Children's Games: A Story of Modern Consequence

Chapter 43

~Dominik~

Dominik had followed every single order that Konstantin had passed. He had never questioned anything and had never had a reason to. But George had presented a pretty fair case when he pointed out the differences in voices. It changed everything, but he had to treat it like it meant nothing.

He glared at Anna, annoyed that she had once again stepped in to override his command. He felt all the stresses over the past few months bubble up inside him, waiting to be let out. His plan had been to get Katerina to kill someone so that she was included in on their crimes. She would be less likely to abandon and expose them as she wouldn't be able to move past the shame of being a killer, contributing to the Unit just as much as everyone else. I shouldn't have to tell Anna my plans in order for her to not interrupt them.

After George's body went still, everyone in the room stood just as lifeless. Then all their attention turned to Dominik before he had decided the best course of action. He turned away so that they couldn't see his face.

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" Anna mumbled to a frozen Katerina. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that she still had a firm hand on Katerina's jaw, eyeing her closely with a taunting voice as if waiting for her to cry.

We originally weren't supposed to kill anyone, just gather intel and proof of the disease's origins, then release their medicine back on them as punishment for their war crimes. It wasn't until Yelena found out about The Games, then it didn't take us long to follow the breadcrumbs that they created the stupid site. Konstantin, having reviewed all our evidence, changed the objectives to include killing the elders; leaders that were succumbing to the corrupt and stupid site.

It was stupid, he could not stress it enough. An international system that united all the world leaders to bet and gamble away their assets, winning only minuscule amounts of rewards. Of course, everyone had suffered when the war broke out, and money was a big aspect of how it started, but sometimes it made him feel like a pawn. Slavery was a whole other category of wrong. Not the mention the encouragement of the creation of biological weapons.

Their mission had nothing to do with The Games. That was what made this mission ok. They were defending The Empire. We are the good guys, he thought spitefully at George's destructive opinions on Russia.

He thought of George. He had been so eager to hate the man for his part in being responsible for the people taken from France. Dominik closed his eyes and tried not to think of them suffering somewhere or disposed of like waste. I will find them. He took a deep breath, thinking of his family.

"There is nothing we can do now. Start preparing," he said in a low voice, but it echoed around the silent room like it was an echoic chamber.

He gestured for Katerina to join him a few paces down another hallway that would go to George's bedroom. He needed to speak with her, try to change her mind, and get things back in order. Only five days.

"Katerina," he whispered, already fumbling with his words as his internal conflict about George was beginning to override his anger. He nudged her towards the closest wall light that imitated a large paned window, trying to ignore her angry struggles to get away from him. She quickly wiped a tear with her shoulder, and he pretended that he didn't see such weakness.

"You disobeyed another direct order. Why are you not getting this? We are behind enemy lines, and one wrong move will mean all of our deaths. Why can't you do this?"

He took her hand, holding her wrist again and trying to find the right spot, but her attitude didn't change as her eyebrows knitted together and he couldn't help his smile from faltering. He had a feeling that she had already figured out that he would never actually hurt her. He couldn't repeat those same mistakes regardless of what the others thought of her.