Do Or Die

Viktor reached out, held each man by their necks with either hand, and squeezed. Any officer would only dream of being this close to an unarmed target. The men fired. Groups of shots hit Viktor's chest and shoulders, as the men were raised above his head against the wall with his bare hands.

Eventually they managed to fire shots at his head, but it made no impact on their current situation. Viktor, teeth gnashing, eyes coldly intense, continued to squeeze with a viselike grip at the men's throat until each man went dead still. He released them, allowing their bodies to slump and crumble to the floor. He grabbed their collars and dragged them to the opening of the room where Kelly and the others waited.

"Anything?" he ground out at Kelly.

Kelly responded with a shake of his head, looking down at the knocked-out figure in his lap with the needle in its head. Kelly, sweat-drenched and fatigued, felt the strained muscles at the base of his neck. He reached behind his shoulder and squeezed to alleviate the tension. He looked up at Viktor. "Nothing- yet. Many of these men were kept out of the loop, probably just hired thugs. At this rate we'll be the ones knocked out if we have to brace for more of them coming at us."

"Try these." Viktor released the men roughly before Kelly. "If you can't get anything from them, then we move on."

Kelly slapped his palm to his forehead and dragged it up to his hairline, wiping away the sweat. Looking down at the two unconscious men thoughtfully, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out what looked like a gold cigarette case. He opened it to reveal more of the gold-plated needles he used to infiltrate the minds of his prisoners. He and removed two before returning it to his pocket. Holding the two men by the nape, he pressed them forward at the waist. They slumped over, unconscious, the backs of their necks exposed to him. Kelly stabbed each man with a needle, pressing them into the flesh hard.

He gritted his teeth at the pain of the double exposure to the senses. His mind became full of the aggregate memories of each officer. Usually, one 'brainstorm' was jarring enough, without losing control of the senses, but the inconsistency of brain activity of two men in unison strained the limits of his cognitive abilities. "Holy shit!" He ground his teeth from the pain, hugged his waist, and doubled over. Wave after wave of each man's memories crashed through his mind, overpowering him like a twenty-foot tidal wave.