Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 21:56:38 +1300
From: Arthur <rochopa@xtra.co.nz>
Subject: Left of Center part 1  adult/youth

				LEFT OF CENTER

				Part One

				By Arthur



Authors Note:

All age restrictions apply to this story depending on your location and the
laws in your area.  This story contains gay sexual content involving adults
and youths, if this is not your bag then read no further.

The copyright belongs solely to the Author and no reproductions may be made
without his written permission and may not be copied by any paysite.

All comments welcome and all emails replied to at, rochopa@xtra.co.nz


As he lay there in the cramped space below the low overhanging scrub, Jay
Bently felt the uncomfortable stab of pain from the dry and broken branches
underneath his 40 year old body.

How many times had he been in the same position over the last 20 years that
he had worked for 'The Company'. Jay decided it had been to many times,
this was going to be the last time he went out to do their dirty work.

When he had been a young man, the hardships of field work and all the
stress it had involved had seemed to be more of an escapade than a rather
onerous and dangerous occupation, as it now was.

Lifting his head he again glanced down the broken slope and into the small
valley below. There was still no movement from the ramshackle hut which was
nestled in a clump of sunburned trees. The supposed meeting of the two top
men from the cartel was to be held later in the morning. Jay had been in
his hide since early the previous evening with only a small water bottle
and a little dried fruit to keep the hunger pangs at bay, but this was
normal for him when out in the field and he thought nothing of going hungry
or thirsty for long periods.

'This is going to be the last.' He again thought to himself. 'Thirty bloody
seven, enough is enough, I'm to fucking old for this shit anymore.'

Thirty seven times he had seen the look of fear and shock in the eyes of
the men as the large calibre slug tore into their hearts on the orders of
'The Company'. He then had to make his silent retreat under the threat of
instant death if he made a mistake.

'To much, to many times, this is definately the last. Hell I'm bloody
Fourty for christs sake.'

The loose thoughts continued to rattle around in his head as his eyes kept
their own well practised vigil on the hut and surrounding country. The
solid wood under his left hand was so much a part of him that he failed to
register it as a foriegn item.

The smoothness of the wood of the rifle stock and the cold hardness of the
blue steel barrel were just as much a part of him as his own skin. The
heavy weight of the rifle he carried with the consumate ease of a familiar
friend. This was no ordinary rifle but one that had been fashioned
especially for him at the gunsmiths shop owned by 'The Company'. It was
perfectly balanced for him alone and the 8X Ziess Icon scope was set up
just for his own line of sight. While the scope was rather old fashioned
compared to the night sites the other 'Employees' liked to use, Jay felt
more certain with it and had kept it with him when they had tried to change
him over to the more modern technology.

It was a heavy calibre rifle, taking a 12mm round, the magazine holding
only three rounds, but then if you needed the other two in the magazine you
were dead anyway, is how Jay thought of it although sometimes, such as now,
he needed two shots so the extra did come in handy.

Jays hand wandered again over the solid walnut of the stock, caressing it
like a lover. A small grin came over Jays face as he relived his last night
in the small settlement at the bottom of the distant pass leading up to
this hillock.

'Just like the skin on that boys ass the other night.'

It was widely known in 'The Company' of Jays preference for young men but
as long as he got the job done it didn't become a hassel, after all his
senior handler liked a boy now and again as well.

Jays subconscious sent a quick message to his wool gathering mind, there, a
slight movement, just below the overhang of that far tree. Jay breathed in
deeply, waiting for the movement to be repeated. Yes, there it was again.

Jay ever so slowly, eased the rifle forward, flipping out the bipod at the
end of the barrel, and brought the butt up to his shoulder. With a
smoothness that made no sound, nor alerted any living thing close by, Jay
lowered his eye to the scope for a better view.

The internal readout in the scope told him the tree was 900 meters away but
through the scope it appeared to be no more than a couple of feet. The
small round view of the tree traversed right to left as Jay looked again
for the hint of movement.

'Gotcha'

In the center of the scope Jay saw part of an open sandle with the brown
toes poking through as the owner lay behind the tree. The toes were facing
upward so Jay surmised that the owner was laying on his or her back,
probably asleep in the early morning heat.

As he watched Jay noticed the toes begining to curl slightly downward and
then with a sudden straightening of the foot, the toes sprang upright
again. Jay watched as the foot disappeared behind the tree and within
seconds he was smiling widely as a young boy about 15 appeared from behind
the tree trying to fasten his baggy white pants over, what to Jay, looked
like a softening erection.

Jay chuckled at the sight through the scope as he thought to himself.

'Is that a call of nature or a call of the wild.'

Lifting the scope to look at the young boys face Jay almost gasped in
surprise, the boy was strikingly good looking. High cheek bones shone in
the morning light, dark eyes flashed under thin black eyebrows, the lips
relaxed in their smile of satisfaction. The boys raven hair sent shards of
light from the sun like minute diamonds, his slim bare torso was giving off
a slight sheen from his early morning work out.

'Now that is one tight little package I could come home to every night.'

A faint roar in the distance brought Jay back to the here and now as a
plume of dust, kicked up by an unseen vehicle, came towards the valley, the
young boy down below looked up startled as a large truck hurtled towards
him.

Jay swung the scope around to the oncoming truck. The driver was a large
fat man, Jay could see the rivlets of sweat running down his face as he
wrestled with the heavy vehicle.

The boy was left standing in a cloud of dust as the truck rushed past him
and with a screeching of ancient brakes it slowed to a stop at the front of
the hut. From the back of the truck six men jumped to the ground and spread
out in a well rehearsed routine, taking up positions to cover the
surrounding area. The boy looked at the truck and the men and dodged back
behind the tree.

The driver seemed to be talking into a small hand held phone or radio and
within minutes there was the sound of a powerful car speeding towards the
hut.

Jay settled himself into his hide, his camoflage clothes hiding him
perfectly from the sight of the men below. The car drew to a halt outside
the hut and two heavy set men dismounted and walked into the hut. Jay
checked the sound suppressor on the end of the barrel and then with small
smooth movements, eased the three shot magazine into the rifle. With the
way the men were set out in defence he was not going to get a second
chance, he knew he would only have about two seconds to get off both shots
before the men would know what was going on but by then it should be to
late and both the cartel bosses should be dead on the ground.

Jay had his escape route well worked out but he knew that the guards below
would not hear the shots, only see the two ring leaders fall to the ground.

As Jay flicked open the double action bolt to load the first round, his
nose caught the faint scent of the gun oil that had been trapped in the
breach while the bolt was closed. So many times he had smelt that same
smell and the hairs on the nape of his neck stood up each time, just as
they did this time. It was the ultimate time of truth.

Closing his eyes, Jay let his body relax into the state of nothingness,
nothing but the target, nothing but that spot just left of center of the
chest. Many times jay had laughed to himself when he had watched some corny
movie where the shooter had hit the target in the head with some fantastic
shot from miles away. His instructors voice penetrated his thoughts as
though he was standing beside him.

"Sonny, don't believe all the BS in the movies, you go for a fancy head
shot and the guy nods to his girl friend and you bloody miss him, you
always go for the biggest target, the chest, just left of center. If he
moves and you miss the heart, your bullet will do enough damage to damn
near kill him anyway."

That piece of sage advice had saved Jays ass more than once over the past
years and it had now become a well ingrained instinct to lay the cross
hairs of the scope an two inches left of center. The walnut butt nestled
comfortably aginst his shoulder as he rested his right cheek on the wood
and took his first sighter down to the door of the hut.

Everything was as it should be, the scrub hid him well and his camoflage
suit made him next to invisible. A solitary bird called for a mate no more
than twenty meters away from his hiding place. The arid smell of the
stifling air did nothing to alieviate Jays uncomfortable position.

Through the circle of the scope Jay saw the door of the hut begin to open
and as it became wider he took the first pressure on the double action
trigger. The rifle stayed still and unmoving as it rested on the bipod, the
only small variation in movement was from Jay's light breathing as he
settled into the frame of mind he used when a job was near to completion.

The two heavy set men began to emerge from the hut as Jay rested the scope
on the chest of the man on the left. Jays natural right handedness would
swing the barrel across to the other mans chest without thought or
variation, just a neat one,two, then lay low until the frustration of the
spread out guards looked for the cause of their bosses downfall.

The two men halted outside the door, each with a glass of something and a
big cigar in each of the other hands, the smiles on their faces told of a
successful agreement and as the man on the left raised his head in laughter
Jay gently squeezed the light trigger. The solid feel of the wooden butt
slamming back into his shoulder, told him the man was long dead. No sound
was heard from the silenced gun as Jay automatically made the adjustment
but before he could send out his second dose of death his ears heard a loud
staccato snapping of an AK47 and through the scope watched the line of
blood red dots appear on the chest of the second man.

'What the fuck'

Jay was on instant alert as the snapping continued to invade the small
valley. The guards had gone into attack mode and were firing their
automatic weapons in all directions as they tried to locate the source of
the gun fire. Jay had lifted his head at the first sight of the bullets
striking the second man and from his periferal vision he saw the tendril of
gun smoke rising from the far off tree.

'The kid, the fucking kid, what the fuck is he trying to do?'

It was as the thoughts ran through Jay's mind that he saw the guards begin
to zero in on the ragged looking tree further down the valley. The hail of
bullets sent in the direction of the tree told Jay the kid had no hope of
walking away from the malestrom of steel heading in his direction and
somewhere deep inside Jay he felt some undefined loss as he realised the
young boy he had seen earlier was going to be a corpse within the next few
seconds.

Jay's head dropped almost in hopelessness as he thought of that tight
little body being torn to pieces by the guards hail of death.

'Ahh fuck it.'

Jay popped open the breach and placed another bullet into the magazine and
with a mental shrug of his shoulders, closed the bolt and took aim at the
first of the guards to come into his sights.

'Nothing fancy old man, just take them out clean and quick and maybe the
kid might get to live, this is definately the last fucking time.'

Jay squeezed, reload, squeeze, reload, squeeze. Magazine out, three rounds
in, sight, squeeze, reload, The six shots went unheard by the guards as
they had no time to realise they were under fire from a different direction
until it was to late, and then there were only six more bodies to join the
two by the hut doorway.

Jay let out along gasping breath as he lay the gun down for the last time
and as he lifted his head to look at the far off tree, he was just in time
to see the small figure of the boy stagger out from his minimal cover and
topple face first towards the hard dry ground.

In all the years Jay had been working for "The Company' he had never shed a
tear for any of his targets. He had always been totally dispassionate when
it came time to do the dirty work he was hired for, so how come there was a
wetness spreading down his cheeks as he watched the small frail figure
topple.

'A fucking waste....Fuck, Fuck, Fuck.'

Jay lifted his rifle to take a last look at what had been a young boy in
the throws of teen beauty before he made his way out of the valley. This
had been enough in his mind, if nothing else had given him reason to get
out then the small figure laying on the ground had done it. A last look
through the scope at the boy and he was ready to leave.

Jay heaved a last long tear stained sigh as he began to lower the scope
from the boy.

'Wha....no, it couldn't be.'

Jay lifted the scope again and rammed it violently against his eye as his
brain told him it had seen movement.

'Yes, the boys hand had moved, not much but more than a death jerk would
have been.'

Jay threw caution to the winds and leaving his prized rifle where it lay he
recklessly jumped to his feet and began the run down the slope towards the
little figure nearly a kilometer away.

Jay had never been a sprinter but the thought of that beautiful boy being
alive gave wings to his feet as he sped over the rough ground without
thought or reason. Jays lungs were labouring under the intense need to draw
more oxygen into them so that he could cover the distance faster, his feet
seemed to be glued to the ground as he strived to make it to the boy before
the kid breathed his last.

'No one as young as him should be alone when he dies'

The thought gave more speed to Jays flying feet as he gave everything he
had inside to get to the boy. As soon as he was near enough to the boy, Jay
threw himself to his knees beside the small naked torso of the boy. The
bloody hole in the boys back told jay that the bullet had gone straight
through his thin little body and the shallow gasping of the boys breath
told Jay that he was still alive, not by much, but enough to give him a
second chance.

Jay reached for the patch pocket on the thigh of his pants and, wrenching
it open with such violence as to tear off the button, Jay took out a field
dressing and laid it onto the gaping wound in the boys back and with an
uncharacteristic gentleness, rolled the boy over to inspect his chest.

The boys eyes flickered as Jay continued to wrap the field dressing around
his slim torso and once completed he once again reached into the pocket and
withdrew a small syringe and jabbed the needle into the boys arm. A soft
sigh came from the unconscious boy as the morhpine began to take awy the
pain he would have been feeling.

Jay noticed a small red graze on the shoulder of the boy and with quick
deft movements laid a piece of tape over it. The bullet had hit the boy
near the middle rib and passed through without it seemed doing much more
damage but the boy was going to be in pain and very uncomfortable for some
time to come. Once he had done the best he could for the boy, Jay sat back
on his heels and looked again at the small golden skinned boy on the
ground, the tears were still falling from his face as he looked at his
handy work on the chest of the boy.

Jay began to mumble to himself as he looked down on the figure.

"What the fuck were you doing kid, why the hell are you here, this is mans
work, not a bloody little kid. Fuck what am I going to do with you Squirt."

A small gurgling sound came from the rosey lips as the boy moved his hand
slightly until it rested on Jay's knee. Jay reachedf for the small hand and
held it loosely in his own. A slight pressure against his fingers told him
the boy was still alive although the breathing was a little heavy.

"Now what, fuck I can't leave him here, where the hell can I take him? Fuck
I got to get us out of here before someone comes looking."

With that decision made Jay sniffed back the tears and with as much
tenderness as he could muster, he reached under the boy and lifted him to
his chest so that the small dark head was resting on his shoulder, and with
a grunt, rose to his feet and began the long trip back to where his rifle
lay waiting his return.

The climb back up the slope took more out of Jay than he thought it would
and so when he got to where he had been hidden, he lay the boy down again
and dropped to his knees to get his breath back and to plan how to get them
both out of the area.

His pickup wouldn't be until nightfall and that was a good sven or eight
hours away and in the meantime he had a wounded boy to look after. A soft
murmer brought him back to the here and now as he leant down closer to the
boy to hear what had been said.

A soft, almost breahtless sound came from the tender lips of the boy.

"Papa....papa...he....iss...muerto....for Mama....for Julio....for
Maria....and for....you Papa...I come soon...Papa."

"Shhh, Squirt, you're not going yet, not if I got anything to say about
it."

The words faded away as the drug took its hold on the frail boy and he
passed into unconsciousness again.

Jay mumbled to himself again as his mind made quick plans for their duel
escape from the scene of carnage.

"Right, we're out of here, Ive got ten kilometers to get to the pickup
point, if I take it easy the boy should be ok and Ive got plenty of time."

Jay reached down and reloaded the magazine of the rifle in case he needed
it for their defense, then swung it over his back, next he lifted the boy
to his chest again as he had before and he was sure the small dark head
snuggled into his shoulder as he heaved them both upright and began his
long walk to safety.


TO BE CONTINUED: