30 - THE AMBUSH

 30 - THE AMBUSH

- I'm not liking...

- What happened, Mr. Zacarias?

- The path they took...

- But what about it?

- Juca, pay attention... they are going to the gorge...

- Well, it's the best place to round up the cattle, isn't it?

The delegate answered, before Zacarias did...

- What he means is that there is a good place to do an ambush ..

- But why would they do that? They've already taken the cattle...

- Yes, but they know that a group would come after them... so they must be prepared to receive us...

Juca made a sign that she understood. Zacarias raised his arm and everyone stopped at the same time, waiting for the instructions that he would surely give...

- Guys, let's divide into four groups...

- And who goes with whom?

- Three men with me, three with Deputy Duarte, three with the Deputy... What's your joke, Doctor?

- Lia, my name is Vicente Lia...

- Three with Chief Vicente and three with Juca....

And so they did, forming groups, flanking their leaders. Zacarias pulled his rifle, watched it a little, ending up putting it back in his cape... in the sequence, each group took a different route, scattered across the plain... only Zacarias's group continued to follow towards the gorge ... Zacarias was in front and each man was about ten, fifteen meters away from his companion... "to disturb the shooters", explained Zacarias. When they arrived at the entrance to the labyrinth that formed inside the place, everyone stopped. They spent some time trying to listen to something that they knew didn't seem to be there, but that it certainly was... the four men dismounted, tied their horses to the bushes at the entrance, used their rifles and went ahead, with all their might. the caution of the world. They were so careful not to betray themselves that it was possible to hear the flight of a butterfly as it passed by. Always sneaking between the rocks or the bushes that were abundant in the place, they went meandering until they reached a safer place to rest...

- Did anyone see anything? (it was Zacarias, whispering to his men)

Everyone gave a negative sign... Zacarias breathed a sigh of relief... so far, everything was going well... apparently the group didn't worry about their backs... of course that was too good to be true... but oh well that... that was when Zacarias noticed a fleeting glow a few meters above where he was. He signaled his group to be careful and he tried to protect himself better. It could be nothing, but whatever... Redoubling their care, the group separated, each one following a direction that would allow him to surround the possible element that was guarding the entrance to the canyon. After a few minutes, crawling on the stony ground, Zacarias finally visualized his target... a young man, who couldn't have been more than twenty years old, was leaning idly against a rock, taking a few puffs on a cigarette. He didn't know it yet, but his cigarette had betrayed his position... the rifle was leaning against a rock, a few steps away from the boy... he didn't use a revolver. Zacarias analyzed the situation and came to the conclusion that they would have no difficulty in dominating that element... they continued to advance cautiously, until they took the enemy's position by assault, quickly immobilizing him...

Having immobilized and muzzled the enemy, Zacarias scanned the surroundings, looking for any more surprises... and this one came, in the form of a rain of fire. A well-aimed shot knocked Zacarias down, and his men threw themselves to the ground, taking cover as best they could. The hail of bullets was coming from a little above where they were, and there couldn't have been more than two or three gunmen. But its privileged position prevented any reaction from Zacarias's group, which could at most try to protect itself, avoiding being hit by the fire that came from above. Luckily, the shot hadn't hit any of Zacarias's vital organs... he'd been hit in the shoulder. But the impact had thrown him to the ground, and he ended up hurting himself in the fall, as he ended up scratching his face on the rocks he fell on. Yes, the situation of Zacarias and his group was not good at all...

Vicente and his men entered the gorge shooting, trying to free their comrades from the suffocation they were in... after a few minutes, the shots from above became scarce, until they finally became silent. The delegate's men continued to fire at the target location, and advanced slowly, with great care. In the meantime, other teams also arrived at the scene, and Juca's group tried to help Zacarias, while the other groups continued their hunt. For Zacarias the hunt was over. Fortunately it wasn't his last, but it would be out for a long time, because it wasn't just his shoulder that was injured, but his face was also in pandarecos... with so much soft place to fall, he was unlucky enough to fall on some rocks that looked like sharp blades... but as he himself said, "at least he was alive..."

They managed to recover the stolen cattle and arrest some members of the gang. Others would serve as food for the vultures, because in the confrontation with the law enforcement agents they ended up getting the worst of it. On the side of the "good guys", the only casualty was actually Zacarias, but luckily he could be back on active duty soon...