Corrupted - The Tigris Series Book 1

Chapter Six

September 23, 1951

It was a chilly night on the streets in Goyang-si, South Korea. The streets were emptier than usual, almost as if the people of the town had disappeared without a trace. The local bar was the only thing that proved that people still resided there; it's bright, colorful lights shone brightly against the shadows, and flashed to ensure that it could be seen as far as the eye could see. A couple men stood outside of the building, chatting and drinking amongst each other joyfully.

Inside the building were many other people, both men and women alike, drinking, talking, and laughing amongst each other. Two people in particular sat idly at the bar, as if they were waiting for something. One wore a black cloak with it's hood over her head, the other had what appeared to be some kind of black military attire on with only one sleeve, exposing his metal arm. They were quiet; their eyes seemed to cast a shadow onto their faces as they stared down at their hands, robotically. They sat in such a way where it was hard to identify them, though most people were much too drunk to even notice their presence.

If they had, they wouldn't have stayed.

The bartender noticed their odd behavior, though didn't comment on it. He'd seen enough violence in the bar in the last week, he had no intentions of potentially starting yet another fight. So he attended to the other customers, giving them their drinks and feeding into their jokes. The two outsiders kept to themselves, never saying a word to each other or to anyone else. They never asked for a drink, or replied to the bartender when he asked. It simply was not part of their mission.

Another outsider lurked just outside the bar, and entered with a mission of his own:

Take out the Tigris and the Winter Soldier.

No one seemed to notice the man as he entered. He received a few glances here and there, though nothing that would blow his cover. His eyes bore into the back of the two strangers at the bar, growing angrier and angrier as he stepped closer and closer. He had no idea that one of them already knew that he had entered; she smelt him coming before he even entered the building.

She sat patiently in her stool, waiting for him to make a move. She ran multiple scenarios in her head, planning to expect anything that could possibly happen during the inevitable fight that was about to take place. The man beside her was doing the exact same thing after she had given him the signal that he had arrived. They knew that this man would be different than the others that the US had sent to kill them; he was going to be much, much stronger. It was a fight that would be much more difficult to win.

It is why Hydra sent the both of them to take care of him. One of them, alone, would be a riskier fight. The chance of success was lower than they had liked. So, they planned something big for this particular mission. Something slightly different than they had done for both the Tigris and the Winter Soldier. With the two of them working together, there was no chance that the plan would fail.

The man slipped his two hand guns from his tactical belt, and held it to the back of the two assassin's heads. "Don't move."

The people inside the bar let out terrified gasps of surprise, and began to quickly retreat out of the building. The two assassins patiently waited for everyone to leave, not moving an inch from their seats. The bartender disappeared behind the door behind the bar, removing himself from the fight that was about to take place.

"I could kill you both right now, make it quick and easy; but nah. I'm gonna make this fun." he growled, digging the end of the barrel of the guns deeper into the back of their heads.

Once everyone had exited the building, the man took a couple steps back, keeping his guns trained on the two assassins. "Stand up n' turn around with your hands in the air." he ordered.