Unstable Serenity - Chapter 4, Black Dawn
Max's POV cont'd
Charging in the direction of the enemy, I tried to think about how all this would end up, but I didn't have time to think, so I just continued my efforts in trying to stop Zarith.
I ran through the tunnel until I almost ran into a ladder that ascended to the surface. I quickly replaced my firearm and my knife back in their respective holsters and swiftly climbed the ladder.
After reaching the surface, I then removed my gun from its holster and caught a glimpse of Zarith charging through the forest, I then ran in his direction. Plowing through the thick bushes and trees, I had a hard time keeping up with him and staying on his tail.
After minutes of chasing him through the thick woods, we finally came to an open field that was near a cliff. I then aimed at the dragon and fired my weapon, I wasn't the best marksman, but I managed to clip his right wing. Just then, he turned around faster than I would imagine possible and fired two rounds into me, one in my left arm, and another in my left wing. I then managed to fire another round at him, this time into his left foot just as I fell over from the impact of the bullets.
A terrorist leader has just fired upon a downed US Navy pilot, I would be damned if my government wouldn't do anything it.
"You little bitch!" Zarith roared as he supported his right wing with his left hand. He then took cover behing a rock, and I quickly stumbled my way to the safety behind a tree.
I was shaking and trying to stop the bleeding in my left arm and wing, but I had no gauze or first aid around to help me. If I didn't get medical attention, I was going to die.
"Why don't you come out so I can kill ya and get this done with!" Zarith hollered from across the field. I was in too much pain to reply, and I didn't feel like replying anyways.
I then tried to hold in the pain and proceed to neutralize him, if I supress his presence now, then maybe I won't have to worry about him later. I couldn't get a good shot, so I had to wait untill he would poke his head out, but as much as I hated him now, I don't think he was that stupid.
"Did ya hear what I said!? I'll kill you!" threatened the Cevenda leader.
Maybe if I can just clip a piece of his flesh, then he'd be in more pain and maybe he would be easier to kill. The rock wasn't that big, I might be able to get a half-decent shot out of this.
I aimed for the side of the rock, where I could see a piece of his tail sticking out, I then fired again, and clipped him once more.
"Fuuuuck!!" Yelled the enraged dragon. "You're gonna die! I promise you!"
The dragon then aimed his gun at me, for about a second, we both had our weapons aimed right at eachother, and then we fired multiple shots simultaneously at eachother. Bullet by bullet, we grazed each others' wings and limbs, some bullets dug right into my right shoulder and forearm. He got me more than I got him, and so my plan didn't work out all that well. After a good moment of endless gunfire, we both ran dry of our ammunition. So we quickly struggled to reload, but it was hard for me because I had multiple gunshots in my body and it hurt like hell.
"I'm gonna fucking kill you!" Howled Zarith. He was sincerely pissed.
As we continued firing, some wooden shrapnel from the tree that I was taking cover behind ripped through parts of my chest and blisters the size of cards jabbed right into me.
After running completely dry of ammunition on both sides, Zarith then came charging right after me unarmed. It was to my advantage that I had a knife. I then removed the large wooden blisters from my chest and ran right towards him flailing my knife in the air.
Upon coming into contact with him, I made my first move to slice him, but he was too quick, and so he managed the rapidly disarm me. Within a second, he weilded my knife, and then sliced a deep cut into my muzzle, leaving blood running out of my muzzle in shear pain.
I was then no-longer able to defend myself, Zarith then pulled me into a headlock, then held his knife against my neck and held me tight, to the point where I couldn't move. I was in a completely submissive state, and there was nothing I could do. I was damned.
"Like I said... I'm gonna kill you" Zarith whispered in my ear.
Just then I began to cry and beg for mercy, I was too young to die, and I had a lot to live for in this life. I felt ashamed of myself for not being brave enough, sure I was able to face him and attempt to stop his evil from descending into this world, but now I would only die a coward, full of fear and total regret.
"N...n...n..no! P..p...please!" I begged, feeling like I've failed my duty as an American soldier. Yeah I was a pilot, but I considered myself a soldier at this moment in time, only because I fought like one... Or at least tried.
"You know what? I might just keep you around for a little longer, for my... Amusement!" He whispered to me in a cold, dark tone.
He then released me and I fell to the ground, but just as I was about to make sense of it all, he wacked me across my face with his fist; hard. Just then I fell over completely and utterly unconscious.
Viktor's POV
I was in shear pain after taking all those hits from Zarith, I just hope my American friend would get him good! I slowly and painfully stumbled on my feet. How the hell did he manage to escape!? I then stumbled my way into the briefing room, where the dead bodies of the victims rested. I then dialed the distress code and waited for backup to arrive.
Since backup was going to take some time to get here, I decided to limp my way over to the prison cell, where Zarith was originally being held. After a few moments of making my way over there, I noticed that both guards were dead and the shackles holding the prisoner were unlocked. They appeared to be in no state of damage at all! I tried looking around for any picks and anything that would help me determine what helped him break out. But I found nothing.
After a few more moments of serching through the scene, I felt dizzy and I my bleeding was only getting worse. There was nothing that I could do until my backup would arrive. I fell to the ground feeling very dizzy, just then I saw a lemur in the doorway looking freightened at me. He had to have been one of the computer technicians that worked here, as he looked familiar to me.
"S-sir!" The lemur cried.
I couldn't respond as I was too dizzy and on the verge of becoming unconsious.
"I just went to the bathroom for a few minutes! What just happened!?" He continued.
"It's-uh, Z-Zarith! H-he escaped!" I stammered out. I was feeling extremely light headed and my vision became blurred, I was also losing my hearing.
"Sir! I'll be back! I'm going to get you some first aid! Just hold on there!" Right after he finished that sentence, I blacked out and dropped unconsious.
Moscow, Russia - 16 Hours Later
_ _
"Mr. Sikalinsky! Can you hear me? Squeez my paw if you can!" A doctor tried talking to me, but I could barely understand the words that came out of his mouth. I was hooked up to multiple tubes and strapped to wires in a hospital bed.
"Hello? Can you hear me?" The doctor was a young looking wolf.
"Uhh, w-w-whaaa happuu-uned t-to m-me? I tripped out.
"You just came out of surgery. You need to just rest for a few weeks and by then you will have fully recovered" the doctor explained.
"Y-you l-look like a-a young d-doctor" I pointed out.
"Yes, I just came out of the Moscow State University with my PhD. I am also working with a more experienced doctor if you need him to" he said.
"I n-need to s-speak with my... unit" I studdered. I was slowly being able to regain control over my temporary speech impediments.
"Sir, you've lost a significant amount of blood, you might want to wait -" the wolf said.
"- I n-need to speak w-with them n-now!" I interrupted him.
"I'll see what I can do" the wolf said. "I'll have to make a few calls first" he then exited the room and left me waiting on the bed alone.
After a few good minutes of waiting, the wolf and another older looking doctor walked in the room.
"Hello, Mr. Sikalinsky, I'm Dr. Dicodravvo and this is Dr. Visvavik" The older doctor told me. He was a beige griffon, who had brown lines running along his forearm and possibly his underbelly.
"C-can I talk to my u-unit now?" I was surprized at how much clearer I was able to speak.
"Well, we might be able to get you on the line for a bit, but we can't let you leave until your time is up here" The griffon stated.
"W-what is this!? A p-prison!?" I shouted.
"Please, there's no need to yell, it's just for your safety" the griffon said once more.
"I put my life on the line all the time, by this point I'm not concerned about my s-safety!" I exclaimed.
"The phone is right beside you, do you need any numbers for anything?" The young wolf clipped in.
"All I need is some privacy please" I calmly stated. The two of them then left the room and shut the door behind me. I was in a single bed room, so I didn't have to worry about anyone else eavesdropping in on my conversation.
I then picked up the phone and dialed the Kremlin.
"Hello, you have reached the Kremlin, please imput your extension and someone will be there to answer the phone" a voice message machine answered. I then dialed the extension code and told whoever answered who I was and what my authentication key was. After a few processing steps of security veryfication, I was then patched though to General of the Army Javier Evvi, who was ultimately in charge of the counter-terrorism effort in Russia.
"Viktor! It's good to hear from you! How are you feeling?" Javier said.
"Umm, good sir, how did you know?" I asked.
"Because you sent a distress call, remember, I have eyes everywhere!" He laughed.
"Okay, okay. But there's something I need to tell you that's very important, you may know already that Zarith Quilz has escaped, and I have no idea how. I can't work for about a week, but I need someone who can find a Max Woodland, he works for the US Navy" I explained.
"So, you're still trying to convince the Americans that there is a terrorist threat?" He asked.
I drew out a sigh "You know, we need to put our differences aside and put the past behind us, Max seems like a good guy, yeah I know we've had trouble with the west, but I want to make a peace between us. I've seen enough war in my lifetime, and it's gotten us nowhere" I told him.
"This operation is completely yours, I instructed you to try to squish the Cevenda, even if that means getting America involved, we can't just march Russian solders into American cities and remove the Cevenda from them. America would hate us even more for that and it would be an act of war. I want you to do your best, and remember, you have the resources you need to take them down" he told me. "Also, have you heard what's happened within the last few hours?"
"No, what? Is it important!?" His comment had be worried.
"A car bomb went off in Tel-Aviv, and four important Israeli personnel are dead because of it. And get this, all four of them are counter-terrorist Mossad agents" he explained.
"Which means that these guys are going global! What do they have resource-wise?" I asked.
"It's pretty scary -" Javier was cut off.
"Hello, sir... You there? Hello!?" I tried calling the Kremlin again but I couldn't get any answer this time. Either there was something wrong with the phone lines or there was something wrong with the Kremlin.
Israel had already been attacked, so what's next? And more importantly... Who?
As Zarith had stated earlier: It has already begun.