steel wheel between the sniper’s position and me. Slowly, I eased my rifle around the big, all-terrain tire and peered through the night vision scope. I was counting on the shooter not having night vision and the area I was in being dark enough that he wouldn’t spot me.
It took me a couple of minutes to spot him, and I was mildly surprised to see it was a her. I’ve heard of a few countries, most notably Israel, fielding female snipers, but it was a rarity. Don’t ask me why. In my experience a woman can be just as good with a gun as a man. It’s about raw ability to start, then practice, practice, practice. Maybe it’s one of those things that more men have that basic physical attribute than women. Maybe not. At the moment, I didn’t give a shit. So far the bitch on the roof was proving herself to be quite adept.
She held a large bolt-action rifle with a high-powered scope, but as I watched her through the night vision it quickly became apparent that she wasn’t military trained. There was plenty of concealment available for her to use, even a couple of spots that would have allowed her a covered firing position, but she was propped up on the third story parapet without any apparent concern over return fire.
“See him?” Timmons asked with a frightening wheeze in his voice.
“Her,” I said, thumbing my fire selector to semi-auto.
I was zeroed on her face. She was young, probably no more than seventeen, but that didn’t matter once she started shooting at me. As I began to take up the slack in the trigger I heard shouting from the alley where Rachel, Martinez and Dog were hiding. Several shots were fired, and though I should have taken the sniper out when I had the opportunity, I turned to look in that direction. I couldn’t see anything, but the sounds of a fight reached my ears, Dog’s snarls letting me know he was in the thick of it.
The mouth of the alley was on the same side of the street as the girl sniper, and when the commotion started she leaned out over the edge in an attempt to see what was going on. I turned back to my scope, sighted on her head and squeezed the trigger. I watched in the night vision when the round punched through her skull and all animation left her body, which slumped across the parapet.
The heavy rifle slipped through her lifeless fingers and fell to the sidewalk below, the wood stock shattering on impact. She had been leaning way out when I shot her and in slow motion her body began to succumb to the pull of gravity and slide over the edge. Picking up speed it slithered free of the roof and tumbled as it fell, striking the sidewalk next to the rifle with a sickening thud.
I scanned the roofline but didn’t see any other threats, so I rolled out from under the Suburban and sprinted to the alley where the sounds of the fight were growing louder. Rounding the corner with my rifle up I paused when I didn’t see what I expected to see.
Two dogs lay dead on the ground, apparently having been shot, and Dog was fighting with a third. Rachel and Martinez both were aiming their rifles at the fight but the dogs were moving too fast for either of them to risk a shot that might hit him. Rachel was screaming at him to stop but he ignored her and pressed his advantage, finally taking the strange dog to the ground by the throat. A moment later it was over and Dog moved away from his kill and walked to Rachel, limping slightly as he moved.
Feral dogs. I was surprised we hadn’t run into any before now. Dogs aren’t any different from humans. Strip away the comfortable home and the ease of grocery store bought food and it doesn’t take long for the wild side to come out. Not every human or every dog, but it’s still there, just under the surface, waiting for the right moment.
I turned back to the street and made a quick scan. A hundred yards to the south the males I’d seen earlier were approaching, having been attracted by all the shooting. I didn’t see anything else at the moment. Pointing out the infected to Martinez I told Rachel to come with me and ran to where Timmons was sitting with