Police in Los Angeles

In just two seconds, Jack fired three shots, a speed that made Lake, standing nearby, take notice.

Lake, the sniper of the PMC team, was a weathered middle-aged man with narrow eyes, indicating a mixed Indian heritage. He was just over 1.7 meters tall and not particularly robust, which might explain why he was willing to give Jack the Barrett rifle. Although the M107A1 had been further lightened, weighing 2.3 kg less than the M107 and featuring a cylindrical muzzle brake that purportedly reduced recoil significantly, not many could match Jack's speed and accuracy with it. Lake had never seen anyone fire so quickly while hitting every target.

The value of the experienced soldiers on the opposite side finally became apparent. Even though their leader had been killed and their heavy firepower neutralized, they did not scatter in panic. Amidst chaotic shouting, they slipped into the jungle on either side, using tree trunks, bushes, and even fallen logs as cover to return fire at the rooftop of the small building.

Jack and Lake were pinned down, unable to lift their heads. The cement walls of the building were peppered with debris from the impacts of 7.62 mm intermediate rounds and 5.56 mm NATO standard rounds. Some shots, due to poor aim or recoil control, flew into the fourth-floor windows, ricocheting off the brick walls or concrete surfaces inside.

Hearing the whistling of bullets in the adjacent room, some of the passengers hiding behind cover in the fourth-floor corridor let out soft cries of fear. The four local girls who had been rescued burst into tears, terrified, and Jeje tried to comfort them with the help of Nadine, the only girl who could speak English.

This calmed the other frightened passengers, who stopped screaming and began soothing the frightened girls. Some even handed over chocolate they had saved from their MREs.

To the Westerners, these girls seemed just like children, their stunted growth from malnutrition making them appear younger than the twelve-year-olds in their own countries. As the gunfire seemed to subside, Jack moved to a new position and cautiously peeked out, only to be driven back by several accurate bursts of fire.

On the other side, Lake, now at a new position, leaned against a sandbag wall with his gun, not even bothering to lift his head. The militants of the "Abuzayev" organization believed they had suppressed the snipers on the roof. Under the urging of a few experienced soldiers, seven or eight men crouched and moved towards the barbed wire fence with guns in hand.

"Machine gunner on standby, everyone else, fire at will," ordered Shebek. Several men on the third and first floors pulled out knives, crowbars, and even claw hammers, prying off the boards loosely nailed over their windows, and began firing at the enemy less than a hundred meters away.

Gunfire erupted again, and the seven or eight militants trying to approach the barbed wire fence fell like cut wheat, unable to react in time. This sudden assault caused a temporary lull in the enemy's gunfire, allowing the two snipers on the roof to unleash their skills once more.

Lake, seemingly spurred by Jack's earlier performance, began firing with his G28E at a rate of nearly one shot per second. Jack switched back to regular NATO rounds, but the Barrett's terrifying 12.7X99 mm caliber made little difference to the makeshift cover the militants were using.

The trunks of oil palm trees, a common tropical tree, appeared sturdy but had less than one-third of their structure composed of wood fiber, easily penetrable. Jack targeted those hiding behind these trees. Although not as efficient as Lake, the terrifying visual effect of his shots caused immense fear among the enemy.

Seeing their comrades picked off one by one, some cut in half or blown apart, finally caused some to flee. "Try to leave the vehicles behind. Jack and Lake, cover us. Let's move downstairs," Shebek commanded, as he and his teammates began heading down. Isaac, the machine gunner on the second floor, stayed in position, while his assistant, Mo, switched back to his role as an assault trooper and joined them.

The group, now forming an assault team, moved towards the jungle in a staggered formation, with "Trap" and Gaspare following cautiously behind, maintaining a distance to avoid friendly fire. Several militants trying to escape in vehicles were shot dead in their seats by Lake, while another vehicle, at an awkward angle, had its engine destroyed by Jack's Barrett.

Out of the nearly 40 attackers, only five or six managed to escape in a pickup truck, while a few fled into the jungle, leaving behind at least 30 bodies. Four vehicles were captured intact, plus one more from the mine, making five—just enough. Each pickup could carry five or six people in the front and back seats, and a few more in the bed, enough to accommodate everyone even if the SEALs arrived.

They needed so many vehicles because, according to the new evacuation plan, the SEAL team would escort the passengers and crew to the nearest southern beach, where the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer "USS Milius" would pick them up. The current location was at least seven or eight kilometers from the beach, making a quick escape on foot impractical.

They drove the captured pickups back to the mine, where Gaspare also collected several steel magazines for AK47s, seemingly quite fond of his original AK. Thanks to the snipers' excellent performance, the battle had gone smoothly, with minimal ammunition expenditure and no harm to non-combatants.

Only "Trap" suffered a minor injury, with a bullet grazing a small piece of flesh off his left arm. Though not serious, he was so tense from his first intense firefight that he didn't notice until the battle was nearly over, and his arm was covered in blood. The internet influencer Brie Teri rushed over, filming with her phone, eager to capture this prime news content.

After bandaging the brave Captain Torrance's wound and giving him an antibiotic shot, the girls left, giggling, leaving him and the chief flight attendant Bonnie alone. Somehow, the two seemed to have hit it off.

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