Randevú

“Get back Elio”.

[silenced gunshot]

Tyler runs in. Wounded right brachium with a pistol gunshot, he holds a shotgun. His arm bleeding. Sweat coming down the forehead. Not sure whether to jump in or not. He took cover of a barrel.

“Where the hell were you, Tyler?” Captain Elio. mid-twenties, blonde, topper of the training academy. Best at handy fights. His grey eyes screeching into the rifle’s scope, ready to shoot.

“Yeah, I got some company back there. Such dumb idiots. They don’t even know how to use a dagger. Oh, you got a black-eye.”

“Ah, thanks for reminding me of that, soldier. They gotta pay for it too. Come.”

Both pushed ahead. Laying low, moving fast. Their infrared glasses helped them see through the overcast foggy night. “Beware the electrified nets”. Entering the adversaries’ territory in the middle of the night, one really needs guts. “watch your nine!”. A group of five coming in hard. “They know we are here. Where is the team?”

[over radio] “this is José, with team alpha. We have eyes on you, sir. We have a sniper at the golden gate. Getting you through in 3, 2, 1, ...”

Sniper fires. Two of five men down. Others open fire. Tyler and Elio hide behind a crashed car. 50 yards to the left, three men with more guns. Firing tough. A bullet runs near Tyler’s ear. Its buzzing sound creates a sonic boom. His hands stopped shooting. His eyes stopped aiming. Head spinning. Thuds into the car beside and sits down.

“Tyler? Tyler? Can you hear me? Damn. José? Take them down for God’s sake.”

“On it, sir.”

“Tyler. Stay with me. You’re all right”. Tyler’s ear bleeding. “Alpha team? My officer needs medical attention. Do we have anyone?”
“It’s all right, cap. I am fine. I can do this … ”. Tyler tries to stand. [choking]. The team shot all three men while Elio dragged Tyler to safety. He put a bandage over his ear to stop the bleeding.

Both of them knew they had to keep moving. They couldn’t stay at a place. It was too dangerous for them as well as the mission.

[Alio on walkie talkie]
“This is captain David Elio. Perimeter A is secure. Send air unit in. I repeat, send air unit in. Over ”

“Captain. This is colonel Abraham. Sending air unit in. Current status two minutes out from randevú point.”

“Copy that, sir.”

“Tyler. Can you walk?” “yes, captain. It’s just my ear is pulling like some angry bee is buzzing upon it”

[dog barking in the far background.]

They reloaded their weapons, deteriorated the wounds, and started walking. They had to go to the extraction point. With almost a hundred rivalries, the subject was a family of 3. The mayor, his pregnant wife, and his five-year-old son, who was kidnapped by a mercenary for some personal rampage. He’s called Mr. Black. He did some dirty work for another guy and the mayor caught him many years back, which cost him jail for a decade. Now, he’s back and out for his revenge.

“There it is”. The dungeon where they were kept was in front of them. “This place is giving me goosebumps, cap.”

[combined radio convo]

“Air unit? What’s your position?”
 “Thirty seconds from the target, sir.”
“Team Alpha, come in!”
“Team alpha in position”
“Colonel. Waiting for your orders”
“Go in whenever you’re ready. Team bravo will be waiting for you at the other side of the dungeon Good luck captain.”

[enhales deep]  “Let’s go get them, people.” they started marching in. Silent in the midnight hustle. Across the woods and over the fence. Now, on their heads, stood a high building. It had 7 floors, each guarded with 10 to 15 armed men. But none of that mattered actually. They knew that the subject was kept underground at sub-level 3. It was a place used in the second world war by the army to keep prisoners, which was left empty many years ago. Now, Black had it under control.

Team alpha was divided into two. One had the snipers and the others were man-to-man-combat fighters. They moved in first. Eric and Tyler followed. It was a do or die moment for all of’em. “Shhh...” Elevator beeped. Two men came out. These people went into hiding. The order was not to engage unnecessarily. [whispers] “we’ll take the stairs”


So they did. They took the stairs. Easy, slowly, with a pin-drop silence, they moved down, and down, and down. They were seen on sublevel two. Three rifled-men stood there. They had no chance but to shoot, tried not to make extra noise. So, took silenced pistols out and knocked two of’em out. The third one fired back. He lost the aim but the fire’s sound alerted everyone in the building. “We have to hurry” Elio aimed for a headshot and won the moment.

They took stairs again. Now, the scenario was different. They knew someone’s in the building. Probably, the army. As they reached the randevú point, they saw more than ten people standing in front of them, pointing their guns at them, ready to empty them. Both sides started shooting at each other. These took cover of the staircase and they took hold of the dungeon. gunfires filled the room. Bullet shells filled the ground. One person fell, then the other. The number started to decrease on both sides. Elio took a bullet in the thigh. He couched down on the ground, lying face-down, leg bleeding heavily, till the other side completely fell off. Tyler gave him shoulder to stand. He couldn’t walk.

[on radio]

“Snipers! Your turn. Get their attention and clear us a path. Team bravo, on the extraction point, now”

They were only four left out of nine. Elio, Tylor, and two others. Right after where the other group was standing, was a small room where the subjects were held captive. They broke them out. Opened the handcuffs. Gave them water to drink so the.,  “Watch out!!”

Here comes the elevator again. They took their guns out. Aimed at the elevator door, ready to charge. Beeps. The door starts opening. Pistol corks. “hold!”

“Wooh, easy boys. It’s us”. It was team bravo, there for the rescue. “The path is clear, sir. Two blocks East from here. A chopper to pick you up and a surgeon for medical assistance. Their people will be here anytime. Go, go, go. We got your back.”


-A