Victor quickly lifted his crutch and swung it waist high at the intruder. He caught him dead center in the midline and doubled him over. He then brought the crutch down on his head. The dark haired man crumpled to the floor.
Miguel a second behind yelled too late, "No Victor, he is our friend, he is here to help us!"
"Shit!" was all that Victor could say. He looked to Teresa for help. She quickly went over to the fallen man and looked at the knot forming on the back of his head. She went to the sink and started to pump the water. She let a lot of water pass through because she wanted to get the coldest of the well water that she could. Now satisfied with what was coming out, she soaked a cloth, wrung it out and placed it on the back of the man's head.
Miguel stood there is stunned silence. He thought they were friends of Victor's. Victor didn't even recognize the man on the floor.
Gordon saw on the thermascan that two men were headed in his direction, so he quickly ducked into the thick brush and turned his night vision goggles on. They came in from behind, walking stealthily, trying to sneak up on the 'soldiers'. Gordon smiled as he saw how puzzled they looked when they reached the rock just before the open yard. They looked around then left the path and went through the front yard heading for Eduardo. They were still cautious because they didn't know if the soldiers made a break for the house or if they hid themselves around the compound. When they finally made it back to Eduardo he told them that they all ran into the house. He was not pleased. He didn't expect them to go into the house, he thought for sure they would have tried to sneak around and encircle them.
Gordon watched the thermascan as one of his brothers approached the man near the pit. Minutes later, John called Gordon to let him know that there was one down. Gordon then followed Alan's thermascan. A minute later he reported in that he had taken out the man near the barn. Now they were waiting for Scott to contact them letting them know exactly what was happening inside the house.
Eduardo told his men to sneak up to the house using the shadows and darkness as much as possible. He had his two men on the outskirts of the compound, so he didn't feel threatened from behind, not realizing that they had been already taken out. He sent two men to the far side of the house where there was a window. They slunk close to the ground along the perimeter of the yard until the reached the barn. They slithered through the open-ended barn. They did not see the rope wrapped around the poles and snaked under the straw. At the other side, they slipped through the fence slats of the paddock using the twig thin posts as cover. There was a small patch of open ground that they needed to cover before reaching the house. If anyone was looking out the window they could easily be seen. So they waited for the frontal attack to make their final sprint.
The other two went to the door. As their two counterparts slunk around the far side to the back of the house, these two did the same to the front of the house. The side of the house with the door had no window, so when they were on the perimeter of the yard directly across from the door, they were safe from being seen. However, they converged on the house ever so carefully, crawling, lest they be out in the open if the door was to suddenly open up. When they reached the house, they slide up the outside wall into a standing position on either side of the door. They looked towards Eduardo.
Eduardo had stayed further behind in case of emergency. He slid to the rock that defined the opening to the path to the town. The rock that Miguel so many times hid behind to see if Jorge was at his home. The rock that currently Gordon was hiding behind. While Eduardo watched his men slither up to the house, he heard the soft click of a pistol beside his left ear. "Senor, it would be very wise of you to drop your gun." Gordon said almost undetectably. As he dropped his gun, Eduardo thought this gringo spoke very good Spanish, just a hint of an American accent. Gordon quickly signaled through his communicator to the other two that he had the leader.
John had been sitting in the shadows of the trough. In daylight he would have readily been seen, but since he was dressed in black and in the shadows, he was as invisible as if he were sitting in the middle of a dense forest. The two rebels knelt down just 15 feet away from him, backs to him, watching the house. They were completely unaware of his presence and he would keep it like that until he felt the vibration of his watch. He received the signal from Gordon and without revealing his location, he cocked the pistol. The noise was just loud enough to catch their attention and cause them to freeze. He whispered "Drop your guns and raise your hands." Although they could barely understand his heavily accented Spanish, they still understood enough to do as he asked.
Alan was lying on the ground next to the woodpile behind the house. The door that the two men were standing by was on the side. He had covered himself with clutter and hugged the house almost invisible to the naked eye. He could hear the two hombres sneaking up to the door and lay quietly until he got the word from Gordon. He could see the big rock from his vantage point, but not Gordon or Eduardo, the angle was wrong. He could no longer hear the two men moving in the direction of the house and felt more than saw that they were probably in position to enter the house forcibly. When he felt the vibration on his wrist he went into action. Hardly moving a hair on his head, he lifted his arm and pointed his pistol along the side wall at the two men. Although one was really shielded by the other, neither wanted to take the chance and make a run for it.
John was the first to signal back that he had the drop on the two near him. Gordon could see that Alan was just as successful in apprehending the two men by the door, ordering them to drop their guns. John came around from the far side of the house with his two prisoners walking in front of him with their hands up. Gordon pushed Eduardo forward. He tried Scott again through the com but still didn't get an answer. So he yelled into the house, "Hey, Scott, all clear!"
Miguel was the first to barrel out the front door, a face splitting grin glowing in the dark. The smile quickly faded as he had to tell about the one they call Scott. Gordon's face soured when Miguel told him that Scott was knocked unconscious. He was ready to belt this fellow they called Victor when he hobbled out. He waited, watching the door and saw an attractive woman come out of the house shortly after Miguel did. He could hear the shuffling of someone behind her who was having difficulty in walking. He waited.
When he saw the bare-chested man, with a makeshift crutch hobble through the door, Gordon almost dropped his gun. Then he heard the soft click of a pistol just behind his right ear. "Now senor, I think it is best that you drop your gun."