Away From the Sun - Part 3
“You sleeping?”
Justin opened his eyes just as the truck hit a pothole, his head bouncing slightly against the passenger window. Taking his eyes off the road, he looked at Anton - the driver of the truck.
“I couldn’t sleep now even if I wanted to,” he replied. His entire body was like one tense muscle, every organ and joint ready for action. The apprehension only grew as they got closer and closer to their target.
“We’re almost there,” Justin said, glancing down at the map lying in his lap.
“Just behind the hill,” Anton agreed in a heavy Russian accent. He was one of Craig Taylor’s men. It was obvious that the last thing he wanted to do was break into a military base, especially for a CIA agent, but it had become clear to Justin a long time ago that he was probably the only person in his father’s life who had ever disobeyed him and lived to tell the tale.
Justin rolled the map and put it in the glove compartment. Then he pulled out a hat that Ukrainian soldiers wore and put it on his head. The plan was to pass as soldiers bringing fresh produce to the base.
His eyes were glued to the large base that had opened up in front of them as they drove up to the top of the hill. This was it.
Justin stilled his breathing as the wheels of the old military truck stopped in front of the heavy iron gate and two soldiers moved to inspect the new arrival.
“Documenti,” one of them demanded.
Anton handed both of their passports along with the army papers.
While one of the soldiers flipped through their identification papers, occasionally glancing up at them, the other one walked around the truck, looking intently for something. He stopped at the passenger-side door.
“Pochemu tak pozdno?” He asked Justin why they were delivering the produce so late.
“Bila avariya po doroge,” Justin explained, telling the guard that there was an accident on the road. He knew very well that it would take nothing at all for the guard to check whether there were any accidents on the roads they would have taken, but the soldier, satisfied with the answer, walked back over to the booth and opened the gate for them.
With their documents returned, Anton slowly drove the truck inside. In the side mirror, Justin could see the gate closing behind them.
Anton pulled the truck over to where the soldier had indicated and stopped, putting the car in park. The two of them sat quietly for a few seconds, taking in their surroundings. Justin was focusing on figuring out an alternate way out as well as learning exactly how many men were on guard tonight.
“Not so hard to get in.” Anton’s voice broke through Justin’s concentration.
The blond glanced up at the other man. “Getting in is easy,” he said, unbuckling his seat belt. “It’s getting out that’s the problem.”
The large Russian man snickered. “You’re just as pessimistic as your father.”
Justin held the man’s gaze for a moment, about to respond to that. But there were more important things at stake at the time. He looked to the right instead, counting again how many men were standing guard.
“That’s where he is,” he said, motioning for the building standing to the side, away from the rest of the barracks.
“You sure?”
The blond nodded.
“You sure it’s a good idea you go alone there? There’s lots of them and they all have guns.”
Justin glared at him, not caring in the least for the mockery in the man’s voice. “You just stick to the plan and don’t worry about me.”
“I’m not worried about you,” Anton responded. And Justin believed him. From the moment he met him, Justin could tell that the Russian was not a fan of his. “But my job is to keep you alive.”
“Well, then I suggest you get to it,” Justin hissed. Throwing one last glance at the other man, Justin opened the door to get out. A part of him was wondering whether this was just one huge mistake to go into this with someone that he couldn’t trust. A partner was supposed to watch your back and you had to trust your partner with your life. Justin wouldn’t even trust the life of a rat to Anton, let alone his or Brian’s. But he had no other choice. The plan that his father presented to him was better than anything that he could do alone. At least, this way he and Brian stood a chance.
He slammed the passenger door and looked around. A couple of soldiers glanced briefly at him, but then carried on with whatever they were doing.
He took out a pack of cigarettes and lit one. He leaned against the truck and took in a breath full of smoke, then let it out slowly. This seemed to get attention of a few of the soldiers. One of them walked over to Justin to ask for a cigarette.
Justin smiled and pointed them to Anton, telling them that they got a huge supply of cigarettes and vodka. When he was satisfied that the coast was clear, all the soldiers busy looking over the products that Anton was showing them, Justin slipped away and inside the building where he believed Brian was being held.
He tossed the cigarette to the side and began making his way down the staircase that led into the basement. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, Justin stopped and looked around, squinting at the brightness of the fluorescent light. He pulled out a compass from his right pocket to check the direction. Brian was just down the hall.
Placing the compass back in his pocket, Justin cautiously walked down the hall. As he started to turn the corner, he saw the room where Brian was being held, as well as the soldier guarding it. Justin peeked out carefully as to not be seen before he had to be and surveyed the guard. The man was heavily armed, a rifle over his shoulder while a radio was firmly held in his left hand. Justin had to be cautious; every move had to be carefully thought out, because any wrong move would mean that the entire base would be charging down into this hall in seconds.
Justin leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths in to get himself ready. He then pushed away from the wall and turned the corner, walking straight toward the guard.
The soldier’s body immediately tensed up, but he didn’t seem to think anything wrong yet, because the rifle remained hanging from his shoulder.
“Chto ti zdes delaesh?” the solder asked, wondering what Justin was doing there.
“Ya poteryalsya,” Justin replied, his arms raised to the sides as if he was completely lost and confused. “Ne mogu nayti tualet.” He told the soldier he got lost looking for the bathroom.
“Zdes zapreschenno,” the soldier told him.
Justin nodded, letting the guard know that he realized that this was a restricted area, yet he kept moving toward him – less than ten feet separating them now.
“Zdes zapreschenno,” the soldier repeated, his right arm moving to grab a hold of the rifle handle.
Justin knew that he had to move fast. Before the guard could react, Justin grabbed his left hand to get the radio out of the way so that he couldn’t call for help. Dropping the radio to the floor, Justin pulled out a syringe with a very strong sedative in it and jammed it into the soldier’s neck. A second later the soldier’s limp body slumped to the floor next to the walkie-talkie.
Not wanting to lose another moment, Justin rummaged the soldier’s uniform, searching for the key to open the door. He found it in the guard’s back pocket. Pulling it out, Justin stepped over the unconscious body. The door squeaked as Justin pushed it open.
The room was a complete opposite of the hall outside – completely dark and damp. Using the light from the hallway, Justin searched the room with his eyes. Finally he saw him – Brian was lying in the far corner of the room, rolled in a fetal position.
Justin rushed over, dropping to his knees beside his lover.
“Brian,” he called, carefully rolling Brian on his back.
Brian’s clothes were torn, covered with dirt and blood. His face wasn’t in better condition, covered with cuts and bruises.
“Brian,” Justin tried again, taking Brian’s face in his hands and shaking him a little. His heart hurt at the sight of Brian in this condition, but Justin realized that this was not the time to get emotional. First they needed to get out of here alive. Then they’d deal with it.
A relief swept over him as two hazel eyes met his. The feeling was brief, because Brian began to struggle to get away from him.
“Brian, it’s me,” Justin tried again, moving closer. It was obvious that in the military uniform Brian mistook him for a soldier, probably thinking that they’d come to torture him. “It’s ok.”
Brian stopped struggling and tried to focus his eyes. “Justin?” His voice was quiet, almost a whisper, but Justin definitely heard it.
“Yes, it’s me.” He even managed an encouraging smile.
“Wha…doin…here?” Brian’s speech was slurred and broken, which told Justin that he was probably drugged as well.
“How about we talk later?” Justin offered. He pulled Brian into a sitting position and leaned him against the wall. “After we get out of here.”
Brian had a difficulty to keep his eyes open and Justin had to shake him a few times to bring him back out of it.
“Can you walk? Brian!” He took Brian’s face in his hands and moved closer so that their faces were mere inches apart. “Brian, can you walk?”
It took a few seconds before the brunet finally nodded.
“Ok, come on, we gotta go.” Justin rose to his feet first before pulling Brian into a standing position as well. This task proved to be more difficult, since Brian seemed to have overestimated his abilities at the moment. Brian swayed and Justin was barely able to keep him upright.
Gun in the right hand on the ready, Justin moved toward the door, holding up Brian with his left as best as he could. Stepping over the still unconscious guard, Justin navigated Brian down the hall – in the opposite way than the one he came from.
They were almost at the end of the hall when he heard footsteps and voices behind them. Gunshots followed soon after.
Quickly moving into the closest open room, Justin lowered Brian down to the floor to make sure that the other man would not get hurt. Peeking out of the room, Justin surveyed the situation, then fired back. The soldiers immediately sought cover, though he got at least one of them.
Justin moved back into the safety of the room and glanced down at Brian, who was only half aware of what was happening around him. He knew he needed to do something to get them out of here. No one was coming to help them. It was all on him. Making up his mind immediately, Justin knelt in front of Brian and pulled out another gun from the holster.
“Brian, I have to go take care of this, ok?” He took Brian’s right hand and placed the gun in it, wrapping the other man’s fingers around the steel handle of the weapon. “I’ll be right back.”
Picking up his own gun once again, Justin moved toward the door. As he expected there were now even more soldiers moving toward them. Slipping out of the door, Justin moved up against the wall, careful not to be used for target practice. His first concern was to make sure none of them got to Brian, which was why, despite the shots being fired at him, Justin continued to move closer to them, returning fire.
When he was close enough, Justin pulled out a hand grenade. He pulled the safety on it and tossed the grenade as hard as he could. Seconds later an explosion shook the entire building.
Even before the smoke cleared, Justin was already moving back toward the room where he had left Brian. He was surprised to see his lover standing in the doorway. As he neared him he saw that Brian’s right arm was outstretched, firmly holding a gun and pointing in Justin’s direction.
“Brian, what are you…” He didn’t get to finish his sentence as Brian fired the gun. The bullets whizzed next to him and a second later he heard a cry behind him. Turning around, he saw one of the guards sprawled on the floor, a gun in his hand.
It took Justin a moment to gather his bearings. Brian just saved his life. He turned to his lover just in time to see Brian begin to sink down. Justin rushed over to him and caught him before Brian hit the floor.
“Come on,” he said, wrapping his arm around Brian’s body. “We’re getting out of here.”
The rest of the way down the tunnel proved to be uneventful. Justin used an explosive to get the exit open and minutes later the two men were breathing fresh air.
Justin checked his compass for the second time that evening to double check the direction in which they should be going. Putting it away, Justin helped Brian to his feet and they began moving to the extraction point.
They were halfway there when shots were fired and voices called out for them to stop. Justin did his best to defend the two of them, firing back at the soldiers while trying to support Brian and run at the same time. All he could do was run as fast as they could and hope that they were too far for the hostile fire to reach them.
However, with Justin having to practically carry Brian, their advantage was cut almost in half in no time at all.
“Get down!” Justin heard. Looking up he saw Anton crouched in a trench. He wasted no time at all wondering what Anton had planned. With no regard for his own body, he dropped down the ground and pulled Brian next to him, covering both of them as much as he could.
Two seconds later a loud explosion echoed through the base. The air was filled with smoke and cries. Justin pushed himself up and looked back to survey the damage. The truck they used to get inside now barely resembled anything close to a vehicle. The nearby buildings were also ablaze, soldiers scattered all over.
“Hurry!” Justin heard in front of them. Looking up once again, he saw Anton, now standing, gesturing to them. “Move!”
Justin looked down at the man lying next to him. Brian hadn’t so much as stirred. A sudden panic rising in his chest, Justin rolled Brian over on his back. “Are you ok? Brian! Are you hurt?”
Brian’s eyes settled on his finally and Justin saw to his relief that the brunet nodded his head.
“You trying to get killed?” Anton yelled, running over to them. “Come on!” He heaved Brian to his feet almost single-handedly and the three of them ran toward the fence that now had a large whole in it – no doubt Anton’s doing.
Justin went through the fence first, waiting for Brian as soon as he was on the other side. The Russian followed. They went through the small wooden area and came onto a narrow country road where two cars were waiting for them.
While Anton was putting Brian in the passenger side, Justin was already buckling himself into the driver’s seat.
“Thank you,” he said when Anton was about to close the door.
The large man met Justin’s eyes. “Don’t thank me,” he replied and stepped back, shutting the door. This was where they went their separate ways.
Wheels squealing, Justin pulled onto the road and sped away.
Go to Part 4