Pacific Sniper

“What shooting?”

“You’ll see.”

Up ahead, the lieutenant gave the order to move out.

It was hot out in the open, and the sun beat down mercilessly, early though it was. Nobody talked, and not so much as a breeze stirred the humid air.

They were halfway across when the first sniper shot took out a GI named Horton. The bullet punched through his helmet, and he was dead before he hit the ground.

Everyone threw themselves down, but there wasn’t a lot of cover. The sniper didn’t fire again until after Sergeant Hawley stood up and told everyone to get moving.

Another shot. A soldier Deke had known since basic fell dead.

They kept going, but it was a big field. Each man seemed to be able to feel the crosshairs on him. It made their skin crawl.

They reached a clump of abandoned huts, which provided some cover, although the grass walls wouldn’t stop a bullet.

The sniper fired again. A soldier who had been crouching behind one of the huts fell to his knees, then slumped over, dead.

“Where’s that sniper at?” Thibault demanded. “Conlon, make yourself useful, goddamn it.”

Conlon ran up beside Thibault, swinging his rifle in all directions.

Deke had gotten down low, scanning the field through his telescopic sight. His attention was focused on another clump of huts about two hundred feet away. It was a pretty good bet that the Jap sniper would have set up there, where he had some cover and shelter from the sun.

There. Sure enough, Deke was rewarded with a brief glint in the doorway of one of the huts. Just as quickly, it was gone, but he knew what he had seen—a reflection off the glass of the enemy sniper’s scope.

Conlon saw it too. Maybe he wasn’t as hopeless as Deke thought.

“He’s in those huts over there,” Conlon said excitedly.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Take him out.”

Conlon fired, worked the bolt, fired again.

He didn’t get a chance for a third shot. A bullet came in and killed him, his body dropping at Thibault’s feet.

“Dammit!” Thibault looked around desperately. “Deke, take out that sniper or so help me God, I’ll shove that riflescope up your ass.”

Deke looked the lieutenant up and down.

“What are you waiting for? Dammit, that’s an order!”

“Yes, sir!” Deke barked out, and saluted him.

Thibault stared, then grew angry. “You picked one hell of a time to decide to act like a soldier. What a smart-ass. I’ve a mind to—”

Deke never did know what the lieutenant had in mind, because a bullet entered Thibault’s brain at that instant.

He stared at the hut in the distance. Damn good shot.

The sergeant ran over and crouched over Thibault’s body, crying in dismay, “Lieutenant! Lieutenant!”

Hawley could shout all he wanted, but the lieutenant wasn’t gonna hear nobody no more.

Maybe he ought to have bought that Jap a drink for that one. But Thibault wasn’t the only soldier in the squad. He had Philly to worry about, and Yoshio. They might be next if Deke didn’t do something. The sniper had them all pinned down.

Deke stretched out on the red dirt, locking his elbows into the ground and spreading his legs behind him so that he had the whole steadiness of the island beneath him. He put the sights on the doorway where he had seen that glint of movement. The scope wasn’t powerful enough to reveal anything but a dark entrance.

Still, he put his finger on the trigger, took a deep breath, and ever so slowly began to squeeze.

Where are you, you damn Nip?

From inside the hut, he saw the flash of a muzzle. He was amazed that the sniper’s rifle made barely a sound.

A bullet clipped the shack where Yoshio was hiding, inches from his head.

“Deke!” Philly said desperately. “Any day now!”

But Deke was hardly listening, all his attention focused on that target in his mind’s eye. His finger took up the last bit of tension on the trigger, and the rifle jolted against his shoulder.

He ran the bolt and waited.

“Did you get him?”

“Hell if I know. He’s in that shack on the right. What are you all waitin’ for?”

Philly took the hint and opened fire, followed by Yoshio.

Bullets ripped through the shack, sending bits of grass and debris flying. The walls of the hut made a good hiding place, but they didn’t stop bullets.

The Jap sniper seemed to agree. Seconds later, a figure ran from the shack and disappeared into the deep grass.

In that moment, Deke had glimpsed two things. The first was that the Japanese carried a rifle. The second was that the enemy sniper wore a white headband.

Deke’s blood ran cold in the tropical heat. This wasn’t just any sniper. This was the same sniper who had challenged him during the tank battle and then masterminded the ambush that had left Ingram dead and Lieutenant Steele wounded.

An instant later, Deke was on his feet and running after him.

He heard pounding feet behind him and realized that Philly, Yoshio, and Egan had joined the chase. Whoa Nelly strained at her leash, barking madly. She knew an enemy soldier when she saw one, all right.