‘I saw Eni and Marko shot while they were running,’ came a reply.
‘No-one move,’ the commander ordered. ‘Stay where you are.’
‘No shit,’ someone else muttered.
‘He can see me here,’ an officer shouted.
The commander was unable to see him from where he was. ‘Who said that?’ he called out.
‘It’s me. Duno.’ He waved briefly. He was beside one of the cars. The front of it was facing the shooter and he was down one side between the wheels.
‘You’re fine,’ the commander shouted.
‘No I’m not,’ Duno shouted back. ‘It’s alright for you to say.’
‘If he could see you, he would shoot you,’ the commander argued. ‘You’re good where you are.’
Duno wasn’t buying it. ‘That’s what you told the others and look what happened to them!’
Duno reached up, gripped the door handle and unlatched it, opening it a little. So far, so good.
He opened the door fully, crawled onto the seats, twisted onto his back, hooked his foot under the door handle and pulled it shut. He made it.
A shot rang out, striking the car with a metallic slap. The door eased open and Duno’s feet fell out limply.
‘Duno?!’ the commander shouted.
There was no reply.
The commander felt utterly trapped. He checked the signal on his cell-phone even though he knew there’d be none. The only radios they had were short range. He was going to have to wait until it was safe and then send someone up the road to where they could get a signal and report the incident to headquarters.
Pandi hugged the base of his tree where he planned to stay until it was dark. The girl was still sobbing as she lay on the ground against the cabin. She wanted to join her parents in the BMW. The vile border police were as much a threat to her as whoever was shooting at them. They were going to rape her, or worse. None of them were taking any notice of her. She got to her knees and into the sprint position. An officer nearby happened to look at her and realised her intentions.
‘No!’ he shouted.
His warning had the opposite effect. She leapt forward. The officer managed to dive and grab her leg. She fell as he hung on and fought to pull away. His grip slipped to her foot. She cried out, unable to go any further.
They all looked towards her as she called out. The officer holding her was also exposed. He suddenly realised his vulnerability, released her and scrambled back to cover. She took off towards the BMW, ripped open the door and dived inside into her father’s arms.
The commander had the same thought as the rest of his men. The officer hadn’t been shot which meant the shooters had gone. He needed to get on their trail as soon as possible. There was no time to lose. First thing was to find the ambush location. Before he could get started of course, he had to be sure the ambushers had indeed gone. That meant someone stepping out of cover. That someone was going to have to be him. He couldn’t order one of his men to stand in the open. They’d refuse and ask him to do it anyway. He had to accept the responsibility. The only other option was to remain where they were until darkness.
‘Throw me your rifle,’ he said to an officer hidden behind a pile of logs.
The commander holstered his pistol. The officer held his rifle in both hands and threw it. The commander caught it neatly.
He checked the gun was loaded and the sights set on maximum range. He stepped back from the tree while remaining behind it, put the butt into his shoulder, aimed at the woods and shuffled back. He was partially exposed. He fired a dozen shots at various parts of the woodland. The gun was deafening and hurt his ears but when no fire was returned his confidence increased.
He shuffled from side to side, exposing more of himself and then went for it. Keeping the weapon aimed at the wood, he bravely stepped away from the tree and moved to where he was in the open. He scanned the woodland through the weapon sight, beads of sweat forming on his brow. With every passing second he became convinced the attackers had made good their escape.
‘It’s clear,’ he shouted.
No-one else moved. Not immediately. A couple poked their heads from cover to search the hillside. Pandi decided not to look just yet. Confidence increased throughout the others that the ambushers had indeed fled the scene. One of them stepped from cover. Then another. Pandi decided he didn’t want to be the last and eased into the open.
The commander went to the nearest victim to see if he might be alive. ‘Check the others,’ he ordered.
It was pretty obvious they were dead. Three had their brains shot away and the eyes of the other one were open, his tongue hanging out.
Pandi’s uncle opened the door to the police car to see his nephew lying dead inside. Pandi joined him to look at his brother. His uncle put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. Pandi wasn’t particularly close to his older brother. But they were brothers after all. He would have to tell their mother. She’d be devastated. He was her favourite.
‘Close in everyone,’ the commander ordered. His officers made their way to him. He looked towards the BMW, unable to see the family inside. ‘Hey. You inside the car.’
The driver’s door opened and the father looked at him without getting out of his seat.
‘You stay there,’ the commander ordered. ‘Don’t go. I have your vehicle details. If you drive away you will be considered an accessory to this and hunted
