The Vanguard Vixen

Bring A Knife to a Gun Fight (One)

While talking to Jose Alba the night before, Vivian had seen the last person she wanted to see then, target 37. Like most high-ranked military personnel all over the five territories, they were only referred to by their rank. He was called General by everyone else around him, but for Vivian, anyone that had been placed on her tab was prey. A target she had to hunt down and kill if she got the chance. She had decided to wait till she got through her current dilemma, but he had made the mistake of crossing her path again, whether knowingly or not. He somehow made it alive the last time, and around his head was a bandage holding a pad of cotton to the side of his head, right where her bullet had struck.

It had taken all her control and the distraction of Jose not to finish it right then. But she had reminded herself that the Commander had asked her to keep it down. It was one of the reasons why she had left the dark route, for the chances of her starting something close to war there were very high.

At the moment, she was wandering through a rocky valley, following the direction of the road the General's convoy had taken. It was similar to the first time, only that she didn't have her gun with her this time. She would have blown up the entire band and then waited to see if he would walk out of that. She checked her watch once more to see whether she was going in the right direction.

With the i-software on her watch, Vivian had been able to implant a digital tracker into the systems of one of the armoured SUVs just as they left. After viewing a general map of the whole area she had estimated the one route that they would take and had immediately started travelling in a calculated direction that would make the rendezvous point a bridge somewhere ahead.

Food and drink were not things that she needed as much as ordinary people did, and she could go a few days with neither. Rest however was much more important as it allowed her body to regenerate the strength it required to support her capabilities.

The convoy stopped in the middle of nowhere to do something Vivian didn't understand, but it allowed her time to get to the bridge before they did. She had been taught that it was always better and easier if she waited rather than caught up with her targets.

Due to their stop, the cars were delayed by three minutes. It took Vivian one and a half to plan an ambush and one more to think through all the details again. Three cars plus her target car, with three soldiers in each to make twelve plus her target, but there was one big blind spot in her plan. She didn't know why the cars had stopped. They might have been picking more soldiers or dropping target 37. Either one was a big change in what she had planned for and would require maximum improvisation.

The cars were in her line of sight soon enough. Vivian missed her gun, but she couldn't just go around everywhere with it. The only handheld weapons that she had with her then were three throwing knives which she held in either hand plus one on her belt, just in case. Her watch beeped when the time was right.

Vivian stepped out of her hiding place and into the middle of the road when the first car was only a few feet away. She could see the driver's eyes widen when he saw her and how long it took the impulse to reach his brain. And then how long it took him to register that a person was standing there out of the blue. She saw his pupils dilate and his fingers grip the wheel as he yanked it hard to her right. 

It was all human nature. 

This was a highly trained and experienced driver who had perfect sight and who was as healthy as they came. He would have been keeping his eyes on the road with no distraction whatsoever. He would have seen her, and it didn't matter whether it was a person, an animal, an angel, or a monster. The first human reaction would be to avoid her. His reflexes would be quick enough to adjust the direction of the car in time, and he would be strong enough to handle such a heavy car well enough to miss her, but not to save the car.

She didn't even take a second look to check whether they had survived. The armoured car had driven straight through the railing and down into the icy depths below. Drowning soldiers had never featured on the list of threats to Vivian. She had started sprinting as soon as the car had gone past her, and although there wasn't much space between the first and the next car Vivian didn't need a lot of momentum for what she was going to do. There were three soldiers in the second car; two up front and one in the back, right between the seats, right where she wanted him.

Vivian threw both her knives one after the other and being able to use both her hands with equal and maximum efficiency put the odds in her favor. Both had been uniquely made to cut through armour glass if they had been given a big enough push. Both went through the windshield to find their way into the skulls of the soldier in the passenger seat and the driver. Vivian herself went over and above the car, pushing back against the hood to land her hit. 

The third soldier in the back would never survive the crash and wouldn't have enough time to reach for the wheel to try and steady the car, not with his dead buddy lying right on top of it. And then he would probably fly forward through the damaged windshield when the car slammed into the railing. Even if he survived he wouldn't have enough strength in him to counter the fast-flowing cold water below.

Vivian's step from the hood of the second car propelled her forward with enough force to smash through the windshield of the third. She collided with the soldier in the passenger seat because he would have the easiest access to his weapon and a clear shot at her. The force of her impact drove back into his breastbone and it in return drove back into his chest cavity, the resulting violent compression driving the air from his lungs and the hydrostatic shock driving blood back into his heart. His head snapped forward like a crash test dummy and Vivian was sure she heard something break.

Vivian's eyes were on his gun the whole time and it was the first thing she reached for despite her awkward position. A semi-automatic pistol, one bullet into the head of the one in the back, and the driver who was still trying to stop the car while reaching for his gun at the same time. He only got to do the former before Vivian similarly ended him.

The fourth and last car had stopped and three soldiers were out, all aiming their weapons at the car she was in. They couldn't see her, as far as they knew if they shot it could have been at one of their colleagues. Vivian herself didn't have colleagues to look out for and pulled the trigger thrice in succession, and she didn't miss. She dropped the pistol, as its make was limited to only six rounds. She had to choose between a submachine gun and another pistol. She chose the pistol and strode with it purposefully to the back door of the third car.

There he was, the one who lived.
    
Vivian would have wanted to know just how he had survived her bullet but that would only be keeping him alive for longer. So she aimed, and he begged for mercy, promising money and safety to her. As she pulled the trigger Vivian noticed his eyes were no longer on her but something behind her. And even as the bullet made its way into his brain Vivian was already spinning on the spot, hoping she could complete the turn faster than her assailant would.

She didn't.