Tamsin Beech Ch. 12: Windermere

Tamsin's eyes narrowed. With steel in her voice, she said, "Our five foot nothing North Korean wet nurse singlehandedly drove a thirteen tonne armoured personnel carrier all the way here from Scotland. In winter. Evading not only our guards at Fort George but a raiding party of fucking Reivers. She's NOT just a refugee. I don't know who the hell she is but there's more to her than she's letting on. I want answers Leo."

Leonid chewed his bottom lip for a few seconds, deciding whether or not it was worth arguing when it seemed Tamsin had already made up her mind. At last, he blew out his breath and stood to one side to let her pass, "I'll look after the mladentsy. Be careful. If you're not back in fifteen minutes I'll come looking for you."

Tamsin shook her head, "No. No, you won't. If I'm not back you'll hightail your sexy ass back to Fort George. Understood?"

"Why don't we both just head back and leave her to it? She may even be already dead!"

Tamsin regarded him coldly, "Because that's not me. We have her daughter. Do you honestly want Little Wolf growing up without her mother?"

Leonid glanced in at Jag-eun Neugdae, then took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "Vy chertovski nevozmozhnaya zhenshchina!" he held out his AK12.

Tamsin grinned as she accepted the weapon, "Yes. I may be fucking impossible. But that's why you love me."

Without giving him chance to reply or argue further, Tamsin skipped nimbly over the rubble and turned east towards Windermere's town centre.

. . .

"Neon yaman-in na-egeseo tteol-eojyeo!" Yeonmi screamed as four Reivers held her down beside a roaring camp fire and started systematically cutting off her clothing. The others, both men and a few women either watched with a frightening intensity from close by, or occupied themselves scavenging whatever they could from their own dead.

The Reiver raiding party had set up camp down a side street to the left of the main thoroughfare, finding shelter in a ruined fish and chip shop or erecting their own from oiled tarpaulins brought with them. The street stank of blood and death as two or three of their number finished skinning the enormous grizzly bear they'd killed, tied spread-eagled to a sturdy A frame of timbers. Glowing embers floated high into the air like fireflies as the Reivers cast monstrous flickering shadows on the surrounding buildings.

"I don't know who y'are darlin' but I cannae understan' a fuckin' word ye're sayin' ..." Nipples ejected the magazine from Yeonmi's confiscated Grach and quickly checked how many rounds were left.

"I said get off me you fucking savages!" Yeonmi spat. As one of the Reivers used an enormous hunting knife to slice open her jacket, she realised she could still feel the fingers of her right hand. One piece of good news - it wasn't broken at least.

"Foul mouth on ye for such a wee lassie," said Nipples, crouching next to her to grab her jaw, "I think we may have to cut yer tongue out before we have some fun wi' ye."

"Fuck you!"

Nipples slowly nodded, "Yeah. Yeah ye will. But first ye're gonnae tell me ... where ye're from and how'd ye get here?"

Yeonmi's softshell was next to be cut off. Sliced into ribbons and thrown aside. She guessed they weren't planning on keeping her alive or as a prisoner for very long. The fire's heat stopped the falling snow from settling over a wide area of the street, but the freezing night air still shocked her as her pale skin was gradually exposed.

"Nice boots," grunted another Reiver, tugging off her sealskin mukluks. Even if she escaped, how far would she get in bare feet?

She felt cold steel slide across her belly as one of the Reivers slipped his knife into her waistband to slice her canvas trousers. Yeonmi renewed her struggles, "I have ... powerful friends. Let me go or you'll be sorry."

She would curse. She would threaten. But if there was one thing Yeonmi had vowed to never do, it was beg.

"Where?" asked Nipples, waving a hand, "we saw no-one. We didnae even hear any vehicles. So I'll ask again ... how'd ye get here bitch?"

They'd not heard the APC. That was good. Yeonmi squirmed and kicked as her reclaimed canvas trousers were torn roughly from her, leaving her in just threadbare thermal underwear and darned Bridgedale socks, "Get OFF of me! Deoleoun nomdeul!"

Nipples knelt beside her head and untied the laces securing his leather trousers, "I've seriously had enough o' yer mouth ye little bitch."

Yeonmi's eyes widened as Nipples pulled out his cock. The Reiver was huge. As far as she could tell already fully erect, the veiny girth ended in a shining purple glans that glistened by the orange light of the fire.

Please, no. Not this.

"HOLD HER!"

The other Reivers who'd been stripping Yeonmi pressed their full weight on her limbs to stop her struggles, while another forced her head around to face Nipples. Yeonmi snarled, "You'll be sorry if you so much as ..."

Her words were cut off as with a single thrust, Nipples pushed himself into her open mouth.

TAKATAKATAK!

Three of the Reiver raiding party jerked and fell - riddled with bullets, as a burst of automatic weapons' fire strafed across the street from somewhere unseen.

"What the fuc ..." in the moment Nipples glanced up to see what was happening, Yeonmi bit down as hard as she could ...

"AARRGH!" as Nipples stumbled backwards clutching at himself, the Reivers snatched up weapons and scattered wildly as another hail of bullets tore into their ranks. Whoever it was shooting, thought Yeonmi, they'd given her a chance.

. . .

Leaving Leonid to take care of the babies, Tamsin had just followed the sound of Yeonmi's screams. Clambering through the rubble of houses and a florist's shop in the adjacent street, she'd managed to scramble up to what remained of a first floor window overlooking the Reivers' camp. She'd almost lost her footing on a slippery pile of disintegrating bathroom tiles.

The North Korean had kidnapped their son, fair enough. But Tamsin wasn't about to stand by and watch any woman raped by a bunch of cannibal savages - even if they outnumbered her almost twenty to one. Aiming at the densest pocket of Reivers she opened up with Leonid's AK12 - the weapon kicking in her hands like a living thing.

Three down. She spotted who she guessed might be the Reivers' leader stumble back screaming as Yeonmi spat something tattered and bloody out on the ground. Leaning out of cover, Tamsin fired another burst. But the rest of them were already scattering, firing haphazardly at the surrounding buildings with handguns, shotguns and crossbows.

They hadn't seen her. Yet.

Twisting to one side down in the street, Yeonmi delivered a powerful kick to the face of one of her captors before flipping herself upright in one smooth movement. Snatching up a long skinning knife left next to the bear carcass she flung it at another while kicking the legs out from under a third. She'd straddled the third Reiver and swiftly snapped his neck before the second had even hit the ground with the knife embedded in her throat.

Tamsin was stunned. Who the fuck was she? All this time Yeonmi had been entrusted with taking care of Angus back at Fort George - a quiet, unassuming wet nurse. Seeing what the petite young North Korean was capable of made her all the more determined to get answers.

Creeping back down to street level, Tamsin picked off two or three more Reivers, trying to move as quickly but as quietly as possible. She didn't want to give her position away but neither did she want to lose sight of Yeonmi for more than a second, in case she made her escape. But virtually naked on a winter's night, how long would she last anyway?

. . .

"YE F-FUCKIN' BITCH!" Nipples whimpered as he crawled backwards into the doorway of the Little Chippy. Clutching his bleeding crotch, all the menace and bravado were gone from his voice.

Yeonmi stalked towards him, having retrieved the skinning knife. Almost naked she nevertheless appeared terrifying, "Well, well. Not such a big man now are you?" with the back of her hand, she wiped blood from her mouth. She'd need a drink. And soon, to get rid of the taste.

"Yer f-fancy moves? Wh-where'd ye learn shite like that?" asked Nipples, his voice quavering with fear.

Yeonmi cocked her head to one side, watching him dispassionately, "Simple combination of gjogsul and taekwondo. I had a ... very good teacher."

The Reiver missed the catch in her voice, "So ... are you g-gonnae finish me?"

Holding the knife to his throat for a moment, Yeonmi stooped to retrieve her Grach from his belt. She discarded the blade well out of his reach and worked the handgun's slide, "No."

Nipples' brow creased in a puzzled frown, "NO? Whaddaya mean no? I'll f-fuckin' bleed to death!"

Yeonmi smiled, "Yes," then - with her own clothing in tatters, she picked up the grizzly's thick bearskin, slung it around her shoulders and walked away.

. . .

KLANG!

Tamsin ducked as a Reiver's halberd made from some piece of farming equipment whooshed through the air above her head and hit the crumbling wall beside her. She pressed the AK12's barrel against the attacker's armoured side and emptied the last of the magazine into him - then swung around to smack the weapon club-like into the face of a second even as the first slumped bleeding to the frozen ground. How many more of them were there?

She heard shots from ahead. An orange glow illuminating the ruins - the Reivers' camp and Yeonmi were just around the next corner.

Another Reiver - a woman this time, lunged at her from a shadowy doorway and knocked her off her feet. The empty AK12 clattered off across the road. As she hit the ground, Tamsin could smell sweat, damp fur and old blood as the woman straddled her - screaming triumphantly as she raised a rusting axe above her head for a killing blow.

Tamsin was quicker. Wrenching her Grach from its leather holster, she pressed the barrel up under the Reiver's exposed jaw, "Not today sweetheart."

BLAM!

Tamsin took a deep breath as she pushed the Reiver's twitching body away and clambered to her feet, "IF THERE ARE ANY MORE OF YOU LEFT," she bellowed, "I'D SUGGEST LEAVING WHILE YOU'VE GOT THE CHANCE!"

No reply. Except for the crackling of the Reivers' fire and a faint moaning from one of the wounded, there was no other sound. On the corner of a house opposite, a faded metal sign read 'Beech Street'. Tamsin hoped it wasn't some kind of omen. Clutching her Grach in a two-handed grip, she cautiously rounded the corner.

Yeonmi stood silhouetted by the fire at her back, dressed outlandishly in a bloody bearskin and thick woollen socks. Surrounded by dead or dying Reivers, with her own handgun aimed and ready to fire.

"Drop it!" Tamsin snarled through gritted teeth.

Yeonmi looked confused, "You? Why are YOU here?"

She and Leonid could have left. They could have driven on by or they could have taken the stolen APC and Yeonmi's daughter with it. Why had Tamsin taken the time to rescue her? "I want answers Yeonmi. Who the fuck are you? Why did you steal my son?"

Yeonmi's bared teeth appeared unnaturally white in contrast to the Reiver leader's blood smeared around her mouth, "Isn't it obvious?"

Tamsin could hear running footfalls somewhere behind her, but growing fainter with each step. One of the surviving Reivers making their escape she supposed. They needed to be gone from Windermere before more showed up, "We've found the APC Yeonmi. Leonid is with your daughter. She's safe," Tamsin realised that the North Korean was speaking almost perfect English. Surely not the result of a mere few weeks' lessons with Phoebe?

Yeonmi's eyes widened at the mention of Jag-eun Neugdae, but the gun remained in her outstretched left hand, "I should have just killed you when I realised who you were. But I wanted you to suffer. That, is why I took your son."

Tamsin was confused. It was only natural some of the North Koreans would hold a grudge after Soteria had wiped out their fleet. But for Yeonmi it somehow sounded more personal, "Suffer? For what? Yeonmi, what are you talking about?"

Yeonmi's words chilled Tamsin more than the freezing wind blowing up off the lake, "You killed my brother."

"Y-your brother? That makes no sense," Tamsin searched her memory, wondering who the North Korean could possibly be talking about, "I'd never even met you before you came to Fort George. Who the fuck was your brother?"

Yeonmi drew herself up to her full height, "My name is Kim Yeonmi Gylan. You murdered my brother ... Kim Napp Gylan, on the island of Kerrera. Your cousin Phoebe told me this."

And just like that, it all made sense. Tamsin was stunned. Yeonmi had posed as a starving refugee in order to get close to Tamsin and her family. Kim Napp Gylan's death had been regrettable, but unavoidable. Such was the reality of war, "Oh. I'm ... sorry."

Yeonmi's eyes glistened with tears, "You m-murder my brother and ... and you're ... SORRY?"

Tamsin was getting arm ache keeping the Grach trained on the other woman, "It was self defence. And besides ... your Coalition murdered my brother when they attacked Berwick Upon Tweed. So I'd say we're pretty much even. Now drop the fucking gun."

Despite the heavy bearskin, Yeonmi was visibly trembling with the cold, "Give m-me my d-daughter and let me go," she demanded.

Tamsin gesticulated around with her free hand, "You're in Reiver territory Yeonmi. You won't last a day. Come back to the APC and get some fresh clothes ... and we can talk about it."

Yeonmi considered for a whole, long minute. Chewing her lip as she deliberated. Never letting her gaze leave Tamsin for so much as a second. Then finally, she nodded, "Alright. I'll keep the gun though. Then you take Angus and I'll be on my way."

Slowly, very slowly Tamsin lowered her arm and slotted the Grach back in its holster, "Very well. But ... why did you stop here? Why didn't you just keep driving?"

Yeonmi lowered her own weapon, "Reivers hit a fuel line. I need to make a repair."

Tamsin wanted to breath a sigh of relief, but didn't want Yeonmi to know she'd been rattled, "We have spares in our Tigr," she offered, "Leonid can help you."

"I can do it myself," Yeonmi blurted.

There it was again. That fierce independence and skills that no mere refugee should have. This one diminutive young woman would have been a major asset to the resistance, "How? You can drive a BTR-94, you can shoot, and I saw how you took out those Reivers with some crazy martial arts shit. Apart from being Kim Napp Gylan's sister, just who the fuck are you Yeonmi?"

"First, take me to my daughter."

PART FOUR: TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER

An hour later onboard the BTR-94, Yeonmi cleaned up and changed into fresh clothes. A recycled Coalition uniform and Arcteryx beanie. The Reivers' bearskin she kept. It would need scraping and cleaning but over the coming winter the thick fur would prove useful on freezing nights. She positioned herself protectively between Jag-eun Neugdae and Tamsin as she crouched, sponging dried blood from her face, neck and split lip, then examined her badly bruised arm.

"I can take a look at that if you like," Tamsin offered.

"NO!" Yeonmi responded curtly. She hadn't been happy when Leonid had crawled outside to fix the BTR's ruptured fuel line so wasn't going to accept help with anything else.

Tamsin huffed, cradling Angus close to her under a thick woollen blanket, "So where'd you learn all those skills?"

"DPRK special forces' training," Yeonmi tucked her Grach handgun in the back of her waistband in easy reach. She'd refused point blank to be disarmed but Tamsin doubted she'd try anything stupid with her baby daughter nearby, "my brother's suggestion."

Tamsin nodded. In her opinion, the best leaders led from the front, getting muddied and bloodied along with their troops, not sitting behind a desk in a place of safety, "To make you a better leader if you had to replace him?"

Yeonmi looked askance at Tamsin, "To make me a better assassin."

Tamsin felt uneasy. Was that what it was about? "Assassin?"

"My instructors decided my particular skills were perfectly suited."

"So, who would you have assassinated? Me?"

Challengingly, Yeonmi looked her in the eye, "President Zakhvatchikov. My people never wanted him as leader after you murdered my brother. Never trusted him. Fucking Russian. I was to win his trust by becoming his lover. Then at the right time ... kill him."

"His lover?" Tamsin couldn't hold in a smile, "you mean to say you've fucked my grandfather Vladimir?"

Yeonmi gestured to the sleeping Jag-eun Neugdae behind the driver's seat, "You want more proof?"

Another part of the puzzle clicked into place, "Wait a second. Little Wolf is President Zakhvatchikov's daughter?"

"Yes," Yeonmi answered matter of factly, "which makes her your mother Merida's half sister. And technically ... your aunt."

Tamsin considered that for a minute. The North Korean was right. With the same father, Jag-eun Neugdae would naturally be Merida Beech's half sister. The tiny little black-haired girl snuffling in her sleep at the front of the APC's cabin was Tamsin's aunt. Aunt Jag-eun Neugdae.

Little Wolf. Even the baby's name now made sense. Tamsin had heard rumours Zakhvatchikov's nickname had been Old Wolf. Yeonmi had a keen sense of irony if nothing else.

"Her father's identity is irrelevant," Yeonmi continued defiantly, "she's MY daughter."

Tamsin nodded, seeing no point in arguing, "So ... so you assassinated the president?" she asked.

Yeonmi shook her head, "No. I was interrupted. The Russian, Supreme Marshal Volk injected him with something ... with the help of his whore, Ludmila Mudak. Made it look like a heart attack."

There was a name Tamsin had thought never to hear again. A name that had ruled her life for at least thirteen years. Volk! But surely he was dead?

"I ... take it Volk died when we destroyed the Coalition fleet?" Tamsin asked.

Yeonmi smiled sweetly, "On the contrary. President Volk may be ... as far as I know, very much alive."

. . .

Later that night, under cover of the deteriorating weather, Leonid had repaired the BTR-94's fuel line. They guessed there'd be no more trouble from Reivers until morning at the earliest.

He then proceeded to replace the shattered windscreen panel on their own vehicle. A company specialising in off-road driving experiences for tourists had had its headquarters only a few hundred yards away and he was able to source a piece of perspex that he managed to secure in place. It also gave him reason to stay outside on watch in the event the Reivers returned with reinforcements.

Leonid hadn't been happy allowing Yeonmi to keep her weapon. But he'd listened to Tamsin's whispered proposal and, with a few obvious reservations, had eventually agreed.

It had been an eventful day. Inside the BTR-94, Tamsin watched drowsily as Yeonmi unzipped her MTP jacket and let Jag-eun Neugdae latch onto her breast to feed. This sister of the man she'd beheaded on Kerrera had done so much for her family. Feeding, changing and caring for baby Angus while she and Leonid had tended to the vital day to day running of their new community. However she looked at it, Tamsin was indebted.

"We'll let you go," said Tamsin flatly.

Yeonmi looked up, waiting for the catch.

Tamsin continued, "I know where you're going, Yeonmi. The carrier Baekdusan survived, and we think you have some emergency rendezvous point organised. I'm guessing that's where you're going ... to assume control of whatever's left," clutching Angus to her with one arm, she drew her handgun and placed it beside her in easy reach, "... but, the people of Britain can't live in peace while there's the threat of nuclear weapons on our doorstep. So ... you're going to take me with you. Leonid will take Jag-eun Neugdae and Angus back to Fort George ... where they'll be safe. I promise. If you help me, you'll see your daughter again."