As he watched Meenda and Izzy racing to change magazines against the clock, Gunsuke's right eye twitched. Something didn't feel right—a gnawing sense of unease weighed on him. Ever since they parted ways with Sofia and Jonathan at the camper van three days ago, there had been no contact. Sofia had said she'd check in on Lemo today, but they hadn't heard a word.
"I'll be right back," Gunsuke said to Lemo, who was timing the girls, then got up and walked toward Molly, who was seated at a table beside the shooting range.
"Have you heard from Dr. Sofia?" he asked. Molly was practicing long-range shooting and had a radio on standby beside her, tuned for any signal from the doctor.
"Been watching this thing the whole time. Doesn't look like they've sent anything," she replied.
"Let me try talking to them."
"Sure." She handed him the radio.
"Hello, Dr. Sofia. Are you two doing okay?"
Silence.
"Hi, I wanted to ask you something about the hospital—"
Still silence.
"Are you that slut's other boyfriend?"The voice that crackled through the speaker made Gunsuke's blood run cold.
Then came a piercing scream—Sofia's.
"I'm your mom's other man, asshole," Gunsuke growled, his hand trembling as he pressed the transmit button.
"Hahaha!"A stoned, vile-sounding laugh echoed from the radio—then the signal cut off.
"What's going on?" Lemo, having just walked over, asked with a grave expression.
"They've taken Sofia. And I think Jonathan is dead." Gunsuke's voice was taut, holding back a fury he could barely contain. Sofia's desperate scream had been clear as day—it only made sense if Jonathan was already gone.
"Those bastard sons of bitches—I'll kill every last one of them." Lemo's face turned red with rage. He clenched his fists and paced like a caged beast.
"What happened?" Izzy, Meenda, and Mari had run over to the table near the shooting range.
"The Amun bastards—they took Dr. Sofia," Molly said, her voice shaking.
"Molly, fly the drone. I want a visual on that area—now," Gunsuke ordered, his tone icy and focused.
"On it. Give me a second." She sprinted to fetch the drone, opening her laptop to set up the mission.
Meanwhile...
Sofia's heart shattered as she stared at Jonathan's lifeless body, facedown in a pool of blood. The bastards stomped on his face again and again, grinding it into a pulp. They tied her to a kitchen chair so she could watch every second of it, reveling in her screams of agony.
"This is for my two buddies, asshole!" the larger thug snarled, smashing his boot into the bloodied face of the young Native man who had only ever loved.
"Kill me... Please, just kill me," Sofia sobbed. Her arms and legs were bound tight, and her tears flowed like rivers—almost red with grief.
"Not until we've had our fun, you whore," sneered the red-haired runt in black military fatigues—the one who had shot Jonathan. He stepped closer and grabbed her jaw, squeezing hard.
Just then, the radio lying next to Jonathan's corpse crackled to life.
"Hello, Dr. Sofia. Are you two doing okay?"
The redhead, the big guy, and Sofia all turned to look at it.
The voice repeated two more times. The redhead finally picked it up.
"You her other boyfriend or something, asshole?"
Sofia had been waiting for this moment. She screamed with all her might.
"Help me! I'm in Ladak! They killed Jonathan! Please, kill them! KILL THESE MONSTERS!"
The redhead laughed three times before releasing the transmit button and backhanding her across the face.
"SLAP!"The sting on her left cheek was sharp and bitter. The taste of blood filled her mouth.
"You're dead," he snarled, drawing a pistol and pointing it at her forehead.
"Wait."The big guy stopped him.
"That voice said she's a doctor."
"So what?" The redhead spat on her forehead, now stained with dust and grime.
"Amun might give us a reward if we bring her in. I heard his guys saying their boss is sick."
"Hmm… not a bad idea. But I want a taste first." The redhead stepped between her legs and yanked them apart. She wore green hiking pants, made of nylon.
"You watch the door. If another of her boyfriends shows up—kill him."
"Don't take too long. I want my turn," the big man grunted, slinging his Rambo-style machine gun over his shoulder as he left.
Sofia glared, red-eyed and trembling. "My friends are coming. You won't die easy."
"Keep running that mouth, you slut. Tonight I'm going to split you wide open."The redhead shoved the barrel of his pistol into her mouth.
"Be a good girl and do what you're told. Then it won't hurt... much," he said as he used his other hand to grope her breast, still pressing the gun deeper into her throat.
The sun dipped behind the ridge, casting a long shadow over the village.
Sofia had never prayed—she didn't believe in God.
But now, she began whispering her own kind of prayer.
A curse.
One that would drag this red-haired monster's soul straight to hell.