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Devon clapped him on the back, then ducked low to get out of sight. “If it attacks, just throw him some of your dried fruit. Might distract him from taking a bite out of you.”
Leif gave him the finger, then crawled forward to get in position. “Fuck you.”
We moved out, carefully placing each step in the same spot as the person in front of us, guns at the ready. Once we’d made it about halfway down the hill, Devon raised his hand, then pointed to the ground.
They’d strung a fine wire from one tree to another at knee height. We all stepped over it, making sure not to disturb it.
We found two more wires and three IEDs. These guys didn’t mess around. The tight security would make getting inside more difficult but not impossible.
A wire fence surrounded the compound, the top covered in barbed wire. While I was grateful I didn’t have to scale any walls today, I also knew a fence like this was often electrically charged, making it harder to get through than a solid wall, no matter how high it was.
Jonas was already at the fence, holding the metal end of his wire cutter against it. The rubber handle would protect him if there was any electricity on the fence.
Once he was certain he wouldn’t get fried, he cut a hole in it. The position we’d chosen was hidden from view by one of the two outbuildings. While doing recon, we’d discovered that none of the guards seemed to walk past this spot, making it our best chance at getting inside undetected.
Once we were through the fence, Jonas patched it back up so it looked undisturbed. There was one camera, but it pointed to the corner of the building, leaving a huge blind spot.
We made our way to the building, staying as low as possible. Night had fallen, and the darkness provided extra cover.
“Guard coming from your left,” Leif’s voice sounded on our comms, and we all jumped behind a burnt-out car. The guard stopped, and we lifted our weapons, but when all he did was open his zipper and take a piss, we relaxed again.
Once done, he disappeared the way he came, and we continued along the side of the building.
There was one part of our plan that we hadn’t quite figured out yet. Because to get from the outbuilding to the main part, we had to cross a courtyard. It would only expose us for a few seconds, but there was no coverage.
When we’d made it to the edge of the building, we stopped, waiting for Leif to give us the all clear.
“Two guys just came out of the building, but they’re walking away from you,” he said.
After a few seconds of silence, he came back on. “They’re gone. Go now.”
Jonas would stay behind as a backup, and Devon and I sprinted across the muddy ground. We hadn’t seen anyone use a key or code to get in, so our chances were pretty good that it wasn’t locked. But there were always unknowns with any operation.
The door opened when Devon pushed the handle down, and we rushed inside, praying there wouldn’t be a surprise waiting for us.
The dimly lit hallway was empty, giving us a chance to explore the building. There were several closed doors on each side. It was eerily quiet until we reached the end of the hall. A shrill shout filled the air, and then a child cried.
Devon crept closer to the door, then put his ear against it. His body grew tighter the longer he listened, his gun shaking in this hand.
A nod in my direction was the signal I’d been waiting for. He was certain the hostages were inside. Seemed like we got lucky for once.
He carefully pushed down the handle, then threw the door open. He fired off three shots before I was in the room. Once I rushed in behind him, two men lay dead on the floor. Our hostages were screaming, unsure if we were more bad news.
Devon rushed forward, cutting the ties binding the woman’s wrists together. “Your husband hired us. My name’s Devon. I’m here to take you home.”
I freed the kids, who were shaking and crying but otherwise seemed unharmed. As soon as everyone’s arms were free, they huddled together.
We didn’t have the luxury of time, so their breakdown had to wait. We ushered them into the hallway, Devon taking the lead, me covering our rear.
We stopped at the door that would lead us back into the courtyard, and Devon carefully opened it, glancing outside. Leif had been quiet, and so had Jonas. We either didn’t have reception in the building or nobody knew what was happening yet.
After a few tense seconds, Devon gave the signal for us to follow him outside. The sprint across the courtyard was a lot slower going back. Once we were halfway across, someone stepped out from behind the building where Jonas had been waiting.
Recognizing our teammate, we didn’t slow down. But when we were only a few steps away, we saw the tight expression on his face and the gun pointed at his head.
We stopped, leaving ourselves exposed in the wide-open courtyard.
“Put your guns down,” a heavily accented voice ordered. That they knew we spoke English wasn’t a good sign.
