American variety show: Sniper Elite

Chapter 126 Escape (Three chapters, 6 words)

New York City slowly awakens in the early morning mist.

Beta walked down the stairs, his loose cotton and linen clothes swaying gently with his movements. He casually pressed the TV remote, and the sound of the morning news echoed in the living room.

Beta took a few carrots and a bunch of celery from the refrigerator. The rustling sound of water washing the vegetables mingled with the news broadcast. He put the washed vegetables into the blender and pressed the start button.

"Early this morning, the FBI's New York field office, in conjunction with the NYPD, raided a suspected hideout of a female serial killer." The anchorwoman's voice echoed in the room: "According to police, a shootout occurred during the operation, and the target is currently at large."

Beta snapped off the buzzing blender and turned to look at the television. The screen showed Beta's very familiar apartment, the location of the Kataria Safe House.

Beta strode to the telephone, his fingers barely touching the receiver when the sight of a building surrounded by police cars on the television screen made him pause. He then pulled out his phone from his pocket and rapidly typed in the emergency contact number for the Continental Hotel in New York.

A melodious piano tune came through the receiver, and after a few notes, the operator's professional voice rang out: "Continental Hotel, New York. What services do you require?"

贝塔说道：“紧急联络服务。识别代号60-77-214-22-00，紧急呼叫代号211。”

"Received, sir." The sound of keyboard typing came through the receiver: "We are contacting the code name for you. If there is no answer to the electronic call, we will dispatch an agent to conduct an offline search."

"As soon as possible." Beta pressed the hang-up button.

His gaze returned to the television screen, where the building he knew all too well was now surrounded by flashing police lights and fully armed FBI agents.

Beta hurried back to his bedroom and changed into clothes suitable for movement. He pushed open John's door, where John was sitting on the edge of the bed with messy hair, his sleepy face full of surprise.

Under John's astonished gaze, Beta went straight to the wardrobe, pulled out a bulletproof suit jacket, and put it on. Then he took John's Sig Sauer P30L from the drawer and tucked it into his back holster. Before leaving, he grabbed the Mustang keys from the bedside table.

John's question was still stuck in his throat when Beta disappeared at the end of the corridor.

John rubbed his temples as he walked downstairs, and the morning news on the living room TV caught his attention.
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Katalia rolled behind a roadside vehicle, bullets grazing the car and sparking. She set up her sniper rifle and hit the front tire of the pursuing Ford Explorer with a single shot. The police car immediately went out of control, swerved sideways, and crashed violently into a lamppost.

Another team of police officers surrounded her, and she rushed toward a passing Honda Accord, slamming her gun barrel against the driver's side window.

"Get out of the car!" she shouted sternly.

The panicked driver had just unbuckled his seatbelt when Katalia struck him on the temple with the butt of her rifle. The man groaned, was dragged from the driver's seat, and stumbled onto the road.

"My car!" The man cried out, clutching his bleeding forehead, only to see Katalia's dark gun barrel already pointed at him. He immediately shut his mouth and scrambled to the street corner.

Catalia jumped into the driver's seat, pressed the ignition button, and a red warning light appeared on the dashboard: no smart key detected.

"Damn modern technology!" Katalia gritted her teeth, wishing she could shoot the damn car to pieces.

The police opened fire suddenly, bullets pounding against the car and shattering the rear window.

Katalia ducked low and saw an even worse scene in the rearview mirror. An officer was taking an AR rifle from the trunk; its full-automatic firepower was far superior to that of her sniper rifle at a range of fifty meters. Further away, several police cars were parked across the wrecked Ford Explorer, forming makeshift cover. Using the vehicles as cover, officers were frantically pulling their wounded colleague from the mangled driver's seat.

Some people had already started calling for backup on their walkie-talkies, and the piercing sound of sirens grew louder as they approached.

Only by closing the distance to close combat could they neutralize the police's firepower advantage. Katalia flung open the car door and dashed towards the three-story parking garage across the street. Bullets sparked at her feet, and the sniper rifle swung in her hand, but it didn't hinder her movements in the slightest.

Three meters from the wall, she performed a side roll, using the momentum to swing the sniper rifle behind her. She then pushed off the vertical wall with both feet, twisting her waist and abdomen to gracefully vault over the three-meter-high wall like a cat.

"Target has entered the parking lot!" The officers shouted in unison, immediately spreading out and advancing from all directions simultaneously to form an encirclement around the parking lot.

"boom!"

A sharp gunshot rang out in the parking lot. A police officer holding an AR rifle was shot in the knee and fell to his knees with a scream.

The remaining officers immediately opened fire, a dense hail of bullets raining down in the direction from which the gunfire came. The bullets shattered the concrete walls, creating countless bullet holes in the parked vehicles, sparks flying everywhere, and sirens blaring.

"Officer shot!" An officer rushed to the wounded man, grabbing him by his tactical vest and dragging him to the back of an SUV. In the distance, the sirens of police cars grew closer, and the red and blue lights of police cars illuminated the parking lot entrance on and off.

Katalia lay prone on the ground, bullets whizzing overhead. She decisively discarded her empty sniper rifle and drew her M9 Beretta, with only 15 rounds remaining, from her waist. A sharp pain in her right arm made her wince; a stray bullet wound was bleeding.

“Damn it.” She gritted her teeth and dashed toward the spiral driveway. The rising concrete structure offered perfect blind spots; if she was fast enough, she could grab a weapon or escape before police reinforcements arrived.

Police quickly formed a tactical team.

The lead officer held his bulletproof shield high, a Glock pistol protruding from its firing port. Behind him, four fully armed officers formed a wedge formation, two AR-15 rifles extending their fire from either side of the shield, while two other officers stood guard behind him with their weapons.

Meanwhile, reinforcements have cordoned off the entire first floor of the parking lot.

The six-man tactical squads advanced in a "delamination" search pattern, their powerful flashlights casting blinding beams in the dimly lit garage. Every soldier's gun barrel moved with their line of sight, ready to respond to any potential threat.

"Bang bang bang!"

Short bursts of gunfire erupted from the spiral driveway, mingled with the painful cries of police officers.

When backup arrived, the spiral driveway was silent. They only caught a fleeting glimpse of a hem of clothing around the corner; the ghostly figure was moving upwards.

The two officers gave chase without hesitation, only to be ambushed at a corner. Four bursts of gunfire followed, and the two men tumbled down the spiral driveway.

The remaining officers immediately retreated, establishing a cordon on the ground floor; no one dared to advance rashly. The captain pressed the radio: "Requesting SWAT support! Repeat, requesting SWAT support!"

(End of this chapter)