Nadya’s Nights: Road to Vengeance
Night One: A Hard Night’s Work
Chapter Eight: Narrow Escape
by Indy McDaniel
Copyright © 2009 Indy McDaniel
Nadya ran back into Ulbrecht’s apartment, bending down to scoop up one of the dead goons’ pistols and shoving it into the waist of her pants. She grabbed her jacket off the table and slung it on then headed for the open.
She stood on the fire escape outside the window. The hard metal dug into her feet, making her realize she’d forgotten to grab her boots. Looking through the window, she saw the werewolf move into the apartment’s doorway. His head turned and he looked straight at her.
No time to go back for them now.
She turned and started down the fire escape as quickly as she safely could. She saw Ulbrecht below her, just about to the ground level. Once he reached it, he stopped and looked back up to her. His expression told her that he wasn’t sure what to do next.
She didn’t have time to give him any hints. She was too busy concentrating on not falling down the steps and breaking her neck. Up above, glass shattered and bricks crumbled. She didn’t look up but the expression on Ulbrecht’s face told her enough. The werewolf was wanting onto the fire escape as well.
A moment later, the metal scaffolding shook hard and made the Russian girl stumble. She was close enough to the ground so she leapt over the side of the railing and landed on the sidewalk beside Ulbrecht. She hazarded a glance back and saw the beast on the fire escape, looking down at her.
“Got a car?” she asked Ulbrecht.
He nodded.
“Well, move it!” She gave him a shove and he took off.
“My keys…” Ulbrecht said, looking back at her helplessly.
“Don’t worry about it!” Nadya yelled back. “Just get us to the fucking car!”
She felt the ground shake underneath her feet and glanced back, seeing the werewolf rising from a large crack of crumbled bricks where he had landed. The beast turned to the pair and started towards them at a running pace. He was much faster then either of them and it was abundantly clear that he would reach them before they could get to the car.
Nadya selected a few choice Russian expletives and turned to face the monster, backpedaling as she lifted the shotgun to her shoulder. She was willing to bet none of the goons had been packing silver ammunition. She just hoped that the firepower would be enough to slow the creature down.
She fired the shotgun at the werewolf and watched a spray pattern speckle his chest, drawing some blood but barely slowing him. She pumped the weapon and aimed lower.
Firing again, she was rewarded with a howl of pain as one of the werewolf’s knees was destroyed. The monster stumbled forward, slamming into the ground and rolling a few times. She hoped the wound would by them enough time.
Turning, she ran after Ulbrecht. He’d managed to cover a good deal of ground. He stopped next to an older model Mercedes Benz and pointed to it.
“It’s locked. How are we -”
Nadya moved past him and slammed the butt of the shotgun into the window, shattering it.
Ulbrecht didn’t even bother finishing his sentence.
She reached in, unlocked the car, opened the door and jumped in.
Ulbrecht moved around to the other side, getting in the passenger seat.
“Catch.” She tossed him the shotgun and ducked under the dash, yanking at wires.
Outside, the werewolf had gotten to his feet. The nasty wound in his leg was rapidly healing. In a few moments he was charging towards the Benz. Ulbrecht saw the creature but Nadya was too busy trying to get the car hotwired.
“It’s coming,” he told her.
“Fucking shoot it!” Nadya replied, hands full of wires. “Fucking Benz’s… pain in the ass to hot wire…”
Ulbrecht raised the shotgun to his shoulder and aimed over Nadya’s back and out the broken window at the rapidly approaching werewolf. He pulled the trigger.
And nothing happened.
He looked at the weapon, confused. “What’s wrong with it?”
“Pump it!” she yelled. “Doctors… I swear…” she added under her breath in Russian.
He pumped the shotgun and aimed again. The werewolf was only about ten feet away now. He pulled the trigger a second time and the weapon roared and bucked in his hands, nearly jumping free.
The shot hit the werewolf in his right shoulder and made him half-spin to the side, but he kept coming.
Five feet away from the Benz, the werewolf lowered his shoulder, intent on ramming the vehicle. The car came to life and Nadya sat up, slamming her foot down on the gas pedal. The tires squealed for an instant then caught tread and the car sped forward.
Instead of smashing into the driver door, the werewolf creamed the rear corner, putting a large dent in the side and destroying the left taillight. The car skidded sideways but kept moving forward. Nadya kept her foot on the accelerator and sped down the road, glancing in the rear view mirror to see the werewolf giving chase. She skidded around a corner and continued to speed. The werewolf kept after them.
Driving fast and hard, she was taking turns much more recklessly than any sane driver would. She figured there weren’t too many drivers who would drive sanely while being chased by a giant wolf-creature so she didn’t let it bother her too much.
After a lot of speed and tight turns, she no longer saw the werewolf behind them. She slowed down – slightly – but kept putting distance between themselves and the creature chasing them. She looked over at Ulbrecht, who seemed in a perpetual state of shock.
“That was…” he started to say.
“Werewolf,” she finished for him. “Cell phone?”
Ulbrecht blinked and looked over at her.
“A cell phone. Do you have one?”
He reached into his pocket and pulled one out, handing it to her.
She took it and flipped it open, dialing Vladimir and putting it to her ear. She was getting pretty pissed off at the night she was having.
Taking out a building full of guards and a Summoner was one thing. Hell, that had been a cakewalk compared to Billy Blob the fucking tentacle demon. But now, after all that shit, she had to deal with a goddamn werewolf.
Nadezhda Valentina was not pleased.
Vlad answered on the third ring. She didn’t announce herself or even let him say anything.
“They sent a fucking werewolf!”
“You got away alright?” he asked.
“No shit!” she yelled into the phone. “Did you hear me? A fucking werewolf! Don’t get me started on the fucking blob critter that bitch had calling her ‘mommy’.”
“What?” Vlad asked, confusion in his voice.
“I said, don’t get me started on it!” she responded. “I’ve got no silver to kill this fucking thing. I don’t even have any fucking shoes! You get me back up and you do it quick.”
“I’ll make some calls,” he said. Apparently, her anger didn’t bother him much because he sounded as calm as ever. “Stay on the move.”
The phone call ended abruptly and she tightened her grip on the cell phone, fighting the urge to throw it out the window. “Fuck your mother!” she yelled, dropping the phone in Ulbrecht’s lap before slamming the palm of her hand into the steering wheel several times. She gritted her teeth before looking over to the young med student who was still a bit dazed.
“You better snap out of that shit fast,” she told him. “Because I don’t have time to babysit you.”
