Damn it.
A cold, emotionless voice came through the radio.
"I can smell them."
"They're nearby."
The words were calm, almost casual—like stating an obvious fact.
No shouting. No threats.
Yet they were more terrifying than any roar.
It's over.
The thought slammed into Levi and Gabe at the same time.
Gabe's face went deathly pale. He instinctively clutched his injured thigh.
The wound was bandaged, but the faint smell of blood was probably already acting as a beacon.
This rock cave wasn't a shelter.
It was a coffin.
The darkness at the entrance felt like a gaping mouth, ready to swallow them whole.
They were boxed in.
Cold sweat drenched Levi's back. He could already picture the scene outside: a Hydra elite crouched in the snow like a predator, nostrils flaring, eyes locked onto this stretch of rock.
Run?
Where?
Gabe's leg was dead weight. Footprints and blood in the snow were the clearest trail imaginable. They wouldn't make it fifty meters before that monster caught them—and then it'd be over, like a cat playing with a mouse.
Don't run?
Stay here and wait to die?
Wait for him to find the cave entrance, grin, and toss in a grenade? A Hydra elite would absolutely do that.
What now?
What the hell do we do?!
Levi's mind raced, but every path led straight to death.
Then the radio crackled again—the commander's voice, impatient:
"Hound, report your exact coordinates. Do you require fire support?"
Levi and Gabe's hearts shot into their throats.
The moment that monster reported their position, it was finished.
"No need."
Unexpectedly, the "Hound's" voice carried mockery and disdain.
"Two wounded mice don't require backup. Let the idiots chase the big mouse wrapped in the Stars and Stripes. This prey is my personal time."
The channel fell silent for a few seconds.
Then the commander replied, "Understood. Schmidt says those two mice are yours to deal with."
"Roger."
The transmission cut.
Silence filled the cave.
Yours to deal with.
A death sentence.
"Levi…" Gabe's voice trembled uncontrollably. He tightened his grip on his M1 carbine.
"Listen to me. This is the last chance. I'll count to three and rush out, make as much noise as I can. You— you jump into the river and run. Don't look back!"
"Shut the hell up!" Levi roared, grabbing Gabe by the collar, eyes bloodshot.
"This again?! Look at you! How many seconds would you last out there? All you'd do is die for nothing!"
He wanted to live. God, he wanted to live more than anything.
But he couldn't leave Gabe here.
Calm down. You have to calm down.
Levi released him and turned away, breathing hard. The icy air stabbed into his lungs, but it finally slowed his pounding heart.
He closed his eyes, forcing himself to replay everything he'd just heard.
The Hound—alone, arrogant to the extreme.
Captain America—on the western ridge, surrounded by Hydra's main force.
"All units"… all combat units had been redeployed…
Wait.
All units?
Levi's eyes flew open.
A flash of insight cut through the darkness.
This was a crisis—but also an opportunity.
The Hound's arrogance meant he came alone.
Captain America, as bait, had pulled every other Hydra soldier toward the western ridge.
That meant the riverbank area they were in—aside from the approaching Hound—was effectively a manpower vacuum.
If—
If they could lure away that single threat.
How?
Levi's gaze dropped to the black metal box in Gabe's hands—the Hydra radio.
A crazy, reckless plan snapped into place.
"Gabe," Levi turned sharply, lowering his voice, eyes shining in the dark.
"Do you trust me?"
Gabe froze for a second, staring at Levi's face—half-mad, half-excited—then nodded hard.
"I do."
"Good." Levi grinned. "Then let's play big. Let's mess with that son of a bitch—a feint to the east, strike to the west."
"A feint…?"
"Yeah." Levi snatched the radio and shook it slightly.
"He thinks we're mice hiding nearby? Then we'll use this to tell him—he's wrong."
Gabe's eyes widened.
"You mean… fake intel? Using their own channel?"
"What else?" Levi snarled.
"Sit here and wait for him to find the cave and kill us? Gabe, this is our only shot."
Gabe swallowed hard. The plan was insane. One slip, and they'd die even faster.
But Levi was right.
It was the only chance.
"…How?" Gabe asked through clenched teeth.
"Simple." Levi spoke fast, pulling out a block of C4 and a pencil detonator.
"In a minute, you get on the radio. Pretend to be a patrolman—panic like your life depends on it. Report that you found us upstream and are already in contact. To sell it, I'll make this"—he shook the explosive—"go boom upstream."
Gabe got it instantly.
"No matter how good he is, he's still human. When he hears a clear contact report and an explosion, he'll assume his judgment was wrong. He'll rush to the blast site."
"Exactly!" Levi snapped his fingers.
"If we pull him away—even ten minutes—we're out. We jump into the river and run downstream. By the time he realizes he's been played, we're gone."
"…Alright." Gabe nodded hard. "Let's do it."
"Get ready," Levi said, pressing the radio into Gabe's hands.
"Practice the lines. The more panicked, the better."
Levi grabbed the explosives, eyes dark.
"I'll be back in five minutes. I'll set this up upstream. When I return and give the signal, you transmit immediately."
No more words.
Levi inhaled deeply, lowered his body, and slipped silently out of the cave.
The outside air was brutally cold.
Fighting the wind and snow, Levi moved about three hundred meters upstream to a cluster of rocks along the riverbank. He wedged the C4 into a stone crevice, inserted the detonator, leaving just a short fuse exposed.
Done.
He retraced his steps carefully, placing his feet exactly into his own footprints.
When he crawled back into the cave—covered in snow like a walking drift—Gabe was gripping the radio, lips moving as he rehearsed.
Levi gave him a thumbs-up and leaned against the rock wall, steadying his breathing.
Everything came down to this.
He nodded at Gabe and slowly made the start gesture.
Gabe's forehead was slick with sweat. He bit down hard and pressed the transmit button.
The next second, a frantic, breathless stream of German burst from the radio!
"Command! Command, this is Patrol! I'm at upstream riverbank, sector A3! I've made contact! It's the two escapees! Heavy resistance! I need support! They're moving upstream—requesting immediate—!"
BOOM—!!!
Before Gabe could finish, a dull but massive explosion thundered in the distance!
The blast echoed through the river valley, its sound amplified by radio static into a piercing roar that flooded the Hydra channel.
Instantly, all background noise vanished.
Inside the cave, Levi and Gabe held their breath, staring at the small black radio.
Did it work?
Did the monster take the bait?
Time seemed to stretch.
Then, after a suffocating silence, that cold, familiar voice returned—the Hound.
"A3 upstream riverbank… very good."
"All units, hold position. Do not approach."
A pause.
Then, slowly, deliberately:
"These two mice are more interesting than I expected."
"I'm on my way."