A New World: Awakening (35 page)

I slink to the corner and look down the hall.
 
A faint amount of light spills into the corridor through a small window set into steel door blocking the hall about forty feet down.
 
A man sits in a plastic chair near the door; the man and chair leaning against the wall with only two legs of the chair touching the floor.
 
There’s no way through the door without being seen and the only way to the wing is through the door.
 
I almost wish we had taken the other guards out now but that is still probably for the better.

“One person sitting by the door forty feet down.
 
No way around,” I whisper to Greg.
 
He nods knowing what we have to do.

We are still in the dark so won’t be seen if we enter the hall as the small amount of light doesn’t filter this far down.
 
Greg keeps an eye behind as I edge around the corner and bring my M-4 to bear.
 
It will make some sound but won’t carry far with all of the twists and turns of the halls.
 
I put the crosshair on his head seeing the laser pinpoint a place just below my aim point.
 
I had set my aim point for 100 yards so the sight and laser are just a touch off at this distance.
 
Not much and certainly not enough to miss.

I touch my selector switch with my thumb verifying I’m on semi and squeeze the trigger.
 
The corridor lights up with a single flash along with the muted sound of a suppressed gunshot.
 
It lasts only a split second as the round streaks down the hall.
 
The man jerks to the side as the bullet strikes the side of his head with great force.
 
Blood sprays against the hall and door.
 
The man slams against the wall next to the door and falls to the ground toppling off the chair.
 
The chair itself scoots across the floor as it too tumbles to the ground.
 
Silence fills the hall once again.

Greg covers our rear as I walk toward the body alternating my barrel between the door and the man on the ground.
 
Neither moves.
 
I search the body looking for both a radio and key card finding only a card.
 
I pocket the card, pick him up, and throw him over my shoulder thankful he has a small build.
 
I don’t want to drag the body down the hall as it would make too much noise, be slower, and leave a mark.
 
I’m also thankful he hasn’t let go as there is no way I would throw that on my shoulder.
 
I walk back and go through one of the swinging doors setting the body in one of the laundry baskets.
 
I cover the body with some towels and clothing grabbing a few of the towels to clean up the mess by the door.
 
I won’t be able to clean it entirely but will at least not make it readily apparent what happened.
 
I even set the chair back upright.

With the mess cleared and towels thrown away, we hold at the door.
 
A long hall stretches on the other side ending at another similar door.
 
Only every third light is lit casting a gloom in the hall.
 
There are patches of darkness between the faint glows reaching the floor from above.
 
If someone does look through the far door while we are transiting the patches of light, we’ll be seen.
 
I only hope that, if there is someone guarding the far door, they are as vigilant as the one here, meaning not at all.
 
A key card reader sits against the wall on both sides of our door.

“Well, here goes nothing,” I say using the key card I just picked up.

I see a light flash green from the reader and hear a click of the magnetic door latch releasing.
 
Just for grins, I test the card Jim gave us with the same result.
 
I hand Greg one of the cards.
 
Opening the door, we step quickly into the hall.

“I’ll head to the end and watch through the door on the far side.
 
You keep an eye out here.
 
I’ll call you down when it’s clear,” I whisper.

“Roger that,” Greg replies.

I creep through the dark areas and scamper through the lit ones watching the far door, fully expecting it to open at any minute.
 
I’m also dreading the appearance of the other three behind us.
 
If they are patrolling, it won’t take them long to get back.
 
I almost change my mind and backtrack to take them out but we’re this far and I decide to push on.
 
I wonder what they’ll do when they come to the guard station and he’s not there.
 
Hopefully assume he has gone to the bathroom
, I think also hoping they have their own key cards and don’t have to wait for him.

Reaching the far door, I hold the mirror up to a corner.
 
I don’t want to look directly in as my silhouette will block the light, even though it’s only a faint light, and will certainly get someone’s attention if they are close.
 
I see the legs of another guard in a position similar to the last one.
 
This will have to be quick
, I think.
 
I don’t see anything other than another few feet of hall that ends in a “T” intersection.
 
Two sets of steel double doors are set against the far wall with light emanating from the wire mesh windows set into them.
 
Another steel door opens to the left just before the intersection.
 
Other than the one guard, the area is clear.
 
I’m hoping the guard will think it’s others returning and react slowly.

“One guard.
 
I’m going in,” I tell Greg in a whisper.

“Copy that.
 
All clear here,” he responds.

I shoulder my M-4 and take out my suppressed 9mm.
 
Swiping the card and hearing the tell-tale click, I open the door and swing immediately to my left.
 
The guard is just beginning to lean forward.
 
A strobe of light brightens his face which barely has enough time to register shock.
 
A spray of blood, brain, and chunks of skin with the hair attached splashes against the wall behind him.
 
His head rocks backward and slams against the wall with a sickening thud.
 
The muted sound of the shot hasn’t left the confines of the concrete hall as I reach out and grab his shirt, preventing him from falling to the ground or slipping out of the chair causing additional noise.
 
I ease him off the chair and onto the floor covering the rest of the hall and intersection.
 
Nothing moves or responds.

“All clear,” I call to Greg.

I cover the intersection while Greg covers the distance down the hall still covering our rear.
 
We join up and ease the door closed.

“What’s that lead to?”
 
Greg asks quietly pointing to the security door in the wall to our left.

“Got me but we have to find a place for our friend to sleep it off,” I answer edging forward.

The hall is dark but the room beyond the double doors a few feet away is lit and is obviously being used.
 
I hear a murmuring of some sort even through the thick doors.
 
All it takes is for those doors to swing open and the best we can do is wave politely as we will be directly in view.
 
Stairs are behind the immediate door to the left.
 
I swipe my card and pull the door open, wedging my foot against it to hold it while still covering the double doors.
 
Greg drags the body by the shoulders to minimize a bloody streak across the floor that dragging by the ankles would cause.
 
We deposit the body on the stairs.
 
I undo the man’s shirt and clean up the area as best and quickly as I can.

“Shall we?”
 
I ask pointing to the stairs.

He shrugs and answers, “Why not.”

Unslinging my M-4, I check the man for a radio and, not finding one, start up the steps as Greg eases the door closed behind.
 
I’m glad to be out of the line of sight of the double doors.
 
It is apparent something is happening beyond them.
 
I’m half way up the stairs, full of adrenaline, when I start having a very bad feeling.
 
The guards we let pass by are weighing on my mind.
 
If there is anything I’ve learned in the past, it’s to listen to that little voice in my head.
 
I was thankful every time I heeded it and the few times I ignored it, it ended, well, let’s just say it could have ended better.
 
I stop on the stairs and turn to Greg.

“What’s up?”
 
He whispers just a couple of steps below me.

“Just a funny feeling.
 
Those three others keep entering my thoughts and not in a good way,” I say.

“What do you want to do?”
 
Greg asks.

“I think we should clear our back side,” I answer.
 
Greg nods knowing what I mean.

“Are we going hunting?”

“No, I think we should wait for them to come to us,” I say.
 
“I’m thinking in that hallway we just came through.”

“Well, let’s do it then,” he says turning around.

We ease the door open checking to see if it’s clear.
 
The dimly lit hall between the two security doors is clear as well.
 
The light turns green and we ease back in the hall.
 
It’s dark by the near door and we settle into the corners.
 
We are out of the way of the door should anyone enter from our side.
 
The green glow of the hall alternates in shades of lighter and darker greens where the light patterns differ.
 
In our darkened corners, we wait with our thin beams of light reaching across the expanse and converging on the far doors.
 
Time passes seemingly taking forever and I start thinking that perhaps I was wrong but the feeling still remains.

“Are you sure about this?”
 
Greg asks after a while passes.

“No, not really but I still have the same feeling and….” I begin to say and pause as I see the far door swing open.

Three people step into the hall with the last one holding the door open.
 
The other two pause not having the faintest clue that they have lasers, which can only be seen through our NVG’s, painting their chests.
 
The third man hollers back through the door he’s holding open, “Tim, you lazy ass, we’re heading back.”

He shakes his head and closes the door.
 
I’m not sure how they could have missed a blood smear or two but perhaps they didn’t look very hard.
 
Most likely they only noticed their buddy was gone and assumed it was by his own volition.
 
They start down the hall toward us with their rifles carried casually.

“You have the left, I’ll take the right.
 
We both have the lummox in back.
 
Wait for my call,” I say.

Our VOX allows us to talk without pressing the mic button and therefore doesn’t require any movement.
 
The third person is partially hidden behind his buddies and us both taking the shot subsequently will increase the chances he will go down quickly after.
 
It really depends on how the bodies of the two in front fall.
 
I know we’re pretty well hidden but the one in front does have a flashlight, which he is holding haphazardly, and the beam is shining only a little ways in front of the group.
 
They don’t really need it in the hall so he isn’t using it to light their way.
 
If he does bring it up, we’ll be right in its path.

They walk on having snippets of conversation between them.
 
Their boots striking the floor echoes off the concrete walls of the corridor.
 
I feel my heart but control my breathing keeping my sight directly on the center of the man on the right’s chest.
 
Greg’s beam holds steady.
 
They have no idea what they are strolling toward.
 
The flashlight beam begins to rise toward the door between Greg and me.

“Now,” I whisper putting tension on the trigger.

Two muffled barks join the echo of the steps in the hall.
 
Our darkened corner erupts with two simultaneous flashes of light.
 
Two sub-sonic rounds fly out from the once dark corners and converge quickly with their intended targets.
 
The bullets enter each man’s chest and rip into the softer interior of their chest cavities, tearing through tissue and destroying veins and arteries.
 
The pulverized rounds exit from different locations in their backs creating large exit wounds through which blood and pieces of organs spew outward.
 
Each man is launched backward with a grunt and hits the ground with a thud.
 
The flashlight spins upward in the air turning end over end.
 
The third man looks at the man on his left, who was suddenly launched behind him to the ground, with a ‘What the fuck’ expression.
 
He begins to turn to the other one when his head absorbs two rounds that sped outward shortly after the first two began their journey.