“Alpha One, you are a go,” a voice spoke through the earpieces of Liam’s squad. Each of the four men nodded in understanding, though only able to see each other due to the night vision apparatus built into their visors.

Taking his place as the spear of the operation, Liam started the downhill trek toward the small valley village their target called home. Wordlessly, his squadmates followed.

Near the bottom of the forested slope, the sensors in his visor detected movement beyond the trees. Immediately, he held up a fist. His squadmates halted.

A man on a bike rode past with grocery bags in the basket attached to the handlebars. The squad patiently waited for him to cycle out of sight.

“Wonder why he’s out shopping at three in the morning…” one of the men whispered into the com-link.

“Quiet, Fitz,” another man quietly warned. “We may be on a closed channel, but if anyone hacks it, we’re screwed.”

“Why are you replying then, Thomas?” Fitz retorted.

Thomas clicked his tongue.

Breaking up the exchange, Liam raised two fingers and pointed forward. Once again, the squad stealthily approached the edge of town. Before crossing the road to the village, they all double-checked for movement. Nothing. Liam gestured for them to advance.

After crossing the road, they followed a brick wall to the designated entry point. Liam pointed at Fitz. Nodding, the man pressed a button on the side of his helmet which jetted out a handheld drone. Using a small remote, he directed it to scout the other side of the wall. A few tense seconds later, he gave a thumbs up.

Liam hooked his SCAR onto the mechanized holster on his back. One by one, he gave the others a boost to climb over the wall by using folded hands. Once the other three safely climbed over, he backed away a couple meters before dashing forward and running up the wall just enough to grab the ledge. Then, he hoisted himself over to join the others crouching next to the rear wall of a shoddy building. Upon landing, he reached over his shoulder and retrieved his weapon.

“I’ll never get tired of seeing you do that,” Fitz whispered over the com-link.

Liam held a finger in front of his face to shut the guy up. Since his wall climb generated more noise then he planned, he studied the surroundings to make sure nobody heard. For good measure, he gestured for another drone scan. Again, Fitz gave a thumbs up.

From there, they followed the wall around the corner into an alley. According to the minimap on their visors, they were still within the mission parameters. First, Liam darted through the alley and crouched behind a metal trash bin. Next, Fitz followed. The other two waited.

Once the drone reached a position where it could scan the main road, Liam and Fitz scurried to the end of the ally, each taking positions at opposite walls. The other two squadmates took positions behind the dumpster.

Using heat sensors on the drone, Fitz checked to make sure nobody would see them crossing the road. Again, he gave a thumbs up and Liam led the way to another alley on the other side of the road.

The four of them crouched in the alley until the drone searched the area. Basically, they followed the same pattern four times until they reached the alley closest to their destination, a large home surrounded by a brick wall the height of two full-grown men. Supposedly, there was an entry gate on the opposite side of the property. The lawn of the property filled an entire block and roads surrounded it on all sides.

Once the drone verified the coast was clear, the four of them dashed across the road and pulled the same trick from when they first entered the village. On the other side, they all dropped into a garden filled with decorative bushes, plants, trees, and cacti. Several lanterns wired to an underground powerline lit up the path winding through the garden.

They hid behind a large bush until an armed guard finished his rounds through the garden and moved on around the front of the three-story house. For a few minutes, they waited for the village’s electricity to get shut off by the other operating squad. When the lights in the garden and house shut off, Fitz checked for the location of the patrolling guard. He gave a thumbs up.

From there, Liam led the charge toward the back porch. Once two of them were crouched on either side of the door, he tapped a button on the side of his helmet to active the heat sensors. The others did the same. At the same time, digital representations of the blueprints replaced the minimaps on their visors.

Then, Thomas set about picking the lock with a skeleton key. Right before he finished, the drone returned to Fitz and he snapped it back into place on the side of his helmet. After receiving a go signal from Liam, Thomas pushed the door open as quietly as possible. Liam darted through first, followed immediately by Thomas, then Fitz, and finally the fourth member, George.

Each of the squad members took positions behind furniture while searching for heat signatures. In a nearby hallway, an armed guard was opening a door leading to a basement stairwell, likely to check the breaker.

Liam faced Fitz and gestured toward the guard. Nodding, Fitz waited for the guard to step down the first stair before scuttling after him. Afterward, Liam led the other two members down a different hallway toward the main hall according to the blueprints. Passing through a door at the end, they entered the rear end of the large room that spanned two floors. Several doors lined the walls, leading to different rooms. However, their target’s bedroom was on the third floor.

After a quick look around, Liam gestured that there was a guard patrolling each of the open hallways overlooking the room. Using the enormous grand staircase for concealment, the three of them crept to the lowest point of the stairs where they could still hide. Liam studied the movements of the guards for a few seconds until Fitz rejoined them. Then, he tapped on George’s shoulder and pointed at the guard patrolling the upper hallway on the opposite side of the room. George nodded.

Then, Liam turned his attention to his own target walking directly above them and lifted three fingers. He counted down. Three. Two. One.

George spun around, pointed his suppressed M4 over the railing, and instantly sniped his target. At the same time, Liam rolled into the open and fired a burst of rounds from his suppressed SCAR into his own target. Luckily, none of the bullets passed through to leave holes in the wall. The two guards slumped to the floor at nearly the same time.

From there, the four squadmates rushed up the stairs and split into pairs. One pair for each body. Once the corpses were hidden in empty rooms, the two teams scurried to the back ends of each hallway. The two stairwells starting on the second floor met in the middle at a landing on the third floor. The squad regrouped at the landing and prepared to breach the doorway. Based on the heat signatures, two guards were posted on the other side of the door as well as two more at the bedroom door about two car lengths away.

Liam and Fitz crouched in front while Thomas and George took positions behind them. Again, Liam counted down. Three. Two. One.

Within the span of two seconds, he shoved open the door and fired three rounds through the wooden door into the guard’s head on the other side. Fitz also fired a few rounds from his Scar into the guard on the left. Behind them, Thomas and George each fired a round at the guards down the hall using their M4 rifles. However, Thomas missed the first shot and had to take another. The first bullet tore into the wood at the end of the hallway, barely missing a window.

Both Liam and Fitz caught the bodies they dropped and quietly lowered them while the other two members sprinted toward the bedroom door a few meters away in an attempt to catch the bodies of the other two. They barely made it in time to prevent them from smacking the floor too loudly, which would have been worse than the footsteps of their sound inhibiting combat boots.

From there, Thomas picked the lock and they stealthily slithered into the room one by one. Several articles of clothing littered the floor around the ornate bed. By the looks of it, the target had brought home a few hookers, which put a slight dent in their plan. Three naked women slept on the huge bed alongside the target.

Since their helmet speakers were disabled, Fitz looked at Liam and asked through the com-link, “What do we do about them?”

Liam sighed. After all, he knew the others would not feel comfortable killing the women if they woke up. Unfortunately, they would likely wake even with silenced weapons. With that thought in mind, he answered, “We dispatch the target. If the women wake up, I’ll take care of it.”

Since the other three men knew Liam would follow through with the statement, they hesitated. However, the clocks on their visors ticked away. In the end, they nodded.

Liam gestured for Thomas to stand guard by the door before he, Fitz, and George slowly approached the bedside. A quick gesture from Liam indicated George should be the one to pull the trigger. However, about half a car’s length from the bed, a board groaned loudly beneath Fitz’s foot. All of them halted and prayed none of the sleeping people were light sleepers. Unfortunately, one of the prostitutes stirred and opened her eyes. Although her eyesight was blurred by sleepiness, she sat upright as soon as she saw the well-armed squad.

A moment before the woman could scream, Liam fired a round through her heart.

* * * * *

Liam’s eyes snapped open and he instinctively bolted upright into a sitting position. Sweat dripped from his face. His breaths were sharp and ragged. Covering his face with both hands, he wondered, What was that about?

After a few seconds, his breathing slowed to a somewhat normal pace and he lowered his hands enough to look at the blankets next to him in the tent. Nora wasn’t there. Again, his breathing quickened. He dashed through the exit flap to search the vicinity for her.

When he spotted her by the smoldering remains of the campfire, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Confused by what just came over him, he paced back and forth while rubbing his temples.

Noticing his presence, Nora craned her neck and asked, “So what’s your reason for not being able to sleep?”

Sighing, he stopped pacing and answered, “I don’t know. Bad dream, I guess. What about you? Pain acting up again?”

“Yeah, forgot to take my medicine.”

“I see… Not the smartest thing you’ve ever done,” Liam replied as he ambled over to join her next to the embers.

Once he sat on the log with her, she leaned her head on his shoulder and said, “You look really pale. You okay?”

Slightly puzzled by the warmth of her question in spite of their relationship, Liam lowered his gaze to meet hers. She stared up at him, her red irises reflecting the moonlight as they wavered with concern. Responding to her question, he turned his gaze to the stars and answered, “I dreamt of something I did as a soldier. Until now, I’ve never dreamed such a thing.”

“Something bad?” Nora asked.

“I suppose, though it never bothered me,” he muttered. However, within his mind he added, I wonder if this is also a result of gaining emotion.

For a few seconds, the two of them sat in silence under the watchful gaze of the moon and stars. However, the thoughtful look on Liam’s face worried Nora for some reason. Although she doubted he would explain the details of his dream, a desire to soothe him filled her. Following the urge, she lifted her head from his shoulder, lifted one leg over his, and sat down on his lap, face to face with him. Then, she placed her hands on his cheeks and stared deep into his eyes.

For a moment, Liam was surprised by the unforeseen action. At least, he was surprised until she kissed him. The sudden action caught him off guard, but a second after their lips met, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. In contrast to all the previous times, it wasn’t filled with lust. Both of them knew it would not lead to sex. Even so, he closed his eyes and focused on the sensation of her supple lips pressing against his.

When she pulled away, they gazed into each others’ eyes and a sort of understanding rose between them. All thoughts of his dream melted away. Part of him knew it would come back to haunt him at some point, but at this moment in time, all he could feel was comfort, a sense of belonging. At least, he figured that was what the warmth in his heart signified.

“You ready to go back to sleep?” Liam asked.

“I took my medicine a few minutes ago, so yeah,” Nora answered while rising from his lap.

Once she moved away from his legs, Liam stood and began strolling back to the tent. On the way, he felt Nora’s fingers slide between his. Although it briefly surprised him, he curled his fingers around her hand. Briefly, he glanced down at the connection. Something about it soothed his mind. Just like that, they entered their tent and fell asleep.