Spider Shepherd: SAS: #1 Read Online Free Page B

bombed-out wrecks of buildings. The doors, boot lid and bonnet of another wrecked car had been converted by one desperate family into a sort of steel igloo, erected in a patch of scrubby, weed-strewn ground that seemed to have escaped the worst of the shelling. A woman squatted cross-legged in the entrance, holding a small child to her breast, while two others sat in the dust at her feet. Her eyes met Shepherd’s for a brief moment. He had never seen such a look of utter, blank desolation on a human face before and he looked away, embarrassed.
    ‘See those?’ Ibro said, pointing to a strange pattern of red marks on the ground in front of them.
    Shepherd grimaced. ‘They look like bloodstains.’
    Ibro nodded. ‘We call them “Sarajevo Roses”. They mark the places where people have been killed by Serb mortar fire. Mortar rounds landing on concrete make a fragmentation pattern that looks a bit like the scattered petals of a rose. Those of us who are left stain them with paint or red resin as a memorial to those who were killed, and as a reminder to ourselves and others of what the Serbs have done to us.’ He waved his arm around. ‘ You’ll see hundreds, maybe even thousands of them around the city. Each mortar round kills or wounds one or two more people, and often many more than that. A dozen people were killed and 130 wounded when a mortar shell exploded among people watching a football match a few weeks ago, and another dozen were killed a few days later while they were queueing for drinking water. Water has been scarce from the start, because the first thing the Serbs did when they besieged the city was to sever the pipes that brought water into the city from the reservoirs in the hills. The worst massacre of all was when a mortar shell hit the Markale market.’ A shadow passed over his face. ‘Seventy were killed that day and more than twice that number were seriously wounded. Among the dead were my wife and son.’
    There was a long silence. Shepherd looked away, not sure what to say. As much as a distraction as anything else, he gestured at a sign reading “Pazite, Snajper!”
    ‘What does that mean?’ he said. ‘I’ve seen quite a few of them.’
    Ibro gave a weary smile. ‘It means “Beware, Sniper!”. The Serbs have so many snipers in positions overlooking in the city that you’ll see the signs in a lot of the streets. The sniper fire in the main street, Ulica Zmaja od Bosne, leading to the airport, is so constant and so dangerous that it’s known as Sniper Alley.
    As if to confirm his words, there was a crack and whine as a rifle shot struck a concrete wall at the corner of the street and ricocheted away. A few moments later there was the crump of a heavy explosion as a mortar round struck a few streets away. ‘Right,’ Harry said. ‘Those bastards up in the hills have had things their own way for long enough. Let’s get this show on the road. Dan, you’re going to be operating the LTD with Gus.’
    They reached the outskirts of the city and, using every scrap of cover, moved on into the rubble-strewn wilderness that surrounded Sarajevo. They crossed what once must have been crop-fields or pasture but now looked like the pictures Shepherd had seen of First World War battlefields: water-filled shell holes, mud and rubble, and the splintered trunks of shrapnel-ripped trees. Harry’s gaze was never still, continually scanning the ground for a suitable site for an OP. Finally he gave a nod of approval. ‘This will do. We’ll dig in here and wait for dawn. I’ll take the first watch, then Diesel, Spud and Dan.’
    Gus fussed around, setting up and testing the LTD, then joined the others trying to snatch a little sleep while Harry stayed on watch. Shepherd had the last watch of the night and as the pre-dawn light began to strengthen, he shook the others awake and they stood-to in all-round defence for half an hour either side of the dawn. When it was light enough, Shepherd could see that