Under the cover of an almost pitch black sky, Face slipped unseen and unheard into the enemy camp. He'd been watching all day and knew everything he needed to know about his marks.
Most of the guards had settled down to sleep in what seemed to be the main structure located closest to the mine. Seven of them were positioned throughout the rest of the area, patrolling and watching along the edges of the jungle that threatened every day to encroach into the small base.
The jungle itself was alive with its own ambiance, a collection of fauna all regaling nearby ears with their best vocals. Face was used to this sort of orchestra, having been lulled to sleep by similar notes back in the Vietnam jungles. It spooked him at first, but after a couple of weeks he grew to appreciate the sounds, and later he could shut them out completely. Here was no different. After one day and night in the place, Face had heard most of what this jungle had to offer and was no longer bothered. The guards situated around the camp, however, still seemed to be in that adjusting phase, something the lieutenant knew would work in his favor.
By the time Face was in position, his body, which had grown stiff from all the hours of surveillance, finally loosened up making stalking the two men to his left a lot easier. They were patrolling the east side of the camp, just opposite the road that led down to the village, obviously on the lookout for escaping natives. The two men had separated. While one walked along the edges of the jungle in a northerly direction, the second headed south, lighting up a smoke as he slipped into the bushes just a few paces away from the hidden soldier.
Controlling his breathing, Face watched, moving only his eyes as the man ventured two more paces deeper into the jungle. He remained as still as possible, the mud he wore helping him to blend in seamlessly into his surroundings. Face could smell the cheapness of the cigarette and hear the faint mutterings of complaint as the guy unzipped his fly. Before the guard had a chance to whip it out and pee, the lieutenant's knife had slipped in between the third and fourth rib, puncturing the left lung. Even if the man had wanted to scream, he couldn't.
A velvet of warmth spilled out over Face's mud-caked fist. It clung to the handle of the blade while his free hand held up his victim. Face turned to peer across at the second guard and through the hanging vines and branches; Face could just about make him out. He had started to walk back the way he came. With another fluid jab of the knife, this time angled towards the heart, Face extinguished the life of the man currently slipping towards the ground. Lowering the body slowly to the ground meant there was no sudden noise drawing the second guard's attention, while at the same time, the lieutenant dropped with it, slipping back into the cover of the jungle keeping low.
Face had angled his run towards the second guard and waited for the right time to strike. It came as the guard peered into the jungle trying to spot his friend, but all he found was death. Face plunged the already soaked blade into the throat of the man, before dragging the body into the cover of the jungle.
With two down Face had no time to dwell on his recent actions, choosing instead to hide the bodies as best he could and hope that whatever hungry mouths might be lying in wait, would dispose of at least some of the evidence before they were found. He hoped that the remaining guards would simply look on the disappearances as foolishness on the missing men's part, or that they had deserted.
It was a risky plan even before Hannibal got himself caught, as there was only a brief window before the enemy started to question the vanishing of their crew and be on guard, making the lieutenant's job much harder. But it had to be done this way, there were too many to take head on.
He had to take them out like this…
He was just one man after all…
Dizzy.
He wasn't sure why the sudden wave of disorientation came but he was very glad it dispersed just as quickly. He blinked rapidly to clear the lingering effects of the spell, before hurrying deeper into the camp, putting the sudden affliction down to the bump he still bore from the fight the previous day. He didn't want to consider it was something else, like stress. He was very much aware of how debilitating that could be, especially in the field, but it would hardly be a surprise if stress was indeed the cause. After all, here he was again in a jungle, so very far from home, covered with mud and the smell of death all over his hands. He had to push that aside and drive on through it.
It wasn't long before he spotted another of the patrols, this one circling the small iron and concrete cabin that housed the native children. The guy was slacking in his duties, taking a swig from a concealed flask in his sleeve. Whiskey if Face's nose was correct, and it often was. The lieutenant waited for the guy to wander a little closer towards the tree line, before stepping out and covering his victim's mouth, stifling his cry of alarm, while the blade in his other hand sliced through the guards exposed neck. The sounds from the man struggling in Face's arms changed from shrieks of shock to gargles and chokes, as the blood from the artery filled his mouth and lungs. Within seconds the scum had bled out. Like before, Face dragged the body into the cover of the jungle before stealthily going back to the building.
The closest patrol was more than fifty yards away, in the middle of an open area in front of a large camp fire, sat with his back to the children's prison. Two others sauntered around that area making it impossible for Face to approach without being seen.
The lieutenant cursed his luck. He could wait, eventually one might wander close enough to be taken out, but he was on the clock already. He didn't know how much longer he had before the alarm would be raised on account of the guards he had already dispatched. Swallowing thickly, and praying the decision he made was the right one, Face slipped towards the rear of the small building. While the make-shift prison was fairly sturdy, it had been erected in haste, and he doubted a clod like Coleman was bothered about the grade of the concrete used. It didn't take the soldier long to locate a structural weakness in the form of a small hole at one of the corners. He lowered down so he could peer through. Sure enough there were the kids, huddled together for warmth in the far corner.
Being as quiet as possible, the lieutenant tapped the wall lightly, hoping to draw the attention of the oldest girl, who couldn't have been any older than fourteen. His efforts weren't entirely futile but the child who noticed the strange muddy man peering in at them from below was a lot younger than fourteen and clearly frightened. The little boy shrieked in fright and the rest of the bunch sounded out a rhapsody of wails and panicked words in a language Face couldn't understand. He tried to hush them soothingly, but the jig appeared to be up when an angry voice bellowed out from the direction of the camp fire.
"Will you kids shut the fuck up!" Face froze at the gruffly spoken order, which was only a little slurred, confirming that most of the guards were likely drinking, too. The children quieted down, obviously more afraid of their captors than the weirdo peeking in through the hole.
"It's ok, guys," Face soothed but was met with mostly blank looks. "I don't suppose…one of you speaks English?" He asked hopefully, but there was no way he could be that lucky.
"I do." The older girl stood and came closer to the corner, looking down at the muddy man with large, hopeful, brown eyes. "Are you one of them?"
"Do I look like one of them?"
"Yes. Except you wear mud." The girl pointed out calmly, her expression one of mistrust as she regarded the lieutenant contemplatively.
"I'm not one of them, no. I'm here to free you all."
"And our parents?" She asked, as if she knew his answer would be no.
"Eventually," he stated irritably but the girl looked confused. Her English was good, but perhaps she didn't understand all of the words. "I can't do that, not yet," he clarified and taking his knife, he started to dig away at the hole to make it big enough for all of the children to get out from. "I need to get you kids out of here first. Then I can come back for your parents."
"It is dangerous for us to leave this way. Mati tried before and was captured and beaten."
"Well that won't happen this time." The girl looked skeptical at first, but her eyes focused on the knife and the blood that stained it and seemed to understand the lieutenant's unspoken truth. "I can get you away from here," Face continued hoping to draw her attention away from the gore. He wasn't proud of what he had done, but he knew it was necessary. "But I need you guys to be strong and find somewhere to hide."
"The jungle is our home, we know many places to be safe."
"That's good, uh… what's your name?"
"Dr. Jackson called me Helena. My real name is difficult for you to say."
"Did he teach you English, too?"
"Yes," Helena had started to gather the younger children together and kept them as quiet as possible while Face continued to chip away at the wall. There were two teenage boys with her. He assumed she translated the plan to them for as soon as the hole was big enough they were assisting the girl in ushering the youngest children out. Face eased each little boy and girl through, urging them to hide in the cover of the jungle while moving onto the next, the last to leave was Helena. As with the others, Face reached to assist but she slapped his hand away almost aggressively. He tried not to take it to heart, it was clear she had been through a lot.
Helena slipped into the tree line as stealthy as any trained special ops soldier while Face checked on the bozos in the clearing by the fire. One guy seemed to have passed out while the other two played cards in a nearby tent. The building holding the native adults and Hannibal was directly across that clearing. Once he got the kids to safety, he would double back. Hopefully by then the other two would be in a similar state as the first…
Face back tracked towards the kids, but finding them was proving difficult. Each one had smothered themselves in mud, Helena helping the youngest. She regarded the lieutenant with a cautious gaze before going back to her task, and Face finally got a good look at them.
The three youngest consisted of two boys and a girl, no older than five. All looked thin and in shock. They didn't cry, though. It seemed they were beyond that, and all Face wanted to do was tell them everything would be okay. The next two were around eight or nine, girls who huddled close to the three younger ones protectively. Then there were the two teenage boys, around thirteen, and then Helena. They looked to be in the worst shape, with one boy having clearly been beaten. Helena's eyes were tortured, hiding a secret Face didn't want to admit he could see. She wore bruises on her body in places no child would ever accidently inflict. She had been choked and pinned down, the large hand prints around her neck and wrists telling that story. He didn't want to think about the rest.
He was starting to doubt his next move here, but he didn't have a lot of options. The kids didn't look to be in any sort of state to go wandering through the jungle alone after the experience they had, but at the same time it wasn't exactly safe for them to stick around. Face had to set explosives, traps and trip-wires; he would never forgive himself if any of the kids ended up hurt because of the tactics he had to employ.
"What is it?" Helena asked, seeming to read the conflict in his eyes.
"I can't let you guys just wander off out there," he admitted as he scratched the day old, muddy stubble around his jaw.
"We do not 'wander'." Helena chastised making the lieutenant regret using that particular term.
"You know what I mean, kid."
"I am not a child. Not anymore." Her expression was a mixture of resigned misery. Face felt a definite chill run down his back and he clenched his teeth in disgust.
"Helena," he began in a softer tone. "I want to see you all safe and well and back with the people who love you."
"Then hurry and free our parents, and you will see that day."
"So you're all just gonna go and disappear into the jungle?" he snapped back in a hushed voice. "You could be killed!"
"Like I said, the jungle is our home. We know of safe places." Face sighed as he watched the younger ones link hands with Helena at her request. "To stay with you would mean our death, as well as your own." The lieutenant shook his head, he wasn't sure what he disliked more, the hopeless situation or the fact a teenager had basically told him the score.
"All right, Helena." He conceded somberly. "Be careful." The girl nodded before turning to leave. "Watch the sky," he added while they were still in earshot. "You'll know when it's safe to return, by watching the sky." Another nod from the girl before she and the others slipped into the jungle. After mere seconds there was no trace of them.