Fear Mercy

by Fergal F. Nally

  “Here,” Rose handed Mercy a mug of hot coffee. “You’ll feel better after a drink. This stew ain’t bad, there’s some left…”

  Mercy slumped in her chair. She took a sip of coffee and stared at Rose.

  “Fuck it, Rose—”

  “Yeah, I know—”

  “We have to follow this through, and it’s going to be bad—”

  “When has it ever been good—?” Rose replied, massaging her bruised leg.

  “Deadstick’s not coming to the rescue, we’ve drawn attention to this place, the NSA could turn up any moment. Goddammit—” Mercy banged the table, frowning.

  “It sucks—” Rose started loading the two Winchester 1300 shotguns.

  Mercy ate the remainder of the food in silence. She reloaded her SIG with the 9mm hollow points Rose had found and slung one of the Winchester 1300s across her shoulder. She stood and stretched her neck. “Let’s turn this place over, there’s got to be a way into the tunnels.”

  Rose nodded at the next room, “My money’s on the door in there, or what’s beyond it—”

  Mercy picked up the lantern and went through to the door. She pressed her ear to its steel plate surface and listened. “Sounds clear—”

  Rose twisted the handle and opened the door a crack. The space beyond was dark.

  Mercy held out the lantern. “It’s a concrete shell, looks unfinished, in fact…” she pointed down, “that looks like old road markings on the ground—”

  Rose nodded and stepped into the space, “Yeah, I reckon they built this on top of the road. Hey… shine the light over here.” Rose moved to the far side of the room. She kicked the ground. “Manhole cover, paint markings on it are out of kilter with the road. This’s gotta be it—”

  Mercy held the lantern up, “Yeah, and I guess that’s the manhole key over there, let’s open it up—”

  They lifted the manhole cover and peered at a ladder leading down a narrow shaft. A string of Christmas lights twinkled at the bottom. The beat of distant rock music echoed in the tunnel below.

  Mercy’s eyes narrowed, “That’s at least a thirty foot drop. There could be any number of the bastards down there—”

  “I’ll go first,” Rose crouched down.

  “No, I’ve got it Rose, you cover me, shine the light so I can see—”

  Mercy climbed into the hole her knife clenched between her teeth, she started to descend. She neared the bottom of the shaft and stopped, listening. The air was stale and smoky. She dropped the last few feet to the ground and crouched down. A long corridor extended ahead, lit by the twinkling lights. Nothing moved. Distant drum and base carried through the air.

  Mercy took the knife from her mouth and pulled out her silenced pistol, she signalled to Rose above. Rose descended the ladder, leaving the manhole open. Mercy moved slowly down the corridor her eyes adjusting to the dim light. The floor was damp underfoot, a chill hung in the air making her shiver. They reached a corner and listened before turning right.

  Looks like some kind of secure complex, maybe something to do with the airport—

  The corridor continued on, lit by Christmas lights. They came across a door on the right. Mercy listened then nodded at Rose and placed her hand on the handle. The door opened with a rusty creak, a dark room lay beyond. Rose shone the storm lantern into the room revealing a row of iron beds. A figure lay unmoving on the nearest bed.

  Rose shone the dimmed lantern around the rest of the room, her Winchester at the ready. “Clear,” she murmured.

  Mercy approached the bed with her SIG extended. A semi-naked woman lay on a filthy mattress, her arms and legs bound by rope to the four corners of the bed. Her eyes were closed, her breathing shallow. Mercy grimaced when she saw needle tracks on the woman’s arms.

  Trafficking, sex slaves… nothing ever changes—

  Mercy shot a glance at Rose, remembering the Angels in New York and Rose’s history. Rose’s face was cold, unreadable.

  Mercy leant forwards, “Hey, you OK sister?”

  The woman remained still. Mercy wrinkled her nose at the vague vinegary smell coming from the bed.

  “Heroin,” Rose said. “She’s a junkie, probably half dead—”

  Mercy sat on the bed and put a hand on the woman’s arm, “Hey there, don’t be afraid. I’m not with Riker, I’ve come to kill him. I’m going to cut you free, I need you to stay calm, OK?”

  The woman’s eyelids flickered, she moaned softly.

  Mercy leant forwards and cut the woman’s bonds. The woman sighed and turned away, curling into a ball. Mercy put her hand on the woman’s shoulder, “My name’s Mercy. I’m not going to hurt you. Can you tell me where Riker is?”

  The woman’s eyes flicked open, she peered through matted hair. Her wasted body shivered, her skin glistened with stale sweat. “I need a fix, bad, hit me up… please—”

  Rose pulled a face, “She’s wasted, let’s leave her—”

  The woman lifted her head, “No, don’t go, I can help you. I can take you to Riker, just… get me a taste, to take the edge off—”

  Mercy looked at Rose then back at the woman, “Can you walk? If you show us where Riker is we can get you a fix.”

  The woman closed her eyes and took a breath. She gripped the edge of the bed and swung her legs over. She paused then pulled herself up and held onto the wall. “I’ll show you Riker’s room. I do this for you and I’ll get my fix, right?”

  “That’s right,” Mercy said, her voice steady.

  Mercy handed the woman a blanket from one of the other beds. The woman pulled it around her and seemed to find a reserve of strength. They left the room, the woman led them down the corridor and turned right, she stopped short of a corner.

  The woman turned to Mercy, “We’re getting close, you go first now. It’s left, then left again—”

  Mercy nodded and swapped places with the woman. She checked her SIG and paused, listening. She leant forwards to peer around the corner then heard a man’s voice.

  “Get a move on, the others have gone ahead, we’ve been delayed, searching for your sorry ass. The boss wondered if you were up top, but oh no, you were sampling the merchandise. He’s not gonna be happy, you know the rules, you’re in the shit man—”

  What the hell—?

  Mercy risked a glance around the corner; a T-junction lay ahead. A hooded prisoner cowered between two armed men, they moved across her line of sight and passed from view.

  This is it—

  Mercy moved to the junction. Through an open door she saw laboratory apparatus on benches. She turned the corner and saw the last man, she ran forwards bringing her silenced SIG up. She shot the man in the back of the head. He fell to the floor with a dull thud, the prisoner crouched down and the first man swung around raising his AR-15. Mercy’s second round caught him in the forehead. The man’s finger jerked the AR-15’s trigger sending a hail of bullets into the wall and ceiling. He dropped to the floor unmoving.

  The prisoner screamed, “Don’t shoot, don’t shoot. I’m not one of them—”

  “Shut the fuck up and stay down,” Mercy shoved the prisoner out of her way and went ahead, grabbing the first guard’s AR-15 and head torch. She took a fresh magazine from his webbing and reloaded the weapon aware of Rose moving up behind her.

  Cat’s out of the bag now—

  Mercy peered around the next corner. Muffled rock music pounded somewhere ahead.

  Clear—

  Mercy ran forwards and stopped short at another junction pressing her back against the wall. Sweat ran into her eyes, her heart was pounding, her mouth dry. She listened.

  Go in low—

  She peered around the corner. A short row of steps led up to a steel plate door, a sliding hatch in its top half. She checked the other directions.

  Clear. It’s the door, it’s gotta be Riker’s door… an inner fortified area—

  Mercy glanced back at the dead men on the floor, an idea forming. She returned to the first man and donned
his cap and goggles, making sure she tucked her hair away. She signalled at Rose to stay down. Mercy ducked around the corner, up the steps and banged on the door. The music stopped. A second later the hatch slid open and a bearded face glowered out.

  “What’s going on? You guys OK?” the man demanded.

  Mercy kept quiet, she brought her index finger to her lips in a silencing gesture. She stepped back from the hatch and waved at the man to follow her. He nodded and closed the hatch. The lock opened. Mercy bounded down the steps and around the corner, taking up position on the floor beside Rose. The sound of boots on the metal steps filled the confined space. Three armed men ran around the corner.

  Mercy fired the AR-15 point blank into the men, Rose followed up with three slug rounds to finish the business. The men dropped in a bloody heap without firing a shot. Gun smoke filled the air. Mercy’s ears rang from the shooting. She exchanged the empty AR-15 for her SIG and waited. A few seconds later a noise came from around the corner followed by a heavy metallic thud against the wall ahead.

  Grenade—

  Mercy covered her head and closed her eyes. The flash bang detonated twenty feet away filling the corridor with intense light and sound. The concussive force of the explosion swept over her, its flash gone in a second. The bang reverberated through her skull disorientating her. She opened her eyes and took her hands away from her head. Rose did the same.

  “You OK Rose?” Mercy said, surprise on her face when she realised she could hear.

  We were low enough, heads covered, those bodies took some of the blast—

  “Just about,” Rose replied, she glanced back at the prisoner. “They want him alive, that’s why they didn’t use a frag.”

  “Yeah, good for us—” Mercy whispered. “Take the hood off him, see who it is.”

  Rose crawled back to the cowering prisoner, she removed the hood.

  Mercy glanced back, “That’s Billy-Ray, the explosives guy. Well, that’s one off our list—”

  Billy-Ray blinked in the torch light, “What—? Who are you people—?”

  Rose leant into him, “Shut your mouth asshole, keep quiet. All you need to know is your friend Deadstick sent us to get you out—”

  Mercy tensed and waved at Rose, “Shhhhh—”

  A creak, followed by footsteps and sobbing. Light flickered on the walls. Mercy aimed at the corner, her finger on the SIG’s trigger. Rose crept up beside her, the Winchester 1300 ready.

  “Come and get some, bastards,” Mercy hissed.

  A dishevelled, half-naked woman rounded the corner. In one hand she held a storm lantern, her other shaking hand clutched a fragmentation grenade.

  The woman pleaded, “Don’t shoot, don’t shoot… they’ve got my daughter. They’ll kill her… they want the prisoner. Give them your prisoner and they’ll let my daughter live… and you—”

  The trembling woman stepped towards Mercy.

  “Stop, don’t move,” Mercy said, her voice low.

  The woman froze.

  “Can you hear me?” Mercy whispered.

  The woman nodded, he matted hair fell about her face.

  “How many of them are there?” Mercy pressed.

  The woman stared at Mercy, “What? How many? Four, I guess, the others have left…”

  Mercy turned to Rose, “Four? We’ve got a chance if we play it right—”

  The woman spluttered, “They just want the prisoner, they’ll let us go.” Tears streamed down her face.

  Mercy’s eyes narrowed.

  Needle tracks on her arms, just like the other one—

  Mercy stared at the grenade in the woman’s hand. “Rose, find me something to make that grenade safe.”

  “Yeah, hold on—” Rose crawled back to the dead bodies.

  Mercy held a hand up to the woman, “I’m not going to hurt you. We’re going to get your daughter free. I’m going to stand up and make the grenade safe. Don’t move until I say so—”

  The woman nodded. “You’re going to save my daughter—”

  “Yes, that’s right—”

  Rose touched Mercy’s arm and handed her a bloody pin, “One of those men had his ear pierced with this pin, it ought to do it—”

  Mercy pulled a face then took the straight ear pin from Rose. She holstered the SIG and stood up. She beckoned the woman forwards, took her hand and inserted the ear pin into the grenade’s safety lever.

  “You can let go now,” Mercy whispered.

  The woman released the grenade into Mercy’s hand then slid to the floor in a heap, crying.

  Mercy bent down to her, “The door you came through… is it open?”

  The woman nodded.

  Mercy gave Rose a look, “Take her back to the other one—”

  Mercy watched as Rose led the woman away. She turned to face the corridor ahead.

  Christ, how are we going to get out of this one—?

  Mercy returned to the dead bodies. She searched their webbing and let out a murmur of triumph.

  Rose appeared, her face concerned. “We’ve got ourselves a Mexican standoff, ain’t we?”

  Mercy held up the flash bang, “Don’t want to use the grenade if that woman’s kid is back there, she says the door’s still open. I’ll lob this in and give them a full magazine. We’ll see what’s left after that, ready?”

  Rose processed the plan then nodded, “OK. Ready.”

  Mercy turned off her head torch and went ahead. Whispered voices carried from around the corner.

  Here goes nothing. One, two, three—

  Mercy pulled the pin and lobbed the flash bang around the corner. She ducked back and waited. A few seconds later the flash bang detonated. Mercy threw herself round the corner and fired the AR-15 through the open door, emptying a full magazine. Figures dived for cover.

  Shit, most of those rounds went into the ceiling, what’s wrong with me—?

  Mercy retreated, frowning.

  Shit, that should’ve been better, they could charge us any time—

  She touched the fragmentation grenade and glanced back at Rose. Rose came forwards, her eyes darting to the corner.

  “This guy… Billy-Ray,” Rose jerked her thumb at the prisoner. “He says there’s a back way into Riker’s section of the bunker. He’ll take us there, looks like he wants payback—”

  Mercy closed her eyes and took a second, “Yeah, sounds good, we’re dying here—”

  Rose turned and nodded to Billy-Ray. “You’re on—”

  Billy-Ray stood up and backed down the corridor. Mercy looked around.

  Those women are gone, probably hiding or looking for drugs. It must’ve been hell down here for them—

  They ducked around a series of corners and progressed through the underground complex.

  Feels like the right direction, yeah, we should be flanking those bastards—

  Mercy held the captured fragmentation grenade against her side.

  Maybe I’ll get to use this. Billy-Ray will get some—

  Billy-Ray stopped and pointed to the next corner. Mercy came up close to him and frowned.

  “It’s here, around this corner; the back door into Riker’s rooms. The door here has a push code lock. I know the code, I’ll open it and you can get them from behind—” Billy-Ray was nodding as he spoke. His face glistened with sweat, his yellowed teeth and sour breath made Mercy recoil.

  “Sounds good, I’m right behind you. Any funny business and I’ll shove you in the room with this,” Mercy showed him the grenade.

  Billy-Ray’s eyes widened, “No… funny business, I swear—”

  Mercy grunted. Billy-Ray peered around the corner and made for the metal door. He punched in the lock code and turned the handle. Mercy put her hand on top of his, taking control, she pushed him back, towards Rose. She opened the door a crack, pulled the grenade’s makeshift pin and threw the frag into the room. A deafening explosion followed, dust filled the air.

  Mercy shoved the door open and advanced with her SIG. Thre
e bodies lay unmoving on the floor, a figure beside a pillar jerked on the other side of the room. Mercy brought her pistol to bear on the woman who was reaching for a shotgun.

  No you don’t—

  Mercy fired twice, her shots went wide. The woman rolled and brought the CZ 712 shotgun to bear. Rose pushed past Billy-Ray and blasted the woman with two slug rounds from the Winchester. Billy-Ray pulled a face and turned away.

  “Had to be done,” Rose said, reloading the Winchester.

  Mercy let out her breath and whispered, “Thanks Rose, I mean… thanks—”

  Mercy looked at the bodies on the floor.

  Where’s Riker—?

  Billy-Ray pointed at a narrow row of steps leading to a dark side area.

  Shit—

  Mercy held a finger to her lips and crept forwards, listening. She chambered a round and hesitated.

  Shit, no more grenades left. He’s probably got that woman’s daughter—

  A breeze brushed Mercy’s cheek.

  Wait. What—?

  Mercy reached up and turned her head torch to strobe. She threw herself down, in front of the steps and brought her SIG to bear.

  Nothing—

  She climbed the steps, her strobe light flashing. The breeze grew stronger. A glint caught her eye on the last step. She froze, her foot hovering inches above a trip wire. She lifted her boot and stepped over the wire.

  Claymore mine. Nice touch. You really don’t like visitors, do you Mr. Riker?

  Chapter 30

  Falling Down

  Mercy pointed out the trip wire to the others. “Riker’s gone.”

  “So where’s the breeze coming from?” Rose asked.

  Mercy crossed the floor and pointed at a recess, “Here, the wall’s been dug out, there’s a rope ladder and a shaft. Hell—”

  “Look on the bright side,” Rose said, “that’s our way out too—”

  Mercy grunted and twisted around, “Billy-Ray, can you take that mine down the corridor and detonate it? If Riker hears it go off he’ll think he’s got us, it may put him off his guard.”

  “Yeah, no problem,” Billy-Ray turned to the Claymore.

  “You’re going down there?” Rose asked.

  “Yeah,” Mercy checked her silenced SIG. “We’ve gotta nail that piece of shit. Then we’ve got something to walk away with. Right now Deadstick holds all the cards—”