Gunslinger

The warden of Lubyanka Prison again checked the papers that had arrived across his desk and shook his head, so much paperwork these days just to transfer prisoners. In the good old days they would just have been shot. He glanced up at the serious faced young woman in uniform opposite him and noted the bored expression. He wondered if she had read the files on these two particular prisoners, they were anything except routine.
Americans. Pluteshenko hated Americans and these two more than most.
“Have they been any trouble ?”
He looked back up into the Captain’s eyes and then barked out a laugh. They had been model prisoners in public but anyone that crossed them had wound up being found in a bad way and not likely to talk. It had infuriated the warden, more so that several of the victims had been his own guards. He did not want to let on that the scum had made a fool of him to the higher ranks of the FSB and the uniform this bit of a girl wore made him nervous.
“Typical Yankees. All mouth. Where are you taking them ?”
“Krasnoyarsk, let’s see how they enjoy Siberia.”
Ana flashed the ageing warden a brilliant smile and let herself enjoy the thought of Syn cooling his heels in a decent Siberian winter. She glanced again at the forged documents on the table, Johnny had many talents and this one had always been the most useful. They had landed at a small airport just outside Moscow and taken up residence in it’s hanger, the manager bribed with some decent Western currency and yet more fake papers. This was the hard part, the part that she didn’t want to be involved in and yet again that man had managed to talk them around.
“Are they ready ?”
Warden Plusteshenko nodded and stood, Ana following him as they made their way out of the administrative section and down into the bowels of the building. Parts of it hadn’t changed since the purges of the 1930’s and she wondered how many souls had died or been tortured inside these walls. Even now it was grim and a pang of guilt went through her that she had been inadvertently responsible for what had happened. Syn and Zacky, the two people she had loved most and hated most, after two long years Ana was about to see them again.
“We will load them into the van. A guard will come with you in the back and two up front. Two cars front and behind until you get out of the city.”
Ana found she could do nothing but stare as two men came into view. The first still wore his habitual smirk, joking with the guard in broken Russian as they checked the manacles around his wrists and ankles. Synyster Gates had not been idle while incarcerated, the tattooed arms were all muscle and Ana noted that his hair was longer, cheekbones sharper than when she had last seen him. He looked good and she fought down a smile.
Behind him came Zacky Vengeance, watchful and calm and at Syn’s shoulder just as she remembered him. He too was what most women would call beautiful in a fallen angel type way, a sweep of dark hair over pretty green eyes and when he spoke…well, he was the negotiator for a reason and many a girl had fallen for the line just as many an officer and an enemy. When the gang needed something difficult it fell to either Zacky to charm it out of someone or Syn to break their face until it was surrendered. Neither man looked afraid even now and Ana had to turn away to hear what the warden was saying.
“Hard labour camp ?”
Ana smiled again, the silenced pistol at her waist would no doubt have to be employed and she was glad that the gang had stolen two cars to aim at the truck. The ambush had been carefully planned to take place near the edge of the city where there was less traffic but they would still be outnumbered, just not outgunned.
Pluteshenko stared down, still unable to believe his luck in getting rid of the two men. When they had first arrived he had thought that the prisoners would take care of them, the old bull queer and his friends had certainly taken an interest in the two pretty boys and all of the guards had believed that neither man would last a month. Turned out the gang didn’t last a week, the head of it found with his face smashed into a toilet bowl and a home made shank up his ass. After that nobody touched the twins, the nickname they had soon learned was known in quite a few places around the world. Even the guards had become wary, Gates was all smiles and banter, the other one quieter and respectful but both could be relied upon to handle a fight.
“Hard labour until their government pays cash to get them out.”
“Don’t let the looks fool you. If they try anything shoot both of them.”
Ana nodded with a knowing smile and pulled her cap a little lower. Neither man noticed her as they were loaded on board, the guard between them shackling the chains to the floor and admiring the figure of the smartly clad intelligence officer as she settled on the bench opposite them. The doors to the van slammed and she looked up, Syn and Zacky both getting a good look at her for the first time.
To their credit, neither man showed any recognition although Syn’s jaw tightened a little and she swore a ghost of a smile played across Zacky’s lips. They both looked away and Ana tried not to think about being so close to them, their knees almost touching in the cramped interior as the van roared into life and they began to move. There was silence, the officer talking briefly to his two colleagues as the journey time ticked by.
Zacky had been expecting an escape after the brief note had reached Syn. They had known the mail was being searched so it was coded and in Jimmy’s handwriting, even then it had taken a long time to get to the prison and Syn had beaten in one of the guard’s faces to get it. He hadn’t expected it now and he hadn’t expected it to involve Ana. They had last seen her being dragged away screaming and in his heart, Zacky had never really blamed her for buying her freedom with theirs.
Syn glowered, taking in every detail of her face and putting it against so many memories. She looked younger if anything, thinner and there was something in her eyes that bothered him. He was a proud man, he had taken whatever life had thrown at him since they were all kids together in California and now it almost felt like they had come full circle. He too remembered the bet, a stupid infantile thing that had got out of hand and ripped her away from him. Unlike Zacky, he placed the blame for the rest of it firmly on her shoulders and now he wanted to hear an explanation.
The journey seemed to take forever, the heat and enclosed space making them all too hot and Ana knew that Syn was staring, unable to meet his eyes for more than a few seconds. The guard attempted small talk thinking the officer was just nervous to be near two notoriously dangerous men. He wondered why they had sent such a fragile looking woman to take the prisoners so far and was about to ask when there was a squeal of brakes and a huge jolt. For a moment everyone was disorientated and then gunfire broke out, loud and metallic in the confines of the box before Ana recovered and pulled the pistol. The guard never saw it coming, the bullet catching him between the eyes as everything pitched and rocked.
“Are you fucking kidding me ?”
Syn screamed the words at the sensation of someone else’s blood dripping down his face and almost caught Ana as the pitching van tipped her onto the two men. They were helpless, the chains preventing them from moving and now they would all hear the shouts and more gunfire. Zacky kicked at the door as Ana pulled herself up and started searching the corpse for keys.
“This was not my idea.”
“No you wanted us to rot.”
“Pretty much.”
Zacky swore, the door was crumpled and refusing to budge although he could now hear Jimmy on the other side and adrenaline was coursing through his brain. Syn tried again with the manacles, tearing the skin on his wrists in an attempt to get loose. He tried not to look as Ana pulled off the tie and loosened the shirt, her cleavage just about on display as she thumped him on the arm.
“Lean forward, we don’t have a lot of time.”
He obliged and Ana managed to get the key into the cuffs, ignoring the sensation of his body being that close. With a twist he was free and reached up with a smile, pulling the gun free from her hand and shoving her at Zacky. The prison uniform seemed to ripple above his muscles and for a minute they locked eyes before she turned away and half smiled at Zack.
“Do you mind ?”
“Hell fucking no and ignore him, he’s just being a dick because it’s taken this long.”
Ana reached around and released him, his arms tightening around her for a moment before Syn finally managed to kick out the door. They emerged into chaos, ducking down as more bullets seemed to ping from every surface. For a moment both Syn and Zacky were disorientated before Matt appeared, automatic rifles shoved into their hands. Ana took her moment, breaking cover to run to where a terrified tourist now lay near his car. She kicked him out the way and dove inside as more bullets shattered the windscreen. It took precious minutes but she could see the cars Jimmy, Johnny and Matt had used and all of them were now on fire.
The road was a mess, dead men lying in various positions as this miniature gun battle raged amongst innocent motorists. Johnny grinned in delight as the twins opened up, back to back as always Zacky and Syn laid down a stream of cover fire that allowed Jimmy and Matt to hijack a second car. Sirens began to sound in the distance and through the fire it was possible to see the lights as police started to respond to the many emergency calls now coming in.
“Go, meet up at the rendezvous !”
Johnny screamed to be heard, Syn and Zacky diving into Jimmy’s car with him as Matt managed to make his way over to Ana. It was tight to manoeuvre around so many vehicles and they lost sight of each other as the roads began to open up in front of them. It was an hour to reach the hanger on the other side of the city and now he tapped Jimmy on the shoulder, getting him to slow down so they were less conspicuous. Zacky stashed the automatics under the seat and wiped the blood and sweat from his face as the relief of getting away started to sink in. He smiled, there was nothing like seeing old friends.
“Thought you forgot us.”
Jimmy laughed delightedly, the high of pulling this off better than a chemical one.
“Fuck no, just took the gnome some time to get the cash together.”
“And to get a job worth breaking you bums out for.”
Syn leant forward and tousled Jimmy’s hair, he too now smiling and elated as he hugged Johnny over the seat. Seeing them made his anger at Ana die down a little and the rush of being free was hitting his system hard. They would leave this fucking country behind and get back home to where they didn’t lock you up for twenty five to life on the most unreliable of evidence. Well not usually anyway….
“How did you get the money ?”
Syn tried not to sound suspicious although he now checked over the high powered sniper rifle in Johnny’s hands and realised it was brand new. The boss liked good weapons but Syn and Zacky knew military spec when they saw it. That meant that more than likely Johnny had agreed to something stupid and likely to kill them all. Zacky looked into the traffic and tried to see if they were being followed as Johnny turned back to them.
“We are going hunting for nazi gold. You didn’t think I was getting you out just so you could go home and get fucked up did you ?”
“Well yeah actually and what the fuck did you bring HER for ?”
Jimmy turned a giggle into a sneeze at the look on Syn’s face and saw Johnny smirk as he turned back around and settled back into his seat. There was a lot more to be done before they could leave Moscow but the entertainment value had just gone up. There was a comfortable silence as the car left the confines of the city behind and trailed out into the suburbs.

Notes