Chapter 2 - Guardian Angel
Ten minutes earlier, Nora had been alone above Blackwood Valley.
The ridge offered a clean view of the evacuation route below, but almost no protection. Jagged rock rose behind her. A steep drop cut away to her left. Snow-covered peaks stood bright in the distance beneath hard afternoon sunlight.
Below, eighty civilians were being moved toward evacuation transports by a reduced infantry element.
Families carried bags, blankets, and small children. Older men leaned on soldiers for support. Drivers kept engines running while infantrymen scanned the road and shouted for everyone to keep moving.
Nora’s assignment was simple.
Watch the valley.
Protect the transports.
Stop anyone who tried to reach them.
She had performed more difficult missions. She had worked in worse weather, under heavier pressure, with fewer resources. But every experienced sniper knew simple missions became dangerous the moment people started believing they were predictable.
Nora settled behind her Remington M24 and watched the opposite ridge.
Her breathing slowed.
The radio hissed in her ear.
“Raven Three, convoy is five minutes from movement,” Hale reported.
“Copy.”
“You see anything?”
“Nothing that likes sunlight.”
Hale almost laughed.
Then the radio died.
Not weak static.
Not fading signal.
Complete silence.
Nora tapped the unit once.
Nothing.
She checked the backup channel.
Dead.
At the same moment, movement appeared along the far ridge.
Several armed trucks crested the stone line and turned toward the valley road.
Nora’s pulse stayed steady.
Her radio was gone.
The civilians were exposed.
And the enemy had arrived exactly when American communications failed.
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That was not bad timing.
It was a plan.
