The briefcase was thrown into the car,
Eileen lunged and landed across the passenger seat.
Rive slanted her eyes at Eileen,
One hand gripping the steering wheel,
The other swiftly lifting Eileen and pressing her into the seat,
Quickly fastening the seatbelt single-handedly,
Just like countless times when she used to drive her to school:
“Sit tight!”
Eileen vaguely remembered that in the early years of school,
It was always Rive driving the orphans to school,
Sometimes in several trips…
If it weren’t for the later absurd demands for money,
She would be one of the rare people Eileen could feel safe around.
And now,
This feeling, strangely, had returned.
Boom!
The car was battered,
But under Rive’s violent, almost pedal-crushing force,
The broken steel beast pressed Eileen firmly into the seat,
Rushing madly toward the distance…
Clearly, the border inspector’s mercenaries didn’t intend to let Eileen go easily.
Several ready pickups instantly burst out of the alley,
Amid shouts and the radiation zone warning alarms,
The vehicles staged a chase straight out of an action movie.
“Don’t just stand there, shoot!
You’ve stirred up this much trouble,
A little more won’t matter, right?”
Rive held the wheel with one hand,
The other casually resting on the car window in leather gloves,
Calm and composed, wearing an expensive suit and gold-rimmed glasses…
Like a professional female assassin.
Her weapon rested on the sun visor,
A silver Desert Eagle, as refined as she was,
Clearly unsuitable for a car chase battle.
“Okay… okay!”
Eileen gritted her teeth,
Adrenaline surging, leaving no room to think about the current situation.
She aimed the Giant Wave through the window to shoot,
But Rive grabbed her hand and pushed it down:
“Little fool… shoot from the back,
And use this.”
Bang!
Rive drew the Desert Eagle, expressionless,
Breaking the lock on a black military weapon box in the back seat.
Amid the bumps, a PKM general-purpose machine gun loaded with bullets lay quietly inside.
Eileen quickly pulled the adjustment lever, flattening the passenger seat,
Almost hand-and-foot, she twisted herself from the passenger seat to the back seat.
The narrow space filled with the roar of the engine and tires screeching against the road.
“Grab it!”
Rive’s voice was calm, like instructing a child to reverse into a parking space.
She slammed the wheel with one hand,
The car swung into an alley stacked with abandoned tires,
Forcing the lead pickup to brake abruptly and skid,
Tires burning white smoke.
Eileen clenched her teeth, ignoring her knee pounding the car wall,
Flung open the weapon box lid,
The golden ammunition belts coiled inside,
Glinting cold metallicly.
She grabbed the thick handle of the PKM,
Its weight pressing her arm down,
Yet the heaviness brought a strange sense of security.
No time to think,
Eileen unleashed all her strength,
Forcibly bracing the gun’s rear against the warped metal edge of the window frame,
Using it as a temporary mount,
Left hand supporting the foregrip, right hand yanking the massive bolt.
Click!
The heavy metallic impact rang sharply in the confined space,
Announcing the awakening of the steel beast.
“Hit the engine! Hit the tires! Don’t spare ammo,
Hit or miss, you’ll pay me back tenfold!”
Rive’s roar pierced the engine’s growl,
As she stomped the gas again,
The car roared like a wounded beast out of the alley,
Back onto a wider but chaotic street.
The pursuers had regrouped.
Three modified armed pickups, like hyenas sensing blood, hung on their tail.
Fortunately, these military trucks carried no heavy weapons,
But the men inside were clearly soldiers,
Wearing full combat gear, rifles in hand,
Calmly firing at the battered car.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bullets rained like hail on the car’s rear,
The rear windshield shattered instantly, spider-web cracks spreading,
Glass shards falling like snow onto Eileen’s hair and shoulders.
A stray round grazed the window edge where Eileen braced her gun,
Sparks flying, tension blacking her vision, nearly making her pass out.
But adrenaline surged like high-pressure steam,
The chill of death pressed her spine,
Eileen thrust the heavy PKM out the broken rear window.
The view instantly opened,
Bumpy roads, noisy streets, chasing pickups, muzzle flashes,
Everything violently shaking, no time to aim precisely,
The immense crisis and Rive’s ruthless commands compelled her to squeeze the trigger instinctively.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!
The PKM’s roar instantly drowned out all other sounds,
A true metal storm, designed for suppressive fire,
Muzzle spitting nearly half-meter-long continuous flames.
The massive recoil struck her shoulders like a runaway hammer,
Every hit making her bones ache,
The heavy gun violently jumping in her hands, almost slipping out.
It was meant to be tripod-mounted,
But she held it with sheer force.
The effect? Devastating.
Tracer rounds lit the air like burning whips, slashing toward the nearest pickups,
The 7.62x54mmR rounds easily shredded the pickup hoods,
Black smoke and oil vapor burst from under the engine.
The lead pickup choked, slowing abruptly,
The hood dropping, crashing uncontrollably into roadside debris!
The shooter in the bed was flung violently by inertia.
The ammo belt, like a greedy metal serpent,
Rapidly fed into the gun,
Hot brass casings sprayed like a golden fountain,
Clattering on the floor, hitting Eileen’s calves,
Releasing choking smoke and extreme heat.
“Next!”
Rive’s cold voice was like a conductor’s baton,
Ignoring the enemy’s horrified screams,
She yanked the wheel, the car swerving sharply,
Tires screeching on the wet ground, car tilting violently,
Using a broken fruit stall as temporary cover,
Bullets shredded wooden boards and splattered fruit.
Eileen was thrown hard against the door,
Yet clutched the roaring PKM tightly,
Muzzle tracking the tracer lines toward another flanking pickup.
This time, the fire lash struck the tire,
Thick off-road tread shredded like paper,
Front-left wheel exploded,
Pickup lost balance, skewed into parked wrecks,
Metal twisting, glass shattering, occupants tossed chaotically.
In seconds, the black market was filled with smoke,
Gunfire mixed with engine roars, tires screaming, metal crashing, glass breaking,
Victims wailing, startled crowds shouting,
The street became a battlefield, stalls overturned, debris flying, pedestrians panicking.
The last pickup’s shooter was stunned by the sudden heavy fire,
Hesitation in their aim.
“Well done! I said training soldiers in an orphanage was a good idea…
No wonder Utoya liked you.”
A cold smirk tugged at Rive’s lips,
She stomped the gas to the floor,
The battered car surged forward like an arrow,
Heading for an alley filled with abandoned shipping containers,
Leading toward the more complex terrain on the outskirts of the radiation zone.
Eileen panted violently, shoulders burning, ears ringing,
Smoke stinging her eyes.
Exhausted, she released the trigger,
The PKM barrel glowing red-hot, steaming,
The cabin littered with hot brass casings,
Air thick with sulfur, gunpowder, and burning metal.
Through the broken rear window, she saw the smoking, twisted pursuit vehicles behind,
Exhausted but alive, adrenaline and the thrill of combat coursing together,
Her hands trembling on the gun, but still managing to speak:
“Utoya… she… over there…”
Something had happened just now, she heard gunfire on Utoya’s side,
She couldn’t… couldn’t let her get hurt…
“Don’t worry, she’s far less likely to get hurt than you.
After all these days without returning, I guessed what you two were up to…
She probably talked to you about our past too, right?
If not, then your seduction attempt failed miserably.”
Rive’s mouth was always sharp, lethally cold,
She liked belittling people,
Eileen despised her for it,
But now she had no energy for argument:
“I said… you two are soldiers…”
Eileen weakly closed her eyes,
Feeling her insides hollow,
Almost wanting to tilt her head and sleep forever,
But her willpower forced her to recover.
No, Utoya still had work, the money wasn’t secured yet…
“Hmph, that face of yours still has some use.
I actually told you the past, so you should understand her abilities.
Don’t worry, a few soldiers won’t harm her…”
…The sound of a helicopter interrupted Rive.
An armed helicopter sliced through the sky,
Flying ultra-low on the horizon,
Targeting the abandoned concrete building where Utoya was,
Searchlights and side-mounted cannons already locking the entire structure.
“…Well, this one she might not handle on her own…”