The Vagabond War

by EnigmaticSerpent

Metro DLC Sam's Story Natasha is a bandit living in Vladivostok at the time when Sam is trying to get home. She enlists his help in the bloody clan war that her brother's clan is fighting with the other bandits. She has her own ideas. She is tired of losing her people and plots revenge on those who have wronged them, but she could have never predicted the consequences of her plans.

11. Counter Strike

Chapter 11: Counter Strike

I watched the dancing flames of the pyre in the shrimp pits. The last two hours passed in a blur as fires were extinguished and bodies collected in silence. I was in a daze, going through the motions without thinking, as dizzying thoughts of my new mission and ultimatum overshadowed even my grief for my friends. Of Oleg and his men defending the armoury, or how we just lost our entire stock of ammunition and weapons. My looming decision consumed my thoughts. How could I do it after all that happened? He returned to save my life, despite the option to abandon me for dead like Viktor had. He'd helped us fight. Most of all, we'd been getting along.

A knot the size of a fist gripped my chest, and it hurt to breathe. The smell of burning flesh didn't help, as Dima and Andrei threw another body onto the fire. I'd lost count how many had gone before it, after the hungry flames had consumed Oleg's half burned body.
No one would ever see them again. The last memory of them. They were my friends, so why couldn't I feel more than numbness at their deaths?

Too much death.

Maybe I had grown accustomed to it, maybe I'd stopped caring. How could I care when I had to kill Sam, or face exile? My hollow gaze followed the swirling arc of an ember against the inky sky. Exile meant one thing out here. Death. Everyone here would shoot me on site if we ever crossed paths again. I would be alone, without someone to watch my back while I slept, or to talk to during the long nights. As much as I wanted to be a one woman army, in reality, it wasn't possible. Anything for the clan, or so it should be.

Dima and Andrei tossed the last body onto the pyre, and I shook my head. I couldn't be here anymore. With one last solemn glance at the flames, the last sight I would have of my friends, I slipped away. With a grimace, I headed back to the main building. It would be just another death. I'd killed more than I could count. Then why was I so torn? I had my mission, and a consequence if I failed. That should be enough. But it wasn't.
Sam. His brown eyes filled my vision as I drifted through the still smouldering first floor towards the stairs. Everything reeked of smoke and there was heavy damage to large sections of the first floor and facade. I should care about it more, but Sam's smirk after his distracting joke weighed heavily on my mind. My breath caught in my chest again as I remembered the brush of his fingers over my hand and his body on mine as we sparred. I wouldn't forget that in a hurry.

Fuck.

I had to think about something else. The actual cause of all of this. Tom. His assholes had given us a good fight, but we were still here. They'd failed to kill all of us. My blood burned, over powering some of my numbness. Good, I needed that. He would wish they'd finished us. Now we were coming for him. I longed to see them bleed, longed to kill them, often imagining their deaths, all the grizzly ways a person could die.
Anger flooded me and I shoved open the door to my room. I froze as a foul smell worse than smoke made me gag. One of those grizzly ways to die had occurred on my bed. I groaned, clamping my hand over my face, remembering the bloody mess Seraph had left for me, and now it was putrefying.
No damn way.

With another groan, I collected the clothes that were drying by the window and hastily stuffed them into my pack before storming out. I was moving. There was no way I could deal with that. Well, at least a few spare rooms had opened up. Roman's room was a few doors down from mine. Being one of Oleg's men, he wouldn't need it where he was going, so I would use it instead. I sighed, forcing down the guilt. There was no point dwelling on it.
As I dumped my pack on the faded blue desk, I scowled at the well-thumbed pornography magazine left open there. I scoffed and grabbed the half full pack of cigarettes and the bottle of moonshine before slumping down on the bed to check and clean my wounds. When I was done, I lit a cigarette and lay on my back, thinking of Sam.

A while later, I sat restlessly at a table at the back of the mess hall. The twenty-three guys left in our clan, gathered around me, angry and ready for blood. My eyes drifted to Viktor, who was standing a short distance from Yuri at the front of the cavernous space. His sharp eyes darted around the room, face stony, but his gaze refused to meet mine. He'd been avoiding me all night. He held his shotgun, relaxed, but ready. Like a fucking guard dog.
I clenched my jaw. He wasn't the only one who had reason to be angry. He left me to a pack of watchmen that almost finished me. Without Sam, I would be dead. It would be hard to get past this.

Yuri held up a hand authoritatively to silence the angry mutters around the room. "I called you all here to-"

"We know why we are here!" Grigor lurched to his feet and cut him off, glaring at him. "We are here to discuss attacking the port!"

Yuri narrowed his grey eyes at him. "We are discussing the possibility."

"That's bullshit! We won't just sit here!"

Shouts of agreement filled the room. They had already made their decision.

"We won't let them get away with what they did! Half of us are dead. Simon is dead. I will fucking kill them!" He slammed his fist on the table to another chorus of furious yells. He glared daggers at Yuri, but his voice was strained with pain and I winced. I should have seen it. Grigor and Simon were almost always together.

Oh, Simon. Not him, too. I shut my eyes, trying to stem the rising tide of anger that washed over me. Another good friend.

Yuri stubbornly glared back. "Yes, half of us are dead. Twenty-three of us against their full force. It's suicide."

"Well, I would rather commit suicide and take some of them down with me than sit here and do nothing!" Grigor argued. More angry jeers, louder this time.
Fuck this. Yuri would not chicken out this time. No damn way.

I stood and slammed my fist on the table for attention. Everyone swiveled their gazes to me, including Viktor, who finally gave me a hard look. After shooting him a defiant glare, I redirected my focus to Yuri. Locking eyes with him, I paused as the intensity of his glare sent chills down my spine, but I shook my head and pushed on.

"We have almost two dozen battle ready shrimp at our disposal. Just sitting around waiting to be used. What the hell did we train them for?" Around the room, murmurs of agreement stoked the pyre burning in my stomach. They wouldn't take no for an answer this time. And I was right there with them. No more.

Grigor narrowed his eyes at me, nodding, stiffly. What? Surely he wasn't angry at me, too. Did he blame me for Simon's death? I scowled back at him. It was not my fault. None of these deaths were my fault, or Sam's. It was Ivan and Sergei. Ivan was still out there somewhere, and when I found him, I would make him pay.

"There's only about sixteen left." Timur, one of the Shrimpers, said from across the room. "Tom's men killed some of them."

I nodded with a sigh, pulling my gaze away from Grigor. "That's still better than nothing, and they're tough as hell. They'll do a heap of damage. They can clear the way for our landing in the boats." Not as much damage as twenty-four, but we would have to make do.

"Enough!" Yuri bellowed.

I turned my furious glare on him. Yes, we'd had enough.

"You're speaking as though it's already decided!"

"As far as we're concerned, it has been." I growled.

"You insolent rat! You are not in charge!"

"And you are doing nothing! Someone has to make the call." I matched his savage tone. "We won't sit here any longer." I glanced around the room as it exploded in enraged agreement. Some climbed to their feet and others punched the air, their anger igniting a furious determination within me.
My gaze fell upon Yuri again. Cold fury stared back, but I was certain he saw the same from me. Setting my jaw, I held his gaze for a long moment, refusing to look away as the tension hung heavy like iron around us. He broke our silent competition to turn with a fierce look to the men before him, glaring back defiantly, like they'd never done before.

I glanced around at them, pride and conviction colliding with in me. "We'll go regardless of what you say. There's no point in arguing. You and I both know they won't listen this time. The only thing left to discuss is how it will happen."

After another long, tense pause, he heaved an exasperated sigh. "This will be the end of us."

"No, it won't." I shook my head, even as I doubted my words. It would be a hard fight and I wasn't sure if we'd win, but Grigor was right. We'd had enough of hiding while they did what they liked. If we were going to die, we would make sure they came with us.

"Okay, let's go over this again." I rubbed my eyes and turned to Grigor, Dima, Kostya, and Anton as our boat skimmed over the dark waves. Our driver, Anatoli, yawned from behind the wheel.

It was well after midnight the next day. It had taken longer than I had hoped for us to gather all the ammunition we could find, load the shrimp cages onto the boats and rest. With three of our boats destroyed in the attack, we couldn't take as many shrimps as we had planned. In the end, we managed to fit twelve cages. They would have to do.

Grigor scowled at me from where he leaned on the wall of the wheelhouse. "We already know what to do."

I huffed. "Just in case, we will go over it again." I stumbled closer to the wheelhouse as the boat pitched into the trough of a wave. I steadied myself on the open doorway, glancing at the men inside.

"Won't hurt." Dima agreed, eyeing me and shuffling his feet.

"Thank you." I shot Grigor a dose of side eye. "When we land, we will set the shrimp free. The Shrimpers will drive them forward to make sure they go where they're supposed to. They will tear through their guys, reducing the amount of work we have to do. The rest of us will wait until the shrimp are either dead, or far enough away that we won't be in danger from them. Our snipers will provide cover for the landing. Then it begins. We-"

"We move up, kill anyone not on our side, take control of the sub, so they can't leave, and kill Tom and Klim." Grigor cut me off with a scoff. "I told you, we already know. We were there." He pushed past me and moved to the stern towards the four shrimp cages.

I glowered at his back before he disappeared behind the wheelhouse. He'd been brooding the entire four hours it took to navigate the swamp to the coastline. He had been less than enthusiastic when we received our boat assignments and hadn't said a word to me until now. In his defense, he had said little to anyone, but he reserved a little extra anger for me. He blamed Sam for the attack which killed Simon, and he blamed me for bringing Sam to the swamp. That's not how it was.

Shaking my head with a sigh, I stared down the narrow walkway beside the wheelhouse. I would make him see that.

I found him leaning on the side of the boat, staring into the churning wake. He'd just lost his closest friend. If that happened to me, I'd be furious. I should cut him some slack, even though he had the facts wrong.

The shrimp lunged at the bars of the cage, growling as I passed them. "Shut up." I smashed my Kalash into the bars, only upsetting them further. I heaved a sigh when Grigor turned to glower at me.

"What?" He spat into the water.

I stopped nearby, just out of arm's reach, in case he took a swing at me. He was notorious for his unpredictable temper.

"Grigor, I'm sorry about Simon."

His mouth tightened into an angry line.

"And before you blame me and Sam, I'm going to tell you it was Sergei's and Ivan's fault. They were working for Tom."

"Bullshit."

I slammed the rail with a fist. "No, not bullshit. I found Sergei's body at the fish farm, and heard Klim's voice on his radio, asking whether they had convinced the guys there to turn on us."

Grigor eyed me skeptically. "Why would they do that?"

"Tom promised passage on that sub if they helped Klim find where we were and get guys to turn on us, but Sam interrupted any coup that could happen."

"By killing our guys." Grigor growled. "How will that change my mind?"

Good point.

With another sigh, I shut my eyes. "I'm not saying he didn't fuck up, because he did, majorly. But he's not responsible for the port attack that killed Simon. Our own people thought they knew better than us. And when I find that asshole Ivan, I will make him suffer."

Grigor stared at me for a long moment. What was he thinking?

"Why would I lie about that? Everyone knew they disappeared before all this. Why is it difficult to believe people give in to temptation in this fucked up world?"

"Clearly not difficult enough if you can give in to temptation of your own."

Stepping back, I tried to force down the spike of guilt. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Your American boyfriend killed our gate guards, killed our guys at the fish farm. You refused to kill him even then and stopped Viktor from killing him. Some would say that you also betrayed your clan by letting him live."

My jaw tightened. "He's not my boyfriend."

Grigor snorted. "What other reason could there be for not wanting to kill him?"

I dropped my gaze to the boards of the deck. Shit.

"I guess we will find out who is more important to you." He shifted his Kalash on his shoulder and stepped past me, heading towards the front of the boat. I stared into the wake roiling behind. Who was more important to me? It should be clear. The clan, always. My family, or as close as I could get. Could I risk turning them into enemies for one man? Even if that man was incredible and interesting, and exactly what I wanted. I guess I would find out.

This couldn't distract me. The only thing that mattered was surviving the landing. Growling, I reviewed the plan in my mind again. I knew what we had to do. Every step was clear, but things rarely ever went according to plan. They had fortified the port well. The fight would be tough, even if approached stealthily, and that wasn't to mention the added hazard of the shrimp. They would attack anyone they saw, including us.

The other boats spread out to either side of us, racing to the port over the waves, possibly to their deaths. Where had my confidence gone? Was it really all bravado? I had been certain this was what we had to do yesterday. The only way forward. What had changed? I shook my head. Everything was upside down. What the hell was I going to do?

As we cleared the craggy headland, I squinted against the piercing blast of light that told me we were nearing our destination. It was time to get ready. Shutting my eyes, I tried to settle my racing thoughts. I had to decide. Sam or my clan.

Anton and I exchanged glances as I walked back to the wheelhouse. His brown eyes mirrored my apprehension, and I laid my hand on his shoulder, staring ahead to the docks, where we would begin our assault.

Gunfire ahead made me freeze. Had they already seen us?

"Looks like our landing will be hot," Anatoli observed from behind the wheel, taking a drag of his cigarette, as if commenting on the weather.

No shit.

The boys dropped to the deck, taking cover behind the gunwale, ready to fight. I took up position next to Anton, zeroing in my scope against the small flag on the stern of the boat ahead as it picked up speed. I tried to convince myself that I was calm, ready, even as my heart thundered. With clammy hands, I checked the magazine. Not quite full. Every shot had to count. We didn't have that much ammunition between us.

Yuri's voice crackled over the radio. "All boats, sit tight. Viktor and Andrei, disembark to check out the situation here. I don't think that gunfire was for us."

I peered over the gunwale. He was right. Ahead, there was the steady boom of gunfire. Muzzle flashes, like white firecrackers, lit up the compound, yet they didn't seem to come in our direction. I frowned. Who would be attacking them now? Had one of the other clans finally had enough and come to challenge Tom? I guess we would find out soon enough. Maybe we would have an unexpected ally, or another enemy…

Anatoli eased back on the throttle with an impatient huff.

I turned to him. "No, keep going. I want to go now."

"But Yuri said-"

"I know what Yuri said. Keep going. I am not sitting tight." Yuri might be content watching, but I wasn't. I'd had enough watching. Now was the time for action.

Anatoli's eyed glittered in the low light of the wheelhouse. He throttled forward with a grin.

Our boat drew up to the dock, and I took a deep breath. Damn, I did that a lot lately. It was fine. I could do this.

Boots thudded on the docks behind me and I glanced back over my shoulder. "What are you doing?" I frowned at Grigor and Dima as they stopped to ready their weapons.

"If you get to go now, so do we," Grigor replied. He gestured towards the boat, where Kostya and Anton remained crouched at the bow. "They will stay to off load the shrimp."

Yeah, I guess he was right. I nodded. "Fine. Just don't get in my way."

"Have somewhere to be, do you?" Grigor eyed me.

I narrowed my eyes and turned my back on him as sirens followed by a loud speaker cut through the gunfire ahead. We listened, and I exchanged glances with Grigor. Wait.

"Did that sound like Klim to you?" I asked him.

Grigor listened for a moment. "Yeah, it sounds like he's attacking his own people."

"That's definitely something that bastard would do. Probably wants the sub for himself." Definitely not an ally then. It didn't matter to us. It changed nothing for our plan. We just had to be careful, and if we were smart, they could do most of the fighting. Most. I still wanted some.

Klim and Tom yelled at each other over the speakers as I lead our small group towards the stacks of shipping containers directly ahead of us. Gunfire boomed on the other side. Close. As we advanced cautiously, Grigor and Dima kept close to my heels, our senses heightened as we scanned the surroundings for potential hiding spots.

More gunfire and someone's agonised scream. I stopped at the edge of a container and held up my arm. The other two flattened themselves to the metal beside me while I peeked around the corner. There were three guys in the narrow space between the stacks of containers. I glanced at the submarine looming just ahead, its sleek black hull and conning tower, dwarfing everything in its vicinity.

Tom was on that submarine. That was our goal. Take the submarine, kill Tom. With gritted teeth, I broke cover, shooting the closest guy in the back. He crashed to the ground while his friends threw themselves behind the containers with alarmed shouts.

Surprise fuckers!

They hadn't expected an attack from behind. To their credit, they adapted to our appearance quickly, regrouping and return firing. Bullets ricocheted near me and I knelt. Grigor positioned himself across the walkway and started firing.

"Go around and flank them." I told Dima, and he hurried off to the right.

They were dug in on the other side of the space, behind another stack. No one wanted to break cover first, but Dima would flank them. Once he got behind them, Grigor and I will move up to surround them.

After a moment, movement caught my eye from behind the containers ahead. Dima. I leaned out and fired a few rounds at the container where they were taking cover. As I stopped to ram in a new magazine, one of them leaned out to fire back. A quick burst from Dima had him face planting the ground in his own blood. I signaled to Grigor, and we made our way forward. When I sighted down my scope, I recognised one of the jerks.

"Ivan!" I shouted, pulling my scope away.

He snapped in my direction with wide eyes before bolting.

No, you fucking don't.

While Dima took the last guy, I sprinted after Ivan. Grigor's boots thundered behind me, but I didn't turn to look at him. The traitor ahead of me consumed all of my focus. Fucking coward, he couldn't even face me.

Ivan sprinted through the stacks of containers towards the Mayflower, its hull towering above us. Fury driving me on, I sped up. I would catch him and I would make him suffer.

He disappeared through a narrow gap between two stacks as Viktor's voice crackled through the radio. I listened as I ran.

"There's a lot of fighting here. It appears that Klim is trying to stage a coup."

There was a long pause as I followed Ivan into an open area beyond the stacks. Ahead, a machine gun emplacement ripped up the ground before me, forcing me to the ground and blinding me with a bright white light. I rolled to the side to avoid the torrent of bullets, shouting to Grigor to stay back. Shit, the coward had led us right into the teeth of an ambush!

My ears rang, and I was barely aware of Yuri's voice telling the boats to wait for Tom and Klim to kill each other. Someone argued, but I didn't know who it was. No, we needed back up, now!

I pulled my radio from my vest. "Fuck that! We're pinned down by a machine gun just beyond the containers. Give us backup!"

"Why are you ashore? I told you to wait!" Yuri bellowed.

"I'm on my way." Viktor cut in, the bite of irritation edging his voice.

"Fuck this, we're not waiting anymore!" Someone yelled on the radio.

I couldn't focus on that. We needed to flank this gun. "Dima, where are you?" I yelled at my radio as the machine gun boomed.

Nothing, just a fog of static.

"Dima?" I exchanged glances with Grigor.

Shit, was he dead?

I turned to Grigor. "We can't stay here. Let's retreat and find an alternate route. This gun will tear us apart."

He nodded.

"Okay, you go while I cover you. Now!" I shot wildly at the containers while Grigor slipped past me back down the alley we had come. My shots kept Klim's men in cover, allowing me to follow Grigor.

Anatoli's voice cut in over the radio. "We just released our payload, moving forward now."

The other boats reported they were doing the same despite Yuri's order. He would have no choice now.

I glanced at Grigor. "Watch your back. We don't want to be attacked by our own weapons."

He nodded, peering over the stacked containers. "There." He pointed to a ladder over to the far right that accessed the top of one stack. "Maybe we can find a vantage up there."

"Good. And avoid our shrimp." I agreed.

As I hauled myself up the ladder, Viktor's irritated voice crackled through the radio again. "Where are you?"

"Top of the containers, left of the sub. We had to get out of there. We're looking for a flanking position."

"I have eyes on the gun. It's dug in below the catwalks. I can't get a shot from here."

A familiar whip crack followed, and I assumed Viktor had taken out a gunman. The shot reverberated loudly in the confined space, even above the chaos of gunfire.

"I'm moving." He said after a few minutes.

"So are we." We moved up, keeping as low as we could and as we neared the alley, we had just been in, movement to my left made me drop to my knee, ready to fight.

"Save your bullets for the enemy, Natalia." Andrei drawled as he stepped out of the shadows. "If you haven't forgotten who the enemy is, of course."

I curled my lip as he spat at his feet. "Careful, I still might shoot you."

He sneered at me before moving across the stacks.

Asshole.

As I shifted my gaze back to Grigor, I could see the uncertainty painted on his face.

I frowned at him. "I know who the enemy is, Grigor."

He grunted, clearly unconvinced. I would prove it by killing Klim. But could I kill my other target?

I sighed before taking a different path from Andrei. I didn't want him behind me. It was uncomfortable enough having Grigor as suspicious as he was. But Andrei was worse. I had never really trusted him, despite everything that may have happened between us. Now, he believed I couldn't obey orders, or worse, that I would betray them. Would I? It was my job to kill Sam, and I had no choice if I wanted to stay with my clan. To not become their enemy.

When I set out to gain Sam's help, I had never expected things to turn out like they had. And now, I was looking down the barrel of exile. It was a complete fucking mess. And I still wasn't certain I could do it. It was unfathomable. A few weeks ago, I wouldn't have even hesitated.

A scream and bone crunching snapped me back to the fight. I rushed to the container edge, spotting two shrimp below. They had taken Klim's men by surprise, their chitinous bodies silent against the backdrop of gunfire. One lobster-like monster had latched onto the closest man and dragged him down before he could react. Blood violently spattered the concrete and metal of the containers. I winced as the copper tang of blood lingered in the damp air.

Well, that takes care of him.

The second shrimp had continued on despite the gunfire now baring down on it. They appeared to have little effect on its armour plates, ricocheting off to ping against the containers.

Grigor and I threw ourselves onto our stomachs to avoid stray bullets as the shrimp mauled the remaining men.

More gunfire started up to the west. The other shrimp had found their own prey. Okay, time to be careful. We would have to stay on top of the containers as much as possible. But how to deal with that gun? Maybe the shrimp would distract it and we could flank it.

Still prone, I crawled back to the edge and peered over. One dead shrimp, three dead humans and a lot of blood. The other beast had disappeared somewhere ahead.

"Did you enjoy the show?" Kostya asked from below me, walking into the open while brandishing a five foot long electric spear. He wore the black plate armour of the shrimpers, looking like a walking scrap heap, but it would help protect against their claws and probably from bullets.

Anton and Anatoli appeared behind him, rifles trained ahead of them. They were Kostya's protection as he drove the shrimp forward, making sure they didn't turn back.

"Yeah, front row seats." I grinned. "But where are the other two?"

"Dead." Kostya replied, stopping below me and lifting his helmeted head to look at me.

"What, already?"

"Yeah, there's a sniper on the catwalks. Good one too. He hit them both right in the face."

"Pity."

He shrugged. "Better them than us. We didn't see him. The bastard was well hidden."

"Fair. Have you seen Dima? We lost contact with him."

Kostya shook his head.

Damn. Where was he?

"We got separated when we chased Ivan towards that fucking gun," Grigor added through clenched teeth from beside me.

"What? Ivan is here?" Kostya asked in confusion. "I thought he disappeared with Sergei."

"Yeah, they did disappear. They were conspiring with Tom and Klim, trying to get our men to join them, to betray us and help them wipe us out. They told them where our base was. It was their fault we got attacked."

Kostya's eyes flared. "How do you know this?"

"I heard Klim's voice over Sergei's radio when I found his body at the fish farm. He said everything, and Eugene confirmed it just before he died."

Kostya dropped his gaze to the ground, frowning deeply.

"And we're going to hunt the traitor down once we're done with this gun." I said.

Kostya lifted his head to meet my gaze with a furious one of his own. "I'd be up for that."

I nodded, then tossed Grigor a dose of side eye. "Kostya believed me without question."

Grigor narrowed his eyes. "I believed you."
"It took a while." I huffed.
"The trouble was with that other thing." He clarified.

I sighed. You and me both.

Kostya arched an eyebrow curiously and opened his mouth as if to speak.

"Careful." Anatoli said, sighting down his Kalash ahead of him.

Glancing over, we noticed the shrimp had reappeared and spotted us. With an excited hiss, it scuttled towards us, its segmented tail slamming the ground.

Kostya rushed forward, leveling his spear before him. "Oh, no you don't. Your prey is that way."

Before the shrimp attacked, Kostya jabbed the spear sharply into its armoured chest. A blue spark arched from spear to shrimp, making it squeal and swipe with its clawed arm.

"Back, you bitch!" Kostya yelled, taking a few steps forward, forcing the giant lobster back even as it lunged at him again.

Amused, I leaned on my arms, watching the show safely out of reach. It was always entertaining to watch a shrimper try to wrangle the beasts. Kostya was a good one. He fearlessly edged forward, jabbing the spear, forcing the shrimp backwards, all while hurling insults at it as if it could understand him. Eventually, his persistent harassment turned the shrimp around and he pushed it back in the direction it was supposed to go.

As Kostya's group moved up behind the shrimp, I jumped to my feet to follow. "See if you can drive it back towards that gun."

"Pavel's team is heading that way, but they might need some help." Kostya replied, spearing the shrimp in its back as it went to turn. It shrieked and swiped at him, so he jabbed it until it continued on.

"Yeah, they will." I said, following at the edge of the stack, keeping as low as I could. "They can be the diversion while we sneak around to flank." I pointed west, where we had to retreat from the gun. "The bottleneck where we got pinned is that way, but we saw a narrow passage just through there." I swung my arm to my right to a gap between the containers. "It's tight, but you should be able to fit. It should take you right up beside the gun, then your beast can earn its dinner."

Kostya nodded and grinned up at me before swinging his spear in a wide arc. "Let's go."

I gestured to Grigor, and we moved across the containers while Kostya drove the shrimp forward through the containers. I pulled my radio from my vest as I ran. "Pavel, come in."

"A little busy here, Natasha." Static interrupted Pavel's voice, and I held the radio to my ear, straining to hear it over the gunfire.

"Yeah, I get that. Where are you?"

"We just found that gun, and are engaging, spreading out to surround them. We're down to two shrimp, but our group is intact. Andrei and Viktor are providing cover, but they have many men here. I think they are Klim's. Viktor says Tom's have locked themselves inside the sub. Getting to him will be tough."

Yeah, really fucking tough. I growled as I took a running jump over a five foot wide gap in the containers.

"Grigor and I have met up with Kostya and are heading to you now. We've only got one weapon, a sniper got the others." I said into the radio as I landed and righted myself. Grigor landed beside me with a grunt.

There was a long pause on Pavel's end. I listened to the static as Kostya, Anatoli, and Anton disappeared around a corner below us. We hurried to catch up.

Darkness enveloped us as every light in the port went out, and I lost sight of Kostya. What the hell? I stopped and scrambled to turn on the light mounted to the underside of my Kalash, but its beam was weak, and I could only see a few metres ahead of me.

"Get over here! We can't see a fucking thing, and that gun is shitting all over us." Pavel yelled through the radio.

"We're almost there." I replied, running as fast as I dared in the dull sphere of light from my torch.

At least this darkness would make us hard to see.

"Where are the other shrimp teams?" I asked.

"Moving up on the left flank, but we're pinned by a sniper." Yuri's voice cut in. "The asshole has killed all our shrimp and there are three of us dead. We can't move until he's dealt with. And this darkness is making it fucking impossible."

"I'll deal with the sniper." Viktor said as I held the radio to my ear again. "I know where he is. Andrei, stay here and provide cover."

"Affirmative." Andrei said.

We moved around the gun's right flank, listening to its booming fire to judge its location. While I couldn't see Kostya and his entourage, I trusted they would head this way, too.

Determination powered my steps, glaring ahead as I made my way over the containers. The whip crack of Viktor's Draganov cut through the clamour from somewhere nearby, I couldn't see where.

"Sniper eliminated." His stony voice drifted through the radio. "Moving to a new position."

That was one less threat to worry about.

With Grigor right behind me, I moved towards the edge of the container again and caught sight of the shrimp team a few metres ahead of us. They neared the gap I had pointed out and would soon reach the gun. Kostya held up an arm to halt their advance as he approached a junction. They stopped and spread out, working together like a well-oiled machine.
I held my radio to my lips. "The gun is right around that corner. Send your weapon."

"Copy that." Kostya said, before striking at the shrimp with his spear to move it on. He motioned for his team to follow.

Grigor and I watched them for a moment before heading parallel. We would take up covering positions above the gun while the shrimp team engaged.

"Watch out!" Grigor shouted behind me, but before I could respond, something slammed into the back of my head. I stumbled forward, crashing into the wall of metal, and I heard a commotion behind me.

My vision blurred as I narrowly dodged a Kalash aimed at my face. I ducked the strike to get inside the attacker's reach, driving a fist hard into their ribs. The guy grunted, stumbling back, and I recognised who it was. Ivan. He must have followed us up here to stop us from attacking the gun.

I twisted my face into an intense glare and bared my teeth. No room to shoot my Kalash. No, I wanted this one up close and personal, anyway. I wanted him to see the fear in his eyes as I killed him.

Fueled by a hot, burning rage, I rushed forward, not letting the traitor have time to react. I ploughed into him, my momentum overcoming the weight difference. With a roar, I hooked my fist into his face, but he blocked with a scarred forearm.

Gunfire to my right indicated Grigor had troubles of his own. I couldn't focus on that. We were both locked into our own battles, and I had to trust that he would handle his.

And I had to handle Ivan.

Ivan swung his other fist at me, smashing me in the face. The metallic bite of blood filled my mouth and, ignoring the flash of pain and red mist that filled my vision, I spat it in his eyes. He arched back, giving me space to send another hook into his rib cage. He doubled over with a grunt and I blasted his torso with a quick flurry of blows, driven by rage. It consumed me. This asshole betrayed us, he got our guys killed, and Sam and I took the blame. I would kill him!

I was so absorbed in landing as many punches as I could that I didn't notice when he shifted his weight. He kicked my shin and pain exploded up my leg, stealing my breath and forcing me to the ground. He came at me, reaching for his pistol. If I didn't do something, I would die.

With a growl, I rolled onto my side, pulling my knife from its sheath, and hurled it at him without thinking. It skimmed his shoulder and clattered to the ground, where he put his boot on it. I had been aiming for his chest, but my rapid breaths threw it off. It stopped him from immediately shooting though, and I rolled to my feet.

Gritting my teeth against the pain in my leg, I scrambled to get inside his reach before he could aim. I grabbed his wrist and fought him for control of the gun. Rage drove me on, but it was rage that got me into this mess. Ivan was much stronger than I was, and I was growing fatigued from my flurry of punches. He would overpower me. Then I remembered what Sam had said about anger being dangerous, and I steadied my breath.

I wasn't thinking, and this wasn't a sparring match. Ivan was doing his best to kill me. Losing control wasn't doing me any favours. It would only get me killed. If I wanted to survive this, I had to rely on my speed and wits. I knew how to disarm a gunman. I just needed to get out of my own way.

Hours of defense drills with Senya came flooding back. Swiftly, I seized the gun's barrel and sidestepped, evading the line of fire. Then I secured my other hand around the back of the gun. Ivan tried to pull away, but my grip was firm. I forced his wrist down as I rotated the gun back towards him. He grunted as the pain forced him to let go. As he did, I pulled it towards me, spinning it around to aim it at him.

He scrambled back, eyes wide with surprise, holding up his hands. "Okay, okay, wow, you got me. That's it, I surrender."
"Too fucking bad." I shot him in the knee. He wouldn't get away with what he did.

He roared as he fell to the ground, clutching his destroyed knee. I flicked the safety on and slip the gun into my belt, walking forward to stand over him.

He scurried back, and I palmed my knife. I knew what he saw on my face. Rage so hot that I should have been burning. Chest heaving, I wiped the back of my hand across the cut in my lip, smearing blood, briefly examining the wiry man. His cropped salt and pepper hair, streaked with blood, brown eyes full of fear. Bruises mottled his weasel-like face and his knee was a bloodied mess.

Ivan's eyes widened as Grigor loomed over him, radiating menace, eyes narrowed into a glare as sharp as glass.
I ran my finger over the knife's razor edge, staring at Ivan intently. "Yeah, you know you fucked up now that we caught you. Didn't expect to see us here?" I stepped closer, and he shrank back until he couldn't go any further. "You thought you would get away with what you did? That we wouldn't come for you? Oh, no, wait. You thought your little attack would wipe us out. That you would sail away all nice and happy with the same assholes that have caused hell for us?"

"Natasha-" He stammered.

I drove my boot into his injured knee, and he howled in pain, clutching it tightly.

"Shut up." I leaned in close and pressed the knife to his neck, just enough that the tip drew a bead of blood. "Tell Grigor what you and that worm, Sergei did and why our men died. Why Simon had to die."

Ivan's wide eyes shifted to Grigor, who was barely containing his fury.

I slowly drew the knife across Ivan's skin, leaving a dripping red slash in its wake, speaking through clenched teeth,"start talking, or I start stabbing."

"They promised us a way out of here." Ivan gasped. "If we helped them, if we told them where the base was. They said they needed supplies for their journey across the sea."

"And you thought you'd just let them in to take whatever they wanted?" I booted him in the knee again. "Asshole! Twenty of us are dead!"

"We were just tired of living like dogs. We just wanted to get out!" Ivan screamed.

"And you killed all of those men for your want!"

"What did they ever do for us but to make us work like slaves?"

"We gave you food, shelter, ammo, safety, everything! You had to work for it, so fucking what? We all have to work for it. This isn't a charity. You think your life is worth more than the men you got killed?"

Grigor shouldered me aside and grabbed the weasel by his collar, pulling him to his feet so his legs dangled off the ground. "Simon died for your selfish ass." He growled through clenched teeth.

"I don't understand." I said, watching as Ivan's face slowly morphed from ghostly white to distressed red. "It was Klim's voice on Sergei's radio, but you were after supplies for Tom. What the fuck is going on?"

Ivan struggled against Grigor's iron grip, fingers scrabbling at his neck. "I was under orders from Tom, and at that time, Klim was, too. I didn't know Klim was planning this."

"Then why are you out here? I thought you worms were safely locked inside your submarine like the cowards you are."

"You have it wrong. The gun is Tom's."

I narrowed my eyes. "Why would Tom have a gun set up facing the docks?"

Grigor shoved Ivan's head into the container. "Because he knew we'd be coming."

Ivan groaned and lolled his head to the side, dazed.

I stepped forward and smashed the handle of my knife into Ivan's nose. I heard a loud, satisfying crack as blood exploded into a red mist around him.
"I said it could be a possibility." He choked.

"And so he thought he would wipe the rest of us out like fish in a barrel, right?" I drove my knife hilt deep into his thigh.

He screamed, or at least tried to. It was more of a pained squeak, as Grigor constricted his throat.

"Have you learned nothing in all these years of living with us?" I leaned in, almost nose to nose, pushing on my knife buried in his leg. His eyes flared with pain and fear as he stared back. "You should never underestimate us."

Grigor opened his hand and Ivan fell like the sack of shrimp shit he was. I stepped on the hilt of my knife, making extra sure to put my full weight into it.

Now that he wasn't being strangled, Ivan howled. "Just kill me and be done with it." He managed through ragged breaths.

"Oh, no. You don't get out of it that easy." I tapped my lip dramatically, with a malicious glint in my eye. "Now, how else can I make you suffer? You should know, I can be very creative. I've had an excellent teacher." I smirked down at him as his eyes flared wider, if possible. "Or I could let Grigor do it. He has a powerful reason to want you to suffer."

Grigor met my eyes with a hopeful glint, edging the rage there. Nodding, I yanked on my knife, immediately wishing I had pulled it out slower. Ivan's scream was still satisfying as I wiped his blood onto his trousers and stepped back.

Grigor took my place, but I didn't see what he did as I turned away. If Tom knew we were coming, then getting to him in that tin can would be more difficult than we expected. I imagined he would have set up other defences for himself and now that I thought about it; the sniper made sense. He had been facing towards the water, which had meant little to me at the time. But now it was clear.

And where was Ed? Had he talked to Sam about his plan? Would Sam try to stop it? Surely he wouldn't hurt the old man, but he did want to get home, so maybe.

Sighing, I clenched my eyes shut. I had been careful not to think about Sam this entire time, and what I was supposed to do. But now, it consumed me again. My eyes ran across the Mayflower, its dark hull almost invisible in the blanket of night. I would need to find Sam soon. Exile wasn't an option. But where would I even begin in this hell-hole when I could barely see anything in front of me? I quickly scanned the darkness. The bright light from the machine gun nearby made it impossible for my eyes to adjust to the gloom, and my light wasn't enough, so I was more or less blind.

Great.

Shaking my head, I pushed on. A little darkness wouldn't stop me. It was time. I glanced back at Grigor, who had his knife half buried in Ivan's chest, growling something I couldn't hear. He slowly pushed the knife until it sunk to the hilt. A gurgling rasp escaped Ivan's lips, and I knew what would happen next. As soon as Grigor extracted the knife, Ivan's lung would collapse and he would suffocate in his own blood. A fitting end for the traitor. I would leave Grigor to it.
Turning away to leave, movement on the edge of the sphere of light cast by the machine gun drew my attention. I narrowed my eyes against the glow, and my breath caught.

Sam was hurrying across the top of the containers just above the gun emplacement, perfectly silhouetted against the light. He paused at the edge, peering at something. I drew in a deep breath. A perfect target. Still, unsuspecting. He was handing me a free shot, an incredibly easy one, and there was no doubt I was capable of it.

I lifted my scope to my eye and took a deep breath to steady my aim. Just another kill. Just another kill. It didn't matter. It was all just meat.
Time seemed to slow, each second stretching out into hours. The weight of the moment pressed upon me, my heart pounding in my chest, as I anxiously weighed up this choice for what felt like an eternity.

Anything for the clan. I couldn't become an exile. My finger brushed against the trigger. Just a bit of pressure and it would be over. I could go back to my life, undo the mistakes I had made. It was now or never.