Last Rock Standing

Layla

Layla hung off the cliffside, hundreds of feet above the alien landscape of the Nevada desert. She paused to check her GPS. She wondered why her boss had sent her this far off the course she had been set upon. Her rock hammer dug into the brutal side of the mountain. She had strapped herself against the cliff, exploring each centimeter to look for a vein. This was the third place she had been sent looking for a mineral thread, and it had begun to appear to be another miss.

Her dark sunglasses protected her from the harsh light. Light reflected off the swirling pastel colors resulting from the local erosion within the sharp red stone's crater. The landscape was breathtaking to her. She could take several photos while hanging off the cliff. The GoPro on her head was for work, allowing them to see all the footage of the dig sites she worked on. She had the area to herself, the last town she had stayed in was nearly thirty miles away, and no one else was rock hunting. The area belonged to the government, but she had special permission to hunt through the region. Her work with Titan Ki Technology was contracted with the military and government, allowing them into the unusual parts of the Nevada desert owned by them.

She continued to sweat faster than she could drink in the over one-hundred-degree weather. Her skin had been turned a dark golden tan over the summer dig through Nevada. Taking her bandana to wipe off the sweat, she adjusted the ropes to keep her steady while she took a quick drink of water from her canteen to keep her going.

The scream ripped through the air. Layla dropped the canteen with a jerk, looking up. The echoes of a woman's voice bounced off the rocky area, the body falling off the cliff above Layla. Grabbing her rope and stays, she pulled herself right onto the off-patterned stone, ignoring the possible intake of radioactive materials she could be breathing in. The canteen bounced off the ground a moment before the body joined it. Clinging to the wall, she heard someone else shouting from the top. Layla made a desperate grab for her satellite phone from Titan Ki Technology—for emergencies—and hit the speed dial for help. There was a first time for everything, this being the first call made on that phone. With how rarely she thought about it, it was just out of habit she was carrying it, and she was happily surprised she had it turned on. The call went out.

"Layla?" The woman's voice came through clearly and without the static of regular satellite phones, being out in the middle of nowhere. "What's wrong?"

Someone was just tossed off the cliff I am on. There are other people up there screaming," Layla sputtered quietly to avoid giving any indication to those above her that someone was hanging off the cliff below them.

"Stay calm if you can. Give me a minute." She paused at the statement. Layla held herself against the wall, gritting her teeth given that there was nothing she could do. She had to stay here, pretending to be calm.

The male voice started shouting again, followed by a new high-pitched screech. Layla shot another glance upward, seeing the edges of a man on the cliff heading back toward her. They would fall tragically by her, and there was nothing she could do. It wasn't like an action movie where she had a chance in hell of grabbing him midfall. The man started to make a howling noise of pain.

Another voice, cold as the day was hot, spoke clearly enough for her to hear. "Yes, little monster, I am not what you think. No government lackey here to worry about what you are. I am the exterminator of things like you." The shot rang off the stones around her, and it rained blood spatter as the next body zoomed past her to the ground, far too close to the other corpse and the canteen she had dropped when it all started. Tears leaked from her eyes—two lives lost below her and nothing from the phone line she held tight to. It was a useless lifeline. For now, she had to play it smart and avoid the other man. Ripping her gaze away from the bodies. She looked up to see the man leaning over the edge, looking down at her. He saw her and was pulling out a scope to get a better look at the witness to his crimes.

They stared with surprise and wonder at one another. The man broke away first, pulling his gun to attach the scope. Then, he watched her hanging against the cliff face. She cursed before the first bullet rang near her, missing but hurrying her along. She had spent years repelling and climbing, but this was the first time running for her life. Down was the only direction she might be able to go before he could get her. He, too, had gear and could follow her, but he didn't seem to from her angle.

Letting the hooks loose, Layla took a moment to check everything was fully attached, hanging the phone on her belt after a quick explanation that she had been found and the GoPro had been filming everything. She turned her body to start the frantic repel down the mountainside. Each bounce would make her a moving target before she reached the bottom, nearly a hundred-foot drop. Layla had to assume that a mark on the move was more challenging to hit than a stationary one. This was one of the things she hoped Hollywood had gotten right.

Several gunshots continued around her, none hitting her before she heard him curse. The bullets stopped, and she finished the last fifty feet, landing roughly, close to the bodies crumpled on the ground. Ripping off the lines, she would have to leave some of her gear attached. Layla looked up to see if she could see him, but he had left the edge of the mountain. She ducked under the overhang. Layla slowed her head movements to capture the scene around her on the camera. Once she was in range, it would upload to her work server, preserving her work and this crime.

She heard a voice on her phone and grabbed it to listen as two people spoke, trying to get a response from her. The woman who answered and Grant, her boss, were on the line.

"Layla? Please answer," Grant spoke. Thankfully he wasn't yelling but loud enough for her to hear him over the blood rushing through her ears.

"Grant," Layla started as both voices silenced against the background clicks from the phone system. "I'm here, and okay for now. There is a guy here that has killed two people and shot at me several times."

"We have your location. None of our people on the ground are close enough to help. We have a call the military and government, given the land you are currently on," Grant said before the woman who answered spoke up.

"Can you get to your vehicle, Ms. Black?"

"It is nearly ten miles away in fairly open terrain. I am currently using the mountain as cover," she replied. Switching her rock hammer to her dominant hand and propping the phone against her shoulder to hold it up, giving her a second free hand to help hold herself against the rock side. "I have it on video."

"That won't update until you get closer to a cellular tower," the woman spoke against several more clicking noises from keyboards.

"We are using our contacts to get help to you. It will have to be military. They are closer," Grant spoke. "We have them on another line to work out a deal. We will have them use the GPS attached to you for tracking."

"Understood."

"They don't know about you," the woman spoke, the understanding settling between them.

"I can manage."

"But if it is your life on the line, do what you must," Grant spoke, leaving it open for Layla to have some wiggle room. She wasn't one to go against the rules to keep them safe.

"Agreed. What do I do until help arrives?"

"It is being arranged with our contacts. Until then, keep out of sight, don't return to your car or places you have been to recently," Grant explained as other conversations continued behind him. "It looks like they are sending an agent to retrieve you safely."

While they figured out what to do about her situation. Layla shuffled the items in her backpack to get the spare water bottle and attach the phone with a small bungee cord to keep it close to her head. It allowed her to start ducking and slowly walking and crawling next to the mountain. She worked to stay out of the cliff's line of sight, as she had no idea if he had considerable firepower or the gear to get down quickly. It would be useful if he had to drive down the mountain. It might give her enough time to escape.

"What about the killer?" Layla asked. She was being tracked through the sand and mountain terrain by the network security. Still, the possibilities continued to run through her head.

"The satellite has not shifted completely into range yet, so no visual at this time." She understood. She was alone. No signal was going to stay active to keep tracking her. Neither her people nor the guy following her could track her. "Did you get footage of the two who were killed?"

"A passing glance. I can get another pass before I work on where to go." Turning low to the ground, she made her way back to the bodies, which were starting to smell in the heat. Glancing upward, she couldn't see anything on top of the mountain or cliffside, so she hurried to the corpses to take long scans over each of them. The girl was maybe in her mid-twenties, close to Layla's age, with the blessing of blonde hair—or a great hairdresser—and a suntan.

She had the worst of the damage, broken and battered before the fall finished her. The guy might have been older, but his face was ruined from the bullet, and it was hard to tell, given the damage he sustained from the fall. Locks of sandy hair were scattered around his thin, frail body. Returning to the edge of the mountain, she gave the information she had before they found a pathway for her to take away from the SUV and towns. She would continue to keep to the mountains and rocks if she could manage. Several abandoned mines were around, along with several day treks to the military town used for testing. Not a real village. One built to see how it withstood a nuke dozens of miles away.

She dragged out the old geological study to map out where they were sending her. Layla knew that help was coming, but no one could tell her when someone would or could get to her. All she had to do was not die before someone arrived and, until then, avoid an armed and dangerous killer. Layla left the call less sure than before, but her ability to handle a desert was one of the reasons she was so good at her job. She refreshed her coat of sunscreen and dust, working on blending into her background. Keeping to the shade and avoiding the cacti, she left the scene to disappear into the daytime heat.

Alex

The call coming in was from someone Alex had never intended to deal with again. He only answered out of duty. There was a small chance an old favor was finally being called in. He didn’t like the idea of General McNamara knowing where he was, possessing his new encoded phone number, or ruining his short vacation. The quick call explained enough to get Alex on a flight from Tahoe to a base in Nevada's southern part that wasn’t spoken about or generally considered in the ordinary world.

Getting off the plane, he was searched. He showed all his Army vet identification. Only a slim mark in the barcode hinted at his status as a retired Green Beret. He went through the short but effective process to enter the undisclosed base to be escorted to the General. The favor or job appeared simple: fetch the lost asset in the desert with the complication of a killer trying to tie up loose ends with her death. She worked for a private company with deep ties with the US government and military contracts. He could ID them easily. He had skimmed through the small file sent to him on the flight. She must be a geologist of some note and skill since they allowed her to stay in the desert to hide. Alex could only hope all the live data had arrived so he would have information on who the killer was before hitting the field, making his job more manageable.

The General’s office met the standards Alex expected, overdone and more like a politician’s than a military man. Still, McNamara had a unique history and a long list of friends to keep him in power. The small polite talk ended before it began as McNamara explained the situation as it stood, with one new piece: They had gotten footage of the killer and the bodies. The killer matched the few images of the recent appearance of Thomas Clark, serial killer and ex-military, before his dishonorable discharge. He was on the government and military’s most wanted list, killing people for money across the past decade. He would be going against someone with a similar skillset and fewer morals. The woman, Layla Black, was in definite danger. She had seen him, and no one had lived to tell that tale in years. Thomas Clark was an efficient killer, and now for once, they knew where he was and what he wanted. The orders shifted enough for Alex to get armed and an off-road vehicle to retrieve the woman and hunt down the killer.

Alex took only a short time to change into desert gear, camo, and light Kevlar and then check over the vehicle. The jeep had been loaded with supplies, weapons, water, and food for days, along with the survival gear. The medical supplies were in case Ms. Black was injured. Since she had spent the morning and afternoon on the run, he would be lucky to reach her by the time the sun set. Once she was retrieved, he was to keep off the radar with her to draw out Clark.

Taking the keys, Alex left all personal items within the base. He drove out into a landscape as harsh as the deserts he had been assigned to in the past. The drive gave him time to evaluate the civilian’s data. She was a doctorate student in Vegas, working for a high-end technology firm based in San Francisco. The pull to retrieve her went deep, and the company wanted her back alive. Enough to tug more strings than it took to get permission for her to dig in these restricted areas of Nevada. Alex followed the simple order to get her back and take care of Thomas Clark once located. He would use the woman as leverage to draw Clark out. For once, he agreed with some of his orders. Taking out Clark was critical. He just disliked the ‘by any means necessary,’ especially with the civilian thinking he was there just to get her out, not use her as bait.

Once in the desert, Alex flipped on the GPS tracker given to him by Titan Ki Technology, which had advancements in the fieldwork. It located Ms. Black deep into the mountain range, miles away from her starting point. She was making a good time. They had not found Thomas Clark. He probably didn’t have any technology on him that would leave a trace. Alex left the minor dirt road, utterly off-roading toward Ms. Black. His map tagged him as friendly, adjusting his path toward her to get him there swiftly and safely. Several satellites had been allowed to track through the classified territory.

The rough terrain made speeding impossible, keeping him down to a slower pace than preferred. When he got twenty minutes from Black’s current location, his satellite phone rang. He answered on speaker, loudly over the crunching of rocks.

“Yes, sir?” Alex answered, keeping the rigid politeness ingrained from years of service.

“The updates should have reached you by now. We're thinking heat exhaustion. Layla has slowed given the evening and has been given the code phrase. You will ask her where the rainbow is, and she is to reply with 'Seattle.' Understood, Douglass?”

“Copy that. The question 'Where's the rainbow?' has the answer 'Seattle.' A possible medical issue upon arrival.”

“Correct. We need a confirmation of the footage of the bodies and Thomas Clark. There will be a team sent to retrieve the bodies. You will tag them after retrieving Ms. Black.”

“Understood. I assume I'm to make sure no one else gets to skill set first?”

“Affirmative. Good, you are still swift on the pickup, Major Douglass.”

“Special Agent Douglass. I’m retired, General.”

“We don’t retire. We just pick up different hats.” The line ended. Alex shook his head at the General, knowing he meant it even if he was trying to put his military life behind him. Alex kept the steady drive, changing only when the tracking unit was updated. She had stopped moving, meaning he didn’t have to change. Slowing the jeep, he approached the outcropping near the tail end of the mountain range. He turned off the jeep, the small number of lights barely denting the approaching darkness. He pulled out the medical kit and grabbed a pair of water bottles before holding his gun toward the search of the area. The day had reached nearly one hundred four degrees but was cooling drastically as the sun disappeared behind the stone landscape.

Sauntering toward the spot where she was located, he continued to scan the area around him, seeing the ledges and rocks anyone could hide behind with little skill. He couldn’t make her out before he spoke the code phrase to ease the tension.

“Where is the rainbow?” The statement, the question, echoed for a moment around him before he heard a short sigh.

“Seattle.” Her voice came from within a crevice of rocks, barely audible over the distance between them. He continued to walk toward her hiding place. He stopped once she started to come out from the rocks. She was armed with an oddly shaped hammer and an oversized flashlight. Her dark hair was tied up in a long ponytail, pushed back with a colorful bandana. Her clothing was dust-covered, the typical climbing gear with a tank top, cargo pants that could zip apart, a belt like Batman’s with equipment attached, and several bags carried over her shoulders. Her dark tan skin had been cooking, showing fresh redness and the concern of dehydration and heat exhaustion. She tucked away the flashlight to pull off her sunglasses as she started to approach him. He could see scrapes and bruises, sun and sweat. Once she got close to Alex, she stopped to look him up and down as he had done her. Handing over the water, she took it to slowly drink as he tossed a poncho over her, keeping her from cooling too quickly like the desert had been doing. She was taller than he had expected, nearly six feet. He didn’t associate with teachers and grad students with a lean muscular frame, although she appeared to be both.

“You’re my knight in shining armor?” she asked, tilting her head. He could see her odd-colored eyes. The left eye was a nearly glowing golden amber shade and the right eye a pale husky blue color. It was marked in the file but seeing it up close, and personal was something different.

“I hope not. I don’t have a horse, nor do I know how to joust.” She gave a quirky smirk, finishing the first bottle of water. He handed her the second with a handshake. “I’m Special Agent Alex Douglass, Ms. Black. We need leave here to tag the bodies for the retrieval team and escort you to safety.”

“Just tagging them? We aren’t going to get them ourselves?” she asked, carefully sipping from the second bottle of water.

“Correct, we are not prepared for retrieval, and we need to keep ahead of the killer.”

“Do we know anything about him?”

“We do. His name is Thomas Clark, and he is a professional.”

“Shit.” Muttering to herself, she shifted closer as the sun finished disappearing on the horizon. The chill came suddenly as there was nothing to stop the temperature drop.

“You will be fine. I have plenty of guns, and we just need to go by the bodies before leaving this area.”

“I understand, but it was gruesome.”

“Duly noted, Ms. Black. Come, let’s get into the jeep before the weather continues to chill and check on your vitals.” He gave an arm for her to take. She picked up her remaining supplies and touched the edge of his elbow with a smile. He nodded, escorting her to the back of the jeep. He helped her put her supplies and bags inside, helping her up to sit on the back ledge of the trunk.

Alex started to assess the current damage; Layla didn’t have any broken bones or apparent bleeding from within. She did have scrapes and bruises up and down her skin. Layla handed over the GoPro for him to return to the military, who was waiting for all the data she had gathered. “Do you think I will get it back?”

“Not up to me. It is helpful, the data accrued, but we can keep it off now and turn off the tracking system. I don’t want our new friend to find out there is a way to track you.”

“I don’t think it is, the head units are well known.”

“Agreed, but as a professional, he will find any way to track you. Phones, electronics, whatever, is now game. The logo is distinctive. Even if he doesn’t know them, a few minutes on Google and he will know who you work for, find out who you are, all the basics.” She nodded, swallowing the minor lump rolling up her throat.

“Gotta love the internet age. Everyone can be found.”

“It does make finding someone easy unless they have taken steps to disappear,” he stated. He finishing wrapping her wrist swelling and bandaging several of the oozing cuts. “No need to worry. I am a professional and will keep you safe. He is hunting you; we need him to be gone before you return to normal society.”

“What are you going to, like, do? Kill him or drag him off to jail?”

“I have my orders. I will handle him.” She tensed under his hands. He stopped working on the last bandage to stare up at her strange eyes. Nothing for you to worry about. Let’s get to the bodies to tag them and disappear.”

She gave direction quickly and efficiently using the local landscape to get them around the mountain toward the crime scene.