Sniped

                Anthony sat in his living room watching the local news about the increase of the abductions of teenage girls from the suburbs of London. He could feel anger rising within him. “This is unreal,” he grumbled. “What has happened to our society that the weakest members of our culture are being taken advantage of and abused by certain groups of immigrants? Clearly the authorities are doing nothing about resolving these crimes, maybe I’ll make a few phone calls and see if there is something me and my buddies can do to bring this to an end.”

               Picking up the remote, turning off the television, and dropping the device on the coffee table before him, he stepped onto his balcony to look down upon the always busy streets below him. “Yep, exactly what I expected to see,” he groaned. “Roaming groups of middle-aged men following young girls around. Anthony, you really need to make that phone call, draw up specific plans, and take action, all of this is just so wrong.”

               “Wow, I am really hungry, maybe I’ll text the guys and get together for lunch so we can talk this out in person,” he said to himself. Dropping himself back upon his couch, he fired off the text to his collection of friends with whom he had served in Afghanistan. Within twenty minutes he had twelve positive responses to gather at the local pub for bangers and mash and possibly a pint. Looking at his watch, he realized that he had less than one hour to get ready, and walk to the pub.

               As Anthony entered the pub, he instantly saw six of his friends at a large booth in the far corner. Within ten minutes all twelve men arrived, once everyone had gathered and ordered their lunch, he launched into his angry diatribe about the rape gangs that were plaguing the weakest members of their city. “Because the authorities are doing nothing about this,” he said, “and from what I am hearing, they are turning a blind eye to all of this corrupt and abusive activity, so as not to appear as being racist. With that in mind, we need to start watching our neighborhoods, make our presence known, and start sniping these evil men. Our group had the highest kill rate in Afghanistan with each one of us being the top snipers in the military.”

               “Anthony, you are absolutely right,” Jeffrey said. “We will need to take some time to observe, scout, and research who these people are and where they are taking these girls. We need to act fast though and begin this work of clean up. Taking out bad guys is our job. This kind of abuse of the weak and innocent has no place in our society.”

               “Thank you, Jeffrey,” Anthony said. “Does anyone else have any thoughts or hesitation about following this path? Let’s all stay in touch, watch the news, and see where most of this criminal activity is taking place. Speak up now if you’re not interested in being involved in this.”

               Their lunches arrived and they transitioned their conversation to next steps, identifying neighborhoods, and being subtle about their actions. Four days later, a specific and detailed plan was put together, very similar to how they worked together in Afghanistan. Weapons were prepared, specific men were identified, and the top four neighborhoods were identified as having the worst of this activity.

               Alan was named as the key sniper, taking his place on the third floor of a neighboring apartment complex, across the street from a home that housed multiple middle-aged men. As they continually surveyed the activity in that home, they watched as multiple girls were taken inside to be followed by a steady stream of Pakistani men.  As darkness began to settle, Alan was in place with a heat sensor scope on his rifle as the other ten men, dressed in full military gear entered the house from all four directions.

               Alan kept his eyes focused on the activity inside the home, his heat sensor scope showing all of the details. Muffled gunshots sounded from inside of the house. Anthony and Jeffrey moved from room to room, communicating to the caged girls that they were there to help and bring them home. As each girl was released from their cage, they were instructed to clothe themselves and gather in the kitchen. “This makes me absolutely sick to the stomach,” Anthony said to Jeffrey, “what kind of men would treat other human beings like this; this is so wrong.”

               Alexander had parked the van behind the house and waited for the gaggle of young girls to emerge. A second vehicle sat unmanned behind the van, giving the group of retired soldiers the means to quickly leave the premises. The girls all climbed into the van, gave their home addresses and Alexander marked each on the paper map, creating the most efficient path to bring them home. Jeffrey sat in the front passenger seat and talked Alexander through the directions to the first home. “Wow, Alexander, that was a horrible and bloody situation,” he said. “I don’t feel a hint of regret at ending those men. I hope these girls get the therapy they need and recover from this. What a horrible situation.”

               The van slowly and carefully drove away from the back of the house to be followed by their friends in the second vehicle. “Hey, Jeffrey, you need to radio Alan and tell him we’ll come back for him once we drop off the girls at their homes.”

               “Yes, great point, I’ll do that,” Jeffrey responded. “I know I heard multiple gun shots as we were leaving. I’m guessing that was Alan sniping off the men who were waiting in line to come into the house to feed their lust for control and abuse.”

               “Hey, Alan,” Jeffrey said, “how did all of that go for you?”

               “It went great,” he answered, “I took out at least ten men as they approached the front door of the house. I have to admit that was a great feeling knowing that we were helping those who were being abused. I have to say I am really glad I stayed active at the gun range since we returned from Afghanistan.”

               “That is awesome to hear,” Jeffrey said. “We’ll be back to pick you up after we drop off the girls at their homes, it’ll probably be about an hour. So, pack up, stay obscure. I’ll make contact again when we’re close to picking you up.”

               “Perfect, sounds good,” he answered. “I assume I’ll meet you in the alley behind the apartment complex?”

               A few minutes before arriving at the first home, Jeffrey offered the use of his phone to the first girl. “I think you should call your parents and let them know you’ll be home in a few minutes,” he said.

               “Thank you for doing this,” she said. She took the phone, dialed her mother’s number and gave a very brief explanation of her situation. Alexander pulled up in front of the house, and watched two very excited and happy parents emerge from the front door, as their daughter hurried out of the van to turn and wave as they drove away.

               This became a regular pattern at each home. “Wow, this is such a good thing,” Jeffrey said. “We used the skills we have to protect the innocent and remove evil men. It is so fulfilling to see happiness and restoration. I hope these girls are able to work through this. Talk about a traumatic, and psychological devastating situation for all of them. I’m looking forward to watching the news once all of this is revealed to the public.”

               The last girl was dropped off at her home to turn and motion for Jeffrey to get out of the vehicle, to whom she gave a hug and invited him to meet her parents and receive copious thanks, a handshake from her father and a hug from her mother. “We have been watching the news about all of this that has been happening and with the authorities doing nothing to stop it, me and my teammates from Afghanistan knew we needed to do something,” he said. “Seeing your family being made whole again is a beautiful thing.”

               Alexander drove he and Jeffrey back to the apartment complex to retrieve Alan from the alley. “Okay, guys, we need to be discreet about all of this. Do not tell anyone about this and watch the news. This has been a great day. Knowing that we’ve helped the innocent and destroyed a criminal organization that was preying on the weak and innocent.”

               “Now that the full darkness of the evening has fallen,” Alexander said, “we can easily slip back into our homes without drawing attention to ourselves. We need to get together at one of our homes and see what the news says about all of this. It will be thrilling to see the police try to explain what we’ve accomplished when it was something they should have resolved a long time ago.”

               The next evening, all twelve men met at Alexander’s home, ordered pizza delivery, and several six packs of Guinness, as they talked through the latest news reports. “Thankfully, no one saw us enter or leave and there was no cell phone video footage,” Alan said. “Honestly, the police look like a bunch of bumbling fools in the midst of the bloody massacre. Let’s hope that other rape gangs will see this as a hint, wondering that they may be next if this doesn’t change. I would be more than happy to repeat this process if we can find any more of this kind of activity, but we need to be careful.”

“I completely agree,” Anthony said. “There are three more neighborhoods that need our attention. “I suggest we take the same approach as we did at the first neighborhood but we should probably wait a few days before we take on another rape gang. We shouldn’t wait too long because this abuse will continue until we take action. These girls need help and protection and it seems like we are the only ones who are willing to step up and intervene.”