I wanted to say that this was one of the worst weeks of my life. But while I was in a drastically different place emotionally than I was two weeks ago, I had lived through things that made this last week seem like a cakewalk. I found that thought comforting. I may be frustrated with my current team and how the other Whistler agents treated me, but at least no one was hurting me. At least no one was forcing me to hurt anyone else. And at least this part of the training program was almost over.
We were running through the mock scenarios today. However, instead of protecting some diplomat giving a speech, the scenarios revolved around protecting children from kidnapping attempts. I thought protecting high-risk children was a worthy mission and understood that real Whistler teams took jobs like this frequently. However, I was not happy about planning the kidnapping in the mock scenario where we were acting as the bad guys. It reminded me of when The Family would kidnap children to control or threaten their business associates. Thus, I was completely fine with my task of standing outside of the building to act as a lookout during this scenario. I didn’t want to even pretend to kidnap anyone, especially a child.
My team was unsuccessful at kidnapping the life-sized doll that the opposing team was tasked with protecting. Both Brett and Silas had bright red paint stains on their chest indicating kill shots while Nivar had been shot in the leg. Derik emerged from the building unblemished with paint, but one man can’t do much against a fleeing security team. Some of the team leaders that observed the scenario stepped up to my teammates to talk about the action. No one approached me to talk. But I hadn’t really participated, so that was to be expected.
About two hours later we were preparing to run the scenario where we were protecting a child after multiple kidnaps in the surrounding area. I was to take a more active role this time. The men were going to form a standard protection formation around a fake child. While the doll they had been charged to protect would be with me the entire time. The idea was that the opposing team would attack the formation of men assuming that the child was with them. This would allow me to keep the real child/doll safe far away from the action.
Derik had come up with the plan, stating that bringing a child into a situation where you expected danger was never a good idea. I agreed and was surprised that he was willing to leave their charge with me. I was going to show my team and any watching team leaders that I was worthy of the responsibility.
The mock scenario included a transfer of the child from her house to a piano lesson down the street. The house that was staged at a Whistler warehouse in the industrial part of Helena was considered secured and the piano lesson was five blocks away. The other team would either hit the transportation on the way to/from the lesson or while we were walking the child to the door. The rest of the team would leave from the ‘house’ in two identical SUVs and drive to the destination and then walk in a formation to the door. They would be ready to counter any attack. My job was to walk a different route to the lesson with the doll/child and then deposit her safely to her lesson once the team had taken out the threat.
The rest of my team was loading into the two SUVs when Brett approached me with the doll in a red wagon. When he handed the wagon over, he leaned in close and whispered, “I warned you to leave. Everything that happens now is because you refused to accept that you do not belong here.” He then let out a low chuckle and finished with, “Goodbye Payton. It was… not so nice knowing you.”
The confidence that he used to deliver his threat sent a shiver down my spine. Brett had done something to sabotage my efforts of getting the child safely to her destination. He might just want to humiliate me in front of the watching team leaders, but the menace laced within his voice made me think that there was more to it than that. As I stood there and considered my options, Derik barked in my earpiece that I needed to get moving. I had no choice but to continue forward with the team’s plan.
I started walking down my designated route while pulling the red wagon holding the doll I was tasked with protecting. I was on edge. Brett’s threat rang in my ears and caused adrenaline to pump through my system making me jumpy. I took two deep breaths and focused on using my edginess to my advantage. This was far from the first dangerous situation I had knowingly walked into. The key was to keep my calm and use the surge of adrenaline to sharpen my reflexes.
After I had traveled two of the five blocks, my earpiece sent a loud feedback screech into my ear and I quickly yanked it from my ear and threw it to the ground. Too late, I realized I had just cut myself off from the rest of my team. They might not like me, but they would return to help if I was attacked because I had the doll. I was now isolated and had to rely on only myself to protect the child.
I quickened my pace and with my ears still ringing I knew I had to rely more heavily on my eyesight. I noticed shadows moving up ahead and stopped to turn back. I spotted a large figure dressed in black closing in from behind. Knowing that I was about to be jumped, I stashed the wagon in a recessed doorway and moved to close off the only access point to the child. I looked up to see three male figures closing in from two directions. I raised my paintball gun and shot the closest man twice in the chest in quick succession. He did not stop like the rules of the game dictated. Instead, he reached behind him and unsheathed a large and very real knife.
The game and all the accompanying rules dropped away as I focused on that knife. This was no longer a game. These men wanted to hurt me. My flight or fight response has always been heavily weighted towards fight and I lowered myself into a defensive stance. I would not run from these men. I would protect that child. My days of being defenseless were long gone.
When the three men got closer, I identified Vincent as the one with the knife. I couldn’t put a name to the second guy, but he was shorter than the other two with buzzed cut black hair. The third was Victor. His presence in the alley made my blood boil. We had been teammates. I had joked with this man, fought next to him, and considered him a friend. And now he was attacking me with two others in a dark alley.
My fear mixed with Victor’s betrayal and caused the iron control I usually held over myself to drop. Victor and buzz cut had not pulled any weapons, so I stepped towards them first. I needed to take them out as quickly as possible so that I could focus on not getting stabbed. I darted in and surprised buzz cut with a full force uppercut to the jaw and knocked him out cold with one blow. This seemed to surprise Victor and Vincent because both paused in their advance to reassess the situation. I backed up a few steps, putting the wall at my back and to ensure I didn’t trip over buzz cut. If I went down, I could kiss my chance to walk out of this alley alive goodbye.
Instead of taking me one-on-one, the two men advanced on me together. I was more worried about Vincent because he was still holding the knife, so it was his strike I decided to block. That meant that Victor’s blow to my ribs hit home. The sound of my ribs cracking reminded me of Victor’s background as a professional boxer. He could pack one hell of a punch. The good thing about adrenaline was that blocked out most of the pain and I was no stranger to taking a hit.
I ignored the pain, got a grip on Vincent, and threw his body weight over my hip and towards Victor in a move that mirrored one I had used the night Vincent and Brett had attacked Oliver. However, the results were not as favorable this time. Both men were knocked off balance but remained on their feet. Before Victor had a chance to recover I delivered two jabs to his side and finished with a roundhouse kick to the same area. Victor hit the far wall of the alley and slumped to the ground while wheezing. I had just repaid him for my broken ribs. Karma was a bitch that way.
I had momentarily lost sight of Vincent but quickly located him from the searing pain in my right shoulder. He had literally stabbed me in the back. I spun away from the hit and the knife remained lodged in my back. My right arm was going numb and I didn’t trust it would hold up, so I shifted my stance to strike with my left fist, leaving my damaged right as a last defense.
Vincent paused in his advance to taunt me. “You think you can just humiliate me and Brett and get away with it? It is time that you learn that there are consequences to your actions. I am going to end your miserable existence!” He yelled as he ran full speed towards me like a raging bull. I deduced that he was planning on tackling me into the wall thus impaling me on the knife still planted in my back. This fucker was as stupid as he was big. I stepped to the side at the last moment and pushed him as he passed. His momentum combined with my push launched him headfirst into the wall and he crumbled to the ground having knocked himself out.
I heard yelling coming from down the alley and repositioned myself to defend against another attack with the wall to my back once again. I also kept an eye on the wheezing Victor. He was down but not out. The yelling was coming from Ethan and Ford who were running down the alley towards me.
Fuck. These two weren’t overconfident idiots like the last three. They were highly trained and experienced leaders. I would not take them out as easily, and I was starting to feel dizzy from blood loss. I should have known better than to let my guard down even the slightest bit. If only I had my Sig Sauer right now. Hell, I would even settle for a couple of my throwing knives. If I lived through this, I was never going to allow myself to be caught without my weapons again.
Ethan and Ford slowed as they took in the three men on the ground and my right side which was now drenched in blood. Maybe they were hesitating because of three downed men. Or maybe they were just going to wait for me to pass out from blood loss. I did not let my guard down. I did not trust these men. Victor had just proved that I couldn’t trust anyone. I would fight until my dying breath. I was not defenseless. They did not have power over me.
Ford approached me slowly as Ethan bent to check buzz cut’s pulse. “Payton,” Ford said in his low gravelly voice, “you’re bleeding.”
Well, thank you Mr. Obvious. I had just been stabbed in the back. The question was, did he bring up my blood because he was concerned or because he was pointing out my weakness. Ford stepped closer and I sank lower into my fighting crouch. Bleeding or not, I would show him that I was not weak.
Ethan spoke up from behind Ford, “Payton we are here to help you. We came as soon as we saw the knife from the camera feeds.” His words were backed up by the sound of multiple sets of footfalls as people ran down the alley. My team members and some men I didn’t recognize stopped behind Ethan and someone started cursing. Griffin stepped up to Ford and stated that an ambulance was on the way.
I could not trust my team. I could not trust the trainers. I could not trust anyone. But the adrenaline was starting to drain from my system, and I was starting to feel faint from blood loss. A sense of defeat washed over me as I slowly lowered my left hand and fell to my knees. There was no way that I could fight against the dozen people that now crowded in the ally. I knew how to pick my battles. Now was the time to give in and see what happened next, and wait for better odds.
As I fell towards the ground Ford surged forward and tried to grab me as I fell. His grip sent a spike of pain through my broken ribs and I cried out. Damn that man for making me show more weakness. “Shh, you’re going to be just fine,” Ford murmured to me as he maneuvered to look at the knife lodged in my back. He continued to talk to me in that low calm voice until I heard sirens in the distance. “Those were some kick-ass moves you pulled off. But in the future, no doll is worth you bleeding all over my nice shirt.”
The doll. I looked over my shoulder to see that I was still positioned between my fake charge and the alley littered with unconscious men. The last thought I had before I blacked out was, if that had been a real child, I would have protected her.
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