Fire Force(78)

It was close to ten at night by the time they reached the valley. The rain had kicked in, falling in great powerful waves. Steve tried to ignore it as he ploughed forwards. The track was quickly churned into mud, with streams of water gushing through it, and it took all your concentration to stay on your feet. Dan had already slipped once, cursing loudly as he went down.

‘For God’s sake shut it,’ Steve had hissed. ‘You’ll bring a whole army down on us.’

Up ahead, Newton had raised an arm to tell the others to stop. Steve told the unit to take a break, while he went ahead to recce the lie of the land. As he arrived at the top of the ridge, Newton had already crouched down low behind the stubby remains of a dead tree. He handed a pair of field glasses to Steve. Brushing the water from his face, Steve put them to his eyes. It was hard to see through the rain and darkness. The contours of the ground were nothing more than a series of pale shadows. But he could see the way the valley dipped between the hills, creating a narrow channel that ran through to the plains on the other side. And he could see a small glowing light right at its centre.

‘I reckon it’s some guards,’ said Newton.

Cursing the rain, Steve wiped the field glasses clean and took a closer look. He could make out a small tent, with a brazier inside to keep the men warm through the night.

‘Tshaka’s forces? Or the Government’s?’

‘Tshaka’s I think,’ said Newton. ‘Kapembwa’s men wouldn’t be this far forward.’

‘How many are there?’

Newton shrugged. ‘Six at the most,’ he said. ‘The tent won’t hold any more than that.’

Steve nodded. It sounded about right. ‘We’ll try to sneak past them,’ he said. ‘The bastards will probably be dozing, and the rain will help disguise any noise we might make. But if it turns into a scrap, we can handle six blokes. We’ll slot them, then make a run for the opposing lines.’

Newton nodded.

‘OK,’ Steve said. ‘I’ll go and break the good news to the rest of the boys.’

Within five minutes they were ready to move out. The gags on Tshaka had been doubled in strength to stop him from shouting to his men, and Maksim had explained how he was going to rip each fingernail off both hands if he caused any trouble.

They lined up in single file and started to move down through the valley, Newton still leading the way. The track narrowed as it started to descend the hillside. The rain was lashing into them, streaming off the rough, rocky ground, and churning the path into mud. A couple of times Steve could feel his feet slipping. They marched steadily forwards until they were 100 yards from the sentry post. The path would have taken them straight down and through it, but that was far too dangerous. Instead, Newton led them along the side of the valley, seventy feet up from the soldiers. The ground was rougher here, and there was no track for them to follow. Nor was there anything for your boots to get any kind of grip on. Even Newton was struggling to find a way forwards.

‘Oh Christ,’ growled Chris as he started to slither.

Maksim had already grabbed him by the wrist, using the immense strength in his shoulder muscles to haul the big man back up again.

‘Shut the fuck up,’ hissed Steve. He glanced nervously at the tent. It was taking a beating in the weather - the wind and rain smashing into the canvas. Must be impossible to sleep in there, he decided grimly. Somebody would be awake.

Maybe we should have waited until morning.

Suddenly: ‘Shit!’ screeched Chris.

Steve glanced backwards. This time, surely the noise was loud enough to wake the soldiers.

Chris had fallen again, and this time was sliding down through the mud straight into the valley below. Maksim was scrambling down after him, trying to help hoist him back upwards.

In the commotion, Tshaka had made a run for it. Even with his hands bound and his mouth gagged, he was hurling himself down the side of the valley.

‘Bloody stop him,’ ordered Steve. He was trying to keep his voice low yet still make himself heard.

Tshaka was only fifty yards from the tent now. Reaching out a hand, Chris managed to get a hold of the man’s leg, sending him thumping to the ground and, in the next few seconds, the two men were rolling around like a couple of bears in the mud.

Suddenly there was a burst of gunfire. A soldier had appeared outside the tent, and was spraying the hillside with bullets from his AK-47.

‘Lay down some covering fire,’ shouted Ollie up above.

Steve ducked, and started to crawl forwards. He could hear Chris scream out in pain as he was struck in the chest. Bullets were flying overhead as Ollie organised a barrage of fire down into the enemy position. Steve fought his way through the mud until he grabbed hold of Chris.