The Camp (Chateau 2)

One by one, they climbed over.

Fender was the next one to join me. He kneeled and looked around, seeing the men posted by the front gate. “Good thing we came from the rear. Good call, Magnus.”

When our men were over the fence, we fanned out and spread throughout the camp, ready to take each cabin silently. We didn’t want open gunfire if it could be avoided. We would rather save the bullets anyway.

Fender went to one cabin to take out the guards, and I kept moving to the rear. I suspected Napoleon was staying in Fender’s old cabin since it was the largest on the premises. I wanted that man dead, and I wanted to be the one to do it.

But I never made it.

An alarm sounded, blaring so loud that it would wake up everyone in the camp. It wasn’t ours, so it was something they must’ve installed when they settled.

I turned around and watched chaos explode.

Men ran out of the cabins with their guns and shot at our men. They were still outnumbered, so our guys were shooting most of them down. My first instinct was to check on Fender, but when I looked across to the cabin he had entered, he stepped out and glanced around, and no one came up behind him.

He must’ve killed them all with his knife.

I’d wanted this to be a simple takedown, but I’d underestimated Napoleon.

He knew I would get away. And he knew I would come back.

I was about to join the fray and kill as many men as I could, when something heavy slammed down into the back of my head.

I hit the ground, and my arms couldn’t break my fall. I hit the earth, blood dripping from my skull and mixing with the dirt. My vision blurred for a moment before I could turn over and look at my assailant.

Napoleon stood with his cane held in his hand, and he looked down at me with an unforgettable sneer. “You little rat.” He raised his cane and prepared to slam it down on me again.

Raven’s words came into my mind.

Kill anyone who stands in your way.

I rolled out of the way, and the cane missed me by a few inches. I stumbled to my feet, still disoriented, and pulled out my gun.

He smacked it away with his cane, and it flew across the ground, out of my reach. “You could’ve just lived your life. You could’ve accepted your surrender gracefully. Instead, you chose to come here to get beaten with a stick by an old man.” He swung his cane again, moving with a speed that defied his age. I backed away so he wouldn’t crack my ribs. But I tripped in the process and fell on my back. Gunshots and screams rang through the night as the camp was filled with pandemonium.

My gun was far away in the other direction now, so I reached for my knife.

But he was quicker because he didn’t have a head injury. He struck me with his cane, hitting me in the chest and making me cry out.

“Scream like a rat!”

I kicked him in the shin and made his knees buckle underneath him. I tried to crawl away.

“Magnus!” My brother’s angry voice came from across the clearing.

Napoleon got on top of me and put his weight on my arm so I couldn’t stab him with my knife. He slammed his knee into my leg and made me cringe while he banged my wrist into the dirt so I would lose my hold on the hilt of the blade.

Heavy footfalls came my way, my brother coming to rescue me. “Get the fuck off him!”

Napoleon slammed his head down into mine and made me see stars. Then he seized the knife out of my hand and turned it at the right moment.

Stabbing my brother in the stomach.

My brother stilled, immediately went weak, couldn’t speak, and then fell back and collapsed in the dirt.

Everything happened in slow motion. It also happened at double speed. I heard my scream come out of my mouth, mixed with angry tears. My body was so weak from the kicks and the hits, but a sudden jolt of energy came out of nowhere and cleared away my blurry vision, the throbbing headache behind my eyes, all the aches from the injuries Napoleon had caused.

Napoleon spat on my brother. “The two for one special.”

I slammed my boot into his chest and hit him so hard, he flew back.

I rolled onto my stomach and crawled for his cane.

Just when I snatched it, Napoleon grabbed me by the ankle and dragged me back.

I turned over and slammed the cane straight down on his head.

Blood burst from the wound in his skull.

I kicked off his hold and crawled on top of him.

I slammed the cane down on his head again.