13 Unwanted Help

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

" Do you want to die that badly Jhonny? " Asked Henry, 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 are going to 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 on 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 small 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 to 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 cant even unfold that simple sniper rifle?! " Blurted out Henry.

" I'm a good shot. My dad taught me how. I've just never seen one of these. " Jhonny said, discomfited.

Henry shook his head in disapproval. He walked up to 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 guns' 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 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 that I shot. " Henry smiled, handing Jhonny back the rifle.

" Okay. " Simply answered the kid.

He took the gun and propped up the foot stand. He then aimed into the night, took a deep breath, and whilst exhaling, shot the rifle. Henry's jaw hit the floor. He had used the system to watch the trajectory of the beam, 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. " Shrugged Jhonny. 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. The only thing I can tell you is that I'm going to where you want to go. So steer clear of that camp, lest you get shot by mistake. " Henry simply 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 perilous mission!

" Then let me help! " He blurted 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 laying down.

Henry laughed on the inside. He would never let the kid wake up before him. He let the kid fall asleep, and when he was sure he wouldn't wake up, he tied the little devil up. After his misdeed, he went to sleep as well.

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

" Please don't be a fool. " Henry whispered under his breath.

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

" That was a shot from my rifle!!! That little shit bag! He's going to screw my whole plan up! "

*** A few hours earlier***

Jhonny woke up not long after Henry left, only to find himself tied like a piece of smoked ham.

" That bully! " Jhonny yelled.

He looked around, trying to see the culprit to his unsavory awakening, only to see a piece a paper near his head, and a folded sniper in the corner of the cave. He couldn't believe it. Henry had left him to rot, tied up like a sausage, alone in the cave. " Barbarian! " He yelled. " Savage! " He added.

He vented his frustration for a few minutes, calling Henry by many monikers, before finally calming down. He crawled his way to the note and read it.

" When you wake up, please don't make a scene. There might be enemies nearby and you don't want to die now, don't you? Also, if you manage to get out of those ropes, which I doubt, stay in the cave. Things will get dangerous soon and I don't want you to die.

P.S. Don't touch my rifle, or I'll kill you, little miscreant. :)

" ... "

" YOU CRAZY BASTARD! " Howled Jhonny.

Jhonny started struggling, trying in vain to get loose from his unwanted bondage. After 15 minutes of wiggling, he stopped, knowing he wouldn't get free this way. He started looking around on the ground, too see if he could find a pointy rock or jagged edge, to cut the rope off instead. He had to crawl his way all around the cave, in search, to find one tiny, pointy rock, sticking out of the ground.

Jhonny crawled his way over the rock and lay on his back, to get the point on the roping. When he flipped over, he miscalculated the landing point and jammed the rock right into his right hand.

" AARRGGHH! " He cried out, in pain. " He's going to pay for this! This is child abuse! " Jhonny raged.

He wiggled himself in the right position to cut the rope and then started to perform a weird movement, in the hope of cutting himself loose. After an hour of bizarre wiggling, and many cut wounds to his hands, he managed to set himself free. He got up and stretched himself. Then he ran to the corner of the cave and grabbed the rifle.

" As if I'd listen to you, after what you did to me. " Jhonny snickered.

He ran out of the cave and bolted in the direction of the tamarain camp. After hours of running, and stopping to catch his breath, he finally made it near the camp. Jhonny was exhausted, with all the running, and with the rifle being as heavy as it was, he nearly collapsed. He panted and gasped for air for a few minutes until he breathed with more ease. He then got back up and looked for a good shooting spot. Something high with a good view of the camp. He looked up and saw a nice big branch, he could perch himself on, so he proceeded to climb up that tree.

Once up there, he unfolded the rifle, opened up the foot stand and got in laying position. Once he finally found a target to shoot on, he took a deep breath, exhaled, and shot.

Henry saw from where the shot was taken, but he wasn't the only one. Many tamarain foot soldiers started running and flying towards a big tree, overshadowing their camp.

" SHIT! " Henry thought.

He got up and ran towards Jhonny too. Luckily for Jhonny, Henry had set up some traps not far from where he set up his shooting range. Now all he had to do, was shoot the flying soldiers. Jhonny took the time to shoot another foot soldier, before one of them stepped on a rigged grenade, and blew up. When he saw that, he immediately switched his focus to the flying soldiers.

" At least he has a tactical sense. " Thought Henry, seeing the beams starting to hit the flying soldiers.

Jhonny was a very good shot, and not once did he miss. All Henry had to do, was keep the foot soldiers from getting to him from the ground. As he zoomed towards Jhonny, he took out two squadrons worth of foot soldiers. He finally made it to Jhonny's shooting range and yelled up the tree " You nincompoop! Why are you here! I told you to stay in the cave! "

" You really thought I'd listen to you? You barbarian! " Jhonny spat back.

A shot whistled past Henry's head, and so he ducked behind the tree.

"Dammit! " He muttered. " Keep shooting the flies down. I'll take care of the bugs down here! And don't die! " Henry yelled at Jhonny.

He then bolted back out of hiding and zoomed into the enemy squadron up ahead. He bobbed, weaved, and dodged through the enemy fire and steamrolled through them with his blades. From his perch, Jhonny could see Henry butchering the tamarains. What he couldn't see, on the other hand, was blood splashing. Every time Henry cut up a foe, there was no blood spurt. The only blood he could see, was when a soldier hit the ground, then they would start bleeding. He could see through the scope, blood on the blades, but it never splashed away from them.

" What weird kind of knives is he wielding? " Jhonny thought.

Nonetheless, he kept firing at the flying tamarains. Now was not the time to space out. They were in enemy territory after all. The fight went on for half an hour, without a problem arising. But suddenly, through the scope, Jhonny saw a blue streak, zigzag through the trees, heading straight for Henry. When it got to him, all Jhonny saw, was Henry flying back, hitting many trees, cleanly uprooting them out the ground.

" What the hell is this?! " Thought Jhonny.

He then saw what it was. Once it stopped moving, he clearly made out the figure of a woman.

" That smells like trouble. " He thought.