A long, narrow hallway extends the length of the building with closed doors spaced at intervals along its length. Wallpaper, torn and peeling, adorns the dirty walls, which show green through her goggles. Cheap light fixtures are set along the length, some hanging loosely by wires that barely hold the lamps up. Most have had their bulbs broken, but a few still seem functional. More importantly, the hall is clear.
Gav continues swiftly on, crouch-walking down the hall, her barrel leading the way. Anyone emerging into the hall will be quickly and quietly taken out, no questions asked. She won’t hesitate pulling the trigger…be it man, woman, or child. Any noise or startled shouting will alert others to their presence and endanger the whole team. If this place, meaning the entire territory, becomes alerted to the presence of Israelis in the area, all other actions will cease in order to hunt them down. She and her team wouldn’t live through the night.
Passing closed doors to the left and right, her tension high and senses highly tuned to any disturbance or hint of anyone around, she spies an opening up ahead about half way down the corridor.
“Stairs ahead to the left,” she whispers into her extended boom mic.
She doesn’t hear any reply but knows her team heard her. She edges to the stairs and peeks quickly around the corner. Old wooden steps climb steeply, the treads warped in many places.
“Clear,” she breathes, stepping quickly around the corner.
She turns backward and, making sure she climbs the stairs near the wall where they are less likely to give a tell-tale creak, focuses on the stairs and landing upward. The rest of her team continues to cover the entire area with the last two walking backward, keeping an eye behind them — they are essentially a moving perimeter.
Her heart beats heavily as she continues upward, adrenaline flooding her system. Any false move here and they’ll never see their home again. There’s a touch of fear, but it’s mostly about safeguarding her team. Most of what she feels is a highly-tuned adrenaline rush. Long ago, she overcame any guilt associated with her chosen lifestyle. This is what she lives for and loves to do. There may some patriotic feature to it, but it’s really about avenging the death of her parents. And, if she were perfectly honest, that has little to do with it anymore. She shuts the thought down as she reaches the first floor landing.
Reaching into one of her cargo pockets, she withdraws a simple, triangular doorstop. Wedging it under the inward-opening door, she continues her advance. The measure won’t stop a determined effort to gain entrance to the stairway, but it will definitely slow anyone down. It will perhaps gain enough time to allow them to escape should they be discovered.
Gav and her team continue their quick march upward, wanting to hit fast, hard, and quiet. So far, there hasn’t been any sight or sound of the two guards who vanished inside. She feels her warm breath as she exhales through her dark pullover mask, conscious of keeping her breathing steady. They are nearing their target, and now is not the time to let fear cause a mistake by moving too fast. Quick yes, but hurried… no.
Sealing off the second floor door in the same manner, Gav nears the third floor and their destination. Her highly-tuned senses feel that something is amiss. Almost before she can register this feeling, the door opens widely with a loud, long creak of hinges that haven’t seen oil in years.
Two guards emerge through the doors at the top of the stairs. With her weapon emitting silent coughs, she fires three hurried rounds into each before they even know she is there, dropping them quickly to the landing where they hit with solid thumps. Spray from the high-speed projectiles slamming into flesh and bone paints the walls with their blood, some of the larger splotches flow downward in small rivulets. One moment, the two were talking about how to live another day in their war-ravaged land, and the next…they weren’t.
Not slowing, Gav continues quickly over to the bodies and fires a single round into each of their heads. Bone, flesh, and brain flow outward from a large exit wound each round created, adding to the blood already pooling around the still warm corpses, the subsonic bullets doing tremendous damage. She doesn’t know if the guards will be missed anytime soon, but she has to assume they will. The first card is played and the game is on.
She reaches down to one of the bodies and, finding a radio, she turns it off and pockets it. This will be additional intel regarding the frequencies they may be using. The two bringing up the rear will remove the mags and insert different mags with rigged cartridges. It is likely that the weapons will be recovered after this and used again. The rounds inserted are overcharged ones which will explode in the chamber when fired. With any luck, the shooter will be severely injured. At the very least, it will trigger distrust among others about using their weapons and cause them to hesitate, hopefully at a crucial moment.
Gav checks down each hall. It is in the same condition as the first floor corridor. She then turns right toward the front of the building where she saw the light in one of the windows. At the end of the hallway stands a closed door. It’s to this that she quickly but silently makes her way, her suppressed weapon up and ready.
She hears almost nothing behind her as her team follows, only an occasional scrape of boots on the severely worn carpeting. Like climbing the stairs, Gav keeps to the wall to eliminate creaks of the weak floorboards; also, so she won’t stand out as readily like she would if she were in the middle of the hall. Nearing the door, she hears the door handle rattle and begin to turn.
Not hesitating, she lowers her shoulder and charges the door. If they are caught in the hall, it will leave her and her team exposed. An initial volley may take out those in the doorway, but the simple toss of a grenade from inside will spell the end of her and her team. She hits the door with her shoulder just as it is opening. The door crashes inward and stops abruptly. She slams into it again and steps through.
Gav sees four armed men, two of which are stumbling backward into the arms of the other two behind them. Raising her Micro Galil, she sends short bursts into the two stumbling men. The closeness of the delivered rounds slam into their chest and face, sending the two men crashing hard against the two others. Pink mist sprays into the faces of the two remaining alive, covering them with gore. Gav delivers two more bursts into the surprised men, sending all four of them crashing into the ground. The men bounce off walls and collapse a small table as they fall.
Stepping over the bodies, she enters the room proper. An archway opens to the right with the main room opening to the left.
“Opening to the right,” she calls quietly into the mic.
Bypassing the opening and knowing the teammates behind her will sweep into there, she turns to the main room. Four other men are rising from chairs around an old dining table. Light from a TV shines in the room, but no sound emits from it. The only other light is from a couple of candles on the table itself. The startled men are rising quickly and reaching for the carbines next to them. She can tell they are having a hard time seeing who has invaded their domain, but that doesn’t slow them retrieving their arms.
She, however, can see quite clearly. Her first burst takes the closest man squarely in the chest. The rounds hit with solid, meaty thumps; flowers of dark liquid instantly stain his light-colored T-shirt. Gav hears his breath as it is forcefully exhaled. He clutches his chest and falls forward to his knees before falling prone. She only witnesses the hits before directing her fire into one of his companions next to him.