Zero

He sat alone, surrounded by darkness. There was only one window, and it stood behind him where the moonlight splashed inside along with the chill air from the storm. He only wished he could see the moon, shining coldly in the night sky. He had always been a creature of the night. Slipping through the shadows, slithering like a snake and just as deadly. He had earned a reputation for himself for escaping from tricky situations and disappearing without a trace. They called him Snake, but that was mostly because no one knew his real name.
If he listened carefully, he could faintly hear the men talking in the other room. It didn’t trouble him, what they were speaking of. What mattered was reaching the blade hidden in his belt, and cutting himself loose before the Agents arrived.
He adjusted in the chair, struggling to reach the hidden knife. He had been caught by the law several times, however he’d always been able to escape before the Agents came. He had heard terrible things about what happened to the men arrested by the Agents. In his life, he had come across them only a handful of times. The Agents were the bane of criminals everywhere. They always found you, eventually, but he was determined not to let that happen. Being caught was the end of the line for people like him. He had never heard of a man who had escaped from the Agents once they’d been caught.
He twisted in his chair, trying to remain calm. He had already been in custody for longer than he had intended. He hadn’t let anything out, hadn’t told the men a thing, not even his name.
Especially not his name.
Eventually, his fingertips brushed up against the hilt of the knife he had concealed on his person. His spirits rose and he continued trying to get it out. It was a small knife, no bigger than his index finger, however it had got him out of many scrapes, and hopefully it would get him out of this one. Besides, if he couldn’t escape from his bindings he could always end his life. It was a much more merciful way to end things than suffer at the hands of the Agents. He only hoped it wouldn’t come to that, though.
He still heard the conversation continuing out in the main room. The three men were obviously uneasy about him, and who wouldn’t be? He was the Snake, and he had been wanted all over the land. No one who caught him ever kept him for long. He was proud of that fact, the reputation he had made for himself. It took a long time to get as good as he was.
If he escaped he would easily be able to take out the three lawmen in the next room. But it was a messy business, and it was easier to simply slip past them or perhaps simply knock them out. Besides, they were only doing their job. If it were his job to kill them, he’d carry it out without another thought. For now, he’d settle with beating them up, perhaps giving the big one a few extra kicks for the way he’d bashed him on the side of the head earlier.
He felt the blade in his hand and was careful not to let it slip from his grasp. That had happened to him once before, and it resulted in him having to run out of the cell with his hands still tied together. It was difficult, fighting with bound hands. He didn’t want to do it again unless he had to.
After a few agonisingly slow minutes, his hands were untied. Quietly, he bent over and freed his feet and legs. He glanced out the window. The blizzard was still going strong, but it would hide his tracks well so that neither the lawmen nor the Agents would be able to follow him. If he left, it would have to be now.
He picked the lock of the door easily and slid the dagger back into its hiding place. He gently pushed the door open, only to have it creak noisily. He froze.