The Renault’s cockpit was dark and without movement. I considered simply stepping over to the forest side window and shooting into the cab with the MP5, quick and dirty. Problem was the windows were up, and I didn’t want to break glass because I anticipated driving the van, later on. I could hear the sound from the river down below, now that the rain had stopped. Which meant that I could also hear the creatures, the little nighttime animals that shift and shuffle in the trees and between rocks and scurrying holes.

The forest sounds lulled me into a false sense of security. They made me feel safe, as if the forest had been undisturbed by human beings until I got there. What I didn’t anticipate was that the driver might have done the same thing as I did, come out into the forest and get comfortable for a while. I only figured that out when a hammered fist crashed into my right kidney.

A good solid kidney punch is a knock-out blow. The gun fell away and I crumpled to my knees, sucking for air. A totally involuntary reaction. It felt like battery acid was being poured into my side. I couldn’t breathe at all for a second, and by then it was too late. Because the guy had already looped a muscular arm around my neck and was pressing with his other arm for a sleeper hold. A part of me couldn’t move at all, but another part of me knew that I had maybe four seconds to get out of that hold before I lost consciousness.

The guy’s arms felt like steel bars, even though he was still consolidating his hold. It felt like my neck was being squeezed between two I-beams. Oxygen deficit saps the will. It takes training and repetition to get beyond that. I was trained, my will wasn’t going to diminish. So I wasn’t in despair; I was trying to think.

I needed to make him relinquish the hold, and the only way to do that was to make it absolutely necessary for him to let go with one of his arms. So I tried the first and most obvious thing, which was to reach back and grab the guy’s nuts and pull as hard as I could. The only thing I got from that was a grunt. The guy shifted his hips. No relief, no pressure let up. A second and a half wasted. I started seeing stars.