“Ragg!” the Professor whined in a shrill voice.
Ragg didn’t take his eyes off me.
“Soon,” he whispered ominously, before turning around and holding his hands behind him. I didn’t say anything. Just tucked the Beretta into my waistband and very carefully looped the zip tie around his wrists, pulling it tight—tighter than it needed to be—before leading him over to Luke’s cot and forcing him to sit. Paul was by this time up on his feet, propped up by his concerned sister and Toby. He looked pretty out of it.
Meanwhile Ben had secured the two Homeland guys together and with the help of Beau, had forced them to the back of the dorm and pushed them into the bathroom before pulling the door shut.
“Now you, Professor.”
Luke lowered his gun and the Professor took a step towards me and turned, holding out his hands. I quickly secured them, a little more gently than I had Ragg’s, and sat him down on the cot next to his baleful henchman.
“Now, this is what’s going to happen,” I said. “In a moment you’re going to call Leroy in and then we’re going to leave you all in here while we get out of this place. There’s no need for anyone else to get hurt.”
“I’m afraid I simply can’t allow that to happen. I can’t let you compromise the safety of everyone in the facility.”
I stared at the Professor, flabbergasted.
“You don’t have a choice, Professor. Look around.”
“You won’t get out alive,” he said, in a matter of fact tone.
I gestured that the girls should move further into the room. “Whatever, I’m not arguing with you. Call Leroy in please.
He did as I asked and a few seconds later the handle of the door rattled.
“Um, I don’t have my swipe card, Professor!” Leroy’s muffled voice called.
I saw the Professor close his eyes in exasperation and I went to the door and swiped the lock. Leroy had barely entered the room before he found the muzzle of my gun pressed under his flabby chin. His eyes widened as he surveyed the unexpected scene and raised his hands in quick surrender. I pulled his sidearm out of its holster and pushed him towards the cot.
He sat down, the cot groaning as his ample weight was added to that of the other two men.
“Very good. Ben, zip tie Leroy please.”
With the three men safely secured, I paused to silently give thanks at how smoothly we had been able to handle the unexpected interception. Would our good luck hold though?
“Come on,” I said. “Grab your knives. Toby, you help Paul.”
“Isaac! You’re not bringing him, are you?”
“Yes,” I said. Luke threw his arms in the air.
“Dude, what the fuck? He nearly got you killed!”
Paul, his hair matted with blood and his face pale, looked at the floor.
“He’s right. Just leave me here, Isaac.”
“What did he promise you, Paul?”
He hesitated before answering quietly.
“He was going to let me share a room with Ava, to look after her until she had the baby...”
“You can forget that now,” snapped the Professor. “You and your sister will be executed for your interference, just like these two. Not the other girls though…I need them.”
I saw Luke move, but it was Ava, Paul’s sister, who stomped up to the Professor and slapped him hard across the face. He looked shocked, the stark white handprint on his cheek a vivid exclamation point. Then she began to hit him again and again and screamed, “We’re not an experiment, you psycho!”
The Professor fell against Ragg, trying to shelter from the storm of the young girl’s rage. I ran to pull her away, but I was too late. With a sudden lunge, Ragg shot up from the cot like a piston, the top of his head connecting with the girl’s chin. It made a horrible noise and she fell backwards like a chopped tree, her head smacking into the linoleum floor with a crack.
I attacked Ragg, punching him viciously in the jaw and then the stomach. He fell back on the cot and attempted to pull back his legs for a kick, but I was on him, pummeling his chest and face. I heard Paul, his face still bloody from his own injuries, crying as he stumbled over to his sister and fell to his knees by her side.
It was Indigo and Luke who pulled me off Ragg. “Come on, Isaac, we have to go. We’re running out of time.”
I allowed myself to be pulled away, noting that apart from a bleeding lip and a red mark on his jaw, my frenzied attack at close range hadn’t done much damage to Ragg. He maneuvered himself back into a sitting position, his glasses askew and his eyes just a little more determined than they had been a few minutes ago.
“All right…let’s go.”
They were right, the longer this went on, the more likely we were to not succeed, and now we had an unconscious Ava to carry as well as a probably concussed Paul.
Ben, Toby and Beau all moved to help Ava and her brother. Luke didn’t object to Paul coming now. I think he, like me, could see that Paul’s motives had been out of concern for his sister and not any ill will towards us. Besides there was no way we could, in good conscience, leave them in the hands of the Professor...
We finished picking up the makeshift weapons and the guns. One of the knives was unaccounted for but we didn’t have time to do more than a quick search for it. I put the Beretta’s of the three Homeland guards in my backpack, opting against giving them out. If at any stage it came to a firefight, we were as good as dead. And, while I wasn’t admitting defeat, if we happened to be halted we would be in a better position to negotiate … and survive … if our group wasn’t bristling with loaded guns.
I ushered everyone through the door and was about to pull it shut when I thought of something. “Professor, don’t use the virus against the Chinese. There is a group working against the government, trying to change things for those of us that are left. Killing thousands of innocent people won’t bring back the USA. It will only make you more of a murderer…”
I didn’t expect an answer and I didn’t get one. He simply looked at me defiantly, as opposed to the ever-present dead eye stare of Mr. Ragg sitting beside him and the dumb menace of Leroy on the end.
19
When the door was locked, I used the handle of the Beretta to smash the plastic swiping mechanism off the wall. No one would be letting them out anytime soon. We set off at a brisk pace, Indigo and I at the front, followed by Toby and Beau who cradled Ava between them. And then the rest behind us, with Luke bringing up the rear once more.
Our luck ran out when we reached the Square.
We were just passing the cafeteria and heading to the corner to take the left turn down to the lobby when the night patrol rounded the corner at the far end of the main corridor. We stopped dead in our tracks, as did the two soldiers.
I didn’t know either of these two by name but held my hand up. I felt more than saw Luke come around our group to join me. I could tell that the approaching soldiers were wary. It was just a subtle change in the way they carried themselves. They didn’t reach for their weapons. Not straight away, anyway. They had closed within a few feet when we heard banging and muffled yelling in the distance behind us. The two men drew their guns at the same time as Luke and I. Suddenly, we were the ones in a Mexican standoff.
No matter how many times you’ve had a gun pointed at you, it’s never a pleasant experience… not even one you can get used to. As I looked down the barrel of the weapon pointed at my face, I hoped that the young soldier in front of me was feeling it worse than me.
“We have no fight with you guys,” I said. “We just want to leave nice and quiet. That’s the Professor and his Homeland guards back there banging. They killed our friend Sonny, and we’re leaving. It’s as simple as that.”
“Put your weapons down,” ordered the soldier in front of me, with more than just a hint of uncertainty.
“Dude, didn’t you hear what he just said?” Luke asked. “We’re leaving, and you two aren’t going to stop us. Even if you did manage to sh
oot one of us, and I doubt it, whoever’s left will kill your buddy. If you lucked out and killed both of us…well…then there’s the rest of our crew…”
I saw the soldier’s eyes scan our group. Ben stepped forward raising the wicked looking knife he was holding and then the bloody faced Paul smiled, showing his red stained teeth. I saw the soldiers’ already shaky resolve, start to falter.
“Listen,” I said reasonably. “Our fight is not with you or Colonel Randall. This is what we’re going to do. We’re just going to lower our weapons and then head down to the lobby. You guys just walk on, no one will ever know…okay?”
I lowered my weapon slowly and so did Luke. The two soldiers, still uncertain, did the same. When I was sure they weren’t going to fire on us, I didn’t hesitate to move.
“Come on,” I said, and turned the corner and walked on, the soldiers watching us go. As we picked up the pace, the sound of splintering wood in the distance behind us, reached our ears. Shit, how did they get free so quickly?
“Dude, I think one of them might have had that knife,” said Luke, as if reading my mind.
“Yeah…hurry.”
I knew that the door wouldn’t hold the Professor and his men much longer. We ran hard until we came to a dead stop at the final corner before the lobby. If the Professor had knowledge of our escape, I knew that the Homeland guards in the lobby would also have been forewarned. There was nothing for it, we had to attack—hard and fast. Luke and Ben came forward when I gestured, and the rest of the group huddled around to listen as well. I was painfully aware of Indigo right next to me.
“The three of us will go in first,” I said. “No one else moves until one of us give you the all clear. If you don’t get that within three minutes, it means we’ve failed and you should turn around and go back to your dormitories.
“I’ve got a better idea,” said Indigo unexpectedly. She looked at Brooke. “How about Brooke and I go in first?”
“What?” I asked. I saw my confusion mirrored in Ben and Luke’s faces.
“Think about it, Isaac. What are they going to do as soon as they see you?”
I shrugged, suddenly with a horrible understanding of where she was headed. Luke answered for me. “They’re going to shoot our asses.”
“Right, whereas if a couple of silly girls go in, they’re going to let us get close.”
“Yeah, she’s right. It’s better than you lot getting shot up,” said Brooke.
Ben was scornful. “Oh right, and what are you going to do when you get close? Shoot them?”
“Yes,” Indigo replied, in all seriousness.
Ben snorted, appalled by the idea, but I saw a thoughtful look on Luke’s face.
“Dude, she may be onto something. They won’t shoot them out of hand. If anything, it will create a fantastic distraction.”
“No,” I said, adamantly. “Williams is probably in there. He’s too dangerous.” Not to mention, I hadn’t liked the way he had looked at Indigo when we had first arrived in the facility. I saw Indigo looking at Brooke and didn’t miss the English girl’s faint nod.
“Well, we’re doing it,” she said, in a tone that told me there would be no arguing.
She stood up and grabbed the bottom of her T-shirt with one hand and with the other reached down her top, pulling the bottom up and through the neck opening before tying it in a neat knot between her breasts. In effect, she had fashioned a kind of bikini top. A typical teenage boy, I was momentarily spellbound by the effect, that is until I saw Luke and Ben with their mouths gaping.
“Oh, this is silly,” I snapped, standing up and pulling the gun from my belt. Indigo put her hand on mine and looked into my eyes as she moved in close.
“Please Isaac, let me do this. I won’t take any unnecessary risks.”
I held her gaze, not willing to look anywhere else unless she think me a pervert. Brooke moved up to us, thankfully she hadn’t made any wardrobe modifications. “Let us do this Isaac,” she said. “It’s our only chance, deep down you must know it.”
Conscious of time running out, I nodded. I didn’t trust myself to speak. Ben groaned and kicked the wall in disgust but didn’t argue any further. Luke handed me my backpack and I pulled out two of the Berettas, handing one each to the girls. They both knew how to handle weapons, that wasn’t what concerned me. It was just that…that…well, I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to either of them.
The two girls were all business now that they had the weapons. They tucked them into the back of their pants and turned to the three of us. Brooke kissed Ben and then Luke. Luke’s was an innocent peck, but his pale skin blushed furiously. Indigo stepped up to me again, but this time I stopped her when she leaned in to kiss me.
“Are you sure you can do this?”
“Yes, after what they did to Sonny and Ava…”
I released her, and she did kiss me. I hugged her and whispered, “Be careful. We’re counting to 20 and then following you in.” She nodded and gestured to Brooke. Brooke squeezed Indigo’s wrist before they stepped up to the corner. They looked at each other one last time before disappearing.
I headed to the corner, gun in hand, already counting to 20. Luke and Ben sidled up both with guns in hand. Luke still carrying his Zulu spear. Ben looked as scared as I felt, but Luke had that strange excited look he always got before trouble. I had only counted to 14 when the first gunshot echoed from the lobby. It was quickly followed by a second and third. We pelted around the corner. The next few minutes were hectic.
The first thing I saw when I ran into the lobby was a dead Homeland Security guard on the floor about ten feet in. He was staring at the ceiling with a red bullet hole in his forehead.
To my left, Brooke crouched behind a sofa, blood streaming from a nick on the bottom of her ear lobe and pooling on the neck and shoulder of her T-shirt. She gave me a thumbs up even though her face was pale with shock.
There was another Homeland guard draped over a table in the center of the room. It was clear that he was also dead. I had taken that much in when the first bullet whizzed over my head. I quickly ducked behind another sofa, panic setting in, not because someone was shooting at me though.
“Indigo! Where are you?” I shouted desperately. I couldn’t see her anywhere.
Luke and Ben had followed me in. Ben had gone to crouch beside Brooke. He was already tending to her wound. Another shot answered my shout. It came from my left. Looking in that direction I saw Luke, hunkered down behind an upended table. He was peeking over the top with one eye, his weapon just below the rim of the table. When the Homeland guard firing at us lifted his head the next time, Luke’s shot scalped him with a bloody spray and he fell with a thud.
“Indigo!?” I called again.
“She’s over here, soldier boy. With me.”
Fuck. I knew that voice and felt my stomach flip.
“Let her go, Williams!”
“No, I don’t think so. Although I can see why you want her so bad...”
His attempt to goad me out of my hiding place didn’t work. Luke was looking at me. He pointed to the middle of the room. That was where William’s voice was coming from. Behind another upended table. Fuck, fuck, fuck. How were we going to get out of this? It was Williams who ended our brief stalemate.
“You know what, Isaac? I’m going to stand up with your precious Indigo in a second. My gun is going to be against her neck, just over her carotid artery. I’m then going to countdown from five and if you and your friends don’t put your weapons down and stand up with your hands in the air by the time I get to one, I’m going to shoot her.”
I heard shuffling, and peering over the sofa, I saw him stand. Indigo was pulled hard up against him, one of his arms tight across her chest and, as promised, his pistol against her neck.
“5…4…”
I thought frantically for a way out of this mess, but there was no exit…Indigo was all that mattered right then.
“3…2…”
&nbs
p; “Wait! Wait, okay, don’t shoot…” I stood, leaving my weapon on the floor, holding my hands in the air.
“The others too!”
Slowly, both Luke, Ben and Brooke climbed to their feet, hands in the air.
“Very good,” said Williams.
He stepped out from behind the table, shuffling along, still holding his gun against Indigo’s neck. Behind him I saw the indicator on the elevator light up. More Homeland Security…I swallowed my bitter disappointment, oh well, at least we had tried. The doors slid open silently.
“I knew we could work this out without any more unpleasantness,” Williams said in an oily tone.
I had suddenly lost interest in Williams. It wasn’t more Homeland guards in the lift, it was Meeks. And the big soldier was slowly moving towards the unsuspecting Williams, his army issue knife in hand.
I knew what I had to do.
“Well we’ve surrendered, you got what you wanted, now let her go,” I said, attempting to keep Williams occupied.
“Really, soldier boy? You’re still making demands? You,” he said, pointing at Ben. “Go and get the rest of your group and bring them in here. If you’re not back in 30 seconds I’ll shoot your sister in the head.” Ben didn’t ask any questions, he ran out of the room as fast as his legs could carry him.
That few seconds gave Meeks the time he needed to close in on his quarry. He quietly stepped up to Williams and put the knife against his throat. I was gratified by the stunned look on Williams face, but also as scared as hell he would pull the trigger.
“Lower your weapon,” Meeks rasped in a no-nonsense whisper.
I could almost see Williams weighing up possibilities as he frantically thought of a way out of his situation. “Not going to happen, soldier.”
“Yes, it is, or I’m gonna bleed you out all over this fine timber floor.”
“No, you’re not and you know it. You cut me, and I squeeze the trigger. Don’t think I won’t kill this bitch.”
Now it was Meeks turn to look uncertain, but he didn’t have a chance to work something out. Indigo did it for him. With a swift movement she reached behind her and grabbed Williams’ crotch, twisting her hand violently. The muzzle of his gun slipped away from her neck as he doubled up and Meeks seized his opportunity, grabbing Williams around the neck and ripping him backwards, away from Indigo. She fell to the ground.
America Falls (Book 3): Cold Comfort Page 12
