These men want money, power, and strength. They want rewards. And I’m going to provide.
Daniel leads the vanguard. They cut a hole in the fence. I keep waiting for sniper fire to rain down from the roof and the high windows, but there’s nothing. It’s quiet, even on the other side of the building. Team2 and Team3 both radio in and announce they’re having no problem.
I’m not happy about it as we jog to the building, angling for one of several different side entrances. “Why the fuck’s it so quiet?” I say, scanning the approach, waiting for an explosion or a drone to come swooping down.
“Are you complaining?” Daniel doesn’t look happy either though. He’s tense and unsure of himself as we reach the door.
“No, but you know Aslan. There should be—“ I gesture around us. “Traps. Fucking electric wires. Landmines. Something. Not…”
I trail off into the quiet.
Daniel's jaw sets hard. “Your call?”
I consider our position. We can breach the building, but what if we’re wrong? What if it’s empty? At worst, we’ll have wasted our time.
But what if it’s not?
And what’s waiting inside is the real problem…
I gesture for him to move. “I’ll go in first.”
“That’s not a good idea.”
I hold his gaze. A part of me wants to listen. The part of me that wants to get back to Nika alive.
But fuck that. I can’t show fear and I won’t show weakness. The men around me will happily pounce the second they sense I’m not strong enough to give them what they want.
“Breach it. I’m in first.”
Daniel relents. Silently, he steps back, places several small explosive charges, and counts them down. “Three—Two?—“
The door bursts inward. It rips off its hinges. Two identical explosions go off somewhere on the other side of the structure as Team2 and Team3 both break their way inside.
I rush forward into an abandoned supply room. Racks are knocked over. Cardboard boxes are moldering. Film canisters were thrown around at some point, the reels left like black intestines on the ground. This must’ve been where they stored their junk back in the day but nobody ever came to get the equipment. There are ancient cameras shoved in a corner, half broken, pieces of glass scattered everywhere.
And straight ahead, blood is splattered on the wall.
My men file in after me. I gesture for them to clear the room, but there’s nothing. I creep forward to the gore and stop. A man’s body is bullet-riddled, his form slumped face-down against the wall, like he was running from something. I kick him over with the toe of my boot.
Turkish guy. Young, thick beard. Shot from behind.
“The fuck is this?” Daniel says under his breath, standing beside me.
“A problem.”
I push forward. All my alarm bells are screaming, but there’s no alternative. I have to get Aslan, but clearly something went very wrong here. I shouldn’t charge forward into a problem I don’t know anything about, but calling this off would be equally bad. With no good options, I grip my gun and walk at a steady clip.
“Team2, call in,” I whisper over the radio comms.
“This is Team2,” their squad captain replies. “We found blood… some bodies in the lobby area… looks like there was a firefight here recently.”
“Team3 checking in. Shit’s bad in the back too. Definitely something went wrong. What’s the call, boss?”
I reach the end of the hall. The door has a glass window, but it’s splattered with blood. I push it open, the hinges making a horribly loud creak, and I look out into the massive, main soundstage.
Death is everywhere. Men in suits, men in battle gear. The walls are riddled with bullets and scorched by fire. It stinks like death and burning. I take in the wreckage, heart hammering in my chest. What the fuck happened here? Someone beat me to it? Was it Artyom, taking his opportunity?
I almost don’t notice movement at the far end of the room. There’s an old set here built to look like a kitchen and two men are rooting around in it. One’s smoking, the other’s drinking, and they’re both laughing about something…