28 Intermission: Longshot

July 1996

East of Marburg

Carla is running in a field with her backpack on:"C'mon uncle, hurry up!"

Her uncle, Karl, was slowly running behind her with a long but thin bag:"I'm coming but slow down! We're not in a rush!"

Carla:"But I wanna get there as quickly as I can! Hurry!"

Karl owned a farm east of Marburg. Carla would often visit him. But she didn't visit for the animals or the scenery. Karl made his own personal shooting range a kilometre away and he would often go there to get his mind off of things. He used an air rifle he kept in his attic.

When Carla turned ten, he brought her there and showed her how it worked. That was two years ago and now, she's been visiting every chance she got just so she could shoot.

Karl wasn't mad. He was very much happy. He got to spend time with his niece and she was an excellent shot.

Carla:"We're here!"

They arrived. It was a simple shooting range. A few posts and fences for targets and no one was around to get hurt.

Carla:"I'll go set them up!" She runs to the posts and places three cans on the left and two on the right. Then she placed five cans on the fence. She then ran back to her uncle, who prepared the rifle.

Karl:"Ok, what is our agreement?"

Carla sighs:"That I will be careful and I will listen to you."

Karl:"Ok. Go ahead."

She lays on the ground and aims the rifle.

*pop*pop*pop*pop*pop*

She knocked down all the cans on the posts.

*pop*pop*pop*pop*pop*

All the cans on the fence were down. She really was an excellent shot. She looked at her uncle and they both smiled. Then a crow landed on the fence and Karl got angry:"God I hate those crows. They keep going after my chickens. I gotta remember to put up more scarecro-"

*pop*

The crow fell. Carla shot it. She looked at her uncle who had a surprised look on his face:"I'm sorry, I didn't know if I was supposed to-"

Karl pat her on the head and laughed:"Good job."

Carla:"You're not mad."

Karl:"Hell no! I'm glad. One less crow to deal with."

Carla smiled. She helped out her uncle and it made her happy:"You think... you think I'll be a good sniper? Like grandpa?"

Her grandfather, Manfred Gutenberg, was a sniper in the German army during WW2. While he didn't care for Nazi ideology, as a soldier he had a duty to uphold. He participated in many operations in Eastern Europe, but was killed in 1944 by the Russian sniper, Vasili Zaitsev.

Her uncle had a concerned look:"Carla, you shouldn't want things like that. Your grandfather, he-"

Carla:"I know he was killed. Mom told me. But I'm a good shot. Plus, the wars are over. I'm not gonna be going on battlefields."

Karl sighed:"Yes. You would be good. But it's not something to be taken lightly. The wars might be over but you never know when a new one might come."

Carl:"I know. That's why I want to be ready. I'll be the best and no one will get me."

Karl smiled and patted her on the head:"Let's go home. Your auntie's done with the dinner."

They packed up and head back to the house.

———————————————————

(Three years later)

September, 1999

Stuttgart, Germany

It's the end of the junior shooting finale. Only three contestants were left and they were standing on their own podium. The announcer walked by with a microphone to announce the winners:"The results are in ladies and gentlemen! Third place goes to Lucas Schneider!"

The crowd applauded and Lucas received his medal.

Announcer:"Second place goes to Manfred Müller!"

Same deal as with Lucas.

Announcer:"And first place, not a surprise to most of you I'm sure, for the third year in a row, the winner of the German national shooting championship, Carla Franberg!"

The crowd goes wild. Carla won for the third time. She yelled out:"YEAH!", at the top of her longs. The other two contestants weren't mad either. In fact, they respected her greatly.

Lucas shot 189/200 and Manfred shot 194/200, while Carla shot a perfect 200/200. There is only a handful of people that can do that and she was able to do it at this age. She was truly gifted.

After the competition she went home. When she got back, her parents and older sister were beyond proud of her. He sister wanted to give a present to celebrating, so she gave her a Walkman with a special mix tape.

Carla:"What is it?"

Sister:"Just listen to it."

She played the music. It was Coolio's Gangsta's paradise. She moved her head in the beat:"This is great! What is it!"

Sister:"It's American rap. I'm glad you like it. Play the next one."

She played the next song. It was MC Hammer Can't touch this.

The two sisters spent the day and the night dancing and singing to the songs.

Their mom finally came in their room:"Will you shut up already! We are trying to sleep!"

The sisters stopped singing and went to bed. But were still whispering the songs.

—————————————————

(Nine years later)

May, 2008

Bergen-Hohne Training Area, Lüneburg Heath Germany

Carla joined the military at the age of 21. She underwent standard NATO training and earned the rank of a Sargent. But she wasn't happy because she wanted to be a sniper and not a normal infantry unit.

She joined the sniper training program in fall of 2007 and was doing very well. Most of the men there were very impressed including the officers. Some considered her to me the best sniper since Matthias Hetzenauer.

Everything was great... except her attitude. She hated following orders and listening to others, often just playing her music and chewing gum while ignoring her superiors. She was also pretty annoying and not a lot of people liked her for that.

She figured they can't kick her out due to her skill and she was right to a certain degree. Her skills were top notch without a doubt, but her personality makes her a wild card.

Her commanding officer, major Tobias Wagner, was especially annoyed. She denied almost all his orders and he was on the edge of just shooting her to make the headache go away.

Tobias:"Franberg!"

Carla stood up from her spot:"Yeah?"

Tobias:"Don't 'yeah' me Sargent! You're not shooting your targets, communicating with your spotter and still listening to that music! Do you want me to kick you out for good?!"

Carla:"First of all, the targets are too easy so I don't bother, second, my spotter is and idiot who can't do his job and third... don't talk shit about MC Hammer."

Tobias:"Too easy? So you're confident that you can hit targets further away?"

Carla:"Exactly."

Tobias:"Well then! I guess it shouldn't be a problem beating the Bergen-Hohne record of 950 meters!"

Carla pops a bubble:"That's it? Make it a kilometre."

Tobias stuttered:"What?"

Carla:"No. Make it 1,100 meters."

Tobias:"But you-"

Carla:"Did I stutter?"

Tobias pondered but then smiled:"Ok let's make a deal. If you hit that target, I will get you to rank of gunnery-Sargent. However! If you miss. You will drop out. Completely."

Carla took out the gum out of her mouth and put it in his hand:"Hold this for me."

She came up to her sniper:"Well go! Set up my target!"

Tobias:"Müller, go!" He thought:"Does she actually think she can do it? No. She's bluffing. The man that made the record missed several times. And she has to hit a target in one shot, from even further away. She's done."

Müller set up the target at 1,100 meters. Carla laid on the ground and gripped her rifle. She pressed the stock against her cheek. The only muscle she was using was her trigger finger. Everything else was still. Her eyes focused on that one target. The rest of the world was gone, non-existent. She became one with her rifle. She lined up the shot, took a deep breath, slowly pulled the trigger.

*BANG*

No one said a word. They were all looking at Müller, the spotter. Tobias was the first to speak:"Well? Report!"

Müller said nothing. His jaw dropped. He slowly put down his binoculars:"Dead centre, sir. She hit the target, dead centre."

Tobias couldn't believe this. She actually hit the target. From that range.

Carla stood up and took the gum from Tobias:"Thank you. I'll go take a nap and wait for my promotion. See ya."

Carla left and everyone else just stood there in pure amazement and shock.

———————————————————

(One year later)

July, 2009

Gurar, Kenya

A pick up truck with eight armed men was driving down a road. Behind them, was a large white truck with two men.

On the way, the men in the pick up were talking.

Driver:"Our haul wasn't that good today."

Man 1:"As longs as we get paid."

Man 2:"Yeah but, we could've done better."

Man 3:"It's because we keep going to the same places. We need to expand east."

Driver:"And risk problems with the Somalis?You know we had an agreement to stay on our side of the border."

Man 4:"Hey. The truck stopped."

The men pulled over. The four who were in the back got out to check what happened. When they got close enough, they saw two holes and blood. They yelled at the driver to start the start the truck.

But it was too late. A bullet came through the windshield and shot him in the head, blowing a large hole. Then another that shot the man next to him. The other two ducked behind the seats. One peaked to see what's going on. Mistake. A bullet hit him right in the forehead, and his brain splattered on the seats. The fourth one panicked and hid.

The four outside were shooting the direction of the shots. But two of them were quickly taken cared of. The last two ran behind the large truck. One didn't make and was shot in the back. He flopped with a large hole in his chest.

The last one started hyperventilating. He was terrified. After a few moments he decided to peek slightly with his left eye. Another mistake, a bullet pierced his eye and a quarter of his head was gone.

About 300 meters away, a ghillied soldier stood up with his rifle. The soldier walked to the trucks and opened fire with an SMG.

The man inside just held his head down and hopped he won't die. The shots stopped quickly. The man slowly took his gun, but then he saw something fall in the seats. But before he could react.

*BOOM*

The pick up was gone. The soldier walked to the large truck and opened it, only to find a horrid sight. Around 20 half naked people, starving and scared. A few were children, but mostly women. The huddled to the front to get away from the soldier.

In order to reassure them, the soldier took of his helmet. To their surprise, it was a young blond woman with blue eyes. Her face was camouflaged, but they knew she wasn't African.

Soldier:"Don't worry, I'm taking you home."

A man holding a child spoke up:"Who are you?"

She smiled:"My name is Carla. I'm a sniper."

She closed the truck and hopped into the driver seat. She turned the truck and drove off.

End of Intermission

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