Page 39 of Nuclear Option (Owens Protective Services)

“They could have arrived a little sooner,” Rae complained.

“It wasn’t that long. Christ, let it go, Rae.”

“I’m just saying, I would have done it faster.”

I crowded against the next door, checking through the window before I plowed right through. “Okay, we need to locate the control center.”

“It’ll most likely be on the first level.”

“Great,” I muttered, “so, we just need to climb ten flights of stairs to get there.”

“And hope we don’t encounter any more guards along the way,” Rae added.

“All while avoiding being crushed by our own guys attacking the building. Yeah, this sounds like a great idea,” New Guy muttered.

I swung the door open and headed down the hallway, nearly passing the stairwell. Shoving through, I ran up the stairs, sticking to the wall to avoid anyone seeing me. We ran up three flights of stairs when our good luck finally ran out. The stairwell door opened, just as I ran past it and five guys opened it, shocked to see us out of our cells. I turned and slammed my gun into the soldier’s head as Rae and New Guy attacked. One of them radioed it in before we could stop them.

“Rae!” I shouted. “Find Eva!”

“On it, boss.” She slammed her fist into the man’s head before turning and racing up the stairs. New Guy and I stayed behind, holding them off to buy her as much time as possible. The five of them were down, but we could already hear the footsteps pounding down the hall as more of them came.

“Okay, I got this,” New Guy said quickly. “I’ll run out there and strip out of my clothes and flap my arms like a chicken, just like Murtaugh did inLethal Weapon 4.Then I’ll run down the hall, squawking and shit to distract them. Meanwhile, you haul ass upstairs and help Rae search for Eva. Sound like a plan?”

I slammed the butt of my rifle into the glass door for the fire axe and pulled it out. Slinging my rifle over my shoulder, I swung the axe down hard, breaking off the outside handle and then the inside one. I kicked the guy in the doorway away from it and slammed the door shut.

I shoved the axe into New Guy’s hands. “It’s a steel door. Now they can’t get in.”

“Sure,” he nodded. “Or we could do that.” I heard the axe clatter to the ground, then he ran behind me up the stairs. “Not nearly as clever as my idea, but it works.”

“And you won’t end up dead for the fourth time in just a few days.”

“Well, there’s that too.”

When we reached the top floor, I flung the door open, stepping out first with my gun at the ready. New Guy moved behind me, facing the other direction to watch my back.

“Any idea where we’re going?” he asked.

“No, but Rae came this way.”

“How do you know she went right and not left?”

“Just a guess.”

“A guess? We’re betting our lives on a guess?”

“What does it matter to you?” I hissed. “You can’t die, remember?”

“No, but there are worse things than death.”

I moved quickly down the hallway, pausing when I came to a T intersection. Sliding along the wall, I peeked around the corner, jerking back when I saw several soldiers talking.

“Two grunts.”

“Uh-uh,” he grunted beside me.

I slowly turned and looked at him. “What the fuck was that?”

“You said two grunts.”

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