Chapter 664: Chapter 674: Alpha-Squad Seven (Part 4)

Webb barely got the warning out before the sniper had fired.

CRACK~

The round slammed into the concrete exactly where he’d been standing a fraction of a second earlier.

Stone fragments exploded upward in a violent spray that ricocheted across the courtyard walls while Webb threw himself sideways in a desperate roll instead of a clean dive.

Dust burst across his uniform as he hit the ground hard and disappeared behind the fountain’s raised stone edge.

The crack of the rifle echoed through the apartment complex a second later, bouncing between the buildings before fading into the night.

Webb moved immediately.

One hand snapped to his belt while he yanked free a smoke grenade, ripped the pin loose with his teeth, and hurled it toward the center of the courtyard.

THOOM~

The canister bounced once against the pavement before erupting into thick gray-white smoke that spread outward in heavy waves.

Within seconds the courtyard vanished behind it. The fountain disappeared first. Then the UPSDF soldier’s body.

Then Webb himself as the smoke swallowed the entire center of the complex beneath a shifting wall of gray.

From Don’s position near the apartment wall, the entire courtyard became unreadable.

Webb’s silhouette vanished completely.

If the sniper fired again now, it would be blind.

Webb’s voice tore through the comms a second later.

"Get out of here! Something’s wrong!"

Kowalski reacted instantly. His eyes widened while his hand grabbed Vance’s shoulder hard enough to jerk the larger man backward.

"We need to go. Now!"

Vance stumbled half a step before regaining balance and starting to move—

Don didn’t.

Something pressed against the edge of his awareness.

Not a sound.

Not movement exactly.

Keen Eye activated before he consciously processed why.

Details around him sharpened immediately while the darkness near the adjacent building corner suddenly felt deeper than it should have.

Don’s gaze shifted.

Twenty feet away.

A recessed doorway partially hidden between two dumpsters.

Someone stood there.

Not a shadow.

A man.

Tall.

Dressed entirely in matte-black military gear without insignia or markings anywhere on the armor.

The surfaces absorbed light instead of reflecting it. His helmet concealed his face completely behind a dark visor while his rifle hung low toward the pavement in a relaxed carry position.

But his posture gave him away.

Coiled.

Ready.

The posture of someone about to raise the weapon at any moment.

Every muscle in Don’s body tightened instantly.

He didn’t move yet.

The operative hadn’t seen him.

His attention stayed fixed toward the smoke cloud swallowing the courtyard center, toward Webb’s last known position inside it.

Kowalski noticed Don’s stillness a second later. His eyes followed Don’s line of sight—

Then his breath caught visibly.

"Don—"

The operative’s helmet turned.

Dark visor sweeping directly toward them.

Don moved first.

He exploded forward fast enough that even Kowalski visibly flinched behind him. One second he stood beside the wall.

The next he crossed the distance in a blur of motion while the operative’s rifle started rising instinctively toward chest level.

Too slow.

Don drove his knee upward with full force directly into the man’s helmet.

CRACK~

The impact rang across the courtyard louder than the sniper fire itself.

The visor spiderwebbed instantly while the operative’s head snapped backward violently enough to lift his entire body off the pavement before sending him flying several feet through the air.

He hit the ground hard and skidded across concrete while the rifle clattered away into the darkness.

Don landed in a low stance already reaching back for his rifle slung across his shoulder.

Kowalski’s pistol came up immediately.

Beside him, Vance fumbled badly while trying to raise his own weapon with shaking hands.

The operative started moving again almost instantly.

Not unconscious.

Just stunned.

One gloved hand reached toward his sidearm.

Kowalski fired first.

CRACK~

One shot.

Perfect center mass wouldn’t have stopped someone armored like that.

So Kowalski aimed higher.

The operative’s head snapped sideways violently as the round punched through the damaged visor.

His body jerked once before collapsing flat against the pavement.

Still.

Blood spread slowly beneath the edge of the helmet.

The man’s hand dropped uselessly beside him.

For half a second, nobody moved.

Vance sucked air through his teeth hard enough to almost choke on it.

"Holy shit—holy shit—"

Don straightened slowly, rifle already raised while his eyes swept across the courtyard again searching for additional movement.

Then the smoke exploded outward.

Webb burst through it at full speed.

He wasn’t retreating.

He was attacking.

The force of his movement alone kicked smoke aside in violent streams while his boots cratered the pavement beneath him during takeoff.

Concrete cracked outward in a shallow burst as he launched himself directly toward the apartment building overlooking the courtyard.

Third floor.

Sniper position.

Don tracked the movement instinctively.

Webb didn’t climb.

Didn’t grab handholds.

He jumped.

His body cleared the distance in a single brutal arc before slamming shoulder-first through the open third-story window.

CRASH~

Glass exploded outward across the courtyard below while Webb disappeared inside the room entirely.

Two gunshots followed almost immediately from inside the apartment.

CRACK~ CRACK~

Then nothing.

The smoke continued drifting slowly across the courtyard while the sniper window remained dark and motionless.

A second later Webb’s voice came calmly through the comms.

"One unknown operative eliminated. Sniper’s down. Status?"

Kowalski lifted his hand toward his earpiece.

Then Keen Eye activated.

A flicker from a different window.

Different building.

Don moved before his brain fully caught up.

CRACK~

He threw himself sideways purely on instinct, shoulder slamming into pavement while momentum carried him away from Kowalski and Vance both.

The round hit Kowalski directly through the head.

The impact was horrifyingly clean.

One instant the soldier stood upright.

The next his skull ruptured outward in a spray of blood and bone while the back of his head disappeared entirely.

His body folded before it even understood what had happened and collapsed lifelessly onto the concrete.

Don rolled hard behind the corner of the building as another shot cracked past close enough for him to feel the air pressure shift beside his face.

Vance dove after him a split second later, crashing against the wall breathing hard enough to nearly hyperventilate.

"Fuck! Fuck! What the fuck do we do?!"

Don grabbed Kowalski’s vest and dragged the dead soldier’s body toward cover before the sniper could hit it again.

Blood smeared heavily across the pavement beneath the corpse while the dead man’s rifle scraped loudly against concrete.

No sentiment.

Just removing the body from open sightlines.

Don pressed against the wall afterward and raised a hand toward his comm.

"Code White. Code White. Kowalski is down. Head shot."

A brief pause followed.

Then Webb answered, his voice tighter now than before.

"Copy. Stay where you are. I’m contacting command."

Vance stared at Kowalski’s corpse for another second before suddenly yanking the dead soldier’s rifle free from limp fingers. His breathing turned uneven again while his wide eyes locked onto Don.

"Shit shit shit—what the fuck is going on?! Who are these people?!"

Don kept scanning the windows across the courtyard while answering.

"I don’t know. But we’ve got our orders."

He didn’t believe that answer for a second.

Staying here meant remaining trapped inside the kill zone while unknown shooters controlled the angles around them.

But Webb was the only one who understood what was happening. The only one capable of coordinating support.

Splitting up now would probably just get them killed separately instead.

Vance looked toward the courtyard opening.

Then toward Kowalski’s body.

Then toward the surrounding apartment buildings.

Fear shifted inside his expression into something uglier.

Desperation maybe.

"Fuck this."

He stood abruptly.

Not toward the sniper positions.

Away from them.

Back toward the street they’d entered from.

Back toward anything that wasn’t this courtyard.

Don reached out instinctively.

Too late.

Vance was already running hard through the darkness between the buildings, Kowalski’s rifle clutched tightly against his chest while his boots pounded against cracked pavement.

No shots followed him.

Either the second sniper hadn’t seen him.

Or didn’t care.

Within seconds Vance disappeared entirely into the darkness beyond the courtyard entrance, his footsteps fading farther and farther away.

Don watched him go.

Then looked down briefly at Kowalski’s body.

Then at the rifle in his own hands.

’Fuck.’

He pressed his back harder against the apartment wall while scanning the dark windows surrounding the courtyard, waiting for another muzzle flash.

Another shot.

Another body.

Part of him wondered whether he should have followed Vance while he still had the chance.