“That might actually work out well,” adds Wallis. “If the media see you from outside shooting terrorists, the story will break that we’re fighting back, which will put pressure on the people who should be and aren’t.”
I hadn’t thought of it like that, and it certainly make sense. But it makes me think about another factor.
“It’s not going to be long before people turn up who don’t want us here,” I say. “The CIA will try to kill us. The FBI will try to arrest us. Either way, it doesn’t end well. Bottom line is, El-Zurak’s somewhere above us, and he needs shooting. Preferably after he tells us what this has to do with the director of the CIA.”
“Agreed,” says Wallis. “We need answers, ideally with evidence, before we shoot anyone important. Good luck, Adrian. See you up there.”
I nod and look at Clark, who doesn’t look well.
“Bob, relax,” I say, sensing his reservations about going into battle. “There are three MP7s over there, so everyone grab one. Let Wallis take point, you stay back and provide covering fire where necessary. Once we’re up there, we need you to disable Cerberus.”
“If I can…” he replies, quietly.
“You can,” I say. “I know you can. We’ll buy you all the time you need to do it, okay?”
He nods and I turn to Raynor.
“Ready?” I ask him.
“When you are,” he replies.
The three of them move over to the newly-dead terrorists and take a weapon, putting their handguns in the waistbands as I have. We then pair off and head over to our respective doors.
“Thanks, Tom,” I shout over. “Watch your back.”
“Any time,” he replies. “You too.”
He heads through the doors on the right, somewhat reluctantly followed by Clark.
“You think they’ll be okay?” asks Raynor.
“Don’t worry about them,” I say. “Worry about us.”
I walk over and open the door to the left, stepping to the side and propping it open with my foot. Raynor nods and walks through, stopping in a crouch and covering as I step through. I guide the door closed behind me with my hand, to reduce the noise.
We’re at one end of a long corridor. There’s plush carpet underfoot, which I’m thankful for, as it reduces the noise of our footsteps. Halfway along, on the left, is a fire exit. Just farther on from that, on the right, I can make out another door, but can’t tell what it is from here.
“Watch my back,” I whisper as we both set off down the corridor toward the main reception area ahead. We make it halfway when the door on the right bursts open and three men step out. I freeze and hold my breath, holding up a fist to signal to Raynor behind me.
They look in a hurry, and thankfully don’t look left — they practically run ahead and disappear out of sight.
I let out a heavy breath and hear Raynor do the same.
“That was close,” he whispers.
I nod and set off again. I manage two steps before the same door bursts open again. Two men step out, but this time they turn left and stop in their tracks when they see me, not moving — frozen like a crazy statue with a goofy, awkward smile on my face. The whole scene slows to a stop for a moment, with everyone caught off guard.
“Hey fellas…” I say.
Just as they resume normal speed and go to shout something, I squeeze the trigger twice with only a slight movement in between. Two bursts of fire hit them both in their chests, and they flail backward to the floor. I step to the side to allow Raynor a clear shot ahead.
“Wait a sec,” I say to him.
Sure enough, the three from before head back around, guns aimed at us. I fire off a couple of bursts, as does Raynor. Between us, we drop them all before they have chance to fire at us.
“So far, so good,” Raynor says.
“So far…” I reply.
We reach the end of the corridor, and I peer round the corner. I can hear a faint roar of commotion from outside, and the flashing of cameras through the doors momentarily blinds me.
Our little exchange was obviously overheard.
It looks clear, so I step out, checking the angles while Raynor covers my six. The door to the stairwell is on my right in the corner, as I remembered.
“We good?” I say without turning round.
“I reckon so,” replies Raynor. “I assume most of their manpower will be upstairs.”
“I’d imagine so.”
I make it to the door and wait for Raynor to take up position across from me. I put one hand on the handle, ready to pull it open, but just as I do, I hear a noise behind me. I look round to the front doors and see objects being thrown, breaking through the glass and skidding across the floor.
Oh shit…
“Tear gas!” I yell, bringing my left arm up across my face, as the violent hiss of releasing gas fills the air. “Get through the doors!”
Raynor opens them and steps through. Gunfire erupts from the front doors, and I return blindly, coughing on the fumes. I dive through the doors and drop to my knees, struggling to breathe.
“You alright?” asks Raynor, crouching down beside me.
I nod and stand, looking through the glass in the door to see a four-man squad entering the building, dressed head to toe in black, wearing masks and tactical goggles, and armed with assault rifles.
“Shit,” I say, still choking. “The CIA’s here.”
“You sure?” asks Raynor.
“I recognize the outfit. They’re not here to arrest us — we need to move.”
We turn and start up the stairs, taking two at a time, not caring about who hears us. By now, everyone will know someone’s here, even if they don’t know it’s us. I just hope Wallis and Clark are having better luck than we’ve had so far.
We make it up four floors before I hear any noise. Above us a door slams open, and I hear the stamping of multiple pairs of boots on stairs. I take a chance and lean over the railing to look up. I very quickly duck back as a hail of bullets spits down at me, followed by shouting.
“Company?” asks Raynor.
“Maybe three floors up and heading this way,” I reply.
“Those CIA boys won’t be far behind us either.”
We keep going, quickly reaching the fifth floor stairwell, and I stop by the door to catch my breath.
“We’ll dig in here, kill these bastards, and carry on,” I say.
More gunfire rings out in the stairwell, this time from below.
“You seem awful confident!” shouts Raynor over the noise of the gunfire, sounding unconvinced.
“Confident… crazy — it’s a fine line, I guess.”
I look at the door and back at the stairs, playing out every scenario I can think of in my head.
“Okay, go back down the stairs,” I say after a moment. “Just one flight — crouch down out of sight.”
Raynor does so without a word. I wait near the door, listening for the men approaching. When they’re only one flight away, I pull the door open hard so it slams against the wall, then head back down the stairs, quickly and quietly, to join Raynor.
“What are you doing?” he hisses.
“Watch,” I reply.
The men appear a second or two before the door slams shut. There are five of them. Instinctively, they open it and pile through.
Hook, line and sinker; assholes.
“Come on!” I whisper to Raynor.
Swiftly, we run back up the stairs and through the door, turning right to see the men filing through the office area in a blind rush. They all stop and fall over each other as they hear me enter, but I open fire before they have chance to turn and react. Taking my lead, Raynor fires as well. With them huddled together and caught off guard, a few controlled bursts of gunfire drops them all with minimal fuss.
I know, I could’ve let them go and snuck past, but that would mean there are five guys running around, who will ultimately head back to the sixteenth floor, and I could do with leveling the playing field as much as possible before I get up there myself.