"Zz... We're five minutes from your location. We have limited time before the locals realize we're not just passing through."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say." Tig Trager, wearing his black jacket, walked toward the building where large trucks had entered to unload weapons.
Walking calmly as if he were just another local, Tig caught the attention of a young boy staring at him intently.
"Are you lost?" the boy, no older than fifteen, asked as he approached the man he had never seen before.
Tig smiled eerily and asked, "Do you really want me to answer that?"
The boy was startled by Tig's Spanish and quickly ran back into his house, asking no further questions.
"Damn, a bit more, and I'd have had to walk all the way from the safe house to this dump full of crap." Tig entered the building through a large gate without anyone stopping him. At this late hour, there weren't many people on the streets, let alone inside the building where the attack was planned.
Among the locals, everyone knew exactly who owned the building, and if any enemies approached, the people inside would be warned long before they reached the door.
All of this intel had been provided by Alejandro, which greatly facilitated the operation.
"It begins..." Unlike his usual attire, Tig was wearing specialized gear hidden beneath his clothing, providing him some protection against gunfire without drawing attention.
While it wasn't as effective against knives or similar weapons, it gave him more confidence in close combat.
Once inside the building, Tig stopped mumbling to himself and focused on controlling his breathing. He didn't want to make a sound as he moved toward his target.
None of the men in the building had noticed that an intruder had entered.
The plan was to silently eliminate as many as possible to secure the entrance for the assault team to finish the job. Tig had personally volunteered for this mission and was genuinely enjoying it.
In just a few moments, he observed that while the people here were aware of the possibility of an attack, they carried on as usual.
"Raúl, where's the beer?" a man with a gun at his waist walked around carelessly, paying little attention to his surroundings.
He didn't notice Tig lurking nearby in the shadows.
Tig didn't ambush him immediately but approached slowly from behind.
When he was close enough, he covered the man's mouth with one hand to prevent him from calling for help and slit his throat with a dagger in the other.
His hands moved almost simultaneously.
Before the henchman could even scream or bite Tig's hand, the blade had already cut his throat.
Fresh, warm blood gushed from his neck. Moments later, the man stopped struggling.
Tig dragged the body into a corner and began searching it for anything useful that might reveal the importance of this place. However, he only found a cellphone.
Knowing that the real action was about to begin, Tig retrieved a vest from his bag and slipped it on under his jacket for extra protection. Unfortunately, the added weight slightly hindered his movements, which is why he opted to carry only a pistol.
He couldn't risk compromising his speed in a situation like this, so he didn't want to overload himself with equipment.
Being slower than the enemy could cost him his life.
The remaining men would gun him down immediately if he made a mistake.
"One down," Tig thought as he continued crouching and moving forward.
He advanced about ten meters and then took cover in the shadows, slightly exposing his head to spy on his next target.
Unlike the first man, the second was standing on a pile of debris and broken wood about a meter high. Though he also wasn't paying much attention, his elevated position made Tig's approach more challenging.
He didn't underestimate his abilities but was well aware of his current limitations.
For this reason, Tig couldn't confront the man head-on. Even with the cover of darkness, he would have been spotted if he kept advancing.
Years of luck hadn't made Tig arrogant, so he acted cautiously and calmly.
As he moved deeper into the building, he noticed that the men seemed better equipped—perhaps it was a code for the place or an indicator of their rank.
"Maybe I can attack him from behind?" Tig considered his options, carefully analyzing his surroundings.
The man occasionally scanned the area randomly, enough for Tig to abandon that plan.
He didn't want to be discovered while closing in on him.
"Let's skip this one for now." It was too risky, so Tig decided to bypass this man and move on.
Although he had a fully loaded silenced pistol, he had no intention of using it so early in the mission, where silence was his best ally.
The henchmen here mostly had bulletproof vests, and Tig wasn't confident in his ability to land consecutive lethal shots in unfamiliar terrain.
Moreover, gunshots would reveal his location to the rest of the henchmen in the building, where it was estimated there were over thirty enemies.
"I need to take out at least two more." With this thought in mind, Tig took a detour.
To avoid being spotted by the man on the debris pile, Tig opted for the long way around, returning to the spot where he had eliminated the first man before doubling back.
More than three minutes later, he reached the rear of the surveillance zone where the men were most spread out.
Using his sight and the intel from the radio, Tig marked everyone's positions and quickly decided on his next target.
It was the man furthest to the left, standing on a platform.
This guy seemed even lazier than the others, paying even less attention to his surroundings. Compared to the men Tig had already killed, this one seemed like an easier target.
At least the others had tried to keep an eye out for Tig. The guy on the far left, however, crouched down to light a cigarette, making himself invisible to his peers.
His laziness made him an easy target, but Tig still approached carefully, avoiding detection.
Even with his target crouched and smoking, Tig wouldn't let his guard down.
Tig knew perfectly well that accidents could happen at any moment. Better safe than sorry.
With extra cautious movements, he approached his target step by step.
He was two meters away, and the man still hadn't noticed him. Only when the dagger was close enough did the armed hitman finally realize something was off.
But it was already too late.
Tig didn't care that the cigarette burned his hand. He covered the thug's mouth with his left hand and used his right to deliver a lethal blow with the dagger.
In just a few seconds, he slit the man's throat, and the hitman who had been hiding to smoke fell to the ground, just like the others.
As this hitman hit the floor, Tig quickly dragged him out of sight so the others unloading wooden crates from the trucks wouldn't notice. More and more people were gathering in the area.
While Tig observed the four remaining targets, the main ones to be eliminated, he overheard what they were saying:
"The boss doesn't like to wait. Hurry up and unload those weapons!"
As the roar of the engines echoed loudly, Tig silently moved through the shadows, pressing against the walls and slowly making his way toward his next target.
If Tig had been creeping along before, now he could be said to have learned to walk. He was faster and quieter.
"Sixth target eliminated!"
"Seventh target eliminated!"
Tig took out two more hitmen. It was even easier than before because his adrenaline was running higher than ever.
If one or two men went missing from a ten-man squad, it might go unnoticed. However, if most of the men outside and inside the premises vanished, even an idiot would realize something was wrong.
If the hitman named Erick, who was in charge of guarding this weapons warehouse, had been an idiot, he wouldn't have ended up as the right-hand man of the Jiménez Cartel.
Yet his arrogance didn't set him apart from an ordinary fool.
Erick shouted orders to his men as he gripped his weapon tightly.
None of them responded.
Erick looked around. Everything he knew suddenly felt completely unfamiliar, so he quickly called for all his men to arm themselves.
The emptiness outside and the shadows cast by the moon in the sky made him feel as though the devil himself was watching him. Cold sweat ran down his back as he held his weapon firmly. "You two, go check on the guards outside."
At that moment, two of the workers picked up their assault rifles and walked toward the gate, searching for the hitmen who should have been outside guarding the entrance.
As the wind blew, Erick couldn't stop himself from shivering, thinking that maybe someone was targeting him. In this line of work, it was the least one could suspect.
"Boss, there's no one outside!"
A sudden voice broke the silence. Erick trembled with rage when he realized it was one of his men.
Furious, Erick began yelling at him, "Look again, you damn son of a…"
Bang!
Before Erick could finish his sentence, a shot was fired.
The man, whom Tig had deliberately avoided earlier, fell to the ground.
His vest had protected him from the fatal blow of the bullet.
However, as he hit the ground, he turned, drew his weapon, and started firing wildly in the direction of the shot.
Erick, who had witnessed the entire incident, also drew his gun and aimed at the gate where the first shot had come from. Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger over and over again.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
In an instant, the building where the Jiménez Cartel's weapons were stored turned into a war zone, with gunfire of all calibers ringing out.
At the same time, Tig, now holding an assault rifle he had taken from one of the hitmen he had just killed, calmly picked up his phone and said, "Cobra Team, commence elimination!"