Ketranovich smiles and turns back to Clara.
“We must begin the next phase of the plan,” he says to her. “See that our friend here is comfortable then join me in the control room.”
“Yes, sir,” she replies.
He gives me one last look before walking off back down the long corridor.
“Yes, sir,” I say to her in a funny voice, mockingly. “You make me sick.”
“And very soon I’ll make you dead,” she replies, looking past me toward the long corridor.
I turn to follow her gaze and see Natalia walking toward us. She has a pistol in one hand and a knife in the other. And she looks massively pissed off.
Well… this isn’t going to end well, is it?
Clara signals to the furnace room with her gun as Natalia approaches. “Get in,” she says to me.
I walk in and turn right as the heat hits me instantly. The two of them follow me inside.
I suppose this would be the moment where she aims her gun at the back of my head and pulls the trigger. Game over.
Well, let me tell you, I have no intention of dying in this furnace.
I turn to face Clara. The darkness closes in around us, broken only by the orange glow from the fire behind her, which gives her a demonic aura, making her look all the more monstrous.
Natalia walks in and stands next to her. She turns to Clara and says something in Russian. Clara responds and turns to me.
“Have fun, you two,” she says with a mischievous smile.
“I’m sure we will,” I reply. “She’s gotta be more entertaining than you were.”
Clara rolls her eyes at my apparently wasted attempt at a hateful remark and walks out of the room, closing the door behind her.
I watch her go, and then turn to Natalia. “So,” I say. “How are you…?”
Like lightning, she raises her gun and aims directly between my eyes.
Shit, that was fast!
Small talk clearly isn’t going to help. Time to try plan B.
“Okay. Do you speak any English?” I ask.
No response.
“Y’know, you strike me as someone who has some unaddressed anger issues. Would that be a fair assessment?”
Lowering the gun slightly, she swings a left hook from her hip and connects with the right hand side of my face. I see it coming a mile away, but with my hands behind my back, there’s little I can do to avoid it.
Goddammit! That hurt!
But at least I know she can understand me.
“I’m gonna take that as a yes,” I continue. “Ketranovich was very complimentary of your abilities as a soldier. A person could be forgiven for thinking you were his favorite, the way he was talking.”
She pauses momentarily, presumably to think about what I’m saying, and then throws another left hook, that finds its mark.
Ah, shit — that one’s going to swell up like a bitch…
I haven’t really thought this through, have I?
Well, too late to worry about minor details like a few bruises now.
“I only mention it because, as a fellow soldier, I thought it was strange he would choose Clara instead of you for the mission to manipulate me…”
She goes to hit me a third time, but I back away slightly, causing her to hold back and look at me quizzically.
“I’m just saying. I mean, I was very close to her all this time. She didn’t strike me as being very capable in the field. She was almost weak, when it came down to it. Whereas you, Natalia, are a stone cold professional. No hesitation, no doubt — you just carry out your orders with lethal efficiency. If I was Ketranovich, there’s no way I’d have cut you out of my plans like they did.”
It looks like she’s going to swing for me again, but instead she steps in closer, lowering her gun slightly. She’s no more than a foot away from me. In the poor light of the furnace room, this is the first time I’ve been able to properly see her eyes. They burn brighter than any fire could ever hope to. The anger that lies just beneath the surface is palpable. I keep my demons locked behind a big door. By comparison, I think little Natalia here keeps hers stored in a wet paper bag…
In a broken, heavily Russian accent, she finally speaks to me.
“I am twice the woman she is,” she spits. “I would never have let you get away with what you have.”
For a brief moment, I see a flash of that anger surface and I’ll be honest, it genuinely worries me. Given my hands are still tied behind my back, I absolutely believe that, right now, she’s very close to, and very capable of, killing me.
Which is all the incentive I need…
Do you know what the best thing about a head-butt is? It’s that no one ever expects them. More often than not, you hurt yourself more than the person you’re actually hitting, so it’s just assumed that nobody will ever bother to try one. But if you do it right, they’re lethal.
I stand up straight and bring my head back slightly, then lurch my shoulders and neck forward, relaxing so my skull becomes a dead weight. Natalia’s smaller than me, so I have to aim it just right to compensate for the height difference. As my forehead comes arching down, I bend my knees slightly and connect with her right between the eyes on the bridge of the nose.
I hear the bone shatter, and the warm blood sprays across my face. Her entire body visibly stiffens as consciousness leaves her, and she falls straight backward to the floor. As she lands, I hear her head crack against the concrete. She’s out for the count.
Straight away, I crouch down next to her, turning my body slightly so I can reach her knife with my hands behind me. I adjust it in my grip so it’s at the right angle and use it to slice through the ties around my wrists.
I bring my hands up and rub each wrist in turn, trying to stimulate the blood flow once again. I stretch my arms and shoulders, feeling them crack. I pick up her gun and pocket the knife, standing and looking down at her, unconscious on the floor of the furnace room.
It would be so simple to just put a bullet in her head and move on. But after what these bastards have put me through, she deserves to suffer — at least a little bit.
I take aim and shoot her in her right kneecap. Her leg almost blows apart and her body jolts violently as she flashes in and out of consciousness. Blood pools around her, as she lies motionless once again.
“See you in hell, bitch,” I say.
I leave the room, locking the door behind me.
When this place goes up in flames, it’ll be taking her with it.
30
With Natalia out of the picture, I’ve just got her brother Gene, Ketranovich, and Clara left to take care of. I’m not too worried about bumping into any other personnel, given everyone seems to be murdered the moment they’ve served their purpose. If there is anyone else left, I’ll simply recommend they walk away, while they still have the chance.
Armed with Natalia’s gun and knife, I make my way down the long corridor, away from the furnace rooms and back toward the main control center. My priority right now is contacting Josh to warn him about the trap waiting for all the GlobaTech and US troops.
As I approach, I drop to one knee and sneak a peek through the window of the left hand door. The room looks empty. The large screen that displayed the radar battle between missile and plane is off. The main computer hub isn't manned.
I nudge the door gently and wait to see if it provokes a reaction. I wait a minute but get nothing. I’m happy the coast is clear… I stand and walk through into the control room.
God knows where those three are, or what they’re doing…
Anyway, I’ll deal with them later. I run over to the control panel and look for a means of communication. There are consoles and screens everywhere, but nothing that resembles a phone. I look around the room in desperation, but I can’t see anything. I check my phone again and there’s still no signal.