“You’re a devious son’bitch, you know that?” he says, half smiling, but with a look in his eyes that betrays his concerns.
“Just doing what I need to,” I reply with a shrug. “Come on, we’re not done yet.”
We move and stand either side of the door just as the four CIA agents pass us. I look at Raynor and nod, which he acknowledges. As the last one draws level, I push the door open, hard, and hit him with it. I step out and crouch, emptying a burst of fire into the chest of the guy on the floor at close range. Behind me, Raynor fires over my head at the group of three, dropping two of them, but missing the one who is already halfway up the next flight of stairs. I snap my gun up and fire, catching him in the leg, causing him to fall back down the stairs. As he lands, Raynor fires and finishes him off.
“There’s hope for you yet, Sheriff,” I say with a smile.
He scoffs. “After a week in your life, I’m ready to retire… How the hell did you live like this?”
I shrug. “I’d say you get used to it, but I’d be lying. You just… learn to ignore the things any sane person would find issue with.”
We take a couple of moments to catch our breath before setting off up the stairs again, taking two at a time. We make it to the sixteenth floor without further conflict.
I listen at the door, hearing movement close by. I signal to Raynor to sit tight, and I adjust my grip on my gun, getting comfortable as I prepare for the next onslaught.
I don’t know what’s beyond this door, but I have to assume the Armageddon Initiative has come prepared. El-Zurak’s here, so he’ll make sure he’s well protected. They’ll also have hostages. The fifth floor looked empty, but I don’t know about the rest. My guess is the majority of people were able to get out of here during the initial takeover. I doubt anyone on the sixteenth floor would’ve been so lucky though.
I have to play this smart and absolutely shouldn’t kick the door down and start shooting… no matter how much I might want to.
I look at Raynor, who by now, I assume, has come to know me pretty well. He looks at me with a raised eyebrow and sighs heavily, as if sensing my struggle between what’s smart and what’s crazy.
I place a hand on the door and gently push it open a fraction, revealing a slim glimpse of the corridor running off to the right. I see a couple of offices on the left, but can’t see all the way to the other end.
“Looks clear,” I whisper.
I push it open farther, but stop when I hear footfalls away to the left. I hold the door still, not allowing it to close. Whoever’s there might notice it’s slightly open; they might not. But they would definitely notice it move, so I play the numbers game and sit tight, holding my breath.
Two men walk into view, striding purposefully away from me with guns held loosely by their side. I signal to Raynor, gesturing with my hands what’s happening and to follow me. I ease the door open enough to fit my head through and quickly look around to my left. A quick movement, just a glimpse.
There’s no one there. I look right, to the end of the corridor, and see the door leading to the opposite stairwell. I hope Wallis and Clark have made it here unscathed. The two men stop at the far end, just in front of the door.
“Wait,” I hear one of them say as he reaches for a radio clipped to his belt. He picks it up and holds it to his ear, listening intently. His body language changes, and he appears on edge, looking around and shifting on the spot.
“We’re under attack!” he says to his friend. “Come on!”
They rush off to the left, out of sight, unblocking my view of the other door just as it opens a fraction. I see Wallis poke his head out, doing exactly what I’ve just done. Our eyes meet, and we give each other the ‘OK’ gesture with our hand. I signal to him to head down the corridor to his right, after the two men. I’ll head left with Raynor.
Keeping low, we all step out and check the immediate vicinity. Happy we’re clear for now, I move off to the left with Raynor close behind me. They know we’re coming, which makes things slightly harder, but it’s not exactly unexpected, so we’ll deal with it as best we can.
At the end of the corridor is a right turn, with an office on the left taking up the corner. I stop with my back against the wall on the right and peer around it. The layout seems to be a square within a square. I suspect the majority of the personnel are based toward the center, with the outlying offices reserved for management.
I see no movement, so I make my way around the corner, keeping beneath the windows of the offices, out of sight. It’s a large office — as you’d expect in such a large building. As I make my way along the left side with Raynor behind me, I realize exactly how big it is. It feels like the goddamn TARDIS!
I hear movement close by and stop, signaling for Raynor to do the same. There’s a low hum coming from up ahead, making it difficult to hear any footsteps. Just in front of us is an opening that leads inside the inner square, to the right. Must be another corridor running through the middle…
I edge slowly along the wall, keeping in a crouch, and stop at the intersection to take a quick peek. I feel my eyes widen at the sight before me. I was wrong about the layout… the inner square is open-plan, with a large bank of computers at the far end, in front of a huge display screen that runs practically the full width of the wall. It looks like something out of a NASA launch control center — which, I immediately realize, would make sense, given it’s from this floor where they run the Cerberus satellite.
In front of the console are three men and a woman, kneeling down with their hands behind their heads and their ankles crossed behind them. They’re smartly dressed and look terrified. I count maybe sixteen armed men scattered around the area, all tense and alert with fingers on the triggers of their assault rifles.
At the console, with their backs to me are three more men, all sitting, working feverishly away, pausing occasionally to look up at the big screen. Standing over them is Yalafi Hussein, leaning casually on the backs of their chairs, speaking in a language I can’t make out. Off to the right, directly across from me, sitting in the shadows is another man. I can’t make out his face, because of the lighting, but I can tell from the shape of him who it is.
Hamaad El-Zurak.
Every fiber of my being is screaming, urging me to jump up and put a bullet in him right now — end everything before any innocent life is lost. But there’s something, I guess it’s my voice of reason, telling me to wait, because I’d be killed in the process and would never learn the truth behind everything that’s been happening.
This voice of reason is a strange thing… a bit boring compared to my Inner Satan, but it’s undoubtedly smarter, and will probably live longer.
Gunfire on the other side of the office space interrupts my train of thought. I peer around the corner again, and a man across from me falls into view, landing dead at El-Zurak’s feet. He screams something indecipherable and gestures to the nearest three guys on his left, who rush out and into the opposite corridor. I look on as more shouting and gunfire sounds out. Then, Wallis and Clark walk in at gunpoint, unarmed.
Shit!
I look back at Raynor. I see a look of apology on his face, which I don’t understand. But then I look up and see two men, one with his gun touching the back of Raynor’s head, the other aiming at me.
Double shit…
38
One of the men shoves me in the back, jabbing me hard with the barrel of his gun to move me into the control center. I look over my shoulder at him.