Page 35 of Ashfall
A split second later, she’s dragged from the tree line towards the vehicles by someone I don't recognize, but who has their matching tactical gear on. “Who the fuck is that?” I growl, risingto my knees and crouching behind a tree, I glance at Phantom who’s followed my lead. “It’s fucking Gunner, he's in 656.”Goddammit! “How many in that unit?” I ask. Hawk said they had the shoot to kill order, the place could be crawling with them. “Three in total.” I grind my teeth. “Phantom scan the area, raise the alert if you detect heat.” I watch him slink away into the deeper greenery, then I turn to keep an eye on the scene unfolding in front of me.
Blitz is being directed between the two vehicles, hands on her head as thisGunnerhas a barrel pressed to her skull. Phantom speaks through my ear, “Clear, Noc. It’s just him.”Good. Blitz wrestles in his hold and he rams her to her knees, kicking his foot into her back and then yanking her back up, hand now fisted in her hair.
“We can't engage yet, we need to distract Gunner enough to get him to draw his weapon away from Blitz. As soon as he does, I'll take him down,” I instruct the guys, then Adam’s voice filters through. “On my signal, shoot him.” Moments later, a loudtwarplike the snap of a large branch echoes through the trees. Gunner swings around with his gun aimed behind to take a shot at the unknown. I use the distraction to fire, sending a bullet punching into his temple. Blood splattering on the convoy window. He's down – and then chaos ensues.
Graves yanks his pistol free, forcing Volokov to duck around the front of the car. He pivots, firing at one of the guards drawing his own weapon. He backs into the convoy, just as another shot cracks in the distance. Adam and Phantom are taking down some guards from the second vehicle.Fuck. Graves has backed up into the convoy, emptying his chamber at Volokov’s jeep before throwing the gun and slamming his foot on the gas.Volokov’s going to take Brodie. My boots hammer against the ground as I aimlessly fire at Graves's tires, but the convoy is reinforced and the bullets don’t make a mark.
Volokov scrambles to his Jeep, hitting the gas as he flies out of the clearing, the rest of his guards swarming in to engage in the shoot out with Adam and Phantom. One guard has abandoned the rest of them, taking the second Jeep to screech up wide alongside Volokov’s, protecting him from my shots. I hit his fuel tank in rapid succession, a bullet punches through the mental causing sparks before a violentwhoomphsplits the night. Heat slams into my skin, followed by a waft of acidic, burning fuel.
But Volokov doesn’t falter, and the red beacons of his brake lights blend more into the darkened tree line the further away they go. My soul feels like it’s being dragged along with it. Fear has pierced through, and it's scrambling to get me in a tight chokehold. “I’m getting the cruiser.” I yell through the headpiece. Slinging my gun behind me, I run like hell’s fire is trying to engulf me. Feet bounding through the trees, branches and leaves whipping and tearing at my clothes, I crash through the forest. It feels like years by the time I reach the car, throwing myself in and grabbing Adam’s laptop to open her tracker. It’s still on. I hit the ignition, sending the car hurling out of the camouflaged area towards the team. I’m not stupid enough to think I can do this on my own. I need them.
By the time I reach the clearing, it’s settled into darkness, all but a raging amber glow pulsing over the guys like a slowing heartbeat, and my blood turns to ice when I see the scene. I slam the cruiser into park and edge out. Phantom is on the phone, free hand dragging through his hair with a pained expression. Adam’s holding a barely alive Blitz. His hands are soaked in her blood as he compresses her wounds. She’s taken a number of bullets to the thigh, and with the way the blood soaks the ground beneath her, I'd say at least one of them hit her femoral artery. She’ll bleed out by the time we get her medical. Adam positions her leg, trying to slow the flow above her heart. “You're gonna befine, Blitz, Hawk is on the way.” His voice sounds steady, but I don't need to look at his face to know that he's trying to convince himself more than anyone to believe that.
I lean down to her eye level, she’s fighting to cling to life, while the wound and blood flowing from her slowly drags the last remaining minutes from her. I have her to thank for Brodie coming to me and admitting her trust. The moment I walked inside this morning, I caught eyes with Blitz. She merely shoved a handful of the contents in her bowl into her mouth, a shit eating grin wide on her face as she mumbled'Thank me later.’
“He's twenty minutes out.” Phantom crashes down beside us as he takes her hand, her stained and ashen skin a stark contrast to the life that remains in his. “Noc?” Her weakening eyes find mine, her voice is slow and shallow, “Don't… let him take her.” Resolve is carved into every fading word, and another promise is bestowed upon me on the last breath of a woman marked for death.
A part of me, the last fraction of me that holds on to the only remaining bit of empathy left, wants to tell her she'll make it. That there's no need for such words. But I can't. I've seen this scene play out far more times than one human should. I think about the General, and how I was also too late when I found her, and her last plea to me to protect her daughter, and how I failed them both. So, instead, I clock Blitz with steady eye contact. “I won’t... And thanks.” A weak smile spreads over her face in understanding, eyes shutting briefly as a lone tear rolls down her cheek. Phantom clutches her blood-stained hands, her head resting in his lap whilst Adam continues to pressurize the wound.
Her voice is fainter now, barely above a whisper. “Take me back… to the safehouse… the woods. Don’t… leave me here.” Adam fists his grip in the fabric as he looks at her, knuckles white knowing the battle is lost. Phantom gently pulls her upuntil she's resting her against his front, wrapping his arms like a shield around her from the inevitable. Adam clutches her other hand as he brings his forehead to hers, a quiet plea, and a silent farewell. I stand the moment I hear the guttering sound of her last breath, feet dragging me away to stare at the narrow road, swallowed by the endless looming trees. They warn you not to get attached in this line of work, to form bonds with people, a fragile life that can be so easily taken. I followed that rule, lived by it.
Until Brodie.
I loved her. I made her my biggest weakness and my greatest strength.
And that terrifies the hell out of me.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
nyx
''BLITZ!''
My scream deafens me as I rattle the handles of the door but they won't open. Graves fucking shot her, and I don’t think anyone’s realized it going by the ongoing shoot out. Volokov hits the gas, sending me thumping against the door. I ram my feet against the corner of the window to break it, but it's solid and won't even crack. I throw my elbow into it repeatedly but nothing works. The pain shoots violently up my arm, but I don’t stop. I gear up to throw it again when the car shudders violently, the interior flashing white with fire. The blast roars like thunder as heat sprays across the glass. Flames surge into the darkening sky, and shattered glass rains down on the metal roof, mimicking hailstones as it ricochets.
There's a dull ringing in my ears, and my eyes prickle with white spots as I squeeze them open and closed, clearing the image of the blast and trying to slow my breathing. My next inhale jams, the click of a gun clearing the fog in my mind. I glance at Volokov, his gun hanging over his shoulder. “Get in the front. Now.” His voice remains lethal despite his efforts to calm his own breathing. I hesitate for a moment, looking back through the rear window and watching the inferno gleam overBlitz.Not now Brodie, think later. I can't get caught up on what's happened right now, she'll be ok, she's alive. The guys will get to her. They'll check her and get her medical from Hawk.She'll survive.
“Now!” Volokov’s voice rattles my bones as he slams the gun against the seat. I scramble through the space between the center console and sit in the passenger seat. My hand grasps the belt as he rallies through the forest roads to get to wherever the fuck he's taking us. His gun is now resting in his lap, aimed and ready to fire as he keeps eyeing me, then the road. If he goes over a bump, I have no doubts that it could activate a trigger finger. “Don't do anything stupid or I’ll leave nothing but your insides for Nocturne to find,” he spits at me. I keep my eyes on the road, scanning the area and taking note of how many turns he takes, but it's so dark now I have no idea where we're going. Everything looks the same.
My fingers itch for the blade in my vest, but he'll shoot me before I even get a chance. With the way my elbow is throbbing, it will slow my movement. I'd need his gun higher to knock it from him and be able to slit his throat, but with the speed he's taking these country roads, we'd both end up dead when he crashes. Volkov puts the wheel in between his knees when we straighten out to dial someone on his car's screen. A female voice barks through as he speaks rapid fire Russian, it sounds a little bit like Natalia, but I can't be sure with how fast she's talking. He's obviously upset at something she said, because he roars whilst fisting his hand against the rim of the leather wheel, making us swerve before he rights us again.Fuck, I’m going to die in a car wreck.
The car lurches to a halt, making my hand fly out towards to dash with the momentum. It remains there, grounding me whilst the pressure from the cold barrel presses into my temple. “I know you have a tracker. Nocturne wouldn’t allow you to getin the car without one. Take it off.” My muscles lock up, staring at him and trying to make my face seem indifferent. Light temporarily blinds me before I can even protest, the ringing in my ears picking up again as a shot echoes in the enclosed space, glass from the window shattering over me. “I don’t ask fucking twice.” I rip the sleeve of my shirt up, pulling the band from my arm and tossing it at him. My heart is pounding at a gallop. He grabs it from his lap, launching it past me and out the window, and my throat constricts at how truly fucked I am right now.
I've estimated that we've already driven around thirty kilometers from the battle, give or take. He circled the entire area a couple of times, clearly trying to throw me off, but I don’t miss a thing. The moon is dominating the sky by the time we head into the forest again, the jeep easing its speed as the faint outline of a building comes into view. The only light being provided is from the moon, otherwise the place is cloaked in darkness, courtesy of the giant pine trees.
As soon as we edge the perimeter, a security sensor kicks in, waking the flood lights from their slumber. I recognize this place. It’s the warehouse from a couple months ago. My organs feel like they’re shifting positions. “Don’t move.” Volokov’s abrupt voice barks at me whilst getting out, keeping the gun trained the whole way round the hood to my door. He throws it open and barks, “Out and walk.” He takes a step back ensuring a safe distance between us.
“You know-” my words are clamped to the inside of my mouth, my lips sealed shut as the pistol whips across the cheek. My back slides down the door with the force - I wasn't prepared. He growls, “That was for my sister.” Stars threaten my vision, then the world tilts as I'm yanked up by the roots of my hair. Volokov lands multiple blows to my stomach, forcing me to coil around my core to reduce the impact. “This was just becauseI could.” My lungs scream for air as I fold over mechanically, fighting the convulsions that threaten to shudder free.
I let out a growl as he pulls me to my feet and drags me toward the warehouse. “Don’t think I didn't know that was you who came and shot Natalia in my own fucking club.” He tugs my scalp a little harder as he rattles out his words. My eyes blink slowly, and I fight to keep a grip on consciousness and stay upright. He’s clipped the side of my temple, and I can feel the blood leak into my eye, casting everything to the right in a bloody red haze.
“Your sisters a bitch,” is all I manage to get out. I'll be quite happy if I die knowing I got that out of my system, just so I can say I got the last word in.
He grits his teeth. “She might be many things, but she's worth more than you, especially once I’m done with you.” To add insult to injury, he twists me to land a knee to my gut, and my legs go out from underneath me, landing on my hands and knees.
I can't seem to keep my mouth shut, and my inner demon's manic laugh forces its way from my throat, echoing off the metal exterior of the warehouse. I think he knocked out the last bit of sense I had in me. It’s got him wound up as he grips my vest and rains punches to my face, his bloody knuckles repeatedly flashing in front of my eyes as he pulls further back for each thump. My hand paws for my knife, but this time I know I'm going to black out; the brightness of the flood lights is blinding me, making the ground come in and out of focus. I spit the blood filling my mouth out into the dirt when he stops, trying to focus on the red liquid to keep myself steady.
As if I weigh nothing, he nudges his boot into my side, rolling me onto my back. I stare up into the dark sky as it looms above, empty and black. My wrists jerk forward, restrained together as the bite of cable ties draws them in sharply. I’m yanked to myfeet, but my legs buckle beneath me, the dizziness still swirling, and he ends up dragging me inside. As the doors are opened, the loud clanking feels like a drill against my skull, causing a hammering pulse that makes my head feel like it could split at any moment.
