The dull, grainy figure of a man came into focus as the sniper adjusted the knob on the night scope. He calibrated the distance; ninety-three meters. At that short distance with the SVD modified Kalashnikov and new night scope he would be able to see the blessed face of god in the man’s eyes as the bullet pierced his brain.

The target stood near the corner of the building, just outside the light ring of the streetlamp. He was dead if he stepped into the light. But it didn’t much matter either way. The glow of his cigarette was enough to mark the kill zone. The sniper nudged the dial to sharpen the man’s features.

Another figure suddenly walked into the reticle and the image in the night scope blurred. The abrupt movement surprised the sniper. He pulled his eyes away, wiped his forehead on a sleeve, and let his sight adjust to the darkness again.

The night air was thick with humidity but his line of sight from back inside the third floor window was clear all the way to the target. The sniper peered down at the two figures. The late arrival was as tall as the first but slighter in build. Was it a woman? It was hard to say with the watch cap pulled low over the ears. Maybe a boy, he thought.

He would kill that one for the fun of it.

The sniper loosened his shoulders and stretched his neck. He stared through the scope again. Tonight was easy money, as they said in the United States; sight, squeeze, sight, squeeze. A few seconds was all he needed to finish both of them and still be back at the barracks in time for late mess call.

Before he could refine the image again, the sniper saw the cigarette bounce in the street from an outstretched arm. The exploding sparks shattered the scene into a million pieces. He pulled his face away from the weapon to readjust his eyes to the night again.

The slender one pulled the sniper’s target backward. They disappeared into a recessed doorway that took them to the far end of darkness. The sniper could see the outline of the door frame but his two targets were invisible within the protection of its black shadow.

Even with the night optics, he knew any shot would be risky. He had to be certain at least the primary target was put down cleanly. A soft smile creased his lips. He would let the instant unfold in slow motion and follow god’s will.

The sniper was patient if nothing. He had trained to be patient. Those were weeks, months, years he would never get back. Still, he waited. He would remain on overwatch. The moment will come soon to drop both and he would be ready when that time came.

He refocused the 1PN51 night scope on the black cavity of the doorway and slowly exhaled. When they reappeared, the pair would be moving fast. This added a bit more challenge to the game, he thought, that’s all.

​Surviving Prague

The Hollow Man    |     The Hollow Man Series, International Espionage​

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