Nadir didn't see it coming. One moment he was barking orders while calling out to his missing men through the radio, the next he was gliding through the air. Even with the bullet proof vest he felt the pain before falling beside one of the pickups in the square.
Used to battle as he was, he knew he had been ambushed from afar. Before he could manage to breath again and organize the hunt of the offending sniper, he heard the panic of his men.
10 seconds. That was the time he took to recover and take stock of the situation. That was the time it took him to realize that their enemy took down more than ten of his men. That was also the time it took him to understand that his men that were late and unresponsive must have taken an unwilling step toward the promised heaven for the faithful warriors.
Furious, he ordered some of the survivors to look after the supplies and the hostage. Personally taking the others, he made them scatter and start closing in on the sniper's position.
********
Lucas, with his first shot, determined the difference brought by the gun because, only it could be the variable, not the desert whose winds were whispering to him.
So, by the time they recovered, looked for cover and started their counterattack while approaching, he already did a number on them. It was a pity that he didn't have a genuine sniper rifle with anti-material ammunition. That would have allowed him to settle everything from afar, not only going for head-shots to ensure kills.
Thus, keeping the plan in mind, he watched them creep closer and closer to his position while going from cover to cover or around.
It became a game with him taking flash shots and them suppressing him as soon as they noticed his head.
By the time they were near fifty meters away, their suppression became so heavy that Lucas could not aim before taking his shots anymore. He then started returning fire blindly and haphazardly in small bursts while hiding behind the parapet, giving the impression of a cornered beast.
When he ran out of bullets and stopped returning fire, the terrorists, after inwardly cursing their comrades that by some luck managed to make that kind of haphazard firing effective by being injured by it, hurried their steps.
********
After seeing the enemy stop shooting, Nadir concluded that he ran out of ammunition. He then ordered his men to accelerate their approach, not caring about those who have been unlucky.
After he and his men carefully surrounded the targeted courtyard, they started going inside. Even if he found it weird that there was no movement from the enemy anymore, they outnumbered him so he was not worried.
They first checked the well, to prevent leaving any blind spot, and found it dry with only a rope inside that didn't sit well to him so he signaled one of his men to untie it and throw it inside.
He led the rest to the house where they found the ground floor empty with broken furniture blocking the doors of the adjacent rooms. Undeterred, they continued upstairs but found the upper floor in the same situation save for a crate in the middle.
He personally took a step back and ordered another terrorist beside him to kick the crate, being relieved only after hearing the noise of objects colliding inside.
Suspecting that the enemy must still be on the roof, he sent the most zealous in the room up the stairs as a pathfinder and the next moment confirmed his suspicion.
The terrorist who opened the way only needed to show his head before getting it perforated. But that was not the worst. That was reserved for what happened next.
The enemy showed up at the opening of the stairs but those who saw him didn't survive the six bullets he discharged, with four killing their targets on the spot by landing on their forehead. But the last two seemed to have been deliberately aimed to make suffer, judging by the way the last victim was motivated by the pain to shout louder than the day he was born.
He welcomed the bullets in the spleen and the crotch respectively and through the cacophony he helped contribute to, he attracted other comrades of his.
********
When Lucas felt that enough was done to accomplish his goal, he threw a handgun he got from one of the terrorists down the stairs before they could start rushing up.
They were so shocked that they jumped to the side before identifying what was thrown at them after nothing exploded a few seconds later. Standing up full of anger, they were about to act when something was thrown down once again.
This time, their first reaction was to ignore it, readying themselves for the imminent massacre that would have most certainly helped them vent their anger, without remarking its different destination from the previous one.
But, the next moment, taking notice of the roundness of the object, they seemed to recognize its nature and realize its purpose and got tetanized, crowded in the room as they were.
Time seemed to slow down, whether in their head or in reality, as they followed the trajectory of the object the name of which they all had in mind. Watching it leave the peak of its parabolic curve, they saw it keep descending till it fell on the crate covered by dusty curtains and carpets in the middle of the room.
Oh, how they hated not having razed the house to the ground instead of assaulting it, confident in sending the single cornered enemy within to hell.
Time then seemed to return to normal, and before they could shout the name of the round object, they heard the loudest and last sound of their life: "BOOM!!!"