"Get busy living, or get busy dying."
- Stephen King.
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A/N: Hello to all who've chosen to read this novel! Thank you to you! I'm honoured that you've chosen to read this and I hope I won't disappoint you. This novel is inspired by Netflix's Wolf series.
Happy reading to all! Love you.
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It was a sweltering afternoon, and we were seated in an armored tactical vehicle driving across a sloped terrain encompassing between two hills. It was a route that we usually take, a hidden area not known by many. The area had received a light rain in the earlier morning, and so the vehicle had to plough through wet soil. I could hear the squelch and strain in the wheels as it grinds its way across.
It was the usual sounds that I hear.
For this mission, we were part of a large convoy of armed soldiers – separated into three armoured vehicles called the Terrex 3 APC. I was seated with my own unit – Wolf. Further ahead was Falcon who held the captured MIS leader and the unit leading the way was Leopard.
Officially, we were part of the Police Armed Forces. We are a specialist unit that deals with terrorism and we were the only few that are trained to deal with war. We are always given dangerous missions – sent to war-torn areas to deal with enemies that threatens the peace of our country. Sometimes, we enter war-torn areas to capture suspected terrorist leaders like this one.
The men in my unit were decorated soldiers but they were highly unstable as individuals. Despite their skills in warfare, they sucked being normal human beings and I certainly did not have the right to squander them like that because I was as unstable as them. I had been working with them for years and I considered them a part of my family.
Sometimes, I'd like to hit them in their faces.
I tried my hardest not to roll my eyes at Lucas' remark about them being alpha males, knowing that he was the craziest amongst the bunch. His lucrative mind was the reason he was deemed as one of the finest soldiers, but it was thanks to that brain of his that caused the rupture in his marriage. Despite that, there was one person who holds his entire world and it was in the form of an eight-year-old girl.
Before anyone could intercede his statement, we were interrupted and jarred awake by the sudden explosion that rocked the earth beneath us. The alarms were triggered, and orange lights flashed in the compartment. It was a signal for us to strap up and arm ourselves as we are about to enter war.
The rookies exchanged alarmed glances and nodded grimly as they got to work.
"BT-37, this is BT-34, give us a sitrep!" I yelled an order as we readied to scramble out of the vehicle.
"This is BT-37, Lt. Amelia," an answer came forth. The reception was crackling up. "We are hit, the armour is pierced by the front left corner and one of our own is injured. The vehicle is unable to move."
"Frank, the assailants are firing over the left side of the hills," reported the Captain of the Falcon Unit. He sounded very tired. "They have a few missile launchers on their arsenals."
Captain Frank let out a curse from where he sat. Missile launchers are not compatible with the Terrex armoured vehicle. The artillery is too destructive for the armour to withhold and we knew what the job entails. "Marcus, release the doors!" ordered the Captain as we vacated the vehicle. "Release the smoke grenades!"
Casting a thick smoke screen between the front and back part of the armoured vehicle, we ran out from the back exit and took cover behind it as bullets rained down upon us. The team began to move; some started firing from the front and the back, taking out the masked terrorists who wanted their fearsome leader back.
"We're like sitting ducks here!" Lucas yelled.
"Amelia!" Frank yelled.
I had positioned myself at the back corner of the Terrex, rested my sniper rifle against the roof and looked through my scope. One of my many tasks was to locate the position of the enemy, and to confirm their numbers. I wanted to see just how many missile rocket launchers they had.
"Four!" I answered.
"Amelia, north west!" yelled Tom.
Hearing his statement, my body moved before my mind could react and I began my work. Shooting at the insurgents who were arming the rocket launchers were imperative while the rest of the boys supplied backup firing. Despite that, there were some I could not shoot because of the sheer angle of the hill and I did not have the proper spot to shoot from.
We were at a disadvantage and time was running out if we don't think of a way out.
As the men huddled together, Frank asked our combat engineer Marcus if the Terrex could hold an impact from the missile launcher. Marcus turned bloodless at his question and replied, "Not with us in it!"
"Does it come with infrared homing?" Frank demanded as I joined them gasping.
I nodded.
Infrared homing is a passive weapon guidance system which uses the infrared light emission from a target to track and follow it. Missiles which uses infrared seeking are often referred to as "heat-seekers", since infrared is radiated strongly by hot bodies. Many objects such as people, vehicle engines and aircraft generate and emit heat, and as such, are especially visible in the infrared wavelengths of light compared to objects in the background.
"They're kinda stupid to bring that kind of thing here," Lucas exclaimed with a laugh.
I glanced at him sharply. We all know what it meant.
"Luc, you remember Syria 2010?" Tom asked suddenly.
Lucas looked at his Best Friend in confusion for a moment and he turned mischievous when he finally remembered. I tried not to sigh when I recognised his manic look and the rest of the team members nodded firmly.
"There isn't a choice," Frank said, answering Marcus unasked question. "Have everyone take cover over here!"
Shaking my head, we waited for the missile to launch as we broadcasted to the rest of the convoy to huddle up. Being soldiers meant that we had to follow orders and we do it without question. Listen to your commanding officer was one of the many things that were drilled into us during our training.
Lucas got into action.
Plunging headfirst into danger was the many few reasons why Lucas was the craziest amongst us. Despite his fearlessness of facing death, he was hailed and respected by the company. He ran to the other Terrex, threw a couple of grenades beneath, I watched as it exploded and soared up into the sky.
An armoured vehicle in mid-air was something you'd never forget and nothing else could top the list of crazy things I witness in war. However, today was different. Seeing a heat seeker passing by you to connect headfirst with the vehicle and feeling the heat of the explosion tops everything else.
I could still feel the burn and the scream of metal exploding into pieces as we rose amidst the chaos to continue with our job. We knew it was futile to say there longer than necessary because more and more insurgents are coming in. The longer we stayed, the higher chance for us to get hit by the heat seekers again.
Then, our rookies had one brilliant idea.
It was thanks to them that we were able to leave the hill area unscathed. We strung the MIS leader onto the first Terrex and fled the area. As we were leaving, we noticed that we had enemies flanking us. Three vehicles with missile launchers strapped to the roof were gunning their way down from the other side of the hill.
"Marcus, step on it!" Keith yelled.
"Will that thing reach us here?" Lucas demanded.
"They can!"
"Move!" I ordered as I sat on the floor, my feet propped against the doorway as I held my MK13 in my hands. The vehicle swayed as it climbed up the slope, proving it difficult for a sniper like me to aim and shoot. I waited as I raised the sniper up so I could look through the scope.
The MK13 had 1,200 yard range and I smiled when they were within range.
The first shot missed when the vehicle jerked up, forcing me to reload and take aim since the rifle was a bolt-type. Glancing through the Nightforce Optic scope, I was able to discern the enemy easily. Taking a deep breath, I took a shot and the bullet went through the driver causing the vehicle to swerve right before falling down the steep slope.
Thanks to that, the other vehicles stopped pursuing.
Receiving an ovation and whoops of excitement from the boys, I got up grinning with triumph as Marcus finally shut the back door.
"And you say I'm the crazy one!"
I hit him on the back of his head.
"Shut up, man."