Tom scanned the valley from his belly, watching each guard checkpoint. Several more container trucks had come through the valley. They each followed the same routine as the first one with the blue cab. He checked each OP, looking for movement, but didn’t see any. The pickup trucks were still parked in a line near the tunnel entrance. The pools of blood had dried, leaving dusty black stains in the truck beds.

He traced the mountain from the tunnel up and froze. “We got movement where the helicopter landed.”

Julia reached over to wake Al and Mike. “We got movement at the heliport.”

Mike cleared his throat, looked toward the mountain, and moved to Tom’s position. Julia and Al were right behind him.

“What’s up?”

“Don’t know, but the hangar doors are opening.”

The doors stopped moving, and a man walked out onto the heliport. Several others followed him out. One of the prisoners, held by two men, stayed just inside the entrance. Two other guards dragged the second prisoner onto the ledge.

“One of the prisoners is being led out onto the platform. His hands are still tied with a bag on his head.”

They watched as the two guards walked the man to the ledge and turned around.

“There are more people inside. I can’t make out who’s who. The other prisoner is standing with the guards inside the bag, still on his head. Someone is talking to him.” He pulled the bino’s down and looked at the front and back lenses. “These fucking things suck. I can barely see inside.” Satisfied there were no smudges on the lenses, he put them to his eyes.

“What else?” Mike said.

“The guy talking to the prisoner is waving one of his arms around. Oops. He slapped the prisoner, now a backhand. The bag fell off his head. Lots of hair. It looks like he’s yelling at the guy. I can’t make out the prisoner’s face or the other guy’s. There’s too much shadow inside to make out much.”

The man who’d been yelling turned and walked onto the platform and pointed to the first prisoner on the ledge.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Ah, I think I have confirmation. That’s Hotak, I’m sure of it.”

He handed the binoculars to Mike.

Mike jammed the eyepieces to his face, fiddling with the focus. He stopped breathing as he stared. “That’s him,” he whispered.

Hotak turned to the guards and waved his hands at them. The guards grabbed the prisoner and threw him over the ledge. The man’s scream was brief. His head bounced onto and over a second small ledge. His body struck several more outcroppings as it plummeted toward the valley floor.

The scream from the prisoner inside was louder and longer. He struggled but couldn’t break free. Hotak swiftly walked up and slapped the man. This did nothing to stop the prisoner from trying to free himself. Hotak stepped back and waved into the shadows. A giant walked into the light. He didn't have the machine gun Mike had seen him with those years ago. But that was him. He casually stepped up to the prisoner and struck him, knocking him from the grasp of the two guards. The guards backed away. The giant hesitated momentarily, then kicked the bottom of the prisoner's foot. The prisoner didn’t move.

Mike guessed the man was either dead or unconscious. The doors began to close as the Giant spoke to Hotak, who responded with a flippant hand wave. There was more to the conversation, but it was lost to him as the doors met and sealed off the hangar’s interior.

Mike rolled onto his back. He’d seen Hotak! The man was this close. He interlaced his fingers on his stomach. This close after years of hope, not believing he would ever get this chance. All he had to do was get in there and find Hotak. That’s all he had to do. There’s a way. There’s always a way. He realized that he was the most relaxed he had been in ages. He almost smiled to himself. He couldn’t remember being this loose. The calm before the storm. Julia interrupted his thoughts.

“Did you guys notice the strangest thing about that?”

“The part,” Tom said, “about the guy getting a free flying lesson.”

“Not funny.”

Tom lifted his eyes and shoulders. “Not everyone is a gem.”

“No, not the guy, the scream.”

“What about it? It didn’t last long. He was probably dead when he hit the first ledge.”

“No,” she said. “ The one inside. It didn’t sound like a man’s scream. It sounded like a woman's.

Tom and Al looked skeptical.

“The prisoner in the hangar sounded like a woman.” She was sure.

Tom turned his head, squinting. “I’m not so sure about that. The distance and everything else it could have been, but I don’t think so.”

Mike didn’t move. His eyes looked up into the trees and replayed everything he’d seen inside the hangar. The prisoner's body language. He went over it again in his head. As he thought about it, it did make sense. He returned to what he remembered when they saw the prisoners taken out of the trucks and into the tunnel. He sat up.

The other three watched him as he sat. He had an almost smile on his face.

“You okay?” Julia said.

“I haven’t felt this good in a while. And I think you’re right. I couldn’t get a good look, but whoever it was moved like a woman.”