“Sarah!” I shouted, shaking her. “Hey! We can’t stay here. I need you to focus, okay? Are you hurt?” She was shell-shocked.
“I don’t think so,” she responded, still sounding distant. “I just fell down when the shell hit. I think I hit my head on the floor.”
“C’mon, we gotta go,” I said.
“I can’t leave Anita.”
“We have to. She’s dead. There’s nothing you can do for her now. Come on now, please!”
Sarah took a deep breath and jerkily nodded her head. She gently lowered Anita’s body to the floor, and I extended my arm. Sarah grabbed it, and I pulled her to her feet.
“Come on, we have to get out of here,” I urged. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine,” she answered, sounding more collected. She brought her slung carbine around and grasped it in her hands. “I’ll be okay. Let’s go.” I nodded and led the way back into the hall, heading for the stairs.
“Wait!” Sarah cried. “The Colonel! He was in his office!” She turned and ran down the hall to Hunter’s office without waiting for me. I swore aloud and followed.
Hunter’s office door was lying on the floor in the hall. Sarah stepped on it as she crossed into the room. I coughed in the smoky air as I followed. The office was smashed. Part of the ceiling had collapsed and fallen right on Hunter’s desk.
“Mike!” Sarah was kneeling on the floor next to the pile of rubble that had come from the ceiling. Colonel Hunter was trapped under the debris. It had all come down right in his lap, smashing his chair to the floor and crushing him.
“Colonel!” I crouched down next to Sarah. “Jesus,” I said, surveying the damage. It was bad. Hunter was broken and bleeding. A massive pile of blocks and rebar had landed on his abdomen. Only one of his legs was visible under the rubble.
“Valentine?” Hunter asked weakly, blood tricking from his mouth.
“I’m here, sir,” I said, leaning in so I could hear him over the noise of the fighting outside. “We’re gonna get you out of here. Hang on.”
“Bullshit,” Hunter wheezed. “I ain’t goin’ nowhere. You . . . you get her out of here, you hear me, boy?”
“Yes, sir,” I replied solemnly.
Hunter coughed up a small amount of blood. “You know I was supposed to leave last night? All of us were. Not you guys, but the support staff. I said no. I told Gordon I wasn’t leaving until all my guys got out. I think maybe that wasn’t such a good idea,” he said, somehow managing a raspy laugh.
“What happened, Colonel? That boat was a Zubaran gunboat. It strafed the docks, killed a bunch of us.” Sarah gasped as I told them that. “What the hell is going on?”
“Gordon Willis sold us out,” Hunter said quietly. “He . . . he told the hajjis where we are. Made a deal with somebody. Same thing with that raid on Montalban’s yacht. That was his own idea, not a sanctioned hit. Gordon’s playing both sides. Son of a bitch sold us out.”
My eyes narrowed, and my hands clenched into fists. I was so angry I was shaking. I closed my eyes for a second and tried to remain focused.
“Take this,” Hunter said. He pushed a small object into my hand. It was a thumb drive. “Everything on Project Heartbreaker is on here. I’ve been doing some homework. Everything I found out about Gordon’s double-dealing is on here, too.”
“What do I do with this, sir?” I asked. The thumb drive had Colonel Hunter’s bloody thumbprint on it.
“Give it to the right people,” the colonel replied. “Find someone you can trust. Be careful. This is a lot bigger . . .” Hunter’s voice trailed off. He coughed up more blood.
“Colonel! Stay with us!” Sarah cried.
“This is bigger than you know,” Hunter whispered, his one eye staring at me intently. “There’s something else, too, not on the drive. Another project. Like Red, only bigger this time.” Hunter trailed off again. His breathing was ragged now. Blood bubbled out of his nose. “Project Blue’s ready. You’ve got to . . .” His words tapered off, too faint to hear.
Hunter was almost gone. “I can’t hear you. What?” I asked urgently.
Suddenly he grabbed my armor and pulled me close with surprising intensity. “Evangeline!” he hissed. Then his grip relaxed. His eye unfocused. “Find—” He coughed, painful and wet, gasping for air as his body shut down.
Colonel Curtis Hunter died before he could finish that sentence. I quietly swore to myself before gently closing his eye. I pocketed the thumb drive and stood up.
“What was he trying to say?” Sarah asked.
I shook my head. “I hope it’s on this drive. I hope it’s not for nothing.” I stepped across the room and looked out the window. My remaining teammates had fallen back to the supply building behind my position. They were being pushed back to the docks. Enemy troops continued to pour in around the disabled tank, spreading out through the motorpool as they entered the compound. There was literally a heap of dead Zubaran militiamen all around the tank, but more kept coming, stepping over their dead comrades. General Al Sabah was using the local radical militants as cannon fodder.
Sarah huddled close to me. “What are we going to do?” There was fear in her voice.
“I still have the phone Ling gave me.” I was scared too. “If we get out of the compound, we can contact her. She said the deal was still on if we needed her help. We can—”
Before I could finish that thought, the entire compound was rocked by a huge explosion. The concussion hit my face through the shattered windows. A section of wall just down from the gate was blasted high into the air. I turned and shoved Sarah to the floor, covering her with my body as pieces of the wall rained on the compound.
I risked another look out the window. Through the new hole in the wall, dozens more soldiers streamed into the compound, a lot more Zubaran regulars, supported by some kind of wheeled armored car. They had to be hitting us with a company-sized element, if not bigger.
Sarah shook her head. She grabbed my hand and held it tightly. “We’re . . . we’re going to die here, aren’t we?”
I stood there helplessly watching as the Zubarans pushed my remaining friends back even farther. The compound was being overrun, and they weren’t taking prisoners. I looked down at the floor, then over at Sarah. I nodded slowly as my last hope died.
Sarah closed her eyes for a second while she took a deep breath. “Promise me you’ll stay with me until the end,” she said, looking into my eyes.
“I promise,” I replied. “I won’t leave you. No matter what.” Tears welled up in Sarah’s eyes as she leaned forward and kissed me. I stepped back and steeled myself. “Are you locked and loaded?”
Sarah pulled back the charging handle on her carbine slightly, checking the chamber. “I’m ready.”
“Stay behind me. Stay low. Move when I move, stop when I stop. We’re going to circle around the backside of the building and link up with our guys on the other side. Let’s go,” I said, leading the way out of Hunter’s office. Zubaran soldiers were running past the admin building, one floor down from where I was. I didn’t have much time before they entered the building. It’s a strange feeling, knowing you’re running off to your own death.
I didn’t make it three steps before my phone rang.
Chapter 20:
Rain
LORENZO
It had begun to rain, giant, stinging drops falling like some sort of biblical vengeance.
I was pulling myself around the back corner of the brig when a Zubaran armored car came through a breach in the wall. Soldiers in desert camouflage scurried through behind it, firing wildly at anything that moved. Muzzle flashes were coming from everywhere as Dead Six returned fire.
Really. Not. Cool.
Deaf in one ear, every inch of me hurting, and with two broken fingers, I crouched in the shadows and called for help. “Reaper! Come in Reaper! This is Lorenzo. Come in, damn it!” I shouted into the radio.
“Lorenzo! You’re alive! Get out of there. The army is
attacking!”
No shit. “Status?
Carl responded. “The road’s blocked. I can see five armored cars. There’s a company-sized element hitting the compound now, mix of regulars and militia. You’ve got an unknown number of troops sitting in reserve about a click off the gate.”
“What about the dock?” If I could get out the back way, I could swim for it.
Reaper came back. “There’s a couple patrol boats out there now.”
Something whistled off to the side and exploded against Building One. The army was launching RPGs. I ran a few feet to the side and took cover behind a low wall. Hunkering down, I watched the battle between Dead Six and the army unfold. The Americans were putting up a fight, taking defensive positions around the buildings, but there seemed to be an unending stream of fanatical fighters pouring in. Bullets were flying in every direction, some leaving visible trails, the rain was so thick. A few Dead Six ran past, carrying heavy weapons, but they were too preoccupied to notice me hiding in the mud.
“What’s your status?” Carl demanded.
I had broken at least one rib, if not more, and one lung felt like it was full of burning hydrogen instead of air. “Oh, I’m doing just swell. But the exit’s blocked.” Just as I said that, the armored car exploded, lifting and flipping its turret on a pillar of fire and throwing fragments fifty feet into the air. “Damn! Really blocked. I’ll think of something.”
“Lorenzo, be careful.” It was Jill. She sounded terrified.
“Get off the line!” I snapped. There was no time for sentimentality. Off to my right, several grenades exploded around the parked cars, shredding some of the Dead Six personnel. One of the Americans, badly injured, stumbled, confused, in the direction of the enemy, raising his empty hands in surrender and was shot dead on the spot. They weren’t taking any prisoners. “Reaper, can you keep L.B. in the air in this weather?”
“Yeah, chief. It’s all-weather capable.”
“I need you to be my eyes. I’m at the east wall, by the old brig, uh, Building Six.”
“Lots of heat blooms from the explosions. Wait. I see you.”
I had to get out of here. The army was bottlenecked with that APC blocking the hole in the wall and a tank burning in the main gate. As long as they kept trickling through, Dead Six could hold them, but I didn’t want to be out here in the open when either side started getting desperate. Dead Six personnel had moved out of the dorm to hold the gates, so they should be empty. “I’m going to take cover back inside the apartments. Let me know when I’ve got company.” Both sides of this battle would kill me, so it was time to do what I do best in situations like this. Hide.
Slipping through the rapidly growing puddles, I had just reached the dorm when I was forced to dodge into a doorway to hide. Some more Dead Six men ran past, guns held high, faces grim. Once they were gone, I ran up the stairs, sprinted down the hall, and ducked back into the Valentine’s room. At least it was familiar, and I really didn’t want to participate in the war unfolding outside.
“Reaper, status?”
“Dead Six is fighting like crazy, but more Zubarans are inside. You better think of something fast, boss, because they’re coming in force now.”
Plan. I needed a plan. The rain drumming the roof was louder than the gunfire. My eye landed on the bug-out bag filled with my money.
VALENTINE
I looked at my cell phone like I’d never seen one before as it beeped and buzzed in my hand. Tailor was calling.
“Hello?” I said awkwardly, pressing the talk button.
“Where the fuck are you?” Tailor screamed in my ear.
“I’m in the admin building,” I hissed, trying not to make too much noise. “I found Sarah. Hunter, too. Hunter’s dead.”
Tailor swore. “You have to get back here, right now!”
“Get back where?” I asked, exasperated.
“The north side of the supply building. We’ve . . . shit, choppers inbound! I’ll call you back!” The line went dead.
“What is it?” Sarah asked. As if to answer her question, a Zubaran Army Mi-17 helicopter came in low over the compound. It slowed and came to a hover between the admin building and the dormitory. It was so close I could see up into the open back door. I pushed Sarah to the floor and lay on top of her, hoping the troops in the back of the helicopter couldn’t see down into the window.
“Stay down,” I told Sarah over the roar of the chopper’s rotor. I poked the top of my head over the bottom of the shattered window frame so I could see. The door gunner on the left side was constantly firing. The chopper’s hull was pinged and dinged by bullets as my teammates returned fire.
Ropes dropped from the chopper’s open back door. Zubaran Special Forces soldiers, clad in their distinctive blue camouflage fatigues, began to fast-rope to the ground. They were inserting them right in the middle of the compound.
Four soldiers had reached the ground when an RPG rocket punched into the chopper’s front-left quarter, right behind the cockpit, and exploded. The chopper spun wildly once, flinging a soldier out the back door, before going nose down and slamming into the dirt. Pieces of the chopper’s rotor shot across the compound as it landed right on top of the troops it had just inserted.
My phone buzzed again, and I ducked back down. “Tailor!” I said, pushing it to my ear.
“Listen,” Tailor said. “You have to get to the north side of the supply building. We wired up the west wall with explosives. As soon as it blows, we’re going to make a break for it. We’ve got those two trucks, the Army ones. We can’t wait. Another APC just came in through the hole they breached. The chopper wreck will hold up the armor for a minute, but they’ll get around it.” The Zubaran vehicles had to go up the narrow corridor between the admin and supply buildings and the dormitory. The west side of the compound was blocked by the remains of an old stone wall that was part of the original British fort.
“Okay, we’re moving,” I said.
“Val, we can’t wait,” Tailor repeated. “If you’re not here in a couple minutes . . .”
“Leave without me. If I’m not there in a minute, it means I’m dead. Good luck, bro.”
“Good luck.”
Stashing the phone, I quickly outlined the plan to Sarah.
“That’s crazy!”
I agreed. “But it’s the only chance we’ve got. Come on, we have to go. It’s not far.” We had one shot, and we were going to take it. I checked out the window. The Zubarans were still advancing. It was too risky to go back the way I’d come in. Cautiously, I led the way as we entered the stairwell, hoping we could make it to the first floor unnoticed. The admin building only had one set of stairs, and they landed on the first floor right by the east-side door.
We were on the landing between the first and second floors. I held my hand up, signaling Sarah to stop, and peered around the corner. The ground-floor landing appeared to be clear but was illuminated from the outside. Problem was, a squad of Zubaran soldiers had hunkered down by that door to shoot at my comrades.
The door was still open to the outside. There was no way we’d get by unnoticed. Shit.
“Hang on,” I whispered to Sarah. “Cover your ears.” I pulled a grenade from my vest and grasped it tightly in my hand. I peeked around the corner again and, sure enough, saw movement and shadows. The enemy troops were still there. I pulled the pin, leaned around the corner, and tossed the grenade down the stairs.
BOOM! The concussion was deafening as the grenade detonated. We had no time to waste. I slapped Sarah on the shoulder and quickly made my way down the stairs.
On the ground-floor landing was a dead solider. As I came down the stairs, another man entered the building, G3 rifle held at the hip. I snapped off a shot at point-blank range, aiming high so my shot would clear his body armor. The bullet tore through the soldier’s throat. Before he hit the floor, I was on the landing. Just outside the door was another wounded soldier. Two of his comrades were leaning over him, tending to
his wounds. One was looking up at me as I appeared in the doorway. I shot him in the face, shifted over, and shot the other before he could react. I left the unconscious Zubaran alone and rounded the corner, heading deeper into the admin building.
We entered the operations center. It had been gutted, with all of the valuable equipment removed or destroyed. Crossing the ops center, we cleared its back door and entered the short hallway that lead to the north door. Sarah watched our backs. With the noise of the battle going on outside, I couldn’t hear very well. For all I knew another squad of Zubarans was parked just outside. I decided to crack the door as quietly as I could and take a peek.
The door was stuck. I swore aloud.
“Mike, they’re coming!” Sarah said. She had the door to the ops center cracked and was watching the way we’d come in. Before I could say anything she stuck the muzzle of her carbine through the door and fired off a long burst. “I got one!” she shouted.
“Get down!” I screamed as bullets punched through the metal doors and zipped down the hall. Sarah ducked to the floor, stuck her carbine through the door again, and fired off the rest of her magazine on full auto.
She looked over at me. “What are you waiting for?”
“Reload, reload!” I shouted. “The door is stuck! I can’t get it open!”
“Kick it or something!” Sarah yelled, fumbling as she tried to insert another magazine into her weapon. “I’ll hold ‘em off!”
“Short, controlled bursts!” I shouted, then turned back to the door. I kicked it as hard as I could. It budged a little. More shots punched through the door and came down the hallway. One buzzed right past my ear. “Fuck this,” I said to no one in particular. I backed up, stuck my right shoulder out, and charged at the door, yelling like a madman as I went barreling down the hallway. I hit the door, and it popped wide open. I flew out into the rain, tripped, and landed face-first in the mud, right on top of my weapon.
Dead Six Page 39
