NIGHT DROP( A Eric the Red thriller: Book 1)

Chapter 11: You have to slow your heart rate,and shoot between your heartbeats.

Eric pov:

Flashback a couple years ago

Afghanistan, Kabul 

High up in the mountains in his camouflage sniper suit, Eric peered through his scope on his AR-30 bolt action sniper rifle. It was a stone of a weight to carry, which was good for him. He had tracked the armor truck that had the crates of weapons in it. His target was an ex marine turned arms dealer. He'd slotted in a five-round box mag. There was a slight breeze from the south that he noted, so he adjusted the elevation turret on his sniper rifle. The armored truck roared to a stop at what looked like a military base. This was strange, he thought to himself. The closest base was Bagram Military base. He immediately spotted the armed man sitting across from the marine. The weapon clutched in his grip.

He held his breath and pulled the trigger as the bullet soared through the muzzle, smashing the windshield and dropping the driver in an instant. The armed private military contractor jumped out of the passenger door, clutching his AR-15 as she scanned the surrounding area, trying to spot where the shot had been fired from. Eric moved his crosshairs onto the gunman. He fired a shot, hitting the guy right in the pelvic girdle, shattering the bone, making it hard for him to stand. He fired the second shot, splitting the guy open like a melon.

Armed mercenaries toting their Ak-47 in grip stormed as Taliban Warlord stalked out and shouted. "Find the goddamn sniper now and bring him to me."

A few seconds later a man strode out in a leather jacket and wearing darkened sunglasses as his eyes narrowed on the arms dealer and the private contractor laying dead on the ground. He then glanced over to the armor truck.

"Mr. Callan, You assured me that nobody knew about this base here, You want to tell me how this sniper found it," the warlord inquired.

Callan rubbed his chin before he spoke. "Humid I assure you my employer doesn't work for the CIA at all. Let's just say we specialize in assassinations." 

Eric lined up his shot, took a deep breath and exhaled as he applied pressure to his trigger and let his round fly as it dropped the Warlord to the ground. Armed mercenaries sprinted over to the trucks and grabbed the doors as they slid, closing the door behind them. The rest jumped in the back of the truck, where a big chained automatic gun stood. This wasn't good, he thought to himself. He couldn't allow himself to be captured by the Taliban or Callan.

He clicked his earpiece in his ear as he voiced through it. " I got incoming armed hostels, need a quick extraction."

Holiday voiced through Eric 's earpiece in his earpiece. "Stay where you are, a blackhawk is on the way with special forces operators to help you."

"Can't stay here too risky of getting caught," Eric stated, folded in his tripod on his sniper rifle jumping to his feet,immediately spotting the trucks roaring out of the base, and heading in his direction.

Gunshots erupted as bullets zipped by him, he snatched up his sniper rifle darting down the mountain with all his might. He could hear the rotating pillars of the UH-60 black hawk helicopter in the distance.

He dropped his AR-30 bolt-action sniper, reaching down in his stealth and pulled out his K-Bar fighting Knife. He holds it at the end of the hilt, making sure his arm makes a perfect 45- degree angle before he whips forward it and lets the blade fly. It lands dead center on the mercenary as he drops his Ak-47 from his grip as he yanked out the knife and cleaned on the mercenary sleeve.

Slipping the knife back into his stealth, he sprinted over to where he'd dropped the sniper rifle and made his way down to the ground. He voiced through his earpiece " I'm on my way to the extraction now, have the Blackhawk standing by Holiday."

Eric dashed, seeing the Blackhawk landing outside the extraction point as the Special forces operator sprinted off, opening fire with their SCAR fully automatic machine clutched in their grip. He darted over to the helicopter as he climbed on. The operators backed still firing and jumped inside as the Blackhawk lifted in the air. He peered out the helicopter seeing a jeep coming to a roaring stop in from the truck with the mercenaries in it.

"Listen, I think we have a problem, you want to tell me why someone from Headshot would be meeting a Taliban Warlord for  on a base that we never heard of? Eric asked.

"It's not someone from Headshot, It's their chief of security Flynn Callan, he's  ex CIA. If he's meeting with Humid it must be something big," Holiday voiced Eric's earpiece.

Three hours later the helicopter landed inside the  Bagram Military base as Eric stepped out clutching his sniper rifle in grip as his eyes darted back and forth around the base. Holiday strolled out of the operations command center,  and walked over to Eric and says " You're a natural at this time, I knew you would be perfect for Night drop Eric. "

They walked down the base, passing  by soldiers heading out for a patrol, as they made their way over to a massive building where  two crewcut men stood outside in  their suits.  It was quite obvious to him that they were CIA agents by the looks  their tailored suits, he caught a glimpse of a gun in their suits from the outline of it. Entering the secure room. Holiday entered a passcode as the door slid. Eric stepped inside, glancing around seeing two people sitting down at a large table.

President Roberts gestured for Eric to have as she said "Please have seat Eric you know why you're here? It's not to hang you out to dry."

Eric sat down in one across from the table, placing his sniper rifle on the ground and says " Madame President, does this have to do with Night drop?"

President Roberts nodded and flipped his file."You had quite a career as an enlisted navy seal sniper ten thousand kills, quite a record for a sniper I say always the same caliber.338 Lapua for your round. You know stuff. You understand that you can never tell anyone close to you what you do? We know about Humid and his mercenaries, they killed more of our soldiers than we could count...The base where you saw Humid belongs to Headshot."

"You're telling me that the base in Kabul belongs to Headshot," Eric stated, trying to figure out how they could have a base here without the U.S knowing about it.

"Yes, that's what we're telling you Eric, now with Hunaid taken out our soldiers will be safe, but that's the bigger picture. The bigger picture is Headshot, an assassin organization. We want you to track down and identity who's behind headshot and put them in the ground,"Miguel Caspian told Eric.

Eric glanced over at Holiday and then back over at President Roberts and her national security advisor. He rubbed the 50. Caliber casing on his chain that he wore around his neck before he inquired. "What do we know about Flynn Callan?"

"Not a lot, only that he was chief operations for the CIA who ran and orchestrated an black assassination within the CIA. After that, he disappeared until now showing in Kabul," Holiday stated.

"Eric is this on black on black op understand your solo on this. Tell me about your call Red," President Roberts inquired.

" I got  it because I 'm brutal in my assassinations methods and I only need one shot to do it," Eric told President Roberts.

Sometimes laying in the bed, he could  still see the faces of people he'd killed with his rounds from his sniper rifle in his dreams . It was hard reality, but he remembered what his instructor told him after he was done training at the Navy sniper school: You're a killing machine, a natural at it. 

"Just remember if you are caught you will be disavowed, we will deny any knowledge of Night drop," Miguel told Eric.

Eric rose where he was sitting, grabbing  his sniper rifle,  and nodded in agreement with the national security. There was no chance of him ever getting captured if he could escape the Taliban . Headshot would never see him coming. Yes, indeed, he was a natural killing machine, one of the best the Navy seals had. It was no wonder why Holiday wanted him for Night drop.