Chapter 4
'The Welcome Party'
… "-move in and terminate all suspected hostiles with extreme prejudice. Fyodorov has made contact, and we traced his signal. Confirmed that Detective Wolford is compromised and being held hostage in the church, and wounded- Knife wound to the upper leg and shoulder. Unconfirmed, Fyodorov may be there too…"
"Copy that Chief,"
"Team 4 is KIA, and the other two teams are pinned down with casualties and requesting backup… but they are keeping the majority of Fyodorov's mammals occupied the best they can… that means it's up to you. Get to Wolford first… Doctors have predicted his bleed out time is approximately 63 minutes considering his most recent records… but these are only estimates without knowing the degree of his injuries… he could be dead in a few hours or as low as 3 minutes… With that SAM site in operation there's no way to bring in air support… So for now… you're on your own. The main mission objective still stands; bring in Fyodorov alive; dead if you have to."
"Roger that… we'll get it done… out," Grizzoli turned off his radio.
The squad had regrouped together in a small alcove at the back of an abandoned shop, where even the dumpsters had abandoned it. The alcove was bare, with only a few strands of rubbish. Only the stained grey concrete covered the floor, dullened by the shade of the building behind it.
"So what's the situation?" Mchorn asked.
"Team 4 is down, and the others aren't doin much better…" Grizzoli answered as he checked over his weapon.
"Crap…" Mchorn mumbled.
"And Michael's got a hole in his leg and shoulder and bleeding out…" the Lion continued.
"Sh*t…" Delgato said.
"And we've got no air support…"
"Fu*k," Fang muttered.
"Or backup… for now,"
"So it's down to us? That sounds about right-" Delgato jeered.
"We're heading to the church first-" Grizzoli began.
"What about the chopper?" Fang interrupted, "Shouldn't we find the crash site and check for survivors?"
"No, it's not our mission,"
"But-"
"Fang, I'm aware of your concern for her but I need you to stay focussed," Grizzoli ordered, "There's far more lives at stake if we fail,"
The Wolf huffed; "Alright Sarge…"
"We're heading for the church…" Grizzoli continued, "that's our new objective… but we should expect only light resistance… the other two teams have most of the attention,"
"Oh, fantastic…" Delgato sneered, "I knew I shoulda taken the day off…"
Nick just stayed silent in this conversation… but he definitely shared the sentiments of the others. Huh, he could almost be mad at Judy for telling him confidently that he had to go on without her for this one…
Nick sighed quietly.
He missed her.
He would deny that to the death, but he did. But he was also very glad she wasn't here… and if he didn't mean that now, he would definitely mean it soon...
Delgato looked out from the alcove, still greeted by nothing but the run-down scenery before them all, illuminated by the morning sunshine…. Not a soul in sight.
He pulled his head back into the alcove; "It's too quiet… if all the other teams have contact, why not us?"
"I don't know… that's what worries me…" Grizzoli responded, "… we need to be cautious,"
"I also don't get, this place… how can this area be so run-down and deserted?" Mchorn questioned, "It's like a western ghost town in the middle of the biggest city in the world…"
"No, that's exactly what it is…" Delgato sniggered.
Nick suddenly decided to pipe up; "You know that small rabies outbreak about seventeen years ago?" they were all looking at him now, as Nick pointed downwards, "This was ground zero…"
"Then... What th- !" Fang had to stop himself exclaiming, so he toned his voice to a serious whisper; "Why the FU*K aren't we in hazmat suits!?"
"The CDC quarantined the area and… sterilised it…" Nick explained, "… after that no-one wanted to move back in, those that were still alive that is… hence the ghost town…"
"That didn't answer my question…"
"It's not like this place was much better even before that happened anyway," Nick continued, "I always thought they named the place 'Happytown' as some kind of bad joke…"
"You seem know your stuff about this place Nick…" Delgato probed.
"That's because I used to live here…" he answered begrudgingly.
There was a moments silence as Fang, Mchorn and Delgato quickly looked between each other.
"Rough…" Fang commented sincerely.
"Uh-huh…" Nick muttered, obviously trying to avoid the subject, "Now don't we have a mission to do?"
"Well said," Grizzoli remarked; "We need to keep moving… remember, Wolford's counting on us… So eyes wide and ears up guys… And keep your tails close,"
One by one the group departed the alcove, carefully checking their surroundings. Another few minutes of silence passed as they moved another block forward, still going cover to cover with caution. Five blocks in, and still nothing… almost half of the mile they had to cover.
Each passing second of quiet just made Nick more relieved, and even more nervous. It would happen to any mammal in their right mind, especially if they were wearing tactical gear, and knew they were facing heavily armed criminals hell bent on killing anyone in their way...
He'd seen this in the movies before… any time where the apparently elite SWAT Team wandered into somewhere seemingly against little or no resistance, never ended well…
The silence was now getting on Grizzoli's nerves; he ordered the squad to regroup again.
"Still no-contact…" The Lion muttered, "This silence is fu*kin killing me,"
"Could mean we're heading for an ambush? …" Delgato pondered.
"Possibly…"
All of a sudden, Nick remembered something. They were all thinking about this too logically… too humanely. They were animals; no matter how evolved, they had heightened senses…
"Wait… we're downwind here, right?" He asked to anyone.
"Yea…" Grizzoli spoke.
Nick turned to Fang; "Do you smell anything?"
Immediately recognising the idea, the Wolf raised his nose, taking in a few sniffs and immediately picking up several unrecognised odours.
"I smell a tiger that needs a wash… and a very nervous fox…"
The group looked between Nick and Delgato.
"Hey… don't look at me," the Tiger began pretentiously, "I showered this morning…"
"Or me… I might be nervous, but I haven't pissed myself…" Nick said scathingly, "Plus I smell them too… and several others,"
Nick and Fang looked between each other as they stared up the road, both of them having the greatest sense of smell of the group.
"How far do you think?" the Fox asked.
"Fifty metres, give or take… a group of them- eight maybe… using the rubble of the collapsed building as cover…" the Wolf theorised.
They looked to Grizzoli. He nodded, and ordered;
"Move up, take positions,"
Advancing again, Nick and Fang took point, reaching the cover of a rusted old car in the centre of the road. Grizzoli was close to them, also shielding behind an abandoned car; this one parked at the side of the pavement. Mchorn didn't need cover, he simply trundled forward with his humongous ballistic shield, while Delgato remained at the rear of the group, taking position behind a large concrete divider that was blocking a section of the street.
They had now moved up a good twenty metres, greatly closing the gap between the two groups of combatants, and yet… the silence remained.
Nick peeked up from behind the car to look through its murky windows up the street, quickly pulling himself back down.
"Why aren't they shooting? They know we're here…" He said restlessly.
"Maybe they want us to shoot first?" Fang questioned.
"Or they're waiting for something…" Grizzoli mused.
…
Delgato, at the back of the pack, was silent. He aimed down the scope of his battle rifle. There was no visible shot on the hostiles up the road, but he knew they were there… he could just about see them… a party of predators ready to pounce for the kill, but they made no movement.
This didn't feel right.
It really was, too quiet…
The Tiger changed his aim to gaze around, up the street and along the eaves of the buildings, scanning for anymore possible hostiles.
Changing his gaze again… He then looked up to the monolithic church tower at the top of the urban hillock, the stone tower clearly visible in the sunlight.
He really didn't like the look of that church tower… it was the prime position for a-
A small glint- like a tiny sun, appeared momentarily… then vanished…
That wasn't natural…
Delgato continued to stare at the church tower.
The glint appeared again.
And that's when he knew…
The sneaking around tactic wasn't working for him; Fang decided he'd try and get the enemy's attention to instigate the coming battle.
Little did he know… he already had it.
He muttered to Nick next to him:
"Stay here," –
…
Aloft his gargantuan stone plinth, he wielded the eyes of God… From here he could see everything, and everyone… and smite whom he wished.
The amber gem of the Cheetah's eye stared down the monocular telescopic sight of his Barrett M82.
Conditions were perfect.
External ballistics nominal.
He had a clear line of sight…
Five targets:
1 Wolf.
1 Rhino.
1 Lion.
1 Tiger.
1 Fox.
The crosshair was set to pounce, the trigger prepared to bite, the muzzle ready to roar… the bullet, waiting to kill…
He just needed to wait for them to make one false move-
- "Stay here,"
As Fang broke from the cover of the car he didn't notice the small broken brick to his right…
His head popped up as he began to move, exposing himself to the enemy. But as he went to run, he tripped over that small broken brick, making him stagger to his right.
How could he have known?
Who would have known…?
That small broken brick… would save his life…
…
The silence was broken by a deafening crack; a sniper rifle… the sound echoing from all around.
As Fang staggered, he could feel the .50 BMG bullet cut through the air the place where his head had been not but a second before; the air current ruffling the fur on the back of his neck… before it passed and slammed into the road to create a new gaping pothole…
"SNIPER!" Delgato yelled.
And then it all went to hell:
Nick flinched at the sound of the sniper rifle; it was enough to shudder most to their core. But after, he quickly peered up through the murky windows of the car again; his eyed widened in shock as he witnessed the group of eight mammals up the road simultaneously rise from the rubble, their weapons raised…
A moment later… and the street was alive with the sound of gunfire.
All with automatic weapons, the endless loud bangs, pops and cracks dominated their hearing as all the Officers immediately took to whatever cover they had.
Nick dived into Fang to drag him to the ground behind the abandoned car. The White Wolf was in a slight daze after realising he'd nearly bit the dust at that moment, as he and Nick shuffled back behind the vehicle, staying as low as possible.
"CONTACT FRONT!" Grizzoli yelled, blind firing a quick burst from his assault rifle.
"NO SH*T, SHERLOCK!" Fang shouted back sarcastically, clearly over his startle.
"CUT THE CRAP! RETURN FIRE!"
A brief ten seconds went by as the five mammal SWAT team took it in turns to pop up behind their cover and fire a burst or volley from their respective weapons. The eight armed criminals returning it cleanly, the only brief moment of quiet anyone got was when they had to reload.
Bullets flew everywhere, slamming into metal, concrete and glass… each making a distinctive sound as the copper jacketed lead projectiles found their resting place. The discharge of firearms, and the consistent ballistic impacts on the surroundings immediately started kicking up the dust. Sooner or later the visibility up the street was impaired from the airborne powder and smoke.
The obvious leader of the group of criminals; a rather scruffy looking lion was their current problem, he was vigorously firing his PKP machinegun in full auto, mainly at Mchorn's ballistic shield, and the old rusted vehicle that Nick and Fang were sheltering behind, forcing them to practically lie down on the ground for cover.
Grizzoli took a chance; peeking from his cover, he fired a quick burst that hit the lion across the chest. It only made the large cat angry. The other lion recovered from the shots, now blindly firing his MG by the trigger and the carry handle, barely aiming down the street with a mad roar to accompany the roar of his weapon.
Delgato soon put an end to that… firing several quick shots from his battle rifle that hit the lion in the chest and right through the neck… not recovering from it this time as he fell backwards to the floor.
But the distraction only gave the rest of the criminals a chance to reload. They returned from the cover of the rubble, firing their guns wildly towards the police…
But the SWAT Team was ready for them, Fang took the moment to glimpse from his cover with his carbine raised, so when the criminals returned to fire, he got a clean kill on one of them; firing a burst from his weapon, the bullets careened into the chest and shoulder of a dingo. Grizzoli too, made the same move, also getting a clean kill on another of the shooters… but the remaining few still returned fire relentlessly, forcing the SWAT Team back into cover to shield themselves from the flying lead.
They'd partially thinned out the shooters…
But the onslaught of ballistics continued… the SWAT Team was pinned…
That had to change.
Grizzoli called to their squad's juggernaut;
"Mchorn, fu*k 'em up!"
The Rhino planted his heavy mobile cover on the ground with a short metallic thud, giving himself a sound shooting position. He raised his machinegun;
"SUPPRESSING!" He roared as he let loose his M240 in full auto, sending a hailstorm of bullets up the street towards their attackers.
The enemy gunners all had to take cover as the police returned the ballistic barrage, one of them: the tiger, a bit too slowly; those prominent orange stripes quickly became dripping red stripes as he became one with the rubble.
"That sniper's still got a bead on us!" Delgato yelled from behind them as he popped up to fire a round from his battle rifle, swiftly planting a bullet into the head of another one of the shooters up the road.
"Did you see where from!?" Grizzoli replied.
"Scope glint… on the church tower!"
"Was a fu*kin .50 cal too!" Fang exclaimed, probably sounding more distressed than he meant to, quickly hiding it with a burst of his M4.
"You can tell from the sound!?" Nick asked beside him.
"And the size of the fu*kin bullet hole-" a round of bullets slamming into the car next him caused him to flinch back down… "Fu*kin hell! …" He then shouted over to Grizzoli; "… We need better cover than this!"
Grizzoli ducked back down into his cover of the parked car, quickly reloading then clutching one of the cylindrical canisters on his belt. He removed the pin with a hard tug and lobbed it up the street, calling; "Throwing smoke!"
"I meant real cover! Not fu*kin smoke!" Fang growled.
"Then get to that alley- sh*thead! Left side!" Grizzoli snarled in reply, as the smoke grenade began to bellow a torrent of orange gas, "Everyone move!"
Even with the cover of the smoke, bullets still flew up and down the street. In their cover behind the abandoned car, Fang quickly grabbed Nick's attention with a tap of his shoulder;
"You first! I got you covered!"
The Wolf peered out from behind the rusted vehicle, firing in short sharp bursts from his rifle. Nick, filled with adrenaline right now immediately bolted over to the next piece of cover that led to the alley of safety... yet another abandoned car, this time at the edge of the road.
"Come on!" the Fox called back to the Wolf.
Now it was Nick's turn to cover. Staying low to the ground he looked out with his MP5 raised, firing in the same short sharp bursts as his comrade. He returned to safety behind the vehicle as Fang swiftly slid through the dirt of the road gutter into the cover behind him.
One step closer to (almost) safety-
There was another echoing crack.
It was terrifying; even through the hail of gunshots, the sound of the far-off .50 calibre sniper rifle pierced the hearing of all, asserting its dominance of the most fearsome weapon in the encounter.
What was more terrifying was the question of where that bullet was going…
The sound of sheering metal suddenly perforated his hearing as Mchorn halted his fire, he looked down in shock at the gaping hole that had been left in his shield... Not but an inch away from his right leg. Not even his movable slab of armour plating could stop those .50 calibre BMG bullets.
Neither could his helmet…
He was glad he was leaning down at the time, an inch higher and it would have been a lot worse; as another crack of the sniper rifle went off, the bullet grazed the top of his shield, and then skimmed his helmet. He was put in an immediate daze as the ringing erupted through his hearing. It yanked his head right back, knocking the Rhino cleanly to the floor.
"Fu*k," Delgato muttered in shock.
"Rick!" Fang yelled as he rushed to the side of his fallen friend.
The Wolf took shelter behind the shield as he looked over the Rhino; he was quickly joined by the Lion.
"Drag him!" Grizzoli ordered, he and Fang immediately yanking on the straps of Mchorn's gear; "Delgato get the mobile cover, Wilde, covering fire!"
The Fox and the Tiger were there in a flash, following Grizzoli's orders.
Delgato strained a moan as he attempted to lift the movable cover, bullets still slamming into the opposite side; "God, this thing weighs fu*kin a tonne!"
"He weighs fu*kin a tonne!" Fang yelled, referring to the half-conscious Rhino he and Grizzoli were dragging.
Luckily for Nick, the smoke grenade and kicked up dust was doing most of the covering, as his submachinegun, while still effective at this range, was a bit measly compared to the larger weapons of his squad. Nevertheless, he stayed at the right edge of the shield peeking from behind to fire a few bursts from his gun in the general direction of the assailants.
They successfully reached the alley but suddenly, as Nick peeked back behind cover to reload he got a sudden shock as another thunderous crack of the sniper rifle echoed. The bullet hit the edge of the shield tearing the metal and blasting sparks away into Nick's face. It left him disoriented quickly, as he clasped his left paw to shield his eyes as well as being left with a ringing in his ears. He felt he was going to fall forwards into the firing line until he was suddenly pulled over backwards.
Delgato had noticed the small Fox's wobble and quickly outstretched a paw to grab and pull him backwards to safety.
"You alright?" the Tiger asked quickly.
Nick's breathing was heavy but he nodded in reply; "Thanks…"
Fang and Grizzoli had only just rested Mchorn in the backstreet as Nick and Delgato made it to (debatable) safety.
"Check the alley," the Lion ordered the Wolf.
Fang immediately stood, raising his weapon and proceeded down the passage to make sure it was clear. Delgato came to Grizzoli's side to tend to Mchorn while Nick stayed watch on the road, bullets were still slamming into the huge ballistic shield which the Tiger had left poked out of the entrance.
"Hey! HEY! Come on- Wake up ya mug!" Grizzoli fretted as he lightly tapped the Rhino's cheek.
Mchorn managed an inaudible groan and repeatedly blinked his eyes as the two felines looked him over.
"You alright?" Grizzoli asked.
"What happened?" Mchorn was clearly confused at the situation.
"You were just shot in the head with a .50 cal… nearly…"
The Rhino's eyes widened in horror; "Am I dead!?"
"Not yet mate," Delgato joked, "Come-on get up,"
Mchorn slowly wobbled up to his feet, clearly still a bit disoriented, so Grizzoli and Delgato assisted.
"We need to stay off the streets," The Rhino stated the obvious.
No-one could deny that.
Grizzoli looked down the alley calling;
"Fang!?"
The Wolf was already jogging back from his inspection of the backstreet; "Dead end,"
Silently, Nick wished Fang had used a different phrase to describe that… The fact of the matter was the alley really was a dead end. If they wanted to get out of this, they would have to go back out into the road, in clear view of that sniper… And they all knew it.
If Nick was ever going to apply his knowledge of the arena, now was it. He spoke with heavy breaths;
"There's another alley that'll keep us covered for a few blocks… but it's on the opposite side of the road,"
"Show me," Grizzoli answered.
"Over there-" A volley of bullets hitting the shield made Nick flinch, but Grizzoli could see it: another side alley, further up the road on the opposite side.
"… Nick, from now on you're leading the way…"
The Fox responded with a solid nod, his straight face successfully hiding his nerves.
Another volley of bullets hitting the shield made them both move further into the alley. Grizzoli had noticed;
"… Those other three shooters are moving up…"
"I got an idea…" Fang piped up.
"I'm open to suggestions," Grizzoli said as he turned around.
"Got a flashbang?" the Wolf asked.
The Lion answered by unclipping another cylindrical canister from his belt. Fang immediately took that as a yes, so he continued; holstering his carbine and drawing his shotgun from his back.
"Cook it… throw it when I say…"
…
It was a shame really… she was hoping for a challenge. But the sound of gunfire couldn't be unheard. It made the hunt for the Red Wolf and her pack much easier.
Follow the gunfire…