Chapter 15

More blood dripped from Able's hands, all because he was trying to be a hero.

Abel watched Evangeline fade from sight, seeing a group of men get to the edge of the road. They were all carrying guns, and it seemed like another car had pulled up to join the pack. It wasn’t going to be an easy fight, but it wasn’t the first time Abel was outnumbered or outgunned. He pulled the knife, flipped it around his hands, and, dashing away from the car, flipped over.

                They had to come down to check out the car. It seemed they were debating who was going down there and who was covering them. It was a good argument, but it took too much time as Abel was ready to get the fight done. He wanted to get this whole night behind him. He was tired from the long drive on the road. The weariness in his bones had long set up, and the fight would never stop. He had spent too long with blood on his hands and too much killing in his life.

                He leaned against the massive tree and stared up at the sky. It was something he never often did when he was overseas, looking at the sky. He loved the stars. The first time he kissed his wife was under the stars. They were out in the fields holding each other, with him staring at her more than the stars themselves, but she kept looking at the world above them. When she looked back at him, he kissed her.

                It was their first kiss. It was the moment he knew he was going to marry this woman.

                “You shouldn’t always be lookin’ up, Abel,” Brain Carbone would always say to him in the trenches when they were resting. “The enemy ain’t up there.”

                “Thank God,” Abel said, sighing and looking down at Brain’s hard face caked in blood and dirt.

                “God ain’t here, boy,” he said, checking his rifle and looking down the line, seeing some of the men lighting up cigarettes.

                “Might be for the best,” Abel said, hearing the whistler for all the men to go over the top to their deaths, but the point of the charge wasn’t to gain ground; it was allowed to Abel and Barin to get behind the lines.

                A lot of people were going to die for their mission, but the mission was important. They were going to take out one of the top German generals and his wife. He was back home in Berlin. It was the last mission Able would carry out, but he got his target.

                He always got his target.

                His mission right now was Evangeline, and he always finished his mission. He heard the boots of the men coming down the mountain. They were all carrying weapons, and they all meant death, but Abel was going to get them first. They had no idea what they were walking into in their final moments.

                The wind kicked up, not hiding their boots but pushing up to the smell of gasoline leaking from the car. They checked the car first, but Able doubted they were fools, knowing they would flee from the car. They had to check the car while they started to spread out, covering more ground.

                Abel glanced up to see a few shooters on the edge with the headlights going off. It would help them see better and kept Able from seeing them with ease, and none of the men coming down were carrying lights either.

                He turned back, watching three men get close to the car, one of them kneeling to check inside and Abel rushing out from his tree to the man closer to him. He wasn’t going to hide his foot falling as he jumped at the men turning to face him. The knife was being driven into the man’s chest with shots screaming at him. It missed but only by inches, causing everyone to spin, with Abel rolling out of the sight of the shooters following his path, firing bullets.

                The other men were turning to aim, but Abel had picked up one of the man’s rifles firing at the car, hitting the gasoline and turning it into a fire, killing the three men around the car, but the two off to the side weren’t touched by the fire as one of the had Abel dead to right. He fired, and the heat from the fire caused the air to shift in the air, causing the bullet to smack Abel in the collarbone. He shouted from his collar bone-shattering, dropping his knife but not the rifle. He fired, hitting the man in the head.

                The other men aimed slightly, being blinded by a fire roaring to life, giving Abel time to move back into the darkness.

                Abel had to get to the shooters at the top. They had a beat on him. It wasn’t good, and he didn’t enjoy getting shot. He could use his arm right now with the blood pouring from the hole. He had to kill the men. He had to save Evangeline.

                Abel hides in the darkness as the man shouts for more help, staying near the fire, but the shooters at the time wanted him to go after Abel. The argument was working for Abel, giving him time to get up the hill. One of the shooters noticed he was moving up the hill, taking a shot and forcing everyone to turn their firepower on him.

                The bullets rained around him, but he got to the top of the hill using a tree as a shield. He stood there taking a deep breath, looking at the wound while someone was moving closer to him.

                “A dark walker has her,” the voice on the wind whispers. “Abel, they have her.”

                “Hope is going to kick my butt for ruining this coat,” Abel said as the shooters moved closer.

                “Abel.”

                He spun around the tree, dashing for the shooters at the top. With such speed, one of the men couldn’t get a shot off as some of the others did, but no one could tell if they hit Abel in the night. He grabbed the rifle of the closet man, knowing he was shooting them as the bodies fell. When they were all dead, he dropped the rifle and headed back to his knife. He picked up the mighty blade, heard the bolt of a rifle, and turned to the last man.

                He was pointing it at him, and Abel shook his head.

                “You should run,” Abel growled, and the poor fool did, fleeing into the night as Abel looked back up to the stars.