Page 123 of Jump or Fall
“More might come through,” she said.
Gordon pulled a flashbang from his belt and lobbed it toward the doorway. “Close your eyes!”
Even with the helmet’s ear protection, the explosion rattled her skull, leaving her hearing muffled.
The doorway was still.
“Follow behind me,” Gordon said.
He kept his gun trained on the front entrance as they moved. Mara glanced behind them and found nothing. Slowly, they reached the stairs and started climbing with Mara leading.
A shot came from below.
Gordon jerked as a bullet cracked his chestplate.
“No!” she screamed.
He stumbled back, returning fire. The bullets splintered the railing, sending shards of wood flying. His armor had absorbed the impact, but the crack in the plating meant additional hits could be deadly.
They needed to keep moving.
More shots rang out. She grabbed Gordon and pulled him behind the wall before chucking a heavy downstairs. The explosion ripped apart the bottom of the staircase, leaving it broken and nearly unusable.
They hurried down the hallway.
Mara faltered as they passed her old room.
Dread. Nausea. Fear.
Pain.
Disconnect.
No.
Shallow breaths were all she could manage.
This house was fucking suffocating. Even in ruins, her prison was still trying to crush her.
Focus.
She pushed forward.
The hidden office door was exactly the same, tucked behind a tapestry of a foreign mountain landscape. She pushed it aside, revealing the reinforced steel beneath. The keypad glowed dimly in the darkness.
“I don't know the code,” she admitted.
Gordon took out his tablet and an override key. As he worked, distant commotion came from downstairs.
She tapped into the main comms. “Where is everyone? Gordon and I are upstairs, about to enter the office.”
Silva responded first, his voice tense. “Defending the premises.”
Millon followed. “Kim and I are on the roof, keeping more assholes from gaining access. Enforcers have arrived, but we’ll keep them out.”
Kimmie didn’t respond.
Gordon plugged the override key into the keypad. The screen flashed, and the door opened. A stairwell stretched downward—another fixture of her nightmares.
