Seventh Prey

Second

I exhaled, my fingers interlaced.

Even though Alan had walked off a few yards to have a private conversation with our Director, I could still hear him. I was sure the whole team could. The desert was just dead silent and any noise would probably travel for miles.

I was seated on the hood of the humvee, staring across the dark desert. We were just thirty-five kilometers out. I was anxious to get moving, everyone was, but as usual we were on stand by. I feared we would be told to return to base with our suspect and we'd have to wait a week before being deployed again to the Black Pit. We were so close.

I knew Alan was doing his best to convince our Director but something kept churning in my stomach. I couldn't tell if it was nerves still attacking me or a gut feeling about the future, either way it made me restless. It didn't help that only the humvee headlights broke the dark that seemed to be sneaking closer with every minute that passed. It felt weird because I knew nothing but desert laid beyond, I always hated the desert.

The noise of metal scraping on metal made me jump and several heads turned to our suspect. He froze but I saw his hands clenched around some sort of metal wire.  

Riko stomped over, "No funny business, you little shit." He yanked the suspect forward to check the handcuffs, "If you break lose and run for it, I'm just gonna shoot you."

I found it very amusing that our suspect was trying to escape with a dozen of us only a few feet away. I don't know how far he expected to make it but I was willing to bet a whole two feet before someone tackled him. I wasn't too concerned that the flimsy wire would free the cuffs but I almost wanted to see if he could pull it off. 

Riko discovered the wire and tossed it into the dark. I almost scolded Riko for ruining my entertainment for the night but I kept my mouth shut. It was amusing enough to watch Riko do his dance, I loved how he was the buff and muscle of the team and he always tried to be so serious. 

"What do you think we'll find out there?" I turned to Cody, sighing.

He shrugged, "A whole lot of messed up stuff."

"I hope we get the clear," I said, returning my gaze to desert, "I can't stand to add another name to that list."

Cody sighed but he didn't say anything. I knew that the other guys were listening, they had a habit of tilting their heads when they were in thought. I probably spent way too much time around my team members, I couldn't remember the last time I had spent a whole week at home with my parents.

My job was grueling, dangerous, and confidential; I wasn't allowed to communicate anything in regards to my line of work or else it would be an offense. Sometimes, it was hard for family to understand why we had to be away for months at a time, but I kept the idea that I was protecting them at heart. It was my line of work that kept people safe from terrorism and dangerous illegal activity within the United States.

I was broke from my thoughts when Alan appeared from the darkness to my right. I straightened along with my teammates.

Alan hooked his thumbs on his bulletproof vest, "We're cleared."

Words of victory spread among the guys as they quietly hooted, fist-bumped and slapped each other on the back. It was go time and I jumped from the hood of the humvee. Dust fluttered through the headlights at the commotion and I slid into the first humvee. 

"Hey, what do we do with our suspect here?" Jerm asked.

"Cuff him to the bumper of his pick-up," Alan answered from somewhere, "Nobody will be through anytime soon, we'll pick him up on the way out."