Stephen Leather - The Hunting

‘Sid!’ He heard a twig snap behind the redwood, and the sound of a zip being pulled up. ‘Sid! Stay where you are!’ he hissed. There was a crunching sound, then Sid appeared from behind the tree, wiping his hands on his pants. ‘Get down!’ whispered Raj.

‘What?’ said Sid, but before Raj could reply bullets ripped through the branches overhead.

‘Fuck!’ shouted Sid and he threw himself to the ground. There was a tree to Raj’s left and he crawled towards it. He knew he was in an impossible position, facing two different fields of fire; all the attackers had to do was to move apart and he’d have nowhere to hide.

Erol had curled up under a bush, but Raj knew it would provide absolutely zero cover.

A second burst of fire ripped through the bushes to Raj’s right. He looked over his shoulder. Sid was lying face down, his hands over his head.

Raj scrambled to the tree, knelt down and brought up his gun. He knew he’d only be able to get off a couple of shots before they spotted his position so he had to make them count. He was fairly sure they hadn’t seen him; they had only started shooting when Sid walked around the tree.

There was a third burst of fire, three quick shots, then a fourth. Raj could fire around the left or the right side of the tree. The right would be more comfortable as the carbine was up against his right shoulder, so he slipped his finger over the trigger and leant around the tree. The man on the right was taking aim again and Raj sighted on his chest and squeezed the trigger. The carbine kicked against his shoulder and almost immediately the man jerked back and his weapon fell from his arms. Raj was already moving, rolling against the trunk to get to the other side of the tree. He dropped down to the ground and crawled back to Sid. ‘Stay where you are, mate,’ he whispered.

‘I’m not fucking going anywhere,’ said Sid. ‘Is Erol all right?’

‘Scared shitless but he’s okay.’ Raj crawled past him and reached the tree that Sid had been using for cover. He crawled around it and got up. He was now fifteen metres or so from his original position, still in the remaining man’s line of sight but hopefully far enough away that he would be able to get off the first shot. He took a deep breath, steadied himself, then stood up and moved around the tree. He scanned the slope ahead of him but there was no sign of his target. Then a bullet thudded into the tree and a second whizzed by his head, so close that he felt the wind against his cheek. He ducked back and pressed himself against the trunk. The man was firing from cover and Raj hadn’t had time to pinpoint his position.

‘Sid!’ he hissed. ‘You gotta help me.’

‘I don’t have a fucking gun,’ replied Sid.

‘I know, I know,’ said Raj. ‘I need you to get up and run to the tree I was at before.’

‘Fuck that,’ said Sid.

‘He won’t have time to get a bead on you, trust me,’ said Raj. ‘You need to keep low, then sprint. By the time he’s got you in his sights, you’ll be at the tree.’

‘You’re not using me as bait,’ said Sid.

‘Not bait, a decoy. He’ll have to reveal himself to make a shot and his attention will be focused on you.’

‘He’ll be shooting at me, bruv. Fuck that. Get Erol to stand up.’

‘Erol can’t move as quick as you. Look, you’ll be a moving target. At that range, with you moving fast, he won’t stand a chance of hitting you.’

‘Easy for you to say.’

‘It’s true. At the range he’s at, he’d be lucky to hit you if you were standing still.’

‘Don’t fucking lie to me, bruv.’

‘I’m not lying, Sid. Look, mate, we don’t have a choice. The hunter is still out here and if he comes up behind us, we’re dead in the water.’

Sid didn’t reply. Raj peered over. He was still lying on his front, hands over his head.

‘Sid?’

‘Okay, okay, I’ll fucking do it,’ said Sid.

‘You can call it,’ said Raj. ‘Count down from three. On one, you go and I’ll come out. You don’t look, you just run, full pelt, for the tree.’

‘Don’t let me down, bruv.’

‘I won’t, Sid.’ He clicked the fire selector switch so that pulling the trigger once would fire three quick shots.

‘Okay. Okay.’ There was silence for a few seconds, then Sid started to count. ‘Three, two …’ As he got to one he pushed himself to his feet. Raj began to move, swinging his gun up to his shoulder and stepping around the tree.

He heard Sid crashing through the undergrowth but he concentrated on the slope ahead of him, sweeping the Heckler smoothly, his finger tight on the trigger. He registered movement to the left at the same time as he heard a shot. The man had stepped around a redwood tree but the trunk was blocking most of Raj’s view – all he could see was the gun. There was no way Raj could get a decent shot from where he was. He needed to move, so he started to run as he heard the man fire again, this time two shots in quick succession.

Sid began to scream in terror. Raj continued to run, trying to get a decent view of the shooter. The man’s hand came into view holding the gun, and then Raj could see his face and the top of his helmet. Raj slowed and brought up his carbine, but then his foot caught on a root and he pitched forward, off balance. His finger jerked on the trigger and the gun went off, the round burying itself in the ground. Raj continued to stumble forward. He had to keep hold of the Heckler, which made it harder to maintain his balance, and he realised that he was going to fall. He went with it, hitting the ground with his right shoulder and rolling over. He heard the triple crack of the Heckler in the distance but couldn’t tell if he or Sid was the target.

He came up on one knee and he could see the man now, leaning against the tree for stability. He was aiming at Raj. The gun fired again, another three-round burst, and the rounds whizzed by Raj’s left cheek. Raj aimed and pulled the trigger. The three bangs were almost a single sound – crack-crack-crack – and they hit the target almost instantaneously: one in the chest, one in the throat, and one in the face. The man fell back and Raj got to his feet, panting. He looked over to his left. Sid had reached the tree and was standing with his back to the trunk, trying to catch his breath.

Raj flinched as a bullet whizzed by his shoulder. He whirled around, bringing up his carbine. The first man he’d shot was back on his feet and aiming his gun at Raj. Raj frantically tried to get his Heckler up but he was too slow and the man fired again. Raj’s head jerked back and everything went black.

CHAPTER 57

Sid stared in horror at Raj. He had heard the two shots but hadn’t seen Raj get hit. By the time he’d realised what was happening, Raj was on the ground, blood glistening on his hair. Sid cursed. He listened intently. The shooter was heading down the slope, pushing his way through ferns and bushes. Sid couldn’t stay where he was, he was a sitting target. He could run, but he’d only be prolonging the inevitable. He had to fight back.

He looked over at Erol, who was curled up under a bush with his hands over his ears. He didn’t appear to have been shot but he was clearly in no state to help. He dropped down onto his hands and knees and crawled slowly towards Raj. Every few metres he stopped and listened. The shooter was still moving. It sounded as if he was heading towards the tree where Sid had been hiding, but he wasn’t sure and couldn’t risk sneaking a look. He crawled the rest of the way to where Raj lay and picked up the gun. He checked the fire selector. It had been set to fire a three-shot burst. He moved the selector to the fully automatic position. He figured he was only going to get one chance.