Covert Aim

Chapter 7

A new morning rose. Ben woke up early, at five AM in the morning. He yawned then stood up. He quietly stepped on the bantam spaces where his siblings were not resting and got out of the room. He wore his pair of slippers and continued to go all through the way out of the lodge. When finally got out, he witnessed the burning, bright sun touching its orange horizon, up in the ace sky.

He could hear the harmonious chirping of different birds. He could feel the cold atmosphere brought by the foggy morning. He stretched his arms widely, yawned, and yawned again. He heard rustling meters away from him. He went into the area and found nothing nor no one—just a death's-head hawkmoth. He felt a weird feeling, so he entered the lodge again.

He directly went to the kitchen. He opened a cabinet beside the enclosed ground for cooking. He found six packs of instant noodles. He also grabbed the big jar of white, well-milled rice. He made a fire on the enclosed ground with matches. When the dried bamboo splits were lit up, he put a cauldron full of water upon the three supporting big, ashen rocks. He put the instant noodles in the cauldron, so were the seasonings. After three minutes of boiling, he got the hot, smoking cauldron off the fiery rocks and transferred the savory noodles into an empty glass bowl on the dinner table. After that, he rinsed the rice thrice and put it in the same cauldron. After more minutes, the rice was cooked already. He went to the dinner table and fixed it. He sweat, so he smiled, reasonably. He then went into his team.

He tapped Calixto's left thigh with strength. "Hey, wake up."

"Um . . . what . . . why?" Calixto's legs jerked, trying to open his eyes. "What's up with you, Ben?"

"Sun's rising already, boy."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Get up then wake these three up," Ben said with a beautiful morning smile.

Calixto nodded in concurrence. Ben left then went into David's room with their other siblings. He hit the doorknob and found the four sleeping peacefully, in silence and organization.

He woke David up, "hey, David, rise and shine, big brother."

"Oh, am sorry." David scoured his eyelids. "I had a great rest."

"It's nothing, pshaw." Ben smiled. "I'll just wake the others."

David grinned back. Ben proceeded to walk into the others' room. He opened the door then found Nilo and Joseph standing, staring outside the window, and Mara on the bed, doing her phone.

Mara noticed Ben, "Ben, do you need something?"

"Oh, nah. I just wanted to wake y'all." Ben nodded in randomness.

"Hey, how's the sleep?" Nilo interfered.

"It's good, tho . . ." Ben hesitated, "I minded the surroundings a lot."

"Is that so?" Joseph said. "You don't have to worry. We three are here to protect y'all."

"Yeah?" Ben replied. "Come with me to the dining area."

"Little man, have you cooked something? I can smell a beefy . . . wait. Is that the noodles we bought?"

"Um . . . I guess so?"

Joseph laughed softly. "Okay, let's go guys."

"Mara, Otep, join Ben and the others," David commanded. "I'll just pick Dad up."

The two both nodded. They went with Ben to the dining area and start preparing for themselves. On the other hand, Nilo went into their father's room.

He found Leon doing his phone.

He greeted him, "Dad, breakfast is ready."

"Oh, yeah," Leon was surprised. "Wait, wait for me, Nilo."

Nilo nodded. Leon got up and both of them went to the dining area. Leon smiled when he saw his children eating, talking, and laughing at each other. He could not remember when they were like that in the past years. He sat on a chair and took a sip of creamed coffee made by Rita.

Leon would already have a spoonful of rice when a sharp, smooth, silent blast penetrated the window, causing the people in the lodge to panic. They ducked as low as they could.

"What the heck is this?!" Joseph held onto the table's foot.

"Just drop yourselves, guys!" Nilo said.

Another blast penetrated the window behind Rosana.

"Careful, Rosana!" Mara yelled.

Ana saw a man in black attire on a hilltop—in a black bonnet and pair of black gloves—having a sun-lit face and sunglasses. Her thoughts got more flaccid when she saw what the man was holding—a sniper.

She panicked, "there's a sniper behind you Rosana!"

After hearing such words, Rosana quickly rolled away and took a cover of herself. The whole family stayed behind a cemented partition, keeping themselves in coverage.

The sniper on the hilltop kept on shooting the lodge although he could not perceive where was the horde of targets. He silently stood up and walked down the hill. He passed the mossy slope and turned his look at the entrance of the lodge. The unlocked door opened because of the wind's strength. The sniper found no one but an empty atmosphere. Before the sniper's action, the family already exited the lodge through the back door. They already were meters and meters away from the anonymous sniper.

"Huh, at last," Marco caught his breath with difficulty. "Are we far enough from that crap?"

"I guess . . . wait," Leon's thought got blurry. "Where's Ana?"

Ana went into their room, looking for her gun. She tried to find it calmly when she heard footsteps. The evident footsteps' sound proved that the sniper was in heavy combat boots. She hid behind a drawer. The steps became nearer and nearer. Her heart pounded so hard that he could only do was to be silent still and hold the revolver rightly. She then planned to use the second bullet of her gun. She heard a whistling, thinking that the sniper was enjoying it.

At that time Leon yelled out loud outside the lodge, "Ana?! Ana?!"

The sniper turned his attention then outside. He stepped outside and found Leon.

He aimed for his head then laughed. "At last, bull's-eye."

Before the sniper pulled his trigger, Ana did hers earlier than him. Ana put the aim on the sniper's head and shot him. The sniper lay down in his blood, in death. Ana was not shocked for crimes in her past barangays, where she was residing, were commonly occurring. She then put her revolver in her pocket. The family went to Ana.

Ana took the sniper's bonnet off him and found a good-looking adult man, mouth open in sudden death. She saw an identity card on his chest, so he got it. She was not shocked for the sniper was one of the people who find for them, for the money on Leon's head—a five million-peso reward.

"Dad," her sight got more blank, looking at his father emptily, "he's a hitman."