Transmission #22-6-8-19
Mohamed, Bassam
Approaching a possible hideout for S.N.A.P’s men
Haram St., Giza, Egypt
2200 hours, August 4th, 2023
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“Agh…it’s stuck!”
“You’re not pulling it hard enough….let me try.”
A quick “snap” sound came out, a man in his mid-20s handed the slingshot pistol to Bassam, who admirably looked at his pistol’s shiny barrel, he made sure not to even touch the wooden trigger, what’s loaded inside is far more lethal than a normal bullet used on humans.
“Thanks, sir.”
“Mhm.”
The microbus was busy, cramped as always, just not with the usual faceless strangers, in fact, everyone in there knew each other quite well, the driver stopped at the side, if you look from the back windshield, you can see the governor’s Villa, which is also referred to as the governorate building.
“Alright ,Assalamualaikum, we’re out.”
“Fifteen minutes.”
“Roger that.”
Two young men in black shirts and pants descend into the wild street, with black backpacks and conveniently black elbow and shoulder pads and gloves, the light from a nearby pharmacy shined upon four other men, different ages, yet the same apparel.
Smoke from the cars, honks everywhere, irritating red lights with little else to look at, such stimuli makes a person hate stepping out of their apartment, especially this part of the street, crossing it without someone was considered a death wish, but back then the new Giza metro was being built underground, roads were blocked a bit with mining equipment and drivers were forced to take their time.
Cranking and snapping were the only sounds in that microbus, they started getting away from the noise fest back there, it’s getting slowly quieter, soon it was silence amongst the men, not of the awkward type though, everyone in there is marching to a possible-maybe even certain-death, fear of the unknown is a common instinct in us humans.
“Omar, Talal, you’re up.”
“Roger that!”
The second row of chairs now were empty, only the man who seemed to be in charge was left with Bassam, the man had a longer slingshot pistol, with limbs and a stirrup, the cams where pulled back by silver strings, which harnessed a sizable arrow, a glowing red tip and medium sized shaft.
“You know this from training? This is the HJZ-13, like your HJZ-34, it shots one arrow at a time.”
“I couldn’t pull the bolt handle well,”
“Nahh…that’s normal, see this looks factory fresh, Mash Allah.”
“Ohh, I was thinking of that, look how shiny it is,”
“Most newly made HJZs are a bit hard at first,”
“I used to have one, but I was on patrol when the flood happened.”
“Ohh…”
Again, silence, only static from the rectangular black radio set on the seat next to the driver’s, buildings were going by as they talked, red and blue neon signs, people were walking, a dog was looking around next to a trash pile, the bank with its white outdoors, you couldn’t understand how it retained this color with all the dust.
“Sir…Have you ever met him?”
“Who?”
“You know, the masked man?”
“I did see him before, yes, met him? No.”
From afar, they saw the large red glowing letters, the kiosk and car washer, Talal and Omar were already there, by the looks of them, they just arrived, Inaudible chatter from the radio intensified, the driver picked the mic by hand and started talking fast and clear.
“This is it!” He reached to the mic strapped to his collar.
“Actual, this is Naguib, exiting transport, site II, over”
“Naguib, this is actual, regroup with your men and confirm, over.”
“Roger that.”
The finally stepped out to the street, a long honk in the distance fades out, the man goes to the window next to the driver, tells him something that was blocked from the radio chatter, but the driver nodded in agreement, he rotated to look at Bassam and tell him to come with.
Talal was looking around for the other two, while Omar was panting a bit from running,
“Don’t break now, Omar, or they will break your clavicles.”
“R-roger that….sir.” Omar took a breath, stood up and held his backpack from its straps in determination.
“Here they are!” Talal said looking at the other side of the street, Marcus and Hassan were running to cross it.
“Actual, this is Naguib, all operatives are present, over.”
“Roger that, Naguib, proceed to stance three then report, over.”
“Roger that.”
The leader looked at the five young men. “Let’s go, stance three.”
Omar, Hassan and Bassam went in one group, the leader with Marcus and Talal went the other way, the microbus took off with a sign from the leader and they disappeared in the gradual darkness behind the gas station.
The two groups started sprinting to their position behind the gas station, Omar sprinted closer to Bassam.
“Do you think it’s really here?”
“No way, from what I have heard, S.N.A.P isn’t going to risk it like that, it’s too weak to fight.”
“Right..”
“And besides, we aren’t here to find it, we need to see where’s team Faisal.”
“.…Oh God..” Omar whispered while sprinting, and shaking his head, Bassam noticed the distress in his voice, his movements were ridged, exhaustion was apparent on his face.
“Hey, pull yourself together, you know what you got yourself into.”
Omar’s inhales and exhales became gradually louder, his head hanging down even more, the three saw the old abandoned office, passing the wall and the two groups reunited and all crouched on the floor, forming a circle, the only source of light for them behind that office building was the solar mirror God created above them, it was yellow that time of the year.
The leader crouched in the middle, he put a black leather shoulder bag and opened it in the center of their circle.
“Actual, this is Naguib, stance three, over.”
“Confirmed, Naguib, debrief and gear up, sixty seconds.”
“Roger that.”
The leader looked at the operatives, released a slight smile in an effort to comfort them, and zipped the shoulder bag open, the young men took off their backpacks and prepped their slingshot pistols.
“Alright, boys….this is a big one…..team Faisal is MIA and the board needs conformation on their status,”
He gave Bassam a bunch of coiled wires which were headset microphones, they even had a small circular piece so it can be attached behind the ear, allowing more freedom in movement, he understood and started distributing them.
“Last time they were online, they were outside this building,”
He pointed to the building under construction with his index, hogging them, blocking the sky behind them, what separated them was an empty concrete floor and a wall, Omar hearing this, his legs started to slightly tremble.
“And this is where we come in, we’ll go from here,” The leader pointed with his index and middle finger at the shattered brick wall next to them leading to a dark alleyway.
“Then we take a right, understood?”
They were all attaching flashlights on the end of the pistols’ barrels, letting all the stress out on the process, the leader looked at his watch, exhaled and turned the men’s attention to him.
“We’ve got twenty seconds, say your prayers, so that God may be with you.”
They all put their HJZs on the floor, some raised his hands slightly and prayed, Marcus took out the cross he wore on his chest and whispered things they didn’t understand, in fact, none of them were listening to each other, they were all whispering their own prayers, but all of them did so with one hope in mind: to see the light of day.
“Naguib, this is actual, you have permission to infiltrate site II, proceed with caution, over.”
The static, the sudden robotic voice coming from the leader’s mic stopped their hearts for a split second, they all froze, facing the gravity of Earth.
“…Roger that actual.” The leader stood up first, all the men then stood before him in varying speeds, Omar’s breathing was irritating, it brought unexplained dread to their situation.
“Team Naguib, moving out..”
Now that they stood up, they could see more than the moon above, shades of orange lights from the horizon, the flickering lights from the streets, the men were startled by a breeze coming from behind the fractured wall, dust and particles naturally came with, nevertheless, the still walked in with their HJZs loaded and locked on any possible target.
They passed the wall with wide open eyes, cold sweat running down their necks, their elbow pads started to feel uncomfortable, the shoulder ones felt like tons, the echoes of the chaotic honking rhapsody began to get more and more distant, what once irritated them during their day to day lives, was then and there sweet music to their ears.
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“Passed the wall, going right.” The leader whispered in his mic, they all could hear it in their head loud and clear, they all could hear “actual” now.
The building they were passing by had its second floor held up entirely by concrete pillars, they didn’t seem to end, the furthest ones were fading into the darkness, the leader pointed at the right alley with two fingers again. “Going right.”
The entire team then shifted and took a clear left, it confused Omar at first, and before he could inquire, Bassam bumped into him with his shoulder to remind him, it seemed that his adrenaline was almost at the roof by then.
“Lights on.”
The men took the lights off of their guns, switched them on, and placed them on the frameless windows on the entrance of the building in front of them, they could now see, the nothingness, the few wires on the floor, the concrete featureless stairs.
“Await orders, confirmation needed, actual?”
Noticing the tone in their leader’s call for “actual”, they took the form of two groups, one ran to the entrance of the previous building, the second stayed with the flashlights, there was no doors, so they got in.
Bassam, Marcus and Hassan barraged in, Marcus took the lead to the stairs, Hassan guarding their behind while Bassam in the middle, second floor same deal, they ran to the stairs, this time they crouched and took it slow and steady.
“Actual, this is team Naguib, requesting clearance to infiltrate the building, over.”
“Stand by.”
They all heard it, they all knew what was going on, Marcus’ voice came through.
“Sir, clearance needed, over.”
“Still waiting on them, Marcus.”
“….Roger that, sir.”
They finally could see the building next to them from the roofless third floor, only rectangular pillars with steel bars toping them, behind them is the lively streets of Giza, the people are still going around about their lives, cars honking and gears moving, the site comforted Hassan who was behind them, the two Bassam and Marcus could hear and feel the warmth, Marcus released a quick sigh of relief.
“Sir, Is there a problem with the connection?”
“Doesn’t seem like it….as much as I kn-GO GO GO!”
They launched themselves running off to the edge and jumping to the roof of the neighboring building, hitting the ground and getting back up ,they all chased down the stairs to the second floor, Hassan preceding the two violently threw a stick on the ground, breaking the glass instantly and releasing glowing slime all over the room, All pointing their guns ready to fire at sight.
“STOOOP! STOP! GUNS DOWN!”
A loud and frightened sound shouted at the three, upon the green light, three men, dressed in black, shoulder and elbow pads, but no weapons, no mics…and no bags..
All of them at unison breathed in and out…however the three with guns had them at the other three men’s heads, despite looking human, The leader with Omar and Talal immediately ran behind the Hassan’s group and joined in.
“We’re team Faisal!” One of them shouted…
“John..?”
“M..M.Marcus!”
“Aw shit! Seize fire!”
“What the hell you’re doing here?” The leader shouted at an injured Suleiman.
“They took as in, we crippled them…b-b-but they j-just broke our weapons, they grew out their hands into blades…one of them m##########rs even took off my HJZ from my hands with his fangs…Ah Ya Allah…Ya Allah!”
The three wounded men on the ground started bowing up and down in pain from their injuries, one of them, Ahmed, with half of his face covered in crimson red started sobbing in agony…
“Actual…This is Naguib, we found team Faisal, critical condition, ready to evac, over.”
“Wait!...w-wait…our objective…these guys were smuggling goblins…”
“We know, but we came here to get you out..” The leader went to his mic:
“Actual, Clearance for Op.22 continuation?, over.”
“Negative, Naguib, requesting backup with evac.”
“Rog, Case SS, Direct, over.”
“Code: 10SS granted, over.”
The leader looked at his team, his pupils directly on the stairs, the men looked at each other.
He launched his left hand on his belt and threw a circular object on the ground, with a wide pin in his index.
“STAIRS!!”
The men immediately jumped to the first floor stairs…
BANG
Their tinnitus invaded ears couldn’t hear the glass-like shattering, hard sharp objects breaking the concrete walls, they all try to stand up from the pile of bodies they made jumping all at once down stairs, Bassam was the first to stand up, soon all the others began to balance themselves..
“Team Naguib!? Team Naguib! Status report!” The voice repeated itself, Bassam started to regain his hearing so he responded: “Roger, Actual...”
Random slurs and grunts filled the stairs, as they ascended to the floor, on the slime’s green light, did they see red, liters of it, taking form of puddles, the bodies of team Faisal, it wasn’t them. No John, No Ahmed, three deformed pale faces with fangs, red surrounds their eyes, no pupils whatsoever, red crystals everywhere, pierced the room like bullets, along with the bodies that filled them like voodoo dolls with needles.
Omar broke into a hysterical scream and fell down to puke, Bassam held his loose body to help him, to comfort him though his shock..
The leader uttered:
“Fucking bullshit, they weren’t even that good…”
“Actual, this is Naguib, team Faisal confirmed KIA, requesting evac, over.”
“Roger that, five minutes..”
“Shapeshifting vampires….S.N.A.P was reported to have vampire abilities…but even this wouldn’t be enough to kill that thing…” Marcus muttered..
The sound of tires coming closer, an engine moving, their ride is here, it’s fog lights or “Lanterns” as Egyptians say it, its halo came through the holes in the wall, two of them fall on their knees and release quick sighs of absolution…followed by cries of slight relief..
“Then….w-where are Faisal’s remains?..”
“Shape shifters consume the victim fully or use some of their blood to take their form…and from what it seems, these fuckers were hungry..”
“Ya Allah…Oh Ohhh…HAUghH!..” Hassan’s dinner hit the ground, followed by a string of groans of disgust, sweat covering his face and eyes…saliva came down the drain as well, yet he was still on his feet, hanging to a loose brick in the wall.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here!”
The men started going down the stairs, one by one, SHIK! CRACK! a sound of instant breaking with a shank broke the comforting silence.
The flashlight held up the stairs…they found Marcus standing, his face had red lines form from atop of his head, descending from his black hairs covering his lifeless eyes, Bassam jumped on this dead standing man’s body and shot an arrow at the vampires’ bodies!
“Open fire!”
They jumped at them and all shot their arrows at once…the third one on the left...the one who took the form of Suleiman, he was extending his arm, one of his sharp nails was missing, Bassam already knew where it was at that point…
The men all sprinted to the jeep waiting In front of the building, while others were running into the passage through the wall and patting team Naguib on the shoulders…all of them, fell to their knees, bowing, crying, screaming: ALHAMDULLAH!
Shoving their noses into the dust and mud, thanking God above, the medics arriving at the area helped the men up and patted them on the back, sitting them in the jeep.
The leader the only one, standing on his feet and straight, was talking to the leader of the reinforcement team.
“Team Maged here, package secure, 12 goblins: 4 grown females, 8 children, requesting additional evac.”
Bassam could hear one of them saying that into his mic, as for him and his companions, all were laying on the car seats, he was taking in the night’s air through the window, fighting exhaustion and the drop in adrenaline in his blood, what he saw last was two from team Maged, carrying a stretcher, a heavy weight on top, covered in white cloth and moving quickly until they were out of sight, His leader glanced at them in the car, he nodded at Bassam and went to talk to Maged’s leader once again.
“Greenplate, this is Turtle one, exiting site II, over.” Chatter from the radio faded into silence, the lights of the jeep’s “lanterns” turn to darkness, the fatigue, the shock, the- all of it…now bleeds into nothingness….
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