Texas Mexico Border- Midnight

The next night the twins geared up and drove to the El Paso/Mexico border. Fully armed in their grey Ford Bronco, Sis pumped dance music through the speakers while viewing apartment listings on her phone.

“Bro, look!”

“I can’t, I’m driving.”

“Well whatever, I like this one,” she wiggled the phone.

"Heh, let me guess. A two-bedroom with a sunlit living room to invite friends?”

“Eh? You saw the listing already?” 

“No, I’m psychic.” 

“You ain’t psychic you poser. You just know what I like because you stalk me!” she pouted.

“Pretty sure it’s the other way around.”

“Haha, not at all. And don’t think I’m gonna let you decorate the new apartment. If I leave it up to you, the only furniture we’ll have are books and a coffee pot.”

“That's all we need.”

“Nope, that’s what introverted-manga-reading weirdos need.”

“Is that what I am?” he grinned.

“Mostly, but you have potential.”  

“I'm glad you think so."

“I do, baby-bro!" She pinched his cheek.

The highway lit up as they reached the border crossing station. Law enforcement patrolled everywhere. 

“Sis, turn the music down.”

“No!” She raised the volume.

“Dammit.” 

After a short wait in traffic, and more than one stern warning from the border police about how unsafe Juarez is at night, the twins passed through customs without incident. Once in Mexico, they holstered their sidearms while driving through the dark streets of the infamous city. 

“This place hasn’t changed,” Sis said. 

Bro nodded while observing the poverty in the seediest sections of town, “We were only here last year.”

“Yes, but I’ve grown a year since then, so my perspective is different.”

“How so?”

“I don’t know,” she paused. “I think when I first visited Mexico, I was all business and didn’t care for this country. But now I want to sip Tequila with the locals and eat the best tacos, you know?”

“Yeah, I feel you,” he smiled, “But we got business here, so no Margaritas for us, copy?”

“I copy, but maybe we’ll have a frozen one before we leave?” she purred.

“Negative.”

“You meanie!”

 

1:00 AM- The House

After an hour, the twins exited the south end of the city and entered a rural hamlet of dirt roads and few street lights. Sis gave Bro directions using a map she read with a flashlight.

“Here, here! make a right and go dark.”

On her word, Bro shut the headlights off and slowed the truck to a crawl. With his eyes adjusting to the black scene, he spotted a dim window light in the distance, “You sure that’s the place?” 

“It’s the only house for at least a mile, so have faith.”

He stopped the truck, “The engine is too loud.” 

“You’re right, he'll hear us coming.” The bounty huntress stepped out of the vehicle and strapped on a tactical mask covering her nose and mouth. She then donned her body armor and tied her hair in a ponytail. 

“You look totally badass, Sis.”

“Thanks, Bro!” she grinned while pulling a twelve-gauge shotgun from the back seat. “Ok, I’ll get in close and recon the house. You drive the long way around the back. I’ll text you.”

“Copy.”

 

Up Close  

With only moonlight as a guide, Sis took off on foot toward the isolated house. With her shotgun in hand, she traversed the rocky terrain until she reached sight of the dwelling. Two vehicles sat parked out front. Inside, a light shone in an anterior room. In silence, the huntress crept to the edge of the home and peeked in a window.

“Huh!” She then dropped down and sent a text to Bro: 

The bounty is here with one girl. No gun visible.

Just two people?

Yes.

Copy. Driving to you from the rear.

Copy. 

Sis snuck to the back of the house and looked inside again. The bounty and the girl talked with energy in the front room. He was tall and well built but seemed occupied with whatever the female discussed. A good time to kick in the rear door and catch them off guard.  

Sis listened for Bro in the approaching truck. When the sound of the engine reached her ear she signaled him with her flashlight.

Takedown

Bro spotted the two flashing lights from Sis. In response, he sped up the truck and then placed it in neutral before shutting the motor off. The vehicle kept rolling on momentum. But with the lights out and no engine sound, Bro was able to pull up right on the house. Sis signaled him again, and within moments both armored, masked, and armed twins stood at the back door. 

“We’ll both have to take that big guy down,” Sis whispered. 

“Yeah, I hope his girlfriend doesn’t shoot us.”

“Hope is a waking dream, Bro.”

“Copy.”

On a whispered count of three, the twins smashed the back door open and charged straight for the tall bounty. 

“Fernando Garcia, we're fugitive agents. You are wanted for crimes in the United States!” Sis shouted in Spanish as the siblings beelined to the front of the dwelling and tackled him to the living room floor.

“Fernando!” the girl with him screamed before jumping on top of Bro. "Are you people police?"

"No ma'am, we're fugitive agents," Sis answered.

“Bounty hunters!” Fernando shouted while flailing his arms, “You're making a mistake!”

“No mistake, you’re coming with us!” Bro growled, but Fernando was strong. And with his girlfriend intervening and fighting, the twins could only zip-tie one of his hands. Then Fernando barked an order. 

“Lupita, get the gun!”

The girlfriend, Lupita, a sweet-faced girl in a violet dress, stood up. She leaned toward the back room but hesitated. Sis eyed Lupita and hopped up from wrestling Fernando to stop her from retrieving any weapon. But in that sliver of a moment, Fernando placed a knee on the floor and broke free from Bro’s grip. 

“Shit!” Bro yelped as the broad-shouldered Fernando got to his feet, ran out the front door, and into the black of night. Bro chased after him. But when they both reached Fernando’s parked car outside, all hostility stopped. 

“What the hell?” Bro muttered as three sets of car headlights barreled at full speed toward the house. And within that same second, bullets struck Fernando’s car and whizzed by Bro’s face. 

“Fuck!” Fernando screamed while running into the house, “Lupita! They’re here, get the bag we gotta go!” 

Bro ran in behind him and slammed the door. He tried to speak to Sis, but gunshots shattered the living room window, forcing them to the floor. 

“Bro?” Sis yelped while the two crawled to the rear of the house. 

“Three cars, maybe twelve guys, automatic weapons!” he answered. 

“Copy, but what about the bounty?” Sis asked while crouching at the rear door, “Do we leave him or no?”

Bro kneeled behind her but didn’t answer. For the right choice was to get the hell out of there fast. But before he could move a vice-strong hand grabbed his arm, halting him in his tracks. 

“Amigo, please!” Fernando shouted. He was bleeding from his shoulder and abdomen, apparently struck by the first hail of bullets. “Amigo, I know you are not the police, but I beg you. Those men are Romero cartel and are here to kill us. I ain’t no saint, but Lupita did nothing, but if you take her to Angel, she’ll give you money!”

“Fernando, no! I don’t want to go with that woman!” Lupita cried. Her sweet face a mess of fear and tears. “I want to stay with you!”

“My love, please, I need to save your life. And this man's kind eyes betray him,” he said, still gripping Bro. “Amigo, if you help Lupita, Angel’s people will give you money. If not, she’s dead. I'm begging you.” 

While bullets peppered the home, Bro paused at Fernando’s words. He detected no malice in the man or his scared girlfriend. Then Sis snapped him back to reality.

“One car driving up fast on the left side of the house. They’re flanking us!" she yelled.  

"Damn." Bro’s stalling blew any opportunity for escape. If they tried to drive away now the enemy would just chase them down. The only play left was to fight it out. 

“Engaging target!” Sis shouted, then kicked open the back door and unleashed three blasts from her shotgun at the enemy car.

The charging vehicle came to a sudden stop as the thunderous twelve-gauge rounds shattered the front window, killing the driver in the seat. The passenger, ducking from the shots, fired a burst from a submachine gun. But the bounty huntress dodged and pumped two more shells through the windshield. The blasts struck the gunman in his face and gut, ending him. 

As Sis attacked the vehicle, Bro dashed toward the rear-right side of the house. Before he reached the corner of the building, a gunman flew out with an eye on Sis. Bro crouched down and fired three rounds from his nine-mm, killing the assailant. A second gunman leaped behind the right side of the house while firing at Bro with a carbine. 

They’re trying to surround us, and we’re outgunned. 

Bro braced up against the rear of the house while shooting a volley of rounds at the right corner. At the same time, Sis fired her shotgun on the left side of the house toward the cartel crew in the front. This kept both sides of the house covered so the enemy couldn't flank them. 

At that moment Fernando, armed with a handgun, ran out the rear toward the right corner. Lupita followed behind but stayed near the door. When Fernando hit the right side of the house he rapid-fired his gun at the enemy, stopping their advance. 

Yay, Fernando!

The bounty’s actions gave Bro the time he needed to run to the back of his truck and retrieve his sister’s SCAR-17 and his MSR-10. Two high caliber battle rifles for maximum firepower.  

“Sis, we're going heavy!” Bro yelled as he locked and loaded the war weapons. 

Sis stopped shooting and hustled toward him at the back of the truck. Bro tossed her the rifle and an extra magazine. While the siblings geared up, Fernando started shouting.

“You murderous motherfuckers, I’ll feed you your balls!” he yelled at the gunman coming to kill him.

“Is that Fernando?” Sis asked.

“Yeah.”

“What’s he doing?”

“Distracting them.”

“Good for him, I’m going up!” she pointed to the roof. 

“Of course you are.” 

The twins bolted to the rear of the house. From there, Bro locked his hands in front of his body and hoisted his sister onto the roof. Once up top, she yelled down, “Go clear left!” ordering him to the left side of the house. 

“Copy.”

Bro checked Fernando on the right first. He remained there spewing obscenities at the enemy. It seemed they were listening since there was a lull in the shooting. Bro figured the bad guys already lost three men and had no idea how many allies Fernando had in the rear of the house. It just meant they were stalling to call reinforcements. The twins couldn't let that happen. Bro sprinted to the left side of the house, his weapon raised at the ready. 

 

The Roof

Sis darted on the rooftop to the front of the house. When she reached the ledge she spotted two men standing in the yard by a car. One of them, a pudgy fellow with large hands, shouted back at Fernando. 

"Asshole, I know you have Lupita with you. If you both come quietly we won't kill you!" 

He must be the boss.

Sis raised her SCAR 17 and released the full force of the weapon's power, killing one enemy. But the pudgy boss fellow, although hit, wheeled behind the vehicle and fired a pistol back at her.

The twin flipped her select switch to fully automatic. When she let loose the rifle roared to life and spit a six-round burst with each bullet flying at eight hundred seventy meters per second. The boss, struck by all shots, shrieked before he hit the ground dead. 

Five down.

From the rooftop, the remaining enemies below were out of sight. They yelled to each other in Spanish while braced up against the house. Sis counted three voices, then one of them peeked up and shot at her.

“Ai!” she dropped flat on the roof as submachine gun bullets whizzed past her ear. Now on her back, she rolled over as a car engine started near the right side of the house. Two guys jumped in. “Bro! Three driving right! Go right!” she yelled at the top of her lungs as she spotted the hood of the enemy car turning down the right side of the house toward Fernando. 

Sis hopped up and ran to the back of the building. From the edge, she jumped down onto the enemy car she’d shotgunned up earlier, just as Bro came running from the left.

"Five down, three up," she barked. 

"Copy." 

While the siblings advanced, Fernando exchanged gunfire with the oncoming car on the right side. When the vehicle reached the rear of the house the enemies sprayed bullets at Fernando and the twins. Bro and Sis ducked, but Fernando was struck square in his chest. The big man dropped like a rock as the three cartel members raced away from the scene.

The twins leaped up and fired a volley of rounds at the fleeing car. They shot out the rear window and both back tires, but the vehicle kept pushing down the night road. 

“Come on, Bro! We gotta get em!”

The bounty hunters jumped in their truck and gave chase. With Bro driving, the duo ignited their monster v-eight engine, and quickly caught up to the damaged car.

Dust clouds swirled on the unpaved road as Bro pulled up to the side of the enemy. Sis then leaned out the passenger window and fired a full-auto burst at the vehicle.

Struck by every round, the enemy veered off the road. But Bro floored the gas pedal and smashed the truck into the rear of the car. The impact forced the vehicle to spin out of control. When it came to a complete stop, Sis and Bro hopped out and unloaded their magazines into the disabled enemy auto. Thirty rounds of full-metal-jacket shattered every window and shredded the entire inside of the vehicle. When they stopped shooting, gun smoke consumed the night. 

"Clear left," Bro said, his weapon aimed at the dead driver.

Sis reloaded her rifle and ran around to the passenger side. The enemy in the back seat was a bloody mess. But the front passenger side door opened and a gunman fell out and onto the ground. 

Sis aimed at the man, who looked up at her and attempted to speak.

"Dead," he coughed in Spanish.

"Yes, you are," she replied, then shot him point-blank in the face. "Clear right." 

"I’m sure these guys called this fight in. Let's check Fernando and get out of here," Bro said.

"Why? Fernando’s dead.”

“We don’t know that,” he muttered as they re-entered the truck.

“Yes we do, you saw him drop. So there’s no need to go back there unless you’re going back for that girl.” 

“She might be worth something.”

“To who?” Sis squinted.

“We’ll find out.”

"What the hell does that mean?”

He didn’t answer as they turned the truck around and drove back to Fernando’s house. 

 

...