BIOHAZARD,
chapter two: new allies!

          AVERY ADJUSTED THE TAPES OF HIS BOOTS. His green eyes traveled from the figure of Violet Quinn to that of the Birkin siblings, who put on their green camouflage jacket and on top of that a black jacket to survive the cold. Somehow, the night had passed quickly and the cold dawn covered all of Moscow. Avery, that same night, observed the file of the mission again. And as a separate thought, he remembered the interrogation that Nick Fury had done. The warning. What was that warning about?

          Anika Birkin checked the weapon she was carrying for the last time. She touched the handle of the stock and made sure everything was in place. Her brother, Jake, handed her a full bullet cartridge and she put it in the gun compartment to load the first bullet into the cap. Violet glanced sideways at the siblings and then directed the same to her partner Avery. Somehow, warning him if he really was sure of what he was going to do. Avery Muller deflected her gaze and concentrated on adjusting more the laces of his boots.

          He stood up, admiring how the snow covered the windows of Violet Quinn's apartment. He looked with his right hand on the table that was next to the holster of his weapon, found a knife there that he kept inside his boot. He looked for a backpack that inside had a sleeping bag and other things that would be useful in the night they would spend in the forest.

          "We must hurry," Violet announced, putting on the military jacket they had given her. "The transport will leave Moscow without us."

          Jake rolled his eyes and pulled the backpack over his shoulder. Anika smiled sideways as Avery and Violet exchanged looks one last time before going out the door. In the hallway, Avery was the last to lock the door while the rest of the team walked to the emergency stairs. As soon as he turned the key to make sure the door was locked, Avery felt a lump in his throat. As if something wasn't right in the steps he took, as if something were wrong. A mistake.

          But...What was that error? An error that Nick Fury didn't tell him in the interrogation, probably. Or it could be a mistake that Avery would have to face in the mission. An error could manifest anywhere, at any time, in any way and he would never see it coming. Maybe that mistake could harm the team or rather, in some way or another, he should die for something. Not that Avery Muller accepted death so suddenly, but he knew perfectly well that playing with HYDRA was playing death with a game of chess. The mercenary must play with extreme care, a false step, a mistake and Avery could end up with a bullet in his head.

          The aforementioned kept the keys inside his pockets, likewise continuing on the same path where his team had previously gone. Avery Muller licked his lips and stared straight ahead, finding herself a few meters away from the emergency stairs and down there. The dim red light illuminated the mercenary's path, in a metallic sound that resonated in an environment which Muller defined as tense. He ignored the warnings that were built in the typical phonetics of the Russian language and continued at a rapid pace to reach his peers.

          Avery walked down a dark corridor that was finally illuminated by a door that had a hatched glass window and that gave way to a couple of rays of light while the opposite end was lit red. The aforementioned, on arrival, took the handle in his hand and - for a single moment - decided to turn his gaze back. The dark corridor awaited him back there, but which of all was a path to perdition? Or to hell? Avery didn't have time to examine the route that would probably take him to the edge of the abyss of death. He turned the knob around the door and pushed forward, swallowing cold that Moscow offered him with its big arms.

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 Lena river, Siberia, Russia.

          The cold in Siberia was something that could get into the soul of any living being who dares to step on their land. Avery jumped out of the truck in which they were taken to the Lena River, a 7-hour walk to meet the people who would be responsible for registering them and take them to one of the bases of the German organization where they should complete the mission.

          Avery hadn't stopped feeling the lump in his throat since leaving the building where Violet Quinn's apartment was located. He never stopped feeling it. There it was, so imposing and lethal, as if it were a warning. A warning that Avery didn't understand and wouldn't have time to understand.

          His green eyes watched the path that extended towards the snowy forest. He listened as the Eagles flew among the trees of the imposing forest and Avery tried to eliminate that knot from his throat at all costs - not succeeding in the attempt. Violet stood next to him as the Birkin siblings climbed out of the back of the truck.

          "Here is our starting point," Jake Birkin announced, touching a device which Muller described as a PDA.

          His sister rolled her eyes and hung her backpack over her shoulder. "We already know that, genius."

          "Then I suggest everyone move their asses toward the forest," he replied, indicating the path.

          Violet pursed her lips deliberately as her partner crossed his arms. "Okay, from here I'm in charge." The Birkin siblings opened their mouths to protest, but Avery went on. "Nick Fury sent them here with a purpose and that purpose is to help me infiltrate HYDRA and steal the soldier's book. If you really believe that you will take over and lead the mission, damn, you are very wrong."

          Violet smiled sideways. "This mission will be dangerous and I can assure you that as soon as we set foot in the HYDRA base, each one of us will be signing a death sentence."

          Avery clicked her tongue and straightened. "Also, my mission here is to keep you alive and take you to the point of control alive. From now on, we will be only us and we must trust in us. Is it clear?"

          The Birkin siblings nodded at the same time as they raised their fists to the front, as if they would like to salute the team. Which Avery would never do in his life. He and Violet exchanged glances to finish rolling their eyes - thus crashing fists with their teammates. The siblings stood by his side and watched the entrance to the forest that imposed strength and at the same time a chasm that could swallow the team in their black hole where they would be lost forever.

          Violet sighed. "Okay, team, it's time. Do you want to retire? It's not too late to decline."

          "We will not shrink to a challenge" Anika said with a sideways smile.

          Quinn looked at his dark-skinned companion. "And you, Muller?"

          He smiled, "Poka smert' ne razluchit menya (Until death tears me apart)."

          The team began to walk towards the forest that separated the final destination of the mission with the beginning of it. Avery Muller stopped feeling that lump in his throat as soon as he touched the first tree to pass and that seemed strange to him. But, somehow, that told him that the mercenary shouldn't show terror in a mission that could change his life like anyone else's. Avery and his team followed in a straight line, until the forest stopped showing the trail, comforting the team with the snowflakes that fell slowly among the Siberian pines.

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not edited