On the Hunt

Low Light finished putting out Bulls-Eye, found a clean glass, and poured some of the whiskey from the bottle Pinpoint had claimed into it. As he took a sip of the whiskey, he looked at his watch. His duel with Pinpoint was still several hours away. "Terrific," he said aloud. "I hate waiting."

"Then why wait, Cooper?" asked his father. "You should go out there now. Find his trail and end this before…"

"I know, dad!" interrupted Low Light. "I'm not new at this!"

"He made a mistake choosing midnight, Cooper. You should take advantage of that mistake."

"It was no mistake, dad. He knows exactly what he's doing."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because the night's clear and the moon's shining bright. That's why."

"Well, then you do have your work cut out for you now don't you?"

"Yes I do."

With that, Low Light finished his whiskey and exited the bar. Once outside, he inquired to one of the villagers as to which way Pinpoint had gone. The villager just pointed, clearly afraid of him. Low Light politely thanked him and set off in the direction the villager had indicated. It didn't take him long to pick up Pinpoint's trail. It was careful, but still noticeable. Almost too noticeable. It quickly dawned on Low Light that Pinpoint had done this on purpose.

"He's teasing you, Cooper," said his father.

"Or testing me," retorted Low Light as he paused and put some camouflage paint on his face.

"Do you really think that stuff will help you?"

"I don't know, dad. I'll soon find out."

"That's so typical of you, Cooper. I just hope that if it doesn't help it doesn't cost you your life."

"Your concern for me is touching, dad."

"What else are fathers for?"

Deeper into the jungle, Pinpoint was getting set up just under a piece of dense foliage. He smiled to himself as he extended the legs of his rifle's bipod. This was the sniper battle he had been waiting his entire career for. The fact that it cost him Bulls-Eye seemed trivial. He only hoped that the choice of starting this battle at midnight did not come back to bite him on the ass.

Low Light knelt down to examine the ground around him. Pinpoint's obvious trail ended here and Low Light was hoping to find evidence of his not-so-obvious trail. Looking at his watch he realized that it was almost midnight. "Cooper," said his father. "Time's running out to prepare."

"Sssh," hissed Low Light. "Let me think."

"Not your strong suit, Cooper," replied his father. "Must I do everything myself? His trail ends here because he jumped up onto that branch above you."

Low Light looked up and realized that his father was indeed correct. With a great sigh he stood up and considered the branch.

"Bingo," said Pinpoint in a low voice as he squeezed off a shot. Low Light didn't know what hit him until he was lying on his back looking up at his father's face.

"That was really stupid, Cooper," said his father as he smacked his son on the cheek. "Never just stand up."

"I'll try and remember that, dad," hissed Low Light. "Is it bad?"

"You were lucky…" said his father with a smile. "This time. The bullet was stopped by your body armor. Another few inches over and that shot would probably have taken your arm clean off."

"Your watch must be slow, Low Light!" taunted Pinpoint, thinking that Low Light was in no position to try to ascertain Pinpoint's location.

"Rather I think yours is fast!" taunted Low Light back as he clutched at where he'd been shot. "Besides, you missed all my vital spots!"

"Get up, Cooper!" ordered his father. "You're only going to have a bruise from the impact! You're not wounded! Show me you're tougher than this! Get up!"

Low Light rolled over and began to crawl behind the closest tree for cover. Pinpoint smiled and squeezed off another round. This time his shot hit Low Light in the thigh. Low Light gave off a growl of pain and pulled himself behind the tree.

"I'm pissed now, dad!" said Low Light as he sat up against the tree and un-slung his rifle. "Oh, God! I'm pissed!"

"Good," said his father with a smile. "Now go kill that sack of shit."

"I plan to," said Low Light.

"Feel like giving up, Low Light?" asked Pinpoint. "Just stick your head out and I'll end it quick for you. No pain, I promise!"

"I'm just getting started, Pinpoint!" shouted Low Light. "You better change your position now because I know where you are!"

"We'll soon see about that," said Pinpoint under his breath as he took careful aim.

Low Light's father stood in the open and looked around. "He's got an elevated position," he said to his son. "Your line of sight on him is small but it's there. You can take him if you're smart."

"I know, dad," said Low Light as he took the safety off his rifle and prepared to fire. Then a thought struck him. Setting his rifle down, Low Light pulled out his pistol and grabbed a stick. Then he took off his cap and put it on the end of the stick.

"Do you really think he's going to fall for that, Cooper?" asked his father.

"Only one way to find out for sure," replied Low Light as he stuck his cap into view. Sure enough, Pinpoint inadvertently took the bait and shot the cap.

"Gotcha!" said Low Light as he peered around the tree and squeezed off a few rounds that purposely struck just short of Pinpoint's position. Pinpoint instinctively flattened further down.

"Damn!" Pinpoint said to himself. "This guy's better than I thought."

"Do you have him, Cooper?" asked his father. "Do you know how to get him?"

"Yup," said Low Light plainly as he put his pistol away and readied his rifle.

"Then end this!" ordered his father.

"Okay, dad," said Low Light as he took a forceful exhale. Then, in an instant, he rolled out from behind cover onto his stomach and fired off three quick shots with his rifle. The first shot missed on purpose, but it got Pinpoint to move enough in the direction Low Light was hoping for that the second and third shots hit him directly in the face, killing him instantly.

Low Light took a deep breath of relief and rolled over onto his back. With a bit of a strain, he took out his radio headset and turned it on. Putting the microphone to his lips, he set the transmitter to send.

"This is the Night Owl to base," he began. "Authentication Code Two-Five-Four-Alpha-Charlie-Tango. Over"

Shifting the transmitter to receive, Low Light listened for a reply. After a few seconds, a bit of static came on then a clear voice said, "This is base, Night Owl. What's your status? Over."

"Status is: Mission Complete," said Low Light. "Permission to return home? Over."

"Permission granted, Low Light," said another voice on the radio. It was General Hawk. "Well done. We'll send someone to get you shortly."

"Thank you, sir," said Low Light. "I look forward to it."

"I'll be damned, Cooper," said his father. "You actually pulled it off. And you only got shot a couple of times doing it."

"Coming from you, dad," said Low Light as he began to nod off to sleep. "That's a compliment."

To be continued…