THE BEGINNING Book Two (THE EVENT)

by Marshall Huffman

  “Thank you. We are happy to be safe again.”

  “As long as you are willing to work and defend the city you will be welcome, if not..,” he said and shrugged.

  “We are all good workers. We are just tired from the long walk,” Kronowski assured him.

  Kronowski knew exactly where the square was located but he did not want to give away the fact that he had been raised most of his life in Moscow. They found the indoctrination center and saw many of his men waiting. They greeted each other like long lost friends. Just loud enough to be overheard about how long and hard the journey had been and how glad they were to find others in Moscow and the city still standing.

  “If you want to remain here for more than two days you must be assigned a job that you are skilled at. Since most of you are tunnel workers you will be assigned to jobs such as building defense bunkers. If you want to join the army you can do so by pledging you allegiance to the New Freedom Army.”

  “How do we do that? I am tired of being in dark tunnels. I would rather be in the army,” Kronowski told the man.

  “Report to this address. Here are the directions. When you get there tell them you want to serve in the army. They will decide if you will be allowed to join or sent back to work.”

  “Good. I will go there now,” Kronowski said, “Any of you want to join me?” he asked.

  Ten of the men raised their hands.

  “Good, come with me and we can join together in this New Freedom Army” Kronowski said.

  It was only a short way to the indoctrination station but it gave him a chance to remind them to do what they were told but not to overdo it. If they had to prove they could shoot, do it, but not so well as to raise suspicion.

  ~~

  “We are here to join the New Freedom Army,” Kronowski said.

  “You are? We will see about that. Have any of you been in the military before?” he asked. No one raised their hand.

  “Can any of you shoot worth a damn?”

  They all raised their hands.

  “You think so? These are not hunting guns,” he said holding up an AK-74 an updated version of the famous AK-47.

  “These are serious weapons not something farmers use to kill rabbits. You, I want you to take this weapon and shoot those bottles off that ledge,” he said pointing to a wall ten meters away from them.

  Kronowski took the rifle and looked it over for several seconds.

  “It is loaded?” he asked.

  “Of course, how else would you shoot the bottles?”

  “How do I get one in the chamber?”

  “Pull that lever back and it will chamber a round.”

  Kronowski finally pulled the feed bolt back and put a round in the chamber. He put the gun to his shoulder and fired. The bullet went slightly over the top of the bottle.

  “Don’t just pull the trigger. Aim and slowly squeeze,” the instructor said.

  Kronowski did as he was told and the bullet just went to the side of the bottle.

  “Better, but don’t rush. Make sure you aim for the middle of the bottle and then squeeze the trigger.”

  Kronowski pulled the trigger and the bottle exploded into a thousand pieces.

  “Very good, very good. With a little work you will make a fine marksman,” the instructor said smiling at him.

  The rest of the men were put through the same exercise and one by one they were accepted. Later that afternoon after going through what the New Freedom Army called physical training they were issued the older AK-47 and three clips of ammunition.

  “You will report to Group Leader Bochka,” they were told.

  As they walked off, one of Kronowski’s men said, Group Leader Bochka? What the hell kind of name is Nasty?”

  “Maybe he is a slob. Who knows and who cares? We have the weapons now and that is all that matters. We will lay low tonight and tomorrow we can start probing for this Chancellor of theirs,” the Lieutenant told them.

  When they got near the Kremlin, Kronowski told them to go on and he would join them in a few minutes. If anyone asked where he was, he stopped to go use the bathroom.

  “Be careful. They may be watching what we do at first,” one of them told him.

  “I will. I just want to take a quick look around. If anyone asks I will tell them that I urgently need to use the toilet.”

  When they had gone Kronowski held his stomach and doubled over. He leaned against the building like he was trying to hold himself up all the time scanning to see if anyone was watching. As far as he could tell, no one paid any attention to him. He walked along the exterior wall, holding on to it for support. He still saw no one watching. He doubled over and lurched for the side door and went inside. It was only the second time he had ever been inside the Kremlin.

  He walked down the long marble hall, looking frantically around. A sign by the stairs leading up said Канцлер. He couldn’t be certain which floor the Chancellor was on but at least he had eliminated the first level. He thought about going up to the next level.

  “What are you doing here? You are not to be in this area.”

  Kronowski turned holding his stomach.

  “I am sick. I must find a bathroom. Hurry, I can’t wait much longer,” he said grimacing.

  “You can’t just come in here and take a dump. Get out,”

  “Please. I won’t make it. Oh…oh…”

  “Goddamn you. Don’t you dare soil these floors. Come,” he said and led him to the restroom.

  Kronowski didn’t even thank him; he just rushed to the first toilet and dropped his pants. The man stood there for a second then turned and left. He stayed for five minutes and splashed water on his face before he finally came out of the bathroom. The man was standing by the door.

  “I thought you fell in,” he said smiling.

  “Thank you. I don’t think I could have waited another minute.”

  “Better to let you take a crap in there than on the floor. Now you must go,” he said.

  “I am new. I just arrived from Kiev a few hours ago. Is this the Kremlin?”

  “Of course. Haven’t you ever been to Moscow before?”

  “Only when I was very young. I don’t remember much.”

  “I see you have joined the Freedom Army. Good for you.”

  “I want to do my part. I hope we are in for a better life than under the Federation Army rule.”

  “We already are. The Chancellor is making great changes.”

  “The Chancellor is here? In this very building?”

  “On the top floor. He is hard at work every day making plans for a new Russia.”

  “This is very exciting. I hope I will be able to meet him some day,” Kronowski said.

  “Perhaps, but not anytime soon. No one is allowed on the top floor.”

  “Well, maybe I will have a chance someday. Thank you for being so kind,” Kronowski said.

  “It is a new Russia. We don’t have to treat everyone like an enemy any longer.”

  A few minutes later he joined up with the others. Group Leader Bochka was glaring at him when he arrived.

  “Why are you late?”

  “I had to use the bathroom.”

  “You take a crap when I say you can and not before. If you are late again I will have you shot,” he growled.

  “Sorry Group Leader. I would have been quicker but Chancellor Vladimir stopped me and asked me some questions.”

  “The Chancellor talked to you?”

  “Yes Group Leader.”

  “Why would he want to talk to someone like you?”

  “He had some questions about what was going on outside of Moscow.”

  “In that case, you are excused for being late but don’t make a habit of it,” he said, much less stern.

  It was all Kronowski could do to keep from busting out laughing.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  RUSSIA

  “I want to take him alive if at all possible,” Kronowski told his men. All twenty of them were h
idden just across the street from the Kremlin.

  “We need to do this quickly and quietly. Once we have him we will take him back to our rendezvous area and then head to the fallback position. If anyone gets hurt we will not be able to stop for you. That goes for me as well. We stop for nothing. Getting Vladimir back to the General is our only goal.”

  The plan was simple. Only two guards were watching the Kremlin and they were asleep half the time. They would take them out and work their way up to the top floor. They knew that two more guards were stationed outside the Chancellor’s quarters. That was the most critical part of the entire operation. The two had to be eliminated without alerting anyone. They would then go in and capture Vladimir and spirit him out of Moscow to where the General was waiting. Even though it seemed straight forward, there were still risks. If anyone saw them with Vladimir and gave the alarm they would have to shoot their way out of the city. Hopefully the reserve unit would hear the gunshots and come to their rescue.

  They waited in the shadows until they saw the two guards start to nod off. One had his back against the wall and the other was lying down. They waited ten more minutes and then four of the men crept across the street and eliminated the two guards. Not a sound was heard as they slit the throats of the two men. They paused for a few minutes to make sure no one had sounded an alarm.

  Kronowski motioned for the rest of them to follow him and they entered the Kremlin. He had instructed them to take off their shoes as soon as they entered the building to prevent the echo of their footsteps giving them away. They slowly ascended the stairs to the second level. They checked out the entire floor but found only empty offices.

  On the third level they saw a guard sitting in a chair but he was fast asleep. He was killed within seconds. The next level was the critical one. They had no way of knowing where the two guards were positioned or where the Chancellor’s quarters were located.

  Kronowski slipped quietly up the stairs and looked around the corner. He saw no one to his right. He looked to the left and saw one guard. He was sitting in a chair at the end of the hall. The Lieutenant couldn’t see if his eyes were open or shut. He had to know if he was a sleep or not. He removed one of the bullets from his spare clip and rolled it gently across the hall. The soft metallic sound echoed slightly but the guard didn’t move.

  Kronowski motioned for three others to join him at the top of the stairs. Using hand signals he indicated where the one guard was. He took out his knife and the others did the same. He gave them the signal and they followed him down the hallway. The guard never moved. When they were within just a few feet of him, he woke up startled and started to yell out. Kronowski threw his knife, catching him in the throat. A second knife sunk into his chest, breaking bone and ribs. He fell forward and Kronowski caught him before he hit the floor.

  Where was the other guard, he wondered? What if he is inside the room? Unless they could silence him immediately he would be able to cry out. The Lieutenant slowly turned the door handle and gently pushed the door open. He was glad it was well oiled. He stuck his head in and took a quick look around. They heard footsteps behind them and realized the other guard was coming down the hall. He opened the door and they all quickly stepped inside. This was not going to be good at all he decided. Once the guard realized what had happened to his fellow guard he would sound the alarm. Kronowski waited, hoping that the guard would not realize that the other man was dead until he got closer. Listening through the crack in the door he could no longer hear the footsteps approaching. He inched the door open further and peered out. The guard was gone. He opened the door further, puzzled by where he could have disappeared to. Finally one of his men stepped around the corner and made a signal with his finger across the throat. They had taken out the other guard.

  He gathered his men and they started a slow search of the quarters. The fourth door they checked revealed two people sleeping in a huge bed. They hadn’t counted on finding two people, just the Chancellor. Kronowski held up three fingers and then started pulling each one down. They rushed into the room and pounced on the two figures. Muffled sounds escaped but not enough to alert anyone. Finally they had the two figures subdued. They yanked them out of the bed and were shocked to discover that they were both men.

  “Damn,” one of the men said.

  “Gag them and get them ready to move. We will have to take both of them,” Kronowski muttered

  “A damned Странный,” one of his men said.

  Kronowski put a knife to one of the men’s throat.

  “Get dressed quickly or I will cut you up into tiny little pieces,” he said letting the knife prick his skin.

  Within minutes Kronowski’s men were back on the main level putting on their shoes. They quickly thrust the two men across the street and within minutes they were making their way back south and out of Moscow. They cut across an open field when they came near where the barricade was erected. Once cleared of that, it took them twenty-five minutes to meet up with the reserves and General Nitikin.

  “What have we here?” the General asked when they got back.

  “I’m not sure. A couple of love birds from the looks of it.”

  “Why bring them both?”

  “We did not know which one was Vladimir so we brought them both.”

  “I see. Alright bring them along. We can sort this out once we get farther from the city,” the General said.

  They shoved the two men onto separate trucks and headed back the way they had come. They did not stop until it was going on 10:00 A.M.

  Finally the General called for a halt and everyone piled out of the trucks including the two captured men.

  “We will eat and then get back on the road. I want to get as much distance between us and the city as possible. Eat quickly; I want to be ready to leave in twenty minutes.

  ~~

  “You two,” he said, motioning to the two men, “Come with me.”

  The Lieutenant followed along behind them.

  When they stopped Yegor said, “Which of you has appointed himself the ruler of Moscow?”

  Neither man spoke up.

  “You will excuse me but my patience is running a little thin at the moment. I will ask only once more. After that I will have the Lieutenant start cutting off your fingers one at a time until I find out which of you is Vladimir,” he said.

  “I am Vladimir,” one of the men said stepping forward.

  “No, I am Vladimir,” the other one insisted.

  “In thirty seconds one of you is going to be Vladimir the fingerless,” Yegor said looking at each man.

  He waited for a few seconds and then turned to Kronowski, “That one,” he said, pointing to the taller of the two men.

  Yegor had already decided which one was Vladimir by his defiant look. It was almost a sneer. The other man was softer and did not look him in the eye.

  “You do not scare me. You can cut all of my fingers off for all the good it will do you,” he said intrepidly.

  “That may be so but you will have a hard time wiping your ass without fingers,” the Lieutenant said.

  “Then I will have you assigned to do that for me,” he shot back.

  “Very brave talk. Let’s see how brave you really are,” he said.

  Yegor pulled out his gun and put the barrel to the man’s temple.

  “Put your hand on that tree stump and spread your fingers,” Yegor said, shoving the barrel into the side of his head.

  He slowly placed his hand on the tree stump and spread his fingers. The Lieutenant clamped his hand over the man’s wrist and placed his knife against his index finger, back at the knuckle.

  “Are you Vladimir?” Yegor asked.

  “Трахните Вас,” he said defiantly.

  “No, I don’t think so. That’s what your little lover is for,” Yegor said and nodded.

  Kronowski shoved down on the knife with both hands, slicing through bone and cartilage, severing the finger. The man screamed out and fell to
his knees. They yanked him to his feet and Kronowski put the knife across his middle finger.

  “Are you Sergey Vladimir?” the General asked again.

  “You pigs. I will tell you nothing,” he spat out. The knife sliced through the second finger. Blood covered the tree stump as he went down on his knees again.

  “Again,” the General said and he was hoisted to his feet once more. The knife was across his third finger.

  “Are you Sergey Vladimir?”

  “I will kill you for this,” he said through clenched teeth.

  “I think not,” Yegor said nodding again.

  He screamed once more as the knife took his third finger off. He fell to his knees and then over on his side curling up in a ball.

  “Only one more to go and then we start on the other hand. This would be a good time to tell me who you are.”

  He lay there whimpering but saying nothing.

  “Get him up,” Yegor said. The Lieutenant pulled him up but he fell back to his knees.

  “That will work,” Yegor said and the knife was once again poised to sever his finger.

  “Are...You...Serge...Vladimir?” Yegor said, pausing after each word.

  Nothing.

  “I guess we will have to take the fingers from the other one,” The Lieutenant said.

  “Looks like,” Yegor agreed.

  “No, wait! He is Sergey Vladimir. I am just his lover,” he yelled trying to back away from them.

  “His lover? You are a pig. You are a disgrace. I should cut your balls off instead of your fingers,” Kronowski said, slapping the man across the face twice.

  “Please. Don’t cut me. I couldn’t take it,” he said almost crying.

  “I don’t want to waste my knife on you. A bullet would be better for someone like you.”

  “No. Please. I beg you,” he said, dropping to his knees and clutching his fingers.

  “What do you think General?”

  “Shoot him,” he said.

  “No. Please. Wait. I can help you. I know all of Sergey’s plans,” he said glancing quickly over at the prone figure.

  “So, how does that do us any good? Vladimir will tell us everything he knows anyway.”