Project Rescue - A Shifter Novel (NaNoWriMo19)
Chapter 42 - Hunting

I walked beside Matheus, unless it was my turn to disable the cameras. I went further out than most of the men. I was afraid we would miss one, so I was always on the lookout. My head felt as if it was a constant swivel. I looked for cameras or the monsters men. I felt a presence about the same time something jumped out of the trees. I had my blade and pistols up before I knew who it was.

“Shit, girl, it’s only me,” Flirt remarked, waiting on me to drop my weapons from his throat and heart.

I slowly put my weapons away and smirked at Flirt. “If you don’t want weapons pulled on you then how about a low whistle or something.” He nodded.

“Was there anything in the dead drop?” Madrid prodded as he looked over Flirt for any injuries. Flirt nodded and handed over the flash drive to the General.

I watched as Madrid handed over the flash drive to Matheus. I watched as Matheus plugged the flash drive in his computer and typed on the keys - more like flew over the keys. As soon as Matheus was done the message appeared. Madrid had only had a few minutes to read the message until it disappeared.

“Well, shit! We only have a small window to take him out. We only have a day and a half before he brings more men from California. I wish I could order a strike on his compound it would be a lot easier. I guess we are going to fight. Let’s kill as many of the fuckers men,” Madrid hissed.

“How about we start hunting his men before we take him down. It would be a lot less of his men with him. And, there are a lot of his men that need killing,” I calmly added. “We become the hunters and them the prey. We need to take Manuel to safety if we do.”

“I think it’s a great idea but -”

I held up my hand when I heard footsteps coming towards us. They made sure we could hear whoever it was. I turned and looked at exactly where the person was coming from. I had my blades in my hands, ready to throw at a moments notice. When I saw who it was I put my weapons in their sheaths and smiled.

Papa looked at me and smiled. He looked over everyone and his smile dropped as he saw Manuel. “What happened to him?”

“Barbosa,” was all I said.

“How bad?” Papa asked, looking over Manuel and walking to him.

“He needs to get to a hospital. He has an artery that was torn. I sewed it up but it’s not the right sutures for his insides,” I explained, watching Papa pat his friends shoulder.

“I can take him. I have another person with me I trust. He’s waiting on me to radio him. We can take him to a hospital that deals with our kind. Will this work?” Papa looked over to the General, Matheus and me.

“Yes, I think it does sound good. Can you get him to safety quickly?” Madrid asked, raising an eyebrow as if waiting for a reply.

Papa nodded and called his friend on the radio. As soon as the other man showed up he ran straight for Manuel. I listened as the man was asking Papa what happened to his brother and how bad in Portuguese. I listened as Papa explained to him what they needed to do they quickly put their plan in motion.

“He’s going to need this before you get to the hospital,” Claw explained, handing over the pre-filled needle of morphine to Papa.

I waved as Papa and Manuel’s brother grabbed the stretcher and ran off into the woods, blending well with their surrounding.

Madrid looked at Matheus and nodded his head. “Let’s go hunting.”

I smiled, knowing I could get the men who tried to feel me up or rape me. I used everything Antonio taught me to make sure they left me alone. The only person I had trouble with was the monster’s second in command. He wouldn’t take no for an answer until I cut part of his throat. I didn’t want to kill him that would have caused the monster to punish me and no one wanted his kind of punishment. He had a favorite whip he loved to use on me. It was a cat-o-nine whip, one that would leave deep scars until I healed. I still had some scars and would have had a lot more if it wasn’t for the monsters rape victims taking care of me afterwards. They saved my life many times. And, now it was my turn to save them.

Everyone nodded their head and bumped knuckles. They made sure to bump with me too. I was a warrior through and through and they knew it. We got ready to split into two's. Matheus would be partnered with me. Claw was with the General, Warrior and Flirt were another team, Digger and Eagle were together, and Dragon and Mateo would be a team.

“Keep in contact with me. If you get hurt, which I highly doubt, notify Claw or Selina. We need to take them out quietly and quickly. Let’s get to hunting,” Madrid ordered, checking his weapons and putting his Ruger P250 22 Nitron Compact rifle over his shoulder.

I noticed everyone loading their weapons and putting their pistols in their holsters, their rifles over their shoulders. I checked my blades and bounced lightly on my toes as to say ‘let’s go’. I already had my rifle loaded and placed at my back. We would have to leave our rifles in the trees when we took out the idiot men. We had to be quiet and a gunshot would be heard for miles.

We checked our coms out and my voice choker out. I liked it better than having to hold a big radio. We all waited, impatiently, for the General to tell us what quadrants we would be hunting in. As soon as we got out quadrants our team would melt into the forest and head to our destination.

“You look excited to hunt these guys,” Matheus commented.

“You have no idea. I wanted to kill them when I was the monster. But, then I would have been beaten with his whip. I would love to get my hands on his favorite whip and use it on him.”

We stopped talking, taking to the trees in human form. We moved quickly and quietly. When we made it our quadrant we stopped and crouched low, waiting on the Barbosa’s men to come to us.

I put on my masking spray, throwing the bottle to Matheus. He looked at me weird but put the spray on. I nodded my head, sniffing the air to see if I could smell his scent. I couldn’t smell him and by his face he couldn’t smell me.

Perfect, and right on time.

I held up three fingers to Matheus. He slowly nodded his head. I looked down to see if it was anyone on my shit list. Well, what do you know - all three men were on the list. I looked over at Matheus and smiled. He looked at me and tilted his head as if to ask me what. I quietly told him shit list. He immediately understood.