The Devil's Handshake

57

St Ageranus School, Somerset

Sitting concealed among dense underbrush by the school’s playing field quietly observing the growing crowd of parents, teachers and children was the former security chief of Adwalland’s Interior Ministry.

This last month had been incredibly challenging for him, a wanted man by the United Nations and now vilified by the world as a war criminal of the worst kind, meant that they had only just managed to escape from Adwalland.

Bitter and twisted, the Chief wanted revenge, and the focus of which was the Englishman.

“No! Ahmed I want his entire seed taken out!” Wasir shouted at him as they sat together in the rented villa in Nouakchott licking their collective wounds when he had suggested they use a sniper to kill him.

“Ybeeldaaje,” the man answered resigned to the fact that an order like that would be extremely difficult if not expensive to undertake in England.

If it wasn’t for the pilot friend of the Ybeelaadje suggesting that maybe the best place to take him would most probably be at the school sports day of his daughter, the battle harden Clan fighter Ahmed would still be wondering just how he was going to carry out such an attack without dying in the process.

“Chief, the Englishman is on the field by the running track,” offered one of his spotters, in Somali, a young teenager he recruited from the East London’s exiled community.

Using his binoculars, Ahmed immediately spotted him cheering away, with his woman and the guards alongside them both as the children began their race.

Counting the numbers around him, he could see he had a team of seven around him.

“Good our numbers are equal!” he thought smiling.

“Take up positions! Wait for my signal!” he commanded on the radio.

“Ybeeldaaje,” came back over the radio.

The tactic was simple in design; a standard L-shaped formation in the heavy trees to the right and a team of three led by him in front of them.

Because the Englishmen bodyguards were professionals, Ahmed had reasoned that this would mean once the attack started that they would almost immediately form up into a circle to protect the principal.

But he theorized that with the children and parents in the way taking fire from the team confusion might rain, and if they broke to the left, they would move into the fire of his flanking team. If they moved to the right, then the flanking team would paint their backs. If they tried to move forward, then they would walk straight into his central team that would be advancing forward, again giving him the opportunity to create a lethal killing zone. Finally, if they chose to turn around and try to move out towards the school then, his central team would be able to paint their backs.

Either way they took, Ahmed was confident that with all the panic and screams, the killing zone would be a place that nobody would want to be for unlike them the Englishman men would be able to return fire as they wouldn’t be armed because of the laws of the country. Something he again took as a sign of Allah granting the wish of his Chief.

As the loud repetitive cracks of gunfire, sounds all of Mikhail’s team immediately recognized as Mac-10s, over the cheering and shouting, launched the security team into action.

Ignoring screams of bullets hitting flesh and blood spatter, Avi and Yossi quickly pulled Thomas behind them while David the bodyguard of Nara quickly did the same to her.

“Circle,” cried Mikhail to his men while the two Close Protection Officers of the Metropolitan Police Protection Unit took up position at the front acting as the point. By the sounds of the weapon fire, Mikhail knew instantly they were caught in an L-Shaped ambush.

“L!” he shouted to the team to tell them what type of ambush they were in. As he did, a bullet seared passed his ear hitting one of the parents behind that the fully trained team were using as cover.

Unbeknown to the assault team Mikhail had been prepared for such an attack ever since he scoped the school for risks once Thomas informed him that he was going to send Victoria there.

So instead of panicking as Ahmed hoped he would do and moving into the line of fire, the experienced Israeli bodyguard ordered his team to shift forty-five degrees to their left.

Taking up point, the first armed police officer fired his pistol four times toward the front of the L.

“Victoria!” Nara screamed in panic desperately looking for their daughter amongst the confusion, spotting her frozen in fear in the middle of the running track. Immediately Nara, spurred on by her maternal instincts, broke from the center of the circle taking her personal security officer, David with her with automatically.

“Fuck!” cried Avi as she bolted.

“Go with her Avi,” Thomas ordered his bodyguard.

“You’re the fucking objective not her!” Mikhail cried overriding Thomas’s order as other bullet whizzed past them and into another set of screaming parents and teachers.

“Go!” Thomas ordered with a look that was obeyed. This time, Mikhail reluctantly nodded.

Thomas took up Avi’s former position on Mikhail’s shoulder by tapping on it in the process to show he was now the last-man in the formation.

“Mikhail, we have to move towards them,” shouted Thomas seeing people and children being cut to ribbons around them.

“No way!”

“There are too many of them, we will fall back via the center then back up towards the school.”

Reluctantly knowing his old friend was right. Thomas followed his orders as they began to do by walking backwards in a cool measured manner.

Seeing them form up to do so Ahmed realized the team of the Englishmen weren’t panicking instead, they were using the panic in front of them as cover.

“They are escaping!”

“Break cover, attack!” he ordered the men on the side of the L-formed ambush, a fatal mistake as they up until then had the benefit of cover.

“Targets moving!”

“On the right,” cried Benny seeing them break cover.

Immediately the two police officers fired off three rounds hitting two of the ambushers coming out of the trees before they could fire another volley.

Seeing his comrades falling by the side of him, the remaining Somali gunman panicked as Ahmet had told them that the target would not be armed, he was wrong!

“Action Movement! V Formation,” shouted Mikhail at the two officers at the front. Straightaway Thomas took up on his left while Benny did the same on his right. Yossi immediately came up beside Thomas as the second officer fired off another couple of shots towards the trees at the left.

With no ability to return fire but not wanting more children or civilians, to be hurt they shouted, “DOWN! DOWN!” towards the remaining parents, teachers and terrified children still standing frozen in fear.

Swearing in Somali on seeing the side of his ambush was being counter-attacked, and his ambush was breaking up because his men were fleeing the scene, Ahmed ordered his men away from the advancing counter-attacking V.

“Take out his family!” he ordered towards his remaining men determined to extract some form of revenge from the fast deteriorating situation.

Unfortunately for Ahmed though they only got time for one round of shots off in Nara’s direction, as the rapid fire of the two officers ripped into the trees around them.

Knowing he had missed his chance. Ahmed reluctantly ordered their withdraw cursing in his wake as he did so. Escape was his overriding objective now.

What felt like an hour but was in fact less than a couple minutes later the attack was over.

“Cease-fire” cried the first officer as they surveyed the carnage behind and in front of them realizing now that the attackers had withdrawn from the field.

“Boss! Nara is down,” cried out Avi to Mikhail in his earpiece.

“It’s Nara!” said Mikhail to Thomas ashen faced.

Turning his head, ignoring the screams, sobs, wailing of parents, teachers and more terribly children Thomas’s eyes fixed upon Avi and David’s position.

Seeing them on their knees over a body he set off like a freight train at full speed towards them, his head on fire.

Reaching them in a matter of seconds, he found Nara on the ground with Victoria at her side.

“Naraaaa!” he screamed seeing blood pouring out of her.

“V-i-c-t-o-rrria-” Nara whispered concerned for her daughter and not understanding why she felt so cold.

“It is okay boss. She’s okay!” answered David rapidly in succession having checked Victoria over finding it was only blood spatter on her. Turning momentary towards his little girl to make sure although he could see she was in shock but not physically unharmed he nodded his thanks towards David.

Focusing all of his attention back on Nara, looking down on and one knee fear gripped him.

“Plum is okay! My Darling,” Thomas said, the shock beginning to hit him as he told her.

“I am sorry my T-h-o-m-a-s-” Nara whispered, pain starting to go, light fading from her eyes.

“Shhhhh, darling!” Thomas answered, knowing his beloved was dying in his arms.

“I can’t stop the bleeding boss!” said Avi in despair seeing she had been hit twice in the stomach trying to keep pressure on the wounds with a mass of blood everywhere. Time stopped.

“I love you my Darling,” Thomas said towards Nara ignoring his bodyguard’s words, tears abundant in his eyes knowing he was losing her and there was nothing he could do to prevent it.

A few moments later a hand on his shoulder brought him back from the depths of his mind as he held Nara limply in his arms.

“She’s gone, Thomas,” said Mikhail his voice full of sorrow.

“I know, I know,” he said repeatedly in anguish before turning his head looking up towards Mikhail with a stare of the devil. A look that gave the hardened bodyguard shivers all the way through his spine.