Page 129 of Into the Gray Zone

He nodded, and Knuckles punched the twenty-second floor. I called Jennifer on the net and said, “We’re on the way. Get ready to execute. Black Cats are about to land, so we need to eliminate the explosive threat and secure the hostages.”

All I heard was a short, “Roger all. Standing by.”

We started going up, piped-in Muzak floating down around us. It was surreal. I said, “Hey, have you ever seenThe Matrix?”

Knuckles smiled and said, “I was thinking the same thing. The courthouse scene?”

“Yep. When these doors open, it’s going to be just like that.”

Chapter76

Jennifer heard Pike’s call and scooted closer to the door. She could see the elevator at the back of the sunken den, at the rear of its own anteroom. She waited for it to open, knowing the blood that was coming when it did. She heard the distinct whopping of helicopter blades splitting the air, then felt a boom that shook the building. Raging gunfire split the air above her on the roof of the building, sounding like a fireworks display that had gone awry.

The Black Cats.

She saw the men in the room stiffen, their weapons raised for an enemy that hadn’t appeared, the men swinging their barrels left and right. The man with the detonator started shouting orders, and the elevator door opened. She saw another red-uniformed guard step out, then the terrorist from the slum.

Detonator Man screamed something, and his men opened up. Both of the men exiting the elevator were cut down by the jittery black-clad guards, their weapons firing on full automatic even after the bodies had fallen. Pike and Knuckles came out right behind them, weapons up and firing, ripping rounds into the men shooting at the elevator. She ran to the open sliding-glass door and raised her pistol, seeing the man with the detonator throw a hand grenade toward the elevator and take off running.

She took a knee and started shooting. She got off one shot before one of the other guards turned to her, forcing her to defend herself instead of killing the man with the detonator. She put two rounds into him and the grenade went off, shattering the elevator.

She looked for another target and saw Nadia leap up, giving chase to Detonator Man. He reached the stairwell leading to the mezzanine with Nadia right behind him. Jennifer gave chase, passing Annaka and shouting, “Get on the balcony, get on the balcony!”

Annaka started to run and Jennifer raced to the stairwell, taking the steps two at a time to the mezzanine level. She reached the top and saw Nadia fighting the man for the detonator, both of them rolling on the ground, the man’s rifle flopping around between them.

She sprinted to the fight, putting her pistol an inch from the man’s head. He screamed and she pulled the trigger, blowing out the back of his skull, the bullet spraying the wall with brain matter and blood.

Nadia rolled off him, the detonator in her hands. She leaned against the wall and said, “That was close.”

Jennifer said, “No time for relaxing. We have about two minutes to live. We need to find Annaka and get somewhere safe.”

Chapter77

The elevator doors opened and I pushed out Redcoat and Manjit, hoping they’d be recognized and cause everyone to relax. Instead, I heard a raging firefight happening a few floors above us, sounding like an unruly guest was pounding drums in a hotel room. I raised my weapon, and all of a sudden the interior of the elevator began to echo like someone was throwing rocks against the metal, bullets flying into it on full automatic.

I saw both Redcoat and Manjit shredded right in front of my eyes and hit the floor, Knuckles right next to me. There was a lull in the fire, the guards realizing they’d killed their own, and we started returning fire before they could recover.

I hit one, heard Knuckles on my right shooting, then I saw something floating in the air. It clanged off the back of the elevator and I shouted, “Grenade!”

We both dove out, rolling left and right, using the wall as cover, and the grenade went off, destroying the elevator.

My first thought was,Need another exfil plan,but it was banished a moment later by fire coming at us from two directions, the room and a stairwell leading to a balcony on my left.

I started suppressing the stairwell while Knuckles dealt with the few remaining guards in the room. He shouted, “Moving!” and I covered him. He took up a position in the sunken den and began firing at the stairwell, the men now retreating up it, which I thought was a good thing until I saw them fanning out on the mezzanine that looked down into the den.

Shit. That was the worst. They’d line up and start shooting us like fish in a barrel. I ran to Knuckles’ position, calling on the radio, “Koko, Koko, what’s your status? Where are the hostages?”

She said, “I’m up one level. We’ve got the detonator, I’m with Nadia. Annaka is on the balcony outside.”

The rounds started coming in and I rolled behind a pillar, Knuckles doing the same, both of us trying to squeeze behind a space that was too small.

I said, “Stay up there. Get to the mezzanine overlooking the den and start suppressing the guys shooting at us. We’re pinned down.”

Bullets were pinging off the marble and I tried to scootch farther in, hitting something with my hip. I looked down and saw a package of explosives taped to the pillar.

Jesus Christ. If they hit that we’re all going to die.

I said, “Koko, Koko, need some suppression.”

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