Deadlock and Opportunity

"The game is over."

The emotionless voice dropped through the communicator.

Chu Hang felt his blood freeze.

Done for.

Only those two words remained in his and Gabe's heads.

Cold poured into his body from all directions, no longer seeping in, but eroding. Every breath felt like his lungs were being scraped by ice shards.

Gabe's condition was worse.

His bloodless dark face had turned a grayish-blue, his lips purple. His body stopped shaking, even the spasms ceasing. He was like a frozen sculpture, only his chest still having a trace of imperceptible rise and fall.

"We're... dead..." Gabe's lips barely moved, the voice squeezing from his throat with a crying tone. "He knows we're here... He's coming..."

He couldn't go on, the last bit of light in his eyes also extinguishing, and his whole body slumped limply, as if waiting to die.

Chu Hang's heart sank along with it.

Fuck.

He couldn't help cursing in his heart.

He had calculated everything, but failed to figure out that Hound was the one in charge of southern reconnaissance. This fucking was Murphy's Law. A deception he thought was seamless resulted in walking right into someone else's trap.

He had overplayed his hand.

A battlefield deception worthy of being written into textbooks was instantly pierced through just because of a coincidence.

Right now, that pervert who took pleasure in torture was walking leisurely from downstream. He and Gabe were like turkeys on a Thanksgiving table, waiting for the hunter to decide where to cut.

Waiting to die?

Just waiting to die so cowardly in the cold and fear?

No.

Those two words did not exist in Chu Hang's dictionary.

Just as despair was about to swallow him, his brain gave a fierce jolt.

Wrong! Things hadn't reached the worst stage yet!

That Hound was smart, but he made a fatal mistake—he was too arrogant. He thought that by piercing the deception he controlled everything, and couldn't even help declaring victory on the public channel to enjoy the prey's fear.

But he forgot that on the battlefield, information transmission had a delay. Those few sentences of his would bring what kind of confusion to the others!

"Gabe! Listen to me!" Chu Hang grabbed Gabe's shoulder abruptly, shaking him hard. "Look at me! It's not over yet! We still have a chance!"

"A chance?" Gabe's distracted gaze struggled to focus. "What chance? The chance to see clearly what knife he uses?"

"No!" A madness flashed in Chu Hang's eyes. He leaned close to Gabe's ear, speaking at top speed. "That asshole, he's using the public channel! Everyone heard it! Those 4th, 5th, and 6th squads who just received my fake orders heard it too!"

Gabe was stunned.

Chu Hang didn't mind him, analyzing on his own: "A Hydra squad leader is about to go south to reinforce. Suddenly, another guy with the codename Hound says in the channel again that the orders are fake. What will he think? What will he do?"

Gabe answered subconsciously: "I... I'll stop... I'll be dazed..."

"That's right! It's chaos!" Chu Hang's voice rose a bit. "They'll doubt, they'll hesitate, they'll call the headquarters to confirm! Before that, they're just a bunch of headless flies! This is the chance we bought with our lives!"

"More importantly!" Chu Hang's gaze cast toward the distant ridge. "Captain America! Steve Rogers! He won't care whether Hydra's command is in chaos! As long as he sees the encirclement on the east side loosen up, what will he do?"

"He'll charge out!" This time, Gabe's answer didn't hesitate.

"Right!" The corners of Chu Hang's mouth hooked into a ferocious smile. "He'll risk his last breath and charge toward this single gap!"

"So, the current situation is that Hound is coming from downstream to kill us, and Captain America is running for his life in our direction from upstream with Hydra's pursuers!"

"We are right in the dead center where these two torrents are about to intersect!"

Gabe was startled by this scene.

"Then... isn't that even more dangerous?"

"Dangerous? No, this is called finding a path to survival by placing oneself in a position of death!" Chu Hang pulled him up from the ground in one go, roaring, "What we need to do now is not run! It's gamble! Gamble that Captain America arrives ahead of that pervert! As long as he arrives first with the pursuers, this place will turn into a new, chaotic battlefield! We can fish in troubled waters and completely vanish!"

After speaking, Chu Hang propped Gabe up, dragging his injured leg, and rushed to a shallow ditch nearby filled with rocks and withered bushes.

"Hide behind this rock! No matter what you hear or see, don't move! Unless I call you!"

Chu Hang settled Gabe down, took a deep breath, and took out the C-4 Plastic Explosive from his backpack.

His fingers were somewhat stiff, but his movements were steady. He placed the explosives at the edge of the reed marsh where they had just been hiding, right on the inevitable path coming from downstream.

Then, he detached a shoelace, found a section of dead tree branch, and made a crude tripwire device. One end of the thin string was tied to the fuse pull ring, and the other end gently rested between two bushes.

He knew this thing couldn't kill Hound, but all he wanted was a signal.

A loud explosion.

A signal that could tell Captain America, Hey, run this way, there's a surprise.

After finishing all this, he rolled back to Gabe's side, and the two pressed against the cold rock wall like stones, slowing their breathing.

Time passed second by second.

The sound of the wind, the snow, the distant gunfire, and the drum-like heartbeat.

Chu Hang's gaze locked firmly on two directions.

Downstream was death (Hound).

The western ridge was hope (Captain America).

Who would come first?

Hurry up! Steve! If you don't hurry up, I'm going to be made into a specimen! Chu Hang roared inwardly.

Right at that moment!

A burst of dense gunfire and explosions suddenly came from the western ridge! That sound was like a breached flood, sweeping toward the riverbank!

They were here!

Chu Hang and Gabe exchanged a look, both seeing wild joy in each other's eyes.

Captain America had charged out! He had bet right!

However, at the very same moment.

On that dead riverbank downstream, within the shadow of the reed thicket where they had set their trap, a tall figure silently appeared.

He walked not fast, even somewhat leisurely.

The long black windbreaker remained motionless in the cold wind. His gaze was like a laser, locking directly onto that patch of reeds.

It was Hound.

He had arrived faster than imagined.

Chu Hang's heart sank.

On one side was the hope desperately breaking through.

On the other side was the quietly descending Grim Reaper.

And Chu Hang and Gabe were caught right in the middle.