The Serpent and the Elephant, Part 3
For a second there was nothing, and then, to his shock, Gibbons caught movement out of the corner of his eye, to his right. He snapped his weapon around and fired, and then he saw something over to his left. He spun, not sure where to look first. He had been so certain that Daniel was alone, and now there had been movement.
The distraction was all that Daniel had wanted, all that he had time for. Without hesitation he stepped quickly and leaped off the slope, arms outstretched, directly toward Gibbons.
Gibbons looked up in alarm, realized his error, swung his pistol around, and fired. Emma chose that moment to shove upward and back, and the sudden movement sent Gibbons's shot wide, just missing the fast-moving Daniel.
Daniel plowed into Gibbons, pushing Emma clear with one hand while grabbing at Gibbons with his other. The two of them went down, rolling and shoving, struggling desperately, each of them trying to gain advantage over the other.
"Daniel!" shouted Emma, for Gibbons had temporarily seized the upper hand and was now trying to bring his pistol down on Daniel.
She ran toward them and grabbed at Gibbons, trying to yank him off Daniel. Gibbons rammed an elbow into Emma's sternum. She went down, gasping and retching, the agony threatening to overwhelm her.
It was all the delay Daniel needed. He swung his free hand up and slammed a punch to Gibbons's Adam's apple.
Gibbons gagged, his breath temporarily cut off, but his strength was still far superior to Daniel's. So when Daniel got his hands on the gun, Gibbons was still able to hold on to it as he fought to regain control.
They wrestled and shoved against one another, pitting their full weight and strength, grunting and growling low and incomprehensible noises. Daniel managed to get his feet planted. Then, with a quick twist of his hip he slammed Gibbons up against a rock with a bone-jarring jolt.
Gibbons lost his grip on his gun, and it clattered to the ground at his feet. Daniel had a split instant to make a decision. He released his grip on Gibbons, gambling on his speed, and lunged for the gun.
It was the wrong move. As Gibbons's foot lashed out and kicked the gun away into the underbrush, Daniel's momentum brought his face into the path of Gibbons's foot. Gibbons drove his boot hard across Daniel's face.
Daniel went down, rolling, tasting his blood welling up in his mouth. Gibbons came after him, kicking furiously, Daniel just barely staying ahead of him.
Daniel managed to scramble to his feet, and Gibbons came in fast. Daniel braced to meet the charge, his back against a rock, and only at the last moment did he see the knife flashing in Gibbons's hand. Where he'd pulled it from, Daniel hadn't a clue ... probably he'd kept it secreted in a boot.
Daniel immediately switched tactics, twisting and just barely avoiding the slashing attack. Daniel's hands swept up and he slammed his head forward, his forehead cracking against Gibbons's nose.
Gibbons fell back toward some small brush ...
And his questing hand came up with his gun that had been kicked over there.
Daniel dove for cover as the bullet streaked over his head. Gibbons pivoted, dodged to the right to tried to get a clear shot.
And Daniel saw where Gibbons was heading.
"Wait!" shouted Daniel. "Stop! Don't go there! Don't move!"
Gibbons, his voice returning, cackled, "Why not? Because this will give me the best angle to turn you into a sack of lifeless bones? I'm tired of your bluffs! I'm tired of you!"
Gibbons leaped to his right and aimed his gun at Daniel, whose hiding place was now fully exposed.
Incredibly, Daniel had not given up the apparent pretense that he somehow had the upper hand. In what seemed a masterpiece of acting, Daniel shouted, "Move! Before it's too late!" and he waved his hands wildly.
"The one who it's too late for is--"
And that was when Gibbons realized that the buzzing in his ears also contained a high-pitched rattle. He looked down.
The snake was coiled, ready to strike and sink its venomous fangs into human flesh. Gibbons had been bitten before and barely survived. His squad's medic had responded quickly and saved his life, which had begun his spiral into Hell.
And then it lunged, catching Gibbons above the left knee. The fangs penetrated his pants and filled his leg with venom. It seared like hot metal as the poison took to the bloodstream.
The snake drew back and got ready to lunge again when Gibbons raised the pistol and obliterated its head with a single shot. The body fell backwards along with a rope of blood that splattered the surrounding rocks.
Gibbons raised the pistol and looked wide-eyed at Daniel. From the speed with which Gibbons was being affected, the viper had found a main artery to the heart.
That's when he decided he was going to take Daniel with him.
He aimed the pistol at Daniel and squeezed the trigger. Before the hammer struck, an explosion sounded from above them and to the left of the ridge. A punch to his chest knocked him backwards and he clicked the hammer of his empty pistol at the sky as he fell. On his back, the world around him slowed and Gibbons saw Emma standing on the slope, Daniel's pistol in her hands. She stared down at him with surprise ... and pity.
Daniel grabbed the gun and knife from Gibbons's trembling hands and kneeled over him. "Hold on!" he said.
Gibbons actually seemed amused. "To what?"
"You're gonna make it."
Gibbons shook his head. "Too late."
That was the last thing he was able to say as his heart ceased to work. He sucked in one last breath and died.
And insanely, Gibbons's final expression had been one of quiet triumph.
Emma rushed into Daniel's embrace and wept.
"His gun was empty," she cried. "I didn't have to shoot him."
Daniel shushed her and held her close.
Although she still smarted from the poor way he had handled Annie Jane's flirtations, she knew she could never stay angry at him. Especially now.
"I was so afraid," she wept. "I didn't want him to see how afraid I was."
She pressed her pregnant stomach against him, and while they hugged, the past four months whirled chaotically in her mind. So much had happened to her and Daniel that had changed them both physically and spiritually. They had been forged by their circumstances--difficult and strenuous as well as lighthearted and even comical. From it all, she felt more in love with him now than ever before.
She stretched up to meet his face and kissed him long and hard. She tasted the dirt and salty sweat and felt their dry mouths become wet before she became lost in a delirium of passion.
She wanted their journey to be over.
She pulled away and let him hold her while she regained control of her breathing.
"No more river and mountain crossings," she begged. "No more quicksand or mud or dust or wind storms or--"
He placed a finger against her lips and said, "I love you, Emma Watson. We're going to make it ... just the two of us ... you and I ... together."
He kissed away her tears.
"I've learned a lot about myself since we left home," he said. "Marriage isn't just putting on rings and saying I do; it's learning to survive the journey of life."
His words surprised her; he had never said anything more lovely or sensuous.
Before she could tell him how much she loved him, he said, "I'm so sorry for ever hurting you."
He scooped up her into his long and powerful arms and carried her to a small rise. He put her down and hand in hand, they looked across the valley at the patchy terrain of rutted sun-scorched country before them.
"I know little about what lies ahead," he said as he pointed northwest. "I'm sure there are plenty more mountains and rivers to cross, and quicksand and mud, and a flood of storms behind any of those clouds. But the trail we're on is no different than any that all husbands and wives experience on their journeys together." He reached out and held her close. "And it's nothing we--you and I--can't do together."
He placed a palm against her pregnant stomach and nodded while he stared across the valley. "I would travel the globe's circumference for you, ocean to ocean, pole to pole, if that's what it takes to be your husband, for I'm determined to see more than the tail of the elephant."
She smiled as she looked at him through brand-new tears. She suddenly realized what it meant to see the whole elephant--an exotic sight, an extraordinary experience, the adventure of a lifetime.
And with the man she loved at her side, she knew the adventure was only beginning.
The End
