" Deal With The Devil "
Day 2 - 06:23:56
CSgt Gareth 'Gaz' Riley (KIA)
22nd SAS Regiment
Soviet Internment Facility, Siberia
He wasn't worried when the door to his cell opened…he was long past being scared. However he wasn't past being surprised.
Gaz was certainly surprised when the door was swung open fully and three individuals walked toward him wearing special forces combat gear and civilian cold weather clothing.
"Colour Sergeant Gareth Riley of the SAS, informally known as Gaz or Bravo Five" the man who Gaz assumed was the leader spoke with a slight Russian accent.
"Anatoly guard the door, Svetlana look him over" One of them walked outside and swung the cell door shut.
The other a woman walked forward and knelt beside Gaz, producing a metal instrument.
Gaz recoiled instinctively from her but she placed a hand on him "Do not worry, it is only a stethoscope"
Removing her goggles and face mask to reveal delicate facial features and the first caring eyes Gaz had seen in what seemed like forever.
Lifting up the tattered rags he called clothes she examined his physical state, dark blue eyes shifting from laceration to burn, to bruise, to scar.
"He is severely malnourished, appears to have several broken then improperly reset bones, Multiple lacerations, burns, and bruises too" She placed the stethoscope on his chest and waited several seconds while Gaz breathed.
"His heart rate is slower than average" She turned her attention to his face.
"Blind in left eye, vision normal in right" Her fingers traced the scar tissue across his face and scalp.
"Is this a gunshot wound? She felt heavy scar tissue on the back of his head. "He might be suffering from sever brain damage"
She stopped examining him and looked in his eyes. " Are you?"
"I have trouble moving certain delicate motions in my right arm" Gaz told her.
"Can you fight?" The lead Russian asked.
"Who the hell are you?" Gaz looked the man over.
The man took off his ski mask and knelt down producing a pistol, which he shoved under Gaz's chin.
"Do it, you'd be doing me a favor" Gaz smiled at the man, noticing also he had one blue and one green eye.
"Very well, I am Vladimir Makarov leader of the Russian ultranationalist terrorist cell, Prodigy of the great Imran Zakhaev, and I can be your savior or your murderer" Makarov holstered his pistol.
"Why do you need me?' Gaz accepted Makarov's hand and got to his feet.
"You know of Imran Zakhaev?"
"Yeah I know him, he's the one who made me so damn pretty"
Makarov's face twisted in anger then he regained composure "You served with Price and his men on several missions to destroy his organization"
Gaz nodded "But you might as well kill me right now if your asking me to help you kill on of my best friends"
"Price is dead, but I need your help in other matters" Makarov handed him a manila dossier.
"Why should I trust a terrorist, and above all someone who worked for Zakhaev" Gaz thumbed through the dossier to catching sight of a an American General named Shepherd, and members of a task force called "one four one".
"Because, I can save you from this hell your stuck in, and this will sound cliché but when its over you will walk a free man" Makarov pulled some clothes out of a backpack and offered them to him.
"Fine, but on one condition…I wont kill any Yanks, Brits, or civilians for you"
Makarov smirked "done"
Gaz grabbed the clothes and began to change when Makarov grabbed a pistol and several clips out of the backpack and handed them to Gaz.
"What's this for?' Gaz held the pistol, a Colt 1911 forty five caliber handgun.
"Well I was planning on killing the sick sons a bitches who ran this place…but if you don't want to" Makarov smiled
Gaz turned to face Makarov and for the first time in his life, he actually felt like shaking the hand of a terrorist.
" Devils Advocate "
Day 2 - 08:12:32
Vladimir Makarov
Ultranationalist Terrorist Cell
Soviet Internment Facility, Siberia
There are only two kinds of people in this world Vladimir, Allies and Adversaries…no friends.
Imran Zakhaev's words echoed in his ears as Makarov watched the SAS operative wreak a path of death and destruction throughout the facility.
Only tell them what they need to know, no more, no less
And Makarov had done just that, he had given the man enough reason to help him but not so much as to turn him against Makarov.
Makarov was sure the man was smart enough to know that when it was over he would probably be killed.
But as Makarov watched Gareth Riley executed a trembling Russian scientist blowing his brains out onto the floor his eyes filled with rage and bloodlust, Makarov actually considered letting the man live.
Gaz reached into his pockets and grabbed another clip, slamming it home into his pistol.
Moving his gaze over to another scientist whimpering under a table he grabbed the man with his good arm using the other to shove the pistol in his mouth.
"I know you…do you remember me" Gaz smiled
The man screamed something incoherently tears and spit falling to the floor.
"Of course you do, power drills, scalpels, hot irons…laughing while I begged pleaded for mercy" He threw the man to the ground.
The scientist babbled something in Russian and Gaz turned to Makarov "What is he saying"
Makarov smirked turning to the scientists who was growing hysterical "he says he is sorry, he was forced to do it"
"Bullshit!" Gaz pulled the trigger shooting the scientist in the knee.
Blood stained his trousers as the man cried and tried to get up, only to be kicked down by Gaz.
"He says he doesn't want to die" Makarov translated
"Well I did" Gaz put another round into the mans remaining knee
Now smiling spewing spittle out of his mouth the man began to scream.
"He says he curses you, and no matter how far you run, no matter what hell you go to, may you never find peace"
Gaz stood there silent, he imagined this moment so many times in his head but now it seemed…different.
Makarov watched this spectacle a grin on his face.
"May you find peace in whatever hell accepts you" Gaz pushed the barrel of the pistol into the scientist's forehead, pausing for a moment he fired spattering himself with the other mans blood.
Anatoly smoked a cigar in the corner while Svetlana's eyes were glued to the dead man.
They had massacred the entire facility, the scientist, the guards, and when they ran into the inmates suffering and unable to continue…they even provided the coup de grace ending their suffering.
Gaz had laid eyes on experimentation, and torture devices he had never imagined, all this time he thought he was in hell, many were far worse off.
They destroyed their machines of death and their meticulous notes they had created.
Gaz had discovered that they were a old world war two science detachment created to help turn captured Nazi's and Russian criminals into brainwashed soldiers for the red army.
Loving their work so much they continued on after the war ended.
Makarov motioned for Anatoly to take Svetlana to the chopper, walking over next to Gaz he put a hand on his shoulder. "It feels good doesn't it, killing the men who have wronged you"
"Get your hand off me Makarov, this is just business you and me"
Makarov removed his hand "of course Mr. Riley…just business"
His whole time spent in this hell had finally reached its ultimatum and he had killed all of the bastards who caused him to suffer the past four years, and when he should have been jubilant, he was sad. Though he couldn't understand why.
Rage spent, and adrenaline no longer coursing through his veins, Gaz fell to his knees, his wounds pressing in on him.
Letting Makarov help him to the chopper, he felt the icy grip of the Siberian wasteland even after he took a seat aboard their Sikorsky chopper, and pressed his face against the glass.
Watching as they flew away he was happy, and sad, and even though he was free, he had a sinking feeling he was escaping from one hell into another.
Authors Note - Personally I would have tried to make another chapter about Gaz in confinement, but I fell as I would lose the few readers I have.
I attempted to make the prison break seem reasonably realistic. Only one man would have the contacts and assets available to locate a confined SAS operative, and have the will to go and get him. Well Makarov fit the bill, and the fact that he would use Gaz for personal gain then deceive him fits his MO quite nicely.
After this chapter I am experiencing difficulty on how to write the next. I'm sure I will figure it out sooner or later
Reviews are always helpful, and my thanks to Liontalon and TarTaricing, glad your reading.
Suggestions are always welcome.
- Anticleides