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“We’ll have to fight our way through who knows how many men if we go in through a door,” Rush pointed out.
“And they could kill her before we have a chance to get to her,” Keller said by way of agreement with his statement. Keller looked me up and down, then back at the window. We’d been side by side for too long for me not to know what he was thinking. I gave him a nod of agreement.
We were careful to keep our voices low. We had crouched into a huddle so tight our knees touched. We didn’t want to lose the element of surprise. We’d be fucked if we did.
Seeing the calculation in Keller's eyes, I tucked my rifle behind my back, readying myself. “I’m going in,” I told him. That was his plan anyway, but it made it easier on him to volunteer rather than have to force him to tell me to go. I wanted to be the first one through the door—or window in this case. I’d do whatever it took to get to Zinnia so I could protect her.
“Seriously? We’re lifting the biggest guy?” Rush grumbled. He handed me his pistol so I had two weapons available. It would make sense to send Rush since he was the lightest of the four of us, but I was the most skilled in close quarter combat. Right now we needed whoever was the best to do the job in front of us. It was the only way to get the five of us out of here alive.
I drew my hands back toward my armpits, both pistols pointed out and snugged up into my body as I crouched down into a ball. Keeping them tucked in close meant I’d be unlikely to lose them when the others flung me through the window. Torque and Rush stepped to either side of me and grunted as they lifted me. Keller stepped to the window, the butt of his rifle facing out as he waited for our cue. We nodded to him, and he swung back and smashed in the window. They launched me through the space where the glass had once been.
I landed in a heap—bones jarring as I met the concrete floor—but came up shooting, both arms punched out towards the guards. Time slowed and my vision narrowed as I focused my sights on my right hand, and fired two shots. Adrenaline coursed through me making my breaths hammer out of my lungs as I turned my head to the left, brought those sights to bear, and fired two more rounds. Both guards fell before they knew I was in the room.
Roj wasn’t stupid. He knew we were coming for her and there was no reason to leave her up here, on the top floor of his building when he could have her secreted away inside the bowels of his compound. He wanted to lure us in so he could kill or capture us all at once.
We knew his plan—it wasn’t that hard to figure out—we just didn’t care. Leaving Zinnia here was the last thing we were going to do.
I ran straight past her, suppressing every urge to check on and comfort her. It wasn’t easy, but I had to secure our room. I kept going straight to the door. Another guard came in, I fired from both hands, dropping him in a spray of blood. I could hear Keller and the others behind me, getting through the window and untying Z.
I dropped the pistols and swung my rifle off my back, taking a knee at the entrance and firing down the hall.
“Back out the wind-” Keller broke off as a barrage of bullets sprayed through the window, cutting off our escape. Roj must have stationed men outside, letting us get into the building but not back out. That answered that—he wanted us alive, otherwise they would have cut us down outside the window.
Keller slammed Zinnia to the ground, while Rush and Torque jumped to either side of the window, taking cover.
More guards were coming down the hall. I stayed focused on them and kept a steady stream of bullets heading their way. My heart was beating heavily in my ears, but I couldn’t lose my focus.
Movement from behind me drew my attention and I watched for a moment as Zinnia scooted out from under Keller and hugged him. “Are you okay?” she asked, her eyes flitting to each of us, scanning us for injuries, then landing on me.
“Fine!” I shouted over my shoulder as I faced back toward the hallway. I pulled out a magazine for my pistol and handed it to her. She moved forward to grab it, picking up one of the pistols I’d dropped on the ground and loading the fresh magazine. She gave me a grateful smile.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Keller said, his eyes roving over Zinnia for a moment—assessing her condition—before he went back to the window.
“Shit,” Torque muttered, going to stand behind him.
The hallway was clear so I went over and looked out the window and frowned. There were a lot of Roj’s men outside, preparing to come in. Too many to fight our way out. “That’s not good.”
They’d send the men in here, not caring if they were slaughtered, so they could cut off our retreat to the outside of the building. Our only escape was to go through the compound.
“We have to find another way out,” Zinnia said from beside me.
“That’s what they want,” Keller replied, face pinched with fury. “The windows and doors are a choke point, they’ll mow us down if we try.”
“Why aren’t they attacking?” she asked, trying to puzzle out what the men were doing.
“They want us to find a new way out,” Rush explained. “In order to do that we have to go further into the building.”
“Where he has more men waiting?” she responded.
“Probably something a lot worse,” Keller muttered.
“What’s worse than fifteen men with guns waiting for us?” she asked, glancing out at the men down on the sand.
We exchanged knowing looks and Zinnia sucked in a breath when she realized what the answer to her question was.
“A bomb.” I gave her a quick nod. “Either we go outside and he tries to capture us, or we go in and get blown up. Fine. Then we go out the window and confront them outside, take our chances,” she said, determination lighting her features.
Now that the danger had lulled for a heartbeat, I couldn’t help myself. I pulled her into my arms. My eyes closed of their own will and I breathed her in. We might all still die in this fucking building, but at least we’d go together and we’d go out fighting. At least she was alive, here and now.
