Chapter 5 - First Blood
The first breach didn't come from the front door. It came from the rear service entrance, exactly as Elias had anticipated.
A heavy sledgehammer smashed into the reinforced lock of the back door. The wood splintered, the metal frame groaning under the immense force. On the third strike, the door burst open in a cloud of freezing wind and snow.
A massive man dressed in white winter camouflage stepped into the kitchen, leveling an assault rifle. But as the door swung open, it pulled the fishing line taut.
The heavy jug of industrial ammonia plummeted from the shelf, shattering on the stone floor directly into the massive puddle of bleach. A thick, noxious cloud of toxic chloramine gas erupted instantly.
The mercenary stepped right into it. He took one deep breath of the toxic vapor, and his lungs immediately spasmed. He dropped his rifle, falling to his knees, clawing frantically at his own throat as the gas burned his respiratory tract.
Elias stepped out from the shadows of the pantry. He didn't use the shotgun; the blast would be too loud and alert the others to his exact position. Instead, he gripped a heavy, solid-steel meat tenderizer he had pulled from the drawer.
With the cold, calculated precision of a surgeon finding the exact pivot of a joint, Elias swung the heavy steel down onto the man's exposed collarbone. The bone snapped with a sickening crunch. The mercenary collapsed completely, incapacitated by the gas and the agonizing fracture.
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Elias grabbed the man's fallen assault rifle, dragged the unconscious body out of the toxic cloud, and quickly shut the interior kitchen door, sealing off the gas.
He checked the rifle’s magazine. Fully loaded. He slung the weapon over his shoulder. One down. Three to go. The wolves had breached the perimeter, but they were quickly learning that this estate wasn't a sanctuary. It was a trap.
