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Instead of hitting me though, he hit his partner, who luckily had already been unconscious from plowing into the wall. I didn't have a choice though. As soon as I was able to maneuver my body around and away from the man, I lifted my gun and aimed at the shooter.
I breathed a sigh of relief at the absence of blood on his silver-white uniform, which was made to not only protect its wearer from the elements but also from bullets. The impact of three rounds of the high caliber bullets had, however, knocked him unconscious. His partner had not been so lucky as blood trailing from a head wound indicated.
I got to my feet, liberated the guns from the unconscious and dead men as well as spare ammunition and placed them into nearly invisible pockets in my uniform that expanded and practically would have allowed me to store an elephant if I needed to.
Impatiently, I pressed my palm against the elevator call pad, hoping they hadn't deactivated my security clearance yet. My luck held, and seconds later, the doors to the elevator opened.
Realizing that more guards would wait for me on whatever floor I landed, I pushed a random floor number and then pushed the emergency stop somewhere in between floors.
Getting up through the emergency hatch was a bit trickier since I couldn't find anything to help me climb up, but a strong jump brought my hands far enough up to grab the edges.
Sweat dripped down my forehead and underneath my uniform as I heaved myself up to the top of the elevator cabin, where I allowed myself to plop down for a moment to catch my breath and stretch my screaming arms.
Aladderthathadbeen built into the shaft brought me up to the floor I needed to reach and into another maintenance shaft right above it. The area was high enough for me to walk upright, and on tiptoes, I made my way to another hatch. Since I didn't know what awaited me below, I kneeled and put my ear to it to see if I could make out any sounds, but if there were any, I didn't catch them.
I took a deep breath, held the gun in one hand, and steeled myself for a hostile encounter before I nearly simultaneously opened the hatch door and jumped. Landing in a crouch, I spun in a fast circle and barely had time to pull the trigger three times in quick succession before the startled guard had a chance to.
Stunned, he was flung backward against the wall. The sound of gunfire was deafening in the enclosed area and made my ears ring. Before the guard had a chance to recover from his shock, I jumped him and knocked him out with a well-placed hit against his head with the butt of my Glock.
Where was the second guard? There were always at least two.
I spun again, realizing what a tempting target I made after giving my position away. My ears were still ringing so loud, I doubted I would have heard a Humvee approach.
Several doors were closed on both sides of the hallway, and my eyes fell on two bathroom doors. He or she could be inside waiting to make a move. Which bathroom though? Male or female?
It was only thanks to years of training and having been in battle situations before that I noticed a slight dimming in the corridor to my right as if somebody had walked underneath one of the overhanging lights. Reinforcements were on their way.
I ducked in the opposite direction, aware that the cameras here were still working. With a hammering heart, I pressed myself against the wall where another hallway branched off and waited, willing the ringing in my ears to subside.
When nothing happened for several seconds, I chanced a look around the edge of the wall and three bullets instantly whizzed by me. I managed to make out two soldiers, one exiting the male bathroom, and another, who I speculated to have broken away from his partner guarding the door to the communications office.
I angled my gun and fired off a few rounds before I risked poking my head around the corner again and realized the two soldiers were using the now ajar bathroom door as cover, while firing at me the moment my head poked around the corner.
Shit.
I couldn't stay here. More soldiers would be here soon, and with the cameras, they would once again be able to track me. Shit, shit, shit.
I also couldn't risk a shootout with the other two. Their cover was ingenious and the metal impregnable. I had to find another way.
The hatch I had entered through was in the other hallway, where the guards were holed up, so that was a no-go.
I switched magazines, worried I would run out if I got myself into another shootout, even though several rounds remained in the old one. I tucked it away for a desperate moment I hoped wouldn't come and made my way down the corridor.Maybe, if I'm lucky, I can circle around, I thought, knowing I would have to be more than lucky. But with the fire distraction, I hoped most soldiers had left the base and were busy fighting the fire, bringing the number of soldiers on a manhunt for me down to a skeleton crew.
Out of options, I followed the hallway until it branched off again, taking the one to the left and hoping it would lead back to the communications office corridor. I didn't have time to pull out the tablet and check the map and cursed myself for not having done so before I jumped blindly into the corridor.
Another left turn brought me to where I wanted to be. Only one guard stood in front of a door behind which the communications office lay. I didn't give the woman a chance. I fired three rounds into the side of her chest, knocking her off her feet and out, but bringing the other two's attention back to me as they stormed the corner on the other side.
My focus zoomed in on the targets, and I forced myself to see the soldiers as such as I fired indiscriminately. One managed to hit me as well and the impact felt like a punch to the stomach, knocking the wind out of me and nearly bringing me to my knees.
Over the course of my career, I had been hit so many times that I managed to stay on my feet and take the lone man down before he was able to get another hit in.
I forced myself to take in a deep lungful of air that hurt like hell but would keep me conscious and limped over to the door. Pressing my palm against it, it didn't open, and I cursed. They must have finally deactivated my access code.
The woman I shot first lay crumbled over herself only a few feet away. Her breathing was shallow, but from experience, I knew she would be okay. She would be bruised badly in the morning, but she would live.
I didn't feel good about it, but I pulled her unconscious body toward the access door and lifted her arm to press her palm against the pad. The door opened.
I let go of her and lumbered in, gun out first.
