The signal was clear.
Three.Two.One.
Elias moved first, silent as a cut in the dark.
Grimm ran left, Ash veered right. The plan was simple: confuse, divide, conquer.
Elias slipped down the slope, rifle raised. The first target barely turned his head before a silenced shot dropped him.
The second turned to shout — a fatal mistake.Grimm lunged, ripping into his throat with brutal precision.
Ash intercepted the third as he tried to run for the trees. A fierce bark, a blur of fur and teeth.
Elias moved among them like a shadow, body aligned with the rifle, eyes cold.
Three down in under twenty seconds.
Two remained.
The fourth, realizing the chaos, grabbed Calvin Morrow, dragging the old man up as a human shield, pressing a rusty knife against his neck.
"Stay back or I kill him!" the man screamed, voice trembling between fear and adrenaline.
Elias stopped.
Grimm and Ash froze with him, instincts sharp.
The fifth man backed toward a narrow trail, preparing an escape, but Elias kept his focus on the one holding Morrow.
It always came down to choices.
Elias slowly lowered his rifle.Showed his hands.
Took two steps sideways, drawing attention.
"You don't have to end it this way," he said, voice calm as death.
The man hesitated.
Elias seized the moment.
Grimm slipped left. Ash crept right. A silent, deadly triangle.
The man looked around frantically, pressing the knife harder.A bead of blood rolled down Morrow's neck.
"Let him go," Elias commanded, voice firm.
The man shouted something unintelligible — and made his last mistake.
Grimm struck first, a sudden blur from the side. Ash charged from behind.Elias fired a single shot.
Clean. Precise.
The man dropped, knife clattering from limp fingers.
Elias rushed to Morrow, slicing through the bindings.
The old man was conscious, but his eyes — worn, haunted — were filled with a terror that seemed older than the world itself.
"Stay calm," Elias muttered. "We're getting you out."
Grimm and Ash flanked them, guarding.
Elias lifted Morrow onto his shoulders with ease.
The last man, the one who tried to flee, was likely hiding nearby.But Elias had no time to hunt him.
The priority was the target.
The forest around them seemed to shrink, conspiring against their escape.The clouds thickened.The wind shifted.
And then — a new sound.
Engines.
Vehicles.
Not many. But enough to be a serious problem.
Reinforcements.
Elias ran, Grimm and Ash at his sides.
Behind them, engines roared, headlights slashed through the trees, and shouted orders cracked the night.
Carrying Morrow, dodging branches, leaping over roots and pitfalls, Elias felt the weight of the mission growing heavier with every step.
The scientist muttered delirious words, fragments of sentences, but Elias had no time to listen.
Ahead, a gap in the rocks — a natural tunnel.
It was risky.
It could be a trap.
It could collapse.
But staying outside meant death.
Without hesitation, Elias dove into the darkness of the gap.
Behind them, the forest erupted in gunfire, bullets sparking against stone.
Inside the tunnel, Elias pressed forward, trusting only his instinct and the presence of his dogs.
The real hell was just beginning.
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