BIOHAZARD,
chapter one: carpe noctem!

          THE HEAD OF AVERY MULLER SUFFERED THE PAIN OF TEN WHIPS IN HIS BODY. Each one was rougher and stronger. Intense at the same time and accumulating more and more pain. Avery let out a moan of pain as he touched his head and that produced movement. He tried to get up but a delicate hand made him lie down again. The brunette looked at his surroundings, green eyes meeting brown eyes that looked at him with concern. Violet was there and Avery wondered when and how she had found him.

          "Easy there, tiger," she murmured. "The migraine will go away in a couple of hours so try to relax."

          "I think I've had enough sleep, Quinn," Avery replied with another wince.

          Violet laughed. "Yes, of course." He sat on the bed. "How did you get here?"

          "That's what I wonder."

          "Avery, you disappeared for a whole day," Violet announced, showing discomfort in her voice, as if the mercenary had done something wrong. "Have they discovered us?"

          "Of course not!" Muller replied, quickly denying his impatience. "Not even the Russian government knows about our existence. They are as corrupt as we are. They do the dirty work through our services as mercenaries, nobody knows anything, Violet."

          "But you know perfectly well that SHIELD captured you yesterday in the middle of Red Square," Quinn announced, leaving Muller completely speechless. "Don't try to deny it now, Avery. You know that better than anyone that we are on the list of the most wanted."

          Avery grimaced. "What the hell are you talking about, Quinn?"

          "Avery, for the third time, I'm not stupid," his partner remarked, crossing her arms. "I've seen an armored truck with the SHIELD logo chasing you through the streets of Moscow, in the direction of the Kremlin."

          Muller held up both hands. "It's okay. I admit it." He lowered both hands slowly. "Yes, Violet, SHIELD captured me by shooting a bullet in my shoulder." Violet sighed and touched her face in exasperation. Avery tried to reassure her. "Don't worry, they...they assigned me a mission and I accepted it on the condition that you could do it with me."

          Violet opened her eyes in surprise and looked at Avery "Chto ty sdelal? (You did what?)"

          "Violet, it's a great mission," Avery replied, trying to cheer up his partner. "What we have as a reward is something unmatched, it will also be fun. When was the last time we were a team on a mission as mercenaries?"

          "Five months and ten days with exactly three hours," Violet declared, smiling sideways, running a hand through her long black hair and sighed before looking at Avery's green eyes. "What is the mission? How much will it take?"

          "We have to go to a HYDRA base of operations that, and believe it or not, is in Siberia."

          Quinn raised an eyebrow. "HYDRA? I thought it had sunk into the ice after World War II."

          "SHIELD, well, actually Nick Fury has asked me to look for a book that could start with chaos on earth" Avery added attracting the attention of his partner. "So we will infiltrate and...ta-da! Mission complete."

          "I can't believe you accepted..." Violet murmured, shaking her head. Suddenly, two knocks were heard on the door and both stared at it. Violet was the first to get up and looked for a weapon that was inside her handbag. Avery looked for a weapon that was under a nearby table and followed her friend.

          Both walked silently and stealthily into the precinct, until the noise ceased. The two stood still and as soon as they decided to take another step, something slipped inside. The mercenaries raised their weapons towards the door, maintaining a strong position on the trigger. Avery looked at Violet and nodded for her to inspect what was a few steps in front of them.

          The brunette walked slowly to the object that was on the floor and opened it, revealing that there was a folder there. Violet motioned with her hand to lower the weapon. Avery approached and took the folder in his hands, there was a SHIELD logo on it and the mercenary didn't hesitate to open it. There was a photo of two people: a man and a woman.

          Violet approached. "Who are they?"

          Avery took time to examine the file, meeting casually with the two people who will accompany them on the mission to Siberia, "They are the Birkin siblings. Nick Fury will send them here to help us."

          "We don't need support, we can do this without them" Quinn said crossing her arms.

          "Thanks to Fury, we'll need it," Muller added, staring at her. "This mission will be complicated if we do not have the resources we need." He turned his gaze to the folder, looking for some other guide and found a letter with four credentials inside. "We must be part of them. We must be HYDRA soldiers and steal the book."

          Violet put a hand on her forehead. "Avery, what the hell are you talking about?"

          "That's the mission!" Muller exclaimed, leaving the folder on a nearby table.

          "And you have accepted it, without consulting me, clearly," she replied and let out a sigh. "We can't go back anymore."

          Avery, meanwhile, looked for something else in the letter and found a note: "Red Square, tonight 10 pm". He looked at the long-haired girl and handed her the same note in her delicate hands. She looked at him and nodded, knowing that the mission to Siberia had already begun.

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Red Square, Moscow.

          Avery and Violet walked together while the cold enveloped them both. The two mercenaries walked with woolen hats, finding the red lights that illuminated the square completely. At the same time, Avery found that something so sinister and macabre but for Violet, that was as normal as the Day of the Dead in Mexico.

          The two crossed the street on the main avenue, passing through a market that was full of people with bags. Avery and Violet pushed several people to get passage. Even in such large places with many people, Muller was nervous and exasperated.

          "I hope we're doing the right thing," he murmured.

          Upon entering the plaza, they observed two people in the center. A silhouette of tall stature and a little lower one. Violet, as one of many customs, took the insurance off her gun that was in her pocket. Avery imitated her action and stared at the two silhouettes. The people around him didn't matter, only those two people mattered. They approached a considerable distance and stopped their steps there. Avery gathered the courage to speak "Vy rodnyye brat'ya Birkin? (Are you the Birkin siblings?)"

          One of them turned and looked sideways at the two mercenaries, hit his partner and nodded. They both turned completely and met Avery and Violet. They were a man and a woman - which simplified the work. The woman, with a little reddish hair and blue orbs looking at Muller, was the first to speak. "Da. Vy, dolzhno byt', Everi i Vayolet Kuinn (Yes. You must be Avery and Violet Quinn)."

          "What did you say?" His brother murmured.

          Violet smiled sideways. "We can understand you, we also speak your language."

          "Then we could have started with that, then," she replied, genuinely smiling. "My name is Anika Birkin," she touched her brother's shoulder. "He is my brother, Jake Birkin. We are agents of..."

          "SHIELD," Avery announced with a serious expression. "Nick Fury sent you here. You will help us to infiltrate in Siberia."

          Jake Birkin checked the tongue and put both hands in his pockets. "Our mission is to help you get the damn book without HYDRA or the soldier finding out."

          "The soldier...?" Avery asked in confusion.

          "Believe me, you don't want to know," Anika replied, looking at the dark-skinned young man. "Tomorrow we will be taken in a van to the forests of Siberia, where we will have to spend the night and there will be looking for HYDRA soldiers."

          "Sounds like a lot of fun," Violet murmured, rolling her eyes.

          Avery Muller licked his lips and stared at the rest. "All right, from now on we're putting our lives at risk. So, the game starts."

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not edited