Page 70 of Casualties of War
Faintly, the patter of boots on the leaf litter. They were coming closer. He made himself breathe slowly and steadily, sucking in the oxygen. His temples pounded and his mouth was dry and his throat clickedwhen he tried to swallow, making it hard to hear.
He saw them first, at the edge of his vision, a brief flicker of movement. They were only two trees away from his cypress, moving in the same general direction as he was. It meant they were probably making their way to Pascuallita, too.
Stains streaked their gray uniforms, most of them green from slapping branches. Not one of the four men woretheir uniform the same way. Some had tucked their pants into their boots. Some had their shirts flapping free.
They were breathing hard as they dug their boots in to climb the slope.
Adán held his breath, his mind racing. If they were heading for Pascuallita, he could use them as his guide. He could let them get far enough ahead that they would not hear him behind them, then follow them allthe way into town.
High in a kapok and over to his right, a howler monkey screeched and gibbered. It was staring at him, pissed that he was in its territory.
Adán’s heart sank.
The four Insurrectos whirled, bringing up their rifles in an instinctive defensive movement.
One of them was staring right at Adán. His eyes widened.
Adán didn’t wait. He brought the gun up and as soon as it was pointingat their boots, he fired two shots.
The one who had spotted him fell back with a cry and rolled down the slope.
The others scattered, dropping to hide behind trees.
Adán ducked around the cypress, as three rifles gave out a semi-automatic chatter, peppering the trunk he had been leaning against. He kept the pistol level with his eyes as he searched for a glimpse of any of them.
This was bad.He was one man, pinned down by three. One of them could flank him. Two would ensure he was caught in cross fire.
“Damn, damn, damn,” he muttered, resting his head against the bark for a moment. He looked up as more bullets thudded against the tree, to watch for any sign of flanking movements.
There! To his right! He swiveled and put his right shoulder against the trunk and tracked the privateas he dodged to another trunk. Adán aimed for the other side of the tree and waited. His heart was hammering with an intensity that made him wonder if it would burst.
The private lunged for the next tree. Adán let him run into his sights and fired. The private dropped with a cry.
Adán whirled to face the other direction. The Insurrectos were stupid, but they weren’tthatstupid. Of course theywould try a pincer movement.
The sergeant standing braced against the roots of the kapok already had Adán in his sights. He grinned, his finger squeezing the trigger.
Then he grunted, his eyes widening and his chest thrusting forward. The rifle fell out of his fingers and he toppled forward.
A large knife hilt stuck out of his back.
A man dressed in green camouflage from head to boots, includingmottled face paint, stepped out from behind the tree the sergeant had been propped against. He put his finger to his lips, then turned his shoulder to display his upper arm and pulled down a disguising flap to reveal the American flag stitched beneath.
Adán leaned against the trunk. He was shaking too heavily to stand without support.
The American moved up the slope in silent, bounding steps,his M-16 held in front of him, the muzzle trained on the last Insurrecto.
Adán waited, listening.
The three shots came almost at the same instant. The light crack of a simple rifle, the heavier cough of the M-16, and over the top of both, the whistle and thud of a heavy caliber. Adán recognized the sound. A sniper rifle. A big one. Probably one firing 50 caliber cartridges.
The shots seemedto be a signal. The forest around Adán filled with camouflaged soldiers as they stepped out from behind trees. One of them carried a sniper rifle that Adán recognized from a Silva movie. It was an American CheyTac.
They were all big men, armed to the teeth, except one, who strode right up to where Adán leaned against the tree.
“Adán Caballero. What the fuck are you doing here?” she asked.
Adán’s heart jolted. “Parris?” Camouflage paint covered her face the same as the men, yet her voice…
