Contract Free Arulco: The Bitch Must Die!

Day 31: Road to Cambria

No one said anything as they marched back to Cambria; the pace was set by the two wounded in the squad. Because of their wounds the squad was forced to make frequent stops with a few of the stops happening scant meters from the last. No complained because everyone understood how bad the wounds were.

As soon as the squad was close enough to actually entering Cambria proper, the militia commander sent a squad of men to help the mercenaries to the command post that was set up in that sector in an abandoned garage. Word was sent as the two were being seen to.

“Woody, where the hell are you?” Preceded Gus Tarballs entry into the CP but as soon as he entered he stopped at the sight before him. Sierra and Robber were lying lifeless on the make shift medical cots while Hamous, Ira and Big Al sat against the far wall with vague, distant looks on their faces.

“Shit, this isn’t good. Sit-Rep, what the story?”

A militia woman whose arms were coated in dry blood spoke up. “Two wounded, the first suffered a collapsed lung from two sniper rounds penetrating her armor. The second suffered a sniper shot on the left side of his skull. The bullet penetrated his skull at the top portion of his ear, where it punched through the bone and out the back of the skull. Fortunately, there appears to be no brain tissue damage and the patient was cognizant earlier. We have both of them sedated.”

”Damn. Damn. Damn.” Gus wanted to say worst but knew that could just make the situation worst. MD was right behind him while he left Biff and Flo under Red’s authority at the commercial sector of Cambria. Gus went to check on MD’s ETA when the young doctor walked into the CP.

MD wasn’t the best in a firefight but his hours in the ER trained him how to handle a situation like they were in. Knowing MD was in control lifted Gus’s spirits and he went to the other three bleeding mercenaries to find out what happened.

“You Woody,” pointing towards Big Al, “what’s the scoop?”

Big Al looked up at the AIM legend and wasn’t impressed. “Counter Sniper. Two of them. They were waiting for us as we deployed in the sector. They were dug in at the road block behind cover and when we went to maneuver the snipers got Sara and Robber. Robber was pretty much out of it while Sara continued to fire. Hamous got a decent angle on one of the snipers and Ira took out the other while I worked on the rest of their squad.”

“So the Queen-Bitch laid a trap and had one of her All-Blacks there, not good.”

“No, they were regular army, no Blacks.”

“Shit, that is worst. We just may have to take Alma down if this keeps up because someone is training these soldiers how to fight. Any thing else?”

“No.”

Nodding to Big Al and then to Ira and Hamous, Gus turned around and walked out the open garage door. Outside he stopped and adjusted the frequency on his headset.

“Kilo-Actual, come in, this is Golf-Actual. I say again, Kilo-Actual come in.”

Static buzzed in Gus’s ear and before he could speak again he got a response.

“Kilo-Actual here. What the story Gus?”

“Sierra-Actual and Romeo-Actual are down hard that means Sierra’s squad is down for the count. What is your status?”

“We are on the road back to Cambria; we should be there in an hour or two.”

“Everything go okay with the vendor?”

“Roger that, Tony was there and the deal was done.”

“Did he behave?”

“You mean did Tango-Actual behave? Yes, Terror behaved but she was not happy, Pet number three was not present so Terror couldn’t play.”

When Gus brought his crew together, one rule that he made sure they understood was that while they were on the job in country, there would be no imbuing of recreational drugs, which specifically included alcohol. He knew that it would be tough on them, especially since this operation was taking much longer than anticipated and the operators like Sierra and Big Al was having a hard time of it since they had no outside release of tension. Terror actions was simply unheard of in the merc biz, yes a liaison or two has been known to happen in the field and was expected, Gus was notorious for his liaisons while on a mission, but Terror was literally fucking her way across Arulco. The horny old goat in him had to smile at that thought; he just hoped that when they were done penicillin would be strong enough to tackle whatever the horny girl contracted.

“Good, good, we have a change of plans. Since Sierra Squad is down, your squad needs to take her next objective so stop at the residential sector militia CP for further instructions.”

“Roger that. See you in an hour or two.”

Gus checked back in on MD, saw what he was doing was beyond his capabilities as a medic and more importantly, MD had all the assistance he could use and went back to the commercial sector to check in on how Red was doing.

With Grunty driving the ice cream truck, Kilroy ordered the occupancy of the front passenger seat to rotate because sitting in the back of the bouncing ice cream truck as it traversed Arulco’s dirt and gravel roads was not an enjoyable experience and she wanted everyone to be as fresh as possible in case they ran into trouble. As she bounced in the back of the truck she wasn’t sure if this was more agreeable than the walking but she like the fact that their journey only took a fraction of the time now.

Terror in the shotgun position had informed the rest that they were getting ready to pull into Cambria as soon as they stopped Igor didn’t wait to jump out the back of the truck to stretch his legs. Kilroy followed suite even though she was aching to report to the CP, more so to check in on Sara and Robber than to meet up with Gus about taking on the jail at Tixa. From her talks with Sierra, Kara knew that Sara was reluctant to take on the jail. Even though the facility was designed to keep prisoners in, Kara agreed with Sara that it would be a tough nut to crack from the outside as well.

Once she was limbered, she joined Gillie and Terror inside the CP but Sara and Robber was not there. Before she could ask, Terror blurted, “thank God they were taken to the hospital.”

Relief was quickly replaced by angst, “were their complications?”

“No, MD stabilized them and ordered them sent to the hospital for better care than he could give out here in the field.”

Turning, Kilroy was surprised to see Gus sitting in the shadows; it wasn’t like her to let someone’s presence slip by her.

“Are they done?”

“No, we are paying for them to receive a Regen treatment and MD actually thinks they will be up and mobile in two or three days. I told him to make sure it was two.”

“That is bonkers!” Terror wasn’t done with her exclamations. “We were told Robber had the back of his head blown out!”

“Nah, it wasn’t that bad. He does have a hole in the back of his head but that is about it. Between the doc’s patching him up and the Regen, he will be fine.”

“Are we so much fodder for your campaign Mr. Tarballs?”

Gus gave Kilroy a dark look before answering. “This is an adult’s game, which means there are adult consequences. Yes, all of us can easily die. If the Queen was able to corner us and send enough forces at us, we would indeed die, but so long as we are on the offensive, the advantage is ours.”

Seemingly ignoring Gus’s words of wisdom, Kilroy told him what she wanted.

“I will be moving my squad down to the Central SAM site and I will rest until it is dark. At that time, we will move into Tixa and after taking out the guards, free what prisoners are still alive. However, I want the rest of Sierra’s squad to bolster my own squad. Eight has a much better chance of succeeding then five does.”

“Eight may be too much Woody.”

Kilroy did not back down from her stance. Gus had a penchant for acquiring intel at the very last moment, but to be honest, she didn't care where or how he got the information, as long as it was correct. So far, Gus hadn't let her down.

“And what do you know that I don’t?”

“The warden is married to a cuckold of a man. A man who is tired of having his nuts in a vice. A man who is ready to get his two kids out of Arulco and relocate elsewhere; without his bitch of a wife.”

“Okay, I am listening.” Terror and Gillie were listening as well.

“On the east side of the prison, outside the perimeter fence is the warden’s house. Basically she is there for her three meals where she smacks her two rug rats and her husband around and that is it. She doesn’t even sleep there anymore.”

“Do we want to know where she sleeps?”

“I do!”

“Quiet Tara. Do we?”

“She sleeps in her office, she has a cot in there but yes Terror, she likes to play with her prisoners too. Quite the sadistic bitch this girl. Only the Queen is hated more in this country than her; hated and feared. Outside of Maddog, no one who was sent to Tixa has ever been seen alive. Where is Maddog?”

“Probably still sleeping in the back of the truck. That punk can sleep anywhere. So, how will this warden’s husband help us?”

“Talk to him nicely and I bet you that he will have a key for you to quietly enter the warden’s office unannounced.”

“Roger that. I still want Sierra’s squad.”

“You can have them.” Gus said before closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the wall.