The Guardian

clump of trees near the rear corner of the wall, he sat the bag down and opened it. He pulled out the long, black, nylon rope with the large plastic hook on the end of it. He made his way to the wall. He swung the rope several times in a large circle getting enough momentum for it to reach the top of the wall. The hook hit the wall with very little noise. He gave it a tug to secure it. He then secured the black bag with the other items he needed to the end of the rope. He could pull it up to him once he was at the top of the wall.
    The wall made of timber and the hook made of plastic, the noise of the hook hitting the wall was minimal. That’s what he had been counting on. He tugged the rope again to make sure that it was secure. He waited a few moments, listening intently to make sure that he hadn’t been discovered and started up the wall. The short spikes on the bottom of his shoes made it easy for him to scale to the top quickly and quietly.
    At the top, he raised himself up slowly, carefully peeking over the top. He scanned the area. He saw the van parked in front of the large mound of earth that protruded from the ridge of the mountain. What an interesting surprise. There was an opening in the front of the mound. He hadn’t seen anything like that since his tour in Nam. He recalled how they used to put netting with foliage attached to it to simulate the jungle to camouflage their equipment, guns and what ever else they didn’t, want Charlie to find. It had obviously been concealed, and it was probably for a reason.
    The branches of the trees outside the wall helped to conceal him. He pulled the rope up with the bag at the other end. He carefully slung it down the inside of the wall, making sure that it didn’t hit the side. It gently came to rest on the ground. He was making sure that the rope wasn’t tangled in any way. He slid down the rope quickly, checking that his target hadn’t come out and had seen him. Giving the rope a quick flick and a sharp tug, the hook came free. He caught it as it came down. He lay the rope down along the wall so that he could retrieve it when he was ready to leave. Leaving the bag and the rope where it was, out of sight, he made his way towards the van.
    Chapter 81
    Jack was trying not to hurry but it wasn’t doing him any good. He couldn’t help it. When he got to his road, he just cut the wheel hard, made the turn. The back end was sliding sideways, throwing gravel everywhere. Checking his mirrors, he sped towards his gate. He looked back to check on the girl. She was still out but wouldn’t be for much longer. He had to hurry.
    He stopped in front of the gate. It wasn’t opening. What in the hell was wrong? “Jesus, not now!” How could this be happening? He jumped out, ran to the gate, opened it manually, and ran back to the van. He sped though the gate, got out, ran back and quickly closed the gate. He ran back to the van. He could not believe this shit. These little things were very, very annoying to him. He didn’t like annoyances. It pissed him off that he hadn’t thought things through thoroughly enough. It took away his control of the situation.
    The girl was starting to come around, great, he thought. He quickly pulled up to the shelter. He ran to the opening and haphazardly pulled the foliage back, and unlocked the door. He swung the huge door back. He ran to the van, opened the side door, grabbed the girl, and slung her over his shoulder. Quickly he got her inside and laid her on the bed he had made up for her.
    Once the girl was on the bed, she was trying to sit up. Rubbing her head and her eyes, she coughed trying to clear her senses. Jack ran over and closed the door. The young girl sat up, with a look of total shock and panic on her face she said, “What have you done to me?”
    Jack was in a bit of a panic himself. He had started to pace. This wasn’t feeling quite right. Not like the others. This didn’t feel good like the others. “Shut up, okay. Everything will be fine. Just sit there and shut up and let me think.” The young girl started to cry.
    “Oh for Christ’s sake, don’t start that. Everything will be okay, really.” He said. He went over to her; putting his arms around her, he tried to comfort her. She pulled away, “Get away from me!” She yelled.
    It was reflex, he didn’t mean to but as quickly as she had opened her mouth his hand shot out and he backhanded her, sending her flying across the bed into the wall. “DON’T