Chapter 201: Capturing Hostages
"My god, what is a helicopter doing here?!" Jayden cried out in shock.
The rest of the group stood paralyzed, completely unsure of what to do.
"Should we warn them?" the helicopter pilot asked his superior.
"The terrorists already know where we are. If we use the loudspeaker to warn the civilians, we'll just be broadcasting their exact position and turning them into perfect targets for the terrorists to use as human shields," the man sitting next to him replied.
They could have rappelled a Special Ops member down to explain the situation, but they didn't want to take the risk. If the terrorists happened to be nearby, that soldier's life would be in immediate danger.
"Let them fend for themselves," the armed officer finally ordered.
"No! I have an idea," another team member on the aircraft suggested. "Since the media hasn't arrived yet, let's intentionally expose the location of the hostages. The terrorists will definitely rush there to hijack them as a protective umbrella. That's when we'll swoop in and wipe them all out in one go."
"Great idea!" The plan received unanimous approval. One of the officers picked up the megaphone.
"PERSONNEL BELOW, VACATE THE AREA IMMEDIATELY! HUNDREDS OF TERRORISTS ARE HIDING ON THIS MOUNTAIN! ESCAPE AT ONCE!"
"Oh no! Did you hear that?! Hundreds of terrorists!" Aidan felt like he was about to die. He collapsed to the ground, clutching his head in terror. "It's over. We're all going to die."
Seeing Aidan acting so spineless, Flash Thompson angrily smacked him on the head. "What are you talking about?! Get up and run!"
"Don't you get it?! Those cops just gave away our position!" Flash was far from stupid. A massive helicopter was hovering right over them; there was no way the terrorists in the woods hadn't noticed. With the added announcement from the loudspeaker, every terrorist on the mountain now knew exactly where to find a group of defenseless civilians.
"What do we do?" Jayden asked, turning to Flash, who had become their de facto leader.
"What can we do? We hide! We're right in the middle of the mountain. Even if that helicopter hadn't exposed us, the terrorists would eventually close in on this area anyway," Flash replied.
"Ned and the others... they're gone!" Audrey shouted, looking over at Ned's campsite. Only the camping gear remained; the people had vanished.
"They must have noticed earlier and bailed!" Flash gritted his teeth. "Right now, we need to hide and hold out until the media arrives."
"The media? Why?" Audrey asked, confused.
"Because the police only care about protecting hostages when the cameras are rolling," Flash said bitterly. He knew exactly how the system worked. Without the media there to report it, the police might just kill the hostages along with the terrorists and blame the whole bloodbath on the criminals.
Deep in the Woods
"Did you hear that, boss? There are still people up here," a terrorist said, licking his lips.
"Hmph. It's obviously a trap by the cops, but we do need those hostages." The leader, a man with a prominent facial scar, wiped the barrel of his rifle. They had just finished killing five police officers who had stumbled onto their position.
"Any word from the scouts below?" Scarface asked. They had several brothers disguised as civilians monitoring the perimeter.
"The media is on its way. I heard the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times even sent their own helicopters to get full coverage of how the Special Ops teams 'handle' us," a subordinate reported.
"Haha! Perfect. Let them provide some obstacles for the cops." Scarface was pleased. Once the cameras were on, the police would be forced to follow the rules.
At the Base of the Mountain
Abbott Phillip sat in a command chair, his fingers drumming rhythmically on the table. He was the supreme commander of this special operation. As reports came in, he learned that the media was closing in.
"They just can't let us work in peace!" Abbott barked. Every time the media showed up, his tactical plans had to be compromised.
"What are our orders, sir?" an aide asked.
"Report back to headquarters. We need reinforcements. Send another hundred Special Ops personnel," Abbott ordered. He couldn't stop the media, so he decided to use them. He would show the world exactly what a "perfect operation" looked like and prove the efficiency of his unit.
"Yes, sir!" The aide hurried off to relay the message. Abbott stared at the 3D topographical map of the mountain, lost in thought.
Back at the Campsite
"Are we really safe here?" Aidan whispered, hugging a tree trunk tightly.
"We have no other choice," Flash replied.
Jayden whispered, "Couldn't we just wave those guys down and have them fly us out of here?"
"You're dreaming, Jayden," Flash scoffed. If the police were going to rescue them, they would have done it already. At this point, Flash was just hoping his idol, Spider-Man, would show up. Please, Spider-Man, he prayed silently.
BOOM!
Suddenly, the helicopter that had been hovering nearby was struck by a rocket fired from the dense foliage. The rotors were severely damaged, and the aircraft began to spin wildly.
The helicopter crashed into the slope to the left. The one or two officers who survived the impact were quickly executed by terrorists who swarmed the wreckage.
"I didn't think the fuzz would be such garbage," a terrorist named Ian mocked.
"Don't get cocky, Ian," Scarface warned. That shot had been lucky. The officers on that bird had been so busy laughing at the "monkeys" climbing trees below that they hadn't noticed the terrorists closing in for a ground-to-air strike.
"Where are the hostages?" Ian asked, looking around.
"Probably hiding like rats," another man named Femster sneered, spotting the abandoned camping equipment. Ian walked over to the grill, picked up a meat skewer, and took a bite. "They were actually having a picnic up here. Hahaha!"
"They couldn't have gone far." Scarface knelt, brushing away some leaves to reveal partially obscured footprints.
"Looks like one of them is smart enough to try and hide their tracks," Femster laughed. Their squad consisted of ten men, part of a much larger force of fifteen similar teams.
"They're likely in that thicket," Scarface said, pointing toward a grove of red oaks. The vibrant red leaves made for a dizzying sight—a perfect place to hide.
"Should we flush them out?" Ian asked, handing a skewer to his boss.
Scarface took a bite of the meat and nodded. "Search the grove."
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