"They still have the truck!"
"Move in!"
"Get the boy! He's what we want!"
Recognition came, and Kenn grinned coolly, kneeling in the seat. The tail from Ft. Defiance he'd thought they'd lost a week ago - seven moving targets in the darkness. No problem.
"You'll have to take this instead," Kenn said as he rose up, throwing off the tarp. He fired twice, following their steps with his well-trained ears.
Charlie held the brake down with his palm and shifted them smoothly into drive, sticking to the set plan.
Men grunted, fired back in the wet, cold darkness, and the Marine slid back down.
Charlie hit the gas. The truck's tires spun, fishtailing on a patch of ice as it lunged forward, spraying mud and clumps of locoweed.
"Get the bikes! We need his blood!"
"Shoot him!"
All of the men's eyes were vivid in the dark, not right when the lightning and gun flash illuminated them, and their movements were jerky. Desperation made them reckless and they openly charged the truck.
"Now, boy!"
Charlie slammed both hands onto the brake. As they slid to a wet, muddy stop, Kenn used the enemy's noises to pinpoint their locations - the ploy drawing them out.
The Marine fired. Five more deadly shots in the darkness, and then there was only the quiet engine and the damp, cold wind howling by them and the adobe buildings in the distance.
"Boo-yah, baby!"
"Are they dead?"
The boy's tone wasn't exactly calm, but Kenn was impressed with the control he had shown during the assault - his first. The Marine put it in park as the teenager moved to the passenger seat.
"Give us some light and we'll find out," Kenn said, knowing they were. Each of them was a kill shot, but he was eager for even the boy's approval, since there was no one else around. He was alone with the often-sullen teenager, protecting them both without doing without the attention and respect he craved. He would take what he could get.
The cadet used one of the umbrella torches they'd made before leaving the base, the glass tops giving each of the three small candles on the thin wooden board a small shelter from the elements. He held it high, taking it all in.
Kenn's sharp eyes went over what there was to see around them. Shrubs, junipers, patches of mud, huge tire busters he would be careful to avoid, and darkness - more of that than anything else.