Intro
Olivia ran through the forest in the dark. She paced her breathing, using it to press down the adrenaline and dread that she could feel rising. She had good reason to be scared. She was being chased by a man who had killed before, a man bigger, stronger, and faster than her. Moonlight flashed in subtle blues in front of her, illuminating brief passages through the trees. She bounded over a fallen tree, scanning the map of the area in her mind. She knew that the river was straight ahead and if she could lose him here she could get back home safely.
The sky flashed with pale light as she left the trees and she could finally see the glimmering river ahead of her. She took a moment to intentionally scatter some earth and stones so that he would notice them. She then circled around the rocky area to the west bend of the river. She ducked behind an outcropping into a shadowed area. As she caught her breath and tried again to suppress the fear and adrenaline rising in her she considered the hiding spot. It was not too confining, with less chance of being trapped, it had a light source behind it which would enhance the darkness of the alcove and it was facing the river so that she could see him when he caught up to where she was.
Slowly her breathing started to regulate. She wiped sweat from her eyes, struggling not to blink as she anxiously scanned the riverside illuminated by starlight. He didn’t come. Moments passed and her legs started to ache as the adrenaline wore off. He should have caught up. Why wasn’t he there yet? What was he doing? Fear coiled around her stomach. She had to move. A sitting target was easier to hit. She took a deep breath and slid out into the trees again. The real game started now. He knew she was going home and she knew that she had to go there. She remembered the map and guessed that she was around 3.5 to 4 miles away. That was a long journey to make with a trained killer stalking you.
Olivia wiped her brow, muttering, “When forced into a bad situation, make the first move. To hesitate is to die.”
An hour later Olivia was getting tired. It was hard to maintain vigilance for such a long period of time. Still she stepped slowly and deliberately, hiking boot easing onto the forest floor as she scanned her surroundings with every sense available. Her mind started wandering.
The forest is beautiful.
Stop it. You need to focus on not dying.
It is getting cold. I hope he is twice as cold.
I hope he swam that damn river looking for me…
Then Olivia was hit so hard it knocked her off her feet. She fell to the earth with a large body pinning her to the ground. He had found her. She threw her hips to the side and pushed the body away, knocking his hip away from her with her foot. As she was rising he hit her again and again she was on her back as he held her there. She decided to go on the offensive. She grabbed his left arm with both of hers and spun to wrench it behind his back. He rolled out of this. She was able to chastise herself for not preventing the roll, she knew how, but this was cut short as he was on her again this time with his hands around her neck. From the ground she spun on her shoulder blades and wrapped her legs over his body while grabbing his arm with both hands. He fell, landing in the perfect armbar position. She wrenched with everything she had but could not extend the arm to finish it. He had secured it when he fell. She had a choice. She could either pound his face until he let go or she could wait and work on separating the arms which would take time. She started pounding on his face. He turned his face into her, absorbing most of the blows on the crown of his head. Then somehow he was free and on top of her again. She scrambled to get to her feet again but then felt his arms wrap around her neck as she rose. She panicked, thrashing and pushing away. Then things started to go dark.
She tapped.
He let go.
Gasping she fell to the ground, “Damnit! I had you.”
He laughed, “You were close a couple of times. I almost lost you at the river. I was about to jump in but remembered how much you hate being cold. I looped around and picked you up.”
She looked up at his silhouette, an eclipse surrounded by stars, “That was fun.”
She could feel him smile, “Really good for your first time. Before next time we will go over your Jiu-Jitsu and maybe some faster stealth ideas, or traps. We could do traps.”
She shook her head, rising, “All of that will be amazing later. Right now we are going to…”
He pulled her close. He smelled like earth and sweat and desire, “Tonight we patch you up, get some wine in you and get you in the hot tub. Then the sex, then the sleep. Sound good?”
She grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head back to bite his exposed throat, then pulled away, “That sounds amazing.”
Chapter 1: Dirt, Blood, and Fire
Olivia rolled the old jeep up to the driveway and slid it to park outside the cabin. As she left the vehicle she took a moment to breathe in the warm mountain air and bask in the first clear, warm day that spring. The often wet mountains of the northwest saw few sunny days and those that lived there cherished any that above 70 degrees. She stepped out of the Jeep, kicking small clouds of dust with her boots and the wildlife chattered and chirped in the trees surrounding them. Olivia could identify all of them and had caught several the last few weeks. It was not a life that she had started out pursuing, but she had grown to appreciate it with her husband. She opened up the tailgate and began gathering the groceries she had bought in town. All the essentials, things that they couldn’t make like books, salt, and bacon. After a few trips she had hauled them all in and began sorting them on the large marble counter. She had not heard from Drake yet, which was not unusual due to the size of their home, but decided to at least see if he was about.
Olivia checked the garage first, but he was not tinkering with anything, he wasn’t reading in the study either so she decided to check the bedroom. She walked the hall, past the photos of them on various trips around the world. As neither of them had any family to speak of, each holiday turned into one adventure or another.
Her life changed dramatically when she saw that the red hall light was on. She froze. She honestly had never expected to ever see the red light on. Red was a live imminent threat, emergency situation, retreat to the safehouse. For a brief moment she thought that it was just another drill, more training, but she remembered what he had said. Red is always real. If we are going to do a test we use yellow. Red is such a big deal that we don’t even joke about turning it on unless one of our lives is in real and immediate danger.
“I need to leave right now.”
Olivia hurried into the bedroom and dug in the closet for the bug out bag. By the time she had found it the reality of her situation was beginning to set in.
Something is happening for real.
Then the doorbell rang.
She heard his voice in her head again. When the red light is on, don’t trust anyone. Only me. I don’t care if it’s your best friend or your own mother, don’t go anywhere with them. Do whatever it takes to get to the safe house.
She paused, weighing her options and listening. Footsteps on the back deck. There was at least two of them. Running was not an option. She took a steadying breath and decided to play the dumb helpless girl, “Just a second! Be right there!” She did a pat check to double check that she was appropriately armed. She was, as always.
Her heart pounded as she walked towards the front door, mind spinning with options. Attack first? Hide and then attack? Go with them and run? Wait, there was a code…
Olivia opened the door and smiled like a ditz, hoping she wasn’t noticeably flushed or shaking. She saw a nondescript man in khakis and a black blazer wearing sunglasses and an earpiece. She bubbled, “Hey mister. How can I help you?”
He stretched a fake smile across his killer’s face, “Mrs. Olivia Mengsk? My name is Chad Darrowitz. Your husband, Drake, sent us to get you out of here, I’m afraid this place might not be safe right now. I can fill you in when we get in the car but we really need to be quick, for your safety of course.
She feigned surprise, “Oh no. He just left for New Mexico, is something wrong?”
Chad replied, “He arrived safely in New Mexico ma’am and we are instructed to take you to him the most expedient way possible.”
Olivia pulled back from the door a little bit and lied, “Oh, I can’t. He told me to stay here if there was any trouble.”
Though she couldn’t see Chad’s eyes she saw his face pinch and he glanced to his left.
That’s where the other one is.
He grabbed her left arm, “Ma’am we don’t have time for this, you need to come with us right now.”
Several responses to his grab came to mind, she could break his hand with the right leverage, hit him in the throat and go for his gun, or draw and shoot. Instead she cried and staggered towards him as he pulled on her arm, “I’m just so sacred!”
If anyone ever says I sent them, you tell them I am in New Mexico.
Why?
Because I hate New Mexico and would never go there. The only response you should ever get is “New Mexico is Bullshit.” If that is not the response, shoot them because they are lying and you are in trouble.
That seems a bit extreme, what if…
No. If someone is ever pretending that I sent them, your life is in danger for real. Nobody from my old life plays games, they play for keeps. Every. Time.
She hugged herself with her right arm as he led her towards the car by her left arm. She hung her head sobbing and clicking off the safety on the pistol hidden in her sweatshirt. She waited until she saw the boots of the second man on her right before she acted. Whatever happened she would not be going in that car.
If you are ever abducted, do whatever you can to avoid going to the second location. Your odds of survival plummet when you go to the second location, it’s as good as death. If they could do something terrible to you at location one they would do it there but for some reason, time, space, witnesses whatever, they can’t, which is why they take you to location two. Never go to the second location.
Without any conscious thought she drew the pistol most of the way out of her sweatshirt and planted her feet. Chad swung towards her, thrown off balance by her sudden stop. She squeezed the trigger three times and three pops resounded in the afternoon air as Chad grunted in pain.
Olivia was in a kind of daze as she swung the pistol towards the second assailant while throwing herself to the ground. She saw a large man grasping at her and shot him too, emptying the last four shots into him. As he fell towards her she rolled away and right into the not quite dead Chad.
Drake once told Olivia that fights were brutal and uncoordinated, even for professionals.
Elegance is for the movies. Real fighting is primal. Killing another person with your hands goes all the way back to Cain. It is not beautiful or smooth, it always hurts, always costs you. You just need to be the one that is willing to pay first and fastest.
Olivia and Chad scrambled in the blood and dirt wordlessly gouging and striking with elbows, fists, and knees. At one point he drew a knife. There was more blood. Then the knife was in his chest. Olivia kept stabbing until the thing that used to be Chad stopped moving. Then she grabbed her pistol from the ground and was up again.
Her ears were ringing and she could taste the metallic scent of blood in the air. She scanned the area whipping her weapon around to face her blind spots searching for more opponents. Then she caught a glimpse of herself in the reflection of the black SUV that Chad and his associate had arrived in. The gun was empty, barrel forced back into the open position and she was covered in blood.
Her breath pounded in and out of her lungs as she struggled to calm herself. The immediate threat was over. She pulled her spare clip and clumsily reloaded her weapon with shaking hands. The area was silent save the woodland creatures who had lost interest in the massacre and had returned to more animal appropriate activities. She stood there in shock, breathing raggedly for a moment.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
There’s dead people in my driveway. People that I just killed. I am a killer.
Killing isn’t hard. That’s what makes it scary, it really doesn’t hit you until later, you can’t stress about it in the moment or you can end up dead real quick. Do what needs to be done, then move on. Feel bad about it later.
Olivia took deep breaths, steadying her breathing bit by bit.
These men came from somewhere. Someone would probably come looking for them. I should drag them into the house. No. If the police found them there I would have more and different problems. They had to go, but where? I need to leave, where am I going? I just killed two people.
Slow down, take a breath, make a choice, focus on one thing at a time. Keep solving one problem at a time until you are safe.
I’ll put them in their car and stash it somewhere. It has to be somewhere I can walk to safety. The quarry by the safehouse, I’ll drive them there, drive it into the water and hike over to the safehouse.
Chad was not a little man and getting him in the raised back of the SUV required more effort than she assumed it would. His associate was less work as he turned out to be a smaller hispanic man. She pocketed their sidearms and wallets before moving them and only felt a little guilty about doing so. After this she grabbed the bug out bag and was on the road.
Don’t mind me. Just driving a stolen vehicle with dead bodies in it.
During the drive her mind alternated between numb silence and racing thoughts. Everything had changed. Everything was wrong and she had no idea what she was going to do. Panic attack symptoms started gnawing at the back of her mind, luring her towards unraveling.
No. Pull it together.
One thought at a time.
Get to the quarry. Get to the quarry.
After ten miles on gravel roads she reached the old flooded quarry. After cursing at the locked chain link gate and a few failed lockpicking attempts she just drove through it. She found a ledge near the deep end of the pool that had gathered over the years in the old quarry and drove the stolen SUV up to it. She was outside the vehicle and contemplating how to get it in the water when she realized that she still hadn’t retrieved the Bug Out Bag from the vehicle.
That was almost really bad.
After retrieving the bag she decided to put the car in gear to send it off the edge but this did not work as well as it did in the movies due to the incline of the road. She debated standing outside of the car and stomping on the pedal to get it going but saw nothing but images of her being somehow drug down with the vehicle when she thought about it. Instead she stood a few feet away and threw a large stone down on the pedal and that did the trick.
Olivia checked the map and compass that came from the Bug Out Bag and set her course towards the safehouse. It was afternoon and after downing a couple of protein bars and coming down off of adrenaline she started to get sleepy. She sat down on a log and drank some water trying to motivate herself.
What the hell am I doing? What am I even going to do when I get to the safehouse? Wait until meaner guys with bigger guns showed up and take me God knows where? And what happened to Drake?
The last thought got to her. He was usually so consistent. He was somewhere and things were bad enough that he wasn’t at home to explain what was going on. He might even be dead…
Stop it. If he was dead, you would be too. Those goons want you for some reason and it has to have something to do with him. I have to find out what’s going on.
Olivia took a breath, drank some water and felt motivated to get moving again.
Judging by the map she was going to reach the safehouse at about 3PM. A few years ago she would have not been able to navigate the mountainside, let alone predict travel time. Her world had changed considerably since she met Drake. Every day he was teaching her something, which was great because she liked learning and the teaching helped him reintegrate after years at war. Most of it was useful outdoors survival stuff which was fun but the other stuff, the things on how to spot someone tailing you or how to get out of handcuffs had always felt more like a game. This was not a game.
By 2:52 she had made it to the safehouse. This cabin was smaller and had less amenities than what had been their home for the last 5 years but was stocked with everything one would need to survive for months or even potentially indefinitely with the seed packets they had stored there.
Olivia unlocked the door, catching the smell of stale air in the process, she thought about dropping the Bug Out Bag, which was starting to get heavy but remembered the plan she and Drake had discussed and retrieved the Win Mag from its home by the fireplace. She then made her way up to the lookout up and behind the cabin and set up. Creating a sniper perch was s familiar to her by now that she did it without thinking.
She lay down on the mat and sighted in the rife for the appropriate distance, worked the bolt action to chamber a round and started scanning the trees around the cabin. When she had made the full scan the only thing she had seen was two deer, four squirrels, and a few crows. things were quiet.
Now that she had stopped moving she realized how tired she was, her right hip had some sharp pain when she moved it but that was a problem for future Olivia, safety was the first priority. If the mysterious goons had this address as well they would be coming soon. They shouldn’t, as the location was registered under a different name but there is always some kind of trail the right person could follow. Still, she started to relax a little too much. She tried to shake off the feeling, having another drink of water and evaluating the topography of the area. She already knew it but it gave her brain something to do other than spin about the days events.
The land gave two natural entrances into the property which were visible at about 1000 and 850 yards from the roost. This range was near the edge of her capacity to hit. On a good day it would happen, but on a day like today she probably would wait until at least 700 before firing. The only cover were trees but they were sparse and had next to no foliage at the base which left a very open landscape. It was an excellent spot to snipe from. He taught her to shoot from this very spot. Olivia was lost in thought for a moment, remembering that day.
So if you want to teach me all of your fancy army man stuff, why are we starting with sniper training, that seems like overkill. Like maybe you could teach me how to throw a punch or something?
Risk. the closer you are to the opponent, the more likely you are to be injured. In punching range or knife range, you will get hit and you will get cut. In a pistol shoot out both of you have an equal chance of shooting one another for the most part. Sniping though, lets you kill someone from a half mile away before they even know you are there. Your damage is maximized and your risk is minimized.
That’s dark.
That’s war.
I don’t think I could ever shoot anyone.
You could, you just haven't had the reason to yet. Everybody will kill for the right reason.
Again, that sounds awful.
Probably, but we are blessed to live in a place that largely eliminates the need to physically fight for what we love. When we fight to protect the things we love it’s different, less like a mercenary and more like an avenging angel.
Avenging angel huh? I think I can get behind that.
I pray you never have to actually do any of this stuff but if you do, I want you here, at a distance, watching my back. Not trying to John Wick everyone.
Me and you, the unbeatable team?
Absolutely.
She could almost feel the heat from that day, the way her sweaty shirt stuck to her arms as she worked the action on the rifle, his smell as he leaned in close to adjust her hands. It was a good day.
Her mind shifted gears quickly to wonder why she was never turned off by all of those dangerous activities. Over the past 5 years he had pushed her to do things she would have never done like shooting all manner of guns, using knives, hand to hand combat, submissions, extreme element survival, navigation on land and sea, she had been hit and choked and shot (with a flak jacket on) and she had loved every minute. She loved it because they were doing it together and each piece that she learned unlocked a piece of understanding of her husband. Through all of this she could learn about things he could never talk about.
Now I’m alone.
Shut up. Stay safe then we will go find him.
Olivia kept herself awake and motivated until around seven when she decided that whoever had visited the house more than likely didn’t know about this place yet. They probably would, but right now she could afford to risk a shower and a decent night’s sleep. She thought about just grabbing the Bug Out Bag and heading into the hills but she wanted answers.
She entered the cabin, made a fire, and powered up the emergency laptop that Drake had set up for just this kind of event. It was important but she couldn’t quite remember why at the moment, too many other things were demanding her attention. She then went to take a shower and wash off all of the dirt, sweat and blood from the day. She looked worse than she thought she would, she had some scratches on her face and her hair was matted with blood, her white shirt was essentially rust colored with spots of white now. She took it all off and climbed in the shower. She stood there for a moment watching all of the reds and browns swirl and started to feel funny. She reached to adjust the temperature of the shower when she saw her hand shaking. Olivia held out both her hands and they bounced and jittered. She quickly pulled them back to her body and realized that she was feeling light headed, she sat down breathing heavily and shaking all over now. The events of the day finally sunk in.
This is dead man’s blood. I killed two people and now I am on the run for my life.
I have no idea how to do this. What the hell am I doing?
Olivia shook and cried until the water started to cool. She took a breath, steadied herself, and cleaned off the blood with what was left of the hot water.
Just a trauma response, don’t mind me. Actually I deserved that, today was especially crappy.
When she came out she was beyond tired, ready to pass out. As she put on new clothes she remembered the security system Drake had installed a few years back.
A few minutes later Olivia dined on MRE Salisbury Steak while she waited for the black and white monitors in the spare room to boot up. She sat at the desk contemplating bagging it all and just going to bed when all four of them flickered to life. She ate and tried to figure out where each camera was pointed.
Front door, easy.
This one is the back porch.
An overview of the house.
And… The driveway?
Nothing interesting was happening and when she was done eating she was about to turn off the screens when she saw something. Two black vehicles came up the driveway and parked in front of their house.
Her stomach dropped.
Not good. Nobody we know should be there.
Sure enough six strangers emerged from the vehicles and spread out to surround the house. All were armed with military grade weapons and worked cooperatively to secure the premises. She couldn’t identify any faces through the low light and low resolution of the security cameras. The only discernible feature on any of them was that one was wearing a cowboy hat.
Simultaneously the team kicked in the front and back doors to her home and the soldiers filed in.
Good thing I left…
A minute passed. Olivia wished that there were more cameras to check but the same mundane images just flickered. Eventually the team emerged from the house and Cowboy Hat started pointing at the house and at the vehicles. The other soldiers grabbed something from the vehicles and started moving around the house doing something. It took a minute for Olivia to realize what was going on.
Gas… They’re going to burn it!
Sure enough, Cowboy Hat called the men back and then walked around the house tossing flares at the base of the walls. Their home burned. All of her memories, scrapbooks, pictures, everything they had used to build their life was going up in flames and there was nothing she could do.
Bastards…
Cowboy Hat looked like he was laughing and then started looking around the property. Eventually he locked his eyes on the camera that watched the driveway. He walked right up to it. He was wearing a mask over his face and that awful Cowboy Hat. He had no identifiable markings, no flags, other than an embroidered name tag that said, “Rattler”. He smiled at the camera and said something that Olivia couldn’t make out and then made a shooting motion at the camera before he smashed it. The screens went dark one after another.
Holy shit…
Olivia backed away from the room holding her head.
The house is gone.
Can they track me?
Who was that guy?
While she was still reeling from the loss of her she heard a series of beeps from the laptop. It had auto connected to some kind of program that looked ancient. It was a black and green screen with the big blocky cursor.
This Connects to someone who can help us but we can’t use it all the time, it’s only when things are serious.
Who does it connect to?
Just... someone who can help.
It had a message on it.
SYSTEM]:USER
X:HYENA: SUNSET ON PARTIAL TELEMETRY.
Olivia stared at the screen.
Oh no… there was a code thing…. what was it?
She sat in front of the screen, hands hovering over the keys.
What was it… the first word gives you the number of the letters to change in the second… and the second… wait, was that the way to unscramble radio codes? It was.
Again the screen flashed
[SYSTEM]:USER
X:HYENA: SUNSET ON PARTIAL TELEMETRY.
X:HYENA: SHADED OVERLOOK WITH PARABOLA
Olivia shook her head. She was tired, she barely remembered the code lessons, and her day had been awful. The answer was not coming and she knew it.
Damnit Drake! Why does everything have to have a code and a password and a damn hoop to jump through!
She knew her time was running out. She took a breath and typed:
SYSTEM]:USER
X:HYENA: SUNSET ON PARTIAL TELEMETRY.
X:HYENA: SHADED OVERLOOK WITH PARABOLA
Z:BADGER: THIS IS NOT DRAKE THIS IS HIS WIFE AND I AM IN TROUBLE I CANT REMEMBER THE CODE BUT I NEED HELP
For a long full minute the screen just flashed. Then it read:
SYSTEM]:USER
X:HYENA: SUNSET ON PARTIAL TELEMETRY.
X:HYENA: SHADED OVERLOOK WITH PARABOLA
Z:BADGER: THIS IS NOT DRAKE THIS IS HIS WIFE AND I AM IN TROUBLE I CANT REMEMBER THE CODE BUT I NEED HELP
[SYSTEM]:USER
Olivia put her head in her hands.
Well this was a terrible day and I am done. If the army wants to steal me tonight they get to. I am going to sleep.
Then she did just that.