Boz made it up to Scottie’s position, laid the machine gun across the hood of the car, and ripped a long burst into a mass of men attempting to move on the downed vehicle. The windshield was riddled with bullet holes, but there wasn’t any blood immediately visible.
Barnes turned up the volume on his radio. He continued firing down the alley until the bolt on his AK locked to the rear and he was forced to transition to the pistol. Firing five quick shots with the Glock, he ducked into cover as a squat unshaven Syrian in a black tracksuit fired a burst from the hip.
He heard the rounds whizzing past him as he holstered the pistol and snatched a fresh magazine from his kit. They were within ten meters of his position when he got the rifle back into action and reengaged the men moving toward him.
“Be advised we are in a shop to your nine o’clock,” Jones said over the net.
Harden moved up the left side of the street and posted himself at the edge of the wall. The scene was beyond chaotic, with men firing everywhere. He needed to get his men out of here. He engaged targets as they presented themselves, but with Barnes busy in the alleyway, he had to step up and control the fight.
Jones and Hoyt were hunkered down in a shop trying not to get shot as the firefight raged in the street. The door they had kicked open was riddled with bullet holes, and fragments of glass littered the floor.
“Frag out,” Jones yelled before tossing a frag out into the street. The two men ducked down under the windowsill and waited for it to detonate. The explosion sent more glass crashing to the floor and peppered them with the fragments. Brushing it out of his hair, Hoyt sank to a knee and returned fire.
Jones got to his feet quickly just as Harden yelled that he was tossing a smoke canister to cover their exfil. He waited for it to start billowing up in the street before moving past his teammate. Jones slapped Hoyt on the ass as he passed, in case he didn’t see him moving, and then retreated farther into the shop. As soon as he located the back door, he set up covering fire so Hoyt could move.
Harden was telling them to hurry over the radio as Hoyt ran past Jones and set up near the rear door. “Friendlies coming out,” he yelled before tossing the door open and taking a peek outside. He could see the colonel engaging a target down the alley. Before stepping into the street, he made sure Jones was on his tail.
Jones stopped at the door to change mags while Hoyt moved up to cover Barnes. The colonel heard the heavy rifle barking behind him and turned to look over his shoulder.
“Let’s go, let’s go,” Barnes yelled as Hoyt picked up his sector of fire. “All Anvil elements pull back to the vehicles,” Harden called out over the internal net. The level of fire from the rebels had abated, but there was still a lot of movement around the periphery of the block.
Jones moved out from the shop with the laptop bag in one hand and his rifle in the other. Heading to the car, he tossed the bag into the backseat and told Hoyt to get into the van.
“Yeah, put me with the bomb, that’s real cool,” Hoyt yelled sarcastically. Villa collapsed back a few feet before turning to cover Boz.
“I’m set,” Villa yelled. His teammate lifted the machine gun off the car and moved back to the van. The colonel had another frag prepped and tossed it down the alley before moving up to the car. He got a quick head count and waited for the van to get turned around.
“Let’s get on out of here,” Harden said once he slammed the door shut. Scottie put the car in reverse. As soon as the vehicles were clear, Barnes hopped into the backseat of the car and told Scottie to “punch it.”
“Holy shit, that was intense,” Scottie said as he sped past the van and took up the lead position. “You guys need to learn how to fucking drive.”
“I need your empties,” Barnes said. He opened a green ammo can and started pulling out preloaded magazines. Passing a handful to Harden, he refilled his kit and began loading the empty magazines from a can of 7.62 ammo.
“What happened, Jones?” Harden asked as he handed Scottie four full magazines.
“We made a right turn onto the street, and there was guy with an AK in the middle of the road. As soon as he saw us, he opened up. It was on after that.”
“Get us on the main road before it gets ugly,” Harden said without looking up from the map.
“It’s going to be real fun trying to fit everyone in this little-ass Toyota Camry.” Scottie grinned.
“Right now that’s the least of our worries.”
They pulled onto 110 heading south and they could see the Syrian army moving north along the road. Attack helicopters buzzed low above the buildings and began firing rockets down into the neighborhoods. Harden was looking for a way around an army checkpoint up ahead when an RPG skipped across the road.
“Shit, you want me to hold up or what?” Scottie asked.
“Get us off the road. We’re a kilometer out from the target,” Harden said. Scottie pulled the car onto the median and watched as another RPG sliced across the street and hit the checkpoint.
The soldiers followed the white trail of the rocket and began firing machine guns at a building a hundred meters to their left. They continued shooting until another rocket hit their position. Then they turned and fled.
“Are you serious?” Scottie asked out loud. “No one even died, that’s just embarrassing.”
“Fuck it. Let’s go.” They all had their windows down. Scottie put the car back in gear and accelerated down the street. He swerved across the median, into oncoming traffic, before swinging back into their lane. Luckily most of the cars on the road were stopped, and the two vehicles were able to pass around the checkpoint without any issues. The final phase line was less than a quarter kilometer away, and they knew there was no way Barnes was going to call off the attack.
Zeus and Mason were stuck on the southern bypass in a line of cars stretched along the route to the 110. Even though most of the traffic was heading north into the heart of the city, the roads were congested as vehicles began turning around in the street. An army checkpoint was on fire next to a brick building ahead of them. Sandbags gave off black smoke as they burned.
The government had artillery in the hills around the city. They could hear the large shells cutting through the air as they flew overhead. One of the shells fell short and impacted a residential area off to the west. The explosion rocked the car and kicked up a huge plume of smoke and debris. The rebels in the street turned toward the explosion as another shell detonated with a crunching thump. Zeus kept his head down as he drove.
“This neighborhood is primarily Shia. I hope the fighting stays north of here.”
“There’s another checkpoint ahead,” Renee said from the back.
The cars in front of them were being stopped by a group of fighters wearing yellow Hezbollah headbands.
Mason looked up from the phone, annoyed that he couldn’t get ahold of Mr. David. He saw that the traffic on both sides made it impossible to turn around, and he knew they were stuck. Tossing his rifle into the backseat, he ordered Tarek to cover it up with his blanket. If Lebanese guerillas suspected anything, the men would be executed in the street.
“Shit,” Mason said.
Zeus calmly waited to pull up to the makeshift checkpoint while Mason slipped his pistol out of its holster and stuck it under his leg. The Libyan had the window down and came to a stop as one of the fighters stuck his head in.
“Where are you going?”
“We’re heading south. The rebels have cut the road and are attacking the army checkpoints.”
“I know that, but why are you heading south? The fighting is the other way.”
Mason lit a cigarette and tried to stay calm as another guerilla strolled arrogantly toward his side of the car and looked greedily at Renee in the backseat. Things were about to get ugly.