by Shawn Keys
Kyle slipped the assault rifle around in its sling until he was holding it. “Guess that settles that. I’ll smash the glass, aiming for the operators along the way. Hopefully I’ll be able to take them out fast. Then you two get inside and find what needs to be found. Rebecca will pull up to the door while I fire at anyone who comes close. I’ll make them come in slow and careful. But you aren’t going to have more than a couple minutes. Find any hard drives, tapes, CDs or whatever else they might have used to record this shit and get the hell out. Understand? We are not going to have a lot of time.”
Jackie nodded. “I know.”
Kyle glanced to Dazz. “You good with going in there with her? Helping her find the tech she needs?”
“As long as you don’t need another gun to hold off the bad guys.”
He jerked his chin at Rebecca. “Why not hand your MP5 off to her?”
Rebecca balked. “W-what?”
“Don’t go gooey on us now, Rebecca. We’ve seen your record. At least part of it. Don’t tell me you didn’t spend a bunch of time on that military base without learning how to fire off a few guns.” Kyle tried to put some joking into it, but he was too dead serious about it to make it all that funny.
Rebecca traded looked with them all. “I… I didn’t think… well, that you’d trust me that much yet.”
Kyle shrugged. “We’re about to light off a firefight with these assholes. When it all starts, they aren’t going to give you a chance to turncoat back to their side. They’re going to see you in this SUV, and it won’t matter if you’re shooting back at them. You’ll be dead either way. I’d rather have you helping us stop that from happening. If you’re willing, that is. You don’t even have to shoot at anyone for real. Even blasting blindly into the night will make them think twice before sticking their heads out.”
Rebecca shifted her eyes once more between them, then held out her hand. Dazz slammed her submachinegun into her palm. Rebecca checked the magazine to make sure it was running clear.
Dazz smiled. “One in the chamber. Ready to rock and roll.”
Rebecca smiled back. “I’ll keep them off your back. That’ll give you an extra minute inside.”
Deciding it was time to risk an outside call, Kyle switched over to his circuit with the girls outside. “Chloe? Soo-Yun?”
“Kyle! What’s going on in there? Everything on track?” Soo-Yun sounded beside herself with happiness to hear his voice.
“Yes and no. We got some amazing stuff, but a lot of it was hard to understand. It’s going to take Chloe and maybe even Yvette to sort it all out. But we think we can get some evidence that will damn them for sure. Unfortunately, it’s going to take some gunfire to get it.”
Chloe hissed, “You’re going to kick over the beehive, aren’t you?”
“Got that right. Look, it isn’t going to be subtle. You’re going to hear it from where you are. We’ll send a signal on this channel, just in case. When we start firing, I want you to start causing havoc. Pick off a few at the gatehouse. Maybe take down a couple of the perimeter patrols.”
Dazz grinned. “Try to leave Mindy alive. She seemed nice.”
Kyle rolled his eyes, though he appreciated her attempt at humor. “Do what you can. Move if you need to. We’ll hopefully be coming through that gate or busting open the fence at Mach 6, so be ready to move.”
“Not the fence,” Chloe said.
“What?”
“Don’t break through the fence. Remember what Rebecca said. Land mines. Even if you could pick your way through the trees in a car, you’re going to run over something you don’t want to. Keep to the road. We’ll do what we can to clear it.”
“Good point. Anything else?”
“Don’t get dead. Any of you,” Chloe’s voice thrummed with dark humor and affection.
Soo-Yun came on the line, “Ditto from me.”
Kyle smiled in the dark. “Count on it.” He took a deep breath. “No time like the present. Ready?”
The others nodded.
Knowing what was coming, Kyle took a moment to slip some in some ear protection. Then, with the others right behind him, he stormed toward the security door. No reason to delay. That was only get them killed now.
He pulled open the door, leveled his LWRC M6H into the inner lobby, and unleashed hell in a wide sweep intended to weaken the resistant glass. The protective measures weren’t ready for that sort of assault. It might have deadened his shots, making them less than lethal once they penetrated. But they went through, punching holes and causing spiderweb cracks all along the reinforced glass.
Surging inward, Kyle went right up and kicked hard, knocking the now-fragmented glass inward, clearing his visual space inside. Loading a new magazine in one smooth motion, he tracked down the two guards that were sitting near a bank of video screens. They were taking cover from the chips of glass and splinters of wood that had showered over them from his initial assault. They were professional enough, but they had no warning. One second, they were on a peaceful duty with minimal chance of threat, and the next they were under a hail of high-powered, assault rifle fire.
With his view cleared, Kyle drew down on them and fired. Another series of bang bang bang bang bang bangs hammered the air as he emptied half-a-magazine at them, filling the air with their screams and puffs of red mist. He knew it was overkill, but he couldn’t risk them being left alive to do any last-minute heroics. Not when he was about to send Dazz and Jackie in to get what they needed.
He stopped firing, and for a second there was nothing but quiet. He growled at the two women, “Get in. Get out. Be fast. I only saw two and we guessed there might be as many as three. Watch your back.”
Jackie nodded, gripping her pistol tightly as the two of them fanned out into the room, beginning their search.
Outside, Rebecca arrived outside the door. She had kept the lights off. No sense summoning everyone’s attention to precisely where they were. But she tucked the SUV in tight to form a bit of a barrier in front of the security office. Kyle leaned on the hood, listening into the night air for the telltale signs of the camp waking up in answer to the gunshots he had fired.
At first, the response was slow. Too many of them were dead asleep. That was good. It gave Kyle’s team a standing ten count while people sat bolt-upright in their beds, wondering if they had actually heard what they thought they heard. Then, there came the first shouts of alarm. Then, fury. Once they got past the fog of sleep, they would all realize there was no other explanation for what they had heard. That hadn’t been a car back-firing or anything like that. Nothing else sounded like forty rounds of combat ammunition being chained together.
A hundred feet away, a door into a warehouse building opened. Two Dawn personnel emerged, glancing left and right as if searching for the source of the noise. Both had pistols out, but weren’t ready for proper combat.
Kyle took aim and sprayed a tight grouping into each of them. They both went down in heaps before they could understand they were in danger. He grunted in satisfaction. Not just the revenge, but for the time he was buying. Every second they earned without one of the guards yelling out where they were was another victory.
He should have expected the next step. Only a quarter of the lamp posts inside the camp were lit up to give help to people transiting in the night; now, the rest of them burst into life, shedding four times the light over the grounds, removing most of the shadows that would let someone sneak around successfully.
Kyle canted his rifle up and fired into the nearest four, making them burst and spark and go dark. He didn’t think it was going to conceal them for long, but at least it would make it harder for them to pick him or Rebecca out in the darkness.
Kyle spoke into his microphone, “Chloe? Any activity out there at the gate and fence?”
“They’re spilling out of everywhere like termites. I have no idea who to shoot first!”
Kyle let that image fill his imagination. “Glad to see we spooked them. It’ll d
raw off a few from where we are. Don’t start at the gate. That’ll signal where we’re going for sure. Pick off a few along the perimeter, if you can. Make them think they’re being attacked from more than one direction. It’ll keep some of the pressure off. But make sure you move! Don’t get pinned down!”
“I remember the lessons. I’ll keep them guessing.” She clicked off. Not more than a few seconds later, the first of her own sniper shots crack-snapped in the air. The main gate was a good half-a-mile away at least. That dampened the sound a little, but again there was no mistaking what it was. It was followed shortly after by two more crisp crack-snap crack-snaps as Chloe took two more rapid shots, dealing as much damage as she could before her spot was compromised.
More voices were beginning to scream around the camp. “We’re under attack! To the armory! Get the vehicles!” At first, they were the sounds of energetic need for action with little direction. Then, voices of more authority began to take over, directing people more effectively.
Just then, another pair of guards rounded the far corner of the building. Once again, Kyle unloaded a fast set of responding shots, giving them no time to summon help. Unfortunately, one of them managed to blast off a couple of shots back at them. One whistled high, while another bullet scoured along the SUV’s armor before deflecting high.
Rebecca cried out inside the truck, “That hit us!”
Kyle chuckled. “Don’t worry. We tested one of these once before. It’ll hold up. Just keep your head down and keep the engine running!” He leaned back in the door. “One minute, ladies! Any longer, and they’ll swamp us!”
Jackie yelled back at him, “Think we have it! If you can give us two, that’d be great!”
Two minutes. What, you want sprinkles with that ice cream? He scowled, knowing that it would depend completely on how fast these Dawn assholes got their act together.
Another door opened not far off, but instead of two people, this time a small stream of four came out. Not only that, but they had rifles of their own and were wearing body armor. Kyle had a vest on, as did the others, but these people were properly kitted out as well as any SWAT team.
Instead of instantly opening fire, this time Kyle held off. Firing would only draw them in, and he wasn’t sure he could take them all out this time. They scanned the grounds, and were about to spread out, when another group of four guards came around an outbuilding and called out to them to synchronize their movements.
Thirty seconds slid by. Kyle still held his fire.
Then, then broke up into fire teams, and began advancing outward across the grounds. Only a few seconds later, one group saw the SUV parked near the security building.
They didn’t fire.
Kyle smirked, realizing what the problem was. It was one of their own vehicles, parked in a defensive posture in front of their own security headquarters. They might be wondering if this was their own people hunkered down, trying to defend the spot. He saw them working their radios, and inside the room, he heard the squawk of a radio speaker activating. They were calling in, asking if everything was good.
For a split second, Kyle debated asking the women to answer. Then, he realized they couldn’t. The call had come in Aeolic. Any answer in any other language would tell the bastards all they needed to know.
Still Kyle waited. He heard them demand a second time what was going on. Demanding that the security personnel report back, no doubt.
Fifteen more seconds they wasted. Fifteen more seconds closer to having what they needed.
The lead pair in the group called out a warning, telling him to raise his hands. He must have been able to tell that there was someone lurking behind the SUV.
Kyle waited. Another fifteen seconds as the guy gave him time to answer.
Then, behind him, he heard Jackie say, “Ready! We’re coming out. Cover us!”
That’s when he fired. He took down the guy who had been talking first, about to offer him another ultimatum. Cutting off the flow, Kyle stole whatever threat the guy was spouting off. Then, he shifted right, punching a few bullets into the guy’s partner. He didn’t wait to see if any of his bullets had penetrated their body armor. He tracked left, found another target, and kept firing.
From inside the SUV, the driver’s door opened and Rebecca propped herself in the wedge between the glass and the chassis. A split second later, she let loose with a few controlled bursts from he MP5. The 9mm caliber bullets didn’t have nearly the range or penetrating power, but the Dawn guards didn’t know that. All they saw in the darkness was a second set of muzzle flashes that sent them diving to the ground and scrambling for cover.
The security door opened in a rush, and the pair of women inside rushed out, pulled open the rear doors and darted into the truck.
Kyle kicked the door closed, then immediately blasted away at the small knot of soldier-guards that popped around that side of the building in an attempt to flank them. They had nearly stumbled on the bodies of the first two Kyle had taken out. Now, they ducked, dodged, and jumped for their own cover. One even took shelter behind one of the other fallen bodies. Kyle expended a full magazine at them, making sure they would think good and twice about poking their heads out. Then, he wrenched open the passenger-side door into the SUV, jumped into the seat, and screamed, “Go! Go! Go!”
Rebecca didn’t need to be told twice. She pulled back inside, punched the accelerator, and sent the SUV rocketing out of the dark shadows and into the brighter light of the open compound.
Kyle yelled into his mic, “We’re on our way, Chloe! Plow the road at the gate for us!”
It was Soo-Yun who said back, probably leaving Chloe to her shooting. “We’re trying! But there’s so many!”
“Keep telling us what you’re seeing! We’ll be on the road out soon.” Kyle darted his eyes around, thinking back to the map of the camp he had taken off the wall. He had tried to memorize the key details that he could, and hoped he had gotten it right. “We need to get onto that dirt road there, Rebecca!” He pointed ahead and off to the left, leading around a large warehouse a hundred yards ahead.
“I know! Got a tour, remember?” She gunned the engine, bouncing over a bump that sent them jostling in their spring-protected seats.
All around them, more of the Dawn guards were closing in. Not all of them were armed with heavy weapons, but rifles were becoming more and more prominent. At first, Kyle heard the peppering of their rounds smacking against the sides of the SUV, expended uselessly. Then, they shifted tactics, firing lower as they tried to take out the wheels.
A small bursting sound came, proving they had been successful. Rebecca swerved, but didn’t lose total control. Fighting the wheel, she called out in excitement, “They put run-flats on the trucks! Apparently, they learned a lesson recently and they bought a whole bunch of them!”
Kyle was laughing inside. Well, at least we had some kind of impact on their operations. Still, he knew run-flats weren’t magic. He could already feel the car squirming underneath them, made worse by the rough terrain of the camp’s dirt roads.
Ahead of them, two more SUVs suddenly pulled into sight, angling to block off their route. Guards piled out of their back seats, settling into place and starting to fire off rounds at them. Sparks burst in front of their faces. The glass took a few chips, threatening to break. As they got closer, the high-powered rounds would only be more likely to punch through the protective glass into the engine.
Jackie was searching for another way through the buildings. “I’m not seeing anywhere we can get to the gate!”
Even worse, Soo-Yun yelled into their ears over the open circuit, “Kyle, they’re putting up barrier pilings! Four huge cylinders blocking each side of the gate! Not even an armored SUV is going to ram through that!”
Kyle didn’t know if she was right. He’d only seen that kind of thing in the movies. But even in the movies, where cars survived long beyond where they should, those kinds of pillars still smashed them into pulp. Shit shit shit shit
shit shit…
Rebecca cut into his stream of mental curses, “Just a sec! I see something! I have an idea!”
The SUV lurched violently to the right, sending them off the crude road and into the middle of a green field. With resolve Kyle didn’t know she had, Rebecca didn’t even flinch as two of the guards bounced off the fender of the armored vehicle. She rode the bucking SUV like a horse trying to kick her off, aiming over the camp’s lawn and toward the lake beyond.
Jackie screamed, “Where are you going? These things don’t float!”
The back window fractured as a few good shots slammed against the flatter surface. Dazz yelled, “Get down! It’s gonna break!”
And indeed, seconds later, another well-shot bullet finished the destruction, and punched through. It carried through the back seats, tumbling and bouncing and finally burrowing a wicked hole into Jackie’s leg. The DOJ agent let out a cry of pain, clutching at her leg.
“Hold on!” Rebecca called back at them, swerving again to the left, trying to make it harder for the Dawn agents to figure out where they were going.
Kyle suddenly realized where she was headed. Right in front of them, he saw a Blackhawk helicopter with its rotors already spinning up past idle. He realized what must have been happening. The Dawn were about to launch the bird to track them. Even if they had managed to get past the fence and start racing down the road, they would have been followed in a way that they wouldn’t be able to shake free.
At first, he thought she intended something truly crazy like ramming it to make sure it didn’t follow. Then…he remembered what she could do. He let out a crow of excitement, realizing they had a way out! He spoke fast into his mic, “Take a half-dozen more shots then get the hell out of there, you two! We’ve got a different sort of ride. Don’t wait on us at the gate!”
“What are you talking about? You can’t go over the water! It’s a lake without any large rivers! You’ll be stuck!”
“I didn’t say we were using a boat!” Kyle laughed. “Just go! We’ll call you with a place to meet!” He clicked off even as Rebecca skidded the SUV to a stop within five yards of the Blackhawk’s whirling blades. “Jackie! Can you move?”
