“Charlie One, report your position.” The General said.
“East of the City hall. I can see the hostages through the windows of the Office of the Governor.” One of the snipers said.
“There are how many of them?”
“Four. The Governor, his secretary, and two more.” The sniper replied.
“Must be the priest and the pastor. Hold your position. Let’s do these men before the sunrise appears.” The General said.
The General put his hand on the air and gestured his signal to enter the City hall. The first group went to the west wing of the City Hall. They quickly positioned themselves and hid on the tables. The leader of the group surveyed the area and signed four on his fingers. There were four rebels, and the Army simultaneously fired on them. It was an easy shot as the guns of the Army has silencers.
“West wing, all clear!” The Leader said after he surveyed the area again.
“Nice one. Hold your positions.” The General said.
“Bravo Two, reporting. Three Snipers spotted.” The Army’s second sniper said.
“What’s their position? Over.” The General responded.
“Rebel sniper on top of the City hall. The other on the west roof, and one on the east.”
“Charlie One and Delta Five, focus on the hostages. Bravo Two aim the top, Zulu Three shut the sniper on the west, and Tango Four aim for the east. Shoot to kill. I repeat, shoot to kill.” The General ordered their snipers.
“Roger that.” All the Army snipers responded. In one pull of the trigger, they all aimed for the head. Their movements were so precise because one mistake can ruin their plans.
“Men down.” Bravo Two said.
The second Army troop entered from the back of the City hall. The group leader surveyed the area. He raised his five fingers as he saw five rebels. Fortunately, four of them were sleeping. The leader held his hand high, to stop his men. He quietly approached the rebel who’s awake. The Group leader grabbed the rebel’s neck and choked him to death. He instructed his men to hide and position themselves behind the stairs and the tables. Then the leader gave a sign to fire the four rebels.
“South of the hall, all clear.” The leader reported to the General.
Then the General’s group went in the east of the building, but the rebels were already in position. The rebels immediately fired the Army, and one of them got hit on the arm. The army lied on the ground and hid under the staircase. The General surveyed the floor and saw that there were just three rebels. He raised his three fingers and instructed his men to where they will shoot. They pulled their triggers in sync, then the rebels’ blood was flowing on the floor.
“Clear!” The General said. Then they moved up to the Governor’s office.
“Charlie One, we’re moving up. What’s the situation?” The General said, but there was no response.
The Army is approaching the Governor’s office while other troops were protecting the grounds. The General held his hand on the air with fist closed.
“Delta Five, are you there? Over.” The General asked again.
“General.” Delta Five said.
“What’s the status inside?”
“They knew they are under attack. We have the numbers as there are just four rebels inside. But all hostages have a gun on their head. The Governor has a bomb on his body.”
“Hold your fire. We’ll go in.” The General invaded the Governor’s office with another Army officer.
Charlie One knew someone was coming from his back. As he turned his head, a rebel punched him in the face. It was so hard that he felt dizzy, and gave his blood on his lower lip.
“That’s the best you’ve got?” Charlie One said as he split the blood and shook his head. The rebel pulled a knife from his waist.
“Bring it on, bitch.” Charlie One challenged.
The rebel ran towards him and tried to stab the sniper sideways. The sniper blocked his hand, punched the rebel’s stomach and kicked his groin. The rebel fell back on his back. As the sniper ran over him to hit his face, the rebel rolled to the other side and pushed Charlie One away from him. They both stood up on their fighting stance.
“Let’s finish soon. I’ve got lives to save.” Charlie One challenged the rebel. This time, Charlie One ran towards the rebel. The sniper pulled out his knife and tried to stab it on the rebel’s chest. The sniper was fast, but the rebel dodged every hit. The rebel punched Charlie One, but he grabbed his hand and twisted his arm. Charlie one pointed the knife at the rebel’s throat.
“Last words? Because you are dead.” Charlie One threatened the rebel. Then he thrust the knife on the rebel’s throat and pushed him away.
“Stop this already.” The General said soon as they entered the Governor’s office.
“Drop your guns, or I’ll blow this place.” The rebel showed the remote of the bomb.
“Will you surrender, or you wish to die?” The General strongly said.
“It’s just one of the many General. You should know better.” The rebel laughed while the hostages are crying. The General wanted to fire his gun, but their other sniper is still not responding.
“I’ve got my aim to the rebel holding the pastor.” Delta Five spoke through their in-ears. The General aimed the rebel holding the Governor, while the soldier had his rifle at the rebel taking the secretary. He knew he has to make a choice. The bomb is counting down, and there were three more minutes before it blows.
“Charlie One, reporting in. Sorry for the delay, General. I’ve had a visitor.” The General smiled in relief.
“Save the priest.” the General muttered to Charlie One.
“I gave you a chance to stay alive, but you blew it.” The General said boldly.
“FIRE!” The General shouted, and in a split second, there were gunshots at one time. The hostages closed their eyes as blood splashed all over the Governor’s office.
“Get the other hostages out. Call the bomb expert! Hurry!” The General checked the bombed, but he has no idea how to diffuse it.
“Can we just remove it?” The Governor asked in a weak voice.
“We can’t. It’ll explode. Please, stay with us.” The General said, then the Bomb Expert came in with two minutes left on the bomb’s timer.
“It’s a computer-operated bomb. There’s no way we can diffuse it. We need the chip.” The bomb expert said.
“What?! What chip?” The General was irritated.
“It is programmed to blow up. And I can’t stop it unless we find the chip.”
“I saw them threw it away. Just leave me here.” The governor said as he lost hope.
“No! Can’t you hack it? At least try!” The General begged in desperate.
“Look for a chip!” The general ordered his men, but it was difficult to see in the dark.
The bomb expert started to type in some codes, but it was denied. The Governor, The General, and the bomb expert were breathing hard with fifty-nine seconds left on the clock. At forty-six seconds, one of the troops shouted.
“I found a chip!” One of the Army men ran towards the Bomb expert.
With thirty seconds left the General instructed his men to abandon the area.
General sat beside the governor while the bomb expert still defusing the bomb. The bomb reached the last five seconds when the bomb expert pressed the enter button of the computer, but the timer didn’t stop.
“It was nice working with you, gentlemen.” The General said genuinely.
They all closed their eyes as the bomb reached zero, but it didn’t explode. After a few more seconds, they all smiled and immediately removed it to the Governor’s body.