Page 29 of Enemy Within

They moved fast, trudging through the deep powder. Sergey looked back once and saw Milos standing on the ridge.

The trees thickened, tangled with brush and warrens built by animals over the years. Sergey kicked through the brambles, the branches, and pulled Jack with him, keeping him close.

Another gunshot cracked the air, like a slap to their eardrums. He tensed, waiting for the impact.

Bark exploded off a trunk next to Jack’s head.

Sergey pulled Jack away, spinning him around, and shoved him ahead. “Go!” They clambered through, trying to crawl over the thickened brush, covered in snow and hard frost.

Jack slipped, falling face-first with a hard smack.

Sergey froze. The snow Jack landed on wasn’t powder.

Slowly, Jack slid on his belly down the ridge, picking up speed.

“Jack!” He lunged through the brambles and spotted it: ice. The brambles, the branches, the thick brush. It was creek debris. Jack had fallen on the frozen surface of a creek running down the ridge.

“Sergey!” Jack scrabbled, trying to find a handhold. His feet kicked and flailed, and he starfished out, but he kept picking up speed.

Govno, only one thing to do. Sergey ducked onto the ice, lying flat on his stomach with his arms in front of him. He pushed off, sliding down the frozen creek after Jack.

This side of the ridge was steeper than where they had been. Sergey slid for what seemed like forever, keeping his gaze locked on Jack. Jack’s wide eyes found his, and he stared up at Sergey, his lips pressed together, his cheeks pale.

“Jack! Brace yourself! Cover your head!” Sergey shouted, watching the end of their fall abruptly rising to meet them: a hard stop at the bottom of the ravine, and a flat, frozen river, another tributary snaking through the mountains. “Keep your legs out! Stay on your belly!”

Jack threw his arms over his head and then plowed into the deep snow that had collected on top of the river. He skidded, but came to a stop half buried in the embankment, and in the middle of the ice.

Sergey followed his lead, covering his head and taking a deep breath before sliding into the snow beside Jack.

For a moment, neither of them moved.

Crack.A shot split the air, followed by a hiss and a whizz as the bullet flew too close. Ice crunched, and Sergey saw a spider line fracture out from a hole in the ice.

“Go! Go!”

He shuffled to his knees, slipping, and helped Jack up. The ravine was too steep to climb on either side, and they’d be fools to try. They’d be exposed, open to Milos. Instead, they jogged down the frozen river.

The snow cover thinned out as they moved until they were running on bare ice. Thin ice. Cracks and groans sounded with every footfall, a creaking that slithered up Sergey’s spine.

His boots slid with every step. The ice was too slick. They had to get off the river. Ahead, the ravine seemed to end, the sheer walls they were trapped within falling away. They just had to get there.

Sergey slipped on his next step. Losing his grip, he tried to catch himself, but his other foot lost grip, too. He went down, landing on his back on the ice. His diaphragm seized, pushing up on his lungs, pushing all the air out of him. Gasping, he rolled to his side, struggling to catch his breath.

Jack kept going, but he turned back. “Sergey?”

Crack. Crack. Crack.Three shots, all in a row, louder than before. Ice chips flew, the bullets slamming into the river between Jack and Sergey. Milos had followed them along the ridge, past the frozen creek. He had the high ground.

Jack ducked, searching above.

The ice creaked. Groaned.

And cracked.

Whirling, Jack had just enough time for his panicked eyes to meet Sergey’s before the ice fell out from beneath his feet and he plunged into the frigid water.

“Jack!” Roaring, Sergey lunged across the ice, sliding on his belly to the gaping hole fracturing the ice. The current moved swiftly below, and Jack had already been tugged away. Thrusting his arm into the freezing waters, Sergey stretched for him, trying to grab Jack before he was gone forever. His fingers brushed Jack’s jacket, his hood. Frantic, he tried to grab hold, but the fabric slipped through his fingers.

Then, pounding. Looking down, he saw Jack pressed against the bottom of the ice sheet, kicking. Sergey could see him perfectly, his face against sheer river’s ice, as he was dragged away by the current.