Chapter 32

Hesh thought the worst thing happened when he saw Sequoia body tackle Rorke and they both went through the window and down. He called her by name but his shock was short lived. He turned when he heard his brother call for him, "Hesh, look out!"

Hesh turned just in time to see what was coming at him but not necessarily in time to block. He was met with a clothesline maneuver across his chest and knocked clear off his feet. He flew backwards and collided with a wall or a panel and saw stars. He shook his head to try and clear it but the thing that knocked him sideways was advancing towards him.

Riley was barking and growling. Hesh recognized it as his attack warning but wasn't prepared for the rough manhandling he got. He felt two hands grab the straps of his gear and haul him up roughly. He could feel the fists dig into his shoulder and his injured one really felt it, making him grunt in pain. Hesh did manage to react and bring his arms down on his captor's and give a kick and ended up with the reward of being thrown into the wall.

"Hesh!"

Hesh winced as he shook his head to clear his vision. That was when he saw a huge ass man advancing towards him. That's the gorilla that knocked me over?

It was a stupid question in his mind but at the moment that was the only thing that he could coherently think of at the time apart from the fact that he saw his girlfriend, the love of his life, barreling out the window. That urged him to his feet since he had to find her and make sure that she was okay. First things first though, and that was the huge gorilla in front of him. He got to his feet and eyed the guy and couldn't help it, "That all you got?"

The gorilla looked at Hesh with contempt before gesturing that he was to fight him. Logan in the meantime was looking at his brother like he had gone crazy. Then again he had noticed it previously and rather than addressing it, he ignored it, hoping that Hesh would get his head in the game long enough to find his friend and then get back to normal. He thought that was what happened but he figured wrong. Then again Hesh was always one to really lay it on when he was seriously pissed. Still Logan couldn't help but be worried since that gorilla could kill Hesh.

"Seriously? You want to play it like that?"

Logan watched as the gorilla growled at Hesh and lunged forward. Hesh dodged the blow and teased the guy saying that he missed. His brother was going to play that game. Back in school, when a particular bully decided to get really physical, Hesh would play heavy handed to the point where he humiliated the other guy. It was cruel but it served a purpose and it certainly didn't mean awkward explanations about injuries from a fist fight.

Logan looked around for something to help his brother with. He knew that the only way to stop a gorilla like that was to basically shoot it and he lost the only gun that he had. So he looked around but at that moment more Fed began to spill into the room. Logan took the chance to grab one of them and wrestle them for his weapon. At least he could do something unlike in Vegas.

He managed to get the Fed into a chokehold and it quickly turned into a stranglehold. At the last moment Logan snapped his neck and picked up the rifle he had dropped. Harris was fighting his own Fed and managed to secure a weapon at the same time. By then more were coming in and starting to open fire on them. It had Logan worried about Hesh since he didn't have a weapon and was otherwise busy and vulnerable. He would have to watch his back.

Signaling to Harris, they took cover and provided cover fire to slow down the influx of Feds coming in. They had to make their shots count since they didn't have a whole lot in the way of ammo. They were able to move around and pick up what they could but it was a job to be conservative. Logan would only release a few rounds and that was when he was certain he would hit center mass or a place that would take them down.

Harris was working on trying to get a secondary and a third to try and toss to Hesh. He figured out Logan's plan and moved to provide additional cover. There were still a lot of Fed trying to come in and it made sense to try to stem the flow until backup came. He managed to get closer and grab onto another Fed and managed to knife him to steal his gun. Now he had two and could alternate between them. It would conserve ammo for the time being. He turned to spy a Fed trying to flank Logan and he called out, "Right flank, Logan!"

Logan turned to see the Federation soldier coming up but it wasn't aiming at him; he was aiming at Hesh. It was automatic that Logan whipped up his rifle and shot at the Fed. He took him out but he felt something burning hit him in the hip and he dropped to a knee with his injured leg held out. He looked to see the blooming red that was coming out and cursed more out of pain and frustration and thinking he was stupid in getting shot.

"Logan!"

Logan looked up and realized that Hesh had seen everything and was reacting the way he normally would and then some. Logan saw that it wasn't going to end well and it didn't. More Fed were coming in and firing at them. He pulled his weapon around and fired at the incoming but just barely saw Hesh take a hit from behind; the big oaf had brought his fists down on Hesh's shoulders, dropping him. "Hesh!"

"Logan, we need more cover!"

Logan had to turn his back on his brother who was now struggling with the big gorilla of a man and focus on the door. Harris was in danger of being overrun and Riley was running around, doing what he could do. They really needed some help.

Hesh, in the meantime, was trying to get back into an advantageous position again after having got a pair of fists driving into the back of his shoulders. The move agitated his existing shoulder injury and it seemed to spread to the other one, like the nerves were all connected or something. He knew he shouldn't have been distracted because of Logan but after everything with Rorke, he just wasn't sure about his ability to be able to lead and watch out for the men under his care. If he couldn't look after Logan…

The big gorilla was closing in on him and he was trying to get to his feet after being knocked around a bit. Hesh glanced over to gauge the gorilla's approach as he pushed himself to his knees. He wasn't going to be able to get to his feet fast enough but at least he was in a position to make life a living hell. It was the brawling standby meaning forget technique and strategy; you did what you had to do to survive.

The gorilla came close and Hesh pulled a Logan maneuver. He struck out with his leg and kicked the gorilla right where he would feel it. It was enough to give him breathing room and get to his feet just in time to see more Fed crowd into the control room but there was something behind them. Hesh recognized some of the camp members and some of those guys from El Libertad coming up behind and being led by Ash. He didn't have time to say anything since a Fed managed to grab him by the neck and they both collided with a window and went out.

The shower of glass was nothing but the freefalling to potential death was. Hesh struggled and managed to get the Fed underneath him just as they collided with the catwalk. There was the sickening sound of bones crunching and Hesh found himself rolling over and off the edge. He managed to reach out and grab something and it was with his bad arm but he had little choice. His body flung violently through the air as he struggled to hold on.

He didn't have much time in terms of respite since the piece of railing he had grabbed creaked before suddenly bending under his weight and sent him falling. Hesh flailed his limbs, not confident that he was going to get a soft landing. The compound had been hit pretty hard with the explosions and the fact that everyone else was coming in… so the place was a mess.

Hesh felt his body hit something hard and he bounced off it and fell some more. He hit the dirt with a dull thud and rolled a little until he was on his side. It didn't matter much since the whole ordeal kicked him in the ass and it fucking hurt. He curled on his side and grimaced from the fall and started moving to make sure nothing was broken. He winced when he touched his rib cage and almost fell from the pain.

He felt a bit of a sissy for that but then again a broken rib is a broken rib and they hurt. He slowly clambered to his feet and looked around to get a sense of direction. He saw that he was on a side that they didn't know about. And it was near a cliffside. It occurred to him how close he was to falling off. Then it occurred to him that Hawk and Rorke may have gone over and…

Hesh. Hesh. Do you copy?

Hesh rubbed his torso to ease the throbbing and replied, "I'm here, Merrick. I'm okay."

You sure?

"Yeah. I think I found what we couldn't find on the original map. I'm going to check it out." Hesh kneeled when he saw some trampled grass and two sets of prints. "I think Hawk and Rorke are around here."

Hang on. We'll get there.

Hesh was going to say something when he heard the rustle of something in the brush. He looked around and found that he was exposed. He needed to find cover and fast. Otherwise he was going to be a sitting duck. He replied hastily, "No time. I gotta move."

Hesh. Hesh!

Hesh moved towards the brush. He was well aware that if someone had been watching him, they could easily track him. He was wounded with a broken rib and his shoulder was still not completely healed; he was easy pickings for a predator but he learned a few things about defending himself so he could make it harder.

He had gone in the direction of the footprints and now was surrounded by foliage. He stopped to rub his torso again. He really must have hit something on the way down. He grimaced and leaned heavily against a tree to catch his breath and he didn't like that he felt that he was so out of breath. It meant more visits to Carol and Hesh knew she was going to give him the third degree. He wasn't particularly looking forward to that but it would be a sign that things were right once they got Hawk home.

Once he was confident his breathing was under control, he took the time to look around. He could still hear rustling all around. Whoever or whatever it was still was moving around. He checked his person. He didn't have his rifle since he had been in a wrestling match with a gorilla of a Fed and he had been a prisoner previously. He did have a pistol and a knife. So that was a plus.

Once he was organized, Hesh made to look for the two missing players in this op. He held his knife with his pistol ready. This was like when they had been shot down and had to make their way through the jungle. Except in this case, he was making his way back to where he fell since that was the best case and starting point. He would just keep out of sight.

Taking slow and easy steps, he ambled through the foliage, trying not to disturb it. He didn't want to make too much noise and have whoever it was still rustling out there and he wasn't sure if it was an animal or one of the two people that were missing. What he didn't expect was to come across a Fed who was looking a little lost and was the source of the noise. It was like watching a rookie making the usual mistakes in training.

Hesh rolled his eyes at the clumsiness of the Fed since all that noise was certainly not going to guarantee survival. He snuck up behind the Fed and wrapped him in a headlock and slit the throat. It was quiet and clean. As he laid the body down, he looked around to get a feel for his surroundings. He could hear the noises of the jungle but there was something off about it as he adjusted his position on the ground. Slowly he stood up and started his search again. He rounded a tree and felt the cold pressing of a barrel against his head and the click.

"Well, well, well, I aim to find a Little Charlie and I get Junior Elias instead," Rorke's drawl grated on Hesh's ears. The man smirked as he looked at Hesh and added, "I think I may have some use for you after all."

Sequoia was familiar with forests and the jungle in particular. She was raised on Pine Ridge reservation and her father taught her basic survival and trained her as a warrior. Everything she knew was now being tested in this hunt for the man that caused so much grief to her friends. This plan had been thought out and executed as a means to get close to him for her to do what she must and that was to kill Rorke.

Rorke was a dangerous man. She had known that instinctively the moment she saw his face in Caracas. He was just like her except he was a different breed of hunter. He was a predator, the most dangerous of them all. And he had been trained as a Ghost meaning that he wouldn't stop until he had completed his mission and in this case…

You're mine Little Charlie and you'll not only hunt Ghosts… You'll destroy their souls.

The predator is a hunter little Hawk and the worst kind. They are the kind that cannot be stopped alive…

The plan was sound and she had Rorke cornered until he decided to pull a gun. She reacted the only way she knew how and that was to tackle him. It ended up carrying them out the window that was near the cliffside. It was sheer luck that they didn't go off the edge but they landed on the ground. And it gave her a chance.

Rorke still had the gun and had taken to trying to shoot her. So she went where she would have some advantage and that was into the jungle. It wasn't running away but creating a lure. She would lure Rorke to where she could have the advantage and take him out. It was where she was at now as she walked through the brush trying to ascertain where Rorke was. Along the way, she found a couple of useful items that would come in handy and continued circling back towards the compound.

"You're not going to catch her, Rorke."

Sequoia paused as she heard that familiar voice. Her eyes widened slightly as she turned her head to listen. What was Hesh doing here?

"Oh I think you'll find that I will, Junior. And you will be the lure."

Sequoia followed the voices until she saw Rorke pointing his gun right at Hesh's head. Hesh had his hands raised in the surrender position and was looking at Rorke with a defiant look. She blinked as the memory of her nightmares stole into her mind.

"Oh little Charlie," Rorke taunted.

She turned her head and saw Rorke. He had the gun pressed against Hesh's temple. Hesh was looking at her with an apologetic look. He wasn't angry with her but… Then the trigger was pulled and the bang along with screaming…

The urge to rush out there was great. She knew that if he wanted to, Rorke would pull that trigger and kill Hesh. It would only be the means to get what he wanted and that was her to unleash what he had been trying to do ever since he kidnapped her. He had one goal in mind and that was to not only to destroy the Ghosts but to destroy their souls; complete and utter destruction.

She never asked why her since she was certain that if Rorke had taken Logan instead he would have gotten the same goal. As it were, it was she that had been taken. Now she had to make this right. She kept her body rooted as she observed the area around them. She needed to come up with a plan.

In the meantime, Rorke was looking at Hesh as if he was contemplating on shooting him and dealing with the consequences later or to draw it out and really stick it to his little Charlie. The latter option seemed to be the better choice since that was his preferred method anyway and experience with his little Charlie taught him that immediate didn't always get the result that he wanted. Drawing it out was more effective and always produced interesting results… at least what he observed from her.

Looking at Hesh, Rorke gave a grin and said, "Get on your knees."

Hesh glared at Rorke. He didn't have his gun or knife but he had his dignity. He refused to get on his knees. He was met with a punch across the jaw that knocked his head to the side. He looked at Rorke as he wiped at his lip.

"Don't test my patience, Junior. And a dog needs to know how to obey," Rorke warned. He gestured with his gun. "Now get down on your knees." He pressed the barrel of the gun against Hesh's temple to urge him on. He grinned when Hesh grudgingly went down on one knee and slowly. "That's it, Junior."

Hesh glared up at Rorke. His ribs were throbbing as well as his shoulder. He was definitely a mess and he risked getting more of a beating just by being difficult. Well he wasn't going to play nice. "Is this more of your game, Rorke?"

"More like a means of drawing Little Charlie out. I know she'll come out for you just like she did with the other one." Rorke reached into his pouch on his belt and found some rope. He moved to tie Hesh's arms behind him. All the more to make it entertaining when he made her beg. "You see… shee gets a kick off of torture."

"Not of people on her own side," Hesh retorted.

"That's what you think."

Hesh grunted when he felt the rope burn on his wrists from being tied too tight. He knew Rorke was just trying to cause doubt. "She wouldn't."

"Why don't' you ask your brother? Or that Cesar fellow?"

Hesh felt his throat convulse. He wanted to and didn't want to know what she had to do to survive. He knew though that she would have hated every moment of it. He had to believe that. "She only did it to satisfy you."

"We'll see," Rorke said as he finished tying Hesh off. He then stepped back and paced around and called out to the forest, "I know you're out there Little Charlie and you're watching every moment of this. Better for you to come out now."

Hesh straightened up and looked around. He heard nothing but the sounds of the jungle. Please Hawk. Don't do anything stupid.

"Little Charlie…" Rorke turned and pointed his gun at Hesh's head. He bellowed out, "I'm gonna pull this trigger on the count of three. One."

Hesh struggled to control his breathing. He didn't want her to risk her life for his but he didn't like the idea of dying there and now either. Yet it appeared that way so he was going to make the best of it. He straightened up and when he heard 'three' he looked defiantly at Rorke and waited. He then heard the click of an empty chamber. He felt his jaw quiver in anger. He hadn't seen Rorke remove the clip and the bullet in the spout until he waved it in front of him.

Rorke chuckled at the sight and taunted Hesh with the empty clip. "Nah, it's not gonna be easy for you Junior."

At that moment something hit Rorke right on the back between his shoulders. He spun around angrily and looked around. Hesh watched as another project flew and it hit Rorke again from a slightly different angle. It took him a moment to realize that it was a rock. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry at that.

Rorke got hit with another rock and he demanded, "Come out and fight, Little Charlie."

"I am fighting you Otaktay. We're in my arena now. I've played in yours. Now you play in mine."

Hesh looked around. He thought he saw a blur that could have been her but it was too fast. He knew it was her since Rorke bellowed in frustration at being hit by another rock and demanded, "Enough games! Come out and face me!"

Hesh felt the scruff of his collar being grabbed and he felt the barrel of the gun placed near the top of his head. He didn't give any indication that he was annoyed or aching from his injuries. Rather he was looking at the foliage and listening to Rorke scream at her. He heard the cocking of the hammer and Rorke giving a final warning. He felt his breath hitch.

Rorke was fast becoming annoyed with the situation. He was not going to let her turn this into one of her games. She was going to play to his since he had something she wanted badly. She would come out. She had jumped in when he had the kid suffering. It would be no different with Junior. When he got no response, he looked down at Hesh and commented, "I guess she doesn't think you're worth it to her."

"You might be right about that," Hesh allowed. He knew what Sequoia was up to. She was hunting. "But I wouldn't say that she is a coward."

"What would you call it?"

"A game," Hesh replied. He looked up at Rorke and added, "And it's one where you become the hunted."

Rorke scoffed at that, "You think so? Not in this lifetime." He looked out in the brush and shouted, "You want to hunt me Little Charlie? Remember what you said the last time. You gotta earn it."

When there was no response, Rorke shrugged and looked at Hesh. "I guess she's not interested. Time to go, Junior. Like Elias." He adjusted the gun and was prepared to pull the trigger.

"I wouldn't."

Hesh didn't move but heard her voice and it was close. He didn't move his head since he still felt the barrel of the gun pressed against his skull until it was removed. Slowly he shifted to get a good look and he saw Rorke standing toe to toe with Sequoia.

"You got some nerve, Little Charlie."

"Likewise," Sequoia replied.

"Good."

The next thing Hesh knew was that he was roughly pushed out of the way while Rorke rushed to tackle Sequoia. She took the blow and went down but aided her fall to give her momentum. And the fight was on.

A/N: Looks like Rorke got the jump on Hesh and is going to use him to lure out Sequoia. Keep watching for more of The Hunt...