Chapter 27 / Out of the Shadows
Together, they raced double-time back the way they had come, tracing their way back using the arrows Anna had made. No other explosions came, but there was a low rumbling noise that echoed from somewhere in the deep that hastened their way. Before long, they rounded the corner back to the supply depot, where the curious sight of daylight greeted them.
They stopped in their tracks when they suddenly heard voices from around the corner. Elsa and Anna pressed themselves against a wall while Kristoff took cover on the side opposite to them They clicked off their flashlights and removed their respirators.
"Shh shh shh!" Elsa shushed as she peered around the corner.
"You shh shh shh!" Anna shushed back.
"Guys!" Kristoff whisper-yelled. "Shh!"
Ahead, the light of the afternoon sun was pouring in through the now open bunker door. It had been blasted off its hinges and lay on the ground in a smoking pile of bent and twisted iron. A small retinue of armed men were making their way slowly in, aiming their flashlights that were mounted on their weapons around the interior of the bunker entrance.
"That's not good," Kristoff ducked back behind the wall.
"What is it?" Anna asked quietly.
"We've got company," Elsa warned.
"What? How?" Anna asked, crouching in front of Elsa as she tentatively peeked around the corner. "Crap. Who the hell are these guys?"
Far ahead of them, the armed men, numbering about six in total, were fanning out and slowly proceeding towards their position.
"Fan out. Search the complex. Their climbing gear is still outside, so they still must be here," a voice called out. "Alive or dead doesn't matter. The boss just wants them out of the picture."
"Well… what do we do?" Anna asked.
"They've got us cornered… ' Elsa replied.
"Just follow my lead," Kristoff said, gesturing for them to move silently as he slunk out from cover and crept forward.
Between the numerous stacks of crates and parked vehicles, there was plenty of cover to use that offered them concealment and afforded them the opportunity to sneak up on their foes undetected.
The group of armed men had split off in different directions, spreading out as they carefully searched the entrance of the bunker complex. A lone gunman was approaching a pile of sandbags that Kristoff was kneeling behind as he lay in wait. He silently gestured towards Elsa and Anna for them to stay put and mouthed, "I got this."
The gunman paused on the opposite side, inspecting a pile of nearby crates when Kristoff shot up, grabbed the man by his collar and punched him square across the jaw. Then, he used his strength to drag the man over the top of the sandbags before he could react and slammed the back of his head into the ground, knocking him out. In the span of a few seconds, Kristoff had already quietly dispatched one of the gunmen.
"Nice and quiet," Kristoff whispered. "Just like that."
Across the way, Elsa and Anna nodded their understanding and departed from their cover, heading towards the nearby half-track that was parked off to the side.
Another gunman was advancing on their position, shining his light through the windows of the trucks he passed by. He paused and climbed on the wheel by the back of the truck, peering into the cargo bed as he faced away from Elsa and Anna, unaware of their presence.
The sisters nodded silently to each other, then separated as Anna broke off and tiptoed down the opposite side of the half-track. At the same time, Elsa slowly inched forward until she reached the front, just a short distance shy of the gunman. She peered around the corner and spotted Anna in a similar position, lying in wait.
"Psst," Elsa whispered.
"Huh?" the gunman whirled around. "Who's there? Weiss? Are you playing tricks again?" he walked over to where Elsa was hiding.
With his back turned towards Anna, she leapt out of the shadows and wrapped her arms around his neck and tightened them as she held him in a chokehold. He gasped in surprise and as he opened his mouth to call out for his allies, Elsa darted outwards and kicked him in the diaphragm, forcing the air out of his lungs and silencing him. He fell to his knees then quickly passed out under Anna's grasp, and fell limp. Anna released him and he slumped over onto the ground.
A flashlight passed over their position, then snapped back and lingered, causing Elsa and Anna to freeze for a moment before it started it waving about erratically. In front of them, they could see Kristoff holding another gunman in a chokehold as he rendered him unconscious. He had struck at just the right time before Elsa and Anna were discovered. As he laid the unconscious gunman to the ground, he gave the sisters a thumbs up before slinking away.
"That was a close one," Anna muttered.
"Look out!" Elsa whisper-yelled as she dashed forward and pulled Anna back behind the truck.
A pair of gunmen were passing by when Elsa spotted them. She pulled Anna out of sight and held her arm protectively over her chest as it heaved up and down. She felt the gentle swell of Anna's breasts brush against her forearm, igniting a trail of chilly goosebumps along her skin. Elsa withdrew her arm as if she had been burned.
Anna missed the contact immediately, and even felt the peaks of her breast begin to stiffen and rise in response. What the hell? She thought, then remembered their precarious position.
She did not know why her body had responded the way it did to Elsa's touch. Perhaps it was a mixture of the cold, the danger, or the strange and unknown desire that had been growing steadily in the presence of her older sister. In any case, it certainly was not the time nor the place to dwell on it.
The pair of gunmen had nearly passed them by, when a string of shouting followed by gunfire split the air. They stopped in their tracks and raced towards the shots.
"Contact! Open fire!"
Deciding to forego stealth, Elsa and Anna shot out of the shadows and engaged the pair in a short melee. Surprised as they were, each of the gunmen were unprepared for Elsa's boot heel that found one's face, nor Anna's pistol grip that slammed into the other's head. They crumpled quickly beneath their combined assault, barely able to retaliate before each of them were dispatched by another flurry of rapid blows delivered by the sisters.
Elsa and Anna looked up in time to see Kristoff running out under a hail of bullets and diving over a pile of crates. He peeked out and took aim with his revolver, placing a well aimed shot between the eyes of another gunman leaning out from behind a pillar. A volley of return fire slammed into his position, forcing Kristoff to shrink back down.
Just then, four other gunmen came running into the bunker from outside, having heard the commotion within. They spotted Elsa and Anna standing above two of their fallen comrades and opened immediately. The sisters ducked, and ran towards Kristoff's position until they reached a pile of sandbags adjacent to him.
"So much for nice and quiet huh!" Anna shouted to Kristoff over the gunfire.
Kristoff fired blindly over the crates with his revolver until it clicked empty. "You can yell at me later, now can you please shoot something!" he yelled as he snapped open the cylinder. Hot brass sprung out as he inserted fresh rounds.
Elsa withdrew her pistol and sprung up, taking aim and squeezing off a few rounds at the nearest gunman. He fell over dead, and the remainder of the shooters split their fire as they pinned down the trio. Three of them remained, with two of them providing covering fire as another flanked their position.
Anna spotted the flanking gunman then withdrew her pistol and took aim. "Kristoff! Duck!" she yelled.
"Wha- woah!" Kristoff turned and knelt down, shielding his head with his hands when he saw Anna aiming in his direction.
Once he was out of the way, Anna fired until the gunman dropped. As he fell, he let loose on his trigger and fired erratically, causing an errant bullet to bounce off the ground and whiz by her ear. She flinched from the bullet that just passed by her and crouched back behind cover.
Elsa ducked back down, sliding the empty magazine out of her pistol and slotting a new one in, then she pulled back on the slide to chamber a new round.
With the rest of their allies dead, the two remaining gunmen were overcome by a surge of fury and rushed forward, abandoning their cover. One of them leapt over the crates where Kristoff was kneeling and walloped him over the head with his fist. The other charged towards Elsa as she reloaded, and before she could take aim, he grabbed her pistol and wrenched it out her grasp. He raised his own weapon in the air, and meant to bring it down on Elsa when Anna caught his wrist and pushed him back against the sandbags.
Anna struggled with the weapon in the man's hand, pointing it up and away as he fired off continuous shots in an attempt to shoot her. Elsa recovered, and drove her knee into the man's stomach. Anna followed up by headbutting him in the nose. The gunman backed away from Anna, and Elsa used the opportunity to deliver a final blow by spinning on her foot and striking out with her other, dropping him with a roundhouse kick to the face.
"Guys! Agh… little help!" Kristoff shouted as he struggled in his opponent's grasp.
Elsa picked up her pistol and took aim. "Get down!" she shouted.
He repeatedly drove his elbows hard into his opponent's sides, causing him to release his grip. "No, wait, WAIT!" Kristoff shouted as he held up his hands and bent over.
Elsa dropped the final gunman with a single shot to the chest and he fell on his back, dead.
"Are you two CRAZY!" Kristoff rose up and shouted in indignation. He patted the top of his head twice then jabbed a finger at Elsa and Anna. "You could have blown my head off!'
"We saved your life," Elsa countered.
"You're welcome!" Anna added cheerfully.
Kristoff dipped and shook his head. "Let's just get the hell out of here," he sighed heavily.
"Hold on a second… " Elsa held up her hand as she knelt to retrieve her pistol then noticed the uniform worn by one of the bodies. She turned him over, and revealed the logo of the Westguard company emblazoned on his uniform.
"Oh crap," Anna muttered.
"Yeah… crap," Kristoff muttered and ran a hand through his hair. "What the hell do Westguard goons want with us?'
"It's Hans and Weselton," Elsa said. "They must be after the grail, same as we are."
"Great! That's just great," Anna tossed her hands in frustration. "So what? Those two assholes are working together and now we've got competition?'
"Looks that way," Kristoff rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. "We better hightail it outta here, come on."