When Nir came to, he saw Imri and Yaron working on Dima. He tried to speak, but instead threw up dirt and bile.
“Is he okay?” Nir managed to spit out.
Dima answered. “I’m fine. Just a couple metal splinters to my shoulder. Getting blown up once in a day sucks. Twice—achi, I need to find a new profession.”
Nicole’s harsh voice stopped the joking. “It’s great everyone is okay and all, but you still have those vehicles coming your way. You need to get moving! Now!”
“Which way? We don’t even know where we are,” Nir shot back.
There was silence on the other end.
“Listen, we need to know now,” he shouted.
Nicole sounded flustered. “I know! I know! Okay, go across the road and between the houses. Start up the hills. Your only hope now is high ground.”
“Root! We’re on it.”
As they crossed the street, Nir saw two men with rifles sprawled out and obviously dead. Apparently, he had missed some action while he had been out. He looked over at Gil.
“They came from behind the shop,” he said, using his head to indicate left. “Yaron put them down.”
Nir nodded. The ringing in his ears was almost deafening, and he felt like someone had put his head in a heavy-duty vice. When he stumbled, he felt Gil’s arm slip under his own. They moved unsteadily between the houses and out into open ground. There was yelling behind them, but it took just one quick high burst from Dima’s X95 to send the people scurrying back into their homes.
“They’re less than four minutes out,” said Liora. “You can’t outrun them, even off-road.”
“Hang on! Hang on!” Nicole shouted. “Okay, there’s a ridge about twenty kilometers up. It’s not much, but it gives you high ground.”
“Root,” Nir replied. It wasn’t that high, but he was thankful when he saw the perch. At least it would allow him to stretch out as he aimed. Being caught up in three blasts within 15 minutes of each other was a sure way to get a brain bleed. He prayed that wasn’t what was happening to him.
When he and Gil reached the granite outcrop, he saw how little it truly was. They would have room to spread out at first, but a few minutes of fire from the oversized machine guns on the back of the LMVs would soon turn the granite to dust.
Farzat came and dropped next to him. “Remember the bags I brought with me?”
“Where are they?” Nir asked, looking behind the man.
A smile spread across the 504 man’s face. “I left them down there. Turnabout is fair play, right? Mine just happen to be a lot bigger than theirs were.”
The man turned away and used his scope to search for the enemy.
“One minute until the trucks are on you,” said Liora.
“We see them,” Nir said, removing the need for her to count down.
“Come to abba,” whispered Farzat.
Nir could hear the vehicles racing up the winding road. The three LMVs were in the front, followed by the M35 deuce-and-a-halves loaded with Hezbollah soldiers.
“A little farther,” said Farzat.
A blast echoed up the hill. The lead LMV flew up in the air. A second tactical vehicle slammed on its brakes, but not in time. The first LMV landed on its hood with a crunch, instantly flattening its tires. The other vehicles screeched to a halt, which was exactly what Farzat was counting on. A second explosion tore open the side of the hill. Nir felt his short hair blow back from the concussive wave. There was a rumble, then a load roar as rocks broke free and showered the transport trucks.
Nir seized the opportunity. “Open fire!”
The guns on the ridge began sending bullets down at the confused Hezbollah terrorists. They tried to take cover but weren’t sure from which direction the fire was coming. Nir’s aim was not as good as it usually was. Still, he took down his share.
Then the tide turned. They had wiped out a heavy gun and maybe a third of the fighting force. That still left Nir and his men with a three-to-one disadvantage, minimum. The Brownings on top of the LMVs began firing their .50 BMG rounds up at the line of men. All seven rolled back to avoid the deadly shower of granite that began spewing into the air.
Dima broke left, while Yaron went right. Both were trying to get a good angle at the men behind the big guns. Unfortunately, the Hezbollah fighters were behind thick metal plates. There was no way to reach them.
“We’re down to our last four grenades,” said Farzat.
“Send them,” Nir said, missing a shot as a man took cover behind a boulder.
Then, over the din, Nir’s ears picked up a sound. It was growing louder by the second.
“Incoming,” he called. Dropping to his face, he covered his head with his hands and curled into a ball.
Please be accurate! Please be accurate!
Four massive explosions sent dust, rock, and wood raining down on them. The blasts were soon followed by the sound of two very-low-flying F-35s. Nir looked up in time to see their engines burning hot as they angled back up into the skies. This was the fourth time he had been far too close to an explosion in the last hour. He prayed it would be his last.
Pulling himself to the edge of the ridgeline, he looked down. The road where the trucks had been was covered with twisted metal, body parts, and piles of rock.
“Imri, Dima, Gil, clear the site,” he said.
“Root,” the three men said as they began to sidestep their way down the steep hill. He would have gone with them, but he knew that his reaction time was practically nil.
“Lead, are you good?” It was Efraim.
Nir scanned the remaining team, who were all looking at him. Not a single man was free of blood and dirt, but they all held their thumbs up. “We’re good. Thanks for the assist.”
“No problem. You can buy me a round when you get back.”
Nir laughed, feeling pain all over his body as he did so. “You got it. Speaking of…we need some alternate transportation to get up to the Beirut port. Got any ideas?”
Efraim turned serious. “Beirut? Achi, you guys aren’t going to Beirut. Not after this.”
Instantly, Nir’s relief turned to anger. He was not going to allow his team to be cut out of the mission just because some Hezbollah goons stumbled onto them. “Nicole, switch Efraim and me to a separate line.”
“Nir, he’s…”
“Switch us.”
“Root,” she said curtly. As Nir waited, his anger continued to grow. This was his team’s idea. They had prepared for this. This was his operation.
After a couple clicks, Nicole added, “You’re clear.”
“Efraim, we trained for this. We’re ready to go.”
“Brother, you just got chased halfway across central Lebanon. You’ve been blown up twice, at least by my calculation. You’re being called off.”
“On who’s authority?”
“The ramsad’s. Face it, you were somehow compromised. Either someone saw you going in, or somebody from our office tipped off Hezbollah. I don’t know. There will be some big investigation into it, I’m sure. All I know is that you guys are spent, done, out.”
Nir looked up and saw all eyes on him. He walked away toward the woods. “So, are they calling the whole thing off?”
When Efraim paused, Nir knew exactly what he was going to say even before he said it.
“They’re sending in Ehrlich, aren’t they? They’re sending him in by the water route—the route I said from the beginning we should have taken.”
“Yes, it’s by the water route, but no, it’s not the better route. They have a much higher chance of being caught. Ehrlich and his team are going in at 22:00. That’s nine hours from now. You’ll probably be getting out of the tunnel at Metula by then.”
Nir stood steaming. “You know he’s going to screw it up somehow.”
“Listen, Tavor, Ehrlich’s a good agent and a good leader. He’ll get it done. Now quit acting like a spoiled brat who’s just had his lollipop stolen from him. This wasn’t your day. It happens. Get over it and get out of there.”
Nir switched back to the main line without responding. He stood, breathing in the air. It smelled like cedar and dust.
Efraim’s right. This just wasn’t our day. It happens. Don’t pass your mood on to the guys. You’ve still got work to do to get back across the border.
He turned back to the men, who were all in the process of reloading and consolidating their unspent rounds. “Okay, guys, we’ve got to find our way back to the tunnel that brought us in here. They’ve passed the mission on to Ehrlich’s team.”
A groan sounded from one of his men. “Stow it,” Nir commanded. “Ehrlich’s a good agent and a good leader. He’ll get it done.” But even as he repeated the words Efraim had said to him, he didn’t fully believe them. This whole operation didn’t feel right, and he didn’t trust anyone but himself to see it through. It was arrogant and obnoxious and likely totally wrong, but it was what his heart was telling him. Sadly, there was nothing he could do about it now.
Turning to Farzat, he asked, “You guys coming with us? I owe you a Gold Star.”
Farzat reached out his hand, which Nir took. “I think we’ll stay. We’ve got a little remodeling we need to do.”
Nir grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, sorry about that.”
Each man said his goodbyes, and the two Unit 504 men walked north, higher up into the hills. Nir and his team had a long journey south ahead of them, which would probably involve stealing at least one car. But would hopefully not include any gunplay.
“CARL, we’re heading out. We’ll hit you up when we need you.”
“Root,” acknowledged Nicole.
They all geared up and began walking.
“Ehrlich’s going to totally botch it up,” said Yaron, shaking his head.
This time, Nir let it go.