Grand Ascension-Chapter 116: Final Shot

"Who is there?"

One of the guards Makun had counted was alerted by the noise, they were in the woods and had worked here for a long time, so he had not been bothered by the sound of a dry branch falling.

That had happened more than once.

What attracted his attention was the noise, that small disturbance he felt after the branch had fallen, It sounded exactly like someone moving, ducking or escaping the branch.

It was a minor disturbance, barely noticeable but he had to pay attention to it, no mistakes were allowed in this line of work.

Flash!

He turned in the direction of the oak tree, torching it and its surrounding, he had to be sure.

"What are you looking at Barry?" One of his teammates asked. "It was just a branch, you know. The usual."

"I do not think so, it’s more than that." Barry said, still gripping his machine gun.

BANG!

He shot in direction of the tree, if he was right and there was someone, then this bullet of his might as well take them out.

The bullet flashed through the fence, and tore through the tree with ultimate precision but hit nothing.

"See, you were overthinking." Barry heard his teammate reprimand him.

Maybe I am overthinking this. Even though that was what he had in mind, he still looked at where the oak tree was located, a small part of him still sure he had heard a noise that was not that of a branch falling.

CREEEAK

The chalet door swung open, its light spilling out into the dimness of the chalet garden.

Mr. Jones stepped out, his blonde moustache twitching with irritation, his eyes scanning the compound.

His demeanour had changed from one of a grieving father to that of a man who had absolute authority.

"What the hell is going on out here?" He demanded, his voice sharp. "Why did someone shoot?"

Barry’s teammate, Mike, stepped forward, lowering his weapon slightly. "Sir, Barry thought he heard something near the perimeter."

Mr. Jones turned to Barry, eyes narrowing. "You thought you heard something?"

Barry straightened, meeting his gaze. "Sir, a branch fell near the east fence, but the sound after, it was not natural. It sounded and felt like human movement. I fired a warning shot to be sure."

Mr. Jones closed his eyes thinking.

His wife had informed him of visitors who claimed to have been sent by the Browns, but the Browns denied those allegations. They had sent no one, and he knew for a fact they could not send people.

That raised the question to who were those guys, who were Jacky and Michael and why were they looking into the disappearances when even the law enforcement force, the sheriff and the Houston Police Department had abandoned it.

Barry just stood there, not having a clue to what Mr. Jones was thinking. He was here to follow orders, he quietly awaited orders to follow or reprimands for having shot the shot.

Soon enough, Mr. Jones’ eyes opened, he had made his decision, Barry could tell.

"Barry, take Gaspar and Xavier with you, look around the perimeter. Look for anything suspicious, if you find someone, wound them heavily and capture them." He paused and thought. "If they are too much of a threat, kill them" he said. "Be back before an hour."

Then he turned to Mike. "If they last more than an hour out there, alert us."

"Yes sir." They saluted, one similar to how military officers did.

Mr. Jones departed into the chalet, he had important matters to attend to.

Xavier, a tall bald man with broad shoulders stepped forward, he was the perfect image of a disciplined soldier. He pulled the strap of his .50 cal tight against his chest, checking the magazine, making sure everything was ready, they might need it out there.

Gaspar followed suit. He was shorter than Xavier, but was stockier, his build similar to a steroid abuser, his fingers were already flicking the switch on his mounted flashlight. The beam cut through the darkness, sweeping left and right in quick arcs.

Click. Click.

Both weapons primed, safeties off.

Barry looked at them and nodded.

"Let’s go."

They moved as a perfect unit, their boots crunching against gravel and flashlights carving white lines through the black forest. The fence gate swung open with a low groan, and the three guards stepped beyond the perimeter, disappearing into the trees.

The gate closed behind them.

CLANG

...

The soldiers moved quietly throughout the forest, looking around at the trees, the ground, their eyes piercing into the darkness.

They had moved quite a distance, east from the chalet exactly where the noise had come from.

They had spaced out, but not completely. Xavier covered Barry’s six, flashlight sweeping the trees behind him, while Barry kept his beam trained on Gaspar’s back, each man watching the blind spot of the one ahead.

A triangle of death with no angle uncovered.

"Barry, Here." Xavier called out from under an oak tree.

Barry moved to where Xavier was, only to see him crouched, looking at the forest soft soil while using his mounted flashlight.

"Oh!" Barry said, there were footsteps, boot prints pressed deep into the damp earth, but not the type they had been wearing. These were different, civilian, the kind you bought off a shelf, not military-issued.

As for the employers, they never walked out here, they drove till they entered the fence.

Someone had come on foot.

"Someone is here!" Barry said, adrenaline pumping through his veins.

He was right earlier, it had sounded like human movement and someone had discovered this secret chalet. Things might go south.

"Arm u-"

"AAAARGH"

Before he could even finish his sentence, he heard Gaspar scream from a distance.

Shit, I forgot to cover him.

He rushed forward, followed by Xavier to where Gaspar was, and when they saw him, their bodies froze, their breath caught in their throats, sweat sliding down their temples in cold trails, fingers tightening around their weapons so hard the knuckles turned white.

Gaspar lay there on the floor his eyes opened wide in terror like he had seen a ghost, blood came out of his mouth staining his uniform.

He was dead.

That on its own was alarming, the person who had come here was dangerous, he had killed a trained man, with almost no effort.

However, their reaction was not because Gaspar was dead, no, as soldiers they were used to losing their brothers in war, they had lost a lot during the happenings of 2027, his death was sad, but not enough to make them so tense.

What alerted them, and shook them was the hole that lay in the middle of Gaspar’s stomach. It was that of a handprint, a human handprint.

Who could punch a hole through someone, at least no normal human could.

When Barry looked at the tall trees surrounding him, his earlier composure disappeared, he felt like prey in a predator’s playing field.

Thud!

He heard the noise of someone landing.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Without waiting, Barry spun around and discharged his .50 cal, whoever was here had to die, he could not give them a chance of attacking.

Flash!

He could not pinpoint the target, all he could see was someone moving fast, extremely so, evading the bullets he had shot.

The person flashed towards Xavier who had also been caught by surprise.

BANG! BANG!

Xavier shot, but the figure ducked twisting his knee and bending his torso, "Shit!" Xavier screamed in panic.

They were too close, he had to adjust himself, as such he took three backward steps with hopes of repositioning himself and having the person in his target, after taking those steps, Xavier realised he could not move his machine gun, a hand was gripping it. He could not move it at all.

Crush!

He saw his gun fall apart the minute the hand pressed heavily on it, FUCK! at that point, Xavier knew it was over.

He gritted his teeth as he saw a hand charge towards his stomach, there was nothing special about it but it felt off, he knew that when it connected he was done.

BOOM!

The punch tore a hole through his stomach propelling him backward. He crashed into the trees in the distance and fell on the ground, laying there lifeless the final lights having left his eyes.

It all took place in seconds under Barry’s watch.

He had watched himself miss his shots, no, he had not missed, those shots were perfect. Instead, the shadow had dodged each and every one of them.

Then he saw Xavier his second teammate die in seconds with no hopes of making it out alive against his foe.

As Barry saw the man who stood in front of him, under his flashlight, when he saw those eyes that burned in a slightly orangish colour no normal human should have, he saw that lean physique covered with a beautiful tanned skin, and that cold, calculating expression of someone who was always thinking, Barry knew it was over.

He could not oppose someone who could escape his shots, but he chose to resist, as a soldier, he could not die without putting up a fight.

BANG! He shot what he knew was his final shot.