American variety show: Sniper Elite

Chapter 145 A Hollywood-Style Evacuation
Beta turned to look at Katalia, his voice rising above the approaching sirens in the distance: "Is it him?"

Katalia stepped forward, her right shoulder bandage soaked with blood. She stared at the blood-soaked man on the ground: "This son of a bitch is it!"

Beta drew his Glock 17 from his waist, turned the grip upside down, and handed it over: "Let's get started."

He glanced at the flashing police lights at the end of the highway: "Thirty seconds."

When Katalia took the pistol, the barrel still carried Beta's warmth. She walked up to Don Louis, looking at the drug lord who had destroyed her family, now curled up in a pool of blood like a dying hyena.

The curses that had been building up for 23 years churned in his throat, but in the end, they only turned into a roar: "Fuck you!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The Glock spewed fire repeatedly at extremely close range, the empty cartridge cases drawing golden arcs in the sunlight. The 9mm bullets ripped Don Louis's chest into a bloody mess, the final bullet ripping off half of his skull.

In the distance, the first police car had already rounded the bend. Katalia released her grip, and the empty-handed pistol clattered to the ground beside the body.

Beta picked up the scalding hot pistol and tucked it back into his waistband with a click: "How many times have I told you, don't leave your tools lying around!"

He ripped open the Velcro strap on his tactical vest, pulled out two smoke grenades, and threw them into the roadside bushes. Red and blue smoke billowed up: "Where the support team is?!"

Fordy established a defensive line using the semi-trailer cab, the butt of his AR-15 firmly resting against his shoulder. He held his breath, his finger rhythmically pulling the trigger—bang! bang! bang!

Each bullet accurately hit the windshield of the police car 100 meters away, shattering the tempered glass into a spiderweb pattern, the fragments flashing a blinding white light in the sunlight.

"what--!"

The screaming crowd erupted like an ant colony exploding; office workers in suits threw down their briefcases, and women in high heels kicked off their shoes; everyone was scrambling for their lives.

A stray bullet whizzed past a fat man's ear, startling him so much that he immediately scrambled into the bushes.

McCree leaned against the semi-trailer's fuel tank, his AKM pointed at the officer lying on the ground. The groaning officer had just reached for his pistol when McCree immediately fired a burst three inches from his hand: "Want to be a hero? Huh?"

Beta quickly moved to the other side of the convoy, jumped onto the roof of the car, and fired three short bursts.

The first shot blew out the tires of the lead police car, the second pierced the hood, and the third hit the driver's seat. The out-of-control police car spun and crashed into the guardrail, while the three police cars behind it braked sharply and came to a stop. The doors were forced back in by Beta's suppressive fire as soon as they opened.

The entire highway was completely paralyzed.

Burning police cars billowed black smoke, fleeing crowds jostled and cried, and abandoned vehicles blocked all lanes haphazardly.

In the distance, more sirens were approaching.

The moment the gunfire stopped, everyone was drawn to the deafening roar.

A glimmer of hope flashed across the officers' tense faces; they thought a police helicopter had arrived to provide support. But when they looked up at the source of the sound, their expressions froze.

A jet-black Airbus H130 helicopter roared out of the shadows of skyscrapers, its rotors churning up air that sent shards of glass and pools of blood flying everywhere. At a height of fifty meters, the helicopter fishtailed, its belly turning towards the police car barrier, revealing a side door.

"Wow--"

The hatch slid open, and the mute man wearing a skull mask pushed the modified weapon rack to the hatch.

Four M249 squad automatic weapons were mounted on specially made supports, their ammunition belts gleaming metallically in the sunlight. Before the ground officers could react, the mute man had already pulled the trigger.

"Dong dong dong dong——"

Four tongues of fire spewed out simultaneously, and the metallic storm created by the 5.56mm bullets instantly enveloped the entire police car defense line. The windshield shattered into dust, the police car's steel plates were torn apart like paper, and the officers hiding behind the car were riddled with bullets before they even had time to scream.

Shell casings rained down from the hatch, tracing golden parabolas in the sunlight as they clattered against the mangled wreckage of the police car. Beta grabbed Katalia's tactical vest and dragged her toward the semi-trailer truck: "Get out of here! Now!"

Fordy leaned against the car door, his gun muzzle scanning warily every still-moving target.

The entire highway had become a living hell, with burning police cars, mutilated corpses, and screaming survivors creating a scene of utter devastation.

After completing its first volley of fire, the helicopter pulled up sharply, the airflow from its rotors turning the pools of blood on the road into a crimson mist. It traced an arc in the air before diving again to reinforce the police officers on the other side.

The roar of the machine gun in the hatch tore through the air, and 5.56mm bullets ripped the makeshift bunker made up of police cars to shreds.

Beta and his three companions formed a defensive circle back to back, with their guns pointed in four different directions.

After completing its second strafe, the helicopter began to descend, the gusts of wind whipped up by the rotors scattering shards of glass from the road. At the hatch, the mute man wearing a skull mask had prepared the rappelling rope; the black rope gleamed coldly in the sunlight.

"Evacuate in thirty seconds!" Beta's shout drowned out the roar of the engine.

The burning wreckage of the police car exploded behind them, sending thick smoke billowing up and engulfing the entire highway in death.

The helicopter's violent airflow whipped up clouds of dust, and the mute man kicked the rappelling cable out of the cabin door. Black special nylon ropes hung down, each secured with a tactical safety harness with quick-release buckles every meter, fluttering in the wind.

Beta pulled the nearest seatbelt with one hand, and with the other hand, he had already pried open the buckle.

"Raise your hand!" he yelled at Katalia, wrapping the belt around her waist and locking the metal buckle with a "click".

He put on his own outfit in just three seconds. Although McCree was the oldest, he was incredibly fast.

By the time Fordy was the last to fasten his seatbelt, the roar of the helicopter rotors was already making everyone's chests tremble. Beta looked up, gave a thumbs-up, and made a "pull up" gesture.

"Lift the hoist!" The mute man's shout was drowned out by the engine noise.

Fulton slammed the lever, the turbine engine roared to life, and the helicopter began to climb sharply. The taut rappelling cable creaked as all four men were lifted off the ground, with Fordy still in his firing position.

They were like bait cast by a giant fishing rod, soaring into the air and hanging below the helicopter.

Katalia's injured shoulder was painfully constricted by the seatbelt. She was currently suspended thirty meters in the air, looking down at the battlefield that was getting smaller and smaller.

The burning highway rapidly shrank to the size of a toy model, the sirens gradually drowned out by the howling wind. Katalia's hair danced wildly in the updrafts as she clung tightly to her seatbelt, watching the inferno filled with the corpses of her enemies recede into the distance.

Two police cars screeched to a halt at the intersection in the distance, but it was too late.

The surviving police officers on the ground stood frozen amidst the burning wreckage, looking up as they watched this frantic escape unfold.

A helicopter carrying four dark figures streaked across the sky. One of them trembled as he raised his sidearm, but the muzzle quickly drooped limply—it was too far away.

The burning police car crackled and popped, billowing black smoke that trailed a dark cloud across the blue sky. The helicopter gradually became a black dot on the horizon, finally disappearing completely among the towering buildings of Los Angeles.

"Damn it." A police officer with a blood-covered face slumped to the ground, his walkie-talkie crackling with urgent calls from headquarters, but he was too weak to respond.

In the distance, the abandoned semi-trailer cab was still emitting wisps of smoke. Amidst the twisted steel wreckage, Don Louis's body lay quietly in a pool of blood, his unclosed eyes still holding the last trace of terror.

The entire 405 highway was thrown into chaos, with the sounds of flames engulfing metal and groans rising and falling.

This meticulously planned revenge ended in the most insane way.

(End of this chapter)