be examining the front door of the home as the possible entry point. He dipped his head ever so slightly through the threshold of the doorway. Through his goggles Mike acquired just enough of the man’s head to take a shot. One shot was all that was required for the target to go limp and collapse on the floor. Colt gave the signal for the team to hold their position as the point man approached the target and cleared the bedroom of any further targets or hostages. Mike moved forward. Colt stayed in a crouch and kept his pistol pointed directly down the hallway. Robert held his rear position, protecting the team from an ambush from behind.
Mike ensured that the target was no longer a threat when he saw that the rifle round had removed a large portion of the man’s head and scattered it on the interior bedroom wall. The warm brain matter seeped and dripped down the wall in a neon green image through Mike’s goggles. He stepped over the corpse and tended to the business of clearing the bedroom. There were two small single beds in the room. They were unoccupied. The second interior guard had exited the room prior to the team making entry. Mike swept the room and under the beds in one fluid movement and verbally announced to the team that he was coming out. The team regrouped in the hallway and proceeded forward. Just past the bedroom on the opposite side of the hall was another closed door. Colt steered Mike forward to a point just in front of the door opening. The team stopped and again assumed a crouching position. Mike ungripped his rifle with his left hand and slowly placed his hand on the doorknob. He gently twisted the knob just enough to determine that the door was unlocked. He signaled to Colt that he believed that he could make entry into the room. Colt signaled for himself and Robert to hold their positions and for Mike to clear the room.
Mike twisted the doorknob. In one fluid movement he forced the door open violently and entered the room in a crouched position. Colt and Mike heard the door slam to the rear and the sweeping sound of a plastic shower curtain being flung open. Then Mike announced that the bathroom was clear, and he was coming out. He exited the doorway and the team reassembled. The hallway