I bring it down on his dominant hand.
The blade severs through bone and tendon. Aleksei’s scream tears through the smoke-choked air. His severed hand lies on the concrete, fingers still curled like they’re grasping for something that’s already gone.
I hook my arms under his and drag him backward. He’s heavy, heavier than I remember, dead weight now that shock has stolen the battle from his limbs. Blood trails behind us in a dark smear across the floor.
The freezer door groans when I wrench it open. Cold air billows out, a mercy after the growing inferno at our backs. I haul him inside and dump him against the far wall, watching him sag pitifully beneath the shelves.
Then I step back out and seal the door.
The poetic justice isn’t lost on me. Aleksei, trapped in the same cold dark he o
