He clambered back into the Land Cruiser as the other 4x4 drove past. ‘Edward, I hope you have got her a long way from here,’ he said, restarting the engine.
Chase pressed on through the jungle. ‘Once we get to the river, we can find that crossing point and go back to the village,’ he said over his shoulder. ‘We’ll ask your friends to look after you while I…’
He realised Natalia was no longer following him. She had not fallen or been forced to sit to catch her breath; instead, she had simply stopped walking, staring blankly at the ground. Everything about her bowed stance suggested utter defeat. ‘What is it?’ he said, going back to her. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Everything,’ she replied, voice filled with misery. ‘Everything is wrong.’
‘Yeah, I know. But we need to keep moving. It’s not safe to stay here.’
‘But that is the point!’ she cried, raising her head to regard him with despairing eyes. ‘It is not safe anywhere! Not for me. That man at the river, the one who pretended to be my father — he is working for the Americans, yes?’ Chase nodded. ‘And the men who kidnapped me are Russians. Do you think they will stop looking for me?’
‘I’ll make sure they don’t get you.’
‘For how long? A week? A month? A year? Are you going to be my bodyguard for ever?’ Tears rolled down her cheeks. ‘Eddie, these people will find me wherever I go. If they think they can use me to continue my grandfather’s experiments, they will never give up. They will keep sending people after me until they get what they want — and they will kill anyone who tries to stop them. They will kill you, Eddie.’
‘They can fuckin’ try,’ he growled.
‘Do you think you are invincible?’ She held out her hands almost pleadingly. ‘They will come for me, and they will kill you, and then they will use what is in my blood to kill even more people. I do not want that to happen. I — will not let that happen!’
‘I won’t let it happen either,’ Chase insisted. ‘And the first thing we need to do to make sure of that is get out of here. Come on.’
He reached for her hand, but she pulled away. ‘No. I will not let anyone die because of me. Not you, not my friends in the village, not anyone! And I do not want you to have to kill people to protect me. Even if they are doing… bad things. It would still be because of me that they were dead, and I cannot live with that.’ Her voice dropped to a whisper. ‘I cannot live.’
Chase understood her meaning, but refused to accept it. ‘Don’t say that. I can still get you out of here.’
Natalia shook her head. ‘No. This… this is where it has to end.’ She slowly turned, taking in the verdant jungle around them. ‘It is beautiful here, isn’t it? The Americans tried to kill it with Agent Orange, but it grew back. Nature will recover.’ Then she looked back at him, suddenly firm. ‘But what my grandfather was trying to do was against nature. He wanted to corrupt nature, to make monsters. And that is what the Americans or the Russians will do if they find me. They will fill the world with monsters, and poison everything living. There is only one way to stop them.’
Now it was Chase’s turn to shake his head. ‘No, there isn’t.’
‘You know I am right, Eddie!’ She walked to him, more tears swelling. ‘I am going to die young, no matter what — my grandfather’s curse has seen to that. But that does not mean I have to die like my mother and my grandmother. I can choose how I die — and I choose to die to save other people. Including you.’ There was a long pause, then she drew a decisive breath. ‘Give me the gun.’
He stared at her, appalled. ‘I’m not going to let you fucking shoot yourself!’
‘Then you will have to shoot me.’
‘No!’ he protested. ‘No, that’s fucking crazy.’
Almost angry, she jabbed a hand back along their path. ‘Your friend, the Belgian…’
‘Hugo.’
‘Hugo, he was willing to give his life to protect us. And you are willing to give your life to protect me. Am I wrong?’
‘No, but there’s a difference between giving your life to protect someone, and risking it—’
‘The only difference is if you are lucky. But you cannot be lucky for ever. We all die in the end. And this is where I am going to die.’ She gestured at the surrounding trees, her anger replaced by an almost peaceful acceptance. ‘Once I am dead, if you burn my body there will be nothing for them to take. My grandfather’s work will be ended.’
‘This is insane,’ he said, shaking his head again. ‘Natalia, I’m not going to kill you. I promised to protect you!’
‘But I am just one person. If I am dead, many more lives will be saved.’
‘You don’t know that.’
‘Once these people have the eitr, do you think they will not use it? Why else would they want it? And,’ she added, ‘one of the lives that will be saved is yours. If I am gone, they will have no reason to kill you.’
‘I wouldn’t bet on that,’ he muttered.
‘But you know I am right, Eddie,’ Natalia continued, desperation entering her voice. ‘And it is what I want to do. Please!’ She wrapped her hands around his. ‘I will not let anyone else die because of me. You have to do it. You have to!’ She squeezed his hands, then let go and turned away, getting down on her knees. ‘You… you know how to make it not hurt, don’t you?’ she said quietly.
‘Yeah, I do,’ he replied. ‘But—’
‘Then do it. It is the only way to end this.’ She raised her head, and closed her eyes.
He stared down at the young woman. ‘Are you sure this is what you want?’
‘Yes,’ came the reply.
He was silent for a long moment. Then he slowly raised the gun.
‘Please,’ whispered Natalia. ‘Do it.’
Chase hesitated — then pulled the trigger.
21
The elevator came to a stop. Eddie and Nina went to one side of the doors, Tova and Kagan the other as they parted. A freezing wind gusted in.
To everyone’s relief, it was not accompanied by bullets. Kalashnikov raised, Eddie cautiously exited. Nina followed. The business jet had gone, though a constant low drone told them that another aircraft was idling on one of the base’s long taxiways. But the only movement was of snow flurries swirling across the flat expanses between the concrete lanes. ‘Okay, there’s nobody here — yet.’
Kagan limped to the racks of gas tanks at one end of the blockhouse and indicated a group of concrete buildings across the runway. ‘We need to reach the base headquarters.’
Eddie judged the distance. ‘Christ, they’re over half a mile away.’
Nina, however, was looking at something closer. ‘Maybe these guys’ll give us a ride!’ she said, pointing in alarm. A military UAZ jeep was tearing along one of the taxiways. On seeing the group, its driver made a sharp turn to angle across the snow-covered grass directly towards them. She turned to Kagan. ‘Good, or not good?’
A man leaned out of the 4x4’s side and raised an AK. ‘Take a guess!’ said Eddie. ‘Get back!’
They retreated — only to come face to face with Tova as the elevator closed. ‘What is happening?’ she asked.
‘No, keep them open — oh, shit!’ Eddie yelped as the weather-scoured metal doors slammed shut. ‘Now Slavin and his guys’ll come up behind us!’
‘Sorry, I am sorry! But you said there was no one here,’ the Swede protested.
‘It’s okay, it’s not your fault,’ Nina told her. ‘What do we do?’
Eddie had an idea. ‘Get behind the bunker,’ he said, gesturing in the opposite direction from the approaching UAZ.