Chapter 6: The Belly of the Beast

Cammie slowly became aware of cold, hard concrete beneath her and she struggled to remember where she was or why she would fall asleep on the ground. Her thoughts were jumbled, her mind clouded. She struggled to open her eyes. Her limbs felt like fifty-pound weights. She sat up slowly, still feeling dizzy and disoriented. Her vision was out of focus but slowly cleared. Next to her, Bex groaned and sat up too, going through the same process. Liz and Macey were already semi-awake and on their feet, looking around the room confusedly. Cammie's eyes widened as she realized where they were. They were in the belly of the beast. Scorpia had them!

"Where's Alex?" Cammie slurred. Macey pointed to a corner of the room where Alex was lying in a heap, not moving.

"Cammie, we can't find an escape route," Liz informed, her eyes wide and fearful. Cammie didn't reply. Her head hurt and she was scared. What was Scorpia planning for them?

"Cammie?" Macey asked. Cammie looked up at her. "Cammie, what do we do?" Her voice was calm and her gaze was completely trusting. Cammie glanced down at her hands to find them shaking violently.

"I. . . I don't know what to do," she admitted. She felt overwhelmed. The girls were all looking to her for guidance and she didn't know what to do. Alex though, Alex would know. Mr. Solomon had mentioned that he'd looked like he'd woken up in an interrogation room before. She moved over to him

"Alex, wake up. Alex!" The voice was far away and dulled, like it was coming from underwater. Alex struggled to make it out.

"Alex, wake up! We need your help! Come on Alex!" Someone was shaking him. Slowly he became aware of concrete underneath him. He groaned, struggling to open his eyes. Why was this so hard? His thoughts had yet to connect. The hands touching him made him feel uncomfortable. He tried to push them away but they were insistent. Finally, he managed to get his eyes open. His vision was blurry at first, and he was having trouble identifying what was around him. There was a woman leaning over him and he focused on her. Slowly, her image became less blurred.

"Cammie?" Alex slurred. "Wa's goin' on?" He blinked a couple times, trying to focus his mind. "Did we do it?" Cammie nodded, a worried look on her face. Alex smiled and reached up, trying to smooth out the worried wrinkles on her forehead with his hand. "Then why do you look so worried?" He dropped his hand and glanced around the room, his thoughts becoming clearer by the minute, along with his speech. What he saw was a small concrete room with him, Cammie, and the other three girls. Everyone was staring at him.

"Oh, I see," he said, suddenly serious. He sat up painfully. He could already feel a headache pounding just behind his eyes. "Escape routes?" He asked. Liz shook her head. "Right, of course not. We tried the door right?" He got a nod for the affirmative. He looked at their assets. They were nonexistent. Scorpia had of course, taken all of his gadgets. "Well this sucks," he muttered. "Only one thing to do then, I guess."

"What?" Cammie asked. Alex gave her a grave look.

"Wait."

They didn't have to wait long. Less than five minutes later, the door burst open and two burly men with AK-47s came in, shouting in Russian for them to get to the back wall. A smaller man followed. He was slender and short with a balding head. He had glasses that slid down his nose and when he pushed them back up it made his eyes look the size of dinner plates.

"Sorry for the rudeness of my men," he apologized in almost perfect English, not looking sorry at all. "They get excited by the prospect of guests."

"I'm sure," Alex murmured. Then, a little louder, "Guests? Really? Call me crazy but I don't think most people lock their guests in a small concrete room." The man smiled dangerously.

"Ah, the famous Alex Rider. I've heard a lot about you since taking a job with Scopria. Impressive, very impressive. However, I'm a little disappointed that you brought little girls as back-up."

"Hey!" Bex yelled. "I'll show you back-up you jackass!" She started toward him but Alex grabbed her wrist and pulled her back behind him. She still looked pissed but she at least had the foresight not to advance on him again.

"Very wise Alex. Wouldn't want your troop of teenage girls to get hurt now would we."

"I'm sorry," Alex said cockily. "You seem to have me at a slight disadvantage. You know my name but I don't know yours." The man nodded.

"Very well. My name is Nickoli Klokov. I will be the one responsible for breaking you and eventually killing you. Shall we start? Come with me." Klokov turned away, heading for the door but Alex didn't follow.

"How about not," he goaded. "I don't particularly feel like torture today. But since we're guests, how about a couple smoothies and some ice cream?"

"Alex, should you really be egging them on?" Cammie murmured into his ear.

"No whispering!" One of the burly guard shouted, swinging his fist at her. Alex caught it in midair and twisted, easily flipping the guard onto his back.

"Don't touch her!" He growled. "Don't touch any of them!" In his controlled fury, he had his sole focus on the guard at his feet and never saw the second swing his weapon. The gun connected with the side of Alex's head with unbelievable force. Alex grunted, barely managing to avoid falling on the first guard who rolled and scrambled up. Alex saw black at the edges of his vision and he struggled onto his hands and knees, dizzy. The first guard wasted no time in a well-placed kick with steel-toed shoes to his ribs as revenge and Alex cried out as he heard one crack. His body was flipped over with the force of it and the spots at the edge of his vision got worse as Alex gasped for the breath the kick had knocked out of him.

"Alex!" Cammie exclaimed. He glanced up to find her worried eyes on him and Macey started towards the guards. Before she had even taken two steps, Alex held his hand out in the universal sign for stop since he couldn't be expected to say it. Liz grabbed Macey's hand and pulled her gently back. Alex rolled over on his hands and knees again. This time, the two guards let him struggle to his feet and he swayed there, light-headed and dizzy. He was dimly aware of blood flowing in rivers down the side of his head but the adrenaline had kicked in by now and slowed the pain's effect, though for how much longer he couldn't say.

"Now that we've gotten that out of the way, come along Alex," Klokov said. He motioned to the guards who grabbed hold of either side of Alex and forced him out of the room, slamming the door shut behind them.

"What do we do now?" Liz asked.

"Wait," Cammie replied, not taking her eyes off the door.

A/N: As promised, here is the next chapter. Sorry it's so short. Anyway, the action is starting to ramp up! Poor Alex though. Please read and review. Even if you have constructive criticism, I want you to review. I just want to hear from you all. That's what makes me a better writer!

Wolf out! ;)