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.There was nothing.I took my eye away from the scope, looking at my house with my naked eyes, trying to formulate a plan.The patchwork of plywood covering the first floor windows prevented me from seeing what was inside.My fortifications to the house were going to make it nearly impossible to get inside without getting cut to pieces.We were no match for their weapons in a close quarter shootout.They knew it and we knew it.As I was trying to figure our next step, the front door opened.A lone man dressed in black fatigues sauntered onto the wood porch and stopped three feet in front of the door.“What can I do for you, Deputy?” he asked, his voice muffled by the gas mask he was wearing.He was pushing six-two and was carrying two hundred and twenty pounds of pure muscle.His black hair was cut high and tight.He matched Matt’s description of the shooter at the Jones’ house.The swagger in his step as he walked out the door told of confidence in his ability to walk away from the situation unscathed.His arrogance was probably born in battle and deserved.“I’m here to take you into custody for questioning in regards to the murder of Will Jones,” I yelled back, knowing that he wouldn’t surrender.At least, I hoped he wouldn’t.“You Connor?” he asked through the gas mask, his voice still distorted.“I am,” I said.“Well, that’s funny because I’m here to take you into custody.We know you’ve been exposed.We can’t let you run around and infect everyone else in the country.” He shifted his weight to his right foot, which was slightly behind of his left.“I’m immune to the infection,” I yelled back.“I was exposed nearly nine hours ago.If I were infected, I would be dead already.Call your commander.They can verify with the CDC.” I wasn’t going to talk much longer.It was already dusk and would soon be dark.They likely had night vision.Even without it, once darkness settled in, they could come out of the house without being seen and surround us.We wouldn’t have a chance.“I already have my orders.I am taking you into custody for the good of the country.”“Sort of like you took Will Jones into custody?” I asked.“It sounds like you know how this works.Don’t make it harder than it has to be,” he barked at me.“Once it’s dark, you don’t have a chance.I know you won’t leave your family, so make it easy and give up.”While we were talking, I slowly repositioned my rifle so that it was pointing at the front door.I had been moving my head closer to the scope without actually looking through it.I was unsure what my final play was going to be until he brought Katie and Toby into the equation.I had been sure they were already dead.Now he was insinuating that they were alive.It changed things.I didn’t believe he hadn’t already killed them, but if there was a chance they were alive, I was bound by my duty as a husband and father to defend them.I dropped my head to the scope.He realized what I was doing and quickly back stepped to the door.He crossed the threshold as I eased the trigger rearward.The gun spit the empty shell out the right side.It clattered across the hood of the car and spun off into the dirt.The explosion in the chamber had driven the bolt back, then the spring in the rifle’s stock pushed the bolt forward.The bolt picked up another cartridge from the magazine as it moved back to the locked position.The violence of the explosion within the gun caused it to jump just enough that I lost my sight picture through the scope.When the after effects of the explosion subsided, the scope realigned with the target, which was now prostrate on the floor.I steadied the gun, searching for another target.A second man dressed in black darted into view through the open doorway, bent down, and grabbed the collar of his fallen commander to pull him to safety.I squeezed the trigger a second time, sending another empty case skittering across the hood.Before the case skipped off the hood and into the dirt, a second body was laying on the floor of the entryway to my house.An instant later, my bedroom window shattered.I pulled my head down and took cover behind the front wheel of the car as the edge of the hood where I had been kneeling was instantly shredded.Rapid pings were followed by high pitched zings as the bullets ricocheted harmlessly off the hood of the car.Matt opened up with his rifle to my left.He had opted for a red dot sight rather than a scoped rifle.Two hundred yards was a long shot for a red dot sight, especially while under fire.His first shot gave away his position as a short burst of flame extended from the barrel of his gun in the darkening twilight.I heard the rapid staccato of a second gunman opening fire with an automatic weapon and I saw the hail of bullets tear up the bark around Matt’s head.He quickly withdrew behind the tree and the fire ceased.I belly crawled toward the front bumper to get into position for another shot.As I peered around the front of the car, I saw two men run to the right from behind the house.They must have exited the rear door.They were going to flank us.I let loose with two quick shots.Neither shot found its mark, but they did force the targets to stop advancing and seek cover.We couldn’t stay where we were for long or we would be pinned down, but we also couldn’t move because it was over one hundred yards to the next closest cover.“We have two moving to the right,” I yelled to Matt as the dirt exploded in front of me.I was forced back behind the wheel and engine block by another rapid round of gunfire that left my face stinging from small rocks the bullets had kicked up.Matt fired three more rounds before he was forced to retreat behind the tree again by a flight of hungry bullets.With the attention on Matt, I quickly scooted to the side and fired a barrage at the area where I had last seen the two contractors take cover.The gunman upstairs forced me back behind cover.The fire suddenly stopped.I took it as a cue that he was reloading.I popped up to my knees and aimed through the window.I couldn’t see anything so I started walking my shots to the left, knowing that the bullets would easily pass through the wall I assumed he was using for cover.The bullets didn’t find their mark and he quickly forced me back behind cover once his reload was completed.We were out of the stated “effective range” of the MP5 submachine guns, but they still seemed to be very “effective.” I hadn’t been hit, but everything around me had been riddled with bullets.“Movement to the left,” Matt shouted between shots, letting me know that another gunman had exited the house and was trying to out position us.I had spent the last five years anticipating a gunfight.Now, I was in my fourth shooting of the day, wishing I could go back to anticipating what it would be like to be shot at and return fire [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]