Chapter 7. Interlude.
November 24, 2023 at 6:32 AM
In the morning,
Sakura woke up in her base with Mimosa hanging in front of her face.
“Hmm,”
Sakura drawled lazily.
- You’re finally
awake!
-Yes… Where am
I?
- At our base.
“How did I
get here?”
- Soulless left.
- What do you mean?
- He drove up. The
patrol officers saw me, called me, when I got out, he was sitting in the car
smoking, then he got out, opened the door, and there you were lying under your
jacket. I called Crowbar and the Archaeologist, and they pulled you out and
brought you in.
“Did he say
anything?”
-No. He was silent
to all my questions.
“He had a
jacket,” Sakura said quietly, “Was he wearing clothes?” She said
louder.
-No. There was
only a mask, a T-shirt, some tights, not even shoes.
“And he was
standing outside all the time?”
-Yes.
-Idiot… And
then?
He sat down
silently and drove off somewhere.
-Got it.
-He’s alive?
-Yes…
- Oh, what
happened to you?
- Long history…
Jacket, where?
- You’re
underneath it.
Sakura looked, and
in fact she was covered by the same jacket.
“Mmm,”
Sakura drawled, “Bring some water.”
-Ok. Mimosa said
and walked away.
Sakura lay down
for a while longer and somehow got up, sitting on the couch, a wild pain hit
her head.
“Ssss
When Sakura came
to her senses a little, she began to look through the pockets of her jacket and
found a piece of paper, opening it and reading:
- “Accomplish
your goal.”
-Eh… Idiot…
In the meantime,
Soulless had already recovered and began to train. The shore collapsed to the
floor, and the Falcon flew after it. The forester tried to grab him from
behind, but was elbowed in the stomach and then in the jaw. When everyone got
up from the floor, Bereg said:
“And you
haven’t lost your grip.
-Let us call it a
day. Soulless said and walked away.
- Hmm. Even after
the coma, he’s still the same,” said the Forester, rubbing his cheek.
“yes,”
said the falcon.
Soulless returned
to the office and called Monocle. The monocle came and bowed.
“Where is the
last fugitive?” Soulless asked.
- In the city
center, new building, apartment 32.
- Get the car
ready.
-Are you sure?
-…
-Forgive me!
Everything will be fine now.
Monocle ran away
and Soulless began to pack up, when the car was ready, he got in and drove to
the spot. When he got there, he got out of the car, and for a second he had a
flash of images in his head of visiting one of his first victims a few years
ago. Going up to the right floor and going to the door, he threw off his bag
and took out the explosives. Blowing up the door, he entered the apartment, the
fugitive was preparing his own food. Soulless went into the kitchen, the
fugitive tried to grab the knife, but before he could take it, his hand was on
the floor.
“Ahh
Soulless then
knocked him to the floor and shot him in the legs.
“W-t-you?!”
-Where is he?
“Who?!”
Soulless shot
through both shoulders.
“Ahh I don’t
know! I don’t know!
After these words,
the Soulless One shot the fugitive in the palm of his hand.
“Ahh I don’t
know!
- Where is the
base?
- In the north! In
an unfinished factory!
- How many of you
are there?
-I don’t know!
About four hundred! Maybe more!
-That’s right?
-Yes! Yes!
Soulless shot the
fugitive in the stomach.
-Pha! Ahhh
-That’s right?
“Y-d-d-yes…
After these words,
the Soulless One shot the Fugitive in the head. And before leaving, he set it
on fire. Soulless returned to base, but as soon as he took his seat, he
received a call from Grad. Soulless picked up the phone and said:
-Yes?
-Boss! We’ve got
an asshole, a whole fucking army of “cleaners” is coming to us!
The Mouse ran into
the office and shouted:
- We have attacks
on all squares!
Soulless thought
for a moment, motioned for him to leave the office. The mouse went out, and the
Soulless One said:
- Do you have the
ability to fight back?
“We’ve got
the turntables up!” But there are not enough of them! These fucking
missiles have surface-to-ground and surface-to-air missiles! Work and the
Gambler knocked out some, but bitch that’s clearly not enough!
-Loss?
“Fuck
him!” We’re all packed! Some of them don’t have arms or legs anymore!
- Take a car and
go to the coordinates.
-Took!
Soulless put down
the phone and called the Mouse.
- Where’s the
attack?
- In all squares,
the city is cordoned off, ours are beaten like flies!
“Let them
retreat and drag themselves here.
-Took! Mouse
shouted and ran away.
“Work, how
are you?!” The player shouted.
“That fuck
threw me out again!”
- Me too.
- What will I do?
“Let’s get
this firewall!”
-Come on.
Grad’s phone rang.
-Yes? Grad asked.
- We have minus
two tanks! Moth shouted.
“Oh shit! How
much more do you have?
-One!
“Don’t you
dare him!”
- It’s not up to
me anymore! We were hit with missiles here!
“How many
dead do you have?!”
- There is no such
figure!
- Hold out as best
you can!
“It’s easy to
say fucking!”
- Shin, do you
have a store!? ABC shouted.
-Last!
-Give!
Shin tossed the
magazine from the assault rifle.
“Kol, are you
alive?.. Maple asked, climbing out of the rubble.
-Aha… My leg got
pinched…
- I’ll help you
now…
-Whore…
That’s…
“Where did
they come from?” The forester shouted.
“I think
they’re fucking shut up!” The king shouted
- I’ve got my last
store! The forester shouted.
-Hold on! The Tsar
shouted and threw down the magazine.
- Do you see them?
Falcon asked.
-No. Monocle said.
Gen and Six came
into Soulless’s office, they bowed, then Gen said:
- S-Hello.
-…
“We’ve s-come
to sign a contract. Six said.
-What? Soulless
asked.
- We need help.
Gen said.
“We have an attack
on the main bases, we have almost all been killed, but we can still fight. Six
said.
- How many of you
are there?
- About a hundred
in total. Six replied.
Soulless opened a
drawer and took out two contracts and a knife.
-Come.
Six and Gen approached
Soulless.
- Can I sign? Gen
asked.
-Yes. Soulless
replied.
Gen took a knife
and pierced his finger, then dripped some blood and signed, Six repeated after
him, Soulless turned the papers to himself and signed it too, and put the
contracts in a box.
- In the main
hall, gather your people.
Gen and Six bowed
and left, and Soulless took out his laptop and searched for something, then
called out to Mouse when he came, Soulless said:
- Gather all the
people and go to the unfinished factory in the north.
- Are these with
us?
-Yes.
-I got it.
The mouse ran
away, and Soulless put out the bullets and dropped two more bullets, and
thought:
- “Finita La
Commedia”.
Then he took out a
whiskey and a glass, poured it and drank it in one gulp, got up from his chair,
took his things and went to the car, when he left the office there was silence,
he silently walked, walked to the car and drove somewhere, and everyone else
began to pack up and go to the warehouse. Soulless drove fast enough and in
places where there were no Cleaners. He arrived in the old part of the city,
the streets were empty from the “Cleaners”, but there were
“red” ones on the roofs of the buildings and along the alleys.
Soulless reached the right apartment, bursting into it and killing the last guards,
he entered the hall. The whole room was covered in computers, and Nat was
sitting at the main computer, as soon as Soulless was behind him, Nat stopped
pressing the buttons and lit a cigarette.
-Hmm. They found
me. Nat said with a grin, “Will you kill me now?” Nat added.
-…
-Silent? So, yes.
Nat said, and turned to the Soulless One.
When Nat turned
around, he saw that Soulless had pointed a gun at him.
- I think you have
questions for me.
-Yes.
- You know, I
respected you. Not feared like others, but respected, but you didn’t appreciate
it. I thought you would come to your senses, but in the end I didn’t know if I
would survive after I was beaten, I realized how wrong I was about you. You’re
just a murderer. Merciless, who is ready to kill his people for every little
thing, who served you faithfully.
- You went to
other countries for fame and money.
“I won’t deny
it, but don’t forget why you killed a lot of people.
“For a
purpose, and you didn’t have one.
-Why? Was. Turn
the monsters you’ve bred into humans.
-It’s a go?
-No.
- You have spent
almost all the money, you are left without people and weapons, and all the
countries of the world are running after you.
- Who doesn’t make
mistakes? Even you, as then in the warehouse, which is why this cargo
disappeared. You lost a lot of people then, but for some reason you did not
reproach yourself for it, but simply forgot and did not mention it, found a new
target for yourself and began to kill friends and foes again. I’m surprised the
Bee is still alive. You even pardoned her and gave her a piece of your power,
but you almost killed her in the end.
-…
- You constantly,
when you couldn’t do something, sent someone, but I don’t blame you, you are
still in charge, and you often went ahead of everyone, but for this to happen,
huge losses were needed, and while you were dying there, you sat and drifted in
a glass of whiskey, and then, yes, you came and saved everyone as a
“hero”.
- You sat at the
computer at the base all the time and did nothing but press buttons.
- Who studied for
what. I’m not a first-class fighter, but I’m not a bad programmer, so I sat
doing my job.
“And yelled
that you couldn’t do anything when the Reds pinned you down until I let you
into their system, and then you became a first-class programmer when there was
nothing else to do.
“You relied
on someone again, but you did everything yourself, and then why do you need
such a horde of people if you are almighty?”
- I’m not
omnipotent.
- Well, yes. You
told me when you disappeared that you trusted me, but what has changed? Yes, we
climbed where we shouldn’t have been, but if you had given us time, everything
would have been fixed.
- Fixed? Then why
did you destroy everything I created? And how were you going to fix it?
- Probably like
you. To frighten, to kill.
“And then how
are you different from me?” You all say I’m being cruel, but you’re doing
the same thing.
- We value our
lives and the lives of others.
“And that’s
why you’ve lost more than I have.”
“I’ll admit
it’s our mistake, we can’t be a creature like you. Rose tried, but was
eventually killed, and by the way, why are Falcon and Monocle alive and not
punished? They are snipers and did not see the opponents.
- You are
responsible for everything.
- You’re
contradicting yourself. When you make a mistake, the executors are to blame, we
are wrong, and when the commanders are wrong, we are to blame. Some kind of
double standards. And the excuse that you did it for the sake of your goal is a
kind of excuse, it sounds even worse than fame and money.
“You tried to
get money on what I built, although you had it and there was enough of it that
it would have been enough for everyone for many years, but it was not enough
for you.
- Yes, it’s not
enough. I’m a human being and I wanted to leave sooner or later, and I wanted
to leave as soon as this whole story was over, but Rose was killed and out of
respect for you, I began to manage so that it all wouldn’t collapse, and I
think I did it well. I don’t want to whitewash myself, but I was against all
this, but who am I to cut off the leadership from my ideas. The problem with
them and me is that we thought we would turn out like you. It didn’t work out,
but the place of gratitude at least the slightest has become even angrier.
- What do you have
to thank for? For destroying and making yourself look like “heroes”
because you kept the ruins?
“It didn’t
collapse. I could have turned you over to the Cleaners, and we’d all get
freedom, just like you once gave it to all of us, but I refused. And that’s
what I got. I’m really grateful to you for saving me from jail after I killed
my father, he was still that freak and I thought, “Here’s my chance. I’ll
start all over again,” but I was wrong. Again…
“You weren’t
trying to fix it, you were hoping for a miracle, just like the Bee was when you
were pinned down.
“That was all
we had to do then.
“Why didn’t
you start hoping then, but climbed up on your own?”
- There were not
enough people.
- It’s their own
fault, and they paid the price.
“Then when will
you pay for everything you’ve done?”
-…
“You see. You
think you’re immortal and you can do anything.
Soulless pointed
his gun at Nat’s head.
- May I have the
last word?
-Yes.
-Thank you. You
know, I respect you, really, but you’re a scumbag who should have died a long
time ago, like Rose, like me now, and like everyone else, but I’d be so sorry
for what I did anyway, so I’ll see you in hell. I’ve closed the doors, you’ll
open them yourself. So see you in hell.
Nat closed his
eyes. Soulless shot Nat in the head, then walked over to Nat and took Nat’s dog
tag out of his pocket and hung it around his neck, walked over to the computer,
opened the door and began to walk away, there were “reds” in his way,
but Soulless interrupted them and drove to the factory, while he was driving,
Grad called him.
-Yes?
Hail was breathing
heavily, but said:
- I’ve arrived.
- Do you see
something covered with a cloth?
-Yes.
-Take.
-Withdrew… Don’t
give a fuck…
- Adjust and
launch them into the Cleaner cluster.
-Ok.
Soulless hung up,
and Grad picked up the walkie-talkie and said:
-Attention!..
Fucked up by the clusters of these freaks.
After a while,
Mole got in touch.
- We have
retreated, but we have a lot of dead and wounded! What to do next?
- Get as far away
as you can…
Hail began to
adjust the settings and as soon as he finished, he said:
“That’s all
for you…
After these words,
Grad launched rockets.
- Work, quickly
look at the cameras! — said the player.
- Don’t give a
fuck…
“There’s no
one alive there.
Suddenly, the
Player noticed helicopters approaching.
“That’s all
we needed!” There’s more turntables!
- You’re calmer at
home. Stinger said.
-Sting! The player
shouted.
“We’re here
to help you, aren’t we, Tochka?”
“Manal, I’m a
bitch!”
-Ha. Make sure you
don’t crash. We’ve got some more people in your hands, so get your asses up and
let’s get them out!
Meanwhile, Grad
sat with his back against one of the installations.
“Bitch… I
wouldn’t have thought I’d die like that…
Suddenly, he heard
the sound of a car approaching, as he drove up to the Grad, Lidocaine got out
of it.
-Lidocaine?.. What
are you doing here?
- I’m doing my
bidding. Let’s patch you up.
“You can’t
imagine how glad I am to see you.
Meanwhile, at the
factory.
“I’m the three-hundredth!”
Shore shouted.
-Cover! I’m going
to the Shore! The king shouted.
- Sit down, ! The
forester shouted.
- I’ll help! Mouse
shouted.
“Falcon, are
you going to do something?!” The forester shouted.
- I don’t fucking
sit either! Falcon shouted back.
“Then let
Monocle here!” Rain shouted.
- Don’t yell the
fuck! Go! Monocle shouted, breathlessly.
-And! Bitch! Rain
shouted.
“What do you
have!?” The king asked.
- They’ve shot me
in the barrels! Ahhh
The Cigarette
Smoking Man ran up to the Rain.
“Listen,
don’t close your eyes!” I’ll help you now!
- Give them a
fucking grenade! Sturm shouted.
“Did you
fucking count them?!” Their bitch is gone! Mail shouted.
- Sakura. Mimosa
said.
-A what?
-Are you sure? We
don’t have many people.
-Yes.
- Hear the fucking
“whites” coming to us! Path shouted.
- They seem to be
for us! Monocle shouted.
- I don’t give a
fuck about your “seeming” thing! The Way shouted back.
- My visibility
has dropped because of the snow! Falcon shouted.
“Mars, is
there any smoke?!” The recipient shouted.
“I’ll give it
to you now!”
- There is news.
Good and bad at the same time. Falcon said
“What
else?!” The king shouted.
- I see the
Soulless.
- Where is he
going!? Bereg asked.
- Most likely to
the back of the plant.
“Look, I
don’t know what he’s up to, but let’s hold on as best we can, and I think we’ll
survive!” Target shouted.
“What the
fuck are we doing?!” The forester shouted.
“Sakura, he’s
here. Mimosa said.
-Got it. Sakura
said and started the car.
“Are you sure
you don’t need help?”
-No.