Echo Six: Black Ops 4 - Chechen Massacre (32 page)

“Are they all in there?”

Albert Whitefeather nodded. "They're there all right. I didn't see any sign of the boys, so I guess they’re in one of the shacks around the old mine workings. They could even be deep inside the mine itself. It would be an ideal place to use to imprison someone."

Talley felt a stab of anger sweep through him at the thought of his young sons, cold, hungry, and terrified; held prisoner in an abandoned mine shaft.

"The men we're after were inside one of the huts,” Whitefeather continued. “They were cooking a meal and arguing about something, but I didn't hear every word. With any luck, they'll be relaxing with a few beers after they've eaten, and we'll take them easily. There's an old narrow gauge railroad track running up to the mine entrance, and it's slightly below ground level. Probably built on soft ground, and it's sunk over the years. If we're real quiet, we can crawl most of the way along it and rush them the last few yards." He looked at Talley. "You know my duty is to arrest these men, and hand them over to the FBI?"

"I understand," he told the cop, "but what happens to them after we release the children depends."

"Depends?"

He didn't reply. Whitefeather shrugged. "They're your sons. I guess I'd feel the same way."

They began walking through the wood, careful to avoid making the slightest noise that may warn the kidnappers. The enemy, the hostiles, was how Talley thought of them. The two Indians did move like ghosts. The only man he'd ever seen with that level of skill was Guy Welland, and even he wasn't as good as the Whitefeathers. At a signal from Albert, they dropped down to a crawl and eased over into the narrow gully of the railroad tracks. Then they went forward on their bellies, slowly, very slowly. There was little wind, and many of the normal forest noises that may have hidden their approach were absent. Finally, the mine workings came into sight. The cop stopped and pointed.

"That's the hut they were in when I was here earlier."

Talley nodded to Guy, who began to snake forward through the trees. There was little moonlight, and even less illumination filtering through the thick foliage, but it was enough to give hand signals to his men. Roy and Virgil circled in a wide arc around back of the mine workings, and Rovere crawled stealthily through the trees to cover the opposite side. Talley waited with the two Indians. When his men were in position, he indicated he was going in to take a look and see if he could see where the boys were being held. They acknowledged, and he began the long crawl through the dark wood. He exited at the edge of the clearing, next to the mine workings.

In front he could see a number of ruined buildings, rotting timbers and rusting iron, all in darkness. Further away was the black maw of the mine entrance, like a missing tooth. He began crawling around the outskirts of the clearing, heading for the entrance. If the boys were anywhere, he was certain it would be in there. They’d be out of sight, and it would be impossible to escape from that gloomy hell. He crept nearer until he was just outside the mine entrance. Almost near enough to touch them, if they were in there.

Where are you? Your father is coming for you. Only a few seconds more.

He froze as a man stepped out of the hut, unzipped his pants, and pissed against the wooden side. When he'd finished, he zipped himself up, and started walking toward the mine entrance, toward Talley. He was almost on him when he suddenly turned and shouted to another man who was in the hut.

"I'm gonna check on those kids, Mel. We don't want them dying on us after all we've been through,” he laughed, “Not until we get paid, anyway."

The other man came out of the hut and stood in the doorway. "You made a decision about them boys yet? Why keep ‘em alive?"

"You got a point, Mel. I been thinking about that. Maybe it's time we did them."

Talley felt a shiver tracked down his spine.

If we'd arrived a little later, it may have been too late.

"I'll join you in the mine, Frank. Maybe we could do it together. Finish them, and get out of here. This place gives me the creeps."

"Not a bad idea. Okay, we'll do it."

"Good, I just sharpened my knife. Clean cuts and no noise."

The man chuckled. "I like it. Keep it simple, yeah. You got any of that whiskey left inside? I could use a snort."

Frank waited while the other man went back inside the hut to retrieve his bottle. Talley took the chance to edge nearer, taking it real slow, making sure he cleared every twig and every pebble that might give him away. Six meters, five meters…he froze.

"Alarm! They’re coming! Kill them now."

Talley jerked his gaze around in the direction from which the commotion came, but he already recognized the voice of the man who’d shouted. Colonel Hong Jang Ho, of the Ministry of Public Security.

The bastard’s escaped! Alessandra, Admiral Brooks, what’s happened to them?

He catapulted to his feet and raced forward to the black mine entrance. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a man rush at him with a huge knife glistening in his right hand. Talley chopped hard, and the knife fell to the ground. Then he raced on. The others would deal with his assailant. He had to find the boys, but the man had other ideas. Frank pulled a gun, and a shot clipped splinters of timber from a roof support as he rushed inside the mine. He dived for cover as three more shots spat toward him.

That bastard Ho! How the hell did he get out of the trunk and evade Alessandra and Brooks?

But there was no time to worry about it then. He pushed on further into the mine and called out to his sons.

"Joshua! James! This is Dad. I've come to get you out. Where are you?"

He heard a faint shout. It sounded like it was a long way away, further inside the mine. He jumped back to his feet and ran forward again. Another shot clipped shards of rock, only inches from his head. He knew the man was firing blind, so he ran on with only one thought on his mind. His sons. Outside, a flurry of shots rang out, which meant the other man, Mel, was trying to fight off the newcomers. He ignored it.

Guy and the rest of them will take care of themselves, and God help that man when they take him
on.

He could hear the other man's footsteps getting nearer as he chased after him, and once he snapped off another shot that disappeared further into the darkness. A chilling scream came from outside, which meant one hostile was down. They'd enter the mine next, looking for Frank. But the man was close behind, and he knew he was in a desperate race to reach his sons before the man got closer and started a firefight. Once the stray bullets started to fly, the boys would be in serious danger.

"Joshua! James!"

At last he heard it. "Dad! We're in here."

He kept running. There was only faint illumination from a few oil lamps spaced along the shaft. Several times he stumbled on the loose rocks littering the floor of the tunnel, and kept his head low to avoid hitting the roof timbers. Then he saw a narrow door, constructed from thick timbers and a huge iron bolt securing it. He slid the bolt to one side, just as two more shots cracked out. Both rounds buried themselves in the heavy timbers. One of them split the woodwork but failed to penetrate.

More shots like that and they’ll pierce the damaged door, and maybe kill one of my
boys.

And then the white heat of rage come over him; an unstoppable torrent, like a swollen mountain river. It carried him along, impossible to hold back. The other man was maybe ten meters away, coming at him through the gloom of the mineshaft, the pistol dark and ugly in his right hand.

Talley charged. He put himself between his sons and their would-be killer, protecting them with his body. He didn't hear the sound of the shots, ignored the gun flashes, and almost laughed as two bullets cracked into the center of his vest. He could hear someone screaming, a strange, animal keening, like something from a primeval nightmare, a monster in the dark, descending on its prey, savage and intent on taking blood. It was only when he neared the man with the gun he realized the savage was him. He didn't use his pistol, nor his knife, though either would have done the job.

Only afterward did he realize he'd dropped them, but no matter, this hand-to-hand combat cleansed his soul, purging it of all the pent-up fury he felt toward these scum. Like the naked savages who'd first walked the earth, he engaged the man with teeth, boots, fists, and knees, anything that would damage and ruin his opponent. He clawed and bit, and his opponent went down, trying desperately to hold his arms up to protect himself from the unearthly power that had come upon him. He may as well have tried to turn back a tsunami.

Talley ripped into him like a robotic machine, unthinking, uncaring, and for long minutes he went about the business of savaging, ripping, stabbing, making certain his enemy would never again threaten his sons. His fists were bloody where he'd smashed the man repeatedly in the face. His pants were ripped and torn where he'd continually slammed his knee into the man's groin, and he gradually became aware that every part of his body was bruised and aching. Yet still he kept up his sledgehammer attack, until they pulled him off.

"Easy, easy, Commander. There's no need for any more. You finished him."

He looked up and felt the dark red shutter rise from in front of his eyes as he returned to normality. He was staring at Albert Whitefeather, the Indian cop.

"Is he dead?"

The Indian looked down and casually tipped the body over with the toe of his boot.

"What's left of him, yeah. Christ, man, you sure ripped into him."

"I was worried about my sons. I thought he was going to hurt them."

"Dad!"

He whirled around to see Rovere and Guy nearby. They'd squeezed past him and opened the door of the cell. He saw a sight that was more than enough to melt any man's heart. Joshua and James Talley. He ran forward. They met him halfway, and he held them to him. They were sobbing, crying, and laughing, a crescendo of young relief.

"Don't leave us again, Dad."

"Don't worry. I intend to take care of both of you. I’m not going anywhere. You hurt?"

James, his younger son, replied, "We're fine. We’re just hungry. They didn't give us much to eat."

"I know a nice little Indian diner not far from here. How would you like a big plate of burgers and fries?"

Their happy, smiling faces lit up, lifting the stale feeling that had clamped down on his spirits for so long. He began to lead them back up the shaft. Guy and Rovere followed right behind. Whitefeather stayed with the body. Obviously, he had work to do. The man was a cop and questions would be asked. There’d be forms to fill in. Talley suddenly remembered what had started the fight.

"What happened with Ho?"

"I sent Roy to investigate," Guy replied. "It looked to us as if he got away. The other guy’s dead, by the way."

But Ho escaped! What now? Where will he run?

He led them out of the mine and into the clearing outside. Alessandra was walking toward him, smiling when she saw the boys emerge with him from the dark pit. She ran forward.

"They're safe! Thank God. I thought he was going to destroy the entire operation."

"Where is he?"

"I don't know. One of the Indian deputies happened along, and we went to talk to him. All of a sudden, Ho appeared out of nowhere. He reached into the cop’s vehicle and snatched the man's gun out of the holster. Then he shot him. It was terrible, blood and brains everywhere.

Admiral Brooks got a bead on him, but the Korean dodged the shot and snapped off a round that hit the Admiral. The wound isn't too bad. It ripped right through his upper left arm, but the shock froze him. Ho pulled the deputy's body out of the car, climbed in, and drove off. I'm sorry. I was just too slow. I snapped off several shots after him, and I think I may have winged the bastard, but he kept going. I’m afraid we've lost him."

She was shaking with all the adrenaline rushing around her system after the swift and unexpected gun battle. He had just the remedy to deal with it. Maybe they needed each other.

"Joshua, James, this is my good friend Alessandra. You guys have been through a hard time. I reckon you should get together and help each other out."

The three held each other close, the tall, beautiful Captain and the two small boys. Talley led them away toward the road. When they reached it, they found Roy Reynolds kneeling next to the Admiral, wrapping a field dressing around his upper arm. Brooks was furious.