Chapter 16 - The Raid

Present day - March

Dimitri POV

We had just finished our debriefing with Arthur. The Division was ready. I was ready.

Spiridon and I had moved closer to the ward line to meet up with the rest of the Division, and we were all now silently making our way back towards the Institution. When the trees started to disperse, Yuri, followed by his team, headed to the right to get to the front side of the building. I led my team to the left towards the smaller side door that seemed to be the entrance to the guardian quarters. Arthur's team continued forward towards the two doors connected to the library.

Six vehicles were just inside the ward line on the dirt road leading up to the Institution, waiting for our signal. The entire Division, and then some, were here tonight and ready for the raid.

We were still so far away that I saw the side door open before I heard the sound, and quickly raised my fist in the air. My team came to a halt, crouching further down. Nobody would be able to spot us yet as we were still hidden by the undergrowth.

A guardian stepped outside of the main building, and started heading towards the largest building in the yard. With a quick nod from me, Spiridon set off towards the unknowing guardian and I followed silently, staying in the treeline. Luck was on our side and the guardian continued to walk towards the forest instead of staying by the building. Spiridon grabbed him the second he stepped into the shadows of the trees, and wrapped an arm around his neck with the other one covering his mouth. He could barely struggle against the hold as his airflow was constricted.

The moon was giving us enough light for me to register some of his features. I was disappointed to find that it wasn't him.

A brief moment later he slumped down, his body slack, and I knew Spiridon hadn't killed him, only rendered him unconscious. We couldn't take the risk of him waking up, so Spiridon drugged him while I searched his pockets.

I found a piece of paper and almost couldn't believe our luck. It was a time schedule for the guardian rounds. I knew that this guardian was inexperienced by not securing this kind of information, and I glanced down at the unconscious guardian only to confirm that he was indeed very young, too young. I quickly scanned through the information and reported through my earpiece to Arthur. I was whispering the information, noting that there were only two guardians scheduled for duty at the moment. Or rather, Guardian Castile and one referred to as Chief Moore. In addition to them, I could make out six other names. I folded the paper and placed it in my pocket. While I was reporting to Arthur, Spiridon had found a set of keys.

I was sure that Chief Moore was the one I was looking for, the one I'd seen earlier kicking the girl. The one I met in Baia, and who took Rose away from me. But I couldn't feel the anger I had felt before, the anger that had consumed me for so many years. I was too focused. This is what Galina had prepared me for, and she'd done a damn good job doing so.

My team continued towards the building, no longer protected by the shadows. If someone would look outside the window they would see us. Perhaps they already had, and we didn't know what alarm systems they had in place.

Based on the information the time schedule had provided, Yuri's team joined us instead of trying to enter through the front door. It was more likely that most of the guardians were sleeping in their rooms instead of being in other parts of the building, as most of the lights were off and all the children had gone to bed. We needed more support on our side either way, there were more guardians than anticipated.

Spiridon got to the door first, unlocking it and slowly lowering the handle. A faint click was all that could be heard. Without breathing we listened for a moment before opening the door that allowed us to enter. Our assumption was correct and we had indeed entered the guardian quarters. We stepped into the empty T-shaped hallway that was slightly lit. Faint snoring could be heard through some of the doors. As we moved further inside like ghosts, I noted that there were in total nine doors in the hallway, two of them had a bathroom sign on.

Yuri stayed in the shadows by the entrance, his hand gun raised and ready in case someone would barge out of their room, covering our backs. We decided to deal with the three doors to the right from where we entered, and then take the left side, hoping we could do it silently one side at the time. Spiridon and I got to the door furthest in, and the others took the two other doors. On my mark we all opened the doors at the same time, as quickly and quietly as we could, and barged into the rooms. The room we entered was dark but the light from the hallway lit it up enough for us to see the bunk bed in front of us. A guardian with red hair looked shocked and was about to get up. He opened his mouth to alert the others but my hand silenced him, quickly pressing the tranquilizing gun to his neck. He fell back onto his bed. It shocked me how young he looked with his facial features relaxed as he laid there unconscious.

I turned around and saw that the two other rooms were also taken care of. Yuri motioned with his hand for us to move towards the left side. Instead of helping with them, I moved forward to the end of the hallway, Spiridon following me. I registered the doors opening behind me, some thuds and voices, but all in all Yuri's team was efficient.

We moved through a dark room that was clearly used as a common room. The walls were plain, except for one wall that was covered in some sort of paneling. It looked odd, it didn't match the rest of the room. Something about that wall felt wrong and I got a weird feeling in my stomach. Spiridon checked the adjourning tv room and I opened the door to the left of the kitchenette. I entered a control room that was empty. In my earpiece Arthur informed me that his team were making their way upstairs and that he had called in the vehicles, followed by Yuri's confirmation that in total six guardians had been incapacitated in the guardian quarters.

If we were to believe the time schedule, it only left us with one more. I wanted to turn around and get back to the guardian quarters, to check everyone we had taken down. I wanted to confirm that we got him, but now was not the time. Now was the time to find Rose. By this point I was also almost upstairs, on my way to help Arthur's team. Yuri's team would finish searching through the downstairs.

To the left of the staircase on the second floor was a door, slightly ajar. Someone had probably checked this area already but I stepped inside. It was an infirmary. It looked exactly like the one at the first Institution we had found. There was one at the Ardeal Institution in Romania as well and it was there, in the infirmary, where they had ra-". Focus, now was not the time. I swallowed bile and tried to settle the shame. The small rooms inside the infirmary were empty. They looked like prison cells, and hell, they were prison cells.

I stepped out of the infirmary. A brief shock swept over me when I saw all the scared children being escorted out of their sleeping dorms. On the outside I probably looked like the poised guardian I was known to be, but on the inside I was frantic. There were boys and girls of various ages, mostly girls, but only one girl who could be around Rose's age. With long steps I strode towards her. She was disoriented and almost walked into me before looking up at my face. I saw that her eyes were blue and absolutely terrified, and the disappointment swept over me. Before I could ask about Rose, Arthur gently nudged her to move forward. I knew that now was not the time to ask questions, we had to get them out of here.

I stepped into the room all the girls had exited from that was now empty. The light pink walls and beds didn't reveal anything to me. Was this the room where Rose had slept all these years while I was searching for her?

"Third floor cleared, it was empty," Spiridon confirmed in my earpiece. Where the fuck was she? She had to be here somewhere.

"Second floor cleared. In the process of escorting the subjects to the vehicles," Arthur said. The last of the children were already making their way down the staircase, followed by Arthur.

Yuri's voice crackled a bit. "First floor cleared. No sign of the last guardian."

My control was slipping. Where the fuck was she? This could not be happening again. Had she and the missing guardian exited the building while we were debriefing?

I went back downstairs and noticed that most of the guardians had already been dragged outside, hindering me from confirming that we at least got Moore. Although the children were our priority, we didn't want to leave the guardians behind. They would face relentless interrogation, hopefully revealing the location of other Institutions. Even though most of them also started out as victims, the majority had done despicable things earning them a place in Tarasov.

I looked at my watch. We had been in the building for less than eight minutes. While I was sweeping through the first floor I heard Arthur calling for me from outside.

"Belikov, we're leaving now. Do one final sweep but after that you need to get moving. Enemy back-up is on their way."

Fuck. Someone had managed to raise an alarm. I walked to the hall so that I could see outside through the open front door.

"How long do we have until they get here?" I asked.

"Fifteen to twenty minutes tops, they were spotted getting off the highway just now," Arthur said as he quickly got to the car on the driveway. It seemed that it was the last one to leave. Good, they needed to get these children as far away as possible. The sound of the car tires broke the silence around us as they drove away.

Spiridon came up to me, he'd heard what Arthur had said and we both looked at our watches. "Are we looking for the last guardian?" he asked. I nodded, unable to say anything. I was scared that my voice would crack. I couldn't believe I was about to fail again. He looked at me before he continued. "And the girl from the market? The one we saw earlier tonight?" I nodded again.

"I'll check the other smaller buildings in case Arthur's team missed something," he said before disappearing.

I stood alone in the great hall, taking deep breaths. I needed to calm myself down. On the fourth breath I exhaled calmly, and I had managed to compose myself again. Galina would be disappointed in me if she knew that I gave in to the fear. But the fear of losing her again was almost unbearable.

I thought I heard someone scream, snapping my focus into place and pushing the fear aside. It sounded like it came from below, and something flickered in my mind. Something that the baker had said to Spiridon when he investigated the Morois. Something about underground shelters. Although this building was older than the ones in the village, built most likely just after the Second World War, it could also have a shelter. Or at least some sort of basement. The problem was however that we hadn't seen any stairs leading downstairs.

One side of the first floor was entirely classrooms and other common areas. It was more likely that the entrance would be somewhere in the guardian quarters. I quickly went back there and scanned the common room.

I couldn't really explain it, but I found myself facing one of the walls. It had the paneling that stood out from the rest of the plain walls. I took a few steps closer and inspected the left side of the wall. My gaze landed on the wooden floor and I could see the scrapes from a door opening and closing. My hand quickly pried open one of the panels. I briefly wondered if I should inform Spiridon, but looking at my watch we were running out of time. Just over a minute had passed since my last status update with Arthur.

I stepped through the door and silently made my way down the stairs to the basement, moving fast, knowing that someone needed my help, that someone had screamed. The first two rooms were empty. I heard something, thuds, from behind the last door. It was a heavy steel door that was shut and I prayed that it wasn't locked. I didn't have time to think about a strategy, because when my hand touched the steel handle to the door I heard another thud, followed by someone whimpering in pain.

I swung the door open and barged into the room.

A thick veil of black fury swept over me as I took in the sight in front of me. A girl was lying on the ground, her lower body completely bare. Between her legs was a man on his knees, his- his disgusting thing out. He looked up at me surprised, and I instantly recognized who the man was, and this time I didn't hesitate. I didn't hesitate, because I was no longer in control of my actions. My hatred and disgust controlled me now.

I lunged towards Moore and grabbed him before he could properly engage. I threw him off the girl and before he even landed on the ground I started pounding him with my fists. His pants were still down as I hovered over him, the girl now behind my back. I should've probably checked in on her the first chance I got, but I wasn't in control.

He tried to fight me, but stood no chance against my fury. This pathetic waste of breath didn't even get a single good hit on me. My left hand found its way around his throat, and I pressed him down hard against the ground. I wasn't sure if he could breathe, but I didn't care. My right fist connected to his face, over and over again. He desperately tried to pry my hand away from his throat but couldn't do anything to get my hold to ease. I felt the initial hardness under my fist turn to something wet and squishy. I had no awareness of my surroundings, he was my only focus.

I had lost control, and it was a mistake.

My head filled with needles of sharp pain as something hard hit the back of my head, until I no longer felt anything.