Covenant: Exodus

Chapter 36

Paulus looked to his left and saw the twins both crouched in the shadows. To his right, Rock lay in a prone position, pointing a small sub-machine gun towards Malik's camp. Mitchell, Nagato, and Erich should all be in position on the opposite side of the camp now, along with Raja. Graham sat crouched behind a tree beside Rock, using both hands to hold tightly to a small pistol. Erich had wanted Graham to stay behind, but he had insisted on coming to help try and save Gema and Isaiah. It was a starless night under the canopy of the great rainforest, and the plan was to get in and out with Gema and Isaiah without alerting Malik and his men, although, as Mitchell had said, things don't often go as planned, so they had come heavily armed.

They had been watching the camp for the better part of the day, trying to discern where Gema and Isaiah were being held, as well as doing recon on the enemy forces and armaments. Malik's men outnumbered them ten to one and were better equipped, which is why they had chosen to simply try to extract Gema and Isaiah without alerting the other men. In a firefight, Erich was almost certain they would lose. Rock, on the other hand, had been all for going in guns blazing, and he was certain that, while there were more men in the other camp, they could not match the skill of the fighters that stood with Erich. Mitchell had been quick to point out that a battle between Malik and his men not only risked the lives of Erich and the others, but also of Gema and Isaiah, and it would be incredibly easy for them to be caught in the crossfire, and with that, Rock reluctantly agreed to this more subdued approach.

The camp was laid out in a circle. In the innermost section of the circle were two large cabin style tents. The one that held Gema and Isaiah was guarded by five men with machine guns; the other belonged to Malik and had a single man posted by the door. The outer area of the circle was lined with ten sets of hammocks covered in mosquito netting. Small campfires dotted the interior in multiple places, although most of them had been reduced to small piles of glowing embers at this point, which served Erich and his team well. Paulus turned to look at the twins beside him one more time and gave a single, small nod of his head. The two men in unison nodded back and slid from the jungle's edge into the camp, crouched low, and gliding like spirits in the night.

From the opposite side of the camp, Erich's heart leapt into his throat as he watched the twins silently pick their way through the camp. When the twins reached the outer edge of hammocks, Erich reached down and placed one hand on Raja's back. She was tensed, ready to pounce, her head low to the ground and her back raised, muscles quivering beneath Erich's hand. Erich gave her a gentle nudge which was all that she needed, and she stalked into the camp, head low, eyes glowing green.

Unlike the twins, Erich and Mitchell hung in the shadows, as Raja strode directly into the center of the camp. After seeing Malik's men's reactions to the giant cat earlier in the day, the plan had been to use Raja to lure the majority of the forces to the outer edge of the camp, while the twins dispatched the guards at the tent...and anyone else who didn't follow after Raja. During the ensuing chaos, Erich and Mitchell would free Gema and Isaiah. Paulus, Nagato, and Graham would all stay to the edge of the camp, ready to spring into action if there was any trouble, that way the entire group wouldn't be surrounded if Malik's men found them out.

As Erich watched Raja stalk through the camp, the surrealism of the moment hit him. He was in the jungle, searching for his son, that he hadn't known existed, and an ancient lost city built by the survivors of Atlantis and had somehow found a companion in a giant black jaguar that seemed to understand everything he said...and they were preparing to attack a group of mercenaries who had kidnapped his son, and the love of his life that he thought he would never see again. And to top it all off, the leader of the mercenaries was searching for something that he believed would give him the key to limitless power. Erich exhaled the breath he was holding in and turned his attention away from Raja, looking at Mitchell who simply gave him a half smile, a quick wink, and ran in a crouch to the nearest row of hammocks, pausing only momentarily to give Erich an all-clear hand signal and proceed closer to the tents in the center of camp.