A Little Surprise

Low Light reached the village on his map shortly after dark. In his study of the area, Low Light determined that Bulls-Eye and Pinpoint were likely using it as some sort of base of operations. After looking around quickly to make sure there were no ambushes waiting for him, he slung his rifle over his shoulder and let out a barely perceptible sigh of relief. Then, in his normal quiet brooding manner, he walked right through the center of the village and made a beeline for the tavern to get himself a cup of the local coffee. Once inside and at the bar, he purposely conveyed his desire for coffee to the barkeep with the barest minimum of words. Once served, he purposely overpaid and walked away without another word. At first, the barkeep looked like he was going to question Low Light about the payment, but then thought better of it.

As he made his way to an empty table in the center of the tavern, Low Light sipped his coffee and barely held back a grimace of dissatisfaction at how horrible it was. One consolation was that it at least replenished his energy. As he practically choked down the coffee, he scanned the room to see how many people were actually present. Not including himself and the bartender, there were only four others and they were all seated together at the table nearest the front window. That's fortunate, he thought to himself. As he sat down in the seat that directly faced the door, he withdrew his pistol from its holster. Through his peripheral vision, he could see that everyone in the room noticed, yet gave no indication that they were going to do anything one way or the other about it. Feeling a touch more at ease, he let the butt of the pistol rest on the table and faced the barrel towards the door. Once he felt he had the pistol's angle of trajectory perfect, he carefully undid the safety with his thumb with considerable care so as to not let the pistol move. He then curled his finger around the trigger and waited. All eyes in the bar remained fixed on him. He just tuned out their stares and stared at the door while keeping so still that it was impossible to tell if he was even breathing.

Outside, Pinpoint and Bulls-Eye had also reached the village and were in the middle of a heated argument regarding their encounter with Low Light. "It would be over right now if you had allowed me to take the fucking shot!" shouted Bulls-Eye.

"Have some patience damn it!" shouted Pinpoint back at him as they walked towards the tavern. "You're a good shot, but it will take more than being a good shot to take down someone like Low Light."

"Yeah?" retorted Bulls-Eye.

"Yeah," said Pinpoint plainly and bluntly as he slung his rifle. He then stopped in his tracks and considered his shooter. "You know, I don't get you sometimes. You've got all the necessary skills but none of the brains for this line of work.

"You've never complained about how I do things before," snapped Bulls-Eye, who didn't bother to stop walking.

"That's because you've never faced off against someone like Low Light before!" Pinpoint called after him.

"And I suppose you think you'd do better against him than me?" snapped Bulls-Eye as he stopped just outside the entrance to the tavern.

"Yes I would!" shouted Pinpoint as he caught up to the younger sniper. "I understand him! Now, let's put an end to this debate and grab a drink."

"After you," said Bulls-Eye condescendingly with an exaggerated gesture of his hand to the open doorway.

"Thank you," said Pinpoint with a sneer as he crossed the threshold of the tavern.

Low Light smiled and pulled the trigger of his pistol. The shot rang out and before either Bulls-Eye or Pinpoint had any time to react, the shot hit Pinpoint squarely in the chest. Pinpoint was halted right in his steps and let out a surprised gasp before looking down. When he realized that his body armor had protected him, he let out a gasp of relief. Bulls-Eye frowned and pushed past Pinpoint to confront the nighttime sniper. "You think that's funny?" he asked. "How's this for funny?" With that he switched his rifle to fully automatic and sprayed bullets across the room. Low Light dove out of his chair and knocked over a nearby table to use as cover. Bulls-Eye's rifle was empty a few moments later and he paused to reload. Low Light took a deep breath, got up, made a mad dash for the bar, and dove behind it for better cover. Pinpoint took a few half-hearted shots with his pistol to make it look as though he was actually putting forth some concern and effort. He was not really interested in dealing with Low Light in some sort of John Woo-like shootout. He wanted to deal with Low Light the sniper's way. This sort of display was not his scene. Once Bulls-Eye was finally finished reloading his gun he resumed fire while Pinpoint calmly grabbed a now abandoned bottle of whiskey and a clean glass from a nearby table, walked over to the table in the center of the room that Low Light had been sitting at, righted the chair, and sat down to have a drink.

"Let me know when the two of you are done," he said to both Low Light and Bulls-Eye as he poured the whiskey. "And try not to shoot me while you're at it."

Low Light was on the ground behind the bar trying to weigh his options. "No plan ever survives contact with the enemy," said his father.

"Not now, dad," said Low Light in a low hiss.

Bulls-Eye pulled a grenade and was about to pull the pin when he noticed that Pinpoint was glaring at him. "What?" he asked his spotter. Pinpoint just shook his head no and held out his hand. Bulls-Eye gave him a small pout, moved over to him quickly, and handed over the grenade.

"He'll do us all a favor if he gets himself killed," said Pinpoint under his breath after Bulls-Eye went back to where he'd been standing. Shaking his head, he gulped down the contents of his glass and poured himself a refill.

"You only have one opponent here, Cooper," said Low Light's father as he stood up to look around. "The spotter wants no part in the fight. Concentrate on the shooter."

"I know, dad," said Low Light. "I'm not a rookie."

"Then start acting like it," said his father as he knelt down beside his son.

To be continued…