Coded

by Kayla Bainbridge

  “Wait, Ryan, you don’t have to do this,” Kennedy pleaded. She looked to Dustin, and he felt terrible. What could he do?

  “Stop!” Dustin demanded.

  Ryan looked to him, as if for the first time. Then he returned his gaze back to Kennedy. The man situated behind him grabbed some duct tape from the desk Jordan was using. He then taped Dustin’s mouth shut, set the tape on the counter, and resumed his position.

  “Don’t worry, it isn’t going to hurt you,” Ryan said, obviously not listening to Kennedy’s pleading.

  Ryan filled the syringe with a chemical from inside a little bottle. He pushed the air out of the syringe and then nodded to the man standing next to Kennedy.

  Dustin grunted, but he was ignored.

  The man came around from behind Kennedy and held her left arm for Ryan to inject the needle. Dustin tried to stand, but the man next to him held him down.

  “No! Stop!” she screamed as she tried to thrash around.

  “It’ll take a few minutes for the drug to start working,” Ryan said as he injected her. His face was full of regret. Once he was finished, the man released her, and Ryan pulled the syringe back.

  Instantly the situation transformed. Kennedy leapt up from her seat holding a gun. It must have been the sidearm from the man who had been holding her down. She had swiped his gun with her free hand.

  “Stand back!” she said as she backed into the kitchen. She was severely outnumbered. Five to one.

  One man standing next to Dustin started to pull for his gun. Grunting, Dustin pushed off his feet and rammed him to the ground. Painfully, he himself also rolled to the ground, but the man had been disarmed.

  “Release him!” Kennedy demanded.

  Jordan turned around at the commotion.

  “Kennedy! Calm down my sweet,” he said getting up.

  A gun fired, and Dustin saw Jordan fall to the ground. Screaming in pain, he grabbed his knee.

  “Shut up Jordan!”

  Everyone took a step backwards. Kennedy held the gun perfectly and kept her eyes on all the targets.

  “You!” she yelled at the man standing near Dustin. His hands were up.

  “Unlock Dustin’s cuffs.”

  He hesitated, and Kennedy aimed her gun back at Jordan before shooting him again.

  “Do it!” Jordan screamed as he now reached for his arm.

  Dustin had never seen this side of Kennedy. He knew they had trained her on how to use a weapon, but he never expected her to initiate it. She was controlling the room well, Dustin was impressed.

  The man quickly complied and bent down to work on Dustin’s feet.

  Another gunshot sounded and the man who had been holding Kennedy’s arm was now on the ground.

  “What was that?” the man screamed, now also grabbing his leg.

  “Oh sorry, I thought you were grabbing your gun.”

  “You have my gun you idiot.”

  “Right….” Kennedy said embarrassingly.

  Dustin was free now and quickly got up and kicked the man.

  “Don’t talk to a lady like that.”

  Turning to face Kennedy, Dustin asked. “I’ll cuff them. Do you have me covered?”

  “Yes,” Kennedy said sternly, as she moved the gun back and forth.

  “Good job Kennedy, hold in there.”

  Dustin worked quickly. He used the cuffs that had been on his hands and feet only seconds ago, along with Kennedy’s, to handcuff the three guards. He then used the duct tape from the counter to secure Ryan and Jordan. With each person, Dustin had patted them down and disarmed all of their weapons and phones. A large pile now sat in the middle of the room.

  Next, Dustin picked up one of the phones that he had taken from their hostages. Picking Ryan’s, he quickly used his finger to unlock the phone and dialed the NSA. Typing away on the computer, he tried to grant access to the NSA. All of Jordan’s contacts and computer codes had vanished, but it didn’t hurt to try.

  Checking back with Kennedy, she was still sweeping the room.

  “Are you still good?”

  “Yes, hurry Dustin,” she pleaded.

  “Agent 46524,” Dustin said into the phone as he continued to type. “Alpha, India, Victor, Delta, Romeo.”

  Dustin heard the front door open.

  “We’re back here!” Jordan yelled.

  “Kennedy!” Dustin yelled as he turned to warn her.

  She had already been in position and had started firing on the men who had entered. Sprinting to meet her in the kitchen, he looked down the hallway and saw three men collapsed on the ground. All of them grabbing a limp.

  “Wow Kennedy, you are heartless!” Dustin said as he worked on tying the newcomers up.

  As he approached one of the men, he recognized him. It was an old acquaintance, Jackson. The man also recognized Dustin and signaled him. Dustin pulled him down the hall into the bedroom.

  “Kennedy, this one is bleeding pretty bad, I’ll be back in a second.”

  “Ok,” Kennedy said, holding her position.

  “Talk,” Dustin said.

  “I'm an NSA undercover agent for the company.”

  “Spill then, I don’t have much time,” Dustin said, thinking about Kennedy.

  “They plan on extracting the information they need, and then setting off an EMP attack.”

  “Anything else?” Dustin asked.

  “No.”

  Dustin nodded as he dragged the man back out to the hallway with the rest.

  As Dustin was tying everyone up, Kennedy also recognized Jackson.

  “Brandon?”

  “Hey Kennedy,” he replied.

  “What are you doing here!”

  Dustin was taping everyone’s gunshots and mouths, and quickly did Jackson’s. He didn’t want her involved with anyone else.

  “Kennedy, remember your place.”

  Nodding heavily, she backed up into the kitchen.

  Jackson took the hint and didn’t try to communicate.

  Remembering the phone, Dustin finished all the taping, and ran back to the computer.

  He picked up the phone again, “Agent Dustin are you there?”

  “Yes, I’m here. I need a cleanup team.”

  “Where are you located?”

  “Oh,” Dustin hadn’t even thought of that. He quickly looked up their current location on the computer. “Yes, 809 Anderson St Colesville, MD 21738.”

  “Ok, we have a helicopter and ground team on the way. We also got access to the computer. Do you need anything else?”

  “Dustin?” Kennedy said faintly.

  “No, see you soon.”

  “Hold on Kennedy,” Dustin said, switching to text.

  Typing in Jennifer and Brett’s numbers quickly, he wrote, “Penny company mole, EMP attack not a bomb.”

  Dustin then pocketed the phone and turned to see Kennedy. She was leaning against the wall. Her eyes looked glazed over.

  With four steps he was by her side. He took the gun from her.

  “Easy Kennedy,” he said holding her upright. How was he going to do this? Kennedy was drugged, but he had eight hostages to watch too.

  Leaning against the kitchen cabinets, he slid down until he was sitting on the ground. Kennedy easily followed him down. Sitting on the ground she could lean into him, and he could see all of the hostages. He held the gun in the ready position.

  “I don’t feel very good,” Kennedy admitted.

  “Just hold on, help is on the way.”

  “Taylor?” Kennedy asked.

  “I know, we’ll find him. Let’s get you out of here first.”

  She leaned her head on his shoulder.

  “You were fantastic.”

  “I shot that guy on accident.”

  Dustin smiled, “He punched you in the face, he probably deserved it.”

  She giggled quietly, “Probably.”

  They sat there for a few minutes, Dustin sweeping the area and then checking on Kennedy. She was becoming l
ess alert. The words she said were sluggish and she complained about being dizzy. Where were those guys?

  At about the ten-minute mark, Kennedy fell into unconsciousness.

  Finding Ryan, he pointed the gun at him, “What did you give her?”

  Ryan grunted through the tape. Dustin gently laid Kennedy on the ground and walked over to Ryan. Roughly, he ripped the tape off.

  “What did you give her?” he repeated.

  “It’s a drug the company was experimenting with. It is supposed to relax the person, make them lethargic, she shouldn’t have passed out.

  Looking back at Kennedy she was now shaking violently.

  “Please!” Ryan said. “Let me help her.”

  Dustin didn’t have many options. Kennedy was having a seizure. Quickly, he pulled Ryan away from the group. Set his gun down, cut the tape holding his hands, and let Ryan go. Grabbing the gun, he then swept the room. Everyone had been watching Kennedy.

  “Can you save her?” Dustin asked.

  Ryan had grabbed his bag and found a few things. He injected Kennedy again with something and she stopped shaking. Then he checked her pulse and looked worried again.

  “Her heart rate is falling, how far out is that helicopter?”

  “Any minute now?” Dustin guessed. Was he going to lose Kennedy? After all the kidnappings, all the security, all of the beatings? She couldn’t die now.

  Ryan looked panicked, but quickly went to work. Dustin switched from checking the hostages to checking on Kennedy. The doctor had already set up an IV and injected her with something else. Checking her vitals, he nodded.

  “I’ve been able to stabilize her for now.”

  Dustin released a deep breath. She was ok, for the moment.

  “Thank you,” Dustin said as Ryan continued to work.

  “Anything for Kennedy.”

  A few minutes later a car pulled up to the house, and he could hear the medevac helicopter arriving. Dustin waited inside. He couldn’t leave anyone alone. An NSA SWAT team busted through the door. They held their guns raised as they walked through the house. Dustin carefully set his gun down.

  “Agent Dustin,” he said announcing himself.

  “We need medical help,” Ryan said.

  One of the men nodded and whistled. The rest of his team checked the house before returning to the living and kitchen area. They then pulled bodies out of the way so the hospital cot could fit through the hallway. All of the shot men moaned as they were placed but didn’t resist.

  Three paramedics ran in and approached Kennedy.

  Ryan stood up and started spouting out everything he knew about what had happened. Dustin could hardly keep up, but the paramedics were nodding knowingly.

  “Ok, we’ll take good care of her,” one said as they loaded her onto the bed.

  “I’m coming with her!” Dustin declared. “Sir, do you have it here?”

  The SWAT leader looked up from the man he was examining, “Yes, my team can handle this. Stay with your asset.”

  Asset? Right, Taylor! Was he alive?

  “My partner, he’s in a warehouse an hour from here,” Dustin said yelling as he walked down the hallway. The helicopter was still running, they expected a quick in and out.

  “When we fix this up, we’ll call you at the hospital.”

  “Ok!” Dustin said out the door.

  ∆∆∆

  Chapter 19

  S 10011

  With facial recognition and monitoring her badge, it didn't take long for Brett to find Penny inside the NSA. Especially with most of the building currently evacuating. She stuck out like a sore thumb.

  “Get over there now!” Brett said to the special tactic team that was waiting for his signal. Right now, she was entering the building and making her way down the south hall. The hallway led to the elevators, but everything was shut down, she would have to use the staircase. Brett directed the team there to intercept.

  “Hopefully, this goes down smoothly,” Jennifer said as she watched Penny find the shutdown elevators and turn towards the staircase.

  “Not likely,” Brett said. “But we can always hope.”

  ∆∆∆

  Penny entered the building and scanned her badge. Her timer had begun. Going through security, she passed without any alerts. She calmly exhaled in relief.

  Now, she needed to get upstairs. All of the elevators were shut down, so she turned towards the staircase. Casually she opened the door and made her way up to the third floor. Down the hallway she found the closet she was looking for. Checking the hallway, she ducked inside and closed the door.

  Once inside she pulled off her backpack. Carefully, she took everything out to assemble the machine. The process only took her a few minutes before she set it on a shelf and exited the closet. Step one complete.

  Moving back towards the stairs, she then ascended to level seven. This floor was almost completely deserted. Moving quickly, she found her designated location. Once again, she pulled out the components, she needed for the second machine.

  When she was nearly complete, she heard a shuffle outside the door. Her time was running out. Quickly she finished the machine.

  Turning on her com, she whispered, “I need a visual outside level seven.”

  “Give me a second,” her partner said. “The special tactics team is on your level. You can still sneak by if you move now. Make your way to the servers on route B.”

  “Ok,” Penny said, her heart racing. Could she still pull this off? One million dollars was waiting for her, she had to do it.

  Slowly she opened the door. Down the main hallway she could see the team spreading out and meticulously checking each room. Once each member entered a room, she slipped out of the closet and sprinted down the hallway.

  “That way!” she heard someone yell.

  “Shoot!” she said almost running into the server’s doors. Fumbling with her keycard, she finally placed it on the scanner.

  The light turned red. Scanning her card again, she was disappointed when the red light appeared again. She was locked out.

  “I’m locked out, now what?” Penny asked frantically.

  “Get out of there!”

  “Right,” Penny said, surveying the area. She only had seconds left.

  ∆∆∆

  Dustin and Kennedy had landed at the closest military hospital. The paramedics had been busy the entire flight. Dustin couldn’t see Kennedy from the front but had confidence in the flight crew.

  Now, they were running from the roof into the building. The paramedics relayed all the information that Ryan had passed to them to the nurses and doctors that met them. Kennedy was still unconscious.

  “Who are you?” one of the doctors asked as they rolled Kennedy into the hospital doors.

  “NSA, this is my asset. You should know, she has a resilience to drugs.”

  "What does that mean?"

  "Give her a double dose of whatever you give her."

  The doctor raised his eyebrow, intrigued, before barking off orders to the nurses running with them.

  They quickly found a room, transferred Kennedy to the bed before they took over. All of them worked together in harmony.

  “Her oxygen level is dropping,” one said.

  “We’ll have to intubate,” the doctor said.

  Dustin stood as close as he could without standing in the way. Kennedy looked terrible. All the wires, monitors, and her clothes cut open, it was hard for Dustin to look. Was she going to make it?

  Suddenly her eyes were open. Dustin frantically pushed his way forward. She sat up and screamed. Her eyes desperately searched the rooms.

  “Kennedy,” Dustin said calmly, taking her hand.

  The nurses and doctors were running around them, but Dustin focused on Kennedy. Her eyes found him in the midst of confusion.

  “I’m right here, we are ok,” Dustin said, trying to keep her focused on him.

  “I feel so weak,” she whispered.

  “Just
rest,” Dustin assured her

  Her eyes closed, and two nurses gently caught her as she fell backwards. The hand he was holding fell limp again. She was asleep again. Dustin backed up again and let the doctors do their job.

  |You weren't joking," the doctor said.

  "Take care of her," Dustin said.

  ∆∆∆

  “Where is she running to?” Jennifer asked as she watched the special tactics team close their distance.

  “That’s the server’s room,” Brett answered. “We cut off her key card so she couldn’t get in.”

  Jennifer and Brett had started shutting down all the computers in the building as soon as they had heard from Dustin, and spotted Penny.

  “How much of the building is turned off?”

  “Yes, we have over 82% shut down.”

  Penny had tried to sprint towards the far staircase but had been cut off. The special tactic unit had spread out to block all the exits. They were now moving closer to Penny. She tried to sprint through two men but ended up falling right for their trap. Six men surrounded her; guns raised.

  “Get on the ground!” one of the team members yelled.

  Penny turned around to face the man talking to her, “I'm holding the trigger for the bomb in my hand!”

  The team looked startled and spoke quietly into his com, “How should we proceed?”

  “Hold,” Jennifer said as he looked to Brett. “What do we do?”

  “Dustin said it was an EMP, but he could have had bad information. It could be a real bomb,” Brett told Jennifer.

  “We have to protect our team.”

  “Knock her around, see what she says,” Brett said to the team lead.

  Testing the waters, the team lead spoke to Penny first, “It’s just an EMP.”

  “That was the plan, but I made my own modifications. If you shoot me then I'm going to release the trigger and the real bomb will go off.”

  The team leader looked towards the camera for direction.

  Brett then looked to Jennifer, “What do you think?”

  “I don’t know what to think.”

  “Treat it like a real threat,” Brett relayed back.

  The team backed up, “What do you want?”

  “Penny smiled, “Give me access out of here, and one million dollars.”