Page 85 of Cross Down
Bibi stops, takes a deep breath. His own reward will be his in just a few moments. Kill the Black man, then chase after his companion whore.
He takes cover behind two cracked boulders at the top of the hill. He yells out, “Hey, Sampson. Black man! Surrender! You are trapped!”
One by one, his cousins also shout, announcing their advances.
“Bibi, I’m here.”
“Tell us when, Bibi!”
“Ready, cousin!”
Bibi looks around, offers a quick prayer to Allah, and yells, “Now!”
He moves around the two cracked boulders, AK-47 held out in front of him, and sees his cousins emerge from the other side of the rocky hilltop.
No Sampson.
Bibi looks around wildly. Where did he go?
“Bibi,” his cousin Azeez says, looking as puzzled as the other three. “Where is he?”
“Look over there,” Bibi says, “see if he’s hiding in one of these cracks.”
“But he’s so tall, how could he do that?”
Bibi says, “Look, curse you, look!”
Azeez moves about the rocks and boulders. There’s a large bumpy patch of dirt in the center, and Azeez cries out, “Look! Here! He must have run away, but see what he’s left.”
Bibi makes quick time to where his cousin is standing and pointing.
Balanced against a rock is the Black man’s M4, and on the ground next to it is his rucksack. But no Sampson.
How could he have slipped by?
Impossible.
Azeez moves to the rucksack and says, “I saw it first, it belongs to me!”
Bibi sees his cousin kneel down and grab the rucksack, and too late, Bibi yells, “No!”
Chapter
96
I wait, twistedin an uncomfortable position, breathing through my nose.
The voices are getting closer.
I tense up; every nerve ending seems to vibrate with anticipation.
The voices are louder now, and even though I can’t understand their language, Ican tell they’re confused, surprised, amazed.
Good.
I’m waiting for another noise.
It comes hard and quick.
