RED HAZE: A Werewolf Story for the 21st Century (13 page)

Suddenly, as if from nowhere, Alpha Two veered to the left, expertly missing the damaged Alpha One. “SHIT, THAT WAS CLOSE,” yelled the pilot.

Alpha One’s pilot tilted the helicopter, and dropped quickly. “DEAR GOD,” he shouted to the marksman, now clutching on for dear life, “HOLD ON!”

In a whining symphony of metallic agony Alpha One spiralled to the ground, a mass of flame and smoke erupting from its cockpit.

And at the same moment, the marksman on Alpha Two lifted his sniper rifle to his right eye and zeroed in once again on Gerhard Maas. Just one clear shot he thought, FOR GOD’S SAKE, JUST ONE!

“To the left Red Haze. Unit Two, to the right, now left, the back alley, TAKE THE BACK ALLEY, YOU’LL HAVE THE DROP ON HIM!” Nick Lucas felt slightly nauseous. This was not fun he thought, innocent people were dead or dying and he was right in the thick of it!

“Nick,” Maurice Hertschell looked sternly at the young computer whiz kid, “you have to get those two units to their target, and damned quickly!”

“I know Commander, I KNOW!” The satellite imaged street map of Piper’s surrounding area continued to be littered with panicking figures. “THERE, THE BACK ALLEY,” Nick shouted, “THAT’S IT! YOU’RE NEARLY ON HIM! GO, GO, GO!” The Canadian’s fingers tapped furiously at his keyboard, the map enlarging, “RED HAZE, LISTEN CAREFULLY…”

Running around another corner, vigorously following Nick’s instructions, Piper and Unit One heard a loud explosion behind them. Alpha One, in a hail of flame and twisted metal, had crashed into a group of buildings. The scene was of total chaos.

Piper cursed aloud, sweat dripping down his forehead.

“Take the third right, then veer left,” Nick continued, “it’s another back alley, you will meet with Unit Two. The target is heading for the main flotilla area. God knows what a mess he could do there. There are tourists all over the place!”

“Affirmative.” Piper was now desperately concerned, his unit picking up speed once again. We have to make contact with the target soon he thought, or more bloodshed will follow.

Time is running out, thought Gerhard, the bastards will soon have me!

Running further, his stamina beginning to drain, Gerhard looked to the skies once again. The remaining helicopter was moving over to the left, preparing for another shot. But I’ve only one magazine left, he thought! Fifteen rounds!

He had to make them count. Run for your life, thought Gerhard, FOR YOUR LIFE, AND FOR YOUR HONOUR!

The two BBE units met exactly as Nick Lucas had predicted. Now it was a straight run towards the docks and the sightseeing boarding area. Hurriedly, one of the troopers pointed to the left, “THERE HE IS!”

Although they knew of the previous terrorist carnage at the Van Gogh museum, Will and Jenny Winton hadn’t been deterred from taking their tour of Europe, for no terrorists were going to spoil their honeymoon.

Their wedding in downtown Dallas, just two days earlier, had been a wonderful celebration of devoted love. All the guests, over two hundred of them had wished the happy couple well, and now here they were, ready to board a pristine, glass canopied canal boat for their two-hour tour of Amsterdam’s inner city.

But something wasn’t right! The ticket collector had halted the queue, the crowds viewing the helicopter overhead. Then they heard the gunshots! Instinctively, with her hands beginning to shake, Jenny clutched Will’s arm. Then came the explosion, a loud crumping sound in the middle of a group of people over to their left. There were screams! Hideous screams and a man running directly toward the honeymooners. He had a gun. People were shouting, “RUN, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!”

Jenny tightened her grip on her husband’s sleeve. “Hell Jenny,” Will muttered, his voice suddenly becoming a yell, “WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A GOD DAMNED WAR ZONE!”

“HE’S GOING TO TAKE A HOSTAGE ALPHA TWO, DO YOU HAVE A SHOT?” Sergeant Vinke’s voice was raised, tension screwing his stomach into knots.

“That’s a negative,” the marksman replied, “there are too many people.”

The two BBE units had spread out amongst the panicking, confused public, with further bodies littering the cobbled area and people screaming for help as blood flowed from various wounds. One way or another, this bastard’s going to pay, thought Vinke. “WEAPONS READY,” he shouted, the situation rapidly worsening as the troopers and Piper prepared for their inevitable confrontation with the panicking terrorist.

“OUT OF THE FUCKING WAY!” With a hate filled sneer, Gerhard Maas held the SIG at arms length. His third and last grenade had been used wisely. Further Untermenschen were now paying the price for their invasion of Europe. In sheer, uncontrollable panic, people leapt to the ground or ran screaming in all directions, the German pushing his way through the terrified crowd, the barrel of the SIG suddenly aiming directly at Will Winton’s head as his eyes focused dementedly on the woman at his side.

“GOD DAMN IT, LEAVE MY WIFE ALONE!”

It was Will’s inner courage and deep sense of love for his new wife that brought his life to a savage end. Courageously, he leapt in front of Jenny as Gerhard grabbed her hair, Will’s fist rising up towards the gunman’s face. Then his head exploded.

“DIE!” The SIG spat a round, at point blank range.

“OH GOD NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Jenny Winton screamed for her husband.

“GET UP, BITCH!” Gerhard pulled hard at Jenny’s hair, her blood splashed body pulled close to his, the tip of the SIG’s barrel pushing painfully into the side of her head. Gerhard was out of breath, tired, but elated. The carnage he had caused would go down in history he thought. If it finished here, THEN SO BE IT!

The woman screamed again, “GOOOOOOOOOOOD,” her arms outstretched to the crowds and the oncoming police officers, their weapons raised, their hearts pounding!

“FUCKING SHUT UP,” yelled the murderous German, “I SAID SHUT UP!”

“HOLD FIRE, HOLD FIRE!” The BBE troopers and Piper were approximately thirty metres from the terrorist and his hostage.

Gerhard backed up, his left hand gripping his hostage around her throat, squeezing the very life out of her, the edge of the canal, just a metre or so behind him.

“When I fucking go bitch, you go with me,” he whispered into Jenny’s ear. The woman tried to scream again, her voice now only a choking plea for help such was the strength of the grip around her throat.

“Alpha Two, circle for a shot.” Piper knew he was taking a chance, but it was the only option they had.

“Understood.” The pilot of the AH-6, hovering to the left of Gerhard, slowly moved direction.

“KEEP THE FUCKING CHOPPER TO THE FRONT OF ME!” Gerhard pressed the hard metallic muzzle of the SIG harder against Jenny’s temple. She was sobbing hysterically.

“PLEEEEEASE DO AS HE SAY’S,” she screamed, “I DON’T WANT TO DIE! PLEEEEEEEEEEEEASE!”

“YEAH, LISTEN TO THE LADY,” Gerhard yelled at the top of his voice.

Piper recognised the sign. Panic was setting in! “Hold position Alpha Two.”

“Understood.” The pilot of the AH-6 looked down at the precarious situation. How he felt for the woman in the terrorist’s hands. Worriedly, he glanced back at his colleague who was still aiming his sniper rifle. “Any chance of the shot?” he asked through his microphone.

“No way, she’s too close to his body. His head is right behind hers. It’s up to the units down below. They have to create an opening.”

Sergeant Vinke shouted, “GIVE YOURSELF UP! IT’S OVER, LET THE WOMAN GO!”

“FUCK OFF!”

“It’s no good!” Vinke was tired. He looked at Piper who was slowly starting to edge forward, the USP now held by his side.

“Look…it is over,” Piper said, his voice calm, collected, “let the woman go and we’ll promise you a decent and fair trial.” Keep him talking, he thought.

Jenny Winton was terrified. She could feel Gerhard’s hot breath in her ear, her tears flooding down her face, soaking her bloodied coat.

Piper took another step closer, then stopped.

“I MEAN IT! ONE STEP CLOSER AND I’LL BLOW HER FUCKING BRAINS OUT!”

Only seconds left thought Piper, the terrorist is on the verge of losing control, for him it’s a no hope situation. It was too much for Piper’s conscience. If there was one aspect of life that Piper hated the most, it was the abuse of women, AND THIS WOMAN HAD SUFFERED ENOUGH! The wolf spoke. Piper dropped to his knees, his eyesight becoming blood red. “NO,” he shouted, “NOT NOW!” He growled defiance from his throat, his jaw line slowly starting to expand.

 For just for a few, short, heart rending seconds the BBE troopers along with Jenny Winton forgot everything around them, for never in all their lives had they witnessed anything like it!

But Gerhard Maas had seen this trait of behaviour before!

“Oh my God, he’s hazing!” Jeanette Descard viewed the large screen with her colleagues. The tell tale signs were there, the microchip under Piper’s left arm sending readouts that spelt of warning. Piper’s blood pressure was increasing dramatically, so too, his heartbeat!

Colonel Mann shouted down the Microphone, “CONTROL RED HAZE! YOU MUST HAVE CONTROL!”

For Gerhard Maas, the sight in front of him brought back terrifying memories of the vision that had plagued his sleep pattern for months. He had witnessed the terror of the man beast before, the red eyes, the shape shifting body and the hideous growling.

“What the hell is going on down there?” The pilot of Alpha Two momentarily lost concentration as he viewed the dark blonde haired man on his hands and knees, just metres away from the terrorist and his hostage.

“Prepare for the shot!” It was Sergeant Vinke’s voice, the marksman zooming in with his telescopic sight.

But still, the woman stood in the way!

Gerhard Maas panicked. “YOU…YOU! YOU’RE ONE OF THEM! I KNEW IT, I FUCKING WELL KNEW IT!” The panicking German waved his gun arm around, the barrel no longer pressed to the woman’s head.

Piper fought for control, then moved!

“TAKE HIM!” Sergeant Vinke spat his words out.

The marksman didn’t reply, he just squeezed the trigger…and prayed.

To Ash Piper, time stood still. Above the whirring harsh metallic din of the helicopter’s rotors, he heard the bullet leave the barrel of the sniper rifle as he leapt from his crouched position, his arms outstretched ready to grab hold of the woman.

In just over a second, two things happened.

Gerhard Maas lost his life from a bullet to the chest and Ash Piper saved Jenny Winton from certain death. “GOT YOU!” he yelled, his powerful arms enveloping the hysterical hostage. Both he and the woman rolled to the ground as Gerhard Maas screamed, his SIG firing blindly in all directions. It was a response triggered by death.

As Gerhard’s body flew backwards from the force of the bullet, Piper looked back, the terrorist vanishing from sight, falling into the canal. “Alright,” he said quietly, “you’re safe now.”

The woman was hysterical. “GET OFF ME!” she screamed, her fists pummelling Piper’s chest, “GET OFF ME, GET OFF!”

“Calm down,” said Piper, “it’s okay, you’re safe, calm down.”

Jenny shook uncontrollably, her tear stained face turning to Piper’s. “YOUR EYES,” she screamed, “OH MY GOD, WHAT’S HAPPENED TO YOUR EYES?”

Piper didn’t reply.

“Good shot Alpha Two, good shot.” Sergeant Vinke breathed a huge sigh of relief, for never, in all his days, had he seen such deadly carnage…and all from just one man! The rest of his unit stared blankly at the man with blood red eyes as Piper picked himself up off the cobbled paving.

“Keep the public back,” ordered Vinke to his men.

“Yes sir!”

Piper felt deeply troubled. Sergeant Vinke was walking towards him, he was saying something, but Piper’s mind was elsewhere, the smell of blood assaulting his senses. For a few moments he felt sick, sick to his stomach. It wasn’t the smell of the blood, no, he was used to that. It was the fact that he, himself, had most probably caused the death of the woman’s husband. The marksman on Alpha Two could have shot the terrorist dead at first contact, but Piper wanted him alive. What a fucking mess, he thought.

By now, crowds had gathered around various buildings and at the canal side, the police thankfully restoring calm. As he focused intently on the dreadful devastation around him, his field of vision still blood red, Piper noticed smoke billowing upward from a back street where Alpha One had crashed. Slowly, he shook his head in disbelief as Sergeant Vinke stood by his side and removed his combat helmet.

“You took one hell of a chance there,” Vinke said, “but I have to say, that was the most incredible thing I have ever witnessed in my life.” Piper didn’t speak. “The leap for the woman,” Vinke continued, “no ordinary human being could have done that…could they?” There was still no response from Piper. Not a word! “So what the hell are you?” Having noticed Piper’s blood red eyes, a look of disbelief now lay firmly etched on Vinke’s face.

“What am I?” muttered Piper, picking up his USP off the cobbled floor. “I’ve heard that question asked before.” Piper paused and holstered his handgun, his mind racing back to Iraq, the briefing in Commander Hertschell’s office and the viewing of the Rostov video footage. The words ‘I am a God’ came into his mind. But he wasn’t a god, and he knew it! “Sergeant Vinke, I am a weapon, simple as that! The incident you and your men have witnessed here today will be filed under Level One security classification.” Piper’s voice became harsh, “do you understand?”