I freeze. “What the fuck is going on?”
Larisa grabs my arm, her hands shaking. “I don’t think we should be here. It’s getting crazy.”
It’s chaos. Two men are beating someone on the ground nearby. Another guy is pissing against a wall, and one guy in the corner is jerking off while he watches us.
“Oh my god,” Yulia says, covering her mouth.
“Let’s just push ahead,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady. “I can see the building. We’re almost there.”
Yulia pulls out her camera and starts taking pictures.
“Hey!” a man drinking from a bottle yells. “Bitch! Why are you taking pictures of us? Are you a spy? Or Police?”
Men start gathering from the shadows.
“Put the fucking camera down,” I hiss at Yulia. “This is not the time.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she says, quickly stuffing it away. But it’s too late. They’re already surrounding us.
“Well, well, well,” a tall man with missing teeth says. “Look at this. Fresh, rich-looking meat.”
“The guys don’t look so bad either,” another one adds with a grin.
Yegor steps forward. “What the fuck did you say? Don’t come near us with that shit.”
The man laughs. “Oh, I like him feisty. I prefer boys anyway.”
I step to the front and put my hands up. “Gentlemen, please. We’ll delete the pictures right now. Then we’ll leave. This is just for a school project to help the community. We can make this place better.”
There’s a second of silence. Then they all start laughing.
“We don’t give a fuck about this place getting better,” one says. He reaches out and yanks Yulia toward him. “Come here, at least you can make our dicks wet.”
“No! Stop!” Larisa screams as another man grabs her.
“What the fuck are you doing?!” I shout. “We said we’d leave!”
The man holding Yulia grins. “I don't care about the pictures. We just want to have sex.”
I don’t wait. I reach into my jacket and pull out the gun Alexei made me carry. I point it up and fire twice.
BANG. BANG.
Everyone freezes.
“Leave them alone,” I say, my voice surprisingly did not shake. “Larisa, Yulia, get over here. Yegor, Kostya, behind me.”
They scramble over to me. But then a man on the sidelines stands up and squints at me.
“Wait. Does she look familiar?”
Another one looks closer. “Holy shit. Aren’t you that chick who always gets kidnapped?”
“What are they talking about?” Yulia whispers.
“Don’t listen to them,” I say. “Move. Now.”
“No,” the man shouts. “It’s true! Dato put a bounty on her head, I think about $10,000 for whoever gets her!”