the guard howled, „I’ll tell you. They’re here. They’re in the basement of the right wing. I’m sorry. I’ll tell you everything. Sixty men. They’re closed. They know you’re here. They’ve made preparations. There are children there.
– Of course! Well done! CHPSU! – said the woman, then abruptly pulled a knife out of her boot and with a quick upward motion from the bottom, stuck it into the elderly guard’s throat with the handle, which instantly caked the blood around the wound, preventing it from escaping. The display on the handle lit up and gave out full information on the dying man.
– Johan Bilba. Sixty-seven years old. Previous conviction for aiding and abetting religious terrorists,» she glanced again at the aged young man. – This is a standard witch’s knife. It can analyze a victim’s DNA and query the Coven’s databases. Costs as much money as a unicorn’s liver. But Pride doesn’t skimp on witches. What’s your name, handsome?
– Batu,» I said through parched vocal cords.
– What a powerful and capacious Mongolian name! Don’t go anywhere, Batu, – her eyes sparkled again, and her lips spread in a wandering smile. – We still have sex with you on the list,» she slightly turned the blade half a turn, speeding up the slaying. – Do you like this kind of death? It makes me wildly horny. And another thing. If you run, I’ll let Mitsu finish the interrupted procedure. You’re not gonna leave me, are you? You’re not? – The boy nodded faintly at first, then shook his head. – Smart, obedient boy.
The witch pulled the knife from the throat of the dead man and returned it to her boot. Then carefully removed the cigarette from under the dead Johan’s ear and moved it behind her own ear. Pressed the radio button on her chest.
– Tamura to the high witch. I’m in. There will be no need for an assault,» she said loudly.
– Eira’s on the line. Why didn’t you wait for us? – answered a ringing voice from the speaker of the walkie-talkie.
– I wanted to wait by the door. But it’s so beautiful here,» Tamura replied, smiling at her trophy. – Over fifty fanatics in the basement of the right wing. Aware of the raid. And, I have one executed.
– Caduceus? – The voice asked.
– Chin, mouth, nasal cavity, and brain. I’ve also got a boy in his 40s. Such a paw! – Tamura started making eyes at the guard who was frozen with horror at what was happening.
– Do you know why you’ll never be a high witch?
– I know. Because I’m sick in the head. But I don’t care. How’s Max?
– He’s close by, asleep, ready to kill. We’ll be there in three minutes.
– Tamura took Batou’s hand, «You’ve been through so much today. I have to execute you too, after all. You knew about the fanatics too, didn’t you? You knew, didn’t you?
The boy nodded.
– The girls are coming,» the witch continued, «and they won’t like it. And they’re both meaner than I am. Max is one of them. Don’t say a word. Don’t make any calls, don’t answer anyone. I’ll come and get you when this is over. Then I’ll take you back to my place. Come on! – Tamura slapped the guard lightly on the buttock and looked away. – I’ll go meet the girls,» Tamura whispered to herself.
She went outside, pulled a cigarette out from under her ear, lit it, took a deep drag and coughed. The spider instantly popped out of its boot onto the paving stones, turned around, and got into a fighting stance.
– Yes, I feel that cigarettes are crap! – smirked the witch and puffed even harder. The spider hissed. – Well, I don’t have another one, – answered the witch and puffed, this time, deeply. She held her breath and threw the cigarette butt toward the trash can. – That’s it, that’s it! Finished. Hop back on mommy. I promise I won’t shoot lousy cigarettes again.
Her monologue was interrupted by the sound of a bus pulling into the parking lot. A tall, short-haired, russet-haired woman in a lightweight Kevlar body armor over a light gray SWAT officer’s uniform stepped out of the bus. The butt of an assault rifle protruded from behind her back. She took a quick look around the building and snapped her fingers.
A few dozen fighters in black uniforms and helmets spilled out after her.
– First group – twenty meter perimeter zone! – she twirled her finger at the sky. – Target the windows! – commanded the female commander. – The second group – the roof, cover the first! The third group is behind me!
– Why aren’t you wearing a helmet? – Tamura asked. – Afraid Max won’t recognize me in a helmet? – and laughed through her cough.
– You were told not to come in! According to the intel, there’s a megachron of weapons in here. Enough barrels to arm a small army, and enough hydrozite to make a thirty-meter crater.
– So what? Are they gonna fight me? Or are they on a suicide mission? And besides, the guards let me in. What am I supposed to say to them, «I’ll wait outside for the SWAT team while you warn your people?» What if they’re armed? Besides, I had a vision!
– Galatea will be called Laurence? – the commander joked. – Have you had at least one come true? A vision, I mean.
– Don’t be sarcastic! – Tamura pouted her lips defiantly. – The spirits in my dream gave me a fiancé. I have to meet him today! By the way, where’s Ruta?
– She’s in the back of the bus, talking on the phone the whole way. She got herself a fiancé, by the way. What’s up? Tell me.
– I have a trophy boy,“ Tamura whispered, „Eira, I have a personal request: don’t put him in the report.
– We’ll discuss that later. Does he know his way around here?
– Of course! He’s a student of this very school. He knows everything here,» she took Eira’s hand and led her inside.
– Is it a boy? – Eira was surprised. – It’s a man in his mid-twenties!
– Come on. He didn’t do well in school, he’s had a couple of second years, so he looks a couple years older. Don’t twist my words.
– Show us where the grown men and women with crosses on their necks are hiding, boy, – said the commander. – Do they have a lot of guns? They don’t hurt you?
– We have a gym in the basement, – Batu began in a trembling voice, – come on, I’ll show you. They’re down there. Down the stairs.
They went down and came to the massive metal doors.
– This is a bunker from the war,» said a young thin albino girl who appeared from behind the commander. She wore a short blue dress and barefoot military boots, the kind we used to hide in. Four meters of titanium and lead alloy in case of a preemptive epicentric nuclear strike. The bunker’s locked from the inside, so we can’t get in. Completely self-contained, like a spaceship. If we had ventilation, we could send Max to reconnoiter.
