Nadya’s Nights: Knight of the Living Dead
Night Five: Virus
Chapter Ten: Airborne
by Indy McDaniel
Copyright © 2010 Indy McDaniel
Nadya slipped a Bluetooth earpiece in just as her cell rang. Tapping the earpiece, she answered the call. “Yea?”
“There’s a problem with this plan,” Lulu said.
Nadya concentrated on her driving. “Just one? That’s a relief.”
“Well, at least one major one when it comes to your brilliant method of circumventing a lot of killing and getting right to the crown jewels.”
“And that is?” Nadya asked.
“The assholes do have rooftop surveillance,” the hacker said. “Clearly, they’re gonna know the moment you touch down, but that’s not the worst of it. They’re gonna know as soon as you get within fifty feet of the building, in any direction.”
“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding…” Nadya muttered.
“What?” Knight asked from the passenger seat.
“I am most certainly not fucking kidding,” Lulu replied.
Nadya let out a long sigh. “Is Sam at least ready to go?”
“Oh, she’s good,” Lulu said. “Ready and waiting at the hospital. Although I’m not sure how much good she’ll be now.”
“She’ll be plenty of good,” Nadya said. “Thanks for the intel, Lulu. Tell Sam to get a couple diver rigs ready.”
“Seriously?”
Nadya grimaced. “Just do it.” She tapped the earpiece again and ended the call. “Fuckers…” she said to herself, lighting up a cigarette.
“What?” Knight tried again.
“My fancy plan involving us landing on the rooftop with a chopper just got fucked right in the ass,” Nadya said, taking a long drag of her smoke.
Knight’s eyes widened. “You’ve gotta chopper?”
Nadya nodded.
“Nice.”
“Yea, it would be, if they weren’t conspicuous as all hell,” Nadya said. “Now we’ve gotta get even fancier.”
“Fancier than a chopper?” Knight asked.
“Yep,” she said, sucking more smoke into her lungs and letting it rest there for a moment before expelling it. “Sure hope you don’t hate heights as much as I do…”
“I have a history of not being a fan.” Knight’s brow furrowed. “Why?” he asked hesitantly.
Nadya didn’t reply.
* * * *
As much of a pain in the ass as it had been to escape the M.A.D. compound, it had actually ended rather lucratively. For starters, she’d gotten the chance to kill her pseudo-sister-thing. Even though it clearly hadn’t stuck, it had still been fun.
Also, it had gotten her a couple new friends who were proving time and again how useful they were. Lulu, the brilliant hacker with the mouth and looks of a thirteen-year-old boy, and Samantha Bethany Carter, the ex-Hunter.
Nadya had actually worked with Sam prior to meeting her in the M.A.D. compound. The interaction had been brief and had ended with Sam’s head getting knocked off by a big bastard of a werewolf. Nadya had figured that would be the last she’d see of Sam until she’d been taken to M.A.D. and gotten her lesson in the miracles of Lazarus Serum and how it more or less made death obsolete.
Handy stuff, Lazarus Serum. Only problem was, it was in the hands of the biggest group of douche bags Nadya had ever had the misfortune of meeting. Not that they were unwilling to sell you a dose of it. It’s just that they charged a metric fuck-ton of money for it.
And being a valued member of the Hunters Guild, Samantha was deemed not-quite-so-expendable so they footed the bill to have her brought back. The regeneration process was supposed to make Sam a blank slate with only the tools of the trade she needed to kill monsters embedded in her brain. But something didn’t go right and Sam remembered Nadya. Which led to them teaming up and causing some serious pain to M.A.D. and their lackeys.
All of which was just another day in the life of as far as Nadya was concerned. As it turned out, though, the Hunters Guild bosses weren’t as thrilled by their employee’s way of treating her host.
“They’ve terminated my employment,” was how Sam had put it, in her sophisticated British accent.
“Shit-canned your ass,” was how Lulu had re-iterated. And Sam hadn’t disagreed.
So what was an ex-monster hunter to do, now that she’d pissed off her old bosses and had a whole organization of well-armed, well-informed cocksuckers who didn’t take too kindly to her?
Like Lulu, Nadya had convinced Vlad that Sam would be a useful asset. Not only did she have all the pre-requisite skills to kill a whole slew of different monsters but she had inside knowledge on both the Hunters Guild and M.A.D.
And besides… she knew how to fly a helicopter. Which was generally regarded as a pretty sweet skill.
That led to the third nifty thing that had come from Nadya’s brief stay at the M.A.D. compound. She and Sam had made a truly cinematic escape into the sunrise in one of M.A.D.’s very own choppers.
Instead of dumping the high-tech vehicle, they’d had Lulu go over it from top to bottom and yank out anything that could possibly be a tracking or self-destruct device. Once they were sure the thing was clean, they gave it a fresh coat of paint and let it blend in with the rest of the choppers on top of a hospital Vlad had donated a significant amount of money to.
Sometimes it really did pay to be charitable.
* * * *
Pulling into the hospital’s employee parking structure, Nadya spotted the first open spot and took it. It was reserved for a ‘Dr. Clayton Forrester’. Nadya had no idea who the man was but she imagined he was probably high-strung and full of himself. The scene of him finding someone else in his parking spot would probably be pretty amusing, especially when he found out it was a stolen car. Too bad she wasn’t going to be around to watch.
“Uh… this is a hospital,” Knight said as they got out of the car and slung the duffle bags over their shoulders.
“No shit,” Nadya said, adjusting the strap of her duffle and then heading for the elevator. “Where better to hide a chopper?” Tapping the up button several times, she stepped back and waited for the lift to arrive.
Knight moved up beside her, sliding the bag so the weight of it rested more evenly across his back then leaned against the side of the wall. His breathing was already labored from the small jaunt from the car and his forehead was covered in beads of sweat. “You really think they’re gonna let two heavily armed felons go for a stroll through diagnostic medicine to get to the helipad?”
“First of all,” Nadya said to him. “Shut up. You’re winded already, which means you need to save your energy. We haven’t even done anything yet, so it’s a good bet you’re gonna be useless when the bullets start flying.”
Opening his mouth to respond, Nadya cut him off. “Second of all… shut up,” she said with more force. Knight closed his mouth and gave her a hard look. “And more to the actual point, I’m no felon. Heavily armed, sure, but not a felon.”
“Move to America for a couple months,” Knight interjected. “You’ll be a felon in no time, way you operate.” He chuckled. “See what I did there? We’re in a hospital… and you operate.”
Nadya gave him a humorless smirk as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. “Pillar of wit, you are.” She stepped into the lift with him and hit the button for the top floor. “Third of all, shut up. Starting to get the picture? Again, more to the point, we’re not strolling through anywhere. This lift will take us right up to the helipad. No fuss, no muss, no screaming nurses in need of a good sedative.”
“That’s great, really,” Knight nodded, examining the list of what each floor of the hospital contained. “There’s just one problem.”
“And that is?”
Knight hit the button for level three, where the pharmacy was. “I need to pick up a prescription.” He unslung the duffle and tossed it to the floor as the elevator reached the third floor and stopped. “Don’t worry. It’ll only take a minute.” He set the AK-47 down as well. “Just keep the elevator running and be ready to get it moving again.”
The doors dinged open and Knight rushed out. Nadya watched him go and for a moment heavily considered hitting the ‘close door’ button and going ahead on her own. She had to admit, though, she was curious as to what it was he was planning on getting from the pharmacy.
Vicodin… morphine… Demerol… Something to take the edge off of whatever the virus was doing to him. If it helped clear his head and made him able to move better then she was all for it. If it looped him up and made him even more unbearable, she’d just have to shove him off the helicopter on the way to their target.
Nadya kept a hand firmly placed over the door to keep it from closing. She heard a commotion down the hall. Yelling, something glass smashing to bits, the sound of feet skidding on the floor. Somehow she doubted a patient had just gone code blue. Her suspicions were confirmed when Knight darted around the corner and jumped into the lift. “Go go go!” he yelled.
“Code grey in the pharmacy,” a flustered voice called over the intercom. “Code grey in the pharmacy.”
Moving her hand, Nadya hit the button to get the elevator moving again. A security guard rounded the corner and came at them. “Shit…” Nadya muttered, seeing that the guard was going to get there before the doors closed.
Knight had a handful of syringes and a couple of vials of liquid he was trying not to drop. He still managed to get one of his hands free and yank is revolver from its holster. He brought the gun up at the security guard and fired a couple of rounds over the man’s head, causing him to dive to the ground and giving the doors enough time to slip closed.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Knight leaned back against the wall and put his gun away before starting to go through all of the items he had pilfered. His breathing was even more labored than before and he let out a wet cough.
“What the hell was that all about?” Nadya yelled at him. “You just caused a huge scene so you could score some drugs?”
Nodding, Knight slid a couple of the vials into his pocket, keeping one out and ripping open the package on one of the syringes. “Correct.” He stabbed the needle into the top of the vial and filled the syringe about halfway. “See, you’re right about me being winded. Shit, holding up that pharmacy should’ve been a piece of cake. And I definitely should’ve been able to outrun that lardass rent-a-cop. The fact that it was such a pain in the ass is bad news for the both of us.”
He pulled the needle out of the vial and held it up, looking at it and tapping the syringe to get the air bubbles in it to rise to the surface. After that, he pushed the plunger a little, ejecting the bubbles and a small amount of the liquid. “I might have a deadly virus rampaging through my system, slowly shutting it down, bit by bit, but that’s no reason for me to be dragging ass. The plus side is, so far, it’s not hurting. Actually, feels more like a bad case of the flu. The down side is I’m slowing down. And when the bullets do start flying, it’s a lot harder to dodge the fucking things when you’re dragging yourself across the floor cuz you don’t have the energy to stand.”
“So what’s your fucking point?” Nadya asked, hoping that the hospital wouldn’t be sending more security personnel to the helipad to cut them off. Knight tossed her the little glass vial. She caught it and read the label. “Epi-what?”
“Epinephrine,” Knight finished for her, smirking. He pulled off his belt and looped it around his arm, just above his elbow, tightening it. “Artificial adrenalin. It’s what they give people when they’re having an allergic reaction or their heart is shutting down. Ever had a Red Bull?”
“Sure.”
“Okay, it’s like if you drank a whole six pack of Red Bulls in five minutes,” he said, smacking at the underside of his arm to palpate the vein. “Only way better.”
“You’ve done this before,” Nadya said, watching him work.
“Eh, couple times,” Knight said, taking the needle and guiding it to his vein. “Never for an actual medicinal reason though and never to this extent. Hopefully, it won’t kill me.”
“Yea, that’d be a real fucking shame,” Nadya said sarcastically.
Knight injected himself, pumping half of the epinephrine in the needle into his arm. “One-fourth of a syringe… Sounds like a good start.” He tossed the needle to the ground and unfastened his belt, looping it back into his pants.
Nadya watched him, raising an eyebrow. “So?”
“Nothing so far,” he said. “Might take a couple minutes to get to my heart and kick things into gear.” He reached down and grabbed his duffle, slinging it back over his shoulder and then snatched up the AK. ”How tall is this fucking building anyway?”
When the elevator stopped, Knight was through the doors before they even finished opening. Nadya moved after him. Whatever the shit was, it was working. And if all it did was speed him up then he could shoot himself up with as much of it as he wanted.
Of course, a speedy idiot was almost worse than a slow one. “Wrong way, asshole,” she called to him.
He turned around, giving her a blank look for a moment, then headed back to her. “Sorry. Just had to get moving.”
“That shit better not screw up your ability to aim,” Nadya said, leading the way. “If you shoot me in the back, I’m going to be very angry.”
“I’ll be fine,” he said. “You’ll be fine. Hey, you are fine.” He reached down and gave Nadya’s ass a smack.
Spinning to face him, she grabbed hold of his neck, squeezing hard and pulling one of her pistols free. Pushing the barrel against his temple, she glared up at him. “High as a fucking kite or not, fucking turning into the walking dead or not, I don’t give two fucks. If you EVER fucking touch me like that again, I will rape your cock with one of those needles and then skull-fuck you with my gun. Got it?”
Knight stared down at her and for the first time since they’d met, she actually saw real fear in his eyes. “I got it,” he said, his voice soft. “I’m sorry.”
He seemed sincere but Nadya was still considering shooting him in the head and being done with him.
“I see you’re still a hit with the gentlemen, Valentina,” Sam’s voice called from behind her.
Sighing, Nadya lowered her gun and let go of Knight’s throat, happy to see she’d left a mark. Turning, she saw Sam leaning against the helicopter, puffing on a cigarette. Judging by the small pile of butts at her feet, she’d been waiting for a while. “As usual, they don’t know how to keep their fucking hands to themselves.” She nodded to the chopper. “We ready to go?”
“Fueled up and primed,” Sam nodded, dropping her cigarette to the ground and crushing it under her heel. She motioned to Knight. “Who’s your handy friend?”
Knight moved past Nadya, going up to Sam, offering her a grin and a hand. “Knight. Jimmy Knight. Very pleased to meet you.” The effect Nadya had on him seemed to have faded quickly. Next time, she’d have to try something that hurt for a longer period of time. Kneeing him in the groin sounded good.
Moving after him, Nadya elbowed him in the side. “Cut the charm, dipshit, and get in the chopper.” She turned to Sam. “He is most definitely not my friend.” Knight turned to look at her and she could tell he was about to spew out some sort of witty retort. She narrowed her eyes and glared at him, promising more pain if he said anything. He got the message and got in the helicopter. “Lulu call you?”
Sam nodded, heading around to the pilot’s side of the chopper. “Two diver rigs, ready to go.” They each got in and Nadya unslung her duffle, setting it down on the floor and then picking up one of the diver rigs. It looked a bit like a backpack, only with wrist and ankle attachments. “Have to admit, I was a bit surprised when she told me to get them ready. Thought you hated heights.”
“I do,” she said. “There’s just some things I hate worse.”
* * * *
The helicopter’s white paint job was highly visible against the night sky. “You could’ve gone with a more conspicuous paint job,” Knight yelled into the headset, trying to be heard over the thud of the chopper’s blades.
“There’s more to camouflage than just blending in with the background,” Nadya yelled back. “Anyone who sees us will just think we’re a hospital vehicle rushing to the scene of an emergency.” She finished slipping into the diver rig, tightening the straps. The last thing she wanted was to slip free of the thing en route to their target.
“We’ll be within range in five minutes,” Sam called from the front. “Might want to prep your boyfriend on how to use the rig.”
“Not my boyfriend!” Nadya yelled louder than she needed to in order to be heard then turned to Knight who was smirking. “Keep giving me that look and I push you out now and see how fast a learner you are.”
The smirk dropped away quickly. “You have to admit, though. We do look good together. She’s not the first one to make that assumption.”
“I don’t care if the entire Netherlands population was polled and the majority thought we looked good together,” Nadya replied. “It’s never fucking happening. So shut the hell up and let me explain to you how this thing works. Unless that shit you injected yourself with can make you fly.”
“Kinda doubt it,” he shook his head, fastening the straps around his ankles.
“Alright, so here we go,” Nadya said, stretching out her right arm and using the left to point out the details. “What we’re currently wearing is affectionately referred to as a ‘diver rig’. From the name, you might think it has something to do with scuba gear, but you’d be dead wrong. This is what truly psychotic individuals use to base jump without a parachute. You notice there’s a little red button on the front chest strap.”
She pointed to the button just above her left breast. Knight eyed it with more interest than was necessary for a little red button. Nadya kicked him in the shin. “Keep your ears open and your eyes away from my body, pervert. When you hit the button, it’ll deploy the rig, which is essentially a hang-glider that can fit into a schoolchild’s backpack. They’re only good for short distance jumps and if they go wrong, you fall until you hit something hard enough to make you go splat.”
“This sounds… really stupid,” Knight said.
“That’s because it is. It’s also the best way we’ve got to get into their high-security, bad-guy-infested building. So we’re doing it.”
* * * *
As she pulled the side door of the chopper open, Nadya’s internal voice was sounding a lot like Knight. This is really, incredibly, irrevocably fucking stupid, she thought.
She let out a long sigh. “Let’s do this shit,” she said, attempting to shove aside the fact that she was scared shitless of the thought of leaping out of the chopper.
It worked. Sort of.
She leapt out anyway. Triggering the diver rig, the glider fins extended and her rapid decent was quickly transformed into a not quite so rapid decent. At least now she could steer. More or less. Shifting her body, she headed for the top of the M.A.D. building. She had an urge to look back and see if Knight had followed but fought against it. The building was coming up fast.
As she drew within range, Nadya flexed her arms and legs. The change in angle let the gliding panels catch the wind and stall out her forward momentum. She dropped in a relatively straight line to the rooftop, landing hard and rolling forward. She came up in a crouch, hitting the button to retract her diver rig and pulling one of her pistols free. She didn’t see any bad guys. Yet.
“Oh, fuck!”
Nadya turned her head and saw Knight coming in hot. “Break, you fucking idiot!” she hissed at him.
If the fucking idiot heard her, he made no sign of it. The plus side was Knight didn’t come up short of the building or go flying over it. The downside…
Nadya attempted to move out of the way but Knight’s decent was too fast. He collided with her and the pair of them fell to the ground hard. Nadya reached to rub the back of her bruised head. “Oh, you’re such an asshole,” she groaned. Then she felt the bulging hardness pressing against her stomach. “Ew! What the fuck, man?!” She started hitting and kicking at him until he rolled off of her.
“Sorry,” he said, sitting up. “Side effect of the epinephrine.” He grinned at her. “Or is it?”
“I will seriously shoot your dick off,” Nadya snarled, getting to her feet and picking her gun up. “Now quit fucking around. If they don’t know we’re here yet they will soon.” She started towards the door leading into the building, gun at the ready.
