Deep Down Under

Chapter 15

Wollzeille Road, Vienna, 9:21 am

Josep Bauer clutched his automatic assault rifle, his walkie-talkie crackled, "Subject 1 and 2 are green." He scowled; he wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. The Semi-finals of the Euro Cup was to be held today. It was a great moment for Austrian football. They had qualified and were going to go against neighbouring rivals Germany. And these potential terrorists could ruin it.

No way, not now.

The walkie-talkie crackled once again, "Subject 1 is back to-"

The man at the other end left his sentence hanging. "Shit! We've got a problem, Bravo's missing."

Bauer didn't understand, he let go of the rifle and yanked his walkie-talkie out. "What the hell was that?"

"I repeat. Bravo's missing."

He couldn't believe that this was happening. His men couldn't just go missing. For situations like this, he couldn't trust anyone else to do his work. Not that he suspected a mole; just that he felt that he was most capable.

"Omega three, meet me topside. Five minutes max. Over and out."

"Roger that," the man acknowledged.

Josep got up and barged through door, the sniper next to him whirled around, "Where are you going?"

Bauer didn't fell like elaborating the crisis, "I'll be back, just let me know when all three are green. Don't fire."

The man on the sniper shrugged, he was habituated to following orders. Obey, never question. That was they had learnt all along in the police academy.

He turned his head back to the window. At the corner of his eye, he noticed something in the building adjacent to the one in front of his. He frowned, have we occupied that one? The turned his full head to towards the building. There was a lone sniper in that building. It couldn't have been a civilian as the whole zone had been cordoned off within the one-mile radius. But then he realized something wrong.

The sniper was aiming directly at him.

* * *

Bauer reached the terrace of the building where he met up with codename Omega three. He didn't even give Omega three a chance to say a word. "How the hell did it happen?"

He began to stammer, his words unable to escape his mouth.

"Speak! God damn it!'

An unexpected high-pitched whistling sound caught them off guard. Both of them knew that sound all too well, it was the sound of a sniper firing.

"Shots fired!" repeated somebody through walkie-talkie.

Bauer dabbed the button of his walkie-talkie, "who did that?!"

"I don't know; it wasn't any of my men," replied the man.

"Fine. Patch me up to Alpha," demanded Bauer.

What is going on?

He didn't notice the fear and suspicion held by Omega three. He stood rooted to the ground, fear gripping him so tight that he couldn't even twitch a single part of his body. Bauer raised an eyebrow.

"What's...wrong?"

He didn't receive any reply.

Then Omega three fell back, almost giving Bauer a heart attack. He said one word, "run!"

What the-?!

Bricks were flung into the sky, showering on top of them. It was as if they were being pelted by God himself. The last thing Bauer saw was a cement block only inches from his face.

Inches from death.

And then there was blackness.

* * *

Gomez couldn't believe his eyes. A rocket was launched from the building next to them, driving straight into the roof where two men were just standing. They must have been sent to oblivion.

He muttered a silent prayer for their lost souls.

One of his men was just behind him. Without turning his back he passed an order, "launch an attack on that building."

* * *