Page 32 of Gator's Gambit
It’s typical of the jackass to pick this area for his hideout. Easily defended, but supremely difficult to get to is his thing. So clichéd, like every villain in every action movie in the history of time. After hours of combing the area as we make our way up the mountain, Knight finally calls a halt for a short rest.
Wet from the constant rain, tired, thirsty, and just generally pissed off with life, I think if we were to stumble across either of the two bastards right this second, there’d be no hesitation in defying orders to taking them alive. We’re miserable and ready to take it out on someone.
Just about to get back to our search, Knight shows us to be quiet and listen. The sound of voices reaches us, rapid-fire Spanish clearly audible. From our vantage point, we see a group of three men herding a large tribe of goats, while holding an animated conversation. Their loud burst of laughter is cut short when Knight steps out from his hiding place, hands held aloft.
“Hola señores,” he greets.
The men eye him suspiciously until he launches into fluent Spanish, much to everyone’s great surprise, before breaking out into smiles. A lively discussion between the four of them ensues, Knight keeping a watchful eye on the terrain around us. One of the men turns to point up the mountainside, a look of great disgust on his face, his tone echoing the sentiment.
When the discussion comes to an end, the men take turns in shaking Knight’s hand and thanking him profusely, before moving on in the direction of the lake nearby. He waits until they are gone from sight and out of earshot before signaling for us to break cover.
“What was that all about, dude?” Scooter asks. “Not gonna lie, had a bit of a heart stopping moment back there whenyoubroke cover.” Scooter vocalizes the concern we all have.
“I wouldn’t have, if the conversation hadn’t been most enlightening. It seems our brothers,” he gestures in the direction the men disappeared in, with his chin, “have an equally deep and abiding hatred of one of our targets.”
“And that’s another thing,” Scooter continues. “Where the hell did that come from? You didn’t, at any point in all the years we’ve worked together, think it was pertinent to share that you can speak Spanish?”
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking,” Lucky chimes in. “And so fucking fluent too. What the hell, dude?”
Knight chuckles, quietly shrugging. “It’s never come up.”
Shaking his head, Lucky lobs his camo hat at Knight.
“Right, gentlemen, allow me to share the juicy gossip our new friends so kindly shared with me.” This time, Knight’s grin is positively evil. “Every once in a while, the stars align and our lives are made a little easier, and for that we say thank you.”
“Sounds interesting. Do tell,” Digit adds.
“It would seem our favorite psycho and his employees aren’t overly popular around these parts. Since he’s been hiding out here, his henchmen have been frequenting the local town to find their entertainment.
“They drink, they get rowdy, fight with each otherandthe locals. They’ve been sexually assaulting the women and girls. Just generally doing as they please, and the constabulary are doing absolutely nothing to stop them. In fact, it’s a poorly kept secret that they’re on Armatrout’s payroll.”
“Man, that really boils my blood.” Bear’s hands are clenched so tightly into fists they’re white against his tanned skin.
“Yeah, agreed,” Knight says. “Sadly, it’s what’s counted in our favor today. Those gentlemen were more than willing to share what they know about the location of the compound.”
“The reasons why they’re so willing to share sucks, but it certainly makes our lives easier,” I say.
“It certainly does, my friend. It certainly does,” Knight replies. “Digit, can you pull up the map of the area, and let’s see if we can locate this slimeball.”
It takes a bit of doing, piecing together the information the three goat herders gave Knight, but eventually we find what appears to be the area they’re talking about. Within an hour we’ve put together a plan of action and move out. Based on our intel and a map of the area, we’ve a difficult three-hour hike ahead of us.
In the fucking rain. How is it we always seem to find ourselves in these crappy weather conditions – if it’s not brain meltingly hot, it’s wet and miserable, or so cold you worry about losing body parts to frostbite?
After hours of nonstop hiking in near silence, Digit signals for us to stop and huddle. “According to the intel the herders gave, the markers they spoke of should be just over the nextridge. Once we reach that point, there’ll be a sharp rise as they head toward the compound.
“This is the point where we’ll be most vulnerable – the terrain is difficult and pretty barren with not much to hide behind. For the most part, we’ll be sitting ducks out in the open. There’s a tiny fissure we can potentially use as cover, but this isn’t going to be easy.”
“You know the drill, gents. Stay alive, stay vigilant,” Knight says. We all nod, knowing what the words are that he’s leaving unsaid – “don’t make me go back and tell your loved ones you didn’t make it” – an overwhelming fear he once confessed to us, while drunk, that he lives with. “All right then, let’s do this.”
Maximizing every scrap of cover we can along this insanely treacherous route, we finally make it to the summit fairly unscathed. Apart from some scrapes, bumps, and bruises from slipping on wet rock, we arrive at the top quietly optimistic that we’ve done it undetected. Especially since there’s been no gunfire sent our way.
As we take a moment to catch our breath and review our plan of attack, a familiar sound reaches our ears over the constant drumming of the rain.
“Fuck, I hope that’s not more company,” Knight says quietly through the comms. “Let’s use the noise to mask any movement and use it to our advantage. On my mark, we go in.”
All eyes on him, we wait for our signal. What greets us as we finally make it up and over the edge of the cliff is enough to give anyone palpitations. Not sure if we’ve been betrayed by our new “friends” on our way up the mountainside or if, despite our best efforts to go undetected, we were spotted anyway.
Either way, the welcome party waiting for us is an unpleasant sight, though not completely unexpected. We always plan for the worst but hope like hell for the best.
