Page 45 of Twisted Hearts

25Aaron

LeavingMegan in that dugout wasn’t easy but necessary. Also, I knew that she wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet in a motherfucker if she had to. The wailing cackle of some noisy bird helped to conceal my cover as I crept back towards my truck. Once I reached the back, I dropped into a prone position and crawled under the ass end of the bed. It was too bad I hadn’t had time to put my sniper rifle together.

Two SUV’s had come to a stop about fifty paces away from my truck. So far, I’d counted five, positioning themselves in various areas around my vehicle and theirs. Their tactical movements and the silencers on their weapons drew my focus. They’d certainly been trained by some militia.

They fanned out, hoping to surround me and Megan, but all they were doing was making my job easier.

I could clearly see two, sweeping the area, their guns aimed and ready to blow a hole in me. They had night gear on their faces, which meant that they were likely hired guns that had access to gear and equipment that wasn’t easy to come by.

I inched my head back under the tail end of my truck when one crept in my direction. He was clueless as to where I was because he made no attempt to quiet his steps as he hiked closer to me, looking in every direction. When he went up on his toes, I knew that he was glancing over and into the raised bed of my truck.

He hadn’t looked down, which was good news for me. I was likely about to expose myself for an ambush, but keeping them away from Megan was my main goal.

My arm snaked out from the darkness of my hiding place, and I gripped the man’s ankle when his leg passed within my reach. Down he went with a loud humph. Within seconds, I was on him, attacking with punches and beating him about the head with the butt of my weapon. I was reluctant to fire my weapon since it wasn’t silenced, but the man was a fighter.

He stopped my attempts to disarm him of his gun and blocked the blow I tried to send to his jaw. I swiveled my body nearly in a circle around his while staying clear of the barrel of his weapon that had let off two silenced rounds that sped past my head and went into the air. The hot lead of one of the bullets had passed so close to my head, I swear I saw the trail of fire chasing the projectile into the darkness.

Just as the man tried to inch his finger down on the trigger again, I trapped his arm with mine and hammered the gun from his tight grip. He sent an uppercut to my nose, sending my head back with a hard jerk that nearly snapped my neck. Blood dripped from my nose as the blow blurred my vision for a second.

My elbow went flying into the man’s jaw, and our bodies tussled and dueled for the upper hand. We remained tangled up like two riled up snakes.

The man’s hand-to-hand combat skills were just as good as mine, but I didn’t have time to trade rounds with him. I allowed him a few free blows to my face while I retrieved my hunting knife from my waistband. The bastard blocked my first attempt at sending the knife into his face, but my second attempt sliced across his shoulder inflicting minimal damage because of the thick armored vest he wore.

The sound of a gunshot from my rear called my attention. It could only have been Megan shooting since this crew had silencers attached to their weapons. My intent was to run towards her, but I spotted two more that were going to head in her direction if I didn’t keep them distracted.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of the two I’d spotted turn in my direction, taking slow careful steps as not to call our attention as we battled for supremacy. The knowledge that I was about to be double teamed shot an extra spark of strength into my body.

I jammed my free hand under the man’s shoulder and twisted my body to turn his. Once I had his swarming body turned just right, I held him down with my knee to his back as I forced his face into the ground. With one hand available, I gave my knife a little toss to reposition it before jamming it into the man’s neck. Body shots weren’t going to penetrate the vest, so head and neck shots were my only options.

The stab shocked the man, but he was a tough bastard that wasn’t going to go down easily. His friend continued to creep in our direction as we tussled, no doubt assuming that I hadn’t noticed him attempting to use the tree trunks as cover.

I rolled away from the one that still had my knife planted in his neck and gripped the gun that I’d hammered out of his tight grip. With a steady aim, I remained low to the ground. I pointed the silenced weapon at the approaching man and didn’t hesitate to fire since he was aiming and ready to fire on me. The first two slugs sent him flying backwards on unsteady legs, but he didn’t fall. The third shot froze him in place for a few seconds before his body teetered forward and fell stiffly to the ground.

My small victory wasn’t going to be celebrated because the tough bastard I’d stabbed had gotten my knife out of his neck and climbed over my prone body. He rained down punches to the side of my head and back of my neck. My body bucked like a wild boar attempting to get him off me.

My concentration was poured into getting my hand on the wound I’d inflicted to his neck.

Once I managed to flip onto my side and forced my hand though the barrage of punches he was landing, my fingers slipped and slid over his bloody neck until my thumb slipped into the knife wound.

The man released a loud squeal, and I took advantage of his anguish by using his head as a punching bag as I increased the pressure of my thumb pressing into his knife wound. My thumb was shoved into his neck down to the knuckle as I tried to rip his flesh apart.

I’d lost the silenced pistol I’d used to take out his friend and had no idea where my own gun had ended up, but my lips twitched into a smile when my sweeping knee rubbed across a hard metal object.

My knife.

My eager free hand gripped my knife as I swiveled my hips and overpowered the man enough so that I was straddling his body. Aiming for his throat, I repeatedly stabbed his ass ensuring each blow was delivered with maximum force. Each stab I delivered was followed up by a loud gurgling grunt from the man’s damaged throat.

“Die already, motherfucker,” I hissed out between clinched teeth as I continued to plunge the knife into his neck. The sinewy texture of his flesh and tendons as the blade ripped and tore through them felt familiar. The tip of the knife vibrated against bone chipping off fragments as I continued to plunge the knife into his neck and face, unable to but wishing I could see the true level of damage I was doing to this asshole. Finally, after the eleventh stab, the tension in his body released and his arms fell limp to the ground.

With Megan on my mind, I ran out into the opening between the first SUV and my truck and immediately started taking on gunfire. The darkness and the fact that I was wearing night goggles were likely the only reason why I could contend with this group. I dived behind a tree in the nick of time as more bullets striking at the opposite side hit with deadly impact. My back kissed its scaly body as I inched up the thick bark of the tree.

After shoving the gun into the back of my pants, I allowed my body to fall forward, catching myself when the palms of my hands broke the fall. Aligning my movement with the thick bark of the tree, I crawled away on my belly hoping the men hadn’t spotted me approaching the next set of thick trees that lined the woods like a burly squad of dark soldiers. With multiple branches to keep me hidden, I intended to make the task of them finding me more difficult.

No later than I thought it, snapping twigs alerted me to someone’s approach. One was at the tree that I had just left. With my body crouched low to the ground, I chanced a quick peek and noticed the figure was peeking around the tree, searching for where I’d disappeared to. I side eyed the other as he attempted to creep up behind me. They probably thought that they were trapping me. A sinister smile crept across my lips knowing I’d been right about their tactics.

Certain that he hadn’t spotted me yet, I placed my back to the one in front of me, the tree keeping me concealed, as I aimed at the one that thought he was about to sneak up on me. They apparently had no idea that I was wearing night goggles or that I knew what they were attempting to do.

Since I’d grabbed the silenced pistol from the one that I’d stabbed, I allowed three consecutive shots to flow in the direction of the one that had been approaching me from the rear. One of the bullets had landed in a vital area that caused him to halt his approach. His buddies loud and forceful snaps and breaks revealed that the man was barreling towards me firing off round after round. The thick bark of the tree kept me safe as the man’s angry roar echoed throughout the woods.

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