chapter 6

Chapter six

The herd fled, and we recoiled, seeking shelter beside the cars. Bullets struck everywhere, shattering glass and kicking up clouds of dust around us. I ducked and crouched, my head down. A man behind our car screamed, then collapsed, seemingly hit. As he tried to crawl away, they showed him no mercy. Gunfire rained down on him until he was dead. They were firing from the left side of the valley and from the front. Our cars were lined up along the right side of the valley, caught in a death trap. I was pinned down alongside a man, both of us using rear of the car for Cover. Any moment would expose us to the enemy, who had a positional advantage. I could hear the shouts of men. Timar quickly chambered his weapon, firing bursts in a furious outcry toward the attackers ahead. But those on the flank blindsided him. A bullet hit him in the face, silencing him instantly, his body slumping backward, lifeless. I threw myself down, taking cover beneath the car overwhelmed by a terror so paralyzing that everything became a blur. I couldn't hear for a moment, as if I had lost touch with reality. The fear had taken over, my body weak with panic and confusion. As I tried to shove my head under the car, i saw his eyes staring at me.

Razil lay on the ground, his rifle on his chest, blood pooling beneath him. A bullet had struck his left cheek. The eyes staring at me were lifeless. He hadn't survived the onslaught from the side, where qunfire was still pouring down, bullets striking the ground near him and pinging off the underside of the car. I froze, shocked, feeling my chest tighten. I reached toward him without thinking. Something burned the skin between my thumb and forefinger. I looked at my hand, now dripping with blood. At that moment, my hearing returned, along with the sharp pain. The red-haired man

"pulled me back. "You'll get killed, you idiot!"

I returned to my position by the rear tire of the car, while he crouched behind me, his eyes wide with fear. l couldn't blame him. Glancing to the side, I spotted Boris, also taking cover behind their car with another man. The vehicle in front of them provided cover from the frontal fire we were enduring. They were shooting blindly, without aiming, as the incoming fire was too heavy. Finally, Boris noticed me and yelled, "You!" I could only stare at him in terror, my ears still ringing.

"You, idiot!" His words finally broke through.

"Yes, yes, I hear you "

"Can't you see what we're in?"

"And what do yOu expeCt me to do, huh? What?"

He glanced toward the truck that was shielding them. Smoke and flames were rising from the lead car in the convoy, consumed by the heavy fire.

"Look at me!" Boris shouted.

"Mardins sniper rifle. Take it."

"Who the hell is Mardin ?!"

He exploded with anger, "The dead sniper in your car.. Take his rifle!"

"Dead?!"

I crept forward, staying low, and opened the rear door. A volunteer tumbled out, drenched in blood, already dead. All four men in the car were dead. I noticed a large, bloody hole in the back of the driver's head, matching the size of the hole in the windshield on the driver's side. It could mean only one thing: a sniper. Mardin's sniper rifle, which he hadn't had the chance to use, was beside him. I crawled forward, stretching out my hand to grab it. The rifle was slick with blood, and the enemy was still firing at us and Boris's car from the side. After pulling the rifle out and closing the door, I shouted,

"?!What now"

It took Boris a moment to respond, preoccupied with returning fire. He finally turned and shouted, "There are a few of them ahead of us and to our left.

"ill throw a smoke grenade. You and whoever's with you will cross to the other side, take Cover behind that boulder, and take out their machine gun so we can retaliate more effectively."

I Nodded in agreement, then turned to the man behind me and said,

"Damnit. What does that even mean?"

It wasn't the noise of the battle that had made Boris's words incomprehensible to me. I just didn't understand what he was saying. The red-haired man. trembling, replied, "Do you see that big rock on the other side?"

"Yes?"

"He wants us to get behind it and engage the ones in front so they can deal with those on the side"

"That's suicide."

"Yeah... We're doomed."

At that moment Boris shouted, "Alright, On my signal!" He grabbed a cylindrical grenade. "l'm not ready!" I yelled, but he didn't hear me. He lobbed the grenade into the road, and it exploded, sending up a thick cloud of smoke. Boris roared at us

"?!What are you waiting for you cowards"

"Oh, damn it,"

muttered the man beside me before dashing across the road, trying to use the smoke as cover. "Wait!" I tried to follow, nearly stumbling. My legs were shaking, almost dead. I used the long sniper rifle to steady myself, pushing my body to its limits. I ran after him, my legs unsteady, on the verge of collapse. Just as I was following him, something hit the side of his head with such force that his head

snapped sideways. There was a muffled thud, and blood sprayed out as his upper body twisted and slammed into the ground, his head hitting the dirt first, followed by the rest of his body. It was as his terrified soul had suddenly fled his body.

in that horrifying instant. stumbled over him, hearing bullets crack the air above me. Clutching the rifle, I crawled behind the large rock at the roadside. My hands shook uncontrollably, gripped by the fever of fear. I looked down at the sniper rifle in my lap. It was a Tofonov, unfamiliar to me. I had never trained with it, never even touched it before. I sat there, bewildered. Everything I had just witnessed threatened to shatter my sanity. The speed of it all made it seem unreal. I glanced back at the dead man in front of me, then at Razil's body, and another nearby. No, damn it, this is real! They were alive just moments ago I heard a faint voice calling my name repeatedly. It was Boris! But something kept my mind locked in a tighter grip than all of this. Bullets were still striking near Razil's body and the car, which was already riddled with small holes. Those bastards were still shooting at Razil.. They were still shooting at Razil! Wasn't he dead? Why don't they leave him alone?!

The sniper rifle was similar to the AK, but longer and slimmer. That meant it would operate similarly. I felt a burning sensation in my chest and head, a mixture of pain and insane rage. Adrenaline surged through my body. I took a breath, peered through the scope and and exposed

just enough myself. to see the enemy of

bursts at the cars. The center of the reticle was a triangular shape (^) with range markings underneath. That was all | needed. I didn't understand the other markings. There were four of them, using the rocky terrain for cover. One of them had a PKM machine gun braced on a rock, spraying bullets toward Boris's position, kicking up dust around him. I lined up the reticle on his distant face, steadied my shoulder for the recoil, and pulled the trigger.

Tajov!

The bullet hit his white scarf, and he toppled forward, collapsing to the side, dead. The others ducked for cover as the familiar crack of the sniper rifle echoed across the valley. I targeted them one by one. The next man, trying to reach the machine gun, took a bullet to the eye. He reacted as if Something had entered his eye but quickly succumbed, his brain registering the fatal blow, and he fell backward, embracing death.

It took me three shots to kill the third due to the distance. With the machine gun fire halted, Boris and his men were able to engage those on the side of the valley. I was positioned below them, relatively speaking. The skirmish continued. Then I noticed a militant seemingly appear out of nowhere above. Boris and his group, tossing a grenade. I heard screams. The grenade exploded. It happened behind the cars, so I couldn't see what transpired, but I kept my scope trained on the same area. As the militant prepared to throw another grenade, I managed to shoot him in the chest. He fell forward, and the grenade exploded with him, right where Boris had been. I was left unsure of what to do next. I didn't know how many of them there were or how long this would last. Time seemed to drag on in a slow, terrifying loop. I had no idea how many bullets were left in my magazine, and i had forgotten my rifle behind the car. I didn't know if Boris was alive or if he had met the same fate as the others.

"They're fleeing!"

A fierce, youthful voice called out from behind the car | had taken cover behind. It was Boris! I could see his bloodied face peeking out from behind the car.

"Where's the rest?"

"They're dead... There's still a sniper out there, covering their retreat."

I remained confused, unsure of what had happened or what would happen next