D CK I A BO

Looking southbound along the 400, she winced as the wind picked up. To her left, her partner unpacked a scope, and after adjusting it for a moment and holding it up to his eye, he tapped his earpiece twice, and took a prone position closer towards the white billboard that read JESUS IS COMING SOON in black lettering, on the left, ARE YOU READY? CALL UPtown 1-8980, on the right, and a picture of a robed man with longer hair and no shoes.

Watching as she unpacked her rifle bag, she carefully took out the components of a long range rifle. She set up a position beside him facing straight down the highway.

As she assembled the barrel into position and fold out the stock, she grimaced as she snapped a bipod into place, she then dropped to a knee and took a look through the scope.

Zooming out, I was in the ruins of one of the government rest stops, thinking about how to avoid attention and get further north towards Friday Harbor for the rendez-vous with my contact.

I was able to keep them in view as I looked right and wondered what they were waiting for. From the looks of their mud-colored camouflage, they weren't the zealots I was expecting to see in this leg of the mission. Curiosity getting the better of me, I crept low along the treeline, and readied my scope on them. With the brush out of my way, I was able to use the IR beam microphone to listen in.

Depressing the button on my scope I heard the gunner clear her throat.

"Yeah, it looks like we're connected and on time. Ten minutes."

"Looks like we have time."

As she stepped behind the billboard and out of view, the one with the scope kept an eye out, and I was took a closer look at the weapon. It didn't look like a regular run of the mill C15 or anything like that, and I reasoned they weren't Provincials. We didn't have any operations planned in this neck of the woods or a while yet, so this must have been some inside thing they were part of.

Returning into view, I saw her refasten her belt buckle, and get back into position.

"My head hurts. I really don't want to deal with this today."

"Today's the day though. It's now or never."

"I know it's just... does it have to be today?"

My motion sensor went off, and through the smashed in windows of the aluminum dock supply store a few hundred meters behind them, I could see a doe gingerly navigate through the showroom of what had once been a dock supply store. Along its top read the letters D CK I A BO, with the ghosted rusted outline of an O, N, and X. The aluminum stocks were long removed and repurposed for defence. Its wood reused for construction or warmth.

Back in firing position, all of us running south to see a grouping of black vans dot the horizon.

The vans approached closer, and fixing my scope on the two militants next to the billboard, I overheard the man with the scope say "Second car, tagged now."

The gunner moved ever so slightly.

With an audible crack of the bullet's exit velocity, I watched the windshield of the car break dead center as the second car in the convoy began to swerve, then dramatically go nose-first into a ditch.

Screeching to a halt, four PMCs in battle rattle poured out of the lead vehicle, with a mishmash of assault weapons and a cornucopia of tan, green, and grey so-called uniforms, they were clearly low-rent, and zooming in, at least two of them had poorly groomed facial hair.

The third van stopped and from inside two more PMCs and what looked like a doctor ran over to the stranded car. As they opened the back compartment of the van in the ditch.

The two PMCs in the rear car retrieved an LMG from the trunk of their van and frantically began loading in the ammunition belt.

The assailants, now safely hidden behind the JESUS IS COMING SOON billboard with their rifle broken down, were out of view and while the tan/black and green/brown "uniformed" PMCs walked up to take a look at where the shot must have come from.

I watched as a woman crying and covered in blood except for a handprint on her exposed breast emerged from the second car with the help of the remaining two PMCs from the lead car.

Pulling up the top of her dress from her waist she collapsed into the grass, sobbing.

The two PMCs then pulled out the body of an older man in a suit who had been shot directly in the chest, obviously still choking on his blood while the medic began working.

The two northbound PMCs stop, looking at the JESUS IS COMING SOON sign. One of them threw a canister from his bandolier and second later, the canister burst open, and bright white sparks and smoke sprayed on to the wood sign, igniting it, reducing the robed two-dimensional man to catch fire feet first.

As soon as they realized what was happening, the one of the two militants behind the sign split around the left and right and began opening fire with pistols, catching the green/brown PMC who had thrown the grenade flat-footed. I watched as he fell on to his back, clutching his leg.

The LMG and belt PMCs rushed for cover behind the lead car. The one holding the LMG yelled what I suppose was intended to be a battle cry as round after round punctured the JESUS IS COMING SOON in a diagonal pattern from the N in SOON to the J in JESUS, while wind fed the now metre high flames.

"Hold it steady!" the shooter yelled as the other PMC to his side did the best he could to get a grip on the gun. As they went to resume firing, the belt snapped, firing two shots, then jamming.

The black/tan fired a round that hit one of the militants, causing him to fall face first into a boulder, smashing his face and leaving him laying on the ground to bleed out. I heard the sound of a 500cc motor buzz, and caught sight of the woman ride off into the tree line, and out of sight.

Instead of waiting around, I successfully wager that the PMCs, and VIPs were more concerned with their situation. I watch as the Tan/Black PMC berates the LMG team before grabbing his radio and calling for CASEVAC.