For willwrite4fics. A semi challenge featuring Low Light in ten chapters. Each chapter will have the title of a Rolling Stones song.
The usual disclaimer: I don't own, not making a profit.
Chapter Ten
Heartbreaker (with your .44)
0400
Dixon dreamed he was following the path of the jaguar through the jungle. Where she went, he went. It was nighttime and for the first time since early this morning, his eyesight was clear. The wet of the forest made every sound and smell come to life. It was time to hunt.
They padded along silently as ghosts twisting and turning through overgrowth and into trees stalking for prey. They were out there staying equally hidden. He could smell them. All he had to do was be patient and wait. They would make a mistake and that's when they would pounce.
She was a patient teacher making subtle corrections and staying directly in sight. She would stop and wait for him to catch up the way someone that knew their way around would do with someone new. It seemed as if she knew every blade of grass, every river, and every path. The trees she marked with her claws as a warning to others.
At times they hid in the trees watching from above. From up here he could see for miles. It seemed as if nothing could escape him. There were tapir rooting around on the forest floor and monkeys with their incessant howling giving away their position. He growled at them. It came out as a deep barking cough. They wouldn't find any cover here.
With irritation he jumped down. Then just for the Hell of it he stretched and yawned. His teeth showed. They were perfect for biting through shell and bone. The killing blow would come with a piercing through the skull behind the ears and into the brain. Death would be instant and painless.
Perhaps one day he would find out what the taste of monkey was like. He gave a look back and disappeared.
They were outside of their normal hunting range on the outer skirts of the river. That was where their territory would end. A jaguar liked to swim and sometimes he would eat caiman and turtle. But he never crossed to the other side. That was where the smell of smoke came from.
There were too many strange noises. It encroached on his territory. His habitant became smaller and smaller. Soon his food supply would dwindle and he would be forced to find new hunting grounds. But it was not tonight. He was going to enjoy being at the top of the food chain. He was the apex and everything else was beneath him.
Tonight it was different. There was something else out here. He couldn't see it and he couldn't hear it but by instinct he knew it was there. And it was dangerous. He stayed close. He wanted to hide in the trees or cover in the vines. His hunger could wait another night. If she felt it she didn't give any indication. To her the jungle was the way it always had been: unchanged, recognizable and well known.
He tried to warn her but his voice was silent. She didn't hear him. She simply vanished.
And then he was alone.
The jungle that looked so familiar before now looked menacing. The vines that used to give refuge now looked thorny. The trees stretched black arms out to him. Even the monkeys were still. He felt a primal pit of fear in his stomach that nearly immobilized him. Whatever it was, it was close. And it was stalking him.
He stood still. He tried to see it. He tried to hear it. He tried to smell it. It was like it was invisible.
He turned too late when the jaguar attacked. He was easily two hundred and fifty pounds and deadly. He only had a chance to hold up one arm before the big cat clamped down. His jaws pinned his arm between his skull and throat. He had a moment of fight or flight where he tried to pry the cats' jaw open. The jaguar only pressed harder. His teeth sunk into his arm and his skull. He could feel the teeth pierce his flesh.
He shook his body with all of his weight squeezing further and further into Dixon's arm. In his mind he thought "Hum, so this is it. I could have fought harder." as if he were looking at himself from afar.
The jaguar shook harder. It gave a low coarse laugh.
"Dixon, wake up." He heard. Above him Low Light was shaking his arm. "Dixon, wake up. It's 0400." He said.
He immediately bolted upright. The dream was so vivid that Dixon could feel the teeth marks on his arm. He stretched and rubbed at his shoulder. He must have been sleeping on it. He felt wet with dew.
"You must have been having a good dream. You sleep like the dead." Low Light said. He snorted. Dixon couldn't tell if it was sarcasm or jealousy.
"I was asleep this whole time?" Dixon said. "Did I miss anything?" He asked.
"Yeah about eight hours. The grass must be comfortable." Low Light said. He was looking across at him through his goggles. Dixon couldn't read his expression. "You didn't miss anything except a few Cobras changing guards. That's about it. I expect that they'll be more active during the day." He said.
"I'm going to check in and then you're going to take over. Get your goggles on." Low Light said.
Dixon nodded and reached for his goggles. Now that he had them on, he felt oddly comfortable. It was like he could see like the jaguar. The spotlights around the compound gave a harsh halo against the black but even at the dead of night, he could see everything that was going on.
In the distance the weapons factory was quiet.
"This is Low Light checking in. It is Low Light and Dixon. It is 0400." He heard Low Light say.
There was a pause where Dixon didn't know if anyone would reply until Dial Tone came on the line. "Acknowledged Low Light. It is 0400. What is your report." He said.
"All's quiet on the Western Front." Low Light said. It was a reference to the book. "We still have activity coming and going from the entrance to the compound. I did not see any civilians. Whatever civilians there are must work during the day. Optimal attack without collateral damage is post midnight. The crew consists of ten guards at a stationary position, with an additional ten at the perimeter. There is no accounting for hostiles inside." Low Light said.
"Agreed Low Light. What is your recommendation?" Dial Tone replied.
"To achieve best results I would suggest a night attack at approximately 0300 to 0500." Low Light said.
Any soldier or policeman will tell you that most raids happen between 3 AM and 5 AM. That is when the enemy is at its most vulnerable. The ones that were awake were lulled by boredom whereas the ones that were asleep would be taken by surprise. That was when the factory would be the quietest and the few Cobras left on the property would be hit in the middle of the night. No one would see them coming.
"I trust your report and will relay it to General Hawk." Dial Tone said. "The next check in will be at 1200 hours. Dial Tone out."
"Next check in at 1200 hours" Low Light repeated. "Low Light out."
He looked at Dixon. The two men sat on the ridge overlooking the Cobra factory. One had red crystallized goggles on with twists of blond curls showing and a scruff of morning beard. He was slightly older and taller than the other one. His whole body said 'alert'.
The younger one had the same type of goggles on but even without a helmet on it was hard to tell what color his hair was. He was two inches shorter and twenty pounds lighter. He looked at the older man as if he were waiting for instructions.
Even from a distance anyone could tell which one was in charge.
Low Light sighed and pulled his goggles down. After this many years he took his time to let his eyes adjust to the night. Even now he had to acclimate to it slowly. If done too suddenly it would make him spin. His pupils felt dilated to the size of quarters. He took a look around.
The jungle looked remote and threatening without his usual sight. Everywhere he turned he felt like there was a shadow lurking at the periphery of his vision. While his eyes got accustomed to his surroundings, his hearing and sense of smell became more acute. The senses had a way of compensating that way.
Beside him Dixon was watching. The man really did have grey eyes. They weren't blue or light blue and they weren't hazel. They truly were grey. It was the first time Dixon had seen him without his goggles. From this point of view he looked human and vulnerable without the typical gear on. It was like seeing someone for the first time.
He rubbed his hand over his face.
This was the hardest part. This was the time he would be forced to sleep. Low Light was already awake for thirty hours. He knew he had to be alert for the night time attack. He didn't want to sleep. Not now. Not with Dixon here.
His circle of people he could trust he could count on one hand. It was Life Line, Doc, Beachhead, Snake Eyes, and Hawk. This new kid was the one that had to watch him for the next six to eight hours. He didn't know if he could do it. He paused and looked at Dixon.
He didn't know if he could trust him.
It was 0500.
He opened and closed his mouth. Dixon was already looking out at the perimeter.
He cleared his throat. "I'm going to get some sleep. If anything happens, wake me up. If I say anything, wake me up. If I start moving, wake me up. If there's anything going on, wake me up. As a matter of fact, just wake me up." He said. He didn't like the way he sounded helpless when he was asleep. That was the worst part of it.
When he was asleep he didn't have control.
Dixon looked over his shoulder. Thankfully the kid was too involved in watching the factory to say much of anything. That was a relief.
Low Light backed up and made his own small snipers' nest. The grass he could lay on comfortably and the pack he could put his head on. He threw his arm over his eyes and repeated his mantra. "It's in your mind. It's in your mind. It's in your mind."
This time it didn't work. It was 0600 and then 0700 and then 0800 and he was still awake. The sun was coming up in a fog that clung to his body. Even though they were at the equator, they were in the high jungle and the altitude made the mist a chill that went through his bones.
He gave up and crawled to Dixon's position.
His body was stiff from the wet. He was getting too old for this shit.
"Report Dixon." He said. "Is anything going on?"
It was more or less to say something to explain why he was awake than anything else.
Dixon looked over. "There is nothing to report Low Light. The perimeter is secured at one and a quarter miles. There has been some activity outside of the walls but nothing that could be seen as important." He said.
Low Light nodded. "Very good. The next check in is as 1200 hours. Don't forget." He said. He backed up and laid down looking up at the sky. This time he concentrated on the cicadas with their "reeee" of their back legs in a lullaby that only happened once every seventeen years.
It came as one two three, reeee. One two three reeee. Until Low Light finally nodded off.
His dream wasn't all that different than the other times. What other dream could he have growing up as the son of a garbage man in Crosby North Dakota. Everyone knew who and what he was. He didn't have a mother that he knew of. She left a long time ago. In a lot of ways he was a lot like Beachhead: redneck white trash. Only Beachhead was probably high class compared to him.
In school everyone knew who he was. Outside of school he was subject to whatever mood his father was in. He was caught in a world where he didn't want to go to and a world where he had to go to.
And in between was the dark. And the rats. And the monsters.
Low Light twitched. It was like an electrical shock to the left side of his body. His left hand grasped for an imaginary weapon and his left leg kicked out. Then he was still. Dixon looked over but by that time Low Light was quiet.
He looked like he was just dreaming.
Dixon went back to watching the factory.
And that was when the talking began. It started as talking. Anyone that knew him knew enough that this was the pivotal moment when he had to be woken up. It started out as low mumbles in a conversation that grew more and more heated as the time wore on. That was when the twitches became more like convulsions.
He would mumble in his sleep and hit at the ground pulling on the tall grass with pulls and moans that Dixon thought the enemy could hear.
Until now he knew the night sniper was an insomniac but he had no idea that he suffered from night terrors.
He reached a hand out.
Low Light sat up so fast that Dixon fell back on his feet. He wasn't expecting that. The night sniper had his hands out in front of him and his mouth wide open.
"They're crawling. You have to stop them from crawling. They're crawling. Can't you see?" He said.
Dixon immediately went to his scope. The base looked like it always looked like. He couldn't see anything different. "I don't see anyone crawling, Low Light, It looks the same to me. Where are they?" He asked.
As much as he looked he couldn't tell anything different. He looked back at Low Light, The sniper was sitting straight up adamant. "I just don't see it!" Dixon said. It was a hiss through his teeth.
He looked in an arc that would give him the best view taking his time to check for any variables. There were none. "I don't see it!" He whispered.
He looked back at Low Light. His eyes were glazed and his body was rigid. Whatever he was seeing wasn't what Dixon was seeing. He passed his hand in front of his eyes. Low Light didn't blink. That was when Dixon realized he was asleep. He sat back in almost relief. Where once he was on high alert, his body relaxed and let his mind go at ease.
His instant of panic turned into a slow and steady drum.
So this is what everyone talked about.
If he hadn't seen it for himself, he would have never believed it.
He didn't know what to do.
Thankfully he didn't have to make that decision. As suddenly as Low Light was sitting up he fell back down in the grass and went back to sleep.
By then it was 1200 hours and he had to make his check. "This is Dixon checking in. It is 1200 hours. There is some activity reported between the entrance and the Eastern Wall. There are approximately twenty guards coming and going from the entrance with big machinery being checked in." He said.
This time he heard Main Frame. "Is Low Light with you?" He asked.
Shit. He forgot to say.
"Yes, this is Dixon reporting in. It is me and Low Light. The factory appears benign. I do not see any civilians in the area." He said.
He heard the com unit scrape and then some static. There was a gap between people handing off and then General Hawk. "Understood Dixon. Get Low Light on the line." He said.
"Yes, Sir!" Dixon said.
He shook Low Light awake with an assorted muffle until he told him it was General Hawk. The sniper was instantly awake. "This is Low Light reporting in General Hawk." He said. He blinked in the sun and looked at his watch. His eyes tried to focus on the time until he could get a good reading. It must have been 1200 hours. He was asleep for less than four hours.
"Report, Low Light." General Hawk said.
He looked at Dixon and then at his surroundings. He gradually eased his goggles back on. It was as Dixon said.
"The base is secured General Hawk. Except for low level personnel any and all civilians are accounted for. I estimate less than a dozen kills with the rest being brought in peacefully." He said. He peered into his scope and squeezed his eye shut. He was still half asleep and the sun was like the eye of God looking at him through the lens. "ETA twelve hours."
"And how many will be kill shots?" General Hawk asked. That meant that Low Light had the responsibility of taking care of any guards that would interfere with the ground troops.
Low Light passed his sniping rifle along the Cobra sniper rifle factory. The guards were unaware that they were being accounted for. They went along with their duties like they normally did ignorant of the Death from Above waiting and watching them.
It took less than a minute. "I expect less than four and at the maximum six kill shots, General Hawk." He said.
That was how he kept it separate. He never thought of them as people. They were only kill shots. Low Light never looked past that. It would be dangerous territory if he went there.
He lay down on his belly and looked in his scope.
"Pleased to meet you. Hope you guessed my name." He whispered.
He lined up his shot.
End Chapter Ten
Heartbreaker (with your .44)
To tigerwolfspellbear: The jaguar scene