For the next two hours, I continued to fail the "Average" test. However, with each try, I was able to reach further and further through the house. By 9:45 pm the only floor I needed to clear was floor 3, and I was confident I could do this before we left at 12.
I knew I could do it.
Then, just like the last time, and the time before that, and the time before that, Iain touched the crystal, gave me a nod, and the test began. At full speed, I burst down the door and immediately fired at the men sitting on the couch.
Quickly, I hid behind the couch, using it as cover. Then, I heard footsteps from upstairs rapidly approaching. I started to peek from behind the couch, and when the three men came down, I fired two shots before ducking back behind the couch, taking out two men.
The third man fired at me four times, but the couch defended me from all the bullets. Then, without looking, I poked my gun out from the corner of the couch and fired three times. The first two shots missed, but the third shot was followed by a cry of pain. "MY KNEE!"
Upon hearing the third man fall to the floor crying in pain, I got up and handcuffed him before running upstairs. On the second floor, there was a long corridor with four rooms on each side and one bathroom. At the end of the corridor, there was a flight of stairs leading to the third and final floor. Standing in the middle of the corridor was another man, whom I took out with a shot to the chest.
With that man down, I burst into the room on my right, where I caught someone sitting on the bed reloading a rifle, but they weren't able to finish because I shot twice, hitting the man both times, and he went down. After that I began to search around the room; however, I was interrupted by somebody standing in the doorframe. They fired at me, but I dove to the side, avoiding their shot and firing my own, which hit them in the forehead - another man down. Then I heard footsteps coming from upstairs; they were coming down.
Quickly, I positioned my back against the open door and peeked from behind the doorframe. That's when I saw four more men coming from upstairs, so I fired in their direction four times. One bullet hit a man in the neck, another hit a man in the shoulder, and the other two missed. The man who got shot in the neck was holding his neck, bleeding out on the floor. The man who got hit in the shoulder and the two men who were not hit focused their fire on me.
I quickly ducked back behind the doorframe when bullets started spraying the walls, shards of paint and wood flew across the corridor. I started reloading my gun while I heard the gunfire echoing throughout the corridor. Eventually, the bullets came to a halt, and that's when I took my chance. At full speed, I ran across the hallway, shot once, hitting a man in the chest, then I dove into the room across from me crashing the door down. The men started firing once again, but they weren't quick enough. Two men were down. Then, I started to hear the remaining enemies approaching the room I was in.
So, before they reached me, I decided to hide beneath the bed. When they came in, I immediately shot from under the bed, hitting one of the two men in the head. The last man standing started shooting at me, but I quickly shimmied out from under the bed and looked to my left, where I saw a laundry basket with some clothes in it. So, I grabbed it by the corner and from the other side of the bed, I chucked it at the guy still standing in the doorframe.
Out of panic, he fired, and the bullet hit the wall. The laundry basket, still flying through the air, hit the man in the forehead. Now that he was blinded by the clothes from the laundry basket, I darted towards him, using my right fist to punch him in the gut, then using my left I punched him in the neck, and finally, I finished the combo by punching him in the cheek with my right. He immediately went down, and I cuffed him to the bed.
After everyone was taken care of, I searched the rest of the rooms and finally went upstairs. There wasn't much up there besides another sitting room and a kitchen. I ransacked the entire third floor, and there was nothing to be found. When I finished, I gave the room one last scan before going down to the second floor, where I double-checked everything. When I looked up at how much time I had left, it showed me that I had four minutes. So, using that time I checked the entirety of the bottom floor one last time before leaving the house with ten seconds left on the clock.
When I walked out, Iain gave me a big smile before putting two thumbs up. I let out a laugh before smiling and giving him two thumbs back.