Blood Prize (36 page)

N
oah gripped his automatic weapon with sweaty hands; his finger trembling, as it engaged the trigger.

He spoke quietly to the man lying next to him and continued his vigil from their hide on the ridge.

“I can’t stand this, Nico. What on earth is going on in there?”

They could see the radiance bursting from the cavern’s entrance, even in the harsh light of the afternoon.

“I’ve never felt so powerless.”

Both men struggled to contain their emotions, as their friends did battle without them.

“They’re our life’s purpose and only God knows what’s happening to them down there.”

“It’s nearly time, Noah. I know we’re going to die and I’m ready.”

“Your Emma … She’ll be there waiting. They’ll all be there, but I’m not going without a fight.”

“Nor I.”

Noah reached out and squeezed the priest’s arm.

“The light from the cavern’s stopped. Get ready.”

Noah could see a man labouring from the entrance, dragging another. Once out, he passed the injured man to a medic and limped towards a waiting helicopter.

It’s Wolf.

Noah lowered his weapon.

This revenge belongs to you, my old friend.

_____________

Wolf shouted at his troops to form around him.

“Why are you staring at me, you fools?”

Yes … Of course, they’re shocked.

They can’t believe a mere mortal could survive such a thing, but he didn’t have time for their adulation. Helicopter rotors spun, ready to take off.

He limped forward several steps and stopped; noticing the state of his female prisoners.

“Mother of God. What’s happened here, sergeant?”

“Sir, I … I’m not sure. Just after you went into the hole, the scarred one went crazy. Not long after, the other one started to jerk all over the place in some sort of spasm.”

“Get them to a helicopter, we’re moving out. Also, inform our captain and all of our flight crews that I want the cavern totally destroyed. Use every rocket we have.”

_____________

With trembling hands, the priest aimed his weapon at Wolf: the murderer of Em, his great love and all of his brethren. He could avenge her innocent blood right here, but as he evoked her memory, his rage began to battle with the goodness of her life.

“My dear, sweet, Emma.”

She fought the good fight and she’d never condone my need for vengeance. She’d stay my hand; reminding me always of our great responsibility to the truth; never confusing justice with revenge.

“Alright you monster, cop this.”

He squeezed the trigger and the weapon kicked. He saw the projectile explode into Wolf’s thigh and nodded. He aimed low, as an initial warning; a declaration of war, which allowed him to act. He knew he could never commit murder, but he could kill to stop a killer.

Noah followed the priest’s lead, firing a constant stream of projectiles down on their enemy.

“Stop them reaching the helicopters, Nico. We have to keep them pinned down if we can.”

“It’s too late for that.”

The priest could see two already starting to rise into the air. As he spoke, they began to receive fire from several locations around the battlefield, as well as the two operational helicopters.

The gunfire ceased and the priest raised his head in surprise.

“Noah, look.”

Both men watched as the Angel rose from the cavern; its light intermittent. It no longer moved as it once did. The priest thought it looked almost comic now, running like a man.

He turned away from the Angel and looked over at his friend, as Noah raised himself onto one elbow and started jabbing his forefinger towards the enemy.

“Fire at Wolf, Nico. He’ll have the Prize. We can’t let him get away.”

Bullets fizzed by, landing all around them, but they continued their assault on Wolf.

_____________

Uta knew where Noah positioned himself and waited for the attack. It came much later than she expected and hit the SRP hard from the ridge.

There’s only two of them and they’re in the same spot. It won’t be long until they’re eliminated, especially with helicopters in the air.

Uta looked over at her sister.

She knows and she’s ready.

“Now.”

She kicked out at her captor at exactly the same time as her half-twin and they broke free of him. She knew he could catch them, but she also knew he focused elsewhere.

Why expose yourself to enemy fire? Why die for two unarmed women when you came here to fight?

Bound and exposed, they bounced towards the only possible cover: the cavern’s entrance.

Uta turned for the briefest moment, before entering the gloom and laughed when she spotted Wolf. She could see his annoyance.

_____________

The priest saw another two SRP men fall.

I think I got him.

The bullet struck Wolf somewhere in the torso region, but a soldier dragged him away through the dust towards their aircraft.

“We’ve failed, Noah. They’ll make it into the air.”

“No … Wait for Wolf’s helicopter. Aim all your fire in that direction. Don’t stop. We can’t give up.”

_____________

Wolf sat forward in the seat behind the pilot and attempted to assess the full extent of his injuries. The thigh shot leaked blood, but didn’t appear to be an immediate risk, unlike the wound to his chest.

Each time he spoke, his mouth bubbled with red froth and he coughed up globules of fresh blood.

A scorched and sooty figure slumped beside him. He braved a smirk and tried to speak. Wolf hardly recognised his rasping voice.

“A lung shot. You’re a dead man, Wolf.”

“You don’t look so well either, Costa. I’d say we’re both as good as dead.”

We’re not going to make it to our next destination … No way.

He flinched in agony and grasped at the wound to hold in the pain, but the object in his hand hindered him.

The Prize.

The canister still contained a third of its original contents. He could swallow half and give the remainder to the Cobra. He disliked the man, but saving him established some insurance against retribution.

T
om felt fatigued; most of his strength draining away in his battle with the Angel, but he raised himself to face the new threat.

“Get away from her, Vogel.”

“I don’t have to shoot you. I just want to, but I’ll kill her first so you can watch before you die.”

Isobel sobbed with pain as she raised herself from the ground to face her father’s killer. Between the smudges of soot, Tom could see red blotches and scalded skin. He also noticed her smouldering cloths and singed hair.

“You don’t get it, do you, Vogel?”

“What?”

“Didn’t you see what happened to Tom? He cheated death.”

“No-one cheats me.”

Vogel let out a high pitched wail and pulled the trigger. The hammer clanged against metal, but the gun didn’t fire. Then his eyes widened and his face contorted with hatred.

“I’ve changed my mind, Fox. I’m going to kill you first.”

He removed a knife from somewhere on his person and shuffled towards Tom.

“Your body might spit out bullets, but if I cut off your head …?”

Tom felt weak and unable to defend himself. He tried to back away, knowing Vogel intended to go through with his threat, but where could he go?

I think I’m about to find out just how invincible I am.

Then a noise halted Vogel’s attack.

Two women appeared on the steel stair and bounded from the last rung to the floor of the cavern. Tom looked at the scarred face and felt sick with recognition.

Uta … And the sister.

Tom saw Vogel move in his peripheral vision. He backed away from the approaching women, looking almost happy as he gathered up his previously discarded gun.

“Beautiful. No weapons and tied like hogs.”

As Vogel faced off with the two devil-women, Tom saw Isobel scramble towards Vogel’s dropped knife. Holding on to the blade, she flicked the dagger across the cavern, landing it beside a surprised Uta.

“Nice work, bitch. Once I kill Vogel, I can use it on you.”

While the women cut their bonds, Vogel hurried to reload his weapon. He succeeded, took aim and fired twice.

Tom heard the two detonations and a click and knew that Vogel didn’t have any more ammunition. He looked at the man’s horrified face and then at the women. Both bullets hit their target, but neither woman fell.

Uta laughed as she tossed the knife from hand to hand.

“Now it’s your turn, Vogel.”

The three combatants began to circle and snarl at each other, but Tom focused elsewhere.

Helicopters.

He heard them approaching and the whoosh of the first rockets being launched.

No … Get going.

Before Tom could move, the entrance to the cavern exploded. The noise and concussion throwing him onto his back. A black cloud of dust enveloped him as he struggled back to a standing position; obscuring everything, including the three circling killers.

Tom’s foot found Isobel and he reached down in the darkness and lifted her up by the arm. His action hurt her, but he didn’t have time to be gentle.

“Hurry, Iz. This way. My father made a map. There’s a tunnel.”

Another blast rocked the cavern and knocked them off their feet. Seconds later, he heard a loud crack.

The roof?

He jumped to his feet and began to drag Isobel towards the rear tunnel, but several metres short of the entrance, another rocket struck, bringing part of the main roof down.

Tom heard Isobel cry out and she fell to the ground.

“Iz? Iz …?”

She didn’t answer. He fumbled in the dirt and found her arm.

She’s not moving … A rock … Quickly, get her out of here.

He lifted her and tried to run towards safety, but he didn’t get far. He experienced a thunderous roar that brought pain to his ears and the entire ceiling of rock came crashing down.

_____________

Noah watched in horror, as the first of the rockets struck the cavern.

“Sweet Lord, no.”

Flying debris and columns of dust swirled over the plain, as the last of the helicopters flew close by to deliver its death. Noah could see Wolf’s face peering at them through the side window.

“It’s him, Nico. Wolf. Give it to him.”

As the helicopter released its rockets, both Noah and the priest rose to their knees, and fired until their weapons clanged to a stop.

For a moment nothing happened; the helicopter sped away, seemingly untouched. Then they spotted the smoke. Wolf’s aircraft caught fire and plunged into the distant plain; exploding into a fireball as it struck the ground.

Noah fell to his knees in the dirt, spent; hardly noticing as the priest rushed by.

“Come on, Noah. They could still be alive.”

The big man stood and watched, as his friend ran and fell, and ran again. There seemed hope in the priest’s actions. Imagined or not, it woke him from his trance.

They arrived at the site in the last of the days glow. Instead of an entrance leading to a cavern, they found a deep depression covered by rock and soil.

What’s he doing? Can’t he see it’s useless? The whole area’s caved in.

In the fading light, he could see that the priest displayed no intentions of giving up.

“We have to dig, Noah. We have to keep going.”

The big man shook his head in anger.

What stupidity. No-one could survive under all of this rock.

“For God’s sake, Nico. This is a grave.”

The priest stopped digging and slumped onto his hands and knees in the dirt. The memory of all those who lost their lives seemed to drift above the sunken trough: his beloved Emma and brethren, Tom and Isobel and so many more.

“You’re right. They’re gone.”

Noah heard the tremor in the priest’s voice and struggled to control his own emotions.

“I suppose it’s a fitting resting place. Against all odds, Tom brought us all the way to the Prize. Now he’s buried in the place where it all began.”

“No. Rubbish. That’s sentimental nonsense, Nico. It’s a crime that we survived and they perished. Two old men like us have no right to …”

The priest reached forward and placed his hand over Noah’s mouth. Utilising the only sliver of light remaining, Noah followed his friend’s line of sight and searched the horizon. Then he saw it. A brief glimpse of a silhouette coming towards them.

Both men lowered themselves to the ground and drew their weapons.

“Nico, don’t shoot unless you have to. There might be more than one.”

They waited in silence as the figure approached. Noah thought the footsteps sounded laboured and tired. He rose onto one knee, aimed his weapon and called out.

“Stop … Don’t move. Not even a muscle or you’ll die. Now, slowly raise your hands and come closer.”

Nothing happened. The dark figure didn’t move.

“No. That’s not going to happen. I’m carrying an injured woman and she’s someone you both love.”

“Tom …?”

Noah found it difficult to form his words.

“Tom. Is that you?”

“I need a little help here. Iz’s badly hurt.”

Noah rushed forward and took Isobel in his arms and experienced a rush of warmth returning to his heart. He looked over at Tom and shook his head in wonder.

He looked so serious as he focused his attention on the priest’s disjointed attempts to speak.

“How did you survive, young man? We saw you shot … And the cave-in?”

“Luck … God … Who knows?”

“We didn’t see Vogel, but we did see the devil-twins enter. What happened?”

Tom pointed into the collapsed cavern.

“They’re under there.”

The priest shook his head very slowly.

“I still don’t understand how you survived.”

He watched Tom’s expression grow into a smile and didn’t understand when it turned into a chuckle.

“You don’t get it, either of you?”

Noah’s eyes widened and a similar smile appeared on his face.

“Nico. He did it. He got what we came for.”

“No. We saw Wolf leave with it.”

“Nico, old friend. Tom’s done it. We’ve won.”

“And, Wolf?”

“We saw his helicopter go down in flames and explode with the dying Angel on board. No-one could survive that.”

As Tom put a hand on both of their shoulders and beamed, a gentle female voice came from Noah’s lap.

“You did it, Tom. We won.”