Maxwell Cain- Burrito Avenger

by Adam Smith

  When Max looked down past his dangling feet, he saw a massive open stairwell with wide balconies and landings on all four sides. The upper level was made all of carved oak, but subsequent levels below were the more familiar steel and concrete layered over with carpet, and the railings were wrought iron. Numbered doors lined the hallways all around the stairwell, so Max guessed they were in a hotel. His stomach churned as he counted a drop of six floors underneath him.

  The shaking and vibrating finally stopped as the cars crashed to a temporary perch a couple floors down. One of the train cars rested partway into the stairwell, and the other disappeared out of sight into a wall. The two cars had crashed downward through the building and left a wide tunnel of destruction. The fall had caused cracks and impact damage to the next floor, and already the floors underneath the cars were groaning under the weight.

  The beam Kate was clinging to creaked and dropped an inch. Max heard Kate say, “Oh, no,” just before the beam broke free of the ceiling and fell through, dropping them into the open stairwell.

  Max’s free hand shot out and grabbed a wedged beam as he plummeted through open air. His shoulder screamed as he came to a jarring stop. A moment later, his other shoulder erupted in agony as Kate fell past him and her weight tried to tear him off his perch. Fortunately, she’d let go of her oak beam, and the wooden mass crashed down the stairwell beneath them, bouncing off landings and shattering glass as it went before impacting against the first floor far below.

  Max steadied his right hand and pulled his left arm up to give Kate a chance to climb. “We keep ending up like this,” Max growled as he strained to pull his two arms toward his chest and close the gap for Kate. “Remind me to drop my gym membership. Saving your life over and over is a full-body workout.”

  Kate watched as Max strained to pull her closer to the beam. As she neared the wooden perch, she reached out to grab hold. “You have been remarkably helpful, I’ll give you that, but I’ve got a few assists in myself. And—Hey!” She paused in climbing onto the oak beam to shoot Max a glare. “I still owe you for grabbing my butt.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Max said. “Consider it a gift.” He gripped the beam with both hands but felt the shopping bag tugging at his arm. He was just about to drop it when he saw Kate pouting at him from the landing. Max glowered as he hung suspended over a five-story drop with a shopping bag in one hand. “Are you serious? What possible reason could you have for holding onto this stuff as we’re running for our lives?”

  Kate looked sheepish but determined. “These are souvenirs from my first date in months. Plus, it’s kinda about proving the point now, you know? I’ve brought it this far. Think of how much confidence I’ll feel every time I wear that dress and remember what I went through to earn it.”

  “That’s the most idiotic thing I’ve ever heard.” With Kate’s weight off his arm he was able to shimmy his hands along the beam until he reached the landing and then pull himself up. He tossed her shopping bag at her feet and collapsed to the oak floorboards.

  The two sat on the landing for a moment as they struggled to catch their breath and stretch out their pulled shoulders. Most of the lighting and electrical systems had been broken or disrupted by the falling train, so flickering light from the remaining fixtures cast the landing into semi-darkness broken by occasional flashes like a thunderstorm.

  Kate brushed thick dust off her pantlegs as she looked at Max. “First you save me from being trafficked, then you feel me up twice. Then you risk your life to save me. I can’t get a read on you. Are you a hero or a jerk?”

  “Hey, I thought I was an ‘asshole with a reason’?”

  “Whatever.” Kate grinned as she blew a clump of disheveled hair out of her face.

  Max smiled back. “But you are having fun, right?”

  Kate peered at him curiously. “You find this sort of thing fun?”

  “Well, yeah. Gets the blood pumping and makes me feel alive. And we’re performing a public service. Every scumbag down is another few citizens safe from whatever harm he would have gone on to inflict. Usually I get paid for this sort of work, but this freelance stuff is working out pretty well so far.”

  Kate grinned again. “I guess it has been fun. All this running and gunning has helped blow off the steam from dealing with Papa Sal’s extortion.”

  “Glad to hear it. I’d be dead if I didn’t have you watching my back. I’ve survived so far because I’ve had you with me, Kate. You’re a good woman to have around.”

  The flickering light of the landing hid most of the rosy blush which spread across Kate’s cheeks. The blonde baker hugged her knees to her chest and had just opened her mouth to reply when the tromping of boots filled the stairwell.

  Both Max and Kate looked up at the jagged hole overhead and saw several soldiers in black fatigues looking down to survey the scene. One of the soldiers spotted the two and pointed at them. His companions raised their rifles.

  “Back to running!” Max shouted.

  Both fugitives jumped to their feet and bolted as automatic gunfire rang out from behind them. The broken landing they’d been resting on was torn apart by bullets which sent clouds of oak splinters into the air. Gunfire chased Max and Kate across the landing as they ran for their lives.

  The stairway down from the sixth floor was intact, and they took the steps two at a time. Bullets spattered across the steps behind them.

  Unfortunately, the next patch of staircase was shattered beyond use by falling rubble. Max and Kate were forced to hurl themselves free of the stairwell and onto the fifth-floor landing to avoid being torn to pieces by the soldiers. Across the wide stairwell Max could see a second stairway, but rubble blocked the path on both sides, and he couldn’t see a way to reach the stairs from their position.

  Kate drew her pistol from the waistband of her pants and checked the gun for damage. “Good to go,” she announced as they paused to shelter in a dark corner out of sight of the soldiers.

  More shouting drew their attention as an elevator pinged just around a corner. The doors slid open with a whoosh, and six men in black fatigues holding automatic rifles stormed out into the hall.

  Kate shot two of the soldiers dead in the first few seconds before they could form up in the hallway. The four remaining soldiers braced themselves in firing positions.

  But Max was already in motion. The moment he’d heard the elevator doors open, the ex-cop had rushed forward. As Kate was firing into the group of enemies, he’d been drawing closer to them. Now, as the soldiers braced to return fire at Kate, Max slipped inside their formation and attacked at close range.

  His fist connected with one soldier’s jaw and hurled the blond man aside. As the soldier flew, Max grabbed the sidearm from his victim’s belt, yanked the pistol free, and fired two shots into the man’s chest. The dead soldier crashed to the ground in a growing pool of blood.

  Two of the surviving soldiers turned to Max, but the third remained focused on Kate. She was forced to take shelter behind the corner as automatic fire tore apart the plaster wall beside her head. In the narrow hallway, the gunfire was deafening.

  One of the soldiers facing Max, a man with a long scar on his forehead, swung the butt of his rifle at Max’s head. Max faded back and let the stroke pass, at the same time lashing out with his foot. His boot connected at high speed with the scarred soldier’s knee. The blow twisted the man’s leg and he cried out in pain as he stumbled.

  Max raised his pistol to shoot the wounded man in the head but was instead forced to dodge as the second soldier opened up with his rifle, spraying Max’s location with bullets. Max dodged and circled to keep the hobbling soldier between him and the gunman while staying close enough that the wounded soldier couldn’t bring his rifle to bear on him.

  Max and the injured man closed and grappled, yanking each other around. Each combatant strained to throw his enemy to the gro
und. Max heard more automatic fire before a few pistol shots rang out and the automatic fire abruptly ceased.

  Max ducked another butt stroke from the soldier’s rifle before leaping in and punching the man in his kidney. The soldier doubled over in pain. Max followed up by ramming his pistol upward into the man’s chest and pulling the trigger twice. The bullets exploded from the man’s back and thudded into the ceiling overhead, and the soldier crumpled.

  Max caught the body and sheltered behind it as automatic fire filled the air. Seeing his companion dead, the other soldier opened up on Max in a spray of lethal projectiles. The corpse in Max’s hands jittered as the dead flesh drank up the bullets that would have torn Max apart.

  Two more pistol shots rang out, and the gunfire stopped. Max saw Kate standing at the corner with her pistol raised and a curl of smoke rising from the barrel. When he dropped the corpse, the last soldier lay sprawled dead across the carpeted floor.

  “Should we take the elevator?” Kate asked as she scooped up a rife.

  Max, also loading up on weapons and ammunition, shook his head. “These men coming up means the lobby is packed with mafia soldiers. We should assume Papa Sal’s troops control the elevators, which means they can see through the security cameras inside the cars. If we use the elevators even to get between floors they’ll know exactly where we are. We need to find another stairwell to make our way to the bottom of the hotel.”

  “Over there!” a loud male voice called.

  Max whirled around and pointed his rifle at the source of the shout as his finger stroked the trigger. A burst of fire caught the soldier in the center of his chest and hurled him out over the edge of the landing and into the open air of the giant stairwell. He screamed as he plummeted to the ground floor before impacting with a sickening crunch.

  “Our best bet,” Max shouted over his shoulder as he ran, “is to keep killing these bastards and follow their backtrail. They’ll lead us to the next pathway down.” He reached the corner, spun around the chewed plaster with his rifle raised, and snapped off two more bursts of fire right away.

  Kate caught up to him, and together they ran past the corpses of the two soldiers Max had just gunned down. Another pair of soldiers pushed through a wide set of double doors into the hallway, but they were looking the wrong way. Kate raised her rifle and plugged both men full of holes without even breaking her stride. She and Max slammed through the doors with their shoulders and charged inside.

  Max skidded to a stop as soon as they entered the room. He’d been expecting another hallway or perhaps a back area with a service elevator. Instead, he found himself in a spacious ballroom with checkered floor tiles, polished oak pillars as thick as tree trunks, and an enormous vaulted mosaic ceiling dripping with crystal chandeliers.

  The wall to their left was solid and unbroken by doors, but ten feet up the wall was a mass of plate glass windows showing the blue sky. Sunlight streamed in and filled the entire ballroom with warm light. Tables covered in red cloths with matching red chairs littered the room.

  Against the far-right wall sat an enormous stage. Hanging backdrops of a rustic city and a night sky sat just behind a painted wooden structure designed to look like a stone tower, and a large sign to the right of the stage announced an upcoming performance of Romeo and Juliet.

  The wall straight across the ballroom held multiple sets of double doors. As Max paused to take in his surroundings, a dozen men shoved through the doors and rushed to attack.

  “Come on!” Kate shouted as she bolted toward the stage. Max snapped off a few shots at the approaching soldiers before following.

  Narrow steps on the side of the stage led up to the platform, and Max leaped up the steps after Kate. Bullets smashed into the woodwork all around them as the two hustled to find cover. Fortunately, whoever had constructed the faux tower had taken pride in their work: the wooden frame was immensely solid and designed to hold several people, and the whole thing rotated on a set of wheels which were currently locked. A slim ladder led up onto the platform of the tower fifteen feet above.

  Bullets chewed up the pinewood structure beside Max and hurled chips across his face, leaving scratch marks in his flesh. The ex-cop growled in pain as he shoved Kate further into cover and returned fire around the side of the tower.

  Moments later he heard gunfire up above. Max realized Kate had climbed the ladder and was using her position to shoot down at their enemies. He peered around the side of the structure and saw three dozen soldiers filling the room, poking out from behind corners, the edge of the stage, pillars, and from behind flipped tables. Kate’s position allowed her to ignore most of their cover but also caused her to be a prime target for their return fire.

  As much as Max wanted Kate to drop back down to safety, there was no safety to be had. Soldiers flanked the side of the stage and opened fire on his position. With no choice remaining to him, Max leaped onto the ladder and climbed in a rush.

  The platform up above was narrow but sturdy. Bullets hurtled up from below but failed to penetrate through the reinforced floorboards. Max hunkered down behind the thick wall and returned fire on the gathering crowd below. Beside him, Kate did the same.

  From their perfect vantage point, Max and Kate slaughtered two dozen of the black-clad soldiers.

  High-pitched droning filled Max’s ears. A probing beam of light stabbed through the windows. He shielded his eyes with one arm and glared at the helicopter hovering outside.

  “Uh, Kate,” Max said, “what light through yonder window breaks?”

  The plate glass windows exploded inward. Machinegun fire tore through the ballroom, shredding the front of the stage and climbing steadily toward Max and Kate’s position atop the tower.

  The surviving dozen soldiers continued to fire upward at Max and Kate as the helicopter gunner’s bullets tore apart the base of the tower and caused the structure to creak and lean.

  Max searched frantically behind the tower for an escape, but Kate pointed above them.

  “Use the ropes!”

  With thundering gunfire pounding in his ears, Max glanced up and saw ropes holding plastic stars against the backdrop of the night sky. He reached out with his right hand and grabbed one of the stout ropes.

  Max snatched up Kate in his left hand and pressed her body against his side. She wrapped her arms around his neck. He kicked off with both feet and swung them from the collapsing tower as machinegun fire tore apart the platform where they’d been standing. Kate’s shopping bag fluttered from her arm as they flew across the stage.

  The swing carried the two backstage, and they crashed down into a pile of cardboard boxes. As the fugitives climbed out and bolted, soldiers stormed the stage and fired at them around the piles of props and moveable set pieces.

  Max and Kate hurtled along through narrow hallways, just barely ahead of their pursuers. The back of the stage opened onto the side area of the ballroom. All the soldiers had concentrated around the front of the stage, so the back area was deserted. Max saw a metal door ahead of them and bolted toward it, his arms pumping and his booted feet thumping on the ceramic tiles.

  The two crashed through the metal door into a small room full of stainless steel counters. Max glanced around and saw no other exits.

  “Where the hell are we?” he cried on the edge of panic.

  Kate looked as worried as Max felt but calmed when she glanced around. “This is a food prep area.”

  “Oh, good. We can get a last meal before they shoot us. They’ll be here in seconds, Kate!”

  The baker didn’t appear to be listening. Her delicate eyebrows were crinkled up in a thoughtful expression. “They prep food here, but where’s the…?” She trailed off as her eyes landed on a set of small metal doors bolted into the wall at about waist height. “Max, through there!”

  “A closet? Good thought, Kate, they’ll never find us in Narnia!”


  “No, you dope,” Kate hissed as she rushed to the doors and punched a white button on the wall beside them. They hissed open in a flash to reveal a metal box like a small elevator. “This is to bring up the food. The kitchen must be right below us. Get inside!”

  Max rushed across the room. Both fugitives hurled themselves inside the tiny metal box as the heavy door leading to the ballroom slammed open and soldiers crashed into the room. Kate reached out and slapped the button on the wall with the downward arrow. She pulled her hand back inside the elevator just in time for the doors to hiss shut inches from her fingers.

  The metal box dropped with a lurch and opened again one floor below. Kate pushed Max with both feet. He dropped three feet to the floor, and she climbed out.

  The room they found themselves in was spacious, and every surface gleamed with polished stainless steel. Row upon row of prep stations, stoves, and cooking tools filled the cavernous kitchen.

  Max rubbed his butt as he stood up. “Couldn’t wait for me to scoot out, huh?”

  “Consider it payback for groping me,” Kate said. “Keep the change.”

  The doors at the far end of the kitchen burst open. More soldiers in black fatigues pressed through and swung their rifles around, searching for Max and Kate. When they spotted their targets, the soldiers opened fire.

  Max and Kate ducked behind the prep stations and returned fire. Both of their rifles clicked empty, so Kate drew her pistol and Max drew his two which he’d taken from the dead soldiers at the first elevator. They returned fire on the soldiers and dropped several with their opening attack before all sides hunkered down behind their steel barriers.

  Boots squeaked on polished floors as the enemy circled to flank their position.

  Max leaped up on top of the prep stations and fired down at the hunkered soldiers on the next row. His shots echoed back and forth in the steel room and sounded like they came from every direction at once. The men below him died as bullets tore through them. Soldiers throughout the rest of the room popped up to shoot at Max, and he was forced to drop into the narrow trench with the dead men to take shelter.