CHAPTER ONE – Day One

Song: Back in Black by AC/DC


Stopping a couple of hundred meters out, the outline of the clearing around the house became visible. The helicopter had deposited him about five kilometers from the location, giving plenty of distance between him and the location in case the target had already arrived. He could just barely make out the shape of the dark house from here. There was no sign of occupation yet. There were no vehicles parked along the cleared areas next to the house, there were no lights coming from inside of any of the three buildings, and no guards were moving about outside. He would watch the house for a while to make sure, but it looked like his target had not yet arrived.

Removing the pack from his back, he pulled out his canteen and drank a small portion of water. The smell of the pine trees surrounding the area invaded his senses, calming his mind in a way to silence his thoughts of the mission for a moment. The woods were quiet with only the sound of wildlife scampering about. The sun was just now finally breaking over the horizon, but it would be a while before it made its way so that it was above the top of the thick trees. He knew that he was the only one around for miles.

Taking in a last deep breath of the fresh, cool morning air, he allowed his attention to focus back to the mission.

Being during the fall, the foliage was already sparse on the trees, giving him plenty of high vantage points to choose from to set up surveillance at. He decided to first take one lap around the property at a safe distance to verify the information that he had been given in the file.

Selecting a spot against a tree that was easy to hide his bags in, he covered them so that they could not be spotted. Their extra weight would just hinder a sweep of the area, slowing him down if the target arrived. He was not worried about getting back to them, he was trained for stealth.

As he had approached the house, he found that there were a couple of paths circling the property which the guards would use to do sweeps of the area, checking for seclusion. They seemed to sometimes intersect, changing the distance from the house, but always circling it. They were fairly worn but he noted that they had enough undergrowth on them for him to see that they had not been used in quite some time, maybe a few years.

Making his way around the property following one of these trails, he realized that for some reason near the backside, they came together and passed by a large area without any path breaking off towards the house. When the trail eventually had another split, he left the path behind, moving directly through the woods into the direction of the avoided area.

He came upon a trail that seemed to make its way directly from the back of the house and continued on into the woods. Someone used this trail enough for the path to have been well formed. Kozlov must have a reason for this path and he needed to know all variables for the mission.

Turning down the new path, heading away from the house, he quietly made his way through the forest to wherever it led. He made sure to keep a foot or two off so the side so that his boots did not leave any evidence of him being here.

After a short distance, he saw that the path ended in a small clearing barely the size of Kozlov's house. There indeed was only the one path leading into this area. It was free of underbrush and surrounded by tree, with only a large diameter tree stump off to the side that had numerous indentions from being used as a chopping block.

At three locations alongside each other were small disturbances in the earth, roughly two foot by two foot. They seemed to have been there for some time judging by the ground covering growth on them and each marked by a thick limb with an item dangling from them. Making his way closer, he saw what the item were hanging from the limbs: leather dog collars. Inspecting them closer, he found them secured with a small padlock while dark stains had soaked into the leather, discoloring them.

Each had a simple metal name tag hanging from them, engraved with names: Lady, Princess, and Jewel.

To him it seemed that Kozlov had a thing for small female pets, and that this was their burial place judging by the size of the graves. Maybe this revelation had something to do with why he had chosen this location to hide out in. It seemed that it had some kind of significance to him. There had been nothing in the file to indicate that he may be traveling with a dog. If so, he may have to take it out if there was a chance it would pick up on his scent and warn the target.

Rounding the clearing one more time, he headed back towards the house to continue his inspection of the area. Except for the trail to the lake, there was no other paths leading away from the house. All other information in the report seemed to be accurate.

Returning to the front side of the property so that he could see the road and front of the house, he began to scan the upper trees for a location to set-up in. After only a few minutes, he found one that would be quite sufficient. A sturdy trunk, with a good sized limb about fifteen feet from the ground that split into two limbs. There was still plenty of foliage on the branches to give cover to the spot from a distance. On the ground around it, there were minimal bushes and other plants that would hide his footprints.

Walking only a short distance away, he retrieved his bags, before heading back to his chosen tree.

Climbing up easily, he settled himself into the space formed by the limbs, looking towards the house. Just as it had seemed, there was enough area between the smaller branches to get an excellent view of it. He then removed the large ghillie-mesh webbing from his pack and began to secure it over the space between the limbs, forming a triangle area suspended above the ground. He now had a larger available area to work with, along with an area for resting in safely.

Next he removed the sniper rifle components and began to assemble it. Looking through the scope, he found that he had a clear view of not only the front of the two houses, but he was just high enough so that he would be able to see through the windows once there was sufficient light.

Lying down onto the webbing, he removed one of the hated ration bars and drinks from the pack. As he began to consume the hideous nourishment, he realized that meal times were going to be the worst part of this assignment. There was no real flavor to the items, only the bitter taste of all the necessary nutrients that would keep him nourished. Eating the raw flesh of a creature he could kill would taste better than these items. Even though the food at the base was hardly better, at least most of those meals were served hot. Forcing himself to finish off the items, he swallowed the final horrid bite and began to dread the next time he would have to eat.

Eventually the sun rose over the tree tops enough so that he was able to use its light to help him get a partial idea of the layout of the inside of the main house. Pulling out his binoculars, he scanned the interior, trying to see as much as he could but extrapolating the interior layout: a den containing a fireplace, chair, couch, table, kitchen area, a bedroom with the second fireplace, and the last area most likely a bathroom. Minimal furniture, plain bed, but there was nothing hanging on the walls, nothing to personalize the house.

Kozlov must not really spend too much time here. Three of the four windows were located in the large den and kitchen area, the fourth being in the bedroom. The two fireplaces seemed to be the only heat source for the small house. But there a small pump shed attached to the backside of the house, meaning there was well water and probably some type of heater for it. The very minimal basics was all that was here. Compared to the other well-furnished, extravagant houses listed in his file, it seemed a bit out of place.

The smaller house had only one door, which he found very amusing since it would box in the guards once the shooting started. It only had two sections, large and small, a main living area from what he was able to tell, and a bathroom.

There were electrical wires leading from the smaller out building to both the house and guard's quarters. They had to be for a generator since there were no visible power lines leading to the house from the road.

As the sun began to cross the sky, he stayed up in his roost watching and waiting for any sign of the target. Eventually he ate another bar to keep his energy up, not because he really wanted to. Even with the sun directly overhead, the temperature was remaining a bit on the cool side, a gentle breeze blowing through the trees.

The area was secluded enough that there was no sound of the outside world. No passing cars, no farm equipment, not even a plane traveling overhead. He noted that Kozlov must have wanted this much privacy for a reason.

As long as it did not rain before he got inside the house, he would not mind this assignment. There was no one to answer to, no one else to deal with.

All he had to do now was wait for his mission to arrive.