Page 13 of Cross Down
Clyde walks up to the Jersey barrier, firing in disciplined three-round bursts, and Leon moves up on the left in a flanking maneuver. In a few seconds, he will get to the nearest barrier, lean over, and hose the area, taking out the target and whoever else might be seeking refuge there.Sorry,Leon thinks as he echoes Clyde’s three-round bursts. If there’s going to be collateral damage, better it’s these guys than him or Clyde. DC Metro HQ is shit-infested with cops, and in a very few seconds, there’s going to be a heavy response, and he and Clyde need to get the job done.
He leans over the Jersey barrier and sees a fearsome sight on the pavement below. A determined and angry man is looking up at him with his arms extended and a pistol in his large hands.
In his last seconds of consciousness, Leon knows he’s looking into the dark and unyielding eyes of Death.
Chapter
15
When I joinedthe army, the evaluators said I had the ability to go into tunnel-vision mode when a threat emerged, focusing solely on the threat and how to neutralize it, and that familiar feeling drops right into me now, like a heavy bolt into a metal hole.
Threat.
A moment ago, when I saw the weapon, I grabbed my Glock and pushed Alex to the ground. Two men holding MP5s jumped out of the van and started firing.
Response.
Now I return fire, spoiling their aim, hopefully wounding or killing at least one of the attackers.
Secondary response.
Alex grabs his own pistol and starts shooting as well.
Tertiary response.
Get cover.
We are next to a U-shaped row of Jersey barriers, and the near two have a gap between them. I duck down and push through the gap, dragging Alex with me, and he grunts, and the gunfire returns from the two attackers, rounds snapping overhead, the noise getting louder as the two assailants get closer.
Counterattack.
I roll to my side and hold up my pistol, my eyes flitting from one set of barriers to the other.
I won’t wait long.
Through the gap between the Jersey barriers, I see a parked Volvo, and one of the gunmen is reflected in the Volvo’s side mirror.
Come to Papa,I think.
In the mirror, I see the man coming over to the concrete barrier, and I quickly calculate where he’s going to appear. I struggled with math and algebra in school, but in combat situations, I’m golden when it comes to pinpointing the location of a threat.
Like now.
I see the MP5 and his arms emerge over the concrete, then his torso, then his face, which has an expression of surprise when I drill a bullet through his forehead.
Secondary threat.
I crawl over to the gap between the Jersey barriers. In the distance, I hear my fellow Metro Police officers yelling, “Put the weapon down, hands up, put the weapon down!”
Waste of breath with professional gunmen.
I poke my head through the Jersey barrier gap, see the second gunman approaching, and fire off two rounds. One misses but the other strikes his right arm, and he spins around and falls to the ground.
The action of my Glock has snapped back and remains in position.
Out of ammo.
I duck down behind the barrier as gunfire erupts from MPD headquarters; I pop out the empty magazine, grab a spare magazine from my mag pouch, insert it, and release the action as it snaps shut.
