I checked the time on the terminal that the captain had given me and saw that it was 9 PM.
Our base of operations was partially underground, making it hard to know what was happening outside, but I expected that it would soon get dark.
It’d been one hour since we’d made our declaration to New World. I expected they would take action within the next hour.
“I’m so tired,” I said to myself while rubbing my eyes.
I realized that I hadn’t slept in roughly two days because I’d been working on the anime and trying to help Anton. Toughened soldiers like Macho Man and the captain were probably used to this kind of thing, but it was a struggle for a frail commoner like me.
Just as I was considering taking a nap, the captain burst into the room with such force that I worried she might have bent the door out of shape.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her.
“We’ve had a response from New World! They’re transmitting a satellite broadcast that anyone can view from anywhere using a terminal. They’ve hijacked Russia’s broadcasting systems!”
Really...? Why do geniuses have to turn everything into a spectacle? You’d think a terrorist group would try to draw a little less attention to themselves. Hijacking broadcasting systems is the kind of thing my mom would do.
My head felt heavy from lack of sleep as I took the terminal in my hand. The signal was a little noisy, but sure enough, a man with his face obscured was being shown on every channel.
I don’t see Dr. Sandra. This looks like a prerecorded video. Maybe they had a reason for not showing her? Or maybe she just wasn’t around at the time?
“I repeat,” the man on the broadcast said. “In 30 minutes from now, we of New World will release Anton Bortkiewicz, Yakov Tarkovsky, and Yuri Pamfilova to the Russian force surrounding the hotel. Upon their release, we will begin moving towards Old Moscow together with our comrades remaining in the hotel. We are acting on the basis of an existing arrangement. If our actions are impeded in any way, we will retaliate with a devastating, indiscriminate attack. I repeat...”
So they’re going to release Anton and the others at the hotel, and then they’ll attack us as soon as they reach the old city. Broadcasting this across the whole of Russia means that the Russian government won’t be able to attack them while they’re on the move. If they’re forced to choose between me and their own people, they’re obviously going to protect their own people. The ordinary civilians living in the city are more important.
“Captain, the hotel is—” I began.
“We already have people in position near the hotel to keep us informed. They’ll let us know as soon as the hostages are released.”
“We need—”
“Everyone is ready and in position. We’ll fight by tunnel warfare using the subway tunnels and sewers, just like you planned. They’ll serve as our trenches. If we fight defensively, we should be able to hold out for five hours or so.”
Let me finish a sentence! Maybe you can guess what I’m worried about, but you should still let me say it instead of assuming, I thought indignantly. Forget it. I need to get myself some weapons so I can at least defend myself. If this building that we’re using as our makeshift headquarters is captured, it’ll mean total defeat. In that case, I’ll at least need a weapon to turn on myself.
With that in mind, I was about to leave the room and fetch a weapon, but the captain stopped me.
“Where do you think you’re going?” she asked coldly.
“I was about to fetch myself a weapon. I only know how to use a shotgun, but that’s better than being unarmed, right? And I might need it if worst comes to worst.”
“Worst comes to worst?”
“I don’t like thinking about it, but they might capture this building,” I said. “If everyone else dies fighting, I’ve no intention of being taken alive. I’ll take my own life.”
The captain was left speechless.
Did she think I was planning on running? Every member of Serp must have been thinking the same thing. Now I see why they’ve been keeping all the details of their plans from me... I don’t have time for this! I get that their own country betrayed them, but we’re allies here! Can’t they see that we have to work together to stand any chance here? I can’t take this anymore.
As intimidating as the captain looked, I had a terrible feeling that I’d come to regret it if I didn’t say something now.