Chapter 1 - The Frozen Cage
The freezing air inside the abandoned cabin was designed to be my silent executioner.
I stood perfectly still and listened to the sound of Dominic’s truck fading into the brutal Montana blizzard.
He had meticulously planned every single detail of this weekend to ensure my tragic demise.
I walked over to the heavy wooden door and inspected the rusted metal padlock he had snapped shut from the outside.
Dominic was a cowardly accountant who relied on Google for his survival knowledge.
He completely failed to realize that the hinges of the door were mounted on the inside of the frame.
I knelt on the frozen floorboards and pulled a concealed ceramic tactical blade from the lining of my left boot.
It took me exactly four minutes to carve the rusted pins out of the ancient iron hinges.
I kicked the center of the wood with my heel and watched the heavy door crash violently outward into the snow.
The howling wind immediately ripped through the cabin, biting at my thin sweater with a vengeance.
I stepped onto the porch and analyzed the tire tracks quickly disappearing under the heavy snowfall.
Dominic and Chloe had a thirty-minute head start to return to civilization and begin spending my military pension.
I needed to secure heavy clothing and find a communication relay before hypothermia began to slow my cognitive functions.
I scanned the dense tree line to calculate the most efficient path down the mountain.
That was when I noticed a fresh set of footprints pressed deeply into the snow near the porch.
The boot print was massive and featured a distinct diamond tread used exclusively by elite private military contractors.
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Dominic had not trusted the blizzard to finish the job on its own.
A bright red laser sight suddenly swept through the falling snow and rested directly on the center of my chest.
