Corrupted - The Tigris Series Book 1

Chapter Twenty Eight

January 1st, 2004

The new year wasn't as enjoyable as Colonel Karpov would have liked it to be year. Usually he enjoyed going out for the holiday, or having a few drinks at home; but, this year, he was stuck in his facility. Why? He had been having much more trouble with the female assassin lately, and he needed to spend extra time re-breaking her mind.

He experimented with using other methods rather than the Memory Suppressor machine, since it was needing to be used almost every time they had sent her out for a mission. He cursed Zola for programming her to be hyper-intelligent; it was proving to only be backfiring on them. Though, he was thankful to have more than one assassin that he could count on.

"Again." he ordered.

The Tigris was on her hands and knees, taking a harsh beating from a man that she did not recognize. He wore a simple white tank top with black combat pants and combat boots, typical training attire. His dirty blonde hair was cut short, similarly to how a soldier's would be. He was just as strong as she was, if not stronger. He was rageful, like he had some kind of personal quarrel with her.

Tigris flipped her tightly braided hair over her shoulder, looking up at the man with a dangerous glare. Her orders were to do absolutely nothing, letting him punch and kick her however he wanted. Karpov had told her that it was part of his training, since he was newer than her and the Winter Soldier. He had also told her than she needed to build endurance. It didn't seem so bad at first, but now, it was clear to her that the Colonel had just wanted her to be beaten to a pulp as a punishment. If she didn't do something, then the man could cause her great damage, or even death.

But, she wasn't allowed to move.

The man gave her a wicked grin as he glared down at her, then grabbed the back of her white tank top to pull her up into the air. She hung limply under his grasp, feeling the fabric of the tank push against her chest from her dead weight. He raised his fist in the air, and harshly punched her downwards in the face, sending her back to the floor before she could even blink. She groaned in pain, balling her hands into fists as she rested her forehead on the cold, cracked concrete.

She heard the Colonel step towards her, stopping just inches from her head. "Gotov podchinit'sya, Tigris?"

Ready to comply, Tigris?

The female assassin took a sharp inhale, building the strength to slowly lift her head up. Her blurred vision caught sight of a figure standing towards the back of the dimly-lit room. She squinted her eyes, trying to focus her vision well enough to make out what she was looking at. The figure's left arm reflected the light from the lamp that hung from the ceiling. She could make out his black pants and black vest, as well as his chocolate brown hair that fell just above his broad, muscular shoulders.

The Winter Soldier stared back at her, deeply furrowing his brows. The sight  of her in this condition troubled him greatly, much more than he had expected. When he was ordered to stand and watch, he didn't think it would be this hard. He wanted to jump to her aid and fight the newer Winter Soldier to the death. Though he had beaten him before in a sparing match just a few years prior, he would make sure to not lose again, for her sake.

She slowly pushed herself up, fighting her body's screams of protest as she got back to her feet to stand strong in front of the Colonel. "Gotov podchinit'sya."

Ready to comply.

She stared deep into Colonel Karpov's eyes, almost as if she was silently confronting him about everything that she had gone through since the day she had become the Tigris. The Colonel saw every bit of fire in her eyes, and scowled.