Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Seeing Yuri filled Svetlana with joy—but his words…
“Don’t you dare hit Idris again!” she threatened, shaking a fist at her brother.
“As if I’d dare do anything to antagonize you. I don’t want your mighty bear eating me,” her brother said with a grin before sweeping her into his arms for a rib-crushing hug.
Over her brother’s shoulder, she saw Idris embracing the petite woman who’d arrived with Yuri and without any warning—
Rawr.
A startled Idris dropped the woman and whirled, holding up his hands. “It’s not what you think! This is Takhi. We used to serve together.”
That didn’t calm Svetlana’s ire. She growled low and ominously.
“Someone is jealous,” Yuri sang. “Never thought I’d see the day.”
“She has no reason. You’re the only one for me.” Idris braved Svetlana’s ire and ruffled the fur on her head.
The little woman rolled her eyes. “Well, I’ll be damned. You got bit by the love bug. I swear, soon I’ll be the only one smart enough to stay single.”
“Single is best,” Yuri agreed.
Svetlana was beginning to think maybe not.
“Who else came with you?” Idris asked.
“Pretty much the whole gang. Slater stayed at the launch site with the vehicles to ensure we had a quick getaway. But on the ground, we’ve got Barrett, Tanis, Phoenix, and Freya. We lost Morton in the initial assault. Bastard got him in the head.”
“Damn. Sorry to hear that, he was a good dude. I take it since you’re here you got my message,” Idris said as they exited into the hall to find three people—a woman in combat fatigues and a pair of men in scrubs—and a wolf.
“I did get your text and immediately put out the word to see who was up for an op. Lucky for you, the location pin you dropped worked. Wasn’t easy getting everyone here, though.
Couldn’t get a flight into Russia on such short notice.
We ended up wasting a day driving through Norway, and then lost a few hours trying to get over the border.
Security was tighter than expected. But we can talk about all that later.
Let’s get the rest of the prisoners out of their cells so we can blow this joint. ”
Svetlana thought she meant leave, but it turned out Takhi spoke quite literally.
“You brought explosives?” Idris asked as they exited their cell following Takhi, who grabbed Becky, the cow who loved poking with needles, and headed for the next closed cell.
“I didn’t. Freya did. Woman’s got connections in Europe.
She’s outside placing them around the perimeter as we speak.
And before you ask, I disabled the installation’s internet access before we landed so they can’t upload any files off-site.
We also activated a cell phone jammer so they can’t call for help. ”
“Good thinking, but it might not be enough if we don’t get rid of Levy,” Idris pointed out.
“Oh, the fucker will die,” Takhi promised with a dark look. “But I might want to draw it out a bit to make sure he’s not stored his research notes somewhere I can’t find to erase them.”
“I’ll hold him down for you,” Idris offered.
Svetlana would help. She’d like to see that slimy worm try to squirm out from under her fat furry butt.
Takhi and Tanis, each with their own dead heads, unlocked cells one by one to release those imprisoned, entering a code that Svetlana memorized just in case. She noticed they skipped a door and wondered why.
Empty? Doubtful since she could smell someone inside.
By the time they finished opening all but four of the cells, they had sixteen people clamoring in Russian and broken English. Yuri did his best to reassure them that they were there to help and urge them to remain calm.
Tanis stood alongside Takhi and Idris, eyeing them. “Holy shit, Levy was busy. Sixteen people so far. More than the chopper can handle. We’ll need to locate some vehicles to extract them.”
Yuri overheard. “There should be a truck large enough parked around here somewhere. It might not be comfortable, but should fit everyone.”
“Good to know. Takhi, why don’t you work on locating it while Idris and I handle the four remaining cells?”
“On it.” Takhi took off at a jog, and the prisoners, seeing her aiming for the elevator, broke into a shuffle-run to join her.
Yuri shook his head. “I don’t think they realize it will take more than one trip in that elevator.”
“Not to mention the language barrier. Mind giving her a hand? We should be able to handle the four doors that are left.”
Yuri took off to help, and as the elevator doors opened and a few people piled in, Idris suddenly yelled out, “Are any of you Patient Zero?”
No one replied, and Svetlana wondered at his interest in that particular patient.
The first batch of people left with Takhi, and the remainder waited with Yuri.
“I’m gonna open B13,” Tanis stated. “There’s what looks to be a fox with several tails inside. It seems to be sleeping despite the alarm.”
Idris murmured, “Be ready. There’s a possibility the person inside has gone rabid.”
Svetlana turned a querying look on Idris.
“Some people who go through the protocol shift lose all rational thought. Become killing machines. Even worse, bringing them back to their human shape doesn’t always bring back their sanity. That’s how we lost Zendaya.” His lips turned down.
Who was Zendaya?
The moment the door unlocked, Tanis readied her weapon, and the wolf crouched in attack position by her side. The person within the cell didn’t react to its door being unlocked. Tanis shoved it open and jumped back, weapon pointed.
“It’s not doing anything,” Tanis said to the wolf. Some kind of understanding passed between them. It led to Tanis firing her gun.
Svetlana gaped in shock. Had she killed the person?
Nope. From the room, a woman shuffled, her nakedness showing off her gaunt frame. A pitiful creature until she uttered an ear-piercing wail and threw herself at Tanis with fingers outstretched. Tanis got off a shot, but the released prisoner didn’t even flinch.
The wolf reacted quickly, a blur of fur that intercepted. Blood flew as he tore out her throat, a killing wound the woman couldn’t heal from.
The next two doors fared pretty much the same.
The one released a wolf, slavering and wild, that even when shot and turned into a man kept coming.
The next had a creature that belonged in nightmares.
Even worse, it didn’t change at all, no matter how many bullets Tanis fired.
Svetlana had to roar to the rescue with the wolf, the pair of them managing to rip apart the scaly creature.
The remaining door had the woman tensing. “Not sure what to expect. The video feed is offline for this room.”
Svetlana crouched, ready to fight.
The portal swung open, and nothing rushed out. Svetlana stood on her hind legs to see over Tanis and her wolf. A man stood in the room, tall but slight of frame, so he couldn’t entirely block the young woman behind.
“Hi,” Tanis said. “Don’t attack. We’re here to help.”
“Am I dreaming?” The older man cocked his head.
“More like waking from a nightmare if you ask me,” Idris rumbled. “You’re Patient Zero, aren’t you?”
A ghost of a smile curved the man’s lips. “Not anymore, if what you say is true. My true name is Hiro Nakai, and I am very glad to meet you all. This is my roommate, Tatiana.” The woman with blonde locks shyly peeked at them.
“What do you say we get out of here?” Tanis asked.
“I would like nothing more. Please lead the way.”
“The chopper is in the courtyard.” Tanis led the way down the hall and hit the elevator button to bring it back from the main floor.
As they waited, Idris asked, “What about Levy? Has anyone taken him out?”
“Not that I know of. We prioritized taking out the soldiers and medical staff first, followed by freeing the prisoners. At this point, the only floor we haven’t seen is the third.”
“Why don’t you and Barrett take Hiro and Tatiana to the chopper? Svetlana and I will go check out whatever’s upstairs.”
“The bombs Freya set will kill anyone left inside,” Tanis reminded.
“Takhi suggested we question Levy to make sure he didn’t keep any of his research notes off-site.”
“Shit, that’s a good point.” The elevator dinged, and the doors to it opened. Hiro and Tatiana got right in, but Tanis hesitated.
Idris shook his head. “Go with them. Svetlana and I will be fine. Besides, if anyone deserves to get out of here, it’s Hiro. He’s been captive longer than any of us.”
“In that case, take this.” Tanis handed over a revolver. “Be careful.”
How Canadian of her. There was no careful when hunting down a psychopath. Just revenge.
The elevator doors closed, and Idris waited for it to begin descending before hitting the button. Svetlana nudged Idris, and when he glanced at her, she angled her head toward the door marked Stairs.
“Good idea. Don’t want to let anyone on the third know we’re coming. Hold on. Let me grab a head.” Because, of course, the stairs had security. Getting the screen to unlock proved easy. Where Idris got stymied was the code.
Svetlana snuffled and, when he glanced at her, began tapping her paw. Three. Pause. Nine. Pause. Two. And so forth until they heard a beep. Good thing she’d paid attention.
“Guess I should bring this so we don’t get stuck.” Idris tucked the head under his arm as they ascended. They emerged into another hall with doors, these fewer in number and set farther apart.
A familiar and hated smell hit, and Svetlana took off down the hall.
“I see I’m not the only one smelling a snake,” Idris murmured as he jogged alongside. Unlike the doors on the lab and prisoner level, the one smelling of Levy could be kicked open.
Svetlana rushed in, only to find the office empty. Drawers left half open on the desk. Papers scattered. Levy had already fled. Svetlana sat her furry butt down and sighed.