Ghost Of The Desert

Dey Go Swim Tire!

Nedu then started working feverishly with the laptop. We could see the cameras were connected, feeding live visuals that made our hearts race. We watched tensely as he moved the cameras, zooming them in and out, trying to get a clear view. He then snatched up the radio.

"This is Nedu taking over the operation, confirm, over," he barked, as his right hand kept working furiously on the laptop. 

"Confirmed by Stingers, Lieutenant Nedu in charge, over," the Stingers responded crisply.

"Look for alphas and notify immediately. Locate the lead alpha and notify at once," Nedu instructed, his voice taut.

The whole hall was gripped in tense silence as the fraught conversations continued.

Thank goodness I had Nosh by my side to decipher the riddles. As he told me, the alphas were the enemy commanders we desperately needed to take out, the lead alpha the overall commander in charge of the attack.

"So once identified, the mission is to eliminate them and sow confusion," Nosh murmured gravely.

I nodded jerkily. This tactical approach required razor-sharp psychology and observation skills. "But how can they even identify the alphas?" I asked, my voice hushed with dread.

"If you can crack their chain of command, you can predict the alphas. But Jefter, there's never a guarantee," Nosh said grimly.

Everyone stared at the TVs, eyes straining to scrutinize the terrorists' every move.
I noticed relieved that the terrorists weren't masked - the gas must have cleared. But bodies littered the ground, a few soldiers amongst the terrorists' many fallen. All appeared sickeningly lifeless. 

"Alpha detected!" the radio suddenly blared.

"Identify Stinger, alpha and position now!" Nedu snapped.

"Stinger group 2, alpha middle with cap, taller, carrying Winchester 1200 model shotgun, over," came the tense reply.

Nedu nodded curtly. "Noted Stinger. Keep eyes locked until the wind blows, over."

"Yes boss, confirmed," the Stinger's voice was steely.

I turned to Nosh, dread churning in my stomach. "The 'wind blowing' means..." I drew a finger horizontally across my throat.

"Exactly," Nosh said flatly. "If you can't handle this, remove your eyes when the time comes," he warned.

"Me go watch am o, bros. No looking away abeg," I said hoarsely. Easier viewed than real, but this was viscerally real - we were trapped in the nightmare.

"Alpha identified!" Hassan's voice sliced the tension. "3rd TV, left side, toting machine gun and machete!"

Nedu relayed it instantly to the Stingers.

"3rd group has eyes on alpha, confirmed," the reply crackled back.

"Hmmm." Nosh exhaled heavily, nodding. "Looks like each Stinger is assigned a screen for coordination," Nosh muttered.

His observation rang true. Each camera had a dedicated Stinger up close, seeing precisely our visuals in real, horrifying time.

"This is Fort 1, over!" The radio's blare made us startle.

I shot Nosh a questioning look. "The Forts?"

"They're stationed defensively at the underground entrance," Nosh said, his tone edged with urgency.

"But Fort 1...are there more?" the curious cat in me speaking.

"I don't know, Jefter," Nosh said tersely. "We had little intel on this base. We were just patrolling until the ambush." His face was drawn. "You know the rest."