Alisa watched her quarry from the bushes, she had been tracking him for the last hour but he still hadn’t relaxed his guard long enough for her to make her move. She was starting to wonder if he knew about her and was just toying with her. She would have to make up her mind soon whether she wanted to attack or give up.
Her query was on the march again so Alisa stole along the ditch, out of sight, after it. The man stopped to get a drink and Alisa stopped too, as her query stopped moving. She was using more energy then the man was because it was harder to move without being heard. She lay in the ditch, panting without trying to make too much noise. At least this was somewhat relaxing; if the man had been on his guard he would have noticed her heavy breathing. She wasn’t in very good shape and had never been very used to stealth. If she hadn’t set herself this mission she would never have even considered a guerilla warfare approach. It was very unnatural for her.
Her prey was on the move again and Alisa followed, she had come too far to chicken out. If she did now people would call her a coward and she would lose face. As the leader of her group she couldn’t afford to be labeled a coward no matter what. If people stopped respecting her they would stop following her orders, she would have to take the risk at this point and prey for victory. Her group was probably after other targets at the moment and while they could fail she couldn’t, such was the price of power.
Alisa started to wonder if the man ever got tired, most people would stop and rest, or sleep after walking for this long but not the one that she was following. She started to wonder if she should have attacked him while he had gotten a drink but her position hadn’t been to her advantage. She was going to have to make her move soon though, she couldn’t get a lot farther from camp or she wouldn’t make it back before nightfall.
Alisa picked up a stick to use as a club and finally emerged from the ditch, intentionally far behind from where the man was walking so he wouldn’t notice her. There was no one else around so in that she would be safe. Pretending to use to her make shift club as a walking stick she walked as quickly as she could so she would end up right behind him.
In one swift blow she knocked the man out with her club. Now that she had committed herself she gained confidence, she would have to move quickly but she was used to that. She tore his boots off of his feet and ran; he could continue his trip, wherever he was going, without them. His fate had been that of anyone she had seen with a foot about the same size as hers and a clean looking pair of boots. These would last her for at least a year.
No comments:
Post a Comment