The Bluff

The Bluff

Alaye Idikio

"We've been walking for hours." Morse thought to himself as he trudged through the forest. He heard the leaves and sticks crunch under his feet as he went, and had to duck a branch, his 5'11 frame being more than tall enough to hit every bit of extra foliage as he walked. Another branch hit him right in the face and left some leaves in his red hair. He held back a swear as he continued forward, the darkness of the woods surrounding him. He'd almost gotten used to it—barring the branch he just got to the face, but he wouldn't complain when they found their way out.

"We're gonna get shot at when we get out, but that's preferable to another damn mushroom!"

Morse, along with his seniors, Jerg and Kala, had been on the move all day, and now for most of the night. 40 hours worth of travelling, with their breaks being kept short and sweet to maintain a quick pace. The last two hours had been spent traipsing through a large forest in the pitch-blackness. Jerg, the oldest of the three, was on his left. He was short, with a completely shaven head and a goatee flecked with grey. And on Jerg's left was Kala. Older than Morse himself, but younger than Jerg. She'd tied her long blonde hair in a braid, which did nothing to keep little bits of foliage out of it. Morse couldn't see her face due to his positioning, but he suspected she was throwing harsh glares towards Jerg every chance she got. She'd never been his biggest fan, and finding out he was leading this mission had left her in the foulest mood imaginable.

The trip had been monotonous, but the mission was vital. According to Jerg, they'd received a tip about a potential leak. For the past two months, a spy had beset the organization, and all their operations, from infiltration to rescue operations, had been compromised. They were losing a truckload of people and getting outmaneuvered at every turn.

"Headquarters said this was a sting, and the three of us are bait. We travel out to section Z-Beta on a delivery. But we're really trying to lure out the Spy." Jerg had explained things to them hours before they left. Kala had asked—well, angrily demanded to know how headquarters knew this would work. What would stop the enemy from sending a whole platoon instead of one person? Jerg only said that he hadn't been told anything else. Only that if they travelled to the pre-arranged coordinates, they'd have a chance to flush out their betrayer. Kala had yelled that that was bullshit, but she was really just unhappy that Jerg was the leader for this mission. Morse had had to spend a lot of time talking her down, and the best he'd been able to do was bring her down from "burning rage" to "livid annoyance".

"She's definitely glaring at him." Morse thought. That monotony was coming back again. It had gotten so pervasive that Morse was barely paying attention anymore, his actions more along the lines of someone doing an impression of walking than actually doing it. That automatic response probably played a large role in why, when he felt a hand on his left shoulder, he nearly jumped out of his skin.

"What the hell, Jerg?!" Morse heard Kala's shrill voice. It was only a whisper, but with the silence that had pervaded their trip, it was loud enough to him. He could see her glaring at Jerg, but Morse himself only stared in confusion, wondering what was going on.

Jerg showed no signs of being bothered by Kala's angry glare, staring right back at her. Morse could tell from his comrade's body language that he was calm, even though Jerg's back was to him. For his own part, Morse could only stare in confusion, wondering why Jerg had stopped them in the first place. Jerg was still quiet, but he did point, raising his hand and directing Kala to follow with her gaze. She did so, and Morse did the same. That's when they both saw it: Moonlight.

"Wow. This trip really tired me out." Morse thought. "Kala too." Normally, both of them would have noticed that Jerg had stopped, but exhaustion had clearly dulled their senses. Jerg still didn't say a word, only pointing to the edge of the words where they now all saw the light shining down just a bit beyond them. Morse caught Kala's shoulders slumping just out of the corner of his line of sight. She likely was mentally kicking herself for needing to be told what to do by Jerg. She'd never live it down. Jerg looked her in the eyes, his body language still showing no signs of annoyance, and Kala nodded in understanding.

"Got it. Don't ever touch me again." Morse heard her say, as he watched her move further left. As they watched her go, Morse saw Jerg turn towards him, and finally saw his face: brown eyes gazed upon him, the expression speaking for him: he wanted to know if Morse knew what to do next.

Morse was just as quiet. He merely gave a slight nod and then began moving to his right. When he was in position behind one of the largest trees he could find, he looked out and saw that Kala had done similar, crouching behind a large bush. As for Jerg, he hadn't moved, but he was in a ready position. He was getting ready to leave the forest.

"This is a bluff." He had told them. They were going to lure out the leak by having Jerg run out into the open on his own. During the trip, when he was sure it was only then, that Jerg had laid out the rest of the plan:

"I'll expose myself in the bluff beyond the forest. They'll strike, of course, because according to the fake Intel about this mission, we're all supposed to separate in the forest and head in different directions."

"So the enemy will think you're on your own?" Asked Kala.

"Yeah. But in actuality, you two will be waiting. You guys have the best eyes of anyone, so no matter where I get attacked from, you'll both see it, and we can catch them!"

And so that's what they were doing. Wait for Jerg to risk his neck to expose the Spy. Only someone deep within the ranks of their organization could know they were here. The three of them had travelled through this forest many times, in day and night. They knew it well and could easily traverse it. That lent credibility to their fake mission. Moving through terrain that would slow anyone else down, but not them. This gave the impression that their "delivery" was just that vital. The Spy would have to strike to find out what it was, and only someone with an understanding of just how fast the three could move within the woods could catch them. They'd have to go themselves and launch an ambush.

Morse had gone through the plan in his head far too many times. He knew it by heart. Jerg runs out into the open. He and Kala watch, with weapons ready. Whoever the attacker was, either she would get a shot, or Morse would. If nothing happened, they would quickly follow Jerg's path and catch up to him.

It was almost time. Morse's eyes fell upon Jerg again, as he raised three fingers. He looked right at Morse, who once again nodded in understanding. Morse watched as Jerg did the same with Kala, and then the older man started counting down.

1….

Morse's eyes suddenly went blank.

2….

He reached for both of his holstered guns, pulling them out so discreetly that neither of his companions noticed. He never took his eyes off of Jerg, still counting down.

3…!

The Moment Jerg ticked off his last finger, he took off. Morse watched him run for about five seconds, and then, pointed one gun at Jerg and the other gun at Kala—not even staring in her direction as he did so, and fired off two shots at the same time. The noise from the two pistols blurred together, as one bullet hit Kala in the chest while she was peeking out to watch Jerg run, and the other struck Jerg in the back of the leg.

And that was it. As quickly as it had happened, Morse's eyes returned to normal. He took a few seconds to let what had happened sink in, but the expression he bore wasn't one of shock, or disbelief, or even satisfaction. Rather, it was acceptance.

"So that's how they were sure this would work." He said aloud. He reached into his pocket on his right leg and pulled out the radio he'd been carrying. "Headquarters. This is Morse. The bluff worked. I'm moving to finish both infiltrators."

He walked up to Kala first. She was still on the ground, chest covered in blood. She wouldn't be speaking any time soon. Morse was about to make sure of that. She still tried, though.

“S….t…g…..n…t……r…..ht….”

"Yeah. It's definitely not right, Kala." Morse said aloud. "But it is what it is." She could only glare up at him. Kala had always been easy to read, and right now, her expression screamed 'Bastard'. "It's not your fault. You didn't know what you were, but this still had to be done." When he spoke those words, her eyes widened, as the full enormity of the situation struck her. And then, her expression changed. It wasn't anger anymore. It was….acceptance. Morse didn't waste any more time. He put two more bullets into her right then and there. She died, with her face still bearing that last expression of understanding.

With that done, Morse turned to Jerg. He'd been screaming in pain the entire time, but Morse had been ignoring it. Now it was hard to do so with the next part of his task before him. As he approached the still writhing Jerg, the latter managed to turn around and look him in the face. Morse saw Jerg's face fall: he'd probably been hoping it was Kala, and was clearly not happy to see Morse coming to kill him.

"Aw, no." Jerg's expression was filled with understanding and disappointment. "It's not you, is it? It's us. Kala and me. We were the spies?"

"Yeah," Morse responded as he drew closer. "You were compromised about a year ago. It was so good; neither of you even realized it. Headquarters decided to fight fire with fire. They put me under so you two wouldn't suspect me, then set up this mission." Morse was beneath suspicion, and with him being under hypnosis to not act until a specific point, there'd be no chance of him giving himself away. After that, he just had to wait until the moment came to strike.

"Dammit, kid. I'm sorry I didn't see it." Those were Jerg's last words.

Morse's only response was a third shot, right between Jerg's eyes.