Go
“Alpha One, status.” The scratchy, monotonous voice crackled in my ear.
I raised my hand to my headset and whispered back as softly as I could. “Alpha One, on schedule.” I crawled another inch forward on my stomach, making as little sound as possible before the voice answered me again.
“Copy that, Alpha One. Proceed to target.”
“Roger that.”
A bush rustled a few yards away from me. Rather, my spotter, Gunnery Sergeant Flynn, who was adorned in a ghillie suit matching my own. The foliage was thick in this forest, and we fit right in, almost impossible to spot to anyone who didn’t know we were there.
That was the point, of course. I moved forward another couple inches. It was painstakingly slow, but necessary. Any sudden movement would surely give away our position, and it was imperative we reach the target without anyone seeing us. I observed all directions before making another move, slowly, carefully.
~ :: ~
One Day Earlier
Captain Aaron Ross slapped a large manila file onto the table before me.
“Abib al Khazan. Bomb maker for the Taliban. This SOB’s been a pain in our ass for the last ten years. Careful motherfucker, always moving around with only a select few people knowing where he is at any time. Our boys at Langley finally got him, though,” he explained.
He quickly detailed how the mission was set up, how we would be inserted by helicopter over two miles away from where he was, make our way on foot until we were within 800 yards, wait until the order was given, and then take him out.
It was all pretty basic. Nothing I hadn’t done before, and was, from a sniper’s standpoint, a rather easy mission.
“Get some sleep, gear up. You leave in 4.”
~ :: ~
Hours after crawling inch by inch we were within clear sight of our target.
“Alpha One in place,” I relayed to the command post. It was a few minutes before the reply came, but we were used to waiting.
“Mission is a go.”
Flynn calculated the windspeed and other coordinates necessary, relaying them to me. I adjusted my scope, aimed, and pulled the trigger.
“This is Alpha One. Target terminated.”
A. Page in the Stacks 