Anvil (5 page)

We huddled
in the cave watching the Russian troops carefully make their way through the
area.  My only remaining weapon, the Kukri, was gripped tightly in my
right hand.  I didn’t have much optimism that if we were discovered I’d
have an opportunity to use it.  But, it was better than bare hands against
rifles.

As I watched,
I noted they were being very cautious as they moved.  The bombs and
smaller charges on the manhole covers, then the Claymore mines I’d set off in
town had made them nervous.  And I didn’t blame them one bit.  I’d be
tiptoeing too, worrying that at any moment there was going to be the sudden
flash of high explosives that would be the last thing I’d ever see.

The downside
to having put the fear of God in them is they were moving so slowly and were so
alert to their surroundings.  They were in a modified diamond formation,
one in front or on point, the two in the middle close together and the rear
guard holding back a good ten yards.  Too spread out for me to have any
hope of successfully attacking with only a blade.

The Russian
on point was hyper-focused on the ground in front of them, most certainly
concerned about encountering one of my IEDs.  The two in the middle had
their heads on swivels, constantly scanning the full one hundred and eighty
degrees on their individual sides.  The rear guard spent as much time
walking backwards as he did forwards.  Yes, they were spooked.

But why the
hell were there already ground troops in the area?  We were miles from
town, or I was pretty sure we were.  And I was confident we hadn’t been
spotted by any of the helicopters.  Miles from town meant there was a LOT
of open country which translated into a LOT of square miles to search. 
They didn’t have enough men to cover all of that territory on foot.  No
one does.  So how was it I was huddled in a cave looking at Russians?

Something
was wrong.  Either the enemy had regained access to our satellite imaging
feed, or someone was able to track me and supply information to the
Russians.  My mind once again went to Jessica.  There was no one else
I was aware of that could possibly know where I had wound up.  But
suspicion of her was once again tempered by realization that she would have me
pinpointed.  If it was her giving intel to the enemy, I’d already be dead.

No, this was
something or someone else.  Could they have broken the encryption and
regained access to Echelon?  Doubtful.  If that was the case they
would have me pinpointed as well, and I wouldn’t be watching them search the
area.  That left someone with peripheral knowledge or information about my
movements. 

I had no
idea how many people might be working with or close to Jessica.  As soon
as I could get my hands on a sat phone I was going to have a conversation with
Admiral Packard.  He needed to know there was a bad apple in the barrel.

As all of
this went through my head, the Spetsnaz had only covered maybe twenty-five
careful yards.  Shutting down that line of thought, I focused on the
emergency at hand.  I had already thoroughly checked the tiny cave and
there was no other way out.  The entrance was well hidden in the shadows
at the base of the bluff, but we were trapped.

I caught my
breath and tensed my arm when the small squad came to a stop.  The point
man was frozen in place, his left hand held up and clenched into a fist. 
He was focused on the ground where I had followed Katie.  I stared hard at
the snow, grimacing when I was able to faintly make out our trail. 

All around,
the light snow that was falling had covered the ground in a perfectly smooth
blanket of white.  It was only a couple of inches deep, but had settled
evenly.  Except for where the passage of mine and Katie’s feet had
compressed a layer. 

More snow
had fallen, filling in the tracks.  But not enough to completely erase
them.  The point man understood what he was looking at, even if it was only
variations in the surface of what should be smooth, virgin snow.

His head
turned as he followed the path with his eyes.  At first I had hope they
would move away and follow the trail to the flood channel.  Those hopes
were dashed when the lead soldier pointed at the ground and moved his arm up to
highlight the bluff we were hiding in.  He stepped off, moving parallel to
the trail, the others spreading out slightly as they followed.

“When they
get close enough I’m going to go,” I mumbled.  “You two make a run for it
while I’ve got them distracted.”

“Are you
crazy?”  Rachel hissed, reaching out and grabbing my upper arm. 
“They’re armed and too spread out.  You might get the first one, but
they’ll kill you.”

“No they
won’t,” I said, gently removing her hand.  “They want me alive. 
Their orders are to take me alive.  They’ll be focused on me and you just
might be able to get away.”

“No,” Irina
interjected.  “You have killed too many.  They are angry and no
matter what their orders may be, they will kill you if you attack.”

“No choice,”
I said, waving for them to be quiet as the Russians drew closer to our hiding
place.

            There
was a rustling behind me that I ignored as I repositioned my feet under my hips
to help me get a good lunge through the opening.

“There is
always another way,” Irina said from behind me.

She reached
out and grabbed the Kukri, yanking it from my hand.  I spun to see her
lift it as she held her hair back.  With a quick slice she split open her
scalp, then handed the blade back to me.  I was stunned into immobility,
thinking she must have lost her mind.  It was only a moment before blood
began pouring from her self inflicted wound, running down across her forehead.

The rustling
I had heard was Irina removing some of her clothing.  She was nude from
the waist up and quickly reached to her forehead and rubbed her hands in the
fresh blood.  Smearing it across her face, she pressed directly on the cut
to cover her hands again, rubbing a slick coating across her chest and bare
breasts. 

Grabbing my hand,
she slapped it onto the freely bleeding slice in her scalp.  She held it
there for a moment to soak my skin with her blood, then holding my wrist with
both hands put my hand on her throat.  When I removed my hand there was a bright,
bloody handprint left on her neck as if I had been choking her.

“Stay here
unless you see an opportunity,” she hissed.

Scrambling
forward, Irina passed through the narrow door.  As she emerged from the
cave she began screaming in Russian.  She was a frightful sight, blood smeared
on her pale skin, staining her blonde hair and running down her face. 
Moving forward on hands and knees, she kept screaming, shouting to the soldiers
in her native tongue.

They had
frozen, rifles snapping up when she had first appeared.  As she struggled
towards them in the snow, she slipped and fell, leaving a bright red stain on
the pure white.  Still screaming, her tone was somewhere between panic and
begging for help and she finally collapsed onto the ground no more than three
yards from where Rachel and I remained concealed in the bluff.  She rolled
onto her back, making sure the blood covering her bare skin was starkly
visible.

Looking
around nervously, the soldiers glanced at each other.  As Irina continued
to scream and plead, the point man finally walked forward.  He stood over
her for a moment before sinking to a knee and reaching out to touch her
shoulder.  She was sobbing now, and even though I didn’t know what she was
saying I could tell she was putting on a masterful performance.

Irina reached
up and grasped the man’s arm, pulling him closer.  She was speaking fast,
in between sobs, and finally began pointing in the direction Katie had
gone.  The soldier looked where she pointed, then glanced back at the rest
of his squad.  Slowly, the two from the middle of the formation began
walking forward.

“Good girl,”
I mumbled, amazed at what Irina was doing. 

But there
was still the fourth Spetsnaz.  The rear guard.  He wasn’t a fool,
and he wasn’t moving.  He had stopped about thirty yards away from where
Irina lay crying in the snow.  Just like he should, he was scanning the
surrounding terrain.  He wasn’t watching the distraction of a half naked,
blood covered woman.  The other two had reached the commotion now and
stood watching their comrade try to calm the hysterical stranger. 

They stood
close together, one of them with his back to me, watching as she wailed and
grasped onto the man on the ground with her.  Irina had given me an
opportunity.  I could be out the door and on the Spetsnaz in one
step.  And she appeared to have a death grip on the point man’s arm. 
She intended to hold him back from the fight.  I was confident I could
take the other two with the Kukri, but the fucker on rear guard wasn’t budging.

And he was
too far away.  Sure, I could charge out of the cave and quickly dispatch
two of them while Irina occupied the third, but then what.  The guy on
rear guard would just shoot me before his buddies even hit the ground.  I
needed him closer. 

Irina
recognized this and amped up her wails and screams, writhing on the ground in a
good imitation of pain.  The man wasn’t budging and she somehow kicked it
up another notch, arching her back and screaming at the top of her lungs. 
One of the other soldiers knelt on the far side of her, trying to comfort
her. 

Finally, the
fourth man, who’s attention was now drawn to Irina’s wails, took a step
closer.  He paused, scanned through a full three hundred and sixty
degrees, then moved a few more steps.  He was either very nervous or a
combat vet.  And if the woman that had so suddenly appeared hadn’t been
speaking in Russian I don’t think he would have been drawn in. 

Slowly, he
kept moving closer.  Only a few steps before he’d stop and scan all
around, but the distance was closing.  Once he was inside five yards,
Irina twisted onto her side and began emphatically pointing in a direction away
from the bluff. 

As she shook
her arm she screamed a few Russian curses I did recognize, then I thought I
heard my name.  Four heads turned to look in the direction she was
pointing.

I had been
waiting for this moment, legs coiled beneath me, Kukri tightly gripped in my
right hand.  As their attention turned away from the bluff I launched
myself through into the open air.  On all fours to squeeze through the low
door, I pumped with my legs to keep forward momentum.  Pushing off with my
hands, I came into a crouch as I charged forward.

Irina saw my
movement and screamed louder to cover the sound of my approach.  As she
screamed she gripped the upper arm of each kneeling man and pulled them towards
her.  The rear guard soldier looked down at her and saw me from the corner
of his eye.

Everything
slowed as I took my first full step.  Suddenly I went from a normal world
to a super high definition, slow motion world.  Colors were vivid, details
were incredibly sharp and only the sounds I was focused on could be heard.

The soldier
who saw me snapped his head around, and as I stretched to cover the last of the
open ground between us I clearly saw the stubble on his chin, the dirt ground
into his brow and even the color of his eyes.  The Kukri was up, held high
for a killing slash as I came even with the Spetsnaz who had stood over Irina
with his back to me.

With all of
the power in my shoulder and arm, I swung the heavy blade.  There was a
moment of resistance when it met the side of his neck, then it was free. 
Continuing the swing, I noted several drops of blood fly off the tip and strike
the rear guard soldier on the face.  Irina was still screaming, now
struggling with the two soldiers who were trying to respond to my attack.

In front of
me the man was swinging his rifle up, not to shoot me, but to block the strike
of my weapon.  He raised it just in time, the steel of the Kukri ringing
loudly on the barrel, then we collided and tumbled to the ground.  Behind,
I could hear the struggle Irina was engaged in, but I had my hands full.

 We
rolled, each of us gripping the other in an attempt to get the upper
hand.  The thing about hand to hand combat is that it is brutal. 
There’s no other word for it.  Between two trained fighters it is fast,
violent and almost always fatal for one.  More often than you’d think,
it’s fatal for both as there is typically a lot of damage inflicted by both
parties.

I still had
the blade and he was trying to control my arm as I threw punches and searched
for leverage.  He was strong as hell, equaling the power I was able to
summon and the Kukri wasn’t moving one inch closer to his flesh.  Knees
pounded into my back as I shifted my weight and crashed my forehead into his face.

Two fingers
on my left hand snapped as he found a momentary purchase and twisted them
savagely to the side.  Yanking my hand away, I twisted as he reached to
get a grip on the back of my neck.  He moved with me and I wound up on my
back as he rolled his full body weight onto my chest.  I tried to roll him
off, but he countered the move and slipped a hand past my defenses and locked
it on my throat, pressing with everything he had.

I pounded on
the side of his head and clapped his ear with an open palm, trying to rupture
his ear drum.  He seemed impervious to pain.  Unable to breathe, I
began bucking, trying to throw him off or even loosen the pressure on my
windpipe long enough to gasp for air.  He wasn’t budging, his legs now in
a hold around my hips, pinning me.  My hand with the Kukri was still in an
iron grip and blows with my damaged hand were ineffective.  He looked into
my eyes and grinned with bloody teeth as he continued to lean pressure into my
throat.

Blood
pounded in my ears and my vision was starting to tunnel as the big Russian kept
squeezing my throat.  I hit him in the face twice, feeling his nose break
with the second blow, but the pressure didn’t lessen by even an ounce. 
Grasping, I tried to work my fingers beneath his, failing to overcome the
strength in his hand.

Feeling
myself losing consciousness, I flailed out with my hand, hoping to feel a stick
or rock or anything I could use for a weapon.  There was nothing within
reach other than snow on top of smooth sand.  Still struggling, but losing
strength as I felt consciousness waning, the vicious pressure on my throat was
suddenly gone.

Taking a
ragged breath, I turned my head in the direction the Russian had gone, levering
up on my elbows.  He lay on his back trying to fend off slashing blows as
Katie tore at his neck and head.  Frozen in shock for a moment, I shook
off the surprise and rolled, plunging the Kukri into the side of his exposed
neck.

Katie leapt
away from him, coming into a crouch and watching me.  I wanted to keep
looking at her, but the sounds of fighting from behind reminded me there were
still two more Spetsnaz that I hadn’t dealt with.  Tearing my attention
off of my wife, I stood and dashed to where Irina and Rachel were struggling
with the last soldier.

One of the
two lay on the ground, his head deformed from a savage blow.  The last guy
was trying to shake Rachel off his back.  She had leapt on, wrapping her
arms around his neck and long legs around his waist.  Irina was pounding
on him with her fists to little effect.  As I rushed to help he delivered
a solid punch to the side of her head that sent her sprawling.

Reaching
over his head he grabbed Rachel’s hair in both fists before falling backwards
and crushing her against the ground with his full body weight.  I heard
the air whistle out of her lungs as I arrived.  The Russian’s eyes went
big when he saw me, knowing he was done. 

I hit him
twice in the face, hard, not wanting to stab or slash with the Kukri and risk
injuring Rachel.  His eyes lost focus after the second blow and I grabbed
the front of his vest and hauled him up and off of her.  He reached for
me, trying to wrap me up.  My blade was already turned in the right
direction and I buried it in his body, sliced to make sure he was done, then
pushed his corpse away.

Pausing, I
looked down at Rachel as she gulped air like a fish out of water, trying to get
her lungs working again.  Irina was unconscious, having been knocked out
by the blow she’d received.  With no urgent injuries or threats I turned
to face Katie.

She still
watched me, standing several yards beyond the body of the Russian she’d saved
me from.  Saved me!  Again!  She was still in there!  But I
couldn’t see any sign of the woman I loved in the horrid red eyes that stared
back at me.  There was only cold aggression and anger. 

“What the
hell?”  Rachel mumbled as she regained her feet and came to stand beside
me.  She placed her hand on my shoulder in an unconscious gesture of fear.

When she
touched me, Katie took two steps forward and snarled.  After a moment she
leapt over the corpse and dropped into a crouch, still snarling as she prepared
to leap at Rachel.  I moved between the two women without even thinking.

“No!” 
I said to Katie, dropping the Kukri into the snow and holding both hands up, palms
towards her.

She paused,
the snarl dying out.  Slowly she relaxed her posture and returned to a
standing position.

“Can you
understand me?”  I asked in a gentle voice, afraid of provoking her or
scaring her off.

She remained
motionless, only her eyes giving away her anger at Rachel.  They
continually flicked back and forth between the two of us.  Perhaps I was
reading too much into the moment, but for me this confirmed that there was
still some part of my wife buried under the infection induced rage.  The
jealous part.  That in combination with her having attacked the Russian to
save me strengthened my hope that I hadn’t completely lost her.

“Please come
with me,” I said.  “I’ll take you someplace safe where there’s help. 
Please.  Trust me.  I’ll get you help.”

I had slowly
moved forward as I spoke, maintaining eye contact with her.  As I drew
closer I thought I could see a war of emotions taking place, but maybe that was
only what I wanted to see.  When I came to a stop we were separated by no
more than five feet.  Katie’s posture was guarded, but she didn’t look
like she was about to attack.

“It will be
alright,” I whispered to her.  “Just trust me and everything will be ok.”

As I pleaded
with Katie, there were tears running down my face.  I didn’t know if I
really believed what I was saying.  All I knew was there was nothing I
wouldn’t do to get her back.  Carefully, I took another half a step and
very slowly raised my arm, extending my hand towards her.

“Take my
hand,” I said.  “Please, honey.  Take my hand.  Let me help.”

We stood
like that for close to a minute, my hand extended to within easy reach for her
as my tears flowed.  She stared back at me, some of the anger in her eyes
dissipating.  She tilted her head to the side and lowered her gaze to my
offered hand and for a moment I thought she was going to reach out and take
it.  Thought I was getting through to her.

But suddenly
her head snapped up to look at the horizon.  Time froze for several
heartbeats, then she looked me in the eye and screamed before turning and
racing away.  I was rooted to the spot, watching her disappear over a low
hill, not processing what Rachel was shouting.  She finally grabbed my arm
and tugged hard enough to get my attention.

“Rotors!” 
She yelled in my face.  “Helicopters coming!”