Hunting Indians - Chapter 6

Chapter One can be Found at: https://steemit.com/fiction/@andrewgenaille/hunting-indians-chapter-one

Chapter Five can be found at: https://steemit.com/fiction/@andrewgenaille/hunting-indians-chapter-five

1. Chapter 6

Ryan waited in the car outside Mark’s house, adjusting the radio and looking around at the neighborhood. He felt out of place here, it was too clean and each house looked like every other house to him. It made him wonder if he was in a horror flick.
Ryan held out the file to Mark as the other climbed into the passenger seat then started the engine.
"It's a girl"
"How do you figure? It's the tits right, the tits gave it away?" Ryan smirked as the car went into motion.
"I don't hunt girls."
"That's a dumb rule. Some of the best hunts are with girls, they're nimble."
"Knock yourself out." Mark said closing the file.
"She's scheduled for after lunch so at least she's going to have a full stomach, that's a good thing right?"
"You're all heart." Mark settled back into the seat and made himself comfortable for the long drive.
Ryan continued to talk, though mostly to himself as Mark blocked him out, "Rachel Boseman. How come Indians don't have any real Indian names anymore? Just once I'd like to go after a Kicking-Tree or Crazy Horse. Doesn't Crazy Horse sound like someone that would be a challenge?"

Rachel's house was full of activity as the adults moved about cleaning while the kids raced around messing it up again. Her mother, Grace, was in the kitchen scrubbing thirty year old glass jars so they could be boiled over a fire for sterility; two of Rachel's aunts help her by stacking them. In the living room Rachel darted around with her teen cousins and several preteens playing tag.
Rachel was quick but not as quick as the others, and started to admit to herself that she would run out of energy long before they did.
"I got you, you punk." Rachel jumped over the twenty-year-old couch trying to grab Patrick, the five-year-old lightning bolt. Her fingers just missed him as the giggling kid raced for the corner of the room.
"I saw that." Grace said as she came to the door, her short heavy frame filling the opening.
"Saw what?" Rachel stood up straight with her hands behind her back as she tried to look innocent. The younger of the kids mimicked her.
"Yeah, I'm watching you, woman." Grace pointed at Rachel, who just smiled.
"Aunty, someone's here," Yelled Junior. The nine year old was looking out the window.,
"Oh yeah, who's that?" Grace said as she went to check, "Someone wants my Salmon, eh? No one’s getting that."
Rachel grabbed Patrick and tickled him, which sent the kid into a giggle fit.
"Rachel, take the kids into the room." Grace said in a panic as she stared out the window. Rachel stood up straight to see the two men coming up the front lawn. "Rachel, take them now."
"Mom, no." Rachel said, her voice calm.
"Do it now." Grace looked at Rachel, not used to being defied when it counted but paused when she saw the resigned look Rachel gave her.
"Mom..." Rachel shook her head slightly.
Grace’s face dropped and she mouthed the word 'No.' The Aunts started moving quickly and grabbed the little ones. They headed for the bedrooms. The mood of the room not lost on them as they started crying.
Grace’s breathing quickened as she stepped toward Rachel. "What did you do? What did you do, my girl?"
"I said no."
Grace started to say something but jolted at the sound of Ryan knocking on the door. Grace began crying and the door was knocked on again.
Rachel took in a breath and walked to the door. She put her hand on the handle and waited.
Grace wiped her face down, then nodded as Rachel opened the door to Ryan and Mark.
"Ms. Boseman, we're from the Department of Indian Control. Would you be so kind as to present us with your Status Tag?" Ryan stated.
"Please don't, please wait for her father. Her father will be here soon." Grace moved toward the door but Ryan held his hand up causing her to stop.
Rachel handed her tag over to Ryan who scanned it before handing it back.
"Mr. Conner, can you please confirm that Ms. Boseman identified herself and is of status?"
"I concur." Mark said, listening to the sounds of crying kids coming from somewhere in the house. This was why the two women were calm instead of running or attacking. Ryan didn't even have to hint, fear for the others would make them behave.
"Ms. Boseman, I ask that you come quietly and make this easier on everybody." Ryan stared at her, trying to read her.
"Her father is just up the road." Grace pleaded softly.
"I won't run." Rachel added.

Rachel spent the drive to the hunting grounds in a daze, her blood pumped full of adrenaline but she was working hard not to give them the satisfaction of her fear. She repeated silently to herself 'He'll come for me, he'll come for me...'
"Oh come on, what's this?" Mark said from the passenger seat, it brought Rachel out of her own head to look forward. She didn't realize that they were there already and it filled her with more dread.
"Lay off." Ryan said. He pulled the car up next to a two hundred thousand dollar red sports car with its trunk open. Charley leaned on the back with a Smith and Wesson M&P 15T Automatic rifle. To his right was Tanya in daisy dukes and a t-shirt tucked in. She was only eighteen years old and looked out of place next to Charley at fifty. She was also in shape with large boobs while he was more than thirty pounds over weight.
"What the hell is that rifle?" Mark asked.
"They're out from Toronto. She just turned eighteen and for her birthday Daddy bought her an Indian."
Ryan said in awe, "That's his daughter?"
"I doubt it."
Ryan chuckled and shut the engine off.
Rachel watched the two white people waiting for her as Mark and Ryan climbed out of the car. The two Indian Agents moved to the other folks and shook hands, chatting up front about the weather or whatever passed for small talk. At this point Rachel didn't care.
That's when Rachel noticed Damien by the red car staring at her, dressed almost the same as the other two agents but immature. Damien smirked and then turned his attention to the group.
She looked to the back of the seat in front of her and softly talked to herself. "I can't do this, I can't do this."
Tanya banged on the window startling Rachel, who looked over at the blonde looking in at her.
"Hey..." Tanya said. "I love your hair."

Rachel walked several feet in front of Mark as they moved through the forest and she wondered if this was the route they took Jacob on his day.
"Up here's good." Mark indicated. Rachel stopped to see where he meant and moved to two trees next to each other. "Have a seat, bring your knees up and it'll help with the nausea."
"I'm not nauseous." Rachel considered it and except for her heart beating faster than normal she was holding herself together. She put her hand on the tree and went about slowing her breathing down.
"Deep breaths, hold it in for three seconds and then let it out." Mark said but stopped when she gave him a look.
"I know what I'm doing." She said. He shrugged and leaned on his usual tree. "Why are you doing this?"
Mark slid down and pulled out his gum, going about putting the piece in his mouth.
"I asked you a question." She said.
"And I'm choosing to ignore it."
"You owe me an answer."
"I don't. This isn't the first conversation I've had that starts like this. I know where it goes and I know what gets said. And then I watch you plead with me, so I'm stopping it before it starts." Mark said and held the pack toward her.
"Wow, I'm sorry," Rachel emphasized, "I didn't know life was so hard for you. I apologize. You shouldn't be put through something so inhuman as having to listen to the people you're carting off to die. Can you forgive me? And can you do it quickly cause I'm running short on time...you fucking coward."
Mark stared at her. "Ok, I haven't heard that before."
"You should have to listen to everybody you bring out here, and you should keep your mouth shut while they do it. Stopping them ‘cause you can't handle what they have to say makes you a pussy. You want to stop me, fine, shoot me. Otherwise shut the fuck up." She finished and sat back against the tree.
"I'm sorry."
"Not sorry enough." Rachel leaned her head back against the tree. She watched Mark nod. "Is this where you brought Jacob?"
Mark didn't want to go this route. "Yes."
"What about him? Did he beg? Did you let him?" She asked.
"No." Mark smiled thinking on it, "No, he did good out here."
Rachel studied Mark and then laughed. Mark tilted his head and watched her.
"You liar." She accused.
"Why would I lie?"
"I've known Jacob since we were both babies. He probably still slept with a candle lit all night. That guy was scared of the dark. Scared of everything in it." Rachel chuckled.
Mark spit his gum out to the side. "No, he didn't handle it well."
"Yeah, doesn't get any darker than dead." Rachel stopped laughing. "He was still a good guy. And you killed him. Why do you do it?"
Mark didn't know how to answer her, not honestly anyway. The truth, far as he could figure, was for the security the money brought him, the lifestyle that he was used to now and wanted to continue. He and his wife had a certain level of privilege afforded to them based on the subjugation of the native people. It was only in the last few years after it progressed to its logical conclusion that it wasn't sitting well with him. If he were to be honest with her, and himself, he would prefer to go back to the world when he could easily justify white privilege to himself by ignoring them. That was hard to do when they challenged you on their way to die.
The phone rang. Neither of them reacted to it.
"You better get that." Rachel said.
Mark reached into his pocket and brought the phone to his ear, he listened for a moment and then put it back in his pocket. The two locked eyes for a moment, both knew breaking this moment brought on the unthinkable.
"Don't run. Everybody runs and there are only two places to go. Both make you a clear target." Mark said as a matter of fact, and then put some empathy into the next part. "Find a place to hide, wait out the two hours."
Rachel waited for it to sink in and climbed to her feet. She gave him one last look of contempt before turning to leave. She walked off into the trees as Mark watched.

Damien felt like he was the kid people left in their cars at the mall, sitting in his vehicle flicking the window button on the door as he waited.
He liked that Tanya girl and she had him wondering what it would be like to be with a white girl. Could it be that different than being with an Indian? Would it be that different to be with a girl that wanted to be there?
The computer screen lit up switching automatically to the map program, the word 'searching...' on top before it settled on two arrows; the blue one represented Damien's car while the other was Ryan's. There was a white dot half a kilometer from those two representing an unauthorized electronic device.
Damien sat up to zoom in to get the reading; it was low wattage. Someone had a phone or similar sized device.
Damien hit the switch to bring up Ryan and Mark’s GPS signatures neither were near the third item. He smiled. There was another party out here and he decided that this was his chance to partake.
Damien stepped out and walked toward the forest.

Rachel moved through the trees at a steady pace, her hands were together as she nervously fiddled with her fingers. Repeating to herself, "He's coming for me, he would know, and he'll come for me."
She came to the edge of the trees and stopped to look out at the vast fields with knee high wild grass. It was three kilometers uphill before the inch thick trees headed off to the valley. If she ran as fast as she could it would still take her twenty to thirty minutes to reach the other side. She wouldn't be able to do it though, she knew she didn't have the endurance even if she was running for her life.
A sound caused Rachel to come out of her head as she glanced off into the forest, the trees here were far enough apart to see a good distance but there's bush up to her waist and shadows.
She saw movement at first, from further up the lines of tree, a form of sorts followed by the sound of the first shot. The bullet whizzed past her more than ten feet off, she still winced and backed up a few feet before she moved back into the safety of the trees.
Rachel started running hard through the trees trying to put as much distance between herself and the shooter.
She slowed down and then came to a stop when she came to the edge of the forest on this side; the ground dropped six feet into the Tait River; fast moving and two football fields wide before hitting the other side.
Her lungs emptied out of fear.

Damien checked his cell phone map to see that he was on the spot where the device was detected, but all he could see was where someone had been hiding next to a tree. The person had since moved off but Damien figured it was in the direction of the gunfire he heard.
He pulled out his weapon and headed that way as well.
Further ahead of Damien was Peter, as he moved in a quick crouch with the small hand sized camera he was given by the United Nations. He had an idea of where the hunters and Indian agents were but not where they were shooting, and that's who he needed footage of.
He figured the hunting grounds were only two or three kilometers wide so he should be able to find her quickly; the danger was the area was so small they could just as easily find him. Personally he would like to stay off the menu.

Rachel moved back into the forest toward where Mark originally let her off. Maybe she could get past him and back toward the vehicles. This plan came to an end when she spotted Ryan fifty feet from her. He was watching her.
She stopped moving and slowly turned, looking for the other two. She tensed when she saw them; Tanya with the rifle up to her shoulder while Charley adjusted the young ladies form. He was teaching her to shoot.
Rachel looked for a place to run but her legs felt like jelly, so she held her breath and closed her eyes.
Tanya fired and the round whizzed past Rachel's shoulder, into the forest behind her.
"I missed..." Tanya said.
"Try again." Charley answered. Tanya looked down the scope, putting the crosshairs on Rachel's throat. She tightened her grip but stopped when she heard a click; the sound of a rifle jamming and someone running.
Charley and Tanya looked to their left as Kevin raced at them while he tossed the rifle aside. He smashed into Tanya hard, sending them both into Charley. Kevin pulled his knife from his belt, spun it in his hand and stuck it into Charley above the other man's hip. Charley screamed in pain as the three of them hit the ground.
Kevin looked up as Ryan aimed his rifle but Kevin rolled to his right behind the tree. Ryan moved around it aiming but Kevin wasn't there. Ryan lowered the rifle as Kevin came at him from another angle grabbing the riffle and pushing Ryan back into another tree. Kevin fought for the rifle but Ryan let it go and pulled his own knife out to slice Kevin's arm. The rifle hit the ground as the Indian backed up.
Ryan swiped twice but Kevin stayed in close and deflected them. Ryan shoved forward to stab but Kevin redirected it and moved in. Kevin used his entire body under the knife arm to smash Ryan into the tree. Kevin grabbed Ryan's Berretta off the Agent's belt with his left hand, snapped the safety off and put the gun against the Agents back.
Kevin fired three times. The rounds hit a Kevlar vest but still had the impact of three direct hits. Ryan staggered forward; he grabbed at his back and hit the ground, still trying to get to the wounds as he arched his body.
Kevin turned to survey the scene and then looked to where Rachel watched from clearing. He headed to her.
"You came for me..." She said as he grabbed her hand.
"We don't have time, run." Kevin shouted and led her for the forest.
The two darted through the trees but came up short at the lining just before the fields. Kevin studied it looking for a better idea.
"We can't go that way." Rachel said.
"We don't have a choice." Kevin was resigned but hesitated.
"How did you get here?"
"The river, but it only goes one way, toward the Base." Kevin said.
"The reserve, we go back to the reserve."
"No, things are changing. They're changing today." He swallowed and looked at her. "You run hard, you stay with me."
Rachel nodded. He grabbed the side of her neck and kissed her hard on the forehead.
Mark grabbed Kevin by the back and used his larger frame to twist the Indian around and throw him. Kevin hit the nearest tree and then the ground, the pistol lost from his grip. Rachel screamed.
Kevin ignored the pain down his side and charged from the ground at Mark, but the other was ready for him and the fight was on. Kevin was fast with years of training just for this but Mark had brute strength on his side. Both fought dirty but it was Mark that got Kevin onto the ground and hit him across the cheek twice.
Rachel jumped on Mark’s back biting his neck and drawing blood.
"Oh, come on!" Mark reached over his shoulder and grabbed Rachel by the hair and hip. He twisted her around onto the ground and reared back to hit her. Mark stopped when he saw the look of hate and anger in her eyes looking back at him. She was resigned to being hit. Mark made his choice and lowered his arm.
Kevin was up fast and grabbed Mark around the neck for a sleeper hold.
"Rachel...run." Kevin screamed, she hesitated and staggered to her feet as she darted for the field.
Mark pushed off the ground with one leg to get to his feet, he moved back hard and smashed Kevin into a tree while pulling on the Indian's arm. Mark used brute force and pulled Kevin's arm away, then turned around swinging into Kevin's ribs. Mark pulled back to punch but stopped at the sound of the gunshot.
Kevin and Mark both paused. Mark let Kevin go and moved to the edge of the trees.
Rachel was sixty feet out from the trees as she looked off toward freedom, she tried to put one foot forward but it buckled and she fell to the ground.
Mark looked back as Kevin let out a blood-curdling scream. His face changed to bright red as his body tensed up. Kevin started running but Mark grabbed him, spun him around and sent him into the ground, holding him there as Kevin tried for the field.
"Stop! Stop!" Mark held him down, "You can't go out there, he'll kill you."
"Let him kill me." Kevin yelled. "Kill me..."
"Just wait..." Mark shook him a bit. Kevin stopped. "Just wait."
Mark stood up and moved out to the field toward Ryan, who was at the ready with the rifle toward Rachel.
Kevin moved to the nearest tree, he put his hand on it for support as he looked out into the field. He started to shake.
"We have to go." Mark said as he reached Ryan.
"That shit shot me, I want him." Ryan said back.
"Protocol. We have two injured clients and a forest full of unknowns. Protocol says we get out of here and come back in force. You want him, you wait. Let’s go." Mark grabbed Ryan by the shoulder and shoved him toward the trees.
"He shot me three times." Ryan continued.
"Yeah, I'm sure it was an accident."

Peter lowered the camera as he watched Mark and Ryan move off, raising it again when he realized that they were leaving the body. He figured it might help show the depravity of these people to the Americans.
He had to get his breathing under control though. He caught everything on film but Karen was right, it hurt to watch.
Then he saw Kevin emerge from the trees in a daze. Peter almost shouted out to the other but held it back. Peter had hoped Kevin wouldn't have come, in fact when the wolf showed up with the time and name Karen burned the paper so Kevin wouldn't know. He could guess that Kevin came looking when he realized Peter had already left.
Now here he was in the field over Rachel's body.
Kevin dropped to his knees next to her, he reached out but couldn't bring himself to touch her. His hand hovered over the bullet wound just below her neck.
Rachel's head was turned. Her eyes were open but unseeing. He lowered his face next to hers. "Rachel. Please, Rachel, please, just get up. Get up and we'll go. We'll go from here, somewhere safe. Please. All you have to do is stand, just stand. You don't have to be afraid out there. I'll protect you, right, I'll protect you..."
Nothing, Kevin moved back and screamed at her. "Please."
He put his forehead onto her shoulder and cried hard, beyond the point of caring whether he could control his emotions or not.

Peter closed his eyes out of regret, and decided there was nothing more he could do for them. He turned to leave, only to see that Damien stood over him pointing his pistol.
"You, you are in a world of hurt." Damien said.
"You get used to it." Peter replied.

Ryan and Mark were on either side of Charles holding him up as he tried walking on one leg. The knife was still embedded over his hip, the blood dripped off his foot. They reached the parking area and moved for the car.
"This is messed up, this is all messed up. I want my money back..." Charles was lost in his own panicky world as Tanya followed behind holding her bleeding nose.
"It's fine, we'll get you to a hospital." Ryan stated.
"Just give him his damn money back." Tanya screamed.
"We don't handle that here, right now try to focus on..."
"Focus, look at my nose!" Tanya moved her hand away causing the puddled blood to hit the ground. "Who's going to pay to fix it?"
"Put him on the car." Mark ordered. They placed Charley on the hood of his car.
"You can't just leave him there! What are you doing?" Tanya argued.
"We have a first aid kit we're going to stop him bleeding with, is that ok?" Ryan said as he headed for his car while Mark went for the corpse wagon.
"God, you people..." Tanya said as she turned, she stopped as Kevin came walking up on them. "No, no..."
Ryan and Mark looked back as Charley screamed.
Kevin pulled the knife out of Charles abdomen with his left hand and brought his right hand up holding the Berretta that he took from Ryan.
There's a moment as no one said anything.
"I didn't want to do this," Tanya said, "He made me."
Kevin aimed and shot Charley in the head, his brain matter splattered out over the hood behind him, his eyes stared back at them lifeless. Kevin aimed back at the others. Tanya was now shaking.
"Please, don't kill me." She said softly.
"Run."
"What?"
"You might live, if you run now." Kevin's cadence was calm but leaked loathing.
Tanya took a step back to test her legs. She turned and started running for the forest. Kevin aimed at Mark.
"We don't run." Mark was defiant.
"No." Kevin said, "It's better if you don't."
The realization hit Mark and Ryan at the same time and they both darted for cover behind their car. Kevin started firing. Two rounds hit Mark spinning him around as he hit the ground.
Ryan came up behind the car with Charley's rifle and fired back but Kevin dropped to a knee and emptied the clip. Ryan moved around the car and fired the rest of his magazine but stopped moving as he searched for a target.
Kevin was gone.

Chapter 7 can be found at: https://steemit.com/fiction/@andrewgenaille/hunting-indians-chapter-seven