CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

Miniscule surveillance cameras peppered the inside and the outside of the bus transporting Alexia Vadison and ten US Marshals to the airstrip. Two SUV's were escorting the bus— Vaughn was inside the first SUV while Nadia was in the second. Both cars were also fitted with cameras. Jack was sure that Mikhail Premenov will break Alexia out of custody. And he's sure he will be caught.

'Your son…your daughter… both in custody.'

The monitors showed different angles inside the bus and the scenery outside. One of the monitors shows their prisoner calmly looking out of the window, watching the greenery the bus is passing.

"We have a road block a hundred meters away." Vaughn's voice echoed in the conference room.

"Proceed with caution." Sloane commanded as he walked towards Jack's position.

Sloane glanced at him. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"He'll fall for it." Jack answered, "And we'll be a step closer to Irina."

"You did read what Sydney gave you, right?'

Marshall tried not to listen to his boss' conversation, but he had to admit that it is interesting. He tried to concentrate on the monitors, but Jack and Sloane's conversation is distracting him.

"And how did you know about that?"

"She thought I could convince you."

Jack glared at him, "I don't think-"

"Uh, sir?" Marshall interrupted. Both men looked at him.

Marshall opened his mouth and then closed it again. He's pointing at the monitors.

Suddenly, the sound of gunshots began to blast in the speakers of their monitors.

-x-x-x-

Their SUV came to a halt. Nadia began to give out orders to the agents accompanying her.

"But Agent Santos, the girl-"

"I'll get her." They stepped out of the car. Nadia could hear Vaughn's voice in her earpiece giving orders to the agents with him. "Cover me." She shouted and ran towards the bus.

-x-x-x-

"DOWN!"

One of them pulled her out of the chair and onto the floor, shielding her from the gunfire.

She felt wary of the situation. If this was her extraction team, they wouldn't be ordered to shoot anyone in broad daylight nor with real bullets. That was just plain suicide.

She tried to wriggle out of the pile, but the Marshals were preventing her from doing so. She can hear them shouting at each other, giving out orders. She needs to get away from this. This is not her brother's work.

Unexpectedly, the bodies shielding her from the bullets collapsed and fell on top of her. Her head hit the floor hard.

Once again, she tried to squirm her way out, but stopped when her head seemed like it was going to be dislodged from her neck. Heavy footsteps thundered in her ears and the voices, muffled as they were, echoed in the bus.

Fear started to creep in. She couldn't breathe. The US Marshals are dead—she can feel their blood trickling her back.

The weight on top of her suddenly lightened and she was forcibly pulled up to her feet.

A gun was shoved in her face.

"Where is she?" The man snarled. There are other armed men with him.

She blinked, confused at the question, "Where's who?" she could hear blazing gunfire outside.

"The Passenger." The man hissed.

-x-x-x-

"Shotgun, we can't get to Nadia. Don't let her get to the bus."

Both Sloane and Jack paced around the room. Someone else—most probably the Covenant received the fake communiqué. Nadia was in great danger.

"Where is the Passenger!" The man repeated.

Jack could only watch as his youngest daughter stared at the gun pointed at her. Both her wrists and ankles are cuffed. The chains are long, but her movements were limited.

"Phoenix, Retriever, move in."

-x-x-x-

She quickly assessed her situation. Three armed men against a defenseless and restrained girl. Her head is in line with a gun and there are six dead bodies, plus three live ones are blocking her way.

You'll die, you'll die, you'll die…

'No, I won't.' She thought as her heart pounded and adrenaline started to pump through her system.

She took her chance.

"WHERE IS SHE!"

As quick as lightning, she twisted the gun away from the man using the chains on her wrists.

The man was taken completely by surprise, but before he could react, he was shot between the eyes.

She used the body as a shield from the enemy inside the bus. She fired back; making sure that she hits their heads. The remaining men were wearing bullet proof vests.

The men fell down. She then positioned the gun so that the nozzle is facing the chains of her handcuffs. She turned her head away and pulled the trigger. The chains were obliterated almost immediately. The same process was repeated for the shackles on her ankles.

A movement by the entrance of the bus caught her eye. Raising the gun, she shot the intruder.

-x-x-x-

Nadia's heart jumped into her throat when she felt the bullet whiz past her, almost missing her ear. She looked behind her and saw an enemy agent falling out of the bus.

"You okay?" the girl asked as she walked over the corpses.

Nadia nodded her head, unable to speak. But the scene outside the window alarmed her. Men with M-16's poised their weapons at the windows of the bus.

"GET DOWN!" Nadia shouted and ran towards their prisoner.

She pulled her down to the floor just in time. The bullets shattered the windows, showering them with shards of broken glass.

"We have to get out of here." Nadia whispered, "Let's go. Keep your head down."

They crawled their way out of the bus, with Nadia leading. The broken windows cut their hands as they evade the downpour.

-x-x-x-

Marshall furiously tried to salvage the video feed as the monitors died one by one.

"Revert to the cameras in the SUV, Marshall." Sloane said.

Marshall followed the order and reverted to the SUV's. Sloane and Jack could only watch as their agents kill the adversaries and die in the exchange of gunfire.

"Uh, sir? I think they have a back-up coming." Marshall reported.

In one of the monitors, they saw Mikhail Premenov step out of the car and began shooting the Covenant's men.

The real extraction team has arrived

-x-x-x-

They're hiding by the side of the bus, waiting for the right time to move.

Sofya began pulling out the small pieces of glass that had become embedded in her palms. It was a painful process, but it they might get infected otherwise.

"What are you doing?" Nadia asked, quite alarmed with the blood that was flowing out of the girl's hands, "Are you insane?"

"It's nothing." Sofya answered as tears stung her eyes.

Nadia took out a handkerchief from her pocket and gave it to her. She then took the key to the shackles and began to unlock of what remains of the cuffs.

"What are you doing?"

"You won't be able to run properly if you have chains flying in your direction." Nadia answered.

"Nadia, what is your position?"

"We're by the bus." She answered and began to walk towards the rear of the vehicle. "Stay here." She ordered the girl and quietly crept away.

The gunshots had lessened, but were still echoing around the area.

Sofya looked at the handkerchief in her hand. It was soaked with her blood.

"Eew." She muttered. She then looked at the agent's back. She looks so much like her mother. Actually, she and another agent, the one she calls Overbite, resembles her mother a lot.

'Who did I see when I got hit by that car?' she thought as she squeezed the hanky.

Nadia went back to the girl's original position. "Let's go." She said and took the girl's wrist. They started to creep towards the back part of the bus.

Halfway through, Sofya stopped moving.

"Wait, someone's calling me."

"IYA!"

Nadia heard the name amidst the noise. "What did he call you?"

The girl wasn't able to respond when an earth shattering explosion pushed them off the ground.

-x-x-x-

Nathan watched in horror as his sister's body flew backwards from the impact like she was a rag doll. He started to bark out orders to his men. Do this, do that… the enemy fire seemed endless and if this insanity didn't stop… he didn't know what to do.

What he did know though, was to get his sister out of there.

He ran towards his twin, while at the same time, ducking the line of bullets.

She was lying on the side of the road, groaning in pain.

"Iya." He kneeled down and checked her for any injuries. "Iya."

She looked at him. Her face is riddled with numerous cuts and her cheeks are stained with dirt and tears.

"s, look at you. Are you okay?" He asked.

"No." She whimpered. "But hell—pull me up, Nate."

He shook his head. "Your arms are bleeding."

"PULL. ME. UP."

Nathan shook his head again but pulled her up. He made sure that he was supporting most of her weight.

"Where is she?" she asked when she was able to stand.

"Who?"

"The agent with me." Sofya looked behind her and saw men with masks taking her away. She seemed unconscious. "Oh no…"

"What?" Nathan asked and looked at the direction his sister is looking.

"They were looking for the Passenger. If they're taking her away, then that must mean she's the one they are looking for."

Nathan looked at her. "The Passenger... Rambaldi?"

"Yes." She answered and looked expectantly at him. She wants him to get her back.

"No, I have to get you out of here." Nathan said and started to tug her towards the opposite direction.

"Hey, I know this better than you." Sofya hissed.

"So what?" Nathan answered. "Your face, your arms and your hands are bleeding. Do you want to die?"

"But she'll die. Just get her back. Please?" she said.

He made a face. "Brat." He muttered but gave in to her request. He made her sit by a tree and gave her his extra gun and a handkerchief.

"Don't move." Nathan warned and ran after the men.

Sofya hid herself from view and tried to stop her wounds from bleeding too much. Tears ran down her cheeks as she dabbed her face with the cloth.

It then occurred to her that her brother might need assistance. Cursing silently, she slowly stood up and followed him.

-x-x-x-

"Where's Nadia?" Sydney asked when she saw Weiss running towards her.

"I don't know, but if they don't stop coming…" he breathlessly answered, referring to the Covenant's men.

"Sydney, I just saw Mikhail Premenov running to the woods. Vadison told him to go after Nadia. Don't worry; Vaughn's going to go to the girl's location."

She looked at Weiss. "She's in the woods."

They were running towards the trees when both agents heard a distress call in their ear pieces. It was Vaughn.

"I need back-up, paramedic… anything."

"It might take a while-"

"I don't have a while, Marshall!"

Weiss looked at Sydney. It could only mean one thing. "I'll get Nadia. Go."

-x-x-x-

"You idiot, what did you do?"

"You said to inject the girl-"

"Not this girl!"

Nathan could see an SUV on the dirt road. The agent Sofya was talking about is in one of the men's arms, unconscious and convulsing.

"Get the antidote."

"What?"

"The antidote, you ass!"

Nathan watched as one of the men injects the agent with… something. He said it was an antidote, but for what? He readied his gun and waited.

"Let's go."

He felt that it was his signal to move. Nathan fired two shots. The men fell to the ground, dead. Nathan then ran towards the agent.

"Hey." He said, but she is unconscious. He checked her pulse and found it slowing down.

'This girl… looks like mama.'

Nathan hoisted her up and started to carry her on his back. "Ugh, you're heavy." He muttered as he walked back to the busy street razed with gunfire and dead bodies.

He saw an agent running towards his position, looking around. From his appearance, he could bet that he is with the CIA.

'What now, Nathan?' a thought asked. Common sense told him to leave the agent behind, get his sister and escape, but this agent was most probably poisoned. The antidote might not be able to stop it completely.

Nathan decided fast.

"Hey! Hey!"

-x-x-x-

Sydney kneeled next to Vaughn, who is trying to stop the blood from continuously gushing out of Alexia Vadison's stomach.

"Oh my god, what happened?" she asked and took out a small first aid kit from her pocket.

"She was stabbed." Vaughn answered, "And she killed the person who stabbed her."

"She what!"

The girl started to choke. Her face is pale, almost lifeless. Her lips are almost blue and her pupils are dilated.

"Breathe, sweetie." Sydney whispered. Turning to Vaughn, she said, "She's losing a lot of blood."

"Paramedics are on their way." Vaughn answered and disposed of the bloody cloth. He then tore off part of his shirt and pressed it on the wound.

Sofya's eyes fluttered and closed. Tears started to stream out of her lids, burning the open wounds on her face. The sensation in her stomach is painful, but it had started to dull bit by bit. The sound around her was beginning to fade away slowly.

She was going to die.

"Mommy…"

In the distance, she heard her brother's voice, shouting—no screaming at her.

"Goddamit, Sofya. Wake up!"

Her eyes opened.

"Nate?" she weakly asked. His name could barely leave her lips.

He felt a little bit relieved. She's still alive, thank god.

"You're okay. Hang in there. The ambulance will be here." He said and took her left hand. Her blood stained his fingers, but he didn't care.

Sydney looked at the young man in front of her. Her brother… her brother is here.

"Check her pulse." Sydney said.

Nathan looked at the female agent, blankly. He didn't hear her.

"Check her pulse." She repeated. This time, he obeyed her. He took Sofya's wrist and felt her pulse barely flickering.

"I-I-its barely there." Nathan stuttered. 's, s, s. What am I going to do? She's going to die!'

The sirens of the ambulance are drawing close.

"Nate." Sofya called. He looked at her. "Tell mom, okay? The truth?" she squeezed her brother's hand. It was more for assurance than that of fear.

-x-x-x-

Marshall had tears in his eyes. Sloane is extremely worried. Jack is horrified.

"Sofya, don't you dare die on me!" They watched as the boy started to cry, while Sydney and Vaughn tried to 'save' the girl.

"Don't go… mom just came back…"

-x-x-x-

It all happened so fast. The ambulance arrived. The paramedics came. They were shoved aside but all of them asked questions about everything.

His head is spinning. He felt distressed and numb at the same time, fear seeping through him. How can he take this? How will his mother take this?

"Blood transfusion. We'll need lots of it."

He began to speak, but he couldn't hear the words. I have the same blood type, I can give my blood to her… what else did he say? He couldn't remember.

They tried to get more information from him. But he couldn't speak. He couldn't hear them. He can only see.

Her body was on the stretcher. She's not dead, but she's going to be.

Tears streamed out of his eyes.

His fault.

It was his fault.

-x-x-x-