Steve picked a spot between the house and the downed men, while Renee fought to close the right-side door the team had left open after jumping from the van. When he hit the brakes, she lost her balance and tumbled to the floor. The stock of her rifle hit her in the side of the face, knocking the mask loose and breaking the seal.
Renee could feel the gas slipping into her mask as she jumped from the van. As it wafted past the broken seal, it got trapped inside the mask and immediately attacked the sensitive mucous membranes of her tear ducts. Her eyes shut involuntarily against the pain. It’s not called tear gas for nothing, she thought as her lungs began to burn.
Grabbing the closest man by the casualty evac strap sewn into his heavy vest, she dragged him to the van. She fought the overwhelming urge to vomit as the gas slipped down her throat. Renee felt her tendons straining and she was very cognizant that she could rip her bicep if she wasn’t careful. Ignoring the pain, she continued pulling him toward the van, until Steve appeared and effortlessly relieved her.
Taking a moment to clear the mask, Renee held her breath before resealing it over her face. Once the tear gas made contact with her skin, it deposited the activated crystals, which fed off the sweat running into her eyes. The molten liquid found its way into her pores and burned like acid.
The wounded in the van reverted to survival mode instead of helping their teammates get to safety. They fought over the extra masks like a bunch of children while another round of gunfire poured from inside the house. Wisps of black smoke were beginning to rise from the roof of the structure, and Renee realized that the munitions had started a fire.
I’ve got to get to the doc.
Her lungs were heavy as she ran to the edge of the house. Each breath was more difficult to catch than the one before, and her eyes were watering heavily. Renee slipped up behind what was supposed to be the perimeter team. The men had their backs to her and were struggling to pull their masks tight over their heads.
Renee was surprised that they had actually brought their masks, since the rest of the team couldn’t be bothered with the extra kit. She reached up and squeezed the rearmost man on the shoulder to alert him of her presence. His body tensed under her light grip, and he turned awkwardly to see who had gotten behind him. If the situation hadn’t been so grave, it would have been comical. The bulky mask robbed him of his peripheral vision, so much so that he was forced to turn his entire body to see over his shoulder. It was as if the mask had made his neck immovable.
Renee noticed the fear in the man’s eyes and gave him a second to compose himself. The situation sucked and she could see that he had already checked out mentally. Using rudimentary hand signs, she motioned that she was going to move around to get a better look. But the agent shook his head vigorously and signaled for her to stay put.
Renee shoved him out of her way and moved up to the lead man, who was posted at the corner. The smell of smoke made its way past her filter, and she knew they were about to lose any chance of getting the doctor out alive.
“Are you going to do something or just stand here?” she yelled into his ear. Her voice was muffled and ragged under the gas mask. The agent had to lean his head back to hear, and when he shouted back at her, Renee had no idea what he was saying.
There was no point in talking. She was about to push him out of the way when he brought his muzzle up and turned back to his sector. Renee squeezed the back of his arm, letting him know she was ready, and waited for him to take the lead. She prayed he’d been paying attention while pulling security on the backyard, because she needed to trust him to lead her in.
Hugging the wall, they moved around the corner and toward the back door. Between the windows and the yard, there were too many angles for the two of them to cover. The threat could come from anywhere and it was her responsibility to cover the point man.
She was placing her life in the hands of a stranger.
Renee wanted to take the mask off. It made it impossible to get a good sight picture because she couldn’t get her cheek to the stock of the rifle. If a threat appeared, she would be point shooting, which was not the preferred method.
The point man stopped suddenly in front of her, and his rifle locked on to a tree ten meters to their right. Slowly a member of the security element peeked out from behind the giant oak. He moved out just enough to get their attention but refused to leave the cover of the large tree.
She could see the bodies of two of his teammates lying motionless on their faces near the cover. The man made no attempt to help them but slowly raised an outstretched finger toward the second-story window adjacent to Renee. She looked up in time to see the blinds moving, and a barrel appeared, pointing at the tree.
The man ducked out of the way just as three shots splintered through the glass. The rounds sent bark flying off the tree while Renee lined up for a shot. She fought to bring the optic in line with the mask as her point man dropped to the ground. Flicking off the safety with her thumb, she fired a round at the target and cursed as it went wide.
The muzzle began pivoting down to address the new threat, forcing Renee to rip the mask off her face with her left hand. Firing two more rounds in an effort to keep her attacker off balance, she felt the stinging effects of the gas once again.
The gunfire from the window was ineffective, forcing the man to expose his body for a better shot. Renee centered the Aimpoint’s dot on his chest and fired again. She allowed the muzzle rise to carry the three-round burst up his chest and watched his head kick back as the final round struck him in the forehead.
Reaching down, she grabbed ahold of her partner’s vest and tried to drag him to his feet. They had lost the element of surprise, and she needed to get into the house before the defenders moved to the back. The agent was halfway to his feet and Renee was already pushing him forward. He dug his feet into the ground to halt his forward momentum, forcing Renee to dodge around him.
Snatching a flashbang from the man’s kit, she saw the back door a few feet ahead. There was too much of a chance that it was booby-trapped and she just wasn’t willing to risk it. Arcing past the door, she tried to steady the rifle on top of the bang she held in her left hand.
There had to be another way in.
Just past the porch, she found the floor-to-ceiling windows of the solarium. Juggling the rifle and the flashbang, she placed the muzzle over her left forearm and pulled the metal pin with her right index finger. Praying the flashbang was heavy enough to breach the plate glass, she hooked the metal munition through the window and into the room.
Renee punched the bottom corner of the window with her muzzle, and the large pane quickly shattered. Ducking her head, she stepped through the makeshift breach and waited for the explosion she knew was soon to follow.
It came in a white-hot flash of light and deep sound. The concussion reverberated off the walls and slammed into her like a kick to the chest. She’d spent years training with live flashbangs being thrown on top of her and knew she had to keep moving. Her body leapt into action on instinct.
Renee could almost hear her CQB instructor yelling the checklist of a proper room entry at her as she moved.
“Hard corner, primary scan…” She mirrored each step as she cleared the room.
The tile-lined solarium was empty, but she had a foothold into the house and showed no signs of stopping. Carefully stepping into the hallway, she snapped her rifle to the left. A man stood dazed and her safety came off as she fired center mass. She saw the blood mist onto the wall and was moving to her right before his body hit the ground.
Two doors stood open on either side of the hall. She needed another body but stood alone. There was nowhere for her to hide, and her left hand swept to her belt for the flashbang that wasn’t there.