The second man began cutting the ropes from Nir’s extremities. The pain was intense, and the raw circles around his ankles and wrists caused him to involuntarily pull back.

“Ani mitnatzelet,” the man said, apologizing as he continued his work. Nir didn’t recognize his voice.

When Nir was free, Dima helped him stand. It had been so long since he had been on his feet that his legs were weak, and his knees and ankles were swollen from the cricket bat. He tried to take a step but stumbled.

“Need me to carry you?” Dima asked.

“I’ve got it.” His arm went around Dima’s neck, and the man half led, half dragged Nir out of the room.

“You smell like borscht,” Nir said, his head lolling against the Russian’s shoulder.

“You don’t want to know what you smell like. I can’t wait to throw you into the ocean.”

Footsteps sounded up ahead. Two suppressed double taps echoed in the hallway, followed by the sound of bodies hitting the ground. In the brief muzzle flashes, Nir saw a soldier in front of them wearing night vision goggles. He wore the coveted batwings of Shayetet 13 on his shoulders.

“Careful,” Dima said, and Nir felt the bodies of the dead men under his bare feet as they passed them.

After another turn, light appeared ahead. As they approached, Nir saw it was from the moon reflecting off the ocean’s surface. Two men were waiting, and one more was in the water.

“Achi, you look like death.” It was Yaron. “And you smell worse.”

“I could still knock you out, old man,” Nir wheezed.

“Right this way, Ha’mefaked,” said the man in the water.

Nir looked to Dima, who said, “It’s all right. I’m going to strap you to me, and we’ve got air.”

Nir nodded. He felt steady enough to let go of Dima.

Two more shots fired from the doorway of the garage.

“We’ve got to get going,” called the Shayetet 13 commando as he changed mags in his gun.

From somewhere outside the garage door, Nir could hear unsuppressed shots fired. “Wait. Where’s Imri?” he asked, looking around.

Yaron answered. “Taking care of the chopper up top. He and a couple of other batwings will join us as soon as they can.”

Doron stepped forward and took charge of him. “Come on. We’ve got to get you tanked and strapped in.”

Three minutes later, Nir and Dima dropped into the water. Nir hadn’t realized how many places his skin had opened until that moment. The pain was so intense that he probably would have frozen up and sunk to the bottom if he hadn’t been strapped to the back of the big Russian Jew.