Laying The Traps

Henry was flabbergasted. Not only was this kid travelling unarmed, but he was also going straight into the lions' den. How foolish!

"Do you want to die that badly, Jhonny?" Henry asked, dumbfounded.

"This isn't a game," he added.

"I will save them, no matter what I have to do!" the kid exclaimed.

Henry could see the resolve and despair mixed up in his eyes. And yet, he wasn't going to let the kid walk to his death.

"What will you do, alone, against so many Tamarains, boy? Beg them to death!?" Henry angrily shouted.

"I'll fight them. Even if it kills me!" Jhonny answered back with just as much anger.

"Do you even know how to fight, Jhonny?" Henry continued.

The boy seemed to have been caught off guard by that question. He shook his head and kept ranting.

"In that case, I'll just have to steal one of their guns and shoot them all!" Jhonny exclaimed.

"Do you even know how to shoot a gun?" Henry asked him, not even mentioning the biometric lock on the Tamarains' guns.

"I'm a better shot than you!" Jhonny yelled, brandishing his tiny fist.

"Oh, really now? Then let's test that out, shall we?" Henry said, getting up.

He walked over to his folded-up sniper and threw it at the boy. The sniper landed heavily in the kids' hands, only for him to look at it with question marks in his eyes.

"Clearly, you don't know how to open one of those. How do you even hope to hack a biometric lock from a Tamarain weapon if you can't even unfold that simple sniper rifle?!" Henry blurted out.

"I'm an excellent shot. My dad taught me how. I've just never seen one of these." Jhonny said, embarrassed.

Henry shook his head in disapproval. He approached the kid and activated the unfold command on the rifle.

When the rifle unfolded in Jhonny's hands, he gasped in surprise. He looked at the gun's long barrel and was awed.

"What kind of rifle is this, Mister?" Jhonny asked, salivating.

"It's a high-density laser sniper rifle. It shoots beams of highly condensed light that travel fast and don't make noise. It's the perfect weapon for an assassin," Henry boasted.

"Are you an assassin?" Jhonny asked, gulping.

"You could say that, kiddo, haha!" Henry laughed.

"I'm more than that. I'm a highly trained special agent of the human military," He added.

"Woah!" Jhonny said, breathing out slowly.

"Now, show me what you can do. Shoot that tree over there," Henry prompted him, pointing to a tree in the distance.

"That's too easy. Give me something harder!" The kid gloated.

"Fine, give me the rifle," Henry said, taking the gun from him.

Henry then shot the rifle at a faraway tree with a low-intensity beam, making the smallest of holes. With the darkness of the night, the hole was barely perceptible with the rifle's scope.

"There, loudmouth. Shoot the same tree I shot," Henry smiled, handing Jhonny back the rifle.

"Okay," the kid answered.

He took the gun and propped up the foot stand. He then aimed into the night, took a deep breath, and, while exhaling, shot the rifle. Henry's jaw hit the floor.

He had used the system to watch the beam's trajectory, and to his astonishment, the kid hit the target assigned. Not only did he hit the right tree, he even hit right in the hole the previous shot had made, carving it a little deeper.

"Holy shit, kid! Who taught you how to shoot like that? Those are pro marksmen skills you got there," Henry exclaimed.

"My dad did," Jhonny proudly boasted, straightening like a peacock.

"Damn! Your dad must be an ex-soldier or assassin if he can teach you how to shoot like that," Henry said, grabbing the gun back.

"Not that I know of," Jhonny shrugged.

He then asked, "Anyway, what are you doing in these woods, Mister Soldier?"

"The name's Henry kiddo. And I'm on a mission that you can't really know about. I can only tell you I'm going where you want to go. So steer clear of that camp, lest you get shot by mistake," Henry said, folding the rifle back and stowing it back into its case.

Jhonny perked up when hearing that. He might have found help for his dangerous mission!

"Then let me help!" he yelled out.

"I can cover you from away with that rifle."

"Out of the question. You're not going near that camp. All you'll manage to do is get in the way or get shot," Henry quickly interrupted.

No way was he going to take responsibility if the kid died because he couldn't simply hide.

" Please, Mi—Henry. I want to save my parents! They're in that camp. I want to help!" Jhonny insisted.

"I said no. End of discussion," Henry said.

"Fine, I'll do it myself!" Jhonny pouted.

"I'll be leaving without you tomorrow morning!" he added before turning around and lying down.

Henry laughed on the inside. He would never let the kid wake up before him.

He let the kid fall asleep and tied the little devil up when he was sure he wouldn't wake up. After his misdeed, he went to sleep as well.

The following day, he woke up at dusk and left after leaving a note for the boy.

"Please don't be a fool," Henry muttered.

He quickly disabled the traps around the cave and left with his blades and rucksack, leaving his rifle behind. After jogging for about an hour, he made it to the outskirts of the Tamarain camp.

He started compiling all the routes he could in the shortest time possible and then set out to start laying down his traps.

After toiling for a few hours, laying traps and dodging patrols, he finally managed to cast his net. All that was left was to wait for the perfect timing and close it on his prey.

And so, Henry perched himself high in a well-garnished tree and waited. He stayed there for hours, without moving, waiting for the right time.

Suddenly, he saw a white ray of light hit one of the Tamarain soldiers square in the face. Henry thought it was a perfectly placed shot, only to wonder who had shot it.

He then had a realization.