The Last Romanov (Under Editing)

Judgment Day, pt 3

       

Arttüri watched as Kirilov made his way down the gangplank, smiling and waving to the crowds below. He was greeted with applause from the people gathered, even a little bit of cheering. Arttüri thought it odd, until he remembered something: Kirilov was one of the few people employed by the Czarina that people didn't mind so much. Arttüri had, himself, seen how he acted around the common people: he seemed nice enough, but fact of the matter was, he was an imperialist, and if he didn't die, they were just going to crown him Czar.

    Imperial Russia had to die for good that day, and for that to happen, Kirilov and the rest of them had to die. Wasn't anything personal: just business.

    He made it down to the gangplank and to the dock, and Horacek approached him.

    Arttüri and Arkadiy locked eyes as Kirilov and Horacek reached out to shake hands with one another. The time had come.

    Arttüri and Arkadiy yanked out their pistols, aimed, and fired, so close to the same time that they might as well have been each other's shadows.

***

    Virtanen didn't know what he was going to do.

    Even as Maria walked up to him, he couldn't seem to figure it out. Was he going to shoot her? Stab her? Beat her? All of it felt too cruel, and the fact that he wasn't going to try to kill her made it feel even worse.

    "I don't know if I can do this," he admitted as she walked up to him.

    Her face didn't change. "What do you mean?"

    What do you mean?

    "Exactly what I sound like I mean," Virtanen said. "I don't think I can hurt you."

    Still, Maria's face didn't change. Frankly, it scared him: how could she keep so emotionless when her health was on the line? Hell, when her life was on the line?

    "You don't have a choice, Simo," Maria said. "You have to do this. For Russia. For Finland."

    Virtanen didn't have anything to say to that. He knew that she was right, in the end. If Finland - his country - was ever going to be safe from Russia, the Romanov family had to fall. His countrymen wouldn't be safe until Anastasia was dead, as were all of her generals and advisors.

    And so, he pulled out his knife. His hand was still shaking.

    "I'm sorry, Maria," Virtanen said quietly. "I'm so, so sorry."

    Maria didn't try to comfort him: she simply nodded. "Get it done."

    He had to force himself to step forward and plunge the knife deep into Maria's stomach.

***

    Move forward, Sasha told himself over and over again. It doesn't matter how many you take down along the way: you have to go forward!

    That's what was on his mind as he fought his way through the crowds, some civilians, some soldiers. He didn't focus on who he was running through to get towards the stage: he just shoved, smacked people with the butt of his gun when they tried to stop him, or got in his way too much.

    After a few minutes, he got through the civilian crowd and made it to a group of soldiers. Ones that knew full well that he was the one who'd just tried to kill their Czarina.

    Then again, it wasn't exactly hard to deduce: he did have a rifle slung over his shoulder, after all.

    "Stop!" One of them barked as they all stopped and pointed their guns at him. It wasn't until that moment that Sasha realized he was alone in the street: everyone else - the far smarter ones - had scattered. "Put down your gun and surrender! Now!"

    Sasha was ashamed of it, but he actually considered it for a second. There was still that part of him that wanted to preserve himself, an instinct that told him it was better to live that day and fight tomorrow. He wasn't totally crazy: he still wanted to live past thirty.

    But, what was the point of living longer if you were just going to end up in jail?

    And so, knowing full well that it would probably be the last thing he would ever do, he took aim with his own gun. "Death first!" He screamed like a madman.

    He waited for the bullets to start ripping through him.

***

    Nadya's shot went wild: instead of ending up in Zelenko's chest, it grazed his arm.

    Zelenko cursed, grabbing his forearm.

    Shit!

    The sheer anger in Nadya's gut turned into fear. She took aim again and began firing shot after shot, praying that one of them would actually hit. Bang!bang!bang!bang!-

    Click! She was out of ammunition.

    Zelenko knew it, too. The second he realized that she wasn't much of a danger to him, any more, he launched himself at her, tackling her to the ground.

    The time had come for plan b.

    As Zelenko tried to keep her down, she pulled out a knife and went to stab him-

    She didn't even realize he'd pulled a pistol on her until it went off and the bullet tore through her stomach.

***

    It was a hit for Arttüri: Kirilov went right down, clutching his chest as if he'd just had a heart attack. Horacek: not so much.

    Arkadiy, you bastard! Horacek was right there: how did he not manage to hit him?

    Arkadiy gave him a look, one that was almost apologetic as screaming erupted around them and Horacek looked around, a horrified look on his face.

    Apology not accepted, Arttüri thought to himself as he took aim. And it won't be until you buy me a few beers-

    All of those hopes left the second Horacek pulled out his own pistol and shot Arkadiy in the stomach.
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Hello, one and all, and happy Tuesday! This will be the final update day for "The Last Romanov", so I hope you guys appreciate it. You'll have four chapters, spaced out over the day, with the final dedication on the last chapter.
So, be sure to vote and comment, and I'll see you later with chapter two of four