Page 55 of Dead Fall

With the downstairs secure, he took the stairs two at a time, vigilant and ready for any danger.

Arriving at the second story, he found the sniper exactly where he had expected him to be. The man was alive, but just barely.

Several of Harvath’s rounds had found their mark, though from which volley, he couldn’t be sure. The bullets alone would have ended his life, but the shrapnel from the fragmentation grenades had definitely accelerated the process. Just to be safe, he kicked the man’s rifle out of reach.

The sniper was guppy breathing. Adjusting his aim, Harvath applied pressure to the trigger of his Galil and put a round through the man’s head for Oleh, finishing him off.

He stepped to one of the other windows, where he had a direct line of sight to the Russians and the Ukrainians battling it out. The dead Russian’s radio was chirping with desperate pleas from his comrades.

Setting his weapon aside, he bent down and picked up the sniper’s old SVD rifle. He ejected the curved, ten-round box magazine and saw that there were several shots left.

He got himself into a comfortable position and then radioed the Ukrainians, letting them know where he was and what he was about to do.

As soon as he received confirmation, he peered through the telescopicsight, flipped off the safety, and aligned the crosshairs with his first target. Exhaling, he pressed the SVD’s trigger and let a round fly.

Hit.

The Russian soldier dropped.

Before the man’s colleagues could figure out what had happened, Harvath readjusted his sight picture and had acquired a new target. Exhaling, he pressed the trigger again.Hit.

The Russian soldiers had no idea where the rounds were coming from, only that someone had gotten the drop on them and that they were dangerously exposed. The men bolted for cover.

Harvath waited, his gaze focused through the telescopic sight, but he didn’t see so much as the toe of a single Russian boot. He had helped take two more pieces off the board. To remove any others, which he fully intended to do, he was going to have to get moving. Switching back to his Galil, he headed downstairs and exited the house.

Based on the way the fight was unfolding, he figured his best opportunity to pick off one or two more Russians was near the APC, so that was where he headed.

Using every piece of available cover, he zigzagged through the village, letting the sound of gunfire be his guide.

While the Ukrainians were doing what they needed to do to repel the attack, the Russians were dumping withering amounts of ammo on the school. They seemed hell-bent on victory and taking control of the village.

Harvath had no idea if the town was of any strategic importance or why the Russians would want it. All he knew was that he and the Ukrainians were going to make sure that they didn’t get it.

Getting closer to the fight, he radioed their sniper, only to discover that the soldier had come under heavy fire and had been forced to retreat back to the school. There was no longer a shooter running overwatch. If Harvath did decide to work the edges of the fray, knocking off any Russians he could find, he’d be doing it without backup.

It wasn’t Harvath’s preferred method of operation, but he was no stranger to going it alone. The sun was beginning to set. He didn’t know about the Ukrainians, but he didn’t have any night-vision goggles. If the Russians had come fully equipped, it could end up being a very long andbloody night. That was reason enough for Harvath to risk going it alone. They needed to end this thing before it got dark.

Nearing the school, it was harder to conceal his movements. Each time he changed cover, he was forced to expose himself for longer periods of time. There just weren’t enough places to hide. He was going to have to make a very difficult decision.

From this angle of approach, the Russians were going to be able to see him at any moment. If he got lucky, he’d be able to get off one, maybe two shots. If he didn’t get lucky, he’d get off zero and they’d be focusing a lot of lead in his direction. Adding to their advantage, they’d have much better cover than he did.

Net-net, it wasn’t worth it. If he wanted the most effective strike, he would have to come at them from a better approach. It was a no-brainer. His best choice was to loop around and hope to use the Ukrainian APC for cover.

The only drawback was that once he stirred the hornet’s nest, if the Russians decided to break off from the school and come after him, he was going to be in massive trouble. But as an old SEAL instructor of his liked to say, Don’t ever be part of the problem. Be theentireproblem. If the Russians decided to come for him, he was going to make it as costly for them as possible.

Breaking off, he slipped between two ruined houses and moved backyard to backyard, as rapidly as he could.

Arriving at the side street where they had ditched the APC, he took a second to survey the scene. Everything appeared the same. The vehicle was still there, its gunner’s hatch ajar, just as he had left it. That meant all the booby traps were still in place, too. Suddenly, having the Russians chasing him didn’t seem like such a bad idea.

Staying hidden, he removed one of his partially loaded magazines and transferred the rounds into another mag. It was time to put his plan into action.

Approaching the back of the APC, he laid the empty magazine on the ground and partially cracked the door cut into the rear ramp. With the trap baited, he went to draw the Russians into an old-fashioned game of chicken.

Sticking close to the jagged façades of the buildings on the opposite side of the street, he crept toward the Russian position. They were still laying down obscene amounts of fire on the school.

Two of their dead were lying in the road and Harvath was glad to see that they were the ones with RPGs that his Ukrainian sniper had taken out.

Finding a good piece of cover, he steadied himself against the wall, established his sight picture, and, as he exhaled, began firing.

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