Afghan Storm (Nick Woods Book 3) by Stan R. Mitchell Read Free Book Online Page B

of
seconds.
    Nick rotated
his rifle as Truck’s RPK let loose a burst into a clump of running men.
    “Up some,”
he heard Marcus shout from Truck’s left, and the machine gun let loose again.
    Through his
limited view in the scope, Nick couldn’t locate the leader in the white turban.
So he randomly selected another man running break-neck speed toward them and
fired. The man stumbled then dropped.
     
    Tariq saw
bodies strewn along the path before him. The Americans seemed to have a sniper
rifle and machine gun on the hill, and the rounds from them were cutting
straight through his men.
    He’d heard
the anguished cries all around him and stoically rushed by the bodies; some
twitched erratically as the life drained out of them. They were getting into
range now, and soon his remaining men would suppress the enemy’s fire, swarm
over the hill, and exterminate these infidels.
    The losses
were unfortunate but necessary.
     

 
     
    Chapter 17
     
    Watching
through his scope to check for range, Nick saw the villagers had finally closed
to three hundred yards.
    “Now!” he
yelled.
    Marcus and
Red opened fire on the mob, their AK-47s adding to the hell Nick and Truck were
already unleashing. Both Marcus and Red were using the older style AK-47s, which fired a larger bullet than the newer, more
modern variants. Their AK-47s fired 7.62 x 39 mm bullets, a much heavier bullet
with stronger knockdown power. The AKs also sported expensive ACOG
scopes, and at three hundred yards, you would almost have to try to miss.
    The mass of
villagers slowed, the casualties too disheartening, the fire too heavy. As the
assault up the hill ground to a halt, the remaining villagers looked for cover.
Unfortunately for them, there was none. A few took a knee. Others dove into the
prone. And finally, they commenced firing.
    Their fire
up the hill picked up in volume, but would have only been overwhelming if they
had been trained in fire discipline or had any concept of accuracy. A few fired
from under their arms, others from the hip. Only a few truly aimed, but even
then their weapons were too worn and poorly cared for to be precise machines.
    The four
Americans were dialed in, completely focused on the task at hand. They ignored
narrow misses and stayed locked on their sights and the execution of firing
accurately: taking their time, aiming well, and pulling (not jerking) the
trigger.
    Nick finally
found the man in the white turban -- Tariq -- in his scope and moved his point
of aim to center mass. The man was yelling and shouting, leading with strength
despite the situation.
    Nick noted
this, briefly respecting the man before sending a round straight through him.
He nudged his rifle to the right and aimed in on a man who had taken a knee and
was now firing up the hill. His bullet struck the shooter in the face, and the
man dropped hard. At this distance, Nick could shoot three-inch groups from the
Dragunov sniper rifle with barely a strain. And with a ten-round magazine and a
weapon that was semi-automatic instead of bolt action like the M40 he’d started
on in the Marine Corps, he was bagging his limit today.
    The barrel
of Truck’s machine gun was steadily growing hotter, brass and links piling in
front of him. He saw a man lugging a machine gun up the hill and fired a burst
low into the ground in front of him. Rounds and rocks ricocheted up into the
man and he dropped. Truck readjusted his aim and fired three more rounds to
make sure the man was dead, then rotated toward a cluster of men.
    Again
keeping his aim low -- as all great machine gunners do -- Truck skipped a burst
directly into their ranks. Rounds shattered shins, knees, and ankles, sending
the men to the ground. Truck poured more bullets into the targets who were now
gripping the ground in terror.
    Marcus knew exactly how
the men below were feeling. Being a prior Marine Corps Gunny, he’d both
witnessed and participated in numerous assaults. Therefore, Marcus set to
picking his