“Best guess?”
He sighs. “Best case, twelve hours. Worst case, they already have control of our nuclear arsenal.”
“Fuck… Right, well, we’ll assume they haven’t cracked it yet, as the news reporter said there haven’t been any demands. We just gotta hope we reach them in time to stop them.”
“What’s the plan once we get there?” he asks.
“I’ll tell you when we get there.”
36
The drive seemed to drag, probably because I was clock-watching the whole way. I don’t suffer with nerves, but I’m very anxious. I feel a sense of urgency — a physical need to be somewhere I’m not, and the fact I can’t travel to where I need to be instantaneously is infuriating. I have very little patience at the best of times, but knowing a bunch of insane assholes are trying to start a third World War in the middle of Atlanta has shredded every last ounce of it. Now, I’m just angry.
Raynor turns right on East Mitchell Street, and as I see the Georgia Dome loom into view on the left, a sense of déjà vu hits me.
“Let’s try this again…” I mutter to myself.
Up ahead, I see the ComForce building on the left. There’s a full-blown media circus out front, starting from the middle of the road, and heading away from the building in every direction. On the sidewalk out front are at least four large Hummers, painted a faded dark green. They’re parked at haphazard angles, and all the doors are open.
“Take the next left,” I say to Raynor. “See if we can work our way around back.”
He nods and turns onto Spring Street, just before we hit the outer rim of the police cordon.
“Should we tell Josh to do the same thing?” asks Tori from the back.
I shake my head. “I know Josh, he’ll think exactly like I did.”
The street isn’t busy, although I imagine they’re treating the ComForce building as toxic, so the cordon around it will probably stretch quite far under the circumstances.
“Keep going,” I say to Raynor. “Take the second right, not the first — keep an eye out for any local law enforcement.”
Sure enough, as we pass the first right turn, I see a small patrol — two squad cars, four cops — parked across the width of the road.
“How are we actually gonna get near the damn place?” Raynor asks.
“We’ll wait for the others and approach on foot,” I reply.
We carry on and take the next right on Simpson Street, which as I suspected has no police or media presence visible.
“Pull up on the left,” I say.
We do, and Raynor kills the engine.
“What now?” he asks.
“We wait,” I reply.
Ten minutes pass in tense silence. Tori shifts nervously behind me. Then a car turns onto the street and pulls up behind us. I check it in the rearview.
“They’re here,” I say. “Let’s go.”
We get out and walk to meet the others. They all get out and slam their doors shut. Josh stands opposite me on the sidewalk. Clark and Wallis appear at his side; Tori and Raynor appear at mine. We form a close circle and regard each other for a moment. I look at Josh and nod a curt, urgent greeting.
“So, what’s the plan, Boss?” he asks.
I clench my jaw muscles and take a deep breath, looking at everyone in turn before replying.
“The plan is: there is no plan,” I begin. “Not this time.”
Josh nods, while everyone else exchanges confused glances. I feel Tori’s hand on my arm.
“Adrian, you need to tell us what to do…” she implores, struggling to keep the emotion out of her voice.
I look at her and smile weakly. I haven’t got the mental capacity to be nice at the moment, but I’m trying really hard for her benefit. She didn’t ask for any of this. She’s not here through choice. And she’s so far out of her depth; she probably can’t comprehend the gravity of the situation or what’s at stake.
“We know what to do,” I say, more to everyone than to her specifically. “Look, this is it. Whatever the fuck is happening ends right now — one way or the other. We know who’s in there, and we know what they’re trying to do. We’re all smart, capable people. We have to stop them; it’s that simple. I don’t know the best way of doing that. I just know that we have to do it, and we’re probably gonna need to kill a lot of people before we can. This isn’t gonna be easy, but I need you to stay close, trust me, and do what I say.”
They’re silent, which I take as a sign they’re on board. I look at Josh.
“I need you to stay here with Tori and do what you can to stop, or at least delay, those assholes from taking control of Cerberus.”
He nods. “Sure thing, man. There are media and FBI trucks all over the place. I’ll find one I can use and talk my way inside.”
“Good idea. Sheriff, Clark, Wallis… you guys are with me. You see somebody you don’t know, put a bullet in them. Hesitate for even a second, and you’re dead. We know they’ll be on the sixteenth floor, so that’s where we’re heading. We’ll figure the rest out once we’re up there. Questions?”
“We don’t have any weapons,” says Clark.
I grimace slightly, thinking about how what I’m about to say will be received.
“There are four cops on the next street over,” I say. “They’ll be armed, and I’m sure they won’t mind if we borrow their guns.”
Clark looks at the ground. “Sorry I spoke…” he mutters.
I see a half smile flicker across Josh’s face.
“Everyone ready?” I ask.
They nod. I turn to Tori, placing my hands on her shoulders.
“Stay with Josh,” I say to her. “Listen to him, trust him. I’ll be back before you know it.”
She goes to speak, but I kiss her lips for a moment. When we part, I smile and wink at her, and the tension relaxes and the doubt leaves her eyes.
“Go get ’em,” she says with a brave smile.
Without another word, I turn and move quickly across the street, hearing everyone else follow me. We head past a park on our left, and through the courtyard of a Plaza, approaching the corner of Baker and Peachtree. I drop to a crouch, gesturing with my hand behind me for everyone to do the same. I peek round and spot the four cops halfway down Baker Street. We’ll be coming at them from behind, but we need to be quick and quiet, if we’re to take them out without raising an alarm. I look behind me.
“Once these guys are down, we won’t have very long before someone checks in with them and finds they can’t answer,” I say. “Once that happens, the alarm will be raised and any advantage we had will be gone.”
I look back up the street. There are rows of shops on either side. Some have bigger doorways than others, which will have to make do for cover.
“Split up, keep low, and stick to the doorways,” I say. “Stay out of sight. I’ll get the weapons.”
I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I turn to see Wallis with a look of concern on his face.
“Adrian, you’ll need help disarming them,” he says. “There are four guys and—”
I shake my head. “I do it alone. If they see four guys, they’ll report four guys when they come to. If they only see me, no one will know you three are here, which might just help keep our advantage a bit longer.”
He sighs. “But…”
He trails off as Raynor puts his hand on his shoulder.
“I think Adrian will manage just fine,” he says to him, before looking at me and smiling.
I nod and set off round the corner. I move quickly and duck into the first doorway on my right. I press myself against the door, keeping out of sight from the cops ahead of me. I look behind me and see the guys moving one at a time down the street, occupying doorways across from me.