Sniped - Protection

 

                Anthony climbed out of the van because of Jenny’s prompting to meet her parents, he received a vigorous and passionate hug from the little girl to then shake hands with her father and receive another hug from her mother. A little bit of small talk followed as Anthony explained how he and his mates from the military made the decision to take action against the abductions that were taking place in the communities around London. He and Jenny’s father stepped to the side and watched Jenny and her mother walk into their home.

               “I cannot thank you enough for taking on this massive problem that our nation is facing,” her father said. “We have been worried sick regarding Jenny’s wellbeing, we reported her disappearance to the police and they have done nothing to find her. Again, thank you so much for bringing her home.”

               “Yes, of course,” Anthony answered. “My crew and I had the highest kill rate across Afghanistan for the last three years. We used these skills to track down the Pakistani gangs. We put an end to a large number of these evil men, so they cannot continue this depravity they have imposed on our culture. We have plans to do this same thing in three other communities.”

               Jenny’s father initiated another powerful handshake and a shoulder hug for Anthony. “I have a general idea of what Jenny has suffered and I have to say I am glad I do not know the details of what those men did to her.”

               “It is probably best that way,” Anthony said. “Here is my card with my phone number, please call me and keep me updated about Jenny’s recovery from all of this. If you have any other thoughts or questions, don’t hesitate to make contact.”

               The two men shook hands a third time and Anthony returned to the van to drive back and retrieve Alan from the alleyway behind the apartment complex. “Wow, that was horrible,” Anthony said. “No little girl should have to go through that kind of abuse, it seems like she has a great home life, good parents, and it sounds like she’ll be getting the therapy she needs to recover from this.”

               Two days later, Anthony and his mates met again to make plans for executing the next step against the next Pakistani gang in a neighboring community. Following the same path and planning schedule as they did in their first strike, they found the worst perpetrators, placed Alan in a third story apartment across from the Pakistani headquarters, prepared a van and a second getaway car to be parked behind the house. Like clockwork and very much like their work in Afghanistan, they powered into the house, began executing the dozen men that were in the house, rescued the girls and began bringing them home.

               Alan carried out his responsibility with precision, executing fourteen men who approached the front door, dropping them when they entered the house. One hour later, Anthony and Jeffrey retrieved Alan from the alleyway behind the apartment complex. “Wow, that was another perfect execution,” Anthony said. “Knowing that we’re using our skills to destroy evil and protect the innocent is remarkably satisfying.”

               The following morning Anthony was pulled from sleep by his ringing phone, struggling up onto his elbow, he answered the phone to hear Jenny’s father asking for a favor.

               “Hello Anthony,” he said, “I have been speaking with several other fathers from girls at Jenny’s school. We made the decision to ask you if you and your team would be interested in taking on a security role when the girls walk home from school. We were thinking that if you surrounded them as a protective shield, no one would even think about attempting an abduction.”

               “Oh, hello sir,” Anthony said, “I think that is a great idea. I’ll talk to the other guys and gather our thoughts. A job of protection of the innocent is something the police should be doing but since they are not, I think I can say with confidence that we would be happy to take on that role. I’ll give you a call this evening to confirm.”

               Anthony pulled himself from bed, took a shower, and sent a text to everyone in the group, explaining the nature of the phone call from Jenny’s father. They all agreed to meet for lunch at the local pub and work through the details of what a protection security team would look like.

               Once everyone arrived, Anthony thanked everyone for taking the time to gather and discuss this important idea. “I wanted to share my first thought,” he said, “obviously we cannot use live rounds against these perpetrators, I believe tranquilizers will be the best approach. If we work in teams of four, we can walk with these girls and safely deliver them to their homes.”

               “Those are very good ideas,” Jeffrey said, “in addition to that, after we tranquilize these guys, we can follow them back to their homes and possibly rescue other victims.”

               “Another great idea,” Alan said. “If I continue my work of firing from a distance, I can destroy their vehicles, which will prevent them from continuing this work. I had another idea; we should research and see if there are other mates around London from the military to help us with this. Surely there are many other communities that are struggling with dealing with this kind of depravity. I know all of us have other contacts from our time of service, so let’s do our research and see if we can increase our reach to bring more of these gangs to an end.”

               The men finished their meals and went their separate ways, at which time Anthony placed a phone call to Jenny’s father to confirm that everyone was excited about the idea of continuing to help and protect the innocent. “If you tell me what time the girls are released from school, we can be prepared to meet them out front and walk them home,” he said. “Our plan is to work in teams of four so that more protective work can be done at one time.”

               “Oh, thank you so much,” Jenny’s father answered. “They are released from school at 2:45 pm. I’ll contact the other fathers and let them know your response and I’ll contact the school as well so there won’t be a problem there. I know that my wife and the mothers of the other girls will be thrilled knowing that the threat of abduction no longer needs to be a concern.”

               “Oh, one other thing,” Anthony said, “everyone on my team made the decision to reach out to other soldiers in the communities around London, to see if they would be interested in taking on similar roles in the schools near them. We need to figure out how to communicate this to the families in those areas. I’ll stay in contact once we know who and where the other soldiers can assist us.”

               Anthony sent a text communicating the details of his conversation with Jenny’s father and all twelve men met at the front of the school at 2:30 to create an imposing image. Fully armed with tranquilizer pistols, they formed three teams of four and were quickly joined by dozens of little girls who were very excited to have protection with them as they walked home.

               Flanked by four large, armed men as they walked home in different directions, Anthony noticed the occasional group of Pakistani men looking at them and clearly making the decision to not engage or attempt an abduction. Knowing that Alan was on the third floor of an apartment building with a clear view of the sidewalks and groups of people, the other men were encouraged to carry out the work before them.

               All three groups succeeded in bringing each girl safely home, to then return and regroup in front of the school in case there were other children who needed protection on their way home. As they gathered, they found that the sidewalks were empty with the exception of multiple vehicles carrying Pakistani men looking disappointed and frustrated. In a rapid sequence of explosions, multiple vehicles stopped operating, as Alan laid armor piercing bullets into multiple engine blocks.

               All twelve men met Alan at the local pub and celebrated their successful first run with delivering the young girls home safely. “Well, that was a fabulous day, gentlemen,” Anthony said. “My hope is that if we continue this for several weeks, the Pakistani gangs will give up, presuming that they have no chance to successfully engage in more abductions. A consistent presentation of our presence should bring an end to this wicked depravity.”

               “Oh, one question,” Jeffrey said, “did anyone make contact with other soldiers in surrounding communities? If we can make this effort a regular part of every school day, we will have succeeded in stopping a dangerous situation for these families.”

               All twelve men confirmed that they had received no positive responses from the other soldiers. “Well, that is really disappointing,” Anthony said. “I think if we contact all of them and put together a meeting so we can communicate the dire need for this and answer specific questions. We cannot allow this effort to fail; this is far too important. Our fellow brothers need to understand just how horrible a reality this is for these families.”

               “I completely agree,” Jeffrey said. “Everyone please reach out to those with whom you have been in contact. We need to decide on a date, a time, and a location to keep this good work moving. Also, we have had two successful Pakistani home destructions take place, so let’s get started on the third in the next community over. This work that we are doing will create safety and protection for these families. This is far too important to just walk away from it.”