I heard a shot.

The man who had been speaking flew backwards off his horse and the men around him pulled their weapons out and started firing in the distance. They wheeled their horses around and charged for the gunman standing on the far hill. Before they got halfway down the hill, their prey was gone from sight but they continued on. I lay there and could feel the ground tremble under me, but not a single horse came near me. I looked up and saw the man getting up. I watched as he rubbed his chest as he looked towards the west where his men were riding away.

I looked around me very slowly and saw I was clear. Lifting the rifle and sited onto the man I slowly started to pull the trigger when a horse rode up in front of me.

'Shit!' I thought as I waited but then he was out of sight. I watched the band of men ride away from me and I looked around once more. I started running for the top of the hill in a crouch and just before I got there, I dropped down to my belly so I could crawl the rest of the way.

Vala

I watched the man fly off his horse, and then I saw the men charging towards me. Turning I ran down the hill away from them and mounted my horse. Kicking my heels, I rode like there was a long tooth chasing me, for there was. I had no doubt of what would happen to me if they caught me. Looking over my shoulder, I saw they were a good half-mile behind me. So I brought my horse to a stop. My rifle was in my hand. I fired five quick rounds from the rifle and watched five horses go down, which caused about ten more to stumble. Then I was off again. I was riding hard as I swung the empty rifle over my back and pulled the second one out of the sheath that was attached to the saddle.

Glancing back, I saw only a dozen men behind me as I climbed the next hill. I kicked the horse's heaving flanks, and he put a burst of speed on.

"Come on Scar, show them what you can you do," I said as I laid my body down on the Arabian's neck. We bore down the backside of the hill, across the two hundred yard valley and were three quarters of the way up the next hill before the enemy appeared on the hilltop behind me. I crested the top of the hill, and was down the other hill and across the larger valley. I passed the stand of trees and I waved as I went by.

Climbing the other hill, I glanced back and saw the enemy fly over the top of the hill. There were now about twenty of them behind me as I rode over the top of the new hill. I brought my horse to a stop and ran for the top of the hill with both rifles. I quickly slid rounds in to the empty one as I hit the ground and looked below me. I lifted my rifle and took aim just as the two machine guns opened up and the guns ripped the enemy horsemen apart.

I opened up at the men who were trying to get out of the ambush and I jumped when bullets started flying at my sister wives and I spotted the man lying behind a dead horse. Taking aim, I fired and hit him in the back near his ass and he rolled over like a dead fish. My second round caught him in his head and I saw it explode like a piece of rotted fruit.

Adjusting my rifle, I saw the last man go down and I started watching the top of the other hill for the rest of the riders but they didn't show up. I went to Scar and mounted him after picking up my brass. Swinging aboard, I road down the hill and up the other side as the rest of the wives came out and dealt with the bodies. I sat there on the top of the hill looking around for any attack that would come towards us and nothing appeared for over an hour.

While I was waiting, the girls mutilated the bodies like I had told them. Their hands were hacked off as well as their feet. Their eyes gouged out and their nose cut off. Then they cut their genitals off and stuffed them in their mouths. After they were finished, they moved the DUK and trailer to another part of the woods and reapplied the camouflage.

I saw the tops of the lances and I turned and rode down the hill and into the woods. I loaded the horse into the trailer and gave him some food and water before checking the camouflage. Seeing it was ok, I climbed into the DUK and stood behind the machine gun in the front while Sali knelt on the roof at the bigger gun. We waited for the enemy to appear with our weapons ready and we didn't have long to wait. Five minutes after we were ready, they appeared.

The road down to the massacre we had done, and then spread out. Several were looking at the ground and started in our direction. Several had the guns that James had called an M-16. I aimed at a group of them and squeezed the trigger. The big rounds ripped through the group, the horses screamed, the men flew off their mounts and hit the ground while others started rearing up. I was switching targets when Sali opened up and I saw the red stream of rounds rip through another group.

We continued firing until several men stuck up their hands and I looked at Sali in confusion. They had thrown away their weapons and were not firing on us and I realized they wanted to surrender.

I shouted out to them, "Stand up, drop your weapons in a pile and get in a group or we will kill you all, where you are."

I watched as they complied with my demands. I called the other wives up, and told Sali to stay where she was as I led the women out to the men. We were all armed with rifles and pistols. We gathered up all their weapons, carried them back to the DUK. They were taken below by Calt, while we went back out to the battle and stripped the dead. The prisoners watched us as we did our work, and then we stripped the horses of their gear and stored it in the horse trailer.

After we scared the surviving horses off, I walked over to the men with the other wives backing me up. "Strip!" I snarled.

One of the men started to say something and I put a round through his belly; he lay there screaming in pain as the prisoners stripped out of their clothes. They glared at us and I just laughed as I said, "Start walking back home. If we see you again, we WILL kill you. Go home to your mates and live. Continue coming towards our home and we WILL kill you all. Do I make myself clear?"

"We understand, what you say, and we will be back. You will bow to John and he will make you his slaves..."

The shot echoed through the valley as he flew backwards with the top of his head blown off. "Now you all know what will happen if you come towards us. You already killed one of my sisters, and we have killed many of you. Keep coming and we will use more powerful weapons on you. NOW RUN!" I shouted.

The men took off running as we gathered up everything. Going back to the DUK, we moved to the other forest down the valley and went deep inside. I prayed to the mother they wouldn't come back.

James

I worked my way down the hill towards the camp. Crawling as I went, I froze when several men walked by talking in the native language that I wished I understood better. As soon as they were far enough away, I ran towards the big tent and settled in the grass to listen.

"I want that son of a bitch found. You got me, Mitchell?" said one voice.

"Yes I do. We will find 'em and kill him," said a thick Scottish voice.

"Good. Now send that slut in here and have her bring her medical bag. I need something for the pain," said the first voice.

"Yes, Sir," said the second man, and I heard him walk away.

I was about to move when the first man started talking again.

"Gabrielle, bring me some wine," said the man I assumed was John.

"Yes, lord Chase," said a soft voice that bore deep into my soul. I could hear the sadness in her voice.

"Ahhh that's good. Now get on the bed and get yourself ready. As soon as doctor fixes this, I'm going to pound both of you good," he snarled.

"Not if I can help it asshole," I whispered as I used my knife to cut the ground rope.

I was about to move when I heard running. I looked around and didn't see anyone coming, but I lay still by the tent.

"Lord Chase, forgive me, but you should know God John comes. He will be here within the hour," said a new voice.

"What?" Chase said and I heard something hit the ground as the man inside the tent started to shout out his orders.

The camp came alive and I backed up until I was under a low wagon. I watched as the camp literally exploded as the troops started policing the area. I could hear the men getting cleaned up down by the pond. Forty minutes later, I watched as a column of men rode into camp.

In the center of the column was a carriage pulled by a six coal black horses. The man who climbed out of the carriage was easily six foot six and weighed in at around three hundred pounds. He was wearing black armor. The chest piece had a red skull on it that was glowing.

I watched as he hugged the man I was following. They pounded each other's backs, and I winced at the solid thuds I heard.

"Chase, how goes it?" John asked his friend.

I lay less than twenty feet from them and listened to them talk.

"Going good, we have swept up around seven hundred natives and dispatched the woman and children back home. I gave the men the chance to join and serve or die. I only had to kill a few, but my army has grown by several hundred. We should reach the valley soon, and then we will have the planes, but most important, we will have the guns in the transport and in the wings of those fighters."

"Good, good. Now how about a drink?" John asked.

"Follow me," Chase said and led John into the tent.

The guards took up posts around the tent as a blond haired girl about fifteen climbed out of the carriage. She was wearing a white and silver gown and walked to the tent. I watched the girl, and I was stunned by her beauty, but the sadness in her eyes tore my heart apart. I was about to move when another woman came walking towards the tent. She was carrying a medical bag, and I stared at the woman. She was an older model of the one that had entered the tent before her, and I knew without a doubt that she was the girl's mother.

I waited where I was and watched as the guards rotated their posts. Three hours later, a commotion erupted at the edge of the camp, and I watched as twenty men came into camp naked as the day they were born. An officer led the men to the front of the tent, and I was surprised when the guards walked around to watch what was going on. John and Chase came out and started questioning the men. I wanted to laugh as the men explained they were attacked, and forced to strip. When finished, John stood there rubbing his jaw and then ordered the men bound. The guards quickly bound the men's hands behind them as John walked up to the first man and killed him with his bare hands.

I knew I wouldn't have another chance so I moved quickly to the back of the tent. With a quick cut on the ground ropes, I slid underneath it. I was in some type of storeroom and I listened to the men being killed as I looked around the room.

I pulled the Gillie suit off as I knelt beside several large wooden boxes and I opened one of them. Inside were stacks of M-16s. Opening a smaller one, I found it had twenty-four grenades in it.