No Turning Back

Chapter Thirty-Three: New Arrival

"Ayyyyy! Don't forget about Nikolai!" The drunk Russian smiled as he stepped forward to follow Takeo.

"Oooh Nikolai! How could I forget about jou?!" Richtofen cooed in a high-pitched voice.

"Can we just get on with the damn cas-- casu-- casimir mechanism thingy", Dempsey grumbled impatiently.

"Hmph", Richtofen grunted as he turned up his nose.

Dempsey descended the stairs before stopping midway and looking back up at where Primis and Kiana lay hidden. Takeo and Nikolai seemed to know to play along as they appeared to have forgotten all about them. Whatever Kiana needed to do - they would always try to accommodate.

The three finally made their way to Richtofen as he waited for his men to assemble. Takeo then tended to the crawler as Richtofen began marching towards the building which housed the power switch - with the others dragging their feet behind him.

Dempsey then remembered Kiana's things lay by the fire as he was shot with panic. The marine then suddenly bolted right past Richtofen before he could make it to the gate.

"Uh, sorry doc. Gotta take a piss real bad!" Dempsey lied - albeit convincingly.

Takeo also caught on to Dempsey's problem and quickly nudged Nikolai who then also eyed the bag.

"Ayyy, doc! Can I ask you something?" Nikolai slurred affectionately.

Richtofen glanced around suspiciously at Dempsey before he quickly stopped in his tracks at the sound of Nikolai's voice.

"Yes, Nikolai? Vhat is it jou vanted to ask me?" Richtofen smiled warmly.

The Russian smiled awkwardly as he tried to figure out something to ask. Takeo watched nervously as Dempsey finally made his way to the fire. As Nikolai continued to stutter and mumble; Dempsey scooped up Kiana's stuff and continued on as he ran through the next set of gates towards the rocket room. Takeo breathed a small sigh of relief as Nikolai finally gave up trying to find something to say.

"Um, I forgot what I was going to ask", Nikolai mumbled defeatedly.

"Jou know Nikolai, as adorable as jou are, jou need to remember not to waste zhe doctor's time vith drunken ramblings", Richtofen warned affectionately.

"Yes, I am very sorry. Will not happen again!" Nikolai quickly apologised.

"Very good! Zhank jou Nikolai. If only Dempshey vas like jou!" Richtofen snarked.

"Now, I must set up mein quarters und begun mein vork. But oooh, I vill miss zhat comfy chair back at Ragnarök!", Richtofen sighed.

Kiana and Primis continued to listen apprehensively as Richtofen's shrill voice permeated the air. It felt like forever as they waited patiently for the others to move Richtofen away. Once the blended voices had sufficiently faded away in the distance; Kiana sat up as Primis did the same.

"Phew! I'm glad everyone knew to play along', Kiana sighed with relief.

"Ja, ve are very fortunate", Primis replied.

"Look, I know you were taken by surprise too but I just feel that it's best that Richtofen - whatever version of him it is - doesn't know we're here. Remember, He'll still be unsure whether we even survived the onslaught back at the theatre. And we need to use that to our advantage", Kiana explained.

"Zhat is probably for zhe best. But ve vill need to keep out of zheir vay und vith zhe undead zhat may prove difficult", Primis replied.

"Yeah, plus they're going to be doing the easter egg-- I mean freeing Dr Gersch. Sorry, that's what we referred to it back home", Kiana

"All the things you guys did to progress the storyline were referred to it as that because you had to find hidden items over numerous steps... like an easter egg hunt", Kiana awkwardly explained - but still managing to answer Primis' look of confusion.

"But yeah, knowing the steps will ensure that we're always at a different part of the facility and out of the way. You've got the ray gun and I've got the gersch device which will help us with the undead. I don't think the gersch device will be too noisy if we're at a decent distance from the others", Kiana mused.

"Okay, vell ve at least know zhat Richtofen is going to have to figure out zhe limitations of zhe device before he can continue... Alzhough, I vould have preferred to have figured it out meinself..." Primis grumbled irritatedly.

"Don't worry about it. It'll probably take him some time too. I mean, it's not like he's going to have it solved in a day! It buys us time to observe him a bit", Kiana smiled reassuringly.

"Hmph, I suppose jou are right", Primis conceeded.

"Right, let's go! We've got some snooping to do!" Kiana smiled.

The others had set up at the campfire as Richtofen disappeared upstairs to the middle floor of the power switch building. Kiana and Primis snuck out of their hiding spot and carefully made their way towards the others by the fire.

"Oh hey, I left your stuff behind behind barrier -- outside the stairs to the mule kick machine", Dempsey whispered as Kiana nodded.

"Vhere is Richtofen?" Primis asked.

"He's upstairs in the power switch building. Seems to have made his office on the middle floor", Dempsey replied.

"When are ya gonna tell us what's going on?" Dempsey asked Primis and Kiana.

Kiana looked at Primis who volunteered to explain everything to the men before she then went off to fetch her stuff. Whilst she was away, Takeo and Dempsey frowned in disbelief as Primis explained Kiana's dream and her encounter with Samantha. Even Nikolai was sitting up and listening intently.

"Fuck me, one that's actually worse?" Dempsey sighed as he shook his head.

"But I suppose it explains why his suit is covered in blood. Looked too human to be one of the undead's", Dempsey added.

"Vell, ve know vhat Samanzha is like. She could be lying", Primis reminded Dempsey.

Kiana finally returned as the men sat up at her arrival. It was clear from the look on their faces that they had been sufficiently briefed on the situation.

"So what are we gonna do?" Dempsey asked.

"Well, we just need to observe Richtofen and try to see which one it is. Surely there will be some kind of distinction between them", Kiana responded.

"That's pretty risky. If it ain't our Richtofen then we gotta protect you from him! He might try to kill you on sight!" Dempsey explained anxiously.

"Ja, ve have zhought about zhat. I vill stay vith Kiana und ve vill vatch jou all from afar", Primis replied.

"Oh man, this shit just keeps on gettin' more and more complicated", Dempsey sighed

"We will also try to ascertain which Richtofen we are dealing with", Takeo whispered as his face remained deep in thought.

"Thanks guys. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you beforehand", Kiana apologised.

"Not to worry, leetil woman. We are used to drinking vodka and asking questions later", Nikolai slurred with a smile as he took a drink.

"Ayyyy, is not all bad!" Nikolai cheered.

Everyone smiled to each other before setting off in different directions. Kiana and Primis made their way to a quieter area of the facility whilst Dempsey and Takeo decided to pay the doctor a visit.

Finally, everyone had a plan...

End of part thirty-three...