I actually cried writing this chapter. meh, I'm sorry it's so short!
Disclaimer: do i have to write it all out again?
Yassen's head snapped up, his eyes scanning the room. Sure enough, in one corner, there was a steel grating and beyond, a dark rectangular tube. Yassen pulled himself up, holding himself there with one hand and pounding on the grille with his fist. Holly raced back into the room.
"What the hell are you doing?" she stopped and looked up at him. "That's genius, pure, unadulterated genius!" She darted back to Laura, hauling her off of the bunk and into her arms. "Jack, we're going. Can you grab that sheet?"
Yassen succeeded in punching through the grille and dropped to the ground. He flexed his fingers, wincing as he saw the lines of blood well up in the creases.
He turned to Holly, "Can you jump up and pull it out? I would but, well…" he held up his hand which was now dripping scarlet droplets onto the concrete. She did so quickly, handing Laura's limp body to Jack. "Now, get up there, me and Jack will pass Laura up. Just keep going straight, you'll get out eventually. And you're dragging Laura, Jack's pushing. Here, I'll give you a leg up."
Holly was boosted into the vent and twisted like a gymnast to look out again. "Ok, I'm ready." She said. Yassen nodded and spread out the sheet on the floor. Jack quickly lifted Laura onto it and tied a few knots across her body to hold her in place.
They lifted her up and, with help from Holly, pushed her into the vent. Jack leapt up after her leaving Yassen alone. He was about to jump up, but stopped and snatched up the flask of water before hauling himself up, one-handed. The cuts on his fingers were stiff and sore and he didn't want to put any pressure on them.
The others were already some way ahead, visible only as a dwindling smudge of black on black. Yassen dragged himself forward and soon caught up.
They were moving in silence apart from the occasional clang as someone's foot hit the side of the vent. Yassen always hissed a "ssshhh" at the culprit and the noises became less frequent. Finally, they stopped.
"What is it?" Yassen whispered, leaning round Jack to talk to Holly.
"There's a grille thing here, I don't think that I can get Laura over it without us going through, and there are people underneath."
"Be quiet then. Right," he said, thinking quickly. "I'm going to go back to that branch we went past earlier and find out where it leads. Jack, can you and Holly move Laura back to there? Ok, we're going to get out of here." The Russian coiled up and scrambled back along the vent.
He felt a soft breeze against his left cheek and turned towards it, somewhere, light was creeping through, turning the vent into a maze of greys and blacks. There were solid walls of darkness round every turn, right next to patches of what was almost daylight. He heard a yelp from behind him and stopped, peering back over his shoulder.
Distant yelling echoed along the tunnels, mingled with the sound of hands and feet hitting the metal walls, and a yelp of pain and shock. Jack appeared, dragging Laura on her sheet.
"Where's Holly?" Yassen asked in an undertone. Jack briefly considered telling him to keep moving but stopped. He hadn't had much to do with the boy since Hunter had arrived and he had changed. He was no longer the shy, quiet boy he had been a month ago, he was hard and strong. For the first time on a long while, Jack actually felt afraid.
"I'm here" Holly muttered from the back of the group. "Keep moving Yassen, they're trying to find us already." Yassen smiled at the sound of her voice; he'd realised that it had been her who yelped and had worried that she'd been recaptured.
They hurried forward, freezing every now and then as voices passed underneath them. After what seemed like an age, Yassen turned a corner and saw a patch of starlit sky.
"We're out, that's the end," He rasped. He relaxed slightly, feeling his eyelids droop. A nice warm bed, that's what he needed. "Wait," he said suddenly, his body tensing instinctively.
A hail of bullets slammed through the thin metal. It sounded like thunder. Yassen threw himself flat, with his arms over his head. A low murmur of voices echoed along the vent.
Something brushed against his leg and he looked back. Holly was squeezing past him, flat against the metal panels.
"What are you doing?" he hissed. She held a finger to her lips and levered herself forward. Yassen tried to speak again but she kicked him sharply in the ribs. His face contorted but he refused to make a sound.
In front of him, Holly was lying with her head inclined towards the men outside, listening intently. Her lips moved as she tried to work out what was going on.
Another voice joined in, speaking harshly. There was a brief scuffle and five gunshots. Each one sounded a death toll. Holly flinched back as the owner of the other voice came towards the vent.
"Yassen, get out of there. Do you have Jack and Laura?"
"Hunter!" Holly squealed, leaping forward off Yassen's head. He groaned in pain and followed. Sure enough, Hunter stood there, his eye gleaming in the blackness of his face. He grinned as Holly flung her arms around him.
Jack dropped to the ground and, with Yassen and Hunter's help, lowered Laura out of the tunnel. Hunter was at her side in a second while Holly explained briefly what had happened and what she though was wrong with her.
Hunter lifted her limp body, dropping the white sheet to the floor.
"We're going, follow me." They did as they were told, not wanting to argue. Yassen tailed at the back of the group, listening carefully in case they were being followed. Apart from Holly and Hunter talking quietly, he couldn't hear anything, all was quiet.
They followed Hunter; Holly had somehow drifted back from being at his side to walk next to Yassen.
"I'm not going to Malagosto," She said suddenly. Yassen started at the sound of her voice, and then stared as what she had said sank in.
"What? Why not? You were great tonight." Holly shook her head sadly.
"I wasn't. I can't do this sort of thing, Yassen. It's not me, but you, you're amazing. You didn't get scared, you just planned. Hunter said that you'll be a fantastic assassin. But you'll be going to Malagosto alone." Yassen groped for her hand to try and get her to see sense. She snatched it away.
"Holly, you have to come. I don't know what I'd do without you. You're my best friend."
"Yassen, don't. Please, just…don't." her voice was thick and Yassen realised that she was crying. He felt tears prickle his own eyes and rubbed them away angrily. He opened his mouth to speak but Holly ran on ahead to walk with Jack.
Yassen allowed the tears to spill down his cheeks. He knew that Holly wouldn't change her mind.
When they reached the car, Holly sat in the front with Hunter. Yassen didn't speak to her; he wouldn't have known what to say. Their silence affected everyone and they made the hour long drive in total silence.
When they got back, the sky was paling over the horizon. Yassen helped Jack to get the now conscious Laura out of the car. He looked Holly in the eye, hoping that she could see the pain. Then he ran.
He raced over the silent road and down the slipway. The cold January air whipped at his face, giving his eyes an excuse to start watering. He could barely see but he knew where he was going. Along the beach and up alongside the tiny river which sculpted such perfect valleys and islands from the wet sand. Then up over the tiny patch of moor land, between a couple of houses and on up to the bunker.
He had sprinted most of the way and was gasping and choking by the time he reached it. He pulled himself up to the top and knelt there, feeling the sun rise and start to warm his back. The sky was clear and it promised to be a beautiful day.
Yassen felt that somehow this was unfair. The way he was feeling, it would be better if it was raining. Why did she have to decide not to come with him and Hunter? Didn't she know how much it would hurt him? He had explained all about his dead family over the past few weeks. He had been sure that she'd understood.
Yassen finally turned back to the hotel, he needed to sleep. The Russian crept through a silent building and into the lounge. Holly was waiting on the windowsill.
"Yassen, wait. I need to talk to you…" he ignored her and climbed up the stairs to his room. His bed lay waiting and he fell gratefully into it, kicking his trainers off.