Ghost Bird... Do You Copy?

Water

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Water

(Playlist – Дыши [Breathe] by Serebro )

This is a very short chapter...

Kota's POV:

October 25th

I just wanted the pain to stop. The torture was killing me. I breathed deeply in through my nose and out through my mouth. "Расскажи нам!" The man screamed at me, as he took his cigarette and placed it against the skin on my shoulder blades. I kept my mouth quiet. I honestly had no idea what I was supposed to tell him. I heard more screams echo down the hallway, and the man screamed at me again, then burned me once more.

Another guard entered the room. "Положите их обратно. Время отдохнуть." I could only assume we were done for the day. He took one more long draw from his cigarette and put it out on the floor. Both of the men undid the leather straps that bound my arms and legs, then pulled me from the chair; taking me from one prison to another. I wanted to fight back, but I needed to conserve my strength.

For four weeks, Gabriel and I had been here at Butyrka prison. For whatever reason, they had granted us the pleasure of remaining in the same cell. After being shoved into our cell, I notice Gabriel is already in here, and either passed out or asleep. I went over to my cot, and winced into it.

As I was getting comfortable, I really thought about the five weeks total since the crash, and what had happened so far. We were at a high altitude and couldn't eject our seats. So we had set the self-destruct sequence on the plane while we were at a free-fall. I had decided it was the best way to keep us from dying and hopefully give us enough time to eject and get away. We thought we were in the clear. Unfortunately, there had been ground forces nearby. We ran for a week with little to no sleep. If one did need to sleep, the other would keep watch, on one or two hour shifts. We were compounded in our efforts by burns received from the blast of the crash, then cuts on our arms and legs from running. The cold and snow didn't help either. In the end, we had been surrounded by eight men. With only our Glock-19 and knives, it was kill or be killed. I know four of the men were killed before I was knocked out. Gabriel told me later he had gotten two.

I believe that is why we were being tortured the way we were. Upon arrival, I remember tasting blood in my mouth, and my head hurt like a MAC truck had run over it. Gabriel looked even worse. When he stood, his balance was off, his right eyes was swollen shut, and his wrist was swollen too. I had watched him wince in pain. I stood in front of him. I wanted to protect my brother. I would protect Gabriel. The men had come at us, fists flying everywhere. It didn't take long before we were down... and then we just stayed down. So far besides the cigarette burns, beatings, and a couple bouts of water boarding, we were allowed one cup of water every other day, 1 piece of bread a day, and a small bowl of soup.

And now, here we were. "Sang? Do you have any water left?" I heard Gabriel whisper.

"Yeah. I have a few drops. What did they do to you today?" I went over to check on him.

He hadn't moved yet. I supported myself as I sat down to check him over. He looked the same as yesterday as I looked from the bottom all the way until I got to his left arm. It was not bandaged well, and blood was still seeping from it. "Gabriel! What did they do?"

He was trying to force out an answer, but he was not very clear. His color was very pallid. The only thing I could hear clearly was something about draining blood. This had gone far enough. It was time to find a way out of here. We were both far too weak to overtake the guards. I still had my mind though.

I checked the room for what had to be the millionth time: the sink that didn't work, the toilet, drain on the floor, the metal piece through which they gave us our meager amounts of food. I went to our beds next. The wires and springs were loose, but what could I do with them? I headed to the lone window. We were on the second floor next to the tower. Even if we were able to make the twenty foot drop without injury in the state we were in, there was a fifteen foot wall we would have to contend with, let alone the guards, guns, and dogs.

I went back to the bed and started loosening the wires a bit. If I could get a strong enough piece, I would just start digging away at the bars on the windows a little at a time. One of us had to get out of here alive.

Gabriel's POV:

I don't know when I had lost consciousness, or when reality world and dream world had combined or separated. All I know is one moment I was in my cell fighting from being dragged out of there. Kota was trying to take my place. I screamed every curse word in every language I knew. I was backhanded across the face by the mother fu*ker who was standing in front of the doorway. Smug a**hole. I spit out the tooth and blood. As weak as I was I offered him the other side, he didn't take it.

They didn't take me to the usual room of torture. No, today they took me to a room that was full of people. Everyone looked like they had bags of blood being given to them. I was taken to other side of the room, where a handful of prisoners were lying limp on cots. A nurse was covering one up fully with a sheet. Oh fu*k no. I started fighting again. The others had needles in their arms, were pale, and had a sheen across their faces. I broke away and took off. Before I could get too far, I was clotheslined by a large black arm.

Sang cuddled me when I woke up. "Oy, Trouble. Did you get the license plate number of that truck?"

"You're so silly, Meanie." She leaned down and kissed my lips. I had been away from her for so long, I could help myself from letting my hands roam, only she was holding them down.

"Trouble? Why won't you let me up?" I was truly curious. She had never been forceful with me.

"It's a surprise. You love me don't you?" I couldn't quite understand what she was saying, but she kept repeating herself. "It's a surprise. You love me don't you?"

"It's a surprise. You trust me don't you?"

"That's enough guys. You trust me don't you?" The pressure was let up finally. Something was scratching at my arm, and then wrapped around it... I think. I was being dragged down a hallway, or rolled, or maybe I walked. I heard words, I think I even caught a few in English. "Stay put." Why would Sang tell me to stay put? I was so thirsty, and tired. I miss her so much.

"Sang? Do you have any water left?