MARIEL

CHAPTER 3 Section 1~The Training~

February 7th, 2018:

Moscow, Russia

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Open your eyes, Agent 4."

Her eyes opened. Immediately, the man before her coated her eyes with the pepper spray. With an abrupt cry, she squeezed her eyes shut again as the intense burning sensation struck what felt like every nerve in her body.

"Move, Tira! Go!"

She staggered forward to a run, stumbling past the man in front of her. They had dimmed the lights in the massive warehouse and the pepper spray destroyed her vision, but with muscle memory she sprinted across the building 100 yards to her first destination. Many eyes watched her as her feet repeatedly struck the ground and the formerly tight, blonde bun loosened on her head while she ran.

"This is only the training, Tira, you have got to move faster than this!"

Crying out from the pain, she stationed herself 25 yards from her first assignment and un-holstered her handgun. She tried to focus down range but only felt pain, only wanted water. She pulled the trigger, and the shots echoed in the warehouse. Somewhere past the pain, she heard some of the bullets strike the steel targets down the range.

"Good, good! Five more shots, keep shooting!"

The nose of the pistol jerked upwards five more times and she jolted back into a sprint to her left as she re-holstered the gun.

"Get there, get there, get there!" The trainer screamed in Russian.

Tears, sweat, and the burning liquid dripped from her face. Water, she wanted water...just wa-

Focus.

Tira darted around a cone and sprinted towards a rope dangling from an overhanging balcony. Viciously and speedily, her heart pounded against her chest as she searched with her hands through blurry vision to grasp the rope. Her fingers closed around the sharp knots and she pulled herself up. She tightened her legs around the rope, using her arms to pull her body up the rope with almost animalistic speed. The muscles in her arms contracted and the dim overhead lights reflected against some of the blonde hair that had loosened outside of the bun.

"Get to the top, Tira!"

She tasted the spray now. Steadily, she ascended until she reached the balcony level. The railing was not within reaching distance. Keeping her feet attached to the rope, she used the momentum of her body to swing back in forth in the air. When she approached the railing several tries later, she reached out and grasped it with her left hand. Her back muscles and arms cramped.

"20 pull-ups! You better keep your feet on that rope!"

The hair on her skin prickled. She dared not looked down to the cement floor over fifty feet below. Her sweaty hands closed over the balcony railing as she struggled to keep the rope between her legs.

One, two, three, four, five... Water...six...seven...

She counted the pull-ups in her head, but each pull of her body destroyed the remaining strength she had in her back muscles.

Eight, nine, ten, eleven...

Her body shook, the pepper spray burned, but she kept counting.

Twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen...fuck. Her palms squealed against the rail as they slipped despite her best effort to keep her grip. Simultaneously, her legs reacted in response, swinging forwards. The rope untwisted itself and swung backwards, away from the balcony. The dim overhead light cast a shadow on the cement far below as she kicked desperately in the air.