《Short Stories》Liam O'Flaherty: The Sniper
Advertisement
The long June twilight faded into night. Dublin lay enveloped in darkness but for the dim light of the moon that shone through fleecy clouds, casting a pale light as of approaching dawn over the streets and the dark waters of the Liffey. Around the beleaguered Four Courts the heavy guns roared. Here and there through the city, machine guns and rifles broke the silence of the night, spasmodically, like dogs barking on lone farms. Republicans and Free Staters were waging civil war.
On a rooftop near O'Connell Bridge, a Republican sniper lay watching. Beside him lay his rifle and over his shoulders was slung a pair of field glasses. His face was the face of a student, thin and ascetic, but his eyes had the cold gleam of the fanatic. They were deep and thoughtful, the eyes of a man who is used to looking at death.
He was eating a sandwich hungrily. He had eaten nothing since morning. He had been too excited to eat. He finished the sandwich, and, taking a flask of whiskey from his pocket, he took a short draught. Then he returned the flask to his pocket. He paused for a moment, considering whether he should risk a smoke. It was dangerous. The flash might be seen in the darkness, and there were enemies watching. He decided to take the risk.
Placing a cigarette between his lips, he struck a match, inhaled the smoke hurriedly and put out the light. Almost immediately, a bullet flattened itself against the parapet of the roof. The sniper took another whiff and put out the cigarette. Then he swore softly and crawled away to the left.
Cautiously he raised himself and peered over the parapet. There was a flash and a bullet whizzed over his head. He dropped immediately. He had seen the flash. It came from the opposite side of the street.
He rolled over the roof to a chimney stack in the rear, and slowly drew himself up behind it, until his eyes were level with the top of the parapet. There was nothing to be seen – just the dim outline of the opposite housetop against the blue sky. His enemy was under cover.
Just then an armoured car came across the bridge and advanced slowly up the street. It stopped on the opposite side of the street, fifty yards ahead. The sniper could hear the dull panting of the motor. His heart beat faster. It was an enemy car. He wanted to fire, but he knew it was useless. His bullets would never pierce the steel that covered the gray monster.
Advertisement
Then round the corner of a side street came an old woman, her head covered by a tattered shawl. She began to talk to the man in the turret of the car. She was pointing to the roof where the sniper lay. An informer.
The turret opened. A man's head and shoulders appeared, looking toward the sniper. The sniper raised his rifle and fired. The head fell heavily on the turret wall. The woman darted toward the side street. The sniper fired again. The woman whirled round and fell with a shriek into the gutter.
Suddenly from the opposite roof a shot rang out and the sniper dropped his rifle with a curse. The rifle clattered to the roof. The sniper thought the noise would wake the dead. He stooped to pick the rifle up. He couldn't lift it. His forearm was dead. "I'm hit," he muttered.
Dropping flat onto the roof, he crawled back to the parapet. With his left hand he felt the injured right forearm. The blood was oozing through the sleeve of his coat. There was no pain--just a deadened sensation, as if the arm had been cut off.
Quickly he drew his knife from his pocket, opened it on the breastwork of the parapet, and ripped open the sleeve. There was a small hole where the bullet had entered. On the other side there was no hole. The bullet had lodged in the bone. It must have fractured it. He bent the arm below the wound. the arm bent back easily. He ground his teeth to overcome the pain.
Then taking out his field dressing, he ripped open the packet with his knife. He broke the neck of the iodine bottle and let the bitter fluid drip into the wound. A paroxysm of pain swept through him. He placed the cotton wadding over the wound and wrapped the dressing over it. He tied the ends with his teeth.
Then he lay still against the parapet, and, closing his eyes, he made an effort of will to overcome the pain.
In the street beneath all was still. The armoured car had retired speedily over the bridge, with the machine gunner's head hanging lifeless over the turret.
The woman's corpse lay still in the gutter.
The sniper lay still for a long time nursing his wounded arm and planning escape. Morning must not find him wounded on the roof. The enemy on the opposite roof covered his escape. He must kill that enemy and he could not use his rifle. He had only a revolver to do it. Then he thought of a plan.
Advertisement
Taking off his cap, he placed it over the muzzle of his rifle. Then he pushed the rifle slowly upward over the parapet, until the cap was visible from the opposite side of the street. Almost immediately there was a report, and a bullet pierced the centre of the cap. The sniper slanted the rifle forward. The cap clipped down into the street. Then catching the rifle in the middle, the sniper dropped his left hand over the roof and let it hang, lifelessly. After a few moments he let the rifle drop to the street. Then he sank to the roof, dragging his hand with him.
Crawling quickly to his feet, he peered up at the corner of the roof. His ruse had succeeded. The other sniper, seeing the cap and rifle fall, thought that he had killed his man. He was now standing before a row of chimney pots, looking across, with his head clearly silhouetted against the western sky.
The Republican sniper smiled and lifted his revolver above the edge of the parapet. The distance was about fifty yards – a hard shot in the dim light, and his right arm was paining him like a thousand devils.
He took a steady aim. His hand trembled with eagerness. Pressing his lips together, he took a deep breath through his nostrils and fired. He was almost deafened with the report and his arm shook with the recoil.
Then when the smoke cleared, he peered across and uttered a cry of joy. His enemy had been hit. He was reeling over the parapet in his death agony. He struggled to keep his feet, but he was slowly falling forward as if in a dream. The rifle fell from his grasp, hit the parapet, fell over, bounded off the pole of a barber's shop beneath and then clattered on the pavement.
Then the dying man on the roof crumpled up and fell forward. The body turned over and over in space and hit the ground with a dull thud. Then it lay still.
The sniper looked at his enemy falling and he shuddered. The lust of battle died in him. He became bitten by remorse. The sweat stood out in beads on his forehead.
Weakened by his wound and the long summer day of fasting and watching on the roof, he revolted from the sight of the shattered mass of his dead enemy. His teeth chattered, he began to gibber to himself, cursing the war, cursing himself, cursing everybody.
He looked at the smoking revolver in his hand, and with an oath he hurled it to the roof at his feet. The revolver went off with a concussion and the bullet whizzed past the sniper's head. He was frightened back to his senses by the shock. His nerves steadied. The cloud of fear scattered from his mind and he laughed.
Taking the whiskey flask from his pocket, he emptied it a draught. He felt reckless under the influence of the spirit. He decided to leave the roof now and look for his company commander, to report. Everywhere around was quiet. There was not much danger in going through the streets. He picked up his revolver and put it in his pocket. Then he crawled down through the skylight to the house underneath.
When the sniper reached the laneway on the street level, he felt a sudden curiosity as to the identity of the enemy sniper whom he had killed. He decided that he was a good shot, whoever he was. He wondered did he know him. Perhaps he had been in his own company before the split in the army. He decided to risk going over to have a look at him. He peered around the corner into O'Connell Street. In the upper part of the street there was heavy firing, but around here all was quiet.
The sniper darted across the street. A machine gun tore up the ground around him with a hail of bullets, but he escaped. He threw himself face downward beside the corpse. The machine gun stopped.
Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother's face.
Advertisement
- In Serial40 Chapters
Keys of the Endpoint
Keys of the Endpoint is an illustrated web serial about the re-birth of civilization in a fantastical world suffering from a recent apocalyptic event. Every day, people appear from the storms that ravage the Endpoint. Whisked away from their own time and place by storms in their homelands, these newcomers find themselves in a hostile place made up of ruins and people from every timeline imaginable. Stranger still, they all soon discover they're carrying silver keys that grant each holder incredible powers. On Earth, most people have mundane excuses for the disappearances, but not Isaac. Having lost his brother Finn to one of these storms, Isaac becomes obsessed with finding a pattern. Not to prevent more people disappearing, but rather to get taken by the storms himself in order to find his brother. While chasing Finn’s faint trail, Isaac soon discovers how little he really knew about himself, his brother and how much loss one person can take. In Keys of the Endpoint there's portal fantasy, personal drama, magic (useable by everyone), plenty of combat, power progression, mysteries, factions, feuds and eventually war (in that order). The magic system is well defined and modular with nigh infinite combinations. The story starts out with one of the two main characters looking for his lost brother but quickly expands in scope from that point on. Links: Website, Discord, Patreon, Subreddit, Twitter, Artist Instagram
8 77 - In Serial48 Chapters
Kingmaker
It has been fifteen years since Thael left the Wraith Order, one of legend of the Arcadian Empire only spoken in whispers. His self exile is interrupted by his past when he finds one of his fellow Wraiths, Verena, in his home. The Prince of the Arch King has been taken from the capital itself by rebel Wraiths, and they would need the mortal man who made the impossible possible to rescue the Prince before he is sacrificed for the Prophecy of the Black Sun, where it is foretold the spilling of royal blood would allow mortalborn to reach Magehood. For fans of Grimdark Fantasies such as authors John Gwynne, Mark Lawrence and Joe Abercrombie!
8 160 - In Serial12 Chapters
A Degenerates Book for Survival
Don't you hate cutting open a new Symrewt to find out you bought a Vyrmzal turd instead? Well with this book you'll learn the difference between heart burn and the stare of a ancient creature as it slowly devours a universe. This survival guide has helped many beings. You can even hear from some of our loyal customers: "Honestly, if the punctuation was better then this book would actaully be helpfully but how in the hell do you know the diffrence between a male and female Ugkij- NO, YOU DIDNT!?" - Qwelpsee Est Guuuu, The Immortal Scholar "How the fuck should I have known she was 147 years old?!! Oh sorry there, Yea this books great. Now how much do I get payed?" - Devin Krest, The Pope of ?? "Hey umm wheres the restroom?" - Random guy on the street "HALT IN THE NAME OF SOLIUS HEST EVERSPRING!! YOURE UNDER ARREST FOR THE MURDER OF KING SOLIUS VOM SCREEKO EVERSPRING!" - Palace guard B See from these raving reviews you can tell that with this guide you'll be conquering galaxy in no time. As the title states, this will be a book listing/describing all of the creatures that will ever appear within any of this degenrates works cause he honestly will never explain what something is when he mentions it in the book. It will be written in The schedule is dependent on whether mnotia is acting like a pansey or not. Shoutout to elairz for making this awesome FREE book cover for me Also expect hella bad punctuation cause this will be like the journal of a famous traveler and if you like info dumps then this is the book for you.
8 78 - In Serial11 Chapters
Apocalypse is just the beginning
In 2065,world was integrated into the multiverse.The whole reality for the world and its inhabitants changed. The Earth ceased to be a whole and merged with about 80 different types of planets to form a different planetary layer. Humanity fled to shelters.For a long time they hide in there.To come back to earth again,humanity started the suicide soldier program.They have no family and no loved ones. They are sent to kill the moment they born.
8 75 - In Serial98 Chapters
The God-Kings (Mass Isekai)
"You are all confused. This is understandable. So, allow me to clear up your confusion. Currently, you have all been randomly selected to participate in a… well, let us call this a social experiment." One day, a god stole ten thousand people from their homes. In return, it granted them immortality, with only one condition.That being to fight, and fight, and fight, until only ten of them remained. To kill each other for the right to truly ascend. Of the many rulers of this new world, five stand out among all others. Juliette, the Conquering Queen. Jamal, the King of Travellers. Fatima, the Silver Tounged. Joseph, the Sunset King. And Heng, the Lord of Mammoths. But more than they fight to rule. And as the reign of the God-Kings begins, one must remember; everyone is the hero of their own story. Updates Tuesdays and Fridays Now includes detailed maps!
8 103 - In Serial11 Chapters
Grand Adventure
The Supreme pure blood Vampire is bored by his eternal life on earth, constantly being shoe licked by what he calls"""" lesser Vampire scum"""" , he longs for exitement in his life. Well, he could drink blood allday but being a supreme pure blood Vampire he doesn't need to drink blood and can walk in broad daylight without being charred to a pile of coal, he could conquer earth and enslave humanity but he did that all and doesn't care about the humans anymore. So what will happen when he gets an offer, that will change his life and departs to a world with swords and magic.Hello, guys this is my first fiction and english is not my native language so forgive when i make some mistakes .This storys MC will be OP and i will describe the blood and gore the best i can.[+18]Mature Content will be in it too so be warned.I plan this story to be long and hope you enjoy it.Thank You
8 139