To Live Again
Calm before the Storm
The IDF forces had surrounded the hospital and gotten into their repective positions within minutes of arrival. Colonel ben-Aish rushed into the command tent. "What do we have?"
"Sir, twenty brigade members and five shahidim stormed the building, overwhelming the hospital guards. All guards are presumed dead. From those who escaped the initial carnage we learned that the bombs are Crimson Alchemist's. They removed life support from the ICU, killed any doctors who tried to save the patients. Anyone still mobile or movable has been moved to the fifth floor cafeteria. We estimate 150-200 hostages. We believe that levels B6 to three are wired to explode if anyone tries to get in," reported Corporal Furman.
"What's our status?"
"We have two snipers covering each side of the building. Minicams are attached to windows covering hallways. The terrorists cut all outside lines, and are running power from the emergency generators. We can't hack any of the hospital cameras."
"Have they made any demands yet?"
"No sir."
"Colonel! Take a look at this!" called Kahs. He pointed at one of the monitors on the wall. "East side, sixth floor. I'll replay it." On the screen, ben-Aish saw a tall bloody man wearing pants and wrapped in bandages leave one of the rooms. A few seconds later, a young woman, also covered in blood, ran out after him."
"Get me a closeup of the male."
"Yes sir." The black and white image zoomed in on the man's face.
"Freeze the image." It was the mystery man from the mall explosion two days ago, no doubt about it. His face had an 'X' shaped scar across his forehead and over his eyes. The other viewers' eyes were drawn to the man's right arm.
"That is one badass tattoo! And it looks like someone took offense to it and tried to cut the whole frickin' arm off!" exclaimed a private.
Looking at the tattoo, ben-Aish thought back to the mall explosion. "Hajji, are these markings and the ones at the mall attack the same?"
Hajji thought for a moment, then shook his head. "The two have some similarities in design, but none of the symbols match. In addition, the first set is arranged in a circle, while these marks are along the arm."
The colonel's musings were interrupted by an amplified voice.
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"Hello, pigs. We have the hospital. You will obey our demands and prevent more bloodshed. Or you will refuse to listen, and the hostages will be killed."
"Sniper teams! Can you see the speaker?"
"That's a negative sir. He's using the outside PA system."
The voice continued. "We have the hospital. Any attempts to retake it will set off the bombs and the hostages will be killed. Any military helicopters and airplanes and the hostages will be killed. Any shots through the windows at my men and the hostages will be killed. Any attempt to bargain and I will kill one hostage per minute until the demand is met. You have been warned.
The first demand is to bring members of the media to watch. They are to broadcast live. You have ten minutes."
General Grumman turned to his aide. "We need more time to plan! Get a reporter here now!"
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Inside the building, Scar could hear the demand for the media.
'Why? Getting the public involved will give them a bad reputation. They should want to keep this quiet.'
The woman's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Thank you…I thought he was going to… you know…"
Scar kept walking, the woman following him. "My name is Shoshana, by the way." Scar grunted. "Where are you going? Shouldn't we be looking for a way out?" Scar still didn't reply. He was examining a box on the wall that had two blinking lights, one red and one green. Wires ran from a lever on the side up and down the wall, and across the door.
"That's C4! We're trapped!"
"What's C4?" he asked. Shoshana stared at him in surprise.
"You don't know? That's high quality explosive! Where have you been?"
"I've seen bombs before, just not like this…" Scar replied, thinking back to Ishvar, "and as to where I was, I was on the other side of the Gate."
"You really shouldn't be up yet, your head is still injured and – "
"I'm fine!" Scar snarled. Shoshana backed away. "And if you really want to know, I'm not looking for a way out. I'm looking to kill whoever started this mess."
"But you're only one man! They have guns, and bombs…" her voice trailed off at the look in Scar's eyes.
"So? They are weak. They are slow. And I will kill them. As for this bomb…" he put his right hand on the box, which glowed red, then returned to normal.
Shoshana stared. "What did you do?"
"Alchemy." Hearing footsteps at the other end of the hallway, he grabbed Shoshana and pushed open a door. "In here."
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Bengazi stared at the bomb. Something was off about it. He cracked open the casing and saw...powder. He grabbed his radio as he began backing down the hallway. "Commander, this is Bengazi! Someone is in the building with us!" He looked to his left and saw an open door. Running in, he found the body of Sulamein. "Shit! Commander! Sulamein looks like he was torn apart by a lion!"
"I'm sending down Hussein."
"We don't need another man down here, we need to change the plan!"
Hussein burst out of the stairwell. Bengazi showed him the bomb, then the body and ceiling.
"Commander, we need to pull up one level and reorganize."
"We will pull back to the surgery rooms. Conduct a full sweep of that floor, then come up."
Bengazi looked at Hussein. "You heard him. Lets start."
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The Brigade's troop commander was mad. The attack had gone as planned, but he had lost three men in fifteen minutes. At this rate, the Israelis would have the job finished. How could his men have missed killing a guard? They were the only people in the hospital who could do something like this!
He looked at his watch. The Israeli pigs had five more minutes, but he was in a foul mood. He grabbed a hostage, a young boy, and walked to his broadcast equipment.
"I don't see the hospital on my television!" he screamed. "Now you will pay!" He dragged the crying, struggling boy into a room and over to a window, opened it and shoved the boy in front. He pulled out a pistol, and shot the boy in the head. The body tumbled out the window from the force of the bullet. The commander raced back to the speaker. "You have sixty seconds!" he screeched.
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Ben-Aish stared in shock at the body falling out the window. "North team, take the shot!"
"That's a negative sir. We can't see a thing. The blinds are closed."
The colonel swore. "What are we doing?" he demanded.
"We need the time to plan, colonel. The reporter is two minutes away." Said Commander Grumman over the radio.
"We don't have time! We have thirty seconds before the next body comes tumbling out! My team is going in!"
"Stay where you are! That's an order, colonel!"
Ben-Aish threw his radio at the wall. "To Gehinom with staying! We're moving out! We don't negotiate, we don't wait. We act!"
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Grumman swore. "That hot-headed son-of-a-bitch!"
Four quick shots sounded, followed by a tinkling of glass and the clang of metal falling. "He shot out the cameras!" shouted the aide.
'He'll get all the hostages killed!' thought Grumman. He made a quick decision. "All units, retake the building!" 'and God have mercy on our souls. If we survive, ben-Aish will have hell to pay.'
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When the two men burst in the door, Scar was ready. Diving from the far side of the hospital bed, he slammed the lead man back into his companion. Hussein never had a chance.
Bengazi, however, had seen the results of the scarred man's actions. He scrambled to his feet and desperately tried to bring his rifle to bear. He got three shots off on full automatic, which the charging man dodged. He swung the rifle butt around, trying to strike his opponent in the head, but the man ducked, and rammed into his knees, bring him to the floor. The man rammed his elbow into Bengazi's groin, incapacitating him, then reached for his head. Bengazi felt an enormous pressure in his skull right before he died.
"Was that…also…alchemy?" Shoshana shivered. "How do you…do…that…"
Scar shut his eyes as he thought back to the day he had received his curse. "Hopefully, you'll never have to find out…it's not supposed to work here…Ishvara forgive me…" He opened his eyes. "I wish I didn't know how to do this!"
"…"
"I've killed many people…many deserved it…some could not be saved so I ended their suffering…and in the end I created that thrice damned stone!" Shoshana didn't say anything as Scar relived some of his worse memories.
The window in the hallway shattered and a tan-clad man wearing a combat vest and helmet smashed through. Scar had his hand on the man's face and was about to kill him when Shoshana shouted "WAIT!", and another man swung in from the zip line.
"They're friends! Oh god, we're safe!" and she broke down crying and laughing with relief.
"Explain" Scar growled "Now!"
The taller of the two men answered. "We don't have much time. The Crimson Brigade has begun killing hostages. We need to get to the first floor and disarm the bombs and find the hostages fast. We saw what you did on our cameras. This is the only floor we know is safe to enter on. Lets move!" This last was directed to his companion. They raced out the door towards the stairwell before Scar could say anything.
Scar looked at Shoshana. "Stay here" he ordered.
'They won't be fast enough' he thought as he placed his hand on the floor. Thirty seconds later, all the bombs on the first floor were disarmed.
Scar was waiting when the two soldiers exited the stairs. "All done." The men gaped at him, then at the ceiling.
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Todah rabah, Alki'mai Derakon. Atah rishon! Atah ni'tze'ach! (Thank you, Dragon Alchemist. You're first! You win!)
So, adon Scar has a sense of humor, eh? It's OK litz'chok! And my Hebrew grammer is atrocious!
RxR please!
I should have said this earlier: I am not anti-Muslim, or anti-Arab. I have many Arab classmates and friends, and one of my co-workers is Palestinian. I also have friends in the IDF. Pray that the solution for peace does not involve an atomic wasteland.