CH:3 Awaken I

-Hiss

My eyes dart open immediately. The hissing noise had a particular pitch that took me back to my training.

It was a gas attack.

My body immediately drops to the floor. Countless lessons made my body react on instinct. I didn't weigh my options, make a pros - cons list, or strategize. I only had time to react.

I only had time to survive.

I take a deep breath of clean air. In theory, the gas at the initial release is hotter than the cool air conditioned cottage. The hot air rises and hits the roof before collapsing on my surroundings giving me mere seconds to get myself out of this debacle.

Great. I went out of the frying pan just to enter the fire.

For a second I listen to the gas releasing, trying to determine the quantity. It was only one canister. Even in this rather large cottage, the closed system of western architecture should only give me around a minute to move to a safe place and consider my options.

I army crawl quickly to the bathroom. Hugging close to the furniture as I try my best to avoid giving a direct view of my body from the windows. There must be some sort of cloth or towel to act as a filter for the poisonous air.

As I inch towards to bathroom, my head goes back to the lessons.

There are three primary reasons to use a gas attack:

Cloak.

Disable.

Kill.

Cloak is automatically out. It makes no sense. The other two however were pretty good options. Which one - it's hard to decide. But what I can decide on is that I'm the target. And as the target, I chose to approach this with caution. So I treat the gas as if it was engineered to kill me.

I turn to the windows to my side and a figure was betrayed in full tactical gear. These were professionals. But with no light in the room and glass in between us, the night vision did little to work. This encounter was in my favor. I quickly make it to the door and feel for the handle. I was going in blind as far as inside the cottage goes.

After entering the bathroom, I feel for a towel and wet it. Then I wrap the wet towel around my face, making a temporary mask. It should buy me a couple more seconds. Valuable seconds.

In the bathroom I consider my options. There were three exits in the building. The entrance, the balcony, and the backyard door. Two of which I am sure were guarded. The balcony seems like a good choice for me though.

As I lay back on the floor I listen for footsteps. I hear none.

They are waiting for the gas to do the job.

Shit.

They want to do this cleanly.

I make my way out of the bathroom and slide my body on the wall for cover. I approach near the window where I saw the figure. He was gone.

Strange.

I look at a different angle of the window in case the operator was crouching. He wasn't there. I turn to look at the balcony door, the one I was hoping wasn't guarded, and I saw two men pointing their guns with flashlight attachments through the visible glass.

Double shit.

I quickly unlatch the window door and wait for a second. I was hearing for any contraptions they may have set while close to the window.

After hearing nothing I slip out of the window, and land on my toes. It was time to move. I was on the patio and I was exposed.

After I close the window, I quickly dash from furniture to furniture. Slowly making my way towards the woods where they would have a harder time finding me. I take off the makeshift mask and gently placed it on one of the lawn chairs closest to a bush. I didn't need it anymore and it was restricting my breathing.

I am about 10 meters away from the bush when I spot a handful of soldiers emerging from it. Like the operator from before, they had advance gear with tactical aiming lasers. The lasers threatened their way towards me. I quickly duck under a lawn chair and hope the laser goes over my head.

"Patio is clear." I hear one soldier say before the footsteps start moving again.

I breath a sigh of relief. It would have been close to impossible to survive against 5 men who are 10 meters away without a way to close the gap. And I have no way to close the gap without risking everything.

While on my belly, I inch towards the woods. I need to get out of here.

- Bang!

I hear something fall behind me. From the sound of it, it seems like they were breaching the cabin.

"GO! GO! GO!" I hear a ruff voice that confirmed my previous statement. A series of "clears!" from the men re-enforced my statement even more.

I take this as a green light to haul ass out of the cabin and into the woods. It would only be a matter of time before they sweep the entire cabin. From their demeanor it would only take a minute - a single minute before I would be hunted down ruthlessly.

I wouldn't mind if I wasn't so naked. The only weapon was my trusty ring and that wouldn't be able to do anything notable a fight of this magnitude. Maybe if one of them was isolated then it could score me a weapon and possible intel on what the enemy could be.

Before disappearing into the woods, I survey the men who were breaching the safe-house. They were wearing black bullet-proof vest, black combat trousers, with matching black combat helmets suited up with night-vision goggles. There were dozens of them. All swarming towards the cabin with a strategic approach.

I take all this in. The way they clear an area to the way they command and follow.

They better kill me here because my retaliation would be plentiful and bloody.

I pivot using my leg and turn around to leave the forest. The Agency has a safe-house in Boston that I could use in case this one was compromised. Seeing as how a couple dozen soldiers were circling the safe-house, it is safe to say that I've been compromised.

But before I could actually move, four lasers played across my body. I could feel the sweat pouring down my chin. Four people had me in their cross hairs. All of them pointed at my center mass.

Okay. Shit has hit the fan.

"Found him, 12 O'Clock. In the woods!" One of the soldiers says in a thick middle-eastern accent.

Quickly I hear the shuffling of feet and the soldiers start circling me. Three dozen men with a tactical, number, and technology advantage surrounded me.

I slowly raise my hands as my mind starts to look for angels. Any way that I could possibly escape before getting nailed by the carbines. But I don't find a way. I am caught.

But the soldiers don't approach. They kept their distance and were on their toes. The slight shuffling of their feet shows clear nervousness. They overwhelm me in every possible way but were still nervous.

They know who I am. They know my legacy.

Before I could open my mouth and talk, I felt a sting on my neck. I instinctively raise my hand to touch the spot and I yank out a small needle.

They - tranquilized me?