Sniper Nest

Two heartbeats.

Four eyes, four hands, two rifles.

Twenty hours.

Three words, two for a direction, one to acknowledge.

Four breaths.

One shot. One target down.

One shot. One target down.

One shot. Two hundred thousand joules of energy released by one pierced grenade. One smirk, one swear word, two words of grudging respect.

One shot. One missed target.

Two hand gestures. Two figures begin to move, sliding through untold millions of grains of sand.

One speed. Ten returns of fire. One faster speed.

Ten shots. Nine misses.

One heartbeat.

One second of grief. One decision. One shot.

Zero heartbeats.