by Nick Thacker
“What about the climbing gear?” Mrs. E asked.
“Exactly what I was thinking,” Julie said. “We mount up on these pillars next to us. We can tie off and get ready without them seeing, then we make a break for it, letting the rest of the rope spool out behind us.”
Ryan Kyle and Joshua nodded. “That could work,” Kyle said. “We could easily rig up a sort of spool and clip it to your side. There’s more than enough rope to get across the level and then down two, or at least close to the bottom.”
“Even if it gets us down one, to Level 8, that’s close enough. We can figure it out from there, or take the stairs.”
Reggie shook his head, disagreeing. “But why? We’re fine here. We can hold them off for a bit longer, and we’re better shots, too.”
“Status quo,” Julie said. “The status quo is going to change, whether we like it or not. Right now it’s us against them, but they are busy fighting each other. That won’t last forever, and then what?”
“Then we can start fighting them,” Reggie said. He shrugged, as if it was the most obvious thing he’d ever thought.
“Right, but we’re going to run out of ammo before they run out of guys. The elevator left a few minutes ago to grab more guards, I’m sure. Why wait around for them to come back with reinforcements? Why not take control? At least catch them by surprise. We should be able to seriously reduce their numbers if we can get the guards in-between us and the Chinese.”
“Still, we’re not all going to make it.”
Julie felt her anger building, her stubbornness returning. She had always wanted things her way, and even though she was typically one of the smartest, most capable minds in the room, she had often been accused of ‘steamrolling’ her coworkers because of her passion for her own ideas. She had worked hard to reign things in, even attending courses and trainings on workplace relationships when she was younger. Lately she had been taking a more direct learning approach: she watched Ben interact with others. He was stubborn as well, but he was much more passive, forgiving, and nonchalant about trivial things. Where she was a bull, he was a bear. Still provokable, but much more likely to be laid back and reasonable until you directly angered him.
This, however, was not the workplace, and Ben was not around. For all she knew, he wasn’t even alive. The thought that he might be gone was not something she was ready to process, so she instead turned to the current situation.
She thought about the solution to the problem, and knew she needed backup.
“Joshua, you’re in charge, right?” she asked. The question was meant to stir up the emotions in the room, and it worked perfectly.
“What?” he responded, shocked.
Reggie’s eyes even widened, and she could see his mind racing even through his plastered grin.
“You’re in charge,” she repeated. “Hendricks took that away from you, but he’s gone now. So you’re it.”
“I — I guess.” Joshua looked to Ryan Kyle.
“Makes sense,” Kyle said. “Hendricks was always trying to stir the pot; make things more interesting. He was always testing us, provoking us. Made us better soldiers.”
“Was he testing me?” Joshua asked.
“Yes, but I don’t know what for.”
“I do,” Mrs. E said.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
Julie
“WAIT, WHAT?” JULIE HAD NOT considered that there was more going on beneath the surface than what Hendricks had explained on the plane. She merely wanted Joshua’s input as to their next course of action, their next plan.
More gunshots erupted, this time sprinkling the area above their heads. Reggie popped his head up between two tables and took a quick look. “There are only a few Chinese left in the stairway, and I’m counting four guards. Time’s running out, team. I say we stay here and fight it out.”
Julie shook her head and was about to argue, but Mrs. E started explaining. “My husband intended to test Joshua. He intended to test all of you, really. That’s why I am here. I will report to him when we return, and he will pass along that information.”
All eyes were on Mrs. E.
“Excuse me?” Julie asked. “You are testing us? For what? This is some sort of sick job interview?”
“No, nothing like that,” she said. “Not entirely. I do not really know the full plan, honestly. But this is all real. You are all here for the reasons he gave before we left. But there is a much bigger goal he is trying to accomplish as well, one that he will reveal to you upon completion of this mission.”
Julie felt betrayed, intrigued, slighted, and curious all at the same time. She couldn’t believe they had been led here, lured by a man’s claims to need their specific skill sets to accomplish this specific mission. She wanted to slug Mrs. E, but there were so many questions she needed an answer to. “I… still don’t understand. Why go through all this trouble? What does he want to know about us?” she asked.
Mrs. E held up a hand. “I am sorry I did not explain sooner. I was told to reveal what I know at a time that seemed appropriate. Right now, however, we need to do what Julie said. The status quo will change, and I would prefer if we were the ones to change it.”
“Why do you want to test us?” Joshua asked. His tone was harsh and critical.
“Please, let us get to the lower levels first. Then we can talk. I promise I will explain what I know. But we must get to that computer mainframe first.”
Joshua gritted his teeth and looked down at the floor. Julie could see his white-knuckled grip on his rifle tightening. He was calm, but she could see the turmoil — anger and confusion — blossoming inside him. She waited for his response as another retort of gunfire echoed over their heads. She ducked down further as a few bullets landed in one of the sideways tables nearby.
“Fine,” he said. His eyes were closed. “But not all of us. We’ll split up. There’s no way we’ll all make it to the elevator, and we can’t all fit at the same time, anyway. Reggie, Kyle, E, you’ll stay back. I’ll go down with Julie and Colson.”
Julie nodded.
“We’ll need you to cover for us, keep both sides off our backs.” Joshua looked around at the rest of the group, his eyes falling on Colson. “You think you can handle it?”
“I can rappel. I don’t like going up, but going down is fine.”
“Good. Let’s get ready.” He retrieved the rope and carabiners from his pack and began tying a large loop around the pillar, knotting the end of it with a bowline. He helped Julie and Colson tie theirs, then he began coiling the other end of the rope. He placed the coiled loops of rope in his backpack, then zipped it almost closed, allowing the very end of the rope to hang over his shoulder and down in front of his chest. Finally, he clipped the carabiner over the trailing section that was tied to the pillar and onto his belt loop. The effect was a pack full of climbing line that flowed down and through the carabiner, secured to the pillar at the back of the room.
“It’s not going to hold our body weight, but it will let the rope unravel freely without losing control. We run forward, the rope gets pulled out of the pack, and this end — “ he held up the end of the rope dangling over his shoulder — “we hold on to. When we get to the elevator, unsling your pack and grab whatever rope you have left, and unclip the carabiner. We won’t be tied down, so you’ll need to hang on to the rope when you go over the edge. Understand?”
Julie nodded, and was surprised to see Colson nodding along as well. Joshua helped them prepare their own climbing apparatus.
“Good.” He looked at the other three. “You ready?”
“Ready when you are, boss,” Reggie said. He grinned, and Joshua reached out a hand. They shook, and Reggie’s smile grew. “We’ll see you down there.”
“Hope so.” Joshua turned to Julie and Colson. “On three. Shoot only if you have to; let Reggie and the others cover you. Your goal is to get to that open elevator shaft, quickly.”
“Got it,” Julie said.
Before s
he could finish talking, Joshua was counting.
“…Two, three!” he shouted and burst forward. Julie reacted on instinct, following just behind their new leader. Colson, she hoped, had also jumped off the starting block with them.
Guns immediately swiveled their direction and started firing. Julie felt a wave of fear shoot up from her stomach and lurch into her throat as she realized there were multiple enemies aiming at her.
And we’re running directly toward them.
She noticed the man closest to her, a few paces to the right and about twenty feet away, lifting his gun to his eye and preparing to fire. She winced, still running.
At least I’ll be a moving target.
She tried to push her legs even faster, hoping they could somehow beat a bullet.
She heard a crack from a gun, and the man fell. Another man ducked out of the way and disappeared behind a pillar, and she realized Kyle, Mrs. E, and Reggie had started their attack.
Adrenaline coursed through her and she refocused her eyes on the open black hole of the elevator shaft. Joshua was very fast, but she was not far behind. She didn’t dare look back for Colson, but she hoped he would be able to keep up.
Two Chinese soldiers poked their heads out of the stairwell where they had been for the past few minutes, wide-eyed and clearly surprised that the Americans were making a break for it. They tried to aim, but found themselves pushed back into the stairs from more gunshots — both from Reggie’s group and from the security force.
They were only twenty strides from the elevator when she heard Joshua yell. “Keep running!”
I am, she thought. You don’t have to remind me.
She looked up in front of Joshua and immediately understood why he had shouted.
The opening to the elevator shaft was shrinking. The car was returning from one of the top levels and was slowly descending the shaft, blocking off more of their escape with every inch.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
Jonathan
FOR THE LAST TWO HOURS, Jonathan Colson had felt relatively safe with the group. There was something to be said for being a part of a group, even if the group was being shot at and accosted at every turn. At least he wasn’t being shot at and accosted alone. He had grown to like the group in the short amount of time he had been with them, especially Juliette Richardson. She was intelligent, driven, and kind, and it didn’t hurt that he found her stunningly beautiful.
Colson had never really had a girlfriend, so he found most of the opposite sex attractive. Something about the fear they instilled in him and the self-consciousness he felt around them made them all the more mysterious and gorgeous, in an off-limits sort of way. Julie was both of these things, and yet a perfect match for the extremely intimidating Harvey Bennett.
From his perspective, just as most females seemed to be out of his reach on the looks scale, most men seemed to be equally distant from him on the masculinity scale. He knew he was the weakest link in the group, as he had typically always been throughout his life.
But he no longer felt ‘relatively safe.’ The enemies were on them, and both sets were firing bursts of gunfire his direction, protected only by the teammates at his back. They had proven themselves capable marksmen, but running through a battlefield was not something Colson was comfortable with. Furthermore, the likelihood of success of their plan was shrinking with every inch of space the descending elevator car stole from the open shaft.
Joshua was nearly at the opening, followed closely by Julie. Colson was frustrated that his body was not up to the task of keeping up, but he had done his best to pump his legs and arms as if his life depended on it. He didn’t need the reminder that his life certainly did depend on it.
Joshua turned around at the opening, grabbing the wad of rope from his pack and tossing it down the shaft. “Let’s go!” he shouted, bringing his rifle up with his other hand.
Colson eyed the opening, noticing that the elevator was nearly at Joshua’s head.
I’m not going to make it.
He wanted to shout that in response, but he wasn’t sure he could keep running and yell.
Julie made it to the edge of the elevator shaft in a perfect feet-first slide, her pack swinging around and landing in her lap just as she came to a halt. She copied Joshua’s movement, throwing her rope down the shaft and turning to wait for Colson.
“I — I’m not going —“ he stammered, attempting to form a coherent sentence, but there was spittle forming on the sides of his mouth and sweat stinging his eyes. At some point in the past hour he had worked up an interminable sweat, the perspiration now falling freely from his most unflattering areas.
The sweat was the least of his worries. Gunshots pinged around him, nailing computer workstations that only a day before were occupied by his fellow employees, and he jumped in reaction. He landed on his ankle, feeling the sprain immediately. He cried out, falling to the floor.
Julie yelled something at him, but the sound was drowned out by a much larger barrage of gunfire, the bullets streaming over him where he was running only a split second before.
He pulled himself forward, trying to keep moving while simultaneously trying to stay low enough to escape the attack, keep pressure off his ankle, and somehow make it to the elevator in time. His knees found the ground beneath his body, and he was soon in a bear crawl, moving awkwardly but purposefully toward the exit.
The shaft was now halfway into the opening, and it seemed from Colson’s perspective to be speeding up. Worse, he could clearly see that the elevator was full of people, most of them wearing the same black pants of the soldier-security force.
“Colson! Let’s go!” Joshua yelled.
I’m trying, he thought. There were tears mixed in with the sweat on his face now, creeping up on him in the last few minutes. He didn’t want to die, and it seemed that the only choice he had left to make was to die either from an attack from his right side, from the security team on the elevator directly in front of him, or from being crushed halfway beneath the elevator car. He wasn’t much of a crier, but then again he wasn’t much for being in life-or-death situations.
Screw this.
Colson launched himself forward, his out of shape body somehow defying gravity for long enough to sail through the air and close the distance to the waiting pair in front of him. He landed — hard — on the floor, and stretched out his arms toward Joshua and Julie. He heard the shots of Reggie, Mrs. E, and Ryan Kyle as they tried to press back against the security force already on the level and the Chinese soldiers still holding the stairwell. Colson heard the retorts from a new set of guns directly above his head, from the security team descending the elevator, then he heard their commander call for a ceasefire as he discovered that the bullets were not able to make it through the holes in the elevator car’s door without hitting metal.
He reached for Joshua, and felt his fingertips brush his. Julie was stretched out as well, grasping for his arms, but he heard Joshua yell at her.
“Go! Now!” he shouted. “Get over and start rappelling.”
Julie ignored him, instead pulling Colson’s arm toward her. He slid forward, trying to offer whatever help he could, but he was barely able to breathe, much less exert physical effort. The elevator was now three feet away from the floor of Level 7, and the soldiers inside were aiming for Colson’s prone body, waiting for the cage to unlock.
I’m not going to make it. The words repeated in his mind over and over.
With a final effort, Julie and Joshua both reached for one of his arms and tugged. Colson pushed with the tip of his good foot, finding just enough purchase on the floor to propel himself slightly forward. His twisted ankle flared with pain, but he ignored it. It wasn’t broken, and he could tell it was only a minor sprain.
The combined movement of the three people was enough, and Colson found himself staring down into a black hole — the elevator shaft. He quickly rolled sideways and pulled his feet around to the edge of the cliff, then over the side. His
torso and upper body were still out on the floor, holding his weight. Joshua and Julie were now reaching around for his pack, helping themselves to the rope and climbing equipment.
“Go, Colson. Now!” Joshua barked. Colson didn’t have a choice in when he would start his rappel — Julie pushed him backwards with her foot, not even taking her eyes off the descending elevator. She followed him over the edge, glancing at him quickly to ensure he was still holding the rope.
“I — I’m in,” he said, still shaken. “Thank you.”
Julie wasn’t listening. She was on a mission, and Colson saw only the top of her head, fading into blackness, as she slid down the rope toward the next level.
Soon Joshua was on his other side, also beginning his rappel. Colson took a deep breath. He looked down, glad the hole below him was mostly darkness, giving it the illusion of being relatively shallow. He took a hand off the rope to adjust his pack, holding his body weight momentarily with a single white-knuckled hand.
I made it, he thought, just as he saw a shadow appear in front of him.
A man — one wearing the clothes of the security force — was kneeling on the floor of Level 7, pointing his gun down into the remaining foot of space between the elevator car’s floor and the shaft.
Directly at Colson’s head.
He smiled at Colson, a truly evil, menacing grin that told Jonathan Colson everything he needed to know: he had captured his prey, and he was ready to put it out of its misery.
Colson winced, knowing that the man’s trigger finger was the only thing keeping him alive.
The barrel of the gun fell forward, coming to a stop an inch away from Colson’s forehead. A cruel, arrogant move, meant only to display power before the kill shot.
Something in Colson stirred. He felt his nostrils flare, subconsciously tightening his hand around the rope. He tensed, feeling biceps he rarely exercised and an abdomen hidden beneath too many layers of fat snap into action. He had never considered himself strong, but carrying around extra weight for years gave him an advantage he had never realized. He knew what adrenaline was supposed to feel like, though up to this point in his life he had never truly felt it himself.
