And chapter 4 is here now. Oh, by the way, I don't own Alex Rider, yada, yada, yada. Also BTW, who else totally loves AH's new book Russian Roulette?! I'm obsessed with it. It makes me kindov embarassed how off my interpretation of Yassen's past was. But hey! At least I got the fact that he did once have a best friend right! That counts for something! Anyway, enjoy the story. Again, my apologies about taking so long in posting.
Chapter 4- Blood and Bombs
Its been five days since Anton left, and I'm getting worried. What if I was right about him betraying us? or what if he really is trying to help us, but his dad found out he's working with us? As these thoughts are running through my head, I'm sitting at the dinning room table, eating lunch. Except I'm so absorbed in my own thoughts, I've barely touched my food.
Something sharp stabs me in the arm, and I jerk away quickly. I glance up to see Alex sitting across from me, holding his fork in front of him.
"What was that for?" I exclaim, realizing he stabbed me with his fork.
"Well, you wouldn't respond to anything else. I tried waving my hand in front of your face, poking you, putting ice down your shirt…that last one was a joke," he adds, as he sees my eyes widen. "You wouldn't respond," he finishes.
"What's on your mind, Yassen?" John asks; he's sitting next to Alex, looking worried. Jeremy is sitting next to Alex on his other side; he's also watching me with worry in his eyes.
"Anton," I reply simply.
"He's been gone for five days," Alex says.
"That's why I'm worried. What if he doesn't come back?" I say, voicing my concerns.
"then we run, just like he told us to," John says.
"I…John…" I glance at Jeremy and Alex, then back at him. He blinks and nods in understanding.
"I know your worried about that but…" he trails off, unsure of how to finish.
"Wait, are you talking about…are you worried about us?" Alex asks, glancing at Jeremy and then back at me.
"Yes, Yassen's worried about you guys. Well, I am too…of course I am it's just…" John trails off, unsure of how to finish the sentence.
"Why?" Alex asks, and Jeremy nods in agreement.
"You two are just kids. Your not used to the lives we live. Alex," John says as Alex opens his mouth to interrupt, "Your not used to having to start over. It's different than just changing your name and assuming an identity for a mission. You have to become your cover. You have to become someone totally different, permanently." John explains.
"But I've done that before!" Alex exclaims.
"I haven't though. I think he's mostly worried about me," Jeremy says, glancing at me.
"You haven't been living the life we've been, you've been thrown into this world, our world. It's totally different from normal society. People lie, they betray each other, death becomes normal to us," I say, wishing there was an easier way to explain this to him.
"I'm growing used to it though," he says. "I used to think that spies were the good guys, and assassins weren't. my own dad's an assassin, and he's not that bad," Jeremy says with a small laugh.
"I've changed. Before Alex came into my life, I didn't care if I was killing a drug dealer of a saint. I did it-" I start, but Alex cuts me off.
"Because I was paid," he quotes me. I glance at him and roll my eyes.
"He's right, though; that's why I killed people. Not because they were good or bad, but for the money." I say.
"My point as, I'm getting used to this life. I'll be fine if we have to start over," he says. "We'll still be together, and as far as I'm concerned, that's all that matters,"
As he says this, a sudden realization comes to me. they start talking about where we'll move to if we do have to start over.
"Let's go to Antarctica. He'll never think to look there. Or better yet, Siberia! Hey, Yassen, you'll get to go home!" Alex says, but I barely hear him. I'm lost in my own thoughts, planning rapidly.
"I know what to do," I say with mixed feelings running through me. I'm excited that I finally have a plan, but the plan itself…
"Which is…what?" Alex says.
I glance at him, and decide not to tell him. I glance at John instead.
"I have to go on the run, alone," I say in Russian so Alex and Jeremy can't understand what I'm saying. Jeremy looks very confused, but Alex just looks annoyed.
"What's the big secret?" Alex asks.
Ignoring him, John looks at me. "What does that mean? Alone? Why?" he asks in Russian.
"Because, it's the only way to protect you. you can go on the run with…" I hesitate, wondering what to call the boys. "Cub and…" I need a code name for Jeremy.
"Tiger," John suggests, giving a slight glance at Jeremy.
"Sure. You can take them and I can go after Nikolei. I want to make sure your safe and he can't come after you and try and find out where I am through you," I explain.
"Yassen…" John looks at me sadly.
"It's the only other choice we have!" I exclaim.
"Lets at least wait until Anton comes back to make this decision. if he comes back and tells us he's succeeded, you wont have to do this," he points out.
"Quite speaking Russian!" Alex exclaims, looking extremely annoyed by now.
"Are we done, here?" John asks, still in Russian. I nod. Then I glance at Alex and tell him I'll do whatever I want, still speaking Russian. I smile and he curses me in French.
"Alex," John says, and Alex glances at him in surprise.
"Are you done, then?" Wanna tell us what that was about?" he asks.
"Grown up talk, kid," John says, throwing his arm around Alex's shoulder.
"About what? The plan, drugs, women, what?" he says, exasperated.
"It's a secret," John says, in a mysterious voice.
"Yassen!" Alex exclaims angrily.
"Don't worry about it," John says.
"But-" Alex starts, but John holds his hand up to silence him.
"If Anton comes back, it shouldn't be a problem," he says.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Alex sounds even more exasperated by now.
"It doesn't matter, Alex!" John says, somewhat fiercely. Alex looks slightly taken aback. He glances at me, and I glance at John. He looks slightly embarrassed.
"Sorry," he says quietly. "It's just…it's a last resort," he explains. Alex nods hesitantly, unsure why his dad responded so fiercely to his questioning.
We finally finish discussing Anton, and we wait for him all day. Anton still doesn't show up, though. finally, at 10 o'clock, we go to bed, but of course I can't fall asleep. I stay up and work out a bit, doing 500 push-ups and sit ups. Then I do half an hour of planks, going at 5 minutes at a time. I check the time; it's midnight. I still don't feel like going to sleep, so I decide to go out on a run. I lave a note on my pillow telling them that I've gone on a run and I'll be back in half an hour.
I go outside; the cool night air feels good, it's fresh. I set my watch for half an hour and I begin to run. I return home about a minute before my watch beeps. I turn it off and walk back inside the house. I walk back to my room; it's now 1:30. I sigh and lay down in my bed. I'm tired, but not enough to fall asleep. I close my eyes and try and slow my breathing so I can fall asleep. I finally start to sink into sleep, but suddenly, I'm wide awake again. I'm sitting up in my bed, every instinct telling me something is wrong. I hear a sound. I reach under my pillow and grab my gun. I open the door to my bedroom and start to creep out into the hallway. That's when I hear an unmistakable sound: the front door opening. It was locked, so how could someone get in? I turn the corner, and I pause in shock. Anton is sitting at the kitchen table, clutching his side with a dirty rag. He's bleeding profusely.
"What…John!" I yell, not remembering what time it is till I glance at the clock. It's 2 in the morning. Oh well. I race to John's room, he's sitting up, rubbing his eyes.
"Yassen? Uh…what's going on?" he asks groggily.
"Anton; he's back and he's hurt. Come quick," I say hurriedly.
He follows me to the kitchen, now wide awake. As soon as he sees Anton, his eyes widen in shock.
"I need warm water, bandages, a fresh town," he rattles off what he needs and I start getting things. A few minutes later, Anton is on the couch, with John kneeling next to him.
"It's a bullet wound. I need to pull it out. I hate to say this, but for once I'm glad Scorpia trained me in medicine. I need tweezers, a lighter, a knife, and a pencil." he says.
"Can we help?" Alex's voice sounds from behind us, I turn and see Jeremy and him standing next to each other. Jeremy looks a little shocked at the sigh of Anton covered in blood.
"yes. Find a knife and a lighter. I'll get the tweezers and the pencil." I reply instantly. A few minutes later, we all gather in the living room, watching John work.
"Alcohol," Anton mutters.
"No, we can get that later. Not now. right now we need to-" I cut John off.
No, John! Alcohol, to sterilize the blade!" I exclaim, remembering. I race out to the kitchen and retrieve some, coming back seconds later.
John begins by cleaning the wound, and then he starts to extract the bullet. First he dips the knife in the alcohol, then he runs the lighter over the blade. He hands Anton the pencil; Anton puts it between his teeth. John makes a small incision, and then he takes the tweezers and pulls out the bullet. He presses the warm cloth on the wound. I hand him the bandage, and he wraps it around Anton's side.
"Okay. Felling better?" he asks, giving a small sigh. Anton gingerly sits up, and we help him to turn so he can face us.
"Yeah, thanks," he says, trying not to grimace in pain.
"What happened?" I ask, fearing the answer.
"Nikolei found out your helping us, didn't he?" Alex says dully.
"No, but he thinks your coming after him, Yassen," he says, glancing at me.
"So if he didn't shoot you, who did?" Alex asks, confused. I'm a it confused myself. If Nikolei doesn't know Anton's helping us, then…it dawns on me. "Oh…I get it," I say. He smiles and nods.
"Get what? I'm confused" Alex exclaims.
"Anton convinced his father that he's helping him by pretending to help us. He really is helping us, though," I explain.
"So he's a double-agent?" Alex says.
"Yes, exactly," I reply.
"That still doesn't answer my question. Why did you get shot?" Alex repeats, looking at Anton.
"He shot me because he thought I was helping you, but I managed to convince him that I wasn't. In fact, right now, this is what he wants. He wanted me to come back here so you could heal me, so it would look like I risked my life for you. I'm supposed to tell you he almost killed me," he laughs.
"You could have died though!" John exclaims.
"Yeah, I know," he says. "My dad doesn't seem to care bout weather I die or not. Honestly, I think killing you is more important than his own son now."
John and I look at each other; the seriousness of the situation increases with that statement. If killing me is literally the most important thing in his life…that makes him very, very dangerous. That means that he'll do anything to succeed, no matter that the cost to him.
"John…" I say.
"No," its like he read my mind.
"I think it's the only choice we have. The only choice I have," I say, switching to Russian.
"What? You have a plan?" Anton asks. I realize he understood me, of course he would know Russian.
"Yes,"
"No" John and I speak at the same time. Anton glances back and forth between us.
"You've discussed this before then," he states, speaking in Russian again.
"Yes, and I think its crazy!" John says.
"John…" I protest.
"It's a good way to get yourself killed, which is what we're trying to prevent!" he says, glaring at me.
"What is the idea?" Anton asks.
"I split up from all you guys. You go into hiding, I go hunt Nikolei on my own. I don't know weather he'll come after me or you, but hopefully I'll be able to find him before anything happens. I'm sorry, but I think killing him will be the only way to stop him, especially since I'm all he's focused on now," I finish.
"No," Anton says.
"What?" I exclaim. I'm so surprised, I speak English by accident.
"I won't let you do it," he says, speaking in Russian and making me realize my mistake.
"What? Why?" I ask, careful to speak Russian this time.
"I won't allow it," he says fiercely. "It's too dangerous. I know your trying to protect us by splitting up from us, but we need to watch out for each other,"
"Yeah. Remember how Alex saved your life?" John points out.
"Yeah, and about got killed himself," I mutter, but I know they're both right.
"We're not going to let you run off on your own, and that's final!" Anton exclaims.
"Why are you so eager to keep me here?" I ask, suddenly very suspicious.
"Yassen! I am to, don't blame him," John says angrily.
"It's the only choice I have! It's the only option if-"
"If what? If your about to get killed?" Anton says, making me fall silent.
"This is a suicide mission for you," John says quietly. "And you know it,"
"There has to be something we can do…something else," Anton muses, thinking deeply/ "Have you talked to MI6 yet?" he asks.
"Yes, they say that arresting him will do nothing," I reply. "I called them yesterday,"
"Great," Anton mutters. I realize we're still speaking in Russian. Alex and Jeremy, in an attempt to get us to stop, are speaking in German.
"Alex, I know German, so that's not going to work," I say in fluent German. Alex scowls at me. I smile. I'm surprised Jeremy knows German; I wonder how he learned.
As if he's reading my words, he says "It as one of the languages they offered at the school I attended, so I took a class on it,"
"We could show him that we're just as powerful as he is," Anton says, interrupting our small talk.
"How? We're not," John says.
"We have MI6 on our side. Just because they won't arrest him doesn't mean they wont help us," Anton says. "Right?" he asks uncertainly.
"That's true. What are you suggesting we do?" John asks, leaning forward with interest.
"Well, we could do several different things. Just because he says he's not open to die doesn't mean he has no fears. We could start small; maybe blow up his car or something. Show him that we have the power to take him down," John suggests, catching on.
"It would definitely show him that we have power and resources," I say thoughtfully.
"So, if we're going to do this, we need to plan it," I say, switching to English.
"Do what? What are we planning? Is it going to work?" Alex immediately starts firing off questions. I hold up my hand to stop him.
"We're going to try and show Nikolei that we're just as powerful, if not more powerful, than he is. Hopefully if he sees what kind of damage we can do and know what resources we have access to, he'll leave me alone," I explain.
"Finally! Progress!" Alex exclaims. "What's the plan?"
"We're going to blow up his car," John says. he suddenly glances at Anton. "Uh…are you all right with that?" I mean…it's your dad we're talking about here,"
"As long as he's not inside it," Anton replies.
"No, killing him is still a last resort," I reply instantly, and he gives me a slight nod.
"All right, lets start planning. Yassen, what's the first thing we need to think about?" John asks me. He's testing me, as if we're preparing for a mission.
"John," I sigh, giving him a "your joking" look.
"Answer the question," he says, all business.
"Fine," I sigh. "We need to think about where we should blow up the car. Location is key,"
"Why?" John asks.
"Well, because we're trying to scare him. We need to do it in a location that will show him we can get close to him without him being aware of it," I say.
"Good. Where would be the best place to do that, then?" he asks.
"Near somewhere he thinks is safe. Like his house, somewhere that's secure, and somewhere that he cares about,"
John glances at Anton. "What is the one place Nikolei believes is safe from anything?" he asks.
"There's a warehouse a few miles away from his house; he drives there sometimes, usually on the weekends. It has all his guns, drugs, stuff like that. he sells that kind of stuff on the black market. There are security cameras all over, and there are guards there 24/7." Anton replies.
"So, the question is, do we target his car, or the warehouse?" John asks.
"The car. it's important to him. The security around the warehouse will be tightened up after that, of course, but I want to target that later," I reply.
"Whoa, you suggesting tat blowing up his car isn't going to be enough!" Alex exclaims.
"It won't be. That's why I'm going for it first. Next I think we'll go for the warehouse. We're going to make him watch his life get destroyed around him." I explain.
"I can see you've already got this plan very developed," John says, sounding slightly impressed and proud.
"That's what you trained me to do," I reply.
"We still need to plan how to explode his car. We can't just randomly make it happen, you know! We need to plan a rout into the warehouse, which is going be difficult," Alex exclaims.
"We need to chose an explosive device that's forceful," Anton contributes.
"Maybe. Since he was in the military, and the spy network, he'll be able to examine the explosion and figure out what we were trying to do. I think we should make an explosive device that suggests we're trying to cause as much destruction as possible," I say.
"Dynamite," John says.
"Where should we put it?" Anton asks.
"Um…in the car would be good," Alex says sarcastically.
"He's talking about where in the car. Not the ignition; that won't be good enough. I'm thinking….the gas tank would be good," John says.
"You do realize we're planning something illegal, right?" Jeremy says. we all turn and look at him.
"We realize that, but if MI6 agrees to help, then technically its not illegal. And they will agree to help," I say.
"Now, how are we going to break into the warehouse?" John directs the question at me.
"We need a blueprint of the warehouse. We need pictures of the cameras, security members…" I say instantly.
"How can we get hose?" Alex asks. We all glance at Anton.
"I can get them. My dad keep everything on a computer. I have a copy of every single file on it," he says.
"He pulls out a computer, turns it on, and his fingers start to fly across the screen. A few seconds later, he turns it around to face us. On the screen there is a layout of what I guess is the warehouse.
"The "x"s are where the security cameras are. They're color coded; the green ones are heat sensors. The blue one's are regular, the red ones have metal detectors in them; they can see if someone has a weapon. Oh, and there are flood lights where the circles are. The security guards are the triangles." he explains, pointing at everything he mentions.
"I suggest we go for the metal detectors first. They use X-ray technology, correct?" Anton nods, and I continue. "We can-"
"Hold on," John interrupts me. "How are we going to get inside and place the bomb?"
"I suppose driving in would be too simple. I guess one of us will have to walk inside, carrying the bomb in a led box or briefcase or something," I say.
"I'll do it," Anton says instantly.
"You?" I say, slightly surprised.
"Well…yeah. If Nikolei catches one of us, its better if it were me," he points out.
"All right. What about all the other security precautions? Will any of them be a problem?" I ask.
"If I'm the one going, then no," Anton replies.
"Good. Now all we have to do is get MI6 to help us," Alex says.
I'll call them again," I reply.
"You should call them now," John suggests and I nod. A few minutes later, are plan has been approved.
"They're going to get everything we need. We should be able to do it in a few days," I say after we hang up.
"Good. I'm looking forward to it," Anton says.
"So am I. I just hope it works." I reply. This is the best plan we've had so far. It could be the only option we have now.