Read Story: SEASON 2 EPISODE 65

I carefully and quietly pushed myself to my feet, careful not to shift any debris and alert my hunter to my presence. A glance toward the other side of the plan didn’t tell me anything. Too much debris was blocking the rest of the helicopter, including Astrid’s cocoon of wreckage.

Pressing myself up against the side of the helicopter, I deliberated what to do next. My mind’s eye imagined the hunter on the other side of that thin sheet of metal peering through the bullet holes to try and locate my body, ready to shoot me at any sign of danger.

More lights flickered and remained dim, suggesting that he had stopped where he was. Had he noticed something?

I raised my gun and aimed it in Hunter’s vague direction, ready to pull the trigger at a moment’s notice.

Someone shouted in Japanese again. It sounded like a question.

Hunter replied, his voice so close that I almost jumped and blew my cover. It was also in Japanese and sounded frustrated.

Then he began to move again, the holes right next to me dimming to announce his approach, and Hunter halted in front of them.

And I knew… this was it.

I quietly twisted around to face the hull and pressed the gun barrel carefully against the aluminum.

My hunter spoke again. This time, he was the one asking the questions.

I pulled the trigger. Twice.

And then I dove for the ground, landing on my stomach and squirming around so that I could train my pistol on the wreckage doorway.

Another hailstorm of bullets ripped through the chopper, scaring the shit out of me.

I groaned through gritted teeth and kept my head low, trying to make myself as small as possible. I didn’t yell, though.

Another two shots rang from Astrid, confirming that she was alive. I heard a scream in the distance and saw sparks fly around the heiress’s general vicinity as she suddenly received all the attention.

The helicopter was starting to resemble a piece of paper after ten minutes in the hands of a kindergartener with a hole punch. If Tanaka’s mercenaries kept this up, I wasn’t sure how much longer I’d actually be able to use the wreckage as cover. There was a lot I didn’t know—how many of them were out there? Where were they located? How much ammunition did they have?

Judging by the amount of shooting they were doing, it was infinite ammo.

The shooting died down. This time, there was no one quietly sneaking near the helicopter. Instead, I heard someone shout in Japanese. It sounded accusatory and challenging. I didn’t need to understand to get the message—they wanted me to come out with my hands up.

That wasn’t happening. We’d already killed two or three of their guys, and I felt that the window of opportunity to solve this with diplomacy had closed when the first merc took Astrid’s wrath in the chest.

I felt the heat of my anger toward Astrid flare up again—not just toward her, but also myself. I had let her get too close, and she used that proximity to do whatever the hell she wanted without any regard for me or my people. Or her people, for that matter. She wasn’t the only one on that chopper, after all.

The quiet was starting to reach a level of discomfort that I couldn’t take. They still had to be out there… why weren’t any of them saying anything? How long were they going to remain out there?

Maybe that wasn’t the right question. Maybe the right question was how long I could stay here.

Knowing that I couldn’t stay, I took a page out of Chloe’s book and decided to go the route of ‘sooner rather than later.’ I slowly crept forward, carefully choosing spots to place my hands and knees as I inched across the chaotic wreckage. Step-by-step, I got closer to the opening, and I found myself involuntarily holding my breath more than once in anticipation of seeing a mercenary spring around the corner and gun me down.

That wasn’t the surprise I received when I got within a couple of feet of the door, though. A flash of movement caught my eye from the other side of the piece of wreckage that held Astrid. A mercenary peered around the edge, looking past the obstacle as he spotted me. He immediately trained his rifle in my direction, but didn’t fire. Instead, he shouted in Japanese, making it sound like an order.

As far as I was concerned, it was over. I immediately pointed the gun on the air and took my finger off the trigger in hopes that he would get the message that I wasn’t a threat and prepared to stand up.

He stepped around the crumpled bit of wreckage to approach me.

And took three bullets in the neck and head for his trouble.

I have no idea why he did it. Maybe they hadn’t figured out exactly what the situation with Astrid was, and my presence as an armed person surrendering lowered his guard enough that he hadn’t spied Astrid as he passed.

Whatever it was, it hardly mattered.

What did matter was the automatic rifle lying mere feet from me.

The dead guy’s buddies had to be ready to open fire at the first sign of movement, but I seriously contemplated making a play for it.

And then a second mercenary stepped into my line of vision… facing away from me.

He had his rifle trained on the debris where Astrid was, and my priority suddenly shifted. I sprang to my feet, aimed the pistol at the back of the newcomer’s head, and fired a single shot that punched a hole the size of my fist in the back bottom half of his head.