Harry eats and drinks

Something about the whole thing was wrong, but Harry was in too deep now. He met her green eyes with his own baby blues and said, “I’m your man”.

“Good,” she said briskly. “I knew I could count on you. Now let’s talk tactics.” For the rest of the afternoon, they studied the map and assessed their options. When the sun went behind the coulee rim, she cooked supper on an ultra-light backpacking stove. Harry washed the dishes, and when that was finished, she brought out a bottle of crème-de-menthe. Harry hated the stuff, but when she offered it to him in a crystal shot glass, with the firelight dancing in her eyes, he took it, and after the fourth one, it didn’t taste so bad any more.

“The game starts at midnight,” she said at 11o’clock.

“What?” said Harry; not believing his had heard correctly. “Midnight, as in tonight?” He had assumed the whole thing would start at some civilized hour in the morning.

“Yes, We should get dressed now.” She went into her tent and returned with an armful of clothing. “Here’s something for you to wear.” Harry stood up. He made it on the second try, more than a little unsteady on his feet. Why had she done this to him? He shook his head to loosen the grip of the poisonous crème-de-menthe on his senses. He went to his own tent and struggled into the black bodysuit, noting it had green patches on the front and back. They were the green team, he supposed. When he came out, she was staring after a tall man who was just disappearing behind a thicket of brush at the edge of their campsite. He could not read the expression on her face.

“Someone you know?” he asked, in what he hoped was a casual manner. She seemed not to hear him, so he said it again.

“Maybe”, she said, and he could not read her voice any better than he could her face. She handed him his gun, and slid her own into a holster that fit snuggly at her side. “It works the same as any pistol,” she said. “Point and shoot. You have 15 shots. Take no prisoners.” She laughed a brittle, bitter laugh. “I’ll see you at our check point at one.” And she turned and was gone, a shadow in her black body suit.

To be continued...