Eagle People (32 page)
Masheck stood, made his rifle ready and then gave a piercing war cry. His warriors began to run for the village. Shots were heard, first one or two, then the noise grew louder as River warriors ran from their lodges. A man ran for Masheck with his spear, but one round fired from his AK-47 struck the man in the head, sending blood, bone and brain to the lodge behind him. His target fell, quivering.
An arrow struck the man beside Mascheck, low and in the gut. He fell and began screaming as the rest moved forward. The ground was littered with fallen men, most of which were River warriors. Screams filled the morning air and the smell of blood was in the wind, along with the raw smell of human waste from those hit in the guts or stomach.
Then, the men with Zedock struck the River warriors from the side and panic hit them. More of the River men fell, some raised their hands in surrender, but a few others ran into a lodge with shutters and a reinforced door.
Zedock neared and said, “All of the warriors are dead, prisoners, or in that one lodge.”
“Keep men around the lodge, but have our men search each structures for life. Gather all women near the edge of the village were we entered. Remember to keep me an old woman and man.”
Luther walked to him and said, “I have my scouts checking our wounded and dead. Wounded River warriors are being put to the knife.”
“Good, give me a count of our casualties as soon as you can.”
“It won't take long. We didn't lose many, if any at all.”
“See to it now.”
“Merrill, burn the lodge the men are in and do it now.”
A man moved for the lodge holding a burning log from a nearby fire, but before he'd taken two steps an arrow struck him in the chest. Down he went, unmoving.
“Merrill, take three men and kick the door open and then kill everyone inside. Do it now, damn it!”
The warrior approached from a windowless side and slowly made his way toward the door. With one hard kick the door flew open and he emptied his rifle into the building. He entered, was gone from sight for a few minutes and then walked out.
“They have a tunnel in here.”
“Did they all get away?”
“Uh-huh, not a soul in the lodge.”
Livid, Masheck yelled, “Bring me a male prisoner.”
A young man was brought to him and it was obvious the man was scared by his trembling.
“Where does this tunnel come out at?”
“Near the river.”
“Will you lead us there?” Masheck pulled his pistol.
“No. You can go to hell, you Sna—”
The shot was loud and a long thin finger of crimson suddenly spurted from the captives head. His body collapsed and then Masheck yelled, “Bring me another prisoner!”
When the prisoner was in front of him, he asked, “Do you want to live?”
“Y . . . yes.”
“Where does this tunnel come out by the river? Will you lead us there?”
“It comes out south of the village, maybe fifty yards from the lodge. I will show you.”
“Lead us to it now.”
The walk was short, but the hole came out in some trees, so it would have been hard to spot. The woven mat that had once covered the exit, was pushed to the side and tracks showed where the five men had come out.
Pissed that the men were now gone, he pulled his pistol and shot the River warrior in the face.
When he returned to the center of the village, Luther said, “We have two dead and four injured; none of the injuries are serious.”
“Luther, a small group of men escaped using a tunnel; it leads to a small river on the south side of the village. Track them and kill all of them. Does this village have any horses?”
Smiling, the scout said, “We can do this easily enough. We found only six horses and I have them ready to leave when you go.”
“Leave now.”
A warrior neared and asked, “We have twelve male captives. What do you want done with them?”
“Take four warriors, place all the men against a wall, and shoot them. Then make sure all are dead.” Then turning, he yelled, “Get ready to leave. I want a man on point and another bringing up the rear. Let's move, people!”
Ten minutes later, the male captives killed, the group started to move toward the Snake village. The women wore roughly made chains around their necks and their hands were tied behind their backs. Movement was slow, but Masheck was in no rush; he'd done well and only at the cost of two warriors.
Zedock walked to him and as they moved down the trail together, Masheck asked, “What's on your mind?”
“We have almost thirty women and some dozen girls taken today. I wondered if I might have one that has caught my eye.”
“Just one?”
“One is enough. I'm old, and more than one I wouldn't know what to do with. As you know, I have no wife.”
“Yes, of course, you may pick any one of the group you want. I'd suggest you also take a young girl, so you can teach her to cook and keep your lodge for you.”
“I have no desire for a child, but a woman. Besides we get more in trade for girls than we do women. For some reason the Japanese prefer girls over women, which I find sick.”
“I think they train them, not take them as wives until they are older. This batch of slaves alone will bring us many cases of ammunition for our guns.”
Zedock nodded and then moved back into his position.
Suddenly a woman stumbled and was unable to regain her feet. Masheck walked to her and said, “Get on your feet.”
“She has been ill.” a woman beside her said.
He slapped the woman who spoke hard with the back of his hand and said, “No one gave you permission to speak. She'll either get up, or I'll kill her.”
The slapped woman glared at him, her anger clear, but wisely she kept her bleeding mouth shut. The weak woman stood and said, “I can walk.”
“Move the line!” he commanded.
Later, after they entered the village, the women were moved to one lodge and the girls to another. Guards were placed and Masheck moved toward his waiting wife, wondering how she'd please him this night.
Victor, the leader of the five men who'd escaped through the tunnel from the lodge, trotted in front of four others down a winding mountain trail. He was tired, angry, and determined to reach the Cheyenne Mountain People to the north of him. They were a friendly tribe they often traded with and they were the closest friends he had. He'd seen his two daughters and wife taken, so he was worried about their safety too. He'd seen most of his fellow warriors fall, so it was likely they were the last of the men alive.
Two hours later, they stood in the trail breathing heavily as they tried to catch their breaths. One of the men was crying, having seen his brother killed and his mother taken, while another cursed the Snake People and made threats.
“They attacked us for our women.” Victor said.
“Of course they did, but why did they take my mother? She's past the age of having a child and she's plump now. The same bastards killed my father four years ago.”
“Maybe the Cheyenne Mountain People will help us get our women back.” Victor added, but suspected it wouldn't happen. The Snakes were a war-like tribe and now they have guns.
Damn, I hope the Mountain People will help us,
he thought.
Only it's not really their fight. We were the ones attacked, not them. I need to get my daughters and wife back, but I can't do it alone.
One of the men, who Victor was looking at, gave a strange look; a black dot appeared in the middle of his forehead and then the back of his head exploded. Gore was sent in all directions behind as he fell.
“Snakes!” someone yelled just as the sound of the shot echoed through the mountains.
One man turned to run, when his back took a bullet and he fell screaming as he clawed at the dirt. Looking at the man, Victor saw his lungs were hit and he was blowing bright pink froth from his mouth and nose.
He'll die,
he thought and yelled, “Run!”
The remaining three ran quickly down the trail and once a mile was covered, Victor said, “Off the trail and into the woods. They'll still be able to follow, but not as quickly.
”
Once in the woods, he said, “Run parallel to the trail.”
“How much further to the Mountain People?”
“Two miles, maybe.”
On they ran and while they could not see or hear anyone behind them, they knew they were being followed.
They'd just topped a hill when a voice said, “That's far enough. Stop and tell me who you are?”
“I'm Victor, of the River People, and we're the only survivors of a raid by the Snakes. Now, I have some of them on my ass, so it you want to kill me, do it now, or I'm moving on.”
“How many behind you?”
“I don't have any idea. They killed two of my men a mile back. Listen, we need to move, they have guns.”
Amon stepped from the woods and said, “So do we and we're Cheyenne Mountain People.”
“Thank God.”
“Sergeant Julius, you and Dooley move to the over side of the trail. Lieutenant Owen, you stay with me. You River warriors move off the trail and get behind me about twenty feet. Stay there.”
Thirty minutes later a group of five Snakes walked down the trail. One man was in the front, tracking, while the rest followed.
“Damn it Luther, we can't follow much more or they'll be with the Mountain People.”
“I think they're close. Maybe we'll go another quarter mile and then turn back. How's that?”
“I guess, but I don't like it.”
Amon sighted in the man doing the talking and pulled the trigger, knocking the warrior on his ass in the middle of the trail, where he screamed. Other shots rang out, from both sides, and bullets began to ricochet from rocks and trees. A Snake warrior attempted to drag the injured man from the trail and while Dooley admired the man's bravery, he put a bullet his head and watched him fall on the man he was helping.
The three remaining Snakes turned tail and ran down the trail. Bullets kicked up dirt all around them and then one went down. The other two went around a bend and were lost to view.
“Cease fire!” Amon yelled.
As they stopped firing the screams from the man in the middle of the trail grew louder and the one by the bend in the road was screaming as well.
“Stay where you are. Let them have time to bleed a bit. Dooley, you and Julius circle us and see if it's clear.”
“Let's move, Julius.” Dooley said.
Within ten minutes they were back and Julius said, “All clear. Once they hit the bend in the road they took off like the devil was on their asses.”
“Okay, spread out and I'll check the men down on the trail. Let's move.”
The two men closest were both dead, so Amon cut their throats.
The last man down tried to lift his rifle and was riddled with bullets. His body quivered and twisted with each bullet. Again, Amon cut the man's throat.
“Let's gather up the two River warriors and take them back to camp.”
Victor sat in the lodge explaining what had happened in his village. Colonel asked, “All had guns?”
“All that I saw had a rifle.”
“I wonder how in the hell they got rifles?”
Mongoose replied, “Some of our enemies have fine steel swords, knives and shields, which I found strange, but the markings were in Japanese.”
“What did the rifle look like?”
“Unlike yours and not of the same design.”
“It matters little I guess, but this worries me.”
“Can you help us get our women back?”
Slowly shaking his head, Colonel said, “Victor, I don't know. It doesn't look good. We do plan to attack the Snake People, except I have no idea if your daughters and wife are still there. I do know some tribes are starting to trade slaves to others and they're exchanged for a wide variety of things.”
Mongoose said, “If they have guns, we need to send some Dog Soldiers to look the village over. Perhaps all aren't armed with rifles yet.”
“Amon, send some men to check and report back to us when they return.” Colonel said.
“They'll be gone within the hour.”
Victor had his head lowered and tears running down his cheeks when Mongoose said, “We plan to strike the Snake People within two weeks, unless our scouts bring back different information. Do you want to come with us?”
His head came up, he gave a weak smile and then said, “Yes, I want to come with you. Seems I have some no good sons-of-bitches to kill.”
