Free Death in the Desert by Jim Eldridge Page B

lot.’
    With that, he stepped into the second cage and walked warily across to where Two Moons lay. He stood over him, rifle aimed, and waited. Two Moons just lay there, mouth and eyes open in an unblinking stare.
    The soldier hesitated, then he jabbed the barrel of his rifle down into Two Moons’ chest. As he did so, Two Moons suddenly came to life. He grabbedthe rifle barrel with both hands and shoved it back upwards so the butt caught the soldier under the chin. As the soldier began to collapse, Two Moons was up, pushing him towards the edge of the cage. When the soldier hit the bars, Tug reached through and grabbed him round the neck.
    Two Moons now had the rifle in his hands and he aimed it at the other soldier, who looked back at him, stunned.
    ‘Don’t try anything,’ Two Moons warned him. ‘If I see your finger tighten on the trigger, I’ll shoot you dead. If you call out, your friend here gets his neck broken. If you play it sensible, you and your buddy live.’
    The soldier stood, shocked, his rifle aimed at Two Moons.
    ‘I really don’t want to kill you, but I will if I have to,’ said Two Moons. ‘All we want to do is get out of here. So throw your gun down on the ground.’
    The soldier hesitated, undecided. While this was happening, Nelson reached through the barsof the cage and felt the pockets of the soldier Tug had in a stranglehold. He pulled out the key to the cage door.
    ‘Got it,’ he said.
    ‘See?’ said Two Moons. ‘There’s no way you can deal with all of us. Drop the gun.’
    Nelson now had the door of the cage open and the rest of the men spilled out. Tug released the semi-conscious soldier and he slid down to the ground.
    Nelson moved nearer to the soldier with the gun. ‘Drop the gun and get in the cage,’ he said, ‘and no harm will come to you. Like my friend says, if we were going to kill you, you’d be dead by now. We just want to do this the easy way.’
    The soldier hesitated. The prisoners had now fanned out so that even if he shot one of them, the others would be able to jump him. It was game over, and they could tell from his face that he knew it. He sighed, and dropped his rifle.
    Nelson moved forwards, scooped it up andpointed it at him. ‘Join your friend inside the cage,’ he said.
    The soldier did as he was told.
    ‘Tie and gag ’em,’ instructed Nelson.
    Mitch stepped into the cage to join Two Moons, and the pair used the soldiers’ belts and socks to bind and gag them. That done, they left the cage and locked the door.
    ‘OK,’ said Nelson. ‘Let’s go find us some wheels.’

20
    With Nelson in the lead, the men slipped out of the building that housed the makeshift jail. They immediately took cover behind stacks of boxes that were piled up nearby. Fortunately for them there was little activity inside the base: the majority of the soldiers were in the mess, and most of the patrols were at the outer perimeter, keeping watch on the surrounding desert.
    ‘Three vehicles would be good,’ said Nelson. ‘Tug, Mitch and Gaz, see what you can find. We’ll stay here. If too many of us start wandering around we’re sure to get caught.’
    Tug nodded and he, Gaz and Mitch slipped out from behind the boxes.
    ‘Look for anything with keys in,’ said Tug.
    They scanned the camp. All seemed quiet.
    ‘I think I see where they’ve parked everything up,’ whispered Mitch. ‘Over there, near the desert crawlers.’
    Next to the crawlers some Snatch Land Rovers were lined up in a neat row. The men moved swiftly and silently along the wall towards them, keeping to the shadows. Suddenly, as they neared the parked vehicles, they heard the sound of boots approaching. Swiftly, the three of them dropped and rolled under the vehicles.
    Mitch looked out and saw eight pairs of boots marching towards them, all hitting the ground with regular precision. It was a patrol. The approaching soldiers reached the vehicles and stopped.
    ‘Right, squad! Standard search!’ barked