Avenge Thy Brother

Chapter 12: Running Blind

            I dodged a round of fire and dove behind a bush as quickly as I could while still being fired upon. When the rapid fire stopped and I heard footsteps running away in the opposite direction, I slowly stood up from behind the bush to see he was on the move. I gave chase and tried my best to hit him with my rounds, but he was faster than I'd expected. When he stopped to turn and shoot back at me, I quickly hid behind a tree to avoid being hit. The firing stopped again; however, when I heard the sound of a twig snapping, I peeked from behind my hiding spot to see that he'd vanished. Slowly, I began to proceed through the wooded area.

"There's nothing out here but trees," I said quietly to myself. "He's behind one of them." I took a few more steps and then stopped when I noticed the snapped twig on the ground just a foot ahead of me. I raised my gun and then aimed it at the thickest tree and commanded, "Step out from behind the tree with your hands up!"

After a few seconds of silence, Byron stepped out from behind the tree with a big smile on his face. He laughed a little and said, "I'm impressed."

"Drop your weapon and put your hands up."

He began lowering his paintball gun but quickly moved to try and shoot me so I shot him in the right shoulder before he could shoot me. He stumbled back against the tree and while laughing, said to me, "You are incredible! How did you even know which tree I hid behind?"

"You stepped on a twig over there and snapped it, and I figured you'd hide behind the thickest tree. If I wouldn't have seen the snapped twig, I would've kept walking and you would've ambushed me."

"And what made you shoot my right shoulder?"

"You're righthanded and since the goal is to disarm you instead of killing you, hitting your right shoulder would lessen the possibility of you being able to take a successful shot at me. Had it not stopped you, I would've aimed for the right side of your lower chest region."

"Damn, I feel bad for any idiot who tries to shoot you. But remember; baby, always make sure you see what's in front of you and behind you."

I laughed as I told him, "You sound like Chief Cunningham. How can I disarm someone while also making sure no one is behind me trying to kill me at the same time?"

"When you're in the moment, you'll feel it. Adrenaline gives you a heightened sense. Don't you remember how you felt when you were being held against your will in the fraternity's compound?"

"Yeah."

"Your reflexes were surprising, weren't they?"

"Yes, they were. It wasn't like in those training sessions at Quantico. I mean, those were intense but this was different. I became aware of so many things at one time."

"I can tell you from experience that you never get used to it. The things you learned at Quantico become extremely essential when you're in the moment. Now, I want you to think about how you would've found me if we were in a building. Let's go back to the cabin so we can work through that situation."

As we headed back to the cabin, I felt so grateful to have Byron as my partner. Him being an agent with the same training experience that I had was helpful to my situation. He knew just how to sharpen my skills while leaving room for me to grow since I was technically still a rookie with the bureau. After sharpening my skills with him for hours, we took a shower together and then made love until the sun began to go down. There was nothing like making love after hours of being outside doing strenuous exercises.