by Dirk Patton
Rachel stepped around them and ran to us, retrieving her clothing and gear from Martinez. She dressed as we started moving again. I had originally planned to head directly across the casino floor once the second sentry was dead, but something had changed to send four of them together. Maybe they were all friends and had decided to keep each other company, but I wasn’t going to bet ours and Katie’s lives on that assumption.
We circled the building but didn’t encounter any other guards, roving or static. Soon we were opposite the guard that was sitting outside the door marked as private. His post was around a corner from the guard watching the captive women, as were the doors into the kitchen area where I’d heard movement earlier.
Ignoring him for the moment we kept moving, turning into a new row to stay hidden. It didn’t take long to reach the well-lit poker room where the women were being held and I wasn’t at all surprised to find the guard sound asleep, head tilted back and snoring. I intended to rescue all of the women that were being held, but I took the time to single out Katie and make sure everyone knew which one she was.
Moving on we came to a stop in front of the two glass walled rooms that were full of people sacked out in sleeping bags. We had already discussed the plan and Martinez took up position. If things went well we’d take out a couple more guards and make a quiet exit with Katie and the other women. If they didn’t, Martinez was there to make sure these people weren’t able to join the fight.
Back at the sleeping guard, Rachel, Dog and I stopped as Zemeck continued on. When he was in position to take out the guard at the private door he’d let me know over the radio and we’d both attack at the same time. He and I would then clear the kitchen first, followed by the private room while Rachel and Dog woke the women and got them ready to move.
It took him a couple of minutes then I received a single click over the radio. I clicked once in response then began counting in my head as I sighted on the sleeping guard. When I reached five I pulled the trigger, punching a bullet through the man’s forehead. The body was already relaxed and supported as he slept and other than a twitch from the impact of the bullet it didn’t move, remaining seated in the chair. Rachel and I both went into motion, her heading for the closed glass door that opened into the room, Dog at her side, as I headed to meet Zemeck at the swinging doors into the kitchen.
We arrived at the same time, each of us putting our backs against the wall on either side of the opening. First Zemeck, then I, we leaned forward slightly and peered through the oval windows into the large room beyond. Zemeck shook his head to indicate he didn’t see anyone but I held up two fingers.
There was an older woman and a large young man seated at a long stainless steel counter. They looked to be halfway through a meal. The meal I’d heard them preparing earlier that had smelled so good. At the sight of the food my stomach growled loudly in complaint of being so empty.
Zemeck looked at me and pulled a face. I was sure he had something incredibly witty to say at my expense and was glad we were in a situation that required stealth. Taking another look, each of us confirmed that nothing had changed. With a nod I held up my left hand, three fingers extended. I began folding a finger into my fist at regular intervals, Zemeck bobbing his head as I reached each count.
When I folded my second finger in I moved my hand to the front grip on my rifle. We bobbed our heads in unison for the one count, moving on zero. I was first through the door, immediately moving to the right as I sighted on the male, Zemeck following through right behind me.
The woman noticed us first, her fork clattering onto the stainless steel surface. The young man looked up, froze for a beat then went for a pistol that was holstered at his hip. I squeezed the trigger twice and he fell to the tile floor, dead. The woman looked down at him for a long moment then turned her gaze back to us and took a sharp breath.
Maybe she was going to scream, maybe not. Regardless, Zemeck and I both thought that was what she was about to do and the last thing we wanted was noise that would wake up the sleeping people. There were over fifty of them and I didn’t want to have to fight them, nor did I feel the need to kill all of them. The thought flashed through my head in a fraction of a second and I pulled the trigger in tandem with Zemeck.
Both of us had gone for headshots and the woman pitched backwards off her stool, dead before she hit the floor next to the body I’d already put there. I was starting to turn to go to Katie but spun back at a noise of someone moving deeper in the kitchen. Zemeck and I looked at each other and spread apart as we started to move farther into the room.
45
Roach tried begging and pleading, but that didn’t deter the man. When Jimmy dragged him into the room he drew him into a crushing embrace, lifting his feet clear of the floor as he planted his wet lips on Roach’s face. Squirming and trying to bite his attacker only earned him a slap that left him seeing stars and a hard punch to the stomach.
Swaying on his feet and gasping for air, Roach tried to reach for the corkscrew but couldn’t get his hand in his pocket before Jimmy stepped in and grabbed him by the wrists, forcing him to his knees. Hands numb from the pressure of Jimmy’s grip, Roach began to cry as he pleaded for the man to stop but he was slapped again.
“This is going to happen, bitch.” Jimmy said, fumbling his belt buckle with one hand as he held Roach’s throat in his other. “If you bite me I will beat you so bad you’ll wish you were dead, then when you heal I’ll do it all over again.”
Pants open, he pulled out his fully erect penis and pressed it against Roach’s face. “Understand me, bitch?”
Roach nodded, tears streaming down his face as Jimmy forced himself into his mouth. When the reality of what was happening, and what was yet to come, hit him, Roach’s mind shut down. He did what Jimmy told him to do, no longer crying or trying to resist. A few minutes later the big man stepped back and lifted Roach to his feet, violently stripping his pants off.
Roach neither resisted nor complained. As if he was a bystander, his body cooperated as Jimmy spun him around and pushed him over the edge of a table. When Jimmy grabbed his hips his mind suddenly screamed at him to fight, but before he could even react he was violently penetrated. He tried to turn away, tried to move, but the man was at least a hundred pounds heavier and kept him pinned as he savagely thrust into Roach.
Screaming and crying again, Roach reached out with a hand and felt his pants lying on the table where Jimmy had discarded them. Grasping the fabric he pulled them to him and frantically searched for the pocket with the corkscrew. Finally finding it he ripped it free as his attacker thrust deep inside him and shuddered with his release.
The corkscrew was a large tool that the wine stewards used to open bottles with a flourish. Six inches of coiled, chrome steel ended in a needle sharp point, the other end firmly embedded in a thick, round wooden T handle. Roach gripped it in his right hand; the steel portion sticking out between his two middle fingers, holding it so tight his arm ached.
“That’s a good little bitch.” Jimmy said, sighing with contentment as he withdrew from Roach and stepped back.
He was leaning in to slap the bare ass in front of him when Roach suddenly spun and with every ounce of his being stabbed the entire length of the corkscrew into Jimmy’s neck. The man’s eye’s went wide in shock as his hands flew upwards, but Roach was enraged and moving fast. Ripping the six inches of steel out of Jimmy’s flesh he changed his target and stabbed into the man’s groin, again burying the full length into his body.
Releasing the weapon he easily ducked Jimmy’s clumsy attempt to wrap him up in one arm and stumbled across the room, putting the table between them. A thick jet of blood was pulsing out of his attacker’s neck, more blood coursing from the wound to his crotch. Jimmy tried to step forward while holding a hand pressed to his throat, but stumbled and looked down at the tool still embedded in his body.
With his free hand he ripped it out, pulling a chunk of flesh and a fresh gout of blood with it. Looking up
at Roach he took another step, then his knees buckled and he fell to the floor as his life continued to jet out of his neck. Roach stood there and watched as the man died, the fury inside of him growing.
This wouldn’t have happened if Katie hadn’t attacked him. Her attack had made him vulnerable when these people showed up. Rage blocking out the pain radiating from his anus, Roach pulled his pants on and stepped over Jimmy’s corpse. The man had been carrying a small weapon that he’d laid on a chair when they’d entered the room.
Roach would normally have been happy to pick up a fully automatic Uzi pistol, but all he cared about was exacting his revenge on Katie. Stepping to the door he paused when he heard a gurgle from the man on the floor. Surprised Jimmy was still alive, he turned and looked down.
Jimmy’s eyes were still open, staring up at him. Pleading for help. Roach looked around until he spotted the corkscrew and came back to stand over the dying man. With a smile he bent down and drove the steel into Jimmy’s right eye until his knuckles came to a stop against his face. Still smiling, he stood up and headed for the door to finish his business with Katie.
46
Rachel and Dog dashed past the dead guard to the heavy glass door of the room as John and Zemeck disappeared into the kitchen. Pulling the door open carefully, she waved Dog inside, followed him and quietly closed the door. The six women were all asleep, and even though they all needed to be awakened she rushed to Katie first.
As soon as she touched her shoulder, Katie’s eyes flew open and she turned to sit up.
“It’s OK,” Rachel said. “I’m here with John to get you out.”
Katie’s eyes went wide and shifted to the windows, looking for him.
“Rachel?” She asked when she didn’t see her husband.
“How do you know my name?” Rachel was surprised.
“Roach told me about you,” Katie said. “Said you and my husband were a couple.”
“Don’t believe anything that little shit told you. Here. Present from your husband,” Rachel said in a rush, pressing the pistol John had given her into Katie’s hand. “Help me wake everyone. We’re leaving now.”
Rachel didn’t wait for an answer, dashing to the far side of the room and shaking two of the women awake. Katie was on her feet by now, pistol in her hand as she began waking the others. They quickly had all the women up and ready to move and Rachel went to the door, pausing before she pulled it open.
“No noise,” she said, making sure everyone understood.
Exiting the room Katie was right behind her, Dog moving out ahead of them into the first row of slot machines. Rachel glanced around but John and Zemeck hadn’t come out of the kitchen yet. Where the hell were they? Turning to the front she checked on Dog, then glanced over her shoulder to make sure the women were all still following.
Movement in her peripheral vision caught her eye and Rachel turned her head, expecting to see John. She froze for a heartbeat when she recognized Roach, walking towards her with a weapon in his right hand coming up to target them.
Katie looked to her left when the tall woman paused, her breath catching in her throat. Roach was walking directly towards them, raising a pistol. The woman was trying to bring an M4 rifle around but she could tell Roach had the drop on them and would start firing well before the rifle could come into the fight.
Reaching out, Katie shoved the woman in the middle of her back as she spun to bring her pistol up. Before she could raise the muzzle high enough to fire, Roach pulled the trigger and the small Uzi began spitting bullets. Time slowed and Katie heard two of them zip past her head before something slammed into her chest and she was falling.
Martinez cursed when she heard the burst of automatic weapon’s fire. They’d been found and someone was in trouble. None of them were carrying an unsuppressed full auto weapon so she knew this was someone from the group occupying the casino.
Knowing what she had to do, she flipped the fire selector on her rifle to burst and aimed for the glass wall of the room to the right. Pulling the trigger twice she shifted aim and sent six more rounds into the windows on her left. The bullets shattered the heavy glass that crashed to the floor and left a wide opening into each space.
Dropping the rifle, Martinez picked up the first of four fragmentation grenades she had already lined up on the carpet. Pulling the pin she threw it hard at the right hand room, watching it sail through the opening she’d just created as she reached for the second one.
People in the two rooms were shouting and screaming now, struggling to get out of their sleeping bags. One enterprising soul didn’t bother to do anything other than pick up his rifle and start firing blindly. Martinez ignored the bullets that were sailing wide around her location and threw the second grenade into the left room, quickly following with one more to each room.
Snatching her rifle off the floor she rolled behind a slot machine and onto her feet. A second later the four grenades detonated in sequence. The sound and concussion was ferocious, even with room in the massive space for it to spread out. All of the remaining glass shattered and was blown outwards, becoming thousands of pieces of razor sharp shrapnel that peppered the slot machines around her.
Glass screens cracked and imploded. Dust billowed and somewhere a loud bell began ringing as the blasts ruptured a sprinkler pipe and water began flowing through the fire suppression system. Five seconds after the final blast Martinez looked around the bank she was sheltering behind, rifle ready to engage anyone that was still wanting to fight.
There were no targets, but not everyone was dead. Screams of pain were coming from both rooms, and as the dust began to clear Martinez could tell there was no one on their feet. Stepping around she walked towards the carnage, rifle up just in case someone was still capable of aiming a weapon at her, but she stopped halfway when she got a look inside. Swallowing bile, she turned and ran towards Rachel’s location when she heard screaming.
Rachel fell to her knees when Katie pushed her, cursing and rolling as she tried to get her rifle aimed at Roach. Then he fired and Rachel turned her head to see Katie fall backwards as a bullet struck her chest.
Screaming, Rachel finally got the rifle up and began pulling the trigger in burst mode. She kept pulling it until the magazine ran dry but didn’t manage to hit Roach as far as she could tell. When she’d started firing he had turned and ran, heading into the maze of the casino floor.
“Oh my God, no! No, no, no, no…” Rachel dropped her rifle and dashed to Katie’s side, Dog rushing up to stand guard next to her.
Katie had been shot in the upper right quadrant of her chest, the bullet entering just above her breast. Blood was welling out of the entrance wound and Rachel grabbed her shoulders and rolled her up to check for an exit wound. There was one just inside her right scapula. Putting her flat on her back she pressed both hands on Katie’s chest and screamed for John as Martinez ran up and dropped to her knees on the other side of Katie.
Zemeck and I were pushing deeper into the kitchen, searching for whoever had made the noise when the sound of weapons fire reached us. We exchanged a quick glance and he tilted his head at the door, telling me to go. I shook my head, hesitant to leave him alone to clear the room. No matter how good you are, trying to find a potentially armed opponent in a cluttered area by yourself is extremely dangerous.
He shook his head and we continued, but had only covered a few more cautious yards when I heard Rachel scream my name. Looking at Zemeck I yanked a grenade out of my vest and pulled the pin, palm holding the spoon in place. He nodded, pulled one out and together we tossed them in the direction we thought the sound had come from, turned and ran.
Blasting through the swinging doors I had my rifle up and ready, Zemeck on my heels as I made the turn towards where I had left Rachel. The twin blasts from our grenades sounded behind and I involuntarily ducked but kept running. As I rounded the corner I could see Rachel and Martinez bent over someone on the floor, a small group of lingerie clad women clustered tightly
together watching them.
“No, no, no…” I began repeating to myself as I let my rifle drop on its sling and ran as hard as I could.
Martinez moved aside and I fell to the floor beside Katie. She was awake and looked up at me and smiled.
“I waited for you. Where have you been?” She asked with a weak smile on her face.
“I’m sorry, babe.” I said, leaning down and kissing her as tears began rolling down my face. “I got held up a little.”
“What happened?” Zemeck was squatting behind me.
“Hi, Andre,” Katie looked at him and tried to smile. She had always refused to call him Matt, preferring to poke him a little about his stature and call him Andre the Giant.
“Hi, pretty lady. Good to see you.” He said, placing a big hand on my shoulder.
“It was Roach,” Rachel said. “Came out of nowhere with a little machine pistol. She pushed me out of the way and took a round.”
“How bad?” I asked, holding Katie’s hand with one of mine and brushing a stray strand of hair off her face with the other.
“I don’t know, but I need to get her back to Tinker. Now. I can work on her on the way.” Rachel turned to Martinez. “Will that helicopter on the roof fly?”
“No,” Martinez answered. “I checked it out when we were on the roof. But there’s a field medic kit in it.”
“Osprey is twenty minutes out,” Zemeck said.
“Tell them to get the lead out,” I said without taking my eyes off my wife.
“I’ll take care of her,” Rachel said to me. “You go get that fucking psychopath before he turns up again.”
“He can wait,” I started to say, but Rachel cut me off.
“No, he can’t.” She said. “Every time we think we’re done with him, he shows up. This needs to end now. Trust me. I’ll take care of her.”
When I looked back down at Katie her eyes were closed. Leaning over her I kissed her lips, told her I loved her and stood up.
