The rest of the jog to our pickup point goes uneventfully, Hugo and Sarah bantering behind Marcus and me, while we mostly jog in silence, Marcus occasionally pointing out things that help during navigation such as landmarks, terrain, etcetera.
I only stumble on the uneven ground once, and Marcus catches my arm before I can faceplant in the mud. He gives me a tight smile and removes his hand as soon as I am upright once more, turning his head as though something in the miles of hills has gained his attention instead.
After clearing the top of the highest hill that we have come upon thus far, panting, and sweaty, the cottage appears tucked in the dip between this hill and the next, as though it had just materialised from thin air.
The cottage is built from stone, with what presumably had once been a thatched roof, but is an open concept with a few pieces of straw clinging to crumbling beams. The cottage is quite small but is spread across two floors. In front of the front door stands Sergeant Moore leaning against the stone wall.
We make our way steadily down towards the sergeant, bypassing the remains of the stone wall that at one time had surrounded the entire cottage, but now barely covers one side before there is a humungous gap of missing stone.
Marcus is the first to reach the sergeant, who is holding a clipboard and stopwatch in her hands. She nods in approval. "One hour and twenty-five minutes, not bad."
"Our assignment to retrieve our victim?" Marcus gets straight to the point.
Sergeant Moore reaches behind her and brings forward a black bag filled with gas masks. "Put those on. Your victim is a kidnapped citizen, male, mid-20's of large stature, and has sustained multiple injuries and wounds during his capture. When your enemies learned of your incoming rescue attempt, they gassed the place. You have three minutes to get in, locate your victim, and get them out before they suffocate. One of you will have to give up your gas mask to give to your victim who will have been exposed to the gas for much longer than you. Your time will start when the first one of you enters the building. You may exit the building however you please, but you must return back here to me before the time is up. Understood?"
"Yes, Ma'am." We chorus, each grabbing a mask.
"Who wants to take one for the team and sacrifice their mask?" Hugo murmurs as he starts putting his on.
We all stare at him.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me."
* * *
"Ready, candidates?" Sergeant Moore asks, her eyes on her stopwatch, her own gas mask secured.
"Yes, Ma'am." We reply, lined up against the wall, a hand on each other's back, gas masks secured.
"Alright, you may enter." She says, and Marcus springs into action.
The first room is clear of both a victim and gas, but when we open the creaking wooden door into the hallway, we are suddenly surrounded by it, our visibility going from one hundred percent to around ten percent in a second, not only from the gas, but from the darkness in this unlit hallway.
Our strategy is to stick together with a hand on the person in fronts shoulder, and the other, along with our feet and legs, reaching out to sweep the walls for any doorways, the stairs, or the victim. When we find the victim, Hugo will take off his mask and leave it there – the victim will already be wearing one as it is just a soldier in makeup for the day – and we will have to navigate both the victim and Hugo back out of the house before our three minutes are up.
YOU ARE READING
Let's Start A Riot
RomancePatience was once a girl with a dream to be more, to have more, and then one day, her dream came true. When Agent Hartley of MI6 gives her the opportunity of a lifetime - will she use it wisely, or will she come to regret it? Patience has to prove t...
