The Unmasking

2 minutes, just two more minutes she will wait or she is going to throw the hand grenade and get out of here. Consequences be damned. How did she get here? Long story short, it's an assignment gone bad. So, she did what she was taught, 'Improvise' and look where it landed her. Raul was yelling in the earpiece, "Are you alive or not?" She whisper shouted,"Yes you buffoon, but it won't be long. I am out of ammo and I can't hide in the warehouse any longer. The drug is taking hold." "According to your coordinates, the pick-up team will arrive in 30 seconds. Hang on." She heard footsteps getting louder in her direction. The people who were following her were heavily armed and were high-end security. They were not supposed to be there. Raul informed her "ETA 2 seconds". Just when she thought she was about to be discovered she heard the warehouse door being force opened, then gunshots. Peeping from the corner, she saw that her unit and the attackers were engaged in crossfire. It was dark, it was so bloody dark that she could not even see who was on which side. Raul was saying something, but she could not hear due to the buzzing noise in her head. Smacking her head on the right side , then she heard the instruction carefully. "It is not a kill order Elena, it's a retrieval, where ever you are find a route and get near the nearest entrance now." Slowly gritting her teeth and standing up, the wound on her leg was bleeding now, her make shift bandage of her handkerchief had given out. Slightly dizzy due to the bloodshot she tried to focus on the door which was due East about 50 feet away from her. Scaling up on the boxes had not been easy, but the adrenaline had dimmed the pain, and now, she was getting a real taste of the pain. Taking a few deep breaths, bracing for the impact, Elena jumped on the nearby carton and ran for her life. The sudden noise caused had grabbed the attention of the nearest attackers and now they were firing at her. So, she zigzagged her way through the run, jumping from one box to another. The entrance still far away. Through out the way, Raul was informing her "30 feet more." When she was about to make the next jump, another bullet grazed her shoulder. Had it not been for the last millisecond jump she would have had a fatal wound. "15 feet more Ellie. Come on." Exhaling harshly through her mouth, she pushed her herself again until she could see the door. But here was the tricky part, they had chosen a narrow exit point and to reach there she had to either climb on the cartons or run straight at her team. Both the options were likely for her to be shot at. There were less bullets flying now because her attackers knew they would get a clear shot at her and her team was waiting to cover her. She calmed her thundering heart as best as possible and took large gulps of air, and decided running it is. And she ran towards the exit like an arrow shot from the bow. Her hair trailing behind her, she could taste the blood  in the air. Her team fell into the perfect formation and covered her as she zipped out of the building and the door was bolted behind them. She ran ahead on the road and Nik caught up with her, "3 metres ahead, to your left". Somehow Sam already made it into the car and started it. Turning back, she saw Nik throwing smoke cans to slow down the assailants. She nodded and ran towards the black SUV parked on the street and wrenched the door open and jumped onto the back seat. Nik following after her. He closed the door and they zipped away from the location. She could hear curses and shots following them until they moved further away from the attackers. Nik looked back and cursed, "What the absolute f**k was that?" She rested her head against the seat, she was flowing in and out of consciousness, they had drugged her, 'bloody cowards'. Her mind pointed something, but the blood loss and drugs made her unable to grasp it. Nik asked again, "How did it become this bad? The magnitude of this attack was too big to be unplanned." She opened her eyes to inform him "Not my assignment". Then tremors seized her body and she lost consciousness. The last thing she heard was Sam yelling into the call for the doctors to be ready at the quarters.