As the Russian marched Ethan over to Hammet, the German subtly raised his hands. He studied the pair and attempted to find an opening. Unfortunately, the merc kept directly behind Ethan, though he had backed off some. He was now too far away from the American to turn and disarm him.
“Turn around,” the Russian ordered.
Hammet sighed and did just that. His timing couldn’t have been better. He watched Yana step out of the darker cargo hold with a similar AK and take the shot. Hammet didn’t flinch. If she was as good with a weapon as her reputation advertised, then he needed to trust her to hit what she was looking at.
A puff and a thud answered the single round. Both Hammet and Ethan slowly turned to find the Russian dead on the ground with a hole between his eyes.
“Whoa,” Ethan said, staring at the body.
Hammet didn’t verbally reply. He just looked at his savior and nodded to her. Then, he re-armed himself and dove behind the Sno-Cat as the ground around him exploded with incoming fire. Ethan threw himself to the ground and rolled in beside Hammet but with no weapon. The newly dead Russian’s rifle had skidded away from his corpse and was out in the open.
“Come on!” Yana yelled. “Get inside.”
But then, Yana did the exact opposite of what she had just said, and she threw herself off the ramp as a barrage of bullets lit up the hold directly behind her. She exited in the same manner as Zahra then disappeared beneath the plane.
Without knowing who was still alive inside the LC-130, Hammet thought it best not to return fire. He pushed Ethan back, then scooted around the back of the Sno-Cat. It too was pummeled with gunfire.
They were pinned down.
The fight was everywhere, and Zahra had yet to do anything to help her people. Her position beneath the Skibird made it all but impossible, especially since she wasn’t armed with anything except her grappling hook.
A
“Yana!” she yelled.
The Russian lifted her rifle while still on her back. She wheezed, trying to breathe. The landing had forced the air from her lungs. It was a terrifying feeling. Zahra duck-ran over to her and was surprised to have the weapon shoved into her arms. Zahra didn’t question it. She shouldered the AK and protected Yana until the woman could catch her breath. Bullets impacted the ground right next to them both.
Zahra grabbed Yana’s wrist and dragged her farther beneath the plane. They hunkered down next to the massive right rear ski, keeping out of sight of anyone else. Yana let out a single long exhalation, then held out her hand. Zahra returned the rifle to her, continuing to eye the side of the ramp where the last attack had come from.
“There are four left,” Yana reported, eyeing the same place as Zahra.
“You killed the other four already?”
Yana shook her head. “No, only three. One of them was killed by your future ex-husband.”
“Excuse me?”
The Russian grinned. “I’ve seen the way you two have interacted with one another. It is very obvious… and a bit annoying.” She snapped her aim over to the other side of the ramp. “You should stop.”
Zahra didn’t know what to say. She didn’t have time, either.
A bullet pinged off their landing ski, sending both women reeling back. Blind gunfire originated from up above. The only part of the shooter that could be seen besides the rifle, were the guy’s hands. Yana didn’t seem to care. She sent a flurry of bullets that way, successfully getting the mercenary to pull his hands back up.
“We need to move,” Zahra said.
“Agreed, but where?”
Zahra looked north, out over the nothingness. “Out and around. We flank them.”
“But there are two of them, and I am running low on bullets.”
Zahra smiled. “Trust me.”
Yana didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t have anything better to suggest. They ducked around the front of the ski and out into the open air. The wind blasted them. That’s what Zahra was banking on. The shooters would also be assaulted by it, but to their faces.
“Keep your back to the wind and take your shot. With any luck, they’ll think we’re still under the plane.”
Yana nodded and aimed down the sights of her rifle. “I’m going to be very upset if you get me killed.”
Zahra slipped around to the back of Yana and used her own body to block as much of the wind as she could. The pair sidestepped in time with one another, away from the aircraft, moving in a long, sweeping arc. When they were at a forty-five-degree angle from the rear of the plane, one gunman leaned out to send another volley of rounds beneath the plane.
Yana quickly shot the man where his collarbones met. A second shot, this one to his shoulder, sent him spinning to the ramp.
