Author's Note-….hummmmmmm….no words today except….I LOVE ALL OF YOU SOOOO MUCH! LOVING ALL THE REVIEW! You spoil this author! I will try to get my chaps out a bit quicker for you guys!
Chapter 11-Scape Goat
I drug him through the halls. There was no way I could escape with him and no way I could escape without him, so I continued on trying to ignore his harsh gasps and groans of pain along with the thought of all the damage that could be redone with our hasty escape. I could hear the soldiers after me, rushing down the dark halls with their automatic weapons ready to kill us both, and all I had was an almost empty handgun, yes, I had Yusei's weaponry with me but I was in no way capable of wielding his sniper rifle and the knife wouldn't be very useful against a group of soldiers with AK-74s or Galils, the only thing I could make good use of was his silenced Colt and hope that it had enough ammunition to get us out. I heard one of the soldiers branch off from the others and I knew their exact path, no one knew these halls like I do except for Adrik; I pulled up short with a hand over Yusei's mouth to stifle the gasp and groan of pain he gave before lowering him down and pulling the silenced gun in one hand and the knife in the other.
I jogged silently in a crouch to the corner where I knew the man was hiding and, steadying my pounding heart, whipped around the wall and drove the blade deep into the man's shoulder causing him to drop the gun as I raised mine to his forehead. I pulled the trigger, not daring to look into the eyes, I didn't want to know who I killed…I've had enough of the disease.
I returned to the pale man and pulled him up again, he didn't groan or gasp but instead flinched at the pain: either he was losing consciousness which would be a mercy or he was losing blood again and he was dying because of it; I didn't have time to check but I prayed it was the former. I paused and looked about us and my heart leapt with hope: we were nearing the back exit! The footsteps were fairly far behind us but I knew I should not waste time standing here in the heart of our enemy. My mind froze; yes…yes I did think our enemy. The men here were never really someone I would want to call comrade and the man that brought me here was one that I wanted to kill if anything…they were my enemy as well and I was helping the first person in a long time that I could say I would die for.
The halls nearest to the exit became darker, trust me: it is possible…barely, and I almost didn't see them hiding there; two shadows among the shadows, their profiles just slightly darker than the inkiness of the hall. I froze as bolts of fear shook my shoulders and spine, and I couldn't help thinking that I had failed as the man I supported moaned again before coughing and it was my turn to flinch. Adrik had pounded and whipped him again before overdosing him with the tines; Yusei's time was minimized enough by the venom and I didn't know the extent of damage that hid in the darkness like an assassin that could be killing him the more I move him.
" (who is it you carry boy?)" The Russian was tinged with Irish accent but clear and understandable,
" (One who does not belong in these dark halls.)" The two shadows looked at each other for a moment,
" (Maybe you can help us then.)" I knew it was the second shadow who had spoken because the voice was different, softer and smoother. " (One of our friends has been captured and brought here to be tortured. Do you know of anyone like that? He calls himself Yusei.)" Could I trust them? The footsteps were still a ways off but drawing nearer,
" (Perhaps I know of him; what does he look like?)" I prayed they would describe the man with me for their aid would be the most wonderful thing in the world at the moment.
" (Not terribly tall, deep tanned skin, blue eyes, dark hair with golden streaks…ringing any bells yet?)" The Irish voice answered in an annoyed tone but I didn't notice. They were Yusei's friends…how on earth did they find the door and work their way here? How the Russian base in the first place? I paused 'Does it matter?'
" (Then I need your help to get him out.)" The shadows jumped slightly,
" (The man you carry is…)"
" (Yusei, yes it is Yusei! We must hurry, the Russians are after us!)" I immediately being to drag Yusei past the shadows, who fell into step with me quickly; once in the same tone of darkness as the other two, I could barely make out the weapons they carried glinting in the tones of light that reflected of the walls in the tunnels. We moved as quickly as I dared to move with my cargo; his breathing had become shallow and labored while his body temperature was becoming exponentially higher: a fever must have set in.
The smooth travelling did not last long however as one or two of our pursuers began to shoot blindly down the hall and I stumbled as a bullet nicked my ear, Yusei gasped in agony as the misstep jolted his wounded body and the two shadows' heads snapped in the direction of the noise,
" (Is he injured very badly?)" The soft voice asked quickly, his concern and fear practically palpable,
" (He almost died yesterday when a shard of his rib punctured his lung…)" the shadows hissed with anger, " (I was able to patch him up that time, but Adrik took another round with him before we managed to escape.)" no hiss, no gasp, or exclamation of anger and displeasure…just silence.
" (You have turned against your own?)" The Irish voice questioned, suddenly wary and gentle; I almost nodded before I remembered that they couldn't see me as we moved towards the exit.
" (They were never mine to claim.)" There was a bitter tone that even I almost flinched at, but what I said was true: these men were not men I could call brothers. Another bullet whizzed by and clinked into the brick wall ahead of us before we turned past said wall; almost to freedom.
XxPOV CHANGE: YUSEIxX
Someone was pulling me along, each step sending fire, lightning, and ice through my body and I may have gasped but I'm not sure, but this treatment continued for some time. 'Don't they know I'm hurt? Why can't they just leave me alone?' As if the one dragging me heard my thoughts, a hand covered my mouth as we held still; suddenly I was being lowered to the ground and the hand cut of any sound I might have made, moving to sit was horrible but once I held still yet again, I nearly shuddered with the pleasure this respite from some of the pain brought.
Footsteps receded a short distance from my position, a pause of silence, and then the unmistakable sound of a blade entering the flesh reached my ears…what was happening around me? I tried to open my eyes but they wouldn't react immediately, and when they did open it made no difference at all: the world around me was just as dark as when I had my eyes closed…eye closed…my left eye was held shut.
Pulling my arm up, and repressing the cry that would have come with moving it, I felt the dried blood in the shallow slash over my eye…what happened? I…I don't remember very well.
Blazing white pain lanced through me as I was pulled back onto my feet and darkness tugged at my consciousness, stealing my breath so no sound came from my throat. We walked on and on and on but there seemed to be no end to this nightmare; every step I took was something like smashing my own leg with a mallet, pain shooting up every time I used it which occurred every step. My back and ribs were on fire; my eyelid was throbbing in time with my jaw and right wrist, and the bullet wound, which was still unhealed, screamed bloody murder at me with lava seeping into it.
We stopped so suddenly I nearly wept with happiness, but instead I focused on the sudden voices I heard around me… 'Huh, that was Russian but it sounded Irish…weird…' I searched my befuddled, cloudy mind for anything that could tie in the two pieces of information but stopped when I discovered how badly my head hurt as well.
And then, of course, we were walking again; the pulling got harder at one point and I whimpered at the pain so softly that only the one doing the dragging could hear and we slowed down. Walk….walk….walk…breathe….breathe….breathe… my train of thought did not consist of much anything else at the moment other than that fact that breathing was getting harder and I could feel the familiar tickle in my lungs and throat again. Something zipped by my head and for a split second I registered the scent of blood before whomever was holding me staggered and every wound, external and internal, made itself known to me immediately. I gasped at the strength of the agony that ran up and down my whole shaking form, the voices from earlier were heard and the faster pace I had hoped we had given up on returned to torment me. 'What is happening?'
XxPOV CHANGE GHOSTxX
We were practically jogging now, the exit could barely be seen as slivers of outdoor light slipped through cracks in the wood; Yusei was whimpering, gasping, choking, groaning…and every sound ripped from his throat was like a stab to my own heart. This is my brother being hurt by an attempt to save him from more hurt and the only way to get him away was to cause this extra hurt…crazy how that worked out.
The enemies behind us seemed completely unaware of Twitch and I so far, a miracle, but they were gaining quickly and the young boy who carried Yusei could tell this as well; his voice marked him around my age and from the tones hidden in it: he was like me. Lost when someone he cared for died and left him in this world…the only difference was that he was all alone whereas Yusei had taken the full weight of my loss onto his shoulders as well to travel with me.
Whoever this man is, I will do whatever I can within my power to thank him for what he is doing. So lost in these thoughts I was that when he stopped short I was completely unprepared.
" (Take Yusei and give me another gun.)" Twitch took our friend for the soldier and I handed him an automatic handgun, " (now go; the exit is only a few more paces from here.)"
" (What about you?)" He pushed us both in the direction of the entrance we had come through,
" (I will buy you the time you need. Now go!)" I wanted to object to this but in his voice I heard the stubborn, unswayable notes of one who had accepted death already.
" (Thank you my friend; you will never be forgotten.)" Twitch and I turned away and ran the rest of the way to the hatch; as we were clambering out into the open area the sounds of gunfire could be heard from within.
XxPOV CHANGE YUSEIxX
Strange sounds were finally making sense again: I could hear Bozidar speaking and Ghost and Twitch answering back. I didn't really register what they were saying but I knew they were speaking of something serious, fatal even. With these thoughts in my mind, I did not expect to be slung over someone's shoulder and jolted at a horrible pace; it robbed my breath and no sound did I give until I felt frigid air on my face and could smell the forest that must be around us. It was too bright to open my eyes…eye immediately but it adjusted much faster than I expected and I was met with four horrified faces that belonged to my teammates. I was confused for a moment as they all stared at me before asking the only thing I could croak out,
"what?" none of them spoke for a moment and then Brains muttered something into a walky-talky on his shoulder; instantly I heard a helicopter approaching our area and before long I could see one of Churchill's choppers slowly making its way down to the snow.
"You look awful Laddy." Twitch very carefully put a hand on my semi-good shoulder and slowly walked around to see my back, "The medics are gonna 'ave their work cut' out for them when we get you back." The others mimicked the Irish man and made similar comments as we all waited to escape the area; I looked back to the hatch we had emerged from and wondered why there was only six of us up here at the moment…shouldn't there be seven.
My thoughts were interrupted when one of the others called my name and I turned to look at them, but something in the forest around us caught my eye: a dark shape, hunched over with some long extension pertruding…towards…me…
I barely acted in time when the bullet rang out and hurtled my way, diving towards my squad I felt the projectile enter my knee as I felt the bones and tendons snap and shatter to make room for the forceful intruder. The pain of the newest wound and all the older ones was too much and darkness lapped the edges of my mind, although I barely registered hands placing me into the air vehicle and returning shots being fired into the underbrush by Churchill as he cursed because he knew he wasn't hitting anything. Someone applied pressure to the open wound and that is when I could resist no longer and allowed myself to slip into oblivion.
Author's Note-well there we go! Yusei is free and now you all know HOW and WHEN he received the bullet wound that messed up his knee. We also know most of what occurred with Yusei's torture in the hidden base and that he HAS to be hiding more scars…how will the others react? And where is Adrik?