If I had to assign a word to Sofiya Pavlovna's current expression, then I would simply pick the word homicidal. Because, as soon as those words left my mouth, she gripped the pistol grip of her pistol so damn intensely, that I saw blood start to come out in response to her rage induced action. She didn't even flinch. No, she merely furrowed her eyes at me as her nostrils flared up. Holy shit, she's really going to shoot me isn't she? I've seen that expression of hers before. I've seen it on men who have everything to lose. Fighting so desperately, so savagely just to live another day.
Yes, indeed, I can say with absolute certainty that Sofiya Pavlovna has changed. For the worse obviously, I mean, she really will shoot me if I don't do anything. She reminds me of a cornered animal, not caring who it is that she's facing, only caring about whether or not she can kill it. And if she can't? Then too bad, she'll try to kill it anyway.
The air was silent and thick with tension as she gazed at me. The men around her were silent as well, perhaps unsure of what to do. This whole situation seemed surreal. She wants to kill me, no doubt her men wouldn't think less. But I know uneasy men, and these are some very uneasy men. But why, I must ask. All of them have tactical vests on, all of them have weapons, all of them still wear the uniform of the airborne. All of them look ready for war. But for some reason, it seemed like they weren't ready for me.
There was no doubt, at hand, more to the situation. Well, not like I could do anything about it, I'm fighting for my fucking life here.
"Yes, it is quite indeed impolite to draw a weapon on a man like that, especially on comrades." I say with an air of false bravado. Wanting to seem like I'm in control when in reality I'm not. The name of the game here is stalling, and I need to stall vigorously. At least to know why exactly the men around me were so hesitant, so uneasy.
"...Comrades?...Yes...comrades…" Sofiya repeats with humorless chuckle, her blue eyes never leaving mine as she continues her death grip on her pistol.
"I must ask, if we were comrades, then why?" She continues in a low voice
"Why? Why what? Whatever do you mean?" I say, padding for time, looking around mockingly with a snarky grin. A facade. The men around her continued to stay both still and silent, only watching me with their continued unease.
"You know damn well in hell what I mean." She quipped back, her low tone never changing.
"Enough of this!" A familiar voice spoke. It was Boris. I don't even need to look to know that it was him. His voice that I always ever so hated was enough.
"There is the enemy Kapitan! He's standing right in front of us! Unarmed, defenseless! Do not fall for his lies-" Boris continued, only for me to cut him off.
"So I'm an enemy now? Forget traitor, I am now a foe? A foe that wishes you completely destroyed? A foe that has never done anything for you? That has never helped you in any way or form?" I say with a twinge of nervousness, the wrong word and I could be shot right here on the spot.
He's nervous. His face may remain the same, stoic, passive. But I know. He wants me shot immediately. The men seem apprehensive as well. There really is more to the story is there?
"You-" He begins, only to be cut off by Sofiya.
"You were never one of us. There is no way in hell that you could be a traitor. Being a traitor means that you had to have been one of us. You never were. " She says in a hollow voice.
"You were simply an impersonator. Nothing more, nothing less." She continued, her grip on her pistol never loosening.
"So it seems… so it seems...but comrade Pavlovna, if you shoot me, then I guarantee you, you will never find what you're looking for." I say, sprouting total bullshit, taking a small, uneasy step towards her. First rule to swindle someone, always mention their goal, what they hope to achieve, something important to them. Then magically, the cards start to fall by themselves. I know that this hand is very fucking stupid, but it's the only hand I CAN play.
"That does not matter. For I've already found what I've been looking for." was her reply as she jerked the pistol upwards from her side. Taking aim at me with her stechkin pistol I knew that this really was the end...unless I do something, Like right now!
"Now now comrade Pavlovna, don't you know that in order to shoot someone, you have to take the safety off?" Please work, please work, please for the love of all that is good and holy in this godforsaken world, work!
A pause, a raised brow; and finally a mirthless smile.
"Do you really think that that's going to work? On me no less? I'm a 10 year vet for god's sake." She said, her eyes never flinching as she spoke.
But there it was, a pause was all I needed. Now I have to push the attack!
"Pull the trigger then, and prove to me that your combat skills have dulled. That you have dulled." I say as I take yet another step towards her, this time pivoting a little to the right. Just slightly however, subtly was the game here, and I couldn't afford to mess it up.
"..."
She says nothing now, the pause continuing on as she isn't sure whether or not to buy my flimsy, terrible bluff. But eh, that's all I need her to do anyways. The more she hesitates, the better chance of survival that I have. There's no time to think, only enough time to act. If I miss up for even a millisecond, then I'll have a piece of lead stuck in me. A piece of led that shall never be removed.
"...What makes you think I've dulled? The fact that you, a fraud once hailed as a hero and now a martyr of the enemy, now stands before me, disheveled, battered and beaten as all hell, so I ask again, what makes you think that I've dulled?" She speaks up, breaking the pause as she grips her pistol even harder. Her hand all the while was shivering ever so slightly. I don't know why her hand was shivering, but it indeed was. And that's good enough for me.
Taking another step, along with a small prayer, I point my right arm at her pistol with confidence and false bravado, my left arm ready. The men around me are still nervous and hesitant, their weapons still locked onto me as I do my action.
"You disappoint me comrade Pavlovna, false bravado often gets you killed. And you sure as hell will not compete in the Olympics with such an arrogant attitude."
"...What-" For a second her expression breaks into one of confusion, For ONE second, she breaks eye contact. For one second she looks at the safety. For one second she makes a mistake. And oh what a juicy mistake it is indeed..
And within that second I've struck. As fast as I can, like a bat straight out of hell, I move. With my right arm still extended, and my forward facing eyes still on Sofiya, out of my peripheral vision, I use my left arm and grab the hand of the man nearest to me who has a pistol to my head. (The man being someone who I vaguely recognize from Afghanistan as being to my right side.) With his grip still on the pistol grip, I move my hand to his wrist and force the pistol down whilst moving my right arm in tandem to my wrist locking motion. With my right arm, I quickly strike him with the elbow right to his rib cage as I simultaneously have him in a wrist lock with my left hand. The combined actions force him to lose his grip on the pistol. And without missing a beat, I use my right hand, now underneath the falling pistol to catch it.
Spinning around, I use my left hand to wrap around his neck, forcing my newly acquired pistol to his head with my right hand.Heh! I still got it-AH SHIT!
FUCK! My body feels like it's on fire! I should not have done that! I should not have done that! Ah crap! Feels like I'm gonna spit blood out any second now...SHIT THAT HURTS! My fucking throat and chest feels like it's on fucking fire!
The air around me becomes even more deathly tense. I had apparently moved too fast or something considering the fact that they were silent. No doubt still registering what I had just done-...FUCK! That hurts! Never! I am never doing that shit again!
"...Alright!...Comrades, here's what's going to happen. You lower your...weapons and you back away, slowly." I managed to grit through my teeth, somehow not doubling over from the pain.
Once more Sofiya is shocked, Once more she shows a baffled expression, Once more the expression of a cornered animal appears on her face, only to be replaced mere moments later with one of homicidal fury. Ah! I get it now. But there's no time for me to stew on it. I need to not blow this. I need this to succeed no matter what.
"YOU!-" She manages to scream out before I cut her off, not wanting to waste any time, any second at all.
"Oh no you don't!...If I never was one of you, then I can kill one of you and not think twice!..." I say, the pain is not going away at all as I dig the muzzle of the pistol into the guy's temple.
"Lower the guns please comrades." I say coldly, already taking small micro steps towards the main area that leads further into the city.
"....RGH! Lower your weapons!" Sofiya finally orders after a pause with a growl. Her hand now out sideways, signalling for them to lower their weapons.
"But Kapitan-" Boris says in protest, only to once more be cut off by Sofiya. Heh, I like it.
"I will NOT have you questioning my orders Lieutenant, DO IT!"
"..."
"..." After a pregnant pause, he complies, his face rigged with a scowl as he glares at me.
With my arm around my hostage's neck, I slowly snake my hands down towards his tactical vest rigging's. Now that I think about it, these guys were really prepared for war huh? Well no matter, They're preparation will be my victory.
In response to this, my hostage starts to move.
"I do not think that that is a very wise move, comrade. I suggest not moving again unless you want a bullet in your head. And if you do? Then I wouldn't mind a body shield to soak up the soon to be bullets coming my way." I say, digging the gun even further into forehead, I dig it in so hard, I notice his slight flinch of pain.
Complying silently, he moves his hands down in submission as I continue to move my hand to the part of the tactical vest that I eyed on him. Well everybody had the same vest, but this guy had the thing that I needed for this makeshift shitty ass plan to work, since the start of this whole farce. With a mental fist bump, I fumble awkwardly and delicately for a few seconds as everyone's eyes remain on me. All the while making my way to the area that leads further into the city, my back turned to it off course. It would be stupid as all hell to turn my back on these idiots.
…
…
Ah, there it was. The pin. Great. Putting my finger through the pin, I was ready to pull it at any given moment, and to set off the smoke grenade that was fit snugly in my hostages vest.
Continuing to walk, I start to talk, angling my steps backwards more to the right, trying to hug the buildings behind me as much as possible. I knew after all, Sofiya Pavlovna's tendency to have snipers posted on the east flanks. And judging by her furrowed brow, I was most likely right.
"An M18 smoke grenade huh? How Ironic, wouldn't you say?" I ask mockingly, trying to piss her off, the more Pissed off she gets the better.
"..." She says nothing as she stands there, he furrowed brow intensifying as I continue on with the mockery.
"Really Comrade? Out of everything, you fall for the most basic trick in the book? I really am disappointed in you. Telling you that your pistol was set to safety mode, and having you check it is the equivalent of telling your opponent that they're shoelaces are untied and sucker punching them when they check, Nobody would ever fall for that!" I say with a snarky grin, already seeing her pale angelic cheeks redden up with fury and most presumably embarrassment.
"YOU and EVERYBODY here have really dulled you know? You've all lost your edge! You shouldn't even be wearing that uniform! Only rookies would fall for such cheap and stupid tricks. Only rookies would be disarmed by such sloppy and half assed CQC. Only rookies-"
"SHUT THE HELL UP! SHUT UP, SHUT UP SHUT UP!" Sofiya finally snaps, she breaks, she's flustered. She's nothing but a child at this point. A spoiled child that for once, is totally powerless as she can do nothing as she watches helplessly while her toys are being taken away. What the hell ever happened to the adult that was In Afghanistan?
Well, I guess there's no better time than now I guess. Continuing eye contact with all of them, I pull the pin of the smoke grenade, not stopping for even stopping for a single millisecond. Soon, a violet colored smoke fizzles out. Great, now I'm on a time crunch, but ill do it, I have to if I want to live that is.
Quickening my pace, I now quickly move my arm against his neck. Steadily adding pressure on it, he inevitably struggles as he moves both of his hands to try and pry my arm off. Well, so much for my warning. Can't blame the guy though, I'd do the same thing in his situation. Have I ever said that choking someone out is hard? Because it is, especially one handed. But eh, making do apparently my thing now.
Twenty seconds pass by as I practically drag the man with me to the spot that I eyed before, you know, when I was herded at gunpoint to Sofiya and the men. By now the smoke was thickening and I had a very narrow time frame. Taking my gun off of his head, I now help my left hand with my right and turn this party of one into a party of two…. Basically I choked him out with both hands...This shit is really unpleasant, you know that?
Letting go of his body, I let it drop. He'll be fine, he'll wake up in four, five minutes tops. Now as much as I would love to loot his body for anything else that will prove extremely useful, I just don't have the time.
Bending down-ARGH! FUCK! This pain really FUCKING sucks….FUCK MAN!
Brute forcing my way through the pain, I bend down and forcefully pry open the sewer lid that I had noticed next to the building with the opened window as I first scanned the area while only moments ago being held at gunpoint, yeah I know, I'm a genius, praise me later...Holy fuck my body is falling apart!
I don't have much time. They'll be here any moment, hell I hear them yelling and their shouts getting ever closer to me. Grimacing in pain at my aching body, I force my way through the hole, and make my ever so daring escape.