LAREDO, TX.
The stray cats that normally haunt the alleyway behind the gun shop arent there. Three people go over final inventory by an automotive trouble light strung up from the handle of a mostly opened garage door. the sleepy one, the gun shop's owner, takes measued gulps from a styrofoam cup. coffee. cowboy hat checks packages of 5.7mm ammunition, making sure its the subsonc variety. he loads rounds into a semi-transparent magazine. pouches on various parts of his body conceal more magazines and other equipment. he shifts his bodyweight, still uncomfortable in body armor. the small one stands nearby. impatient. slightly pissed, she frowns at cowboy hat and the fat slob attempting to stay awake. he should have got the ammo in yesterday so they could load magazines at their leisure instead of rushing it at the last minute. damn him. damn his FBI bosses who took so damned long on the paperwork for the sound suppressors and subsonic bullets. she runs her finer down the supressor. if only it was pink and rounded on the end it could be put to better use. she needed to relax. cowboy hat finishes loading the magazine. he picks up his weapon from the hood of the car and snaps the magazine into it. he smiled. "those genius belgians sure know how to make a weapon" "they make better waffles" says the small one. "that plastic thing looks like a toy" cowboy hat attempts a smile, but its just a crack in his poker face "and you would know everything about that". "shut up". "are we done?" the sleepy one looks ready to pass out. "yah we're done". cowboy hat glances round to make sure nobody's forgotten anything, then fumbles in his pocket for keys. he moves around to the driver door and opens it. the dome light inside illuminates the interior of the car. two small cases sit atop a larger case in the back seat. the small one gets in. cowboy hat unsnaps his P90 from its sling and gives it to the small one."hold this". the small one took it. cowboy hat doesnt talk much. "dont you ever sut up?" asks the small one sarcasticly. cowboy hat doesnt respond. he starts the car and shifts to referse. the car backs out without using headlights. no reverse lights either. the small one had removed the bulbs earlier. they are in the glove box. the sleepy one flips off the trouble light and puts it on a workbench beside the door. then he steps out and pulls down the door. as cowboy hat and the small one drive away they note the flash of his cigarette lighter in the rear view mirrors. what a slob. the border town is quiet. cowboy hat's knife had cut down a few small time street dealers a few nights earlier. a few letters from important people made sure the investigation into those "murders" was put on the back burner. cowboy hat was quite the negotiator. in exchange for sparing the life of one of them, he had found out some information. he killed the dealer anyway. The car pulls to a stop in the west side of laredo, near the rio grande. the river is obscured by a darkened gas station. the sign says 1.57. The small one laughs quietly. the station has been closed for several years, but nobody took down the sign. They both take one of the small cases from the back seat and open them. inside are night vision goggles. the passive kind. They get out of the car and put them on. looking away from the street lights of laredo, they see the heat emitted by night creatures. a rat by the dumpster is a little white blob. looking past the gas station, the river is black and cold, but far upriver, a heat emitter from an active infrared goggle system glows dimly. the small one recognises it as a russian manufactured system. drug sentry. cowboy hat has already moved toward the station. she follows. they step over broken glass from a shatterd window into the convenience store. going down a short, narrow hallway, they enter a storage room. plastic holders marked "pepsi cola" are strewn around, barely visible to the passive night vision goggles. the rear service door is ajar, the way cowboy hat left it a week ago. that cinder block did its job. they wouldnt have to open it and betray their presence with movement. cowboy hat looks across the muddy river. on the other side is a single sentry. his active infrared goggles set to high. cowboy hat concludes that the sentry should see the whole laredo side of the river like daylight. he takes aim, using the doorway to steady his weapon. he fires, and the weapon makes a dull pop. across the river, the bright active infrared detector shudders, then aims upward into the branches of a tree, iluminating the leaves. cowboy hat can see the sentry now, his fingers twitching as his last surviving neurons attempt to goad hs body to action. cowboy hat scans the river. the heat upstream stays in place. that sentry didn't notice. he motions to the small one to follow. he picks up the rope that is tied to a tree stump and tosses it toward the river. that was the small one's idea. they decend the steep bank noiselessly and slip into the water. after the muggy weather on laredo, the river is cold. cowboy hat holds his weapon above the water and wades forward in a crouched position. the small one watches the opposite bank from the cover of a bush that grows out over the water. the sound of a vehicle and a brightening in the trees on the mexico side betray the aproach of a vehicle. cowboy hat can hear it, but can see nothing while down in the river. he glances back at the small one, who signs that somethings coming. the truck pulls to a stop. a voice calls out in spanish. probably a patrol. cowboy hat reaches the mexico side of the river and inches his way up the muddy bank. the truck door opens and a man gets out. the small one can see that he's got an ak-47. the man looks around, then readies his weapon. he advances cautiosly, eyeing the US side of the river. cowboy hat stops moving, still concealed by the steep river bank. the other man finally notices the dead sentry and walks over to him and nudges him with a foot. he turns around quickly to return to his truck, but ends up face to face with cowboy hat, who sicks a knife through his chest before he can react. cowboy hat pulls out his knife, and the man slumps to the ground. he motions to the small one, who corsses the river, pistol held above the water. her legs are cold from standing there while cowboy hat had all the fun. cowboy hat listens intently, and can hear voices coming from down the road. there is music also. must be a party. the small one finishes crossing and cowboy hat helps her up the bank. the small one shivers, back in the breeze after the cold water. cowboy hat says "you cold?" "doesnt matter" says the small one. cowboy hat tuns and walks down the road, in the area where the trucks tires have worn out the gravel so there is just dust. the small one follows, checking around them for any heat signatures more interesting than armadillos. the sounds of the party grow louder as they get closer to the source. the smell of marijuana gets stronger too. cowboy hat pulls off a leaf from a smal tree and smells it. pot plant. invisible in the gloom, but unmistakable by smell and touch. theres a clearing ahead, and several men sit around a campfire, drinking beer and smoking pot. not fresh off the plant. it had to be roasted first. the fire illuminates the leaves of the pot plants and reveals that they are in a forest of it. cowboy hat readies his weapon and prepares to change his selector to full auto. he wouldnt have much time to take aim after the metallic click betrays his presence. the small one takes aim at the least handicapped man there. he could be a problem if not taken out quickly. cowboy hat clicks his selector to full auto and they both begin firing. cowboy hat fires into the group, mowing down several, while the small one takes careful aim and drops her targets with precision. only one man manages to make it to his feet before the small one knocks him down with a shot through the eye socket. they both emerge into the clearing. the fire is still new, and several logs are only burned on one end. "watch this" says the small one. she picks up a stick from the fire like a torch, and throws it high over the pot forest. it lands somewhere in the underbrush. she takes another and throws it in a different direction. its lands in thinner pot plants, with a shower of sparks visible through the brush. cowboy hat takes the hint and throws another stick in a different direction, with a sound of crashing branches and a dull thud. they both throw a few more sticks of firewood out into the forest, and the fire is low. cowboy hat kicks the last stick out of the fire pit. it lands on dry leaves, which begin to curl under the heat of the fire. then they light and a low ring of flames begins to slowly creep out from the flaming stick. "lets go" says the small one. they run back down the road to the river, not bothering to be quiet. their feet thump on the dirt ruts. upon reching the truck, cowboy hat looks inside it. automatic transmission. perfect. he gets in and turns the truck around so it faces back toward the clearing and the slowly growing forest fire. he shifts it into D, and jumps out. it slowly begins accelerating under its own power, but it hits a bump in the road and slowly drives off into the pot forest, in the general direction of the orange glow of the flames. cowboy hat and the small one slide down the muddy bank into the river. upstream, the infrared light is gone. the sentry must have gone too. they cross standing up, but a gunshot comes from upriver. cowboy hat ducks down and looks upstream. the sentry is there, his outline dimly visible from his body heat. his batteries must have run out in his goggles. the sentry cycles the bolt on his rifle and takes aim. both cowboy hat and the small one duck underwater, making their weapons inoperable but saving their lives. the water is muddy. they both try to quickly feel their way back to the US. in the shallow water. cowboy hat surfaces first. the sentry fires on him again, hitting his side. the body armor absorbs most of the force, but the bullet passes through, lodging between two ribs. the small one scrambles up the bank and dives for cover behind a pile of rubbish. the sentry fires at cowboy hat again, missing in his excitement. he holds the rope and the small one helps pull him up the bank. cowboy hat hides behind the pile of rubbish. "get the rifle" he tells the small one. she runs through the gas station, kicking the pepsi cola holders. cowboy hat looks at his would. blood has soaked his side, and the metal bullet rubs against his ribs when he breathes. he tries to move, but a sharp pain stops him. shreds from his vest are rubbing against the wound and against the bullet. cowboy hat attempts to calm himself. he lays still. another shot ricochets off the pile of rubbish. the small one reaches the car and opens the back door. inside is the big plastic case. she opens it. inside is a gleaming brushed steel collection of parts. the windrunner. she pulls the reciever and the bolt assembly from their fitted foam inserts and puts them together. then puts the two prongs to the adjustable stock into the sleeves on either side of the reciever. finally, she pulls the long barel from the case and screws it into the front of the reciever and tightens down the hand nut. the magazine sits loaded with 10 rounds of .38 lapua in its little pocket in the case. she slides it into the magazine well and taps the bottom. she backs away from the car and swings the rifle around. its as long as she is tall. the muzzle flash across the river and upstream as the sentry fires on cowboy hat again allows her to pinpoint his location. she rests the rifle on its tripod on the front of the car, cycles the bolt, and takes aim. BLAM! the rifle knocks her back and pain shoots through her shoulder. it takes a second to recover her night vision from the blinding muzzle flash, but she can see that the sentry across river has been hit. he is clutching his shoulder with one hand, but the other arm has been blown off. she tries to take aim again, but her complaining shoulder suggests otherwise, and cowboy hat might be dead. please dont be dead. she leaves the gun on the trunk and runs around the gas station. cowboy hat lays there, looking up at the sky. she loos at him, not wanting to have to confirm that he is dead. finally he breathes. she rushes to him. "you ok?". "no. take my armor off". with much difficilty, the small one takes cowboy hat's armor off. the bleeding has slowed, but there is a ragged round hole in cowboy hat's side. the small one rolls him onto his side so that the wounded side is off the ground. as the blood runs away, the back of a bullet becomes visible. "its not too bad" says the small one. across the river, the orange light grows brighter as the fire spreads. in laredo, police cars with sirens on converge around the gas station.
2006-09-16 05:42:24
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answer #8
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answered by Stand-up Philosopher 5
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