Nadya’s Nights: Knight of the Living Dead
Night Five: Virus
Chapter Six: Eviction Notice
by Indy McDaniel
Copyright © 2010 Indy McDaniel
More smashing glass followed by more bodies came through the windows. Nadya counted five. The skin-tight outfits they were wearing told her they were all female, not that it mattered much one way or another. Nadya took aim at the one who’d come through first, already disentangled from the rope she’d swung in on and going for her machine gun. Nadya fired three shots into her chest and sent her back through the open window. The girl beside her was a bit faster and took aim at Nadya. Diving to the side and ducking behind the couch, she narrowly avoided a stream of bullets.
Knight dove over the couch and crouched beside her, his revolver drawn. He looked over at Nadya and smirked. “We should really stop meeting like this.” There was a pause in the gunfire and Nadya rolled her eyes before they both popped up over the couch and started firing away at the girls. Already, the group was scattering and taking cover, making it hard to get a good shot.
Zada was still standing in the middle of the room and Nadya had to wonder about the intelligence level of the woman. There was no telling whether this attack squad was firing silver bullets and she wasn’t about to go over and ask.
“In my professional opinion, I think it’s time we leave!” she yelled. Zada seemed hesitant and started towards the bedroom where her schizo nephew was. “We don’t have time!” Nadya yelled, shooting a girl as she emerged from behind a corner. The shot hit her in the shoulder and spun her sideways.
Zada turned to Nadya. “He’s my nephew!” she yelled. “Besides, we need him! He’s the only one who can – “ She was cut off as gunfire filled the apartment again, this time the bullets stitched a crimson line across the werewolf’s chest. She jerked and twitched as larger exit wounds blasted out of her backside.
Cursing, Nadya spotted the firing girl’s weapon muzzle but couldn’t get a clear shot. A moment later, it didn’t matter as the machine gun clicked empty. Zada collapsed to the floor in a bloody heap. Nadya arched her neck, trying to see if the wounds were healing or not. Another of the strike team began to fire at her and she was forced to duck down.
Sighing, Nadya backed up, following after Knight. He’d just about reached the door when it smashed open. A hunk of debris struck him across the chest and knocked him to the floor. Nadya spun to see a sixth girl coming through the door, dressed identical to the rest. This one stopped as she caught sight of Nadya, remaining standing in the doorway. Then she reached up and yanked her gas-mask off, revealing disarrayed, short blonde hair. The woman grinned at Nadya. “Hey, sis. Long time, no see.”
Nadya wasn’t surprised to see Xenia. Thanks a bundle, Lazarus Serum, she thought. “Sorry. Gotta run,” Nadya replied, firing two shots into Xenia’s chest and knocking her back. Catching the sound of footsteps behind her, Nadya slid to the side and spun around to find another of the other girls rushing her. The two met and began to grapple, struggling for an upper hand. Nadya tried to kick the masked woman’s leg out from under her, but the move was anticipated and countered.
Just then, a severely pissed Knight appeared behind the woman. He stepped forward and smashed the butt of his revolver into the back of her head, stunning her long enough for Nadya to throw her to the side. Surveying the scene, she saw the rest of the strike force had moved into the bedroom. There was yelling. Most of it sounded to be the insane, panicked ravings of Will. How important he was, Nadya didn’t know, but she didn’t hear gunfire so she figured M.A.D. wanted him alive. Which meant if he was really all that important, she’d be able to find him again. Nadya turned to the exit again in time to see Xenia getting back to her feet.
“Why won’t you just stay dead?” Nadya snarled, lifting her gun again and emptying the clip into her sister’s chest. The blasts knocked her to the ground again, but Nadya could see she was still moving. Worse yet, she saw her bullets hadn’t even punctured her tight-fighting outfit. Some kind of body armor, she thought. Reloading along the way, Nadya went through the front door and hopped over her prone sister, Knight following right behind her.
Finding the stairs, Nadya kicked the door open and went through. “Who the hell was that?” Knight asked as he followed.
“Don’t ask!” Nadya shot back. The last thing she wanted to do was get into her relationship with her sister. She took the stairs three or four at a time, leaping more than running down them. While Knight wasn’t as coordinated or graceful in his efforts, he did manage to keep up.
“What about Zada?” he asked. “She dog chow or what?”
“No idea!” Nadya replied. “If they were using silver, potentially. If not, they’re gonna have one very mad dog on their hands very shortly.” As if to confirm Nadya’s words, there was a loud howl from up above. Nadya and Knight came to a skidding halt on one of the landings and looked back the way they’d come. “Sounds like the latter. Great. Hope she bites my sister’s head off and shoves it up her ass…”
“That was your sister?” Knight said, surprised. “Talk about good genes…”
Nadya glared at Knight, something she seemed to be doing a lot of. “Let’s just get the fuck out of here.”
“Fine with me,” he said, starting down the stairs again. “Finding that antidote was going to be a bitch anyway. Now I can just sell this shit to the highest bidder.”
Blinking, Nadya moved after him, grabbing his shoulder and spinning him around. “You have the virus?”
Knight gave her a smirk. “Course I do,” he said. “Things looked to be getting pretty heavy and I figured it was likely Zaid might not be able to make good with my pay, so I swiped it.” He patted the left side of his jacket, which resulted in the sound of broken glass shifting against itself. His smug look faded into one of shocked realization. “Ah, crap…” He lifted his jacket open, revealing the inner pocket where the vial had been. Had been being the operative phrase. It had been smashed to shards. The liquid inside had soaked through and – much to Knight’s dismay – the glass had cut through his black tank top and into his skin. “Oh, that is so not cool…”
Taking his jacket off and throwing it to the ground, Knight kicked it against the wall. “Who the fuck puts highly lethal viruses in glass fucking vials?! Seriously!” Nadya couldn’t help smirking, amused by the ironic predicament. Knight looked over and saw the expression. “This shit is not funny. I’m not gonna be a mindless puppet for anybody.” He turned and started down the stairs again. “Let’s go find that fucking cure.”
“What makes you think I’m gonna help you?” Nadya asked, standing her ground.
Knight stopped and looked back at her. “Are you fucking kidding? You were all for finding the shit ten minutes ago! The only thing that’s changed is now I’m going to be twice as eager to get to it, seeing as I value my life a fuck of a lot more than I do money. Besides, you’re gonna need me.”
“How do you figure that?”
“I’ve already broken into one of their vaults,” he replied. “I know what to expect. And as fucking spectacular as you are at killing people, it’s going to take a bit more finesse than that to get into the place. So the way I figure it, we both want it, we help each other to get it. Deal?”
Part of her wanted to tell him to fuck off and die, but he did have a few good points. “Fine,” she said, letting out a sigh. “I know I’m gonna regret this…”
