Alex p.o.v.
Hours and hours of scouring the forest, we found nothing. Absolutely nothing. I radioed Muchara and he said he had nothing on his end too. I was about to close the transmission when I heard him laugh.
He seemed intoxicated though I did not recall any of us having alcohol in the truck. Or maybe he was just good at hiding it, after all, he was also a gang leader and he had his secrets.
I left it at that and told my team to take a rest and get their night gear out since it was almost 6 o'clock and that we would be searching even in the night. The nagging feeling had before did not diminish. Instead, it still bothered me a lot more than the first time.
Once again, I told Ryan of my suspicions and he agreed with me. He told me to watch Muchara's men carefully and that is when it dawned on me. They were too relaxed for a mission that was so tense. It was like they were here to pass time and have fun.
That was when I realized that this was all a setup.
I did not know why but I was yet to find out.
It didn't take long before we heard footsteps closing in on us. I signaled my team and we stayed alert. As they came closer, I saw a sight that made me smile. Muchara had Tyler. He finally had the bastard that was making both our lives hard.
At least something was right tonight. I should have been happy with the win but something did not seem right. So I told Ryan to stay alert in case anything changed we would got to plan B.
Suddenly Muchara released his grip on Tyler and his men had guns on my men and me. Well this was fast. I had contemplated the possible outcomes and I knew something like this would happen.
Betrayal after all was an expectation when it came to working with people you did not know previously. I hated snitches and betrayers. My first instinct was to take out Saul considering he was the one who informed us of Muchara and his men, but I was a second too late as Tyler blew off his brains.
"Well, that was a snitch in my gang, and just like you, I don't like snitches. So gentlemen, shall we?"
"You know what I'm here for, just give it and I'll be out of your hair. If you don't, well you know what happens next."
"I sure did miss you, Alex. It's been, long mate. But there's only one problem with that plan. You are outnumbered."
"Oh yeah, look around you, Ty. We are all here for you, to get whatever you owe us."
"You, mate need to look around. Don't tell me you didn't notice the bird tattoo on all of Muchara's men. Surely you couldn't have been so dumb to think it meant some kind of weird brotherhood bond now or did you?"
"Cut the crap, Ty. What are you talking about?" Ryan jumped in."
"If it isn't the lapdog himself. How are you Ryan? I haven't seen you since long"
"You talk too much. What did you mean by the tattoo?"
"Oh, that? I'm sure you know about Jay, y'know the guy who lent you money. I owe him too. But he promised to set me free if I showed you to his men.
If you're still not understanding what I mean by his men, I mean the beautiful bird tattoo is a unifying symbol for Jay's gang. Now you know."
Holy crap.
This was bad.
I knew something was wrong, but this kind of betrayal was extremely bad. I had to get my people out of here. And I had to think fast. So I did the only thing I knew would give us an opportunity. I shot both Muchara and Tyler on their right arms and only then did the shootout begin.
Between their people tending to them and hooting back at us, there was the chance for us all. I grabbed Ryan who was shooting angrily at anyone and anything that crossed him. His aim was the best along with his reflexes so when we got out of the shooting area, we all had him to thank. But then, there were more shootings, and Ryan and I were out of armor.
Being the leaders, my team covered us, even though it meant some of them had to lose their lives.
********
The forest was quiet, but it was the peaceful kind of quiet. The night insects were all over, but at least they made the night less creepy, especially since we were in a dark forest and the night was still young. We had to find our way out later but for now, I wanted to kill something or someone like Tyler.
The urge was too strong, very strong that I was on the verge of losing control and going back to that messy field. We had run for over an hour and were at a safer distance away. It still pissed me off that we walked into a trap. I needed to punch something so I took my anger out on the nearest tree.
My knuckles were bleeding but I still felt like punching harder, and I did until Ryan stopped me. The look of defeat on his face made me swear revenge on Muchara. Whether or not he was following orders, I would kill him someday.
He was on my hit list and there was no removing him from there. We were not going to sit around in the forest, it was pathetic enough that we conceded defeat from Muchara's men and Tyler which did not even make me feel any better.
Having two losses in a day was just enough for me to cross any evident lines.
For now, we had to rest lest I do something the both of us would regret later on.
*******