GUNPOINT | 2

25.| Ringing Shots

"A grenade went off...I've lost complete visual on the Winter Fury.", Alek informs just a few seconds before Keith pulled the back door open, greatly surprising Alek.

Alek was about to side with Denim but Keith had already made his way past the backroom and dining hall, now approaching the open door from where shots rang through the cloud of darkness which was about the only visible remains from the grenade explosion. He presses his back against the wall, pulls out his pistol, and waits for the right moment a distraction would appear.

Keith silently listened to the voices outside and shots, after some time he easily pinpointed where the shooters would be before they moved places. To his surprise they didn't cool down but instead increased the amount of firing when random shots countered them. A new but familiar pattern of precise shooting.

"Great to know your back from the dead again.", Keith whispers to himself with a grin.

Slow but steady footsteps approached the entrance he was hiding behind; obviously not doubting someone was behind the wall. Keith slides his ear piece back into his ear before grabbing the sniper's rifle, twisting it on his fingers and kicking the man in the right knee.

With a convinced strong crack, he aims, and fires the man through the head. Keith takes the man's earpiece out and gently places the rifle down before taking the man's bullet-proof body armor vest and sliding it on his own body. After quickly adjusting the vest for a more snug fit he picked up the rifle gleefully and crept out the door cautiously.

He could easily tell Natalia was on the other side of the poorly lit street the moment she was beginning to receive full fire after twisting a man's arm out of place and shooting another. Keith took that to his advantage; he quickly ran across the street, fired at two shooters across the street, and continued to aim and fire the more he approached Natalia who was shooting from behind a building wall not too far from the enemies.

She easily recognized Keith stalking behind the shooters and eliminating them about two by two. Natalia smiled in relief, picked up two rocks, and chucked them across the street; successfully yet falsely creating the impression that she had scampered across the road. They foolishly began firing into the fog also covering the other part of the narrow sidewalk.

With Natalia and Keith now both firing at the shooters from both sides they were able to eliminate the heavy, confident ones before the cowards separated themselves from the herd. Natalia and Keith were finally able to reach talking distance when Denim's voice echoed in Keith and Adam's head; ordering them to get Natalia and retreat. Lastly, he had admitted that the undersized marketplace was rigged with bombed sensors and they had approximately five minutes left to evacuate.         

"Surprised you were able to take orders for that long.", Natalia scoffed; obviously not realizing Denim had been giving out orders through the earpiece she had lost in the explosion.

"Not as surprised as I was, hearing you let that guy call you a little monster.", Keith mocks back with a grin that quickly faded when Denim asked for confirmation that they would do as told, "Yes, copy that."

After they both fired two out of the five men left in unison Keith was able to fire and successfully eliminate one more enemy before realizing they had to split up to find the remaining other two. Keith pulls Natalia down behind a car that had been thrown to its side after the grenade went off.  

"We've got to split up-", Keith began.

"Calm down Armstrong, we've got plenty of time to solve with-", Natalia counters.

"Have you heard anything the bloody leader just said?", Keith asks after returning the favor and cutting Natalia mid-sentence. 

"Of course I didn't Jerk, I lost my earpiece in the explosion.", she defends, crouching and waiting for the right moment when she could escape Keith's "lecture".

Alek had already made his way up the hill, ready to update the rest of the team when he spotted two individuals escaping the small marketplace. The darkness of the night acted as a great disguise to both the predator and prey but when it came to differing the prey from the predator, nocturnal vision was something they all lacked.

"We have to evacuate now! Trucks loaded with their back-up will be arriving in exactly one minute!", Alek informs the team as he checks his watch, "and that's closely to about the time you have left before definition."

"Have any suspects come your way Nightcrawler?", Keith asks Alek after Natalia and he searches the back part of town. 

"...You two are still caught in the minefield?!", Alek asks in disbelief.

"Be a good mate and tell us where the hell they headed off towards."

"Sprint towards base and make a sharp left, they're running for the next small town down the mountain."

"Much appreciated.", Keith thanks before informing Natalia of the exact same information.

He slides the rifle's strap over his head; allowing the strap to rest on his right shoulder while positioning the rifle in the back. Natalia follows him out of town while rearranging her thin grappling gloves. A great relief overcame her and Keith after they successfully spotted two figures attempting to run up a steep rocky hill secluding the small marketplace from the town on its opposite side.

"I need you to chase them up the hill, into the light. You have to get rid of one and I'll get the other.", Keith orders Natalia, seconds before she slid off all her gear; including her bullet proof vest; now exposing her black sports tank top, nodded, and took off.

After Natalia took off on a sprint towards the hill, Keith stationed the rifle and himself on the wet grass. As he impatiently waited in the grass the only thing going through his mind was the fear that he may hit Natalia due to the terrifying lighting of darkness.

Natalia had successfully and finally reached the steep, rocky hill. She was able to haul herself up a few rocks before encountering the rocky sand and sharp rocks that had alerted the two individuals of her presence. They attempted to run even faster up the rocky, dirt hill; not realizing the small pebbles eagerly awaiting their moment to send another being sliding off the hill.

The leading rival had obviously fallen into the trap and was brought down towards Natalia who happily awaited his downfall. She quickly removed his pistol and knife before delivering a strong punch in his left jaw, twisting his left hand back, kicking the left strained leg inwards, and banging his forehead against a sharp rock protruding from the hill; the exact same one she had gotten her own cut on the upper left arm.

The remaining man had ford two shots down towards the commotion, only hitting his buddy after Natalia ducked under the guys body. When the firing stopped she threw the man off the hill and continued up after the last man. Her arms were already shaking, and somewhat aching after all the unexpected upper body hauls but she was just inches away from the man who was also inches away from the peak of the hill.

"Fifteen seconds to detonation.", Alek informs the team as he safely made his way to base.

"Come on Nat.", Keith whispers, his small inhales and exhales suddenly becoming tensed pants.

Suddenly one body became visible as it hauled itself to the top, the second one had just jumped and wrapped itself around it when a silenced shot echoed in the darkness as both bodies collapsed; flying off the other side of the hill. Keith was about to stand up in shock when the explosion from the small marketplace detonated, forcing him to act quickly on throwing the evidence into the fire miles away from his original position.