A Sniper's Night

Just outside a small town, in the dense woods was a sniper preparing himself for the coming night. The moon had begun to peer up, fading away the summer twilight. It was a harsh, desolate place the sniper was to inhabit tonight. He set his sniper rifle against a nearby tree; he lowered his head into his hands. He took deep breaths. The sniper was a young man. Strong, with sleek features, he looked like a normal person any other day, but on nights like these he was a different man. His eyes were cold, gleaming like a hunter, but deep and withered like a man who has seen too much death. It was a delicate balancing act for the sniper, the hunter kept him alive, the thoughtful man kept him sane. The sniper raised his head; just above that small village, behind the flashes of war and sounds of battle were dark clouds rolling in - a storm coming. The sniper picked up his rifle and began his walk to the town, his eyes gleaming.The sniper was now in the town, he moved between destroyed buildings, heading to a nearby watchtower. A large portion of the tower had eroded to the tides of war, to any other solider or civilian this tower would have been seen as unusable, but to the sniper, it was a diamond in the dirt.

After the sniper surveyed the village, a brief light of relief came over him. There were clearly no high priority targets here, and so, he wouldn’t have to use his rifle tonight. He would observe the state of the village, which was primarily in ruins and assess its ‘threat level’. He looked through the scope of his rifle, rather cheerfully, checking the weaponry the soldiers were holding.

He whispered to himself, “AK-47s, RPGs…Tank.” The tank was surrounded in rubble, and definitely didn’t look it could run, regardless it added...

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...his arm, trying to relax. It might have worked had she not grabbed his broken arm. Pain shot through the sniper in horrific waves. She shrieked back, genuinely sorry. The sniper noticed nothing was left of the tower. He cheerfully looked back at the tank, the rest of the tower landed on the tank with just enough strength to crush the people inside.

The women asked him an odd question, though most of the question was blurred he did make out, “You – are – sniper?” She then held in front of him his sniper; he grabbed it from her with an overexcited smile. He took in her features. Something had seemed familiar about her.

He was about to ask her a question, but she beat him to it. “I think you saved me last night,” she smiled, “I can get you bandaged up back in town. There are no more soldiers here.”

A different look came into the snipers’ eyes, it was a happy one.