James Mullins - The Winter Sniper

Hale ducked under one such surprise assault and said, “You missed!”

As the younger man scooped up a handful of snow to return fire, a second round struck him right in the head and exploded. Peals of laughter immediately followed, as Hale’s what hood was knocked off his head, “Got you!” Pekka said.

Hale quickly prepared his own frozen missile and threw it at the laughing corporal. Pekka deftly sidestepped Hale’s snowball, rolled to his right, grabbed another handful of snow, and came back to a standing position. He immediately threw another snowball at Hale. This time the nimble young sniper was able to dodge out of the way and yelled, “You missed!”

As Hale scooped up another handful of snow, his ears registered a faint rumble. He held up his hand to Pekka and said, “Shhh. I think I hear something.”

Snow ball fight forgotten, the two men stood and listened, “I think I hear it too.” Pekka said.

Hale nodded in response before saying, “It’s getting louder.”

The two men quickly checked their decoy snowmen one last time. Satisfied that the pair resembled two men working on the truck wrapped in their greatcoats, they turned to each other. Pekka spoke first, “May God be with you.”

Hale smiled to break up the somber mood, “And with you my friend.”

The two brothers in arms clasped arms in the old way and shook. Hale glanced in the direction of the growing noise and said, “I’ve got to get to my position.”

Without another word the two men broke company and headed to their prepared firing positions. As the rumble grew louder Hale ducked into the trees and made his way through the frozen forest to his spot. He got down on his knees and sighted his rifle along the road, I hope this works.

As the noise of the approaching column grew louder, the snow on several of the tree branches closest the approaching Soviets began to shake loose from the branches and slowly drift to the earth. Hale marveled at the beautiful sight of snowflakes slowly drifting downward. The beauty of the scene and the constant thrum of the approaching engine’s caused his mind to drift.

Wanting to stay focused, Hale pushed away his drifting thoughts and brought his mind back into sharp focus. He pulled out a magazine from his right coat pocket and nervously fingered the five bullets on the clip. With a growing sound of groaning metal and clanking tracks, the first vehicle in the Soviet column rolled into view, it was a T-26 tank.

Why must they always have tanks? Hale inwardly cursed. He sighted his rifle on the tank commander who jutted out of an opening in the top of the turret. The tank, painted olive drab green, stood in stark contrast to the back ground of snow and trees and it slowly lumbered up the road. As the clanking monstrosity’s tracks tore up the road, it belched acrid black smoke from its hindquarters.

Hale observed the tank for several moments as it made its way from his right towards his left on the road in front of him. He noted that the T-26 was smaller than the tank that had blown him out of the tree yesterday. I think this one would be easier to kill. Assuming I had the proper equipment. Hale thought. As the tank disappeared from view to his left, he sighted his rifle on one of the many Gaz-MMs in front of him.

Knowing that the tank must be in Pekka’s sight, and that it must stop soon because of their decoy, he reached down to the ground and scooped up a small handful of snow and pushed it into his mouth, The cold of the snow in my mouth will keep my breath from giving me away. Hale thought.

Task complete, he brought his rifle up and sighted it on one of the many truck drivers in front of him. Hale could make out the outline of the man as he stood in contrast to the light coming from the passenger side window of the truck. He kept his shot lined up as he waited for Pekka to engage first.

The T-26 rumbled to a stop as it drew close to the decoy truck. The commander turned toward the driver of the Gaz-MM immediately behind him and gestured at the stalled truck. The driver nodded in acknowledgement and banged on the window that separated the cab from the cargo area of the truck.

Several moments later, a squad of soldiers emerged and formed up on either side of the road. The leader, probably a sergeant, called out, “Privet?”

The man paused for several moments waiting for a response from one of the uniformed snowmen. The Soviet Sergeant called out again, “Privet? Neispravnost’ avtomobilya?”

Frustration growing, the Sergeant took several large steps toward the decoys. As he raised his hand to grasp the shoulder of the decoy closest to him, his forehead exploded in a fountain of blood as Pekka’s first shot smashed through bone and brain before exiting out the back of the unfortunate’s head. Before the tank commander could react, Pekka operated the bolt on his rifle and put a bullet in his head as well. Given the haste of his aim, his second shot was not as perfect as the first.

The squad of soldiers behind the sergeant, four on either side of the decoy truck, dove to the ground upon hearing the first shot. Simultaneously, Hale fired his weapon at a truck driver in the middle of the column. His shot broke the glass of the Gaz-MM and struck his target in the side of the head.

Chaos erupted across the column, as men began to pour from the cargo areas of the canopy covered trucks. Pekka and Hale, slew several more Soviets with their rifles, as more and more of them emerged from the covered rear cargo areas of the trucks. Hale, being careful not to expose himself, worked the bolt on his rifle quickly and slew five men in ten seconds.

When he heard the clang signaling an empty magazine, he ducked back down, hit the button that released the empty clip, caught it with his left hand, and slipped it into his left coat pocket. He reached into his right coat pocket for his next clip and with a well-practiced movement, slammed it home into the slot. He operated the bolt of his rifle to pull a round into the chamber.

Sitting back up into his firing position, he took a moment to marvel at the scene of chaos before him that two snipers have caused. Most of the men that were in the backs of the trucks had emerged and quickly dropped to the frozen earth. As Hale took in the scene, he targeted one of the last men to emerge from the trucks and put a bullet in him. The quickly aimed shot was far from perfect as it slammed into the unfortunate’s abdomen. Hale had been aiming for the center of his chest.

Before the men, now laying in the frigid snow could draw a bead on Hale’s location, Pekka shot one of the soldiers from the first squad crawling up the road in his direction. One of the seven survivors thought he saw movement up ahead, so he jumped to his feet and let out a loud whoop as he began charging up the road in Pekka’s direction.

The Russian made it about ten feet before Pekka’s well-aimed shot put an end to his career in the Red Army permanently. Unfortunately, this gave away his position to the now dead soldier’s squad mates. They leapt to their feet and began charging up the road in Pekka’s direction. As they closed the distance to the solitary sniper, they bellowed a fearsome war cry.

Pekka, ignoring the screaming meant to intimidate, quickly dropped another Russian with a well-placed shot. Unfortunately, the six survivors closed the distance to his oak tree all too quickly. Cursing in frustration, he pulled out his German grenade, yanked the pull cord to activate it, and tossed it at the charging Soviets. The grenade spun end over end as it sailed through the air toward the Russians.

With a dull smack, the device struck the frozen mud at the feet of the lead Soviet and exploded a moment later. This had the result of tearing this unfortunate into about a dozen different pieces which were flung in random directions as the column of flame billowed upward. The two men immediately behind him were also killed instantly, as they were flung backwards by the expanding explosive cloud.