The Vladivostok Incident

Chapter 14

End Ride

Dmitri never lost consciousness. Antonio had left the dining car almost immediately to search for Caesar; he arrived on the back car just in time to see Dmitri sit down. While he failed to see Caesar, he knew that Dmitri was in pretty bad shape. The platform had spots of blood and under Dmitri a small pool started to form. For the young boy, seeing a man hurt, it didn't matter whether he was a soldier or a friend; even though he had seen them fight, they were all people. It was lucky for Dmitri that the young and nave Antonio found him, and not one of Rex's men.

Antonio was too small to carry Dmitri on his own, but couldn't open the door with the older teen in the way. What resulted was an unbalanced Antonio lifting the injured Dmitri, opening the door, and carrying him through the cargo cars. The first car was full of Rex and his men. They jumped when they saw Antonio with a soldier, but relaxed when they realized the soldier was injured. No one moved to help, which Antonio foresaw; at the moment there were only two people he would trust, and they weren't in this car. Because of Dmitri's weight, Antonio had a slow trip through the first car. It was slightly uncomfortably, too, with all of the mercenaries' eyes on him.

When he finally entered the next car, his little body was so tired from carrying Dmitri he had to drop him. Everyone was stunned that this little boy had just carried a teen into the car himself, and an injured soldier no less.

Shelton was the first to react. "What the hell happened?" he asked. Interest caused him to approach the soldier. It was the same one he had met before and there he lay, bleeding. There was just some sort of human curiosity that made him gawk at such things.

Lena moved from her spot near Antanas. She crouched near Dmitri. "Briska, can you help him?" Antonio pleaded.

Dmitri, who hadn't said a word up to that point, opened his uninjured eye and managed to mutter, "Olsen." He had to swallow back something in his throat before he could finish. "There's a medic named Olsen in the second car. He's trained for this kind of stuff," he was somehow able to wheeze out through the pain.

"Let me help you," Shelton offered. He went to lift Dmitri up with his right arm. Unfortunately, the artificial limb cracked; pain seared up Shelton's arm and to his neck. He let out a yelp of hurt and shock as the teen didn't look too heavy. He tried to slowly lower Dmitri, but the pain was too intense and he ended up partially dropping the soldier. Even after the weight was gone, Shelton felt the most unbearable ache in his artificial arm. He stumbled away from Dmitri and nearly fell. He was saved by a concerned Andrei.

"I'll take him," Antoine offered. He was able to pick Dmitri up and carry him piggyback style.

Without another word, he and Little Antonio bounded out of the cargo car and towards the passenger cars. They had to avoid the stares the passengers gave them as they hurried towards the second dining car. When they reached it, they met face to face with an entire crowd of rowdy soldiers and one angry Lev. The soldiers were quick to respond to the sudden intrusion; Lev just appeared annoyed thanks to yet another distraction.

"Sinclair!" one of the soldiers shouted. Antoine carefully set Dmitri down. Instantly, the injured was tended to by fellow soldiers.

To Antoine's dismay, both him and Antonio were pulled away immediately by soldiers and apprehended. While the younger of the two was not harmed, mostly thanks to the fact that Lev snatched him away from the soldiers, Antoine was pushed against a table. One of the soldiers produced an eye scanner. Antoine recognized it as an identifier and struggled to get away or even shut his eyes. Naturally, the soldiers figured he would try that and simply forced them open. As the device scanned his iris he felt panic kick in. He tried to think of ways to escape, but his brain refused to cooperate with him. Once the scan was complete, a report popped up on a small, handheld wireless computer screen. The soldier started to browse over the report. Lev grabbed it before he could finish, however.

"Huh?" Lev said aloud almost immediately. "Bartholomew Martin. Says here you're Lunarian."

Antoine decided it would be a good idea not to fight. "Yes sir, I am," he answered.

Lev motioned for the soldier to let up; he did and Antoine was able to face Lev. "So what's an ex-convict of the moon doing all the way down here in poor Russia?" Lev asked. He held a smirk on his face like he already knew the answer but had nothing better to do. "You walk like you've lived on Earth your whole life. There's no report of you going through immigration. I could have you deported for that, you know."

"I went through the American system on the moon."

"Will someone please explain to me why there's a young man bleeding on this beautiful train?" Lev suddenly shouted. He turned to look at Antonio. For the first time since meeting him, the young child was scared.

"I was attacked, Mr. Fedorov," Dmitri said. The aristocrat gazed down at his mangled face. It was so disgusting, he frowned. First, Dmitri's ear was partially destroyed; second, his eye was just a bloody, scarred mess. "That young man that was with you, he was with your brother in a town we passed through."

"That's right!" Lev smiled, excited about the news. "I completely forgot! What happened to that kid?"

"I killed him, sir," Dmitri admitted. "I threw him off the train. I thought he was a threat, and I didn't want him to try and take your life."

"Well," sighed Lev, "I guess we better call the railway and have them clean up." His attention then went back to Antonio. "What about you, kid? I liked you, you know? But if you're hanging around dangerous types, I'll have to get rid of you. Shame, too. I guess I'll have to send you to a labor camp…"

"Please don't do that, Mr. Fedorov," Antoine pleaded.

"Why not?" Lev questioned. "Come on, you've got to convince me otherwise."

"He's just a child," Antoine reasoned. "There's no way his body could take that kind of work."

"You're right, he wouldn't be useful, would he?" agreed Lev. He passed one more smirk to Antonio. Before anyone could react, he pulled a pistol out from under his jacket and fired one round. It hit his mark dead on. The small Antonio slumped down to the ground with a hole just above his right eye. Accompanying the gunshot were the screams of the girls present in the car, which Lev was quick to address. "I apologize," he announced as he put the gun away. "It's not my policy to kill children, especially when ladies are present. However, the safety of you wonderful girls and my soldiers are of the utmost importance."

"Mr. Fedorov," Olsen suddenly said, his voice thick with fear. "I'm sorry, but is there any way we can hurry this trip? He's lost a lot of blood."

"He's a Sinclair, right?" Lev asked. Olsen nodded. "Well then I guess we can't let him die, can we? Eurasia would be blown to hell if Travis Sinclair's son died on Lev Fedorov's watch. Which, I'd like to point out, isn't going to happen." He turned to walk towards the front of the train, but stopped in front of Antoine. "You're working for an American dinosaur named Rex, right?"

"I don't know who that is," he lied.

Lev let out a small laugh. "Don't joke," he said. "If you know where he is, tell him Lev wants Ton at the Port before the ceremonies start." He gave Antoine's shoulder a friendly pat before he left. Just as he was about to leave the car, he called over his shoulder, "Please let that man return to his own car."

Before the soldiers could respond, Antoine took off. He didn't want to be in that car anymore. That was his young cousin who was dead on the floor with a bullet wound in his head. What for? Because he had simply wanted to save a soldier's life, that was all. As he made his way back to where his friends were, he wondered if Antanas was like his brother; would he be able to trust another Fedorov?

When he reached the dark cargo car he felt the realization of Antonio's death hit him. Lena was immediately aware something was wrong; Antoine never stopped and stared off into space, but he did the moment he returned from the passenger cars. He didn't even move from the cargo car's entrance, he merely halted himself and stared blankly at Lena.

"Where's the kid?" Andrei asked.

Antoine swallowed loudly. He ignored Andrei and stared directly at Lena. "Ant… Monte," he stuttered. "He was shot."

"Shot?"

"Is he alright?" Lena asked. Antoine shook his head, afraid his voice would fail him. For a brief moment, he saw Lena's eyes flash in anger. He felt like it was directed to him. Monte, better known to the force as Antonio, was much like the son Lena always wanted. Again, Antoine felt responsible for something precious she had lost. First, it was Deacon, and now, Monte.

"I'm sorry," he choked out, just barely above a whisper. "Caesar, he – he's gone, too." He looked down, unable to face her. The silence that followed his apology was stiff and awkward. The only noise was Antoine's little sniffles he tried to hold back. Lena sighed; Antoine, like always, was blaming himself for everything that went wrong. She walked to him and offered him an embrace, which he accepted. The moment he locked his arms around her, all of the sniffles he had held back came out in a rather childlike cry.

For the rest of the men in the car, it was even more awkward. Petras occupied himself by staring out the window and noting how the train had picked up speed. The nameless American pulled out a small pocket book and began to read. Antanas, though he couldn't see what was happening, could feel the heavy atmosphere. Shelton, whose artificial arm was broken and removed from its socket, played with the fake arm's rigid fingers. Andrei caught Shelton's actions and felt annoyed over something.

"What's the matter with you?" he suddenly asked. The broken silence hit Shelton and he looked up to see Andrei sending a glare his way.

"What's the matter with me?" repeated Shelton, confused.

"I kept trying to convince you to stay in Tynda," Andrei explained. "I wanted both you and Petras to avoid stuff like this." Petras ducked his head, not wanting to hear a lecture. Shelton, meanwhile, let a frown etch itself on his face. "Even that soldier has someone who will cry if he dies. Yet you haven't shown a bit of remorse for a damned thing."

"Why the f**k should I?" questioned Shelton. He waved his fake arm around like it was some sort of conductor's baton. "Do you really think they give a damn about us?"

"You're damn right I do!" Andrei roared.

Antoine didn't like hearing people argue; even though at that moment, he had lost a member of his family and someone he considered a friend, he felt the need to distract Andrei and Shelton. He moved away from Lena and said, "I have to tell Rex something. Where is he?" The American at the exit shoved his thumb towards the other cargo cars. Antoine thanked him and stumbled his way out. Fortunately his distraction worked, as it gave Andrei enough time to cool his head. For the rest of the day, Andrei purposefully ignored his workers.

Petras was quick to jump into the distraction mode. He grabbed Shelton's attention when he demanded, "Would you stop swinging that around? It's creepy, you know!"

Shelton stopped flailing his artificial arm around. "Does it bother you?" he asked.

"You mean it doesn't bother you? It's your arm!" Petras screeched. "And of course it bothers me. Imagine if I'd lost my arm and played around with the replacement. Wouldn't that disturb you?"

Shelton feigned thought before answering, "Not really." He laughed when Petras's face twisted in anger. Just like that, the previous incident was washed from their minds, and the two workers continued to joke around playfully until the train came to a stop. The rest of the car had to deal with the lack of real conversation.

When the train did come to a stop, it was an unplanned visit. On the platform there was a stretcher and paramedics ready to receive the injured Dmitri. Again, Shelton and Petras shoved their heads out the window so they could watch what was going on.

Olsen and another soldier helped Dmitri off the train and handed him over to the medics. Behind them was Lev, who followed the injured Dmitri with a bit of a strut.

"What are you guys waiting for?! I can't stand around and watch the scenery all day!"

Antanas could hear his brother's voice and let out a loud sigh. To be connected to such a man was a personal tragedy; a man who was impatient for everyone except himself. Hearing his brother's cheerful laughter following a loud, "I'll see you at the Port, sweetheart!" made his stomach churn. What deed did Antanas do that warranted him being injured, cold, hungry and utterly alone in the cargo car of such a piece of junk train, while his younger brother continued a normal life? Some sort of Karma, that was all Antanas could figure. Karma for what?

"You alright?" a voice called from over the crates. It was the young American who had been silent up to that point.

"Just f*****g peachy!" Antanas answered sarcastically.

The American twisted his face in annoyance at Antanas's loud, rude response.

"What do you want?" Lev shouted. Apparently, someone was bothering him. Antanas strained his ears to hear the rest of what Lev had to say. "No, don't do that. Just throw it in the cargo car! For Christ, am I the only one who isn't challenged around here?"

Afterwards Lev's yelling died down, and from his spot on the floor, Antanas couldn't make out his brother's words, only the soft rumble of his voice. Half of him wanted to step out of the train, embrace his brother, and beg him to take him to a hospital. The other half, however, wanted nothing to do that the psychopathic sick freak that cracked jokes just outside their train. Really, though, he just wanted to ask Lev where the hell Candace was.

He buried his face into his hands, lost in thought. He knew the Yankee was still watching him; in fact, Antanas was pretty positive the American raised a brow when he saw the aristocrat openly show his frustration.

Both men perked up when the door to the cargo car suddenly opened. Based on the reaction of the American, Antanas guessed it was probably one of Lev's men.

It was. A soldier had previously asked Lev, "Shouldn't you take the kid's body?"

To which Lev responded, "No, don't do that. Just throw it in the cargo car!"

That's exactly what the soldier did. He felt uneasy about just dumping the body of a child – a child – into a cargo car of a train. Actually, he was about ready to cry just having to see the dead boy. He wouldn't admit it – no, never in his life – for fear of being ridiculed. He couldn't even describe the feelings he felt when he opened that door, much less comprehend them.

All eyes were on the soldier whom carried Antonio's little body. The look in his eye told everyone he was sorry for what had happened. Quickly he tossed the body beyond the doorway and into the car, where it landed face down. He disappeared immediately, wanting to be far, far away from dead Antonio.

For those actually in the cargo car, it was much more upsetting. Specifically for Lena, who had to avoid looking at the corpse at all costs. There was a perfect hole in Antonio's forehead, but that part wasn't visible. Instead, exposed to the car was the large exit wound at the back of his skull, which revealed to them all the insides of a human head.

Andrei was swift to react and covered Antonio's body the best he could with his jacket. The rest of the car was shell shocked. Even the normally tough Shelton felt queasy at the sight.

As for Antanas, he couldn't see what was happening, so he had to base his knowledge simply on sounds. He heard deep intakes of air, followed by a squeak which probably came from Lena, and then a heavy sigh which was most certainly Andrei. From his corner he could see Lena stumble back, shocked by something. It was all he could see.

She looked over at him. There was more expression in her eyes then he had ever seen before. Her eyes locked onto his blue orbs and he felt himself halt all movement, including his heartbeat. It was contempt. Within her eyes was pure hatred, directed at him.