Lokhemet- Warrior (Female)
Warning- this chapter contains a brief attempted sexual assault so please read at your discretion.
The heat from the sun's rays was unrelenting. It burned into her back and neck, frying the exposed skin. It caused her to sweat profusely; beads of sweat forming on her head and all over her body. There was this low humming in her ears; a sign she knew of the burning heat which mercilessly invaded every cell and sense she possessed. Rubbing her tongue over her lips she found them to be cracked and swollen. Her throat was dry, every breath burning in her raw body. But still she remained absolutely still, her fingers delicately placed upon the trigger of the sniper rifle.
Ziva had been lying still for many hours, waiting for the approaching sunset. She had judged it to be time soon by the fact that the sun had long since moved from directly above her and instead was now just over the horizon.
A short distance away hid Malachi and Liat, patiently waiting for the opportune moment to strike and hidden in the surrounding sand, lurked a whole team of Kidon operatives who had accompanied them from the airport as per instructions from the Director. Monique, like Ziva, lay in the sands on the opposite side of the camp, rifle in hand ready to provide covering fire for when the first shot came. Mike had agreed to stay behind in Israel in order to meet Gibbs when he and the others arrived and to stall him until they had returned from the mission. If they returned.
Ziva peered through the binoculars, watching the men in the camp closely as they went about their training. She could see a range of weapons and a dozen or so men following what looked to be a strict training regime, with other men milling about or entering and exiting the tents surrounding the main building. But still there was no sign of Al-Kharif or Ramzi. But she was a very patient woman, she would wait. She had waited for a decade and she could wait a little longer for vengeance. She knew from her intelligence gathering that there was estimated to be about thirty fighters in the camp, who came from all over the Arabic world hoping to become a loyal jihadist fighter.
An hour or so later the sun was now positioned almost at the horizon and Ziva knew that it would soon be time. She shifted slightly in order to get a better shot and as she did she noticed three land rovers and a truck snaking itself through the sands a short distance away. 'Malachi', she spoke through her earphones, 'Vehicles approaching camp at 8 o clock.'
'I see them Ziva. Everybody into position.'
Through her scope, she watched as the land rovers approached the camp gateway which was located a short distance from the main camp. On recognising the approaching vehicles the guards opened the gateway leaving it clear for the convoy. As they neared the entrance, the convoy slowed and Ziva knew that it was her chance. Focusing on the truck driver, she slowly squeezed the trigger, the mechanism taking what felt like hours to release the bullet before it slammed into the truck driver.
On seeing their comrade fall, the other drivers and the guards shouted out and then grabbing their weapons, began to fire in Ziva's direction. To cover Ziva, Monique expertly killed the two guards which turned the attention of the other men onto her. Coming under a barrage of fire, Monique rolled across the sand and away from their reach. As Monique did this, Malachi, Liat and the other Mossad agents broke out of their hiding places, giving little warning before opening fire, killing the remaining men. Once sure all were dead, the Israelis stood still for a moment, listening for any response or alarm from the camp. Luckily, however there was none.
Once certain there were no survivors, they moved the bodies out of the pathway of the vehicles and quickly piled into the vehicles-Ziva, Malachi and Liat along with a few agents in the truck and with Monique and the others in the land rovers. Malachi and Ziva swapped relieved looks; glad that infiltrating the convoy had been so straight forward. The fact that the camp entrance was already open would make it easier to drive straight into its centre and then, they knew, the hard part would begin.
From behind the canopy that sheltered the back of the truck, Ziva glimpsed various men, machine guns and other weapons in their grasp, walking past on their way to pray. The camp had an almost relaxed atmosphere as the men had let down their guard as they prepared for prayers. It was the perfect time to attack. Ziva braced herself as she felt the truck slow. Arabic voices approached the vehicle and Ziva breathed deeply as one stopped just outside the canopy.
A second later, a hand grabbed the canopy and ripped it off, exposing the Israelis. It took only a split second for the man to realise what was happening before he yelled out, just as a bullet from Malachi's rifle ripped through his chest. On hearing their comrade's yell, the other fighters grabbed their weapons and began firing at the Israelis who skilfully leapt out of the vehicles and began firing back.
Within seconds the scene was one of utter chaos. Two terrorists ran towards Ziva, shooting at her but without a second thought she expertly gunned them down. She barely had time to gather her breath before she was again under fire. Ducking behind one of the tents, Ziva gasped as a burst of gunfire narrowly missed her before she retaliated back, empting her automatic weapon's clip into at least three fighters. Seeing that the weapon was now useless, she pulled the strap off her neck and threw it on the ground, instead pulling out two hand guns before walking back into the middle of the gunfight, shooting at the fighters in front of her.
Whilst she was distracted with this, a terrorist sneaked up behind her, grabbing her hair and pulling her head back in order to put a knife to her throat. Ziva kicked the man in the knee, before turning, and using her own weight she flipped him over her shoulder before shooting him twice in the chest.
She turned as she heard Liat cry out from her position nearby and saw that the blonde's shirt was quickly becoming saturated with blood from a gunshot wound in her upper arm. Malachi had instantly run to his lover's aid- shooting the culprit of Liat's injury directly in the head, before he pulled her to safety. Consumed in a blood-thirsty rage Malachi then began to take down the rest of the fighters in the vicinity before noticing Ziva standing nearby.
'Ziva! Get to the building. Get Al-Kharif and Ramzi, I will cover you.'
Ziva nodded her thanks before turning and running in the direction of the building, knowing from her gathered intelligence that it was heavily guarded which indicated that this was where she would find Al-Kharif.
She was utterly focused on her task as she ran towards the main building, guns drawn, dodging bullets and shooting those who had the severe misfortune to get in her way. Finally she reached the main building. Before she could enter, Ziva threw herself to the ground as a bullet came whizzing past from one of the guard's guns. Without a second's hesitation she rolled over and then jumped back to her feet, shooting him as she did before killing the other fighters. On hearing one of her comrade's warning yells, she threw herself down on the ground as a grenade exploded nearby, successfully blowing up a terrorist and lighting up the dusk sky in an orange fireball.
Ziva let out a pained moan as her body ached from the force of the impact but she once more got to her feet, grabbing both of her handguns, and cautiously entered the building. It was dark inside, but before she could let her eyes adjust she once again found herself dodging a bullet. The responsible terrorist let out a pained shriek as Ziva's bullets ripped through him, killing him instantly and this was again repeated as Ziva, Monique and other Israelis who were behind her, killed the remaining fighters within the main building. She gestured to them, telling them to split up and search every room for their targets. They nodded, instantly obeying her orders and leaving Ziva on her own.
Silently she walked through the corridors, searching each room carefully but there was still no sign of Al-Kharif. Outside, the fire fight was still heavily underway and she could hear screams and shouts-both in Arabic and Hebrew. At the end of the corridor, she came across a large wooden door and cautiously she pushed it, finding it unlocked. Keeping her guns at the ready, Ziva stepped in slowly, pushing the door open a little more. Without warning, a tall, muscular figure lunged at her from behind the door, knocking her to the floor and knocking her guns out of her hands.
Ziva let out a yell as impacted the ground but before she had time to react she felt the full force of her attacker's boot come crashing down upon her left arm. She let out a piercing scream as she felt the smashing of her bones. In retaliation she kicked the man full force in the leg, causing him to yell out in pain and allowing her time to flip back onto her feet. Ziva cradled her broken arm and turned around, coming face to face with Assad Ramzi.
The man's eyes narrowed and he smiled cruelly, exposing his crooked teeth as he spoke in Arabic. 'The great Ziva David. Are you ready to face death like your scum of a sister did?'
'I am not the one who is going to be dead, Ramzi!' Ziva spat her response. 'Where is Al-Kharif?'
'You've missed him but I can assure you he won't miss your family or your infidel American friends.' He smirked coldly.
Ziva felt her temper explode and ignoring the agonising pain in her arm, she launched herself at the terrorist, punching him in the face. Ramzi let out an almost beast-like snarl before he retaliated, punching Ziva directly in the chest. Ziva let out a strangled cry as she doubled-over, the breath having been knocked from her lungs. Ramzi smiled cruelly at her pain before he threw her against the wall, squeezing Ziva's throat with his giant hands.
Ziva struggled desperately, gulping for air as her vision began to fade. Out of the corner of her eye she could see her two guns abandoned on the floor, and she tried desperately to think of a way to reach them. But she knew it was impossible as she felt her throat being compressed by the force of Ramzi's grip.
'I'm going to make sure that I enjoy you as much as Saleem did.' Ramzi smirked coldly, looking straight into Ziva's terrified eyes. With those words, Ziva felt her resolve harden, and fury replaced her terror. She would not suffer what she went through in Somalia. Not again. She was not going to fail this mission; she would get justice for Tali. With that thought, Ziva leant forward, and using all her energy, bit deeply into Ramzi's shoulder.
Ramzi shrieked in pain, dropping Ziva who hit the ground forcefully. Ziva stayed still for a moment, gasping for air, before she frantically began to crawl over to her guns. Ramzi, recovered from his encounter, yelled ferociously and grabbed Ziva's leg pulling her towards him. 'You do not get away that easily Jew!'
Ziva scrambled at the ground trying to evade his grasp, but once again he proved to be too strong. He turned her around, pushing himself on top of her before punching her in the face. Ziva let out a yell, as Ramzi began to roughly, pull at her clothes, an expression of pure sadistic joy on his face as he prepared himself for the pain he was about to inflict. Ziva fought with all her strength, but Ramzi overpowered her, laughing cruelly at her feeble attempts to hurt him.
'I hope you enjoy this Jew.'
Ziva spat in his face and refusing to be a victim again, she launched her upper body at him, managing to pull her unbroken arm from his grasp and reached down to her ankle where she pulled out her knife.
Before Ramzi could realise what was happening, Ziva had shoved the knife deep into his chest to its hilt. Ramzi's eyes popped out, and he began to splutter as he realised what had happened. He looked at Ziva in horror before he collapsed onto the ground. Although his eyes were open, he was dead. Ziva shuffled back on the ground, shaking with adrenaline and pain. She waited until her heart rate slowed before she stood up and walked over to pick up her guns.
Just as she had retrieved them, a terrorist burst in, prepared to shoot Ziva but before he could he fell to the ground, gaping bullet wounds in his chest. Monique walked out from behind the corpse, observing Ziva's injuries. 'Come on Ziva, it is over. The terrorists are all dead. We have two dead and seven others injured.'
'What about Al-Kharif?' Ziva asked desperately.
Monique's expression filled with regret and Ziva knew the answer to her question without any words needing to be spoken. Ziva kicked the air in frustration, cursing in Hebrew as she did. They had lost him. They had never been so close and yet still Al-Kharif evaded their clutches. Monique watched Ziva's internal struggle silently, understanding her anger.
'We will get him Ziva. I promise you that. But now we must go, your arm needs to be seen to and the agents are setting the detonators on the explosives.' Monique put her arm around Ziva as they walked out of the building, the injured Israeli leaning on it for support.
As they walked slowly to the transport plane waiting at the edge of the camp, Ziva looked around her observing the corpses of the terrorists littered about the ground and further afield she saw the remains of an outbuilding engulfed in flames, no doubt caused by a grenade. In the darkness she could see the silhouettes of her comrades rigging explosives to destroy the camp, ensuring that never again would it be used as the plotting ground for the deaths of hundreds of civilians.
Monique helped her to sit down once on the plane and immediately one of her comrades, who was medically trained, helped to create a sling for her arm. A bruised-looking Malachi, who sat with a pale and sweaty-faced Liat leaning against his chest, glanced over to Ziva. 'Al-Kharif?'
'Gone.' Ziva spoke quietly.
Malachi nodded compassionately, 'We will get him. And Ramzi?'
'Dead.' She said simply, Malachi smiling in response.
Malachi then turned his attention back to Liat, who shifted uncomfortably. Ziva watched in shock as Malachi gently stroked Liat's cheek, the young woman smiling in response. It was a sight Ziva would never have thought she would see- that womanising Malachi would fallen in love. But the way in which the partners interacted with one another proved it to be completely true. They looked as though they belonged with one another. Ziva felt deep sadness pass through her, as their interactions reminded her so much of her and Tony. She was foolish of course to think such things as she had come to accept that despite her unwavering love for him, he could never love her back. She was damaged goods and Tony was far too good for her.
She broke away from these thoughts as she watched her fellow agents load on two body bags containing their fallen comrades before the plane doors were closed and locked and the red light went on alerting them it was take off. The plane began to taxi down the makeshift runway in the camp, accelerating as it did until it was time for takeoff. Ziva glanced over to one of the agents, who held a detonator in his hands. He looked around at his comrades before counting down; 'Three, two, one, detonate.'
Along with Monique, she turned to watch out of the window as the camp exploded in a searing fireball, propelling into the black sky like a beacon, just as the plane took off. The resulting inferno spread to different areas of the camp, ensuring that everything was burnt to a crisp. Ziva knew that the freezing desert temperatures would ensure it did not burn for too long and that whatever debris was left would soon become reclaimed by the desert.
She listened as she heard one of the pilots tell them that they would be in Israel in a few hours before she closed her eyes, finally succumbing to her exhaustion, knowing she needed all the rest she could get.
This particular battle may be won but Ziva knew the war was far from over.
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