Nadya's Nights: Road to Vengeance (7 page)

Chapter Ten: A Little Help

Slamming on the breaks, Nadya brought the battered Benz to a screeching halt in front of the address Vladimir had sent them to.

The area was desolate.  She was wondering if she’d heard the address correctly when she spotted movement out of the corner of her eye and looked out onto the street to see a lone figure standing in the middle of the road.

A woman, by the looks of it.

Another assassin sent to kill me?

Or Vladimir’s back up?

She popped the door open and got out, her pistol held ready to fire at the first sign of hostility.  The woman looked back at her.  She was older than Nadya, maybe thirty, with straight black hair cropped even with her jaw line.  She wore a black duster that could have hidden numerous weapons.  Her eyes were just as hard as Nadya’s.

Whoever she was, she’d done some killing.

“Where’s the wolf?” the woman asked.  She spoke with a British accent.

Nadya raised an eyebrow. 
The backup, apparently.

She was about to remark what good one lone woman would do to help kill the beast tracking her but refrained.  After all, she’d killed more than her fair share of assholes for the night.

She motioned back down the street they’d come up.  “Probably on its way here.  Along with a van of assholes armed to the teeth.”

“They’ll be yours,” the woman stated.  “I’ll deal with the beast.”  She pushed her duster aside and withdrew a large handgun, raising it up and pulling the slide back to chamber a round.  She’d be packing silver ammunition.  That alone caused Nadya to relax.

But only slightly.

Nadya nodded.  “Fair enough.”  She turned back to the car, looking in at Ulbrecht, who still sat inside.  “You might want to get out of there.  You know, in case they decide to blow up the car or something.”

He got out, still carrying the extra weapons she’d scavenged off their pursuers.

Nadya looked back at the woman with the very large pistol.  “Who are you, anyway?”

“Samantha Bethany Carter,” she replied, her voice as cold as it was firm.  “Hunters Guild.  European Branch.”

“How much does Vladimir pay you?” Nadya asked, somewhat sarcastically.  She couldn’t hide the smirk on her face.

“Quite a bit,” Carter deadpanned.

Before there was time for any more small talk, Nadya heard the sound of speeding automobiles and turned to see two cars moving down the street towards them.

She looked over at Ulbrecht.  “Take a gun and take cover,” she said.  “You stick your head out and get it shot off, it’s your own fucking problem.”

He nodded and set the extra guns on the hood of the Benz, taking one for himself and heading into a nearby alley.

Nadya walked over and picked up another of the pistols then went to stand in the street next to Carter, slightly in front of her.  The cars continued their approach.

There was no sign of the werewolf.

The cars, driving side by side, screeched to a halt about ten feet away from where the two women stood.  Wasting no time, Nadya raised her guns and started firing.  The shots deflected from the armored cars easily and she stopped shooting.

“Cocksuckers…” she cursed.

The doors on the cars opened and men poured out, carrying a wide range of projectile weaponry.  The only thing Nadya didn’t see was a crossbow.  Some took cover behind the armored doors of the car they exited and opened fire.

Both Nadya and Carter took off running, heading in opposite directions.  Nadya returned fire, although she didn’t have time to aim very well and was fairly certain she wasn’t hitting anything.  She ducked behind the Benz, hearing more bullets ping off the exterior of the car.

No doubt, this situation sucks total ass.

Nadya didn’t know where the monster hunter had run off to and she didn’t count on her help.  She raised the pistols up over the top of the Benz and fired a few more rounds at the assholes in the armored cars.  Again, she was sure she didn’t cause any significant damage to anyone.

“Fuck this…” she muttered then crouched low and ran to the other side of the Benz, popping up from the rear of the car which put her alongside one of the armored autos.

Lifting her guns, she fired at the men that she now had a clear shot at.  A couple cried out and fell back as bullets struck them, but the rest adjusted their aim on her and fired again.

Ducking down, she realized one of her guns was empty.  She waited for a break in the firing then stood again and hurled it at one of the men.  She saw it slam into the knuckles of his hand and make him drop his own gun.  She pointed her other gun at him and fired, hitting him in the chest and bettering the odds in her favor by one more point.

The other pistol was now empty as well, so she hurled it at another man as she leapt over the dented trunk of the Benz and charged the remaining men in the first car.

The second thrown pistol smashed into the goon’s knee and made him cry out and shift the aim of his rifle enough to send his fired shot wide of the young woman rushing him.  She leapt up, stretching her legs outward and her upper torso back, smashing both her feet into the man’s face and knocking him into the backseat of the car.

His rifle fell and Nadya managed to grab hold of it while still airborne.  Her forward momentum sent her flying into the backseat of the car, sitting right in front of the men on the other side.  She lifted the rifle and sent a burst into the one in front of her and then aimed over the front seat to shoot the driver as well.

The men from the second car were stunned at her rapid movements, but not too stunned to aim their guns at her.  She hooked her foot around the door handle of the open back door and pulled it closed just in time to deflect a barrage of fire.  She scooted backwards, out of the door she’d entered through and rolled over to land on her feet in a crouch.

She crept up to the front of the car then burst upwards, resting the barrel of the rifle on the hood and firing along the length of the car on the other side, taking out the row of men standing alongside it.

My odds are getting better by the moment.

Then she felt the barrel of a gun press into the side of her head.  She glanced over to see that one of the assholes had somehow snuck past and rounded the opposite side of the car.  She froze, trying to see an opening to somehow move out of the way of the gun or disarm the man.

Nadya winced as she heard a gunshot.

But there was no pain.  And she was fairly certain she wasn’t dead.

The man holding the gun on her stumbled to the ground, blood soaking through his shirt.

Behind him, Nadya spotted Ulbrecht, holding the pistol he’d taken.  A trail of smoke crept out of the end of the barrel.

“Good job,” she told him, giving him a thumbs up before she turned back to the second car.

It looked as if the rest of the men were dead.  She heard a groan from beside her and looked over to see the man she’d kicked coming around.  She pulled the rifle back and smashed the butt of it into his throat.  The man made a strangled sound and his eyes went wide as he tried to breathe.  She smashed the butt of the rifle into his throat again – harder – and there was a crack.

The man went limp.

Nadya heard clapping and snapped around, bringing the rifle to her shoulder.

Carter emerged from the side of one of the buildings, a smirk on her face.  “Fine killing,” she said.  “Very well done.  We could use someone with your skills at the Guild.”

Nadya rolled her eyes.  “Already got a job.  Thanks, though.”

“If you reconsider…” she started to say.

A low growl filled the air.

Nadya’s eyes widened as she saw the hulking beast emerge behind Carter.  The British woman saw Nadya’s expression, knowing that she’d been effectively snuck up on.  Her hand reached back into her duster and pulled the large pistol free.  She spun to face the werewolf, lifting the gun in front of her, but she didn’t move fast enough.

Nadya watched in shock as the monster lashed out at the woman with one of his enormous clawed hands, slamming it into the side of her head.  There was a nasty tearing sound and then the woman no longer had a head.

Well, she does… It just isn’t attached to the rest of her body anymore.

Nadya watched the severed head fly through the air before slamming into the ground and rolling into the gutter.  Carter’s headless body still stood in front of the beast, as if so surprised by the sudden decapitation that she didn’t realize she was dead.

Blood spurt from the neck stump, spraying the werewolf, who opened his jaws and extended his tongue to lap at the warm fluid.  Carter’s body dropped to her knees.  A moment later, she fell onto her back, twitching slightly as more of her blood pumped out onto the ground.

So much for the backup
, Nadya thought as the werewolf turned to face her.

Chapter Eleven: Final Battle

The werewolf let out a low growl and charged Nadya.  She raised her rifle and fired away at the monster.  Blood sprayed from the beast as the bullets struck him along the midsection, slowing him a bit.  The kickback forced her to stop firing and as she did the werewolf leapt into the air.  She looked up, following him with her eyes as he came towards her.

Lifting the rifle higher, she fired again, emptying the rest of the clip into the creature as he came down.  He landed a few feet in front of her and Nadya flipped the empty rifle around to hold it by the barrel, feeling the heat of the metal burn her hands.  She ignored the pain and brought the rifle back, attempting to slam the butt of it across the monster’s head.

The blow came up short as the werewolf grabbed hold of the rifle’s stock and squeezed, shattering the wood.  He yanked the gun away from her, dragging her forward a few feet.  When the gun left her hands, she was right in front of the werewolf.  He snarled, specking her face with his saliva, and then backhanded her in the face.

Nadya felt as if she’d been hit in the face with a sledgehammer.

Her body flew to the side, bashing into the front of the Benz.  She tasted the coppery warmth of blood in her mouth and spit some of it out on the hood of the car.  She pushed herself to her feet and looked over to the werewolf, who glared at her.

“Don’t tell me,” she said.  “That cunt was your mother, too?  For a ritzy bitch, she sure found time to get herself in bed with quite a few monsters.”

The werewolf roared angrily at her and charged her again.

“Touch a nerve, did I?” she shot back.

Nadya waited and right before he crushed her against the car she dove to the side.  The beast totaled Ulbrecht’s Benz, smashing the front of it in.  Something in the engine compartment started spewing steam.

She snatched up a discarded gun and turned to the werewolf, firing rapidly.  She unloaded the clip into his back in a matter of seconds.

Snarling in rage, the beast ripped the driver side door of the Benz off and hurled it at her.  Nadya dropped backwards to the ground as the chunk of metal soared over her head.  She landed on her ass and, in turn, hurled the empty pistol at the werewolf.  “Fetch, fucker!” she yelled at him.

The monster didn’t bother trying to dodge the projectile and the gun smashed into his snout, drawing a small amount of blood from his nostrils.

The werewolf snorted, spraying blood out of his nose, and started towards Nadya again.  She looked around for another weapon.

As she did, Ulbrecht leapt onto the werewolf’s back, wrapping his arms around the beast’s thick neck.  She saw his heroic move and cursed.

“No, you idiot!  Get out of here!” she yelled in Russian, forgetting momentarily that he didn’t speak the language.  She felt fear spike through her and she didn’t exactly know why.

It wasn’t like she even knew him all that well.  She’d only met him an hour or so earlier but she found the idea of him getting slaughtered by the werewolf very distressing.

She turned to find another weapon, hoping she could get to one before the werewolf ripped Ulbrecht’s head off or something equally fatal.  Spotting a shotgun, she reached over and grabbed it, sliding it over to her and putting the butt of it to her shoulder as she took aim on the beast.

Meanwhile, the werewolf struggled to get Ulbrecht off his back.  He reached around and grabbed hold of the German by the back of his shirt and tugged, successfully pulling the man free.  The werewolf then flipped him off of his back and hurled him against one of the armored cars.

Ulbrecht hit the side of the car with a terrible sound and crumpled to the ground, unmoving.

Nadya cursed, anger flooding through her.  She fired the shotgun into the beast’s stomach and pumped, firing again.  At some point between blasts, she rose to her feet and advanced on the monster, continuing to fire.  The powerful shotgun blasts opened up gaping wounds in the beast’s stomach and chest and drove him backwards.

The shotgun clicked empty as she came within a foot of the creature and he looked down at her with a rage of his own.  He clenched one of his furred hands into a fist and brought it forward, plowing into her stomach.

The blow lifted Nadya off her feet, the air knocked clean out of her.  Her sore back smashed into the same armored car that Ulbrecht had been thrown into and she slumped to the ground, gasping for breath, still holding the empty shotgun.  She could feel the thuds of the werewolf stomping towards her and she lifted her dazed head to look at him.

This isn’t working.

I need silver.

Carter’s corpse seemed so far away.  She felt hopeless and beaten and – more than anything – tired.  But deep down she felt a bit of warmth.  She reached down and took hold of it to see what it was and wasn’t surprised to find her anger there.

It was never far and the only truly surprising thing about it now was that it was so reduced.  She clenched hold of it and focused on it, feeling it grow within her.

Nadya found herself standing again, the werewolf still approaching her.  She looked down at the empty shotgun she had then up to the werewolf and the collection of wounds she’d given him.  Stepping forward, she lifted the shotgun and slammed the barrel forward, shoving it into one of the wounds in his stomach.

She kept pushing, burying the weapon deeper and deeper into the monster and – amazingly – pushed him back a step.  She released her hold on the gun and moved back, lifting a foot and kicking hard against the butt of the shotgun, impaling the weapon through the werewolf’s stomach.

The beast howled in pain, arching his head back.

Nadya spit blood on the monster, glaring at him.

“Fuck you, dogcock!” she yelled then turned and ran around the armored car towards Carter’s corpse.  She skidded to a stop in front of her and bent down, prying the dead woman’s fingers from her pistol.

She got the gun free and hefted it, feeling the weight.  She turned to see the werewolf ripping the gore covered shotgun from his gut before snapping the weapon in half and tossing it to the ground.

Then he came at her again.

Nadya lifted the pistol and fired.  The shot struck the werewolf along his pelvis, creating a small hole, but the effect of the silver bullet was immediate as the creature let out a loud bellow of pain.  She felt a smirk of satisfaction cross her face and fired again, this time hitting the monster in his thigh and slowing his approach some more.

She wasn’t used to the weight of the gun and it made her shots come in much lower than she wanted.  Lifting the gun higher, she fired again.

Too high this time.  The shot struck the werewolf in the shoulder.  The beast’s anger and pain were evident from his continuing growls and snarls of rage.

As the werewolf got closer she attempted to strafe to the side.  The monster’s reflexes were faster than hers and he caught on to her trick quickly, darting directly at her.  He leapt for her and she dropped flat to the ground, the beast flying by inches above her.  She rolled over and pushed herself up, backing away from the werewolf, heading towards the cars.

She didn’t know how many bullets were left in the gun but she didn’t want to bet her marksmanship skills on being able to put a round through the thing’s heart with whatever she had left.  She wondered if Carter had any more weapons in her jacket, but now the werewolf was between her and the body.

Then an idea came to her.

The armored cars.

The engines were still running; she could hear them idling behind her.  Turning her back on the werewolf, she ran for the nearest one, hopping into the driver seat and closing the door.  She put the car into gear and jammed the accelerator, sending the car lurching towards the beast.

The werewolf stopped advancing and watched the car speeding towards him, bracing himself for the impact.  He was figuring that the car would be crushed like the van it had collided with, just as she’d thought he would.

I hope he’s wrong.

Gritting her teeth, Nadya pressed the gas pedal to the floor, feeling the car burst forward with a bit of added speed and braced herself for the impending collision.  She was going about forty when she hit the werewolf and it felt as if she’d suddenly been yanked to a halt.  Neglecting to put a seatbelt on, she slammed forward into the steering wheel, feeling a rib or two bruise or crack.  She wasn’t sure which.

Her air was knocked from her body and she jammed her knee against the steering column.  Looking through the windshield, she saw the werewolf had suffered a bit more.

The reinforced car had taken the solid impact with the muscled creature well.  There was a bit of a dent in the hood and she was sure the headlights were smashed, but the car had held together.

The werewolf laid on the street in a stunned heap and – by the look of it – a pair of broken legs.  They would heal rapidly, she knew, if given half a chance.  She knocked the door open and slid out of the car, feeling her body screaming in pain as she moved.

She didn’t give a fuck.

This was her one chance to end the fucker.

Limping forward at the fastest pace she could manage, Nadya stopped beside the monster and looked down at him.  The thing whimpered like a baby.  The sound gave her some satisfaction and made her wounds hurt a bit less.  She lifted the pistol and aimed it at the werewolf’s chest.

“Bad dog,” she said before pulling the trigger.

She kept firing until the weapon clicked empty.  By that time, the beast had gone limp and was already well into transforming back into his human form.  Nadya tossed the spent weapon down on the chest of the naked man before her then turned and limped away.

She spotted Ulbrecht’s still form and headed over, kneeling down next to him.  Relief flooded through her when she saw he was still breathing and again she wondered why.

The pain her body was in made her not care so much about the reasons behind her feelings and she tried to rouse him from his unconscious state.  She knew there was no way she could carry him and they had to get out of there before the police or more assholes arrived.

With a groan, Ulbrecht’s eyes fluttered open and he looked up at Nadya.  He smiled weakly.  “We’re alive?” he asked.

Nadya nodded, returning the smile.

It faded quickly when he reached up and gently guided her head down to him and he pressed his lips against hers.  She struggled to get away and he released her.  She glared down at him.

“No,” she said simply then stood slowly, wincing in pain.  “We have to go.  Now.”

She watched him rise to his feet, almost as slowly as she had.  They were both pretty battered, it seemed.  She turned to the second armored car, the only one that hadn’t suffered any damage, and limped towards it.

“You can drive,” she said.  “My leg is killing me.”

Ulbrecht didn’t argue and walked around the car, getting in the driver seat.

Nadya got in the passenger side, feeling her ribs shift as she sat down and she let out a yelp of pain.  He looked over at her, concern on his face.

She waved it away.  “You can play doctor later.  Get us out of here.  And let me borrow your cell again.”

He handed it over and started driving.

Nadya dialed Vladimir again, hoping to hear better news this time.  When he answered, she spoke immediately, the tiredness in her voice obvious.  “Please, tell me that was the last of them,” she said.

Vladimir chuckled.  “From what our sources can tell,” he said.  “Sorry about all this, Nadezhda.  I didn’t know that bitch was so well protected.  You did beautifully.”

“Yea, me and the kid doctor,” she said.  “We both need patching up now.  Preferably someplace with lots of armed guards that are paid to protect my ass this time.”