Gary prided himself with being meticulous in the details. When making a plan, he didn't think of accomplishing the mission, but of all the ways the mission could go wrong. He envisioned the worst and worked back from there. He was rarely surprised yet over the past thirteen hours he'd already been surprised three times.
Ever since Michael had been accepted into The Company, he'd assumed he'd be getting a call with an extremely short deadline. He was slightly amused when the call came from the person he was hired to kill. It was common for people with a hit on them to want to know who called the hit. It was uncommon that someone like Michael would be clever enough to point them back to him. Michael got captured and then pointed the target to back to himself. Clever.
Gary had enough points to book a ticket anywhere in the U.S. The red-eye flight to Alaska was simple, finding Michael in Moose Pass was proving difficult. His first thought was the lodge. He was probably tied up somewhere in one of the rooms. Instead of breaking down doors, he decided to wait. The man had called him and directed him to this town. Since he made the first move, Gary assumed he would surely make a second.
The second surprise came when Michael and his sidekick came rolling into the square. Somehow they'd freed themselves from captivity. Whoever the man was that was with Michael, must be a top-quality agent. It was possible The Company had taken two winners from the competition.
He watched them as they scrambled from the car to the woods. He could see Michael's shirt clear as day lying ten feet behind the forest line. Gary was quite bored, waiting for something to happen. Then everything happened too fast. A policeman showed up and talked to a red-headed girl just to the right of his car. Michael and the agent suddenly got up from their cover and sprinted across the lot to the opposing treeline. The officer chased them, then a third man, whom Gary assumed was the original target, followed quickly behind the officer. Thinking beyond the immediate, Gary made a quick stop inside the lodge before making his way into the forest. The kid behind the counter was easily hired for a measly hundred bucks. Just for insurance. He was able to make up the time by jogging along the edge of the river avoiding the thick forest brush the others had plunged into.
After shooting both the officer and the target, Gary found himself surprised for the third time. A two more officers appeared. One stayed with the officer Gary had shot, and the other took off chasing after Michael and his counterpart. He wasn't surprised by the officers, he half expected them. He was surprised when, moments after the officer took off, a second group appeared. They were dressed in civilian clothes but packed like military.
They walked right up to the officer tending the wounded and shot him on the spot. Gary wanted to chase after Michael but needed to stay hidden until this group left. If that sidekick could escape captivity, he could help Michael evade a few low-end cops.
What was Michael's order? Who was this group after? Were they with The Company, or were they with the person that followed Michael into the woods? The person he had just shot.
He stayed in his spot watching one of the female agents. She was moving slow. She was sneaking up on something she'd spotted. He watched intensely as she raised her weapon. There was a commotion, but no shots were fired.
The other armed individuals joined her. Gary strained his neck, trying to catch a glimpse, but it was hard seeing through the branches. This was a full task force. Who could possibly be so important that they needed a complete squad? Who would pay well enough to deserve an entire team?
He waited a moment longer, making sure there were no stragglers. This was his time to move, and he knew it. He wasn't sure how long it'd be before more officers arrived on the scene. They were coming; it was just a matter of when.
Gary wedged his weapon between two branches. Someone would find it eventually, but probably not any time soon, not way up there. To be safe, he pulled the wipes from his pocket and carefully cleaned the gun, making sure not to touch it with his bare hands. Once satisfied, he shifted his body to the backside of the tree and shimmied down the trunk cutting his fingers as he went. He spit on his hands and attempted to rub the sap off onto his pants. He gave a quick glance at the cluster but was still unable to see who they'd apprehended.
He turned and made his way back to the lake. He stayed just inside the tree line for cover. When he neared the edge, where the forest met the town, he knelt and observed the situation. The small town was a bit chaotic. There was an emergency vehicle and two police cruisers. Moose pass couldn’t have too many on their task force, but he didn’t want to take the chance. If walked out of the forest from the directions of the chaos, somebody would notice him.
Gary dropped to his stomach, and low crawled to the lake. The freezing water bit every part of his body as he inched in piece by piece. He took a deep breath and pushed into the water. Stroke after stroke, he pulled himself further and further, keeping himself five feet below the surface at all times. His brain screamed at him to surface, but he didn't dare. His lungs felt like they'd been doused in gasoline and lit with a match. It'd been a while since he'd felt so much pain.
When he was confident, he'd covered a great enough distance, he slowly maneuvered his body to a vertical position. He slowly pulled towards the surface, only allowing his eyes to peek out. He was far enough away from the forest that nobody would see him. He kicked his legs, pushing his mouth above the waterline. He treaded in place as he let the fresh oxygen wash through him. His lungs still ached, but with every breath, the fire dimmed ever so slightly.
Once his mind was clear, he looked back at the scene. There was no way back to the town. There was too much going on and not enough non-uniformed individuals to blend into the chaos. If a man suddenly appeared with soaked through clothing, it'd definitely grab attention. He scanned to his left. He smiled.
A tall, long-haired young adult was pulling a small inflatable boat from the water with a rope. Gary ducked his head underwater and began to tug, once again staying hidden below the surface. He remained low as he peaked his eyes from the water. The area seemed to be desolate with nobody except himself and the man in the vicinity. When he was confident the two of them were alone, he splashed ever so slightly.
The man looked back at him. His eyebrows furrowed with confusion. "Help." Gary nearly whispered, trying not to cause a scene. "Help," he said again, making baby splashes.
The man pushed the tubed boat back into the water and then jumped on top. Causing it to move in Gary's direction. He tossed the rope to Gary, who used it to real himself in.
"How did you even get out here? Are you alright?"
Gary gripped the edge of the boat with his right and the rope with his left. "I'm alright," he assured the man. He let his legs rest for a moment.
The man reached out a hand to him, "Here."
Gary smiled, grasping the young man's wrist. In one quick move, he tugged with both arms and pulled the man over into the water beside him. He quickly pushed the man beneath the water so he couldn't splash or yell and wrapped the rope around the man's neck. He took a quick breath and used leverage from the bottom of the boat to push them both underwater.
The man kicked and scratched. He was strong, but Gary held tight, planting his knee into the man's lower back. He exchanged hands and twisted the rope around the man's neck for a second loop. His hands gave a quick tug before loosening his grip.
Gary rolled back and replaced his knee with his foot, then his other foot. His hands slid up the rope as he stood on the man's back, holding onto the rope like horse reins. He quickly let a bit of slack and pushed to the surface to grab a quick breath of air.
The man tried to spin, but Gary quickly pulled the rope jamming his feet back into the man's back again. In a few quick seconds, the man quit fighting. His body gave way. His muscular arms floated in place, while a bubble of air floated out of his mouth.
Gary pulled himself onto the boat. He slowly pulled the rope aboard and gave a quick glance into the water and wasn't too surprised when he couldn't see the sunken body. Gary was furious with himself. He had no clue where Michael was and had no way of finding out. How could it have gotten so sloppy? How could he leave it up to chance? He knew The Company wouldn't need the best of the best for easy jobs. He should've prepared better.
He ripped the engine to life.
"Hey, where did you come from?" A man's voice yelled from behind.
How could he be so sloppy?