Car Chase (1)
"Damn Russian bastards."
MacKinnon pressed himself against the window and muttered under his breath.
He kept cursing, but his eyes were calm and cold.
After a moment of watching the dark outside, he seemed to settle on a plan and spoke again.
"Listen carefully. They probably haven't pinpointed our exact location. There was no GPS on the target, and we weren't being tailed. The fact that there are only two of them means they're probably just sweeping this area."
I thought the same thing.
No matter how capable an intelligence agency like the SVR was, it wasn't possible to lock onto our position in one shot.
They were probably tracing us methodically from where Kucera's car had been abandoned.
The SVR would have no trouble pulling every highway record in the area if they wanted to.
"For now, we hide and pray those idiots just pass by. Worst-case scenario..." He clicked his tongue. "We take them out fast and get the hell out of here. That'd be the most miserable outcome."
I gave him a quiet nod.
"MacKinnon, I'll go out through the back and make a wide circle. If I see them from outside, it'd be better to take them down first if I get the chance."
MacKinnon looked at me.
I could see a brief flicker of hesitation in his eyes.
Kucera was inside this place, and someone had to keep him under control.
All things considered, it made sense for a veteran like him to judge the situation from within.
Apparently he agreed, because he nodded.
"Fine. I'll leave it to your judgment."
At once, MacKinnon went to Kucera and wrapped a towel around his mouth, tying it shut.
When the man immediately began thrashing, MacKinnon smashed him in the ribs, and only then did he finally quiet down.
Click.
I drew my Glock from my waistband.
After tugging the slide back slightly to check a round was chambered, I let out a slow breath.
I had known something felt off. In the end, it really had come to this.
Creaaak—
When I opened the back door and stepped outside, the cold air slapped me in the face.
The moment my foot touched the frozen dirt, I slowly steadied my breathing.
At the same time, my inner force flowed down through my toes and seeped into the ground, erasing the sound of my footsteps.
I quickly circled around the back of the house and hid myself in the shadow beside the barn.
I could feel the direction the men were approaching from. Two of them, a little to the right of straight ahead.
Holding my breath, I began waiting for them in the darkness.
Please just pass by.
For once in this life, I hoped the day I took someone's life would not be today.
That was my desperate prayer.
***
"Huuuu..."
Pavel Horak exhaled a cloud of cigarette smoke.
The white mist, impossible to tell apart from his breath, scattered into the air.
The feeling in his fingertips had been gone for a long time already, and his ears were so cold they hurt.
It was a godforsaken rural area with barely a proper building in sight, so the wind was viciously sharp.
This shit, and right in the middle of Christmas season.
The search operation that had started in the afternoon had dragged on through the night and into the small hours of morning.
Victor, walking beside him, sniffled and muttered, "Damn it, we should've been paid double for this one."
"Shut up and walk."
Pavel answered tersely, tightening his grip on the AK-103 in his hands.
Like the veteran mercenary he was, he was ready to aim and fire at a moment's notice.
So this was just supposed to be a job finding one man.
He had received a call from a Russian named Sokolov the previous afternoon.
As always, the information had been vague, accompanied by a single photo. All he had been given was a rough search area.
Frankly, he couldn't care less who this was, or why some Russian wanted him found.
What mattered was that the pay was good.
It's definitely going to be a shitty job.
That idiot Victor seemed to be thinking of nothing at all, but Pavel was different.
His instincts told him this mission was dangerous.
Through the broker, twelve men had been assigned to the job.
They'd all been out of the military for years, but they had all been soldiers once, hardened men who had spent a long time in this line of work.
It was a hastily assembled team, but every one of them was a veteran, and their gear was solid too.
There was no way they had gathered this many people just to look for one man.
"Hey."
Victor stopped walking.
Following the direction of his chin, Pavel saw an old building in the distance.
It was a house about the same size as the others they had checked so far.
As they drew closer, he spotted tire tracks in the snow.
They looked fairly recent.
Looks like someone lives here.
Pavel exchanged a look with Victor. They had to check it.
Victor slung his rifle behind him so it wouldn't be seen and approached carefully.
Every time his boots stepped on the frozen snow, it crunched softly underfoot.
As they moved toward the front door, Pavel looked again at the marks in the snow.
They weren't just tire tracks. Several sets of footprints overlapped there too, as if they'd been made recently.
"Hm..."
Pavel noticed something strange among those tracks.
There were signs of something big and heavy being dragged across the ground.
"Hey."
He signaled Victor with a glance and pointed toward the window.
Victor nodded and crept carefully toward it.
I should let the others know first.
Better to share the situation now, just in case.
That was what Pavel was thinking when he stepped back and reached for his phone.
Swish.
Like a lie, a hand suddenly appeared behind him and seized his arm.
No sound, no warning at all, as though a ghost had reached out of nowhere.
...!
A chill shot down his spine.
He didn't even have time to react properly. One arm was twisted, and the rifle slipped from his hand.
He felt the weapon hanging at his side by its sling.
"...Khh."
The broken arm was wrenched behind his back, and in that instant a searing pain ripped through him.
Then, right beside his shoulder, a heavy sound burst out.
Thuk! Thuk!
The dull, muted report of a suppressed gun.
Victor's body, which had been moving toward the window, lurched forward and collapsed into the snow.
Red blood was spreading across his chest.
"How many of you are there here?"
A low voice came from behind Pavel's head.
It was English.
Pavel's body trembled.
His mind went blank for a moment. Instinct made his mouth move first.
"T-twelve..."
The instant he answered, another dull crack echoed.
Thuk!
A brutal pain like being seared with fire erupted in his abdomen.
Pavel couldn't even scream as he collapsed face-first into the snow.
"Kghh..."
He clutched at his stomach.
Something hot was spilling through his fingers.
Through his blurred vision, he saw someone walking over to Victor.
The figure stopped in front of the man lying there, hesitated for a moment, then fired one more shot.
Thuk.
Pavel stared blankly at the scene with his face pressed into the snow.
Step. Step.
Then the man came back.
Only then could Pavel see his face.
...An Asian?
He looked young, maybe not even thirty, with eyes far more complicated than his expressionless face suggested.
Even in the dimming haze of his vision, the moment Pavel clearly saw that face, he ground his teeth and muttered softly, "Do prdele... (Damn it...)"
He knew instinctively there was no hope once he'd seen the man's face.
The man, who had been looking at him for a moment, slowly raised the muzzle.
That was the end.
Thuk.
***
The sensation left in my hand was strange.
Even with the suppressor on, the recoil was still lingering in my palm.
And there was the smell of gunpowder, sharp and familiar. My mouth had gone dry.
I looked down at the two men collapsed in the snow. Blood was spreading across the white surface.
When the wind blew, the hems of their jackets fluttered. Aside from that, nothing moved.
...
I had seen them checking the window and reaching for their phones.
The instant the thought hit me that calling would be the end of us, my body had moved before my mind did.
And this was the result.
Hah...
When I had been working with Elena before, I had always kept a calculation in mind that I could walk away whenever I wanted.
So even when things were difficult, I had tried, as much as possible, not to kill anyone.
Today, all of that effort had gone to waste.
Ever since I had signed a contract with the CIA of my own volition, I had known this day would come, but it still left a bitter aftertaste.
Because I could feel, right now, that my life had crossed a line it could never take back.
By my own choice and will, in this life just as in the one before.
"Huu..."
After letting out a breath, I spoke in a low voice toward the hideout.
"MacKinnon."
The door opened at once, and MacKinnon came out.
He had clearly guessed something from the sound, because he quickly checked the surroundings.
After glancing at the two men collapsed on the ground, he gave me a strange look and said flatly, "Not bad."
"There were twelve. That's how many came this way."
MacKinnon nodded at my words and spoke.
"Then there are ten left. We don't have time. Move now."
We went back inside the hideout and dragged Kucera out with us.
With the towel still stuffed in his mouth, the man let out muffled, choking sounds as MacKinnon and I each grabbed an arm and hauled him along.
Two cars were parked inside the barn.
One was the old vehicle used to pick up Kucera.
The other was a newer car prepared for transport.
We shoved Kucera into the back seat of the new car, and I sat beside him.
Rrrrrr—
MacKinnon climbed quickly into the driver's seat as well.
The engine coughed once, then roared to life with a noisy grind.
The headlights came on, lighting up the snow-covered yard.
The car began moving along the frozen dirt road.
MacKinnon said briefly, eyes forward, "Once they realize they can't reach the men sent our way, they'll come swarming in. Until then, let's just hope the time we've got is enough."
***
We were racing down a rural highway with not another car in sight.
With no streetlights on the road, the headlights alone cut through the darkness as we drove.
The road was narrow and the surface was icy, so we couldn't pick up much speed.
Every time we took a curve, I could feel the rear wheels slipping.
Creaaak—
MacKinnon kept both hands on the wheel, staring straight ahead.
Luckily, Kucera stayed quiet. He must have realized the situation had turned ugly.
Since nobody spoke, the car was filled only with the sound of the engine and the tires.
How long had we been driving like that?
Out of habit, I checked the rearview mirror, and far behind us I caught sight of a light.
Headlights. They were closing the gap quickly.
"MacKinnon."
At my words, MacKinnon checked the mirror too.
I could see his expression harden slightly.
"Damn it, they're catching us faster than I thought."
He spat the words out in a low voice, never taking his eyes off the road.
The car behind us drew closer and then pulled out into the opposite lane, starting to edge up beside us.
I reflexively forced Kucera's head down toward the floor.
He writhed, but I didn't have time to care about that.
Turning my head, I saw the passenger-side window of the other car was open.
The man seated inside was staring into our car, head turned, watching us intently.
Honk! Honk! Honk!
The car beside us kept blaring its horn, as if ordering us to stop.
MacKinnon let out a snort and actually accelerated.
Vroooom!
The other car sped up too and stayed with us.
For several seconds, the two vehicles raced side by side, trading positions in a messy push and pull.
...!
I could see the man in the passenger seat shouting something. Whether it was Czech or Russian, I couldn't tell.
And the moment I saw a gun in his hand—
Ping!
I felt a bullet strike somewhere in the car body.
The metallic impact rang out loud, and the shock reverberated through the cabin.
"Ha, these crazy bastards really think they're filming an action movie!"
MacKinnon burst out laughing in disbelief.
Kucera, horrified, scrambled down onto the rear floor.
A scream-like sound leaked out from beneath his hood.
"Damn it! What are you going to do?"
I shouted at the top of my lungs.
MacKinnon tightened his grip on the wheel and answered in a fierce voice.
"I'm going to teach these fucking Eastern European assholes that movies and real life are different."
Then he glanced at me and added, "Let's welcome them properly and put some bullets into them. Fire away, now!"
At that, I drew my Glock and rolled down the window.
I removed the suppressor and aimed straight at their car, thinking that this year's Christmas was going to be a lot louder than I'd expected.
...Is this all my karma?
I didn't know. Hell.
Bang!
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