Part 2
A straight run through the city would have taken me about ten minutes, but would have been far too conspicuous. Instead I stuck to the alleys, ducking in and out of the shadows as best I could. I wasn't worried about running into any major trouble, but right then I couldn't afford even a slight chance of getting hurt. The more convoluted route almost tripled the time it took to reach the Dragon's headquarters but at least it made sure I got there undetected. Once again I took to the rooftops, checking out the target for any signs of security.
The building had at one time been a row of Victorian town houses but had since been converted into a single block of narrow corridors and a warren of rooms and hidden passageways designed to hold up any force that tried to take the place. A quick glance at the roof was all I needed to know that going in that way was a one-way ticket to alerting every guard in the place. The man may not be the biggest or brightest shark in the sea but even the smallest of gangs were posting lookouts on the roofs these days. Their absence here pointed out the presence of bobby traps as well as a large neon sign. The street in front of me was a good twenty foot across, too far to jump and I was sure that whatever surprises waited on top of that building were also in place on the ones to either side.
Stepping back from the edge I reached into my coat and pulled out both my pistol and a thin metal pole, about thirty centimeters long. Removing the clip from the pistol and emptying the chamber I slid the pole into the barrel of the gun and put a special clip back into the hand grip. Taking aim I picked a point about six foot under below the roof and fired. The pole shot from the barrel and I heard the faint clink of metal meeting brick as the pole embedded itself in the wall. It was a simple enough design, a small explosive charge in the front of the pole detonated on impact to make a small hole in the target, and a fraction of a second later a second charge drove a ring of spikes outward into the edge of the hole. Coupled with the thinnest wire I'd ever seen it made one hell of a useful grappling hook, and was going to be made standard issue to the army within a few months.
Quickly I moved back to the edge and fired a second shot from the pistol, this time aimed at a point just behind the raised parapet of the roof. The back end of the pole was fired out of the gun and repeated the same anchoring trick the front had done, providing a solid base for the line that ran between them. Swapping back to a clip of normal ammunition I flipped a small metal clasp over my fingers and gripped the wire, making sure the wire itself was running straight and true over the metal runner. I'd seen what happened if you tried to slide down one of these using flesh and even covered in gloves it wasn't something you ever wanted to do, at least not if you liked having a full set of fingers.
A deep breath, a quick drop and a few seconds of suspense as I waited for someone to spot me sliding over the street, then I hit the wall on the target building. Hanging from the wire I checked around quickly for any signs that a guard had spotted me, but I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. I edged over to my right, checking through the window for any sign of life. When nothing came up on either night vision or thermal I flicked the knife out of its wrist holster and gently popped the lock on the window, sliding through and letting it close gently behind me, leaving no trace I was ever there.
Looking around I realized this wasn't what I'd been expecting. Instead of a normal room, this seemed to be some sort of private viewing area, a large glass window at one area covered with blackout curtains, several armchairs arranged in front of it along with a set of speakers that had to be hooked up to whatever lay beyond. Moving quickly I went over to the Window and could just make out a single heat source on the other side, probably quite a way from the glass judging by the faintness of the reading. Moving to one side I eased the curtain back and slid forward until I could see through the glass.
With the curtain gone I could see a shape outlined in shades of green and red, hanging from a dark blue X frame of what I assumed was some sort of metal, barely picking up enough residual heat from the victim to show up against the background. I could make out enough detail to know that whoever it was was female, and started looking for a way to get in and out of that room quickly, if I could grab her before anyone came in we could be out before anyone knew there was a problem.
Too late. Lights blazed out from beyond the glass and I ducked back down, scanning the room to see if anyone was coming in, but no, this seemed to just be a check on the girl. I risked another look through the glass and realised that any sort of quick entry and exit strategy wasn't going to work. The walls were made of steel, and judging by the size of the bolts holding them together had to be at least a foot thick. The glass looked to be bulletproof and I could now make out the hair-fine lines of the wire mesh running through it, there was no way I was going to break through that, not without coming out the other side as sushi anyway. There was only one way into that room that I could see, and that was currently being guarded by a couple of typical street thugs, though these at least looked like they had enough intelligence to know which way round a key went without having to try it twice.
My eyes were drawn to the victim on the rack, and I realized the machine was the same as the one I'd seen at Parsons Street, down to the color of the feathers waiting beneath it. The young woman strapped to it hung loosely in her bonds, eyes closed as her body twitched seemingly uncontrollably. She was striking, blond, tall and pretty and I recognized her as one of the first victims to be taken. My mind provided the name almost as soon as I saw her face, Rachel Larkin, one of the two taken whose families had some serious financial clout behind them who were just waiting for a ransom demand. Suddenly two figures entered through the open door, one was easy enough, six foot and a bit tall, dressed all in black and walking with the aid of a thin cane The Dragon was one of the more noticeable of the city's criminal leaders, and that was probably going to be the reason he didn't get much higher than her already was. The other newcomer though stopped me cold.
I'd never seen her before, I remember every face I've ever seen and I couldn't place hers, yet I knew her somehow. Almost as tall as The Dragon with long flame red hair and wearing a blood red jumpsuit she'd have been the center of attention at any club in the country, but something about her was calling me, something that definitely wasn't anything to do with her looks. She stood in front of their victim and I could see her asking what looked like three questions, but the glass was so thick it was cutting out all sounds from the room. I saw Rachel shake her head to each question in a show of defiance, but it was obvious even from here that she was worn out, exhausted and close to breaking. The woman reached out and touched a button on the control panel, causing the frame to rotate downwards, moving Rachel ever closer to the waiting feathers beneath her.
As the rack tilted she didn't seem to even notice the movement, her head hanging limply forward, letting the restraints carry her body weight without protest. The instant the feathers hit her skin however she became a thing possessed, thrashing her head and moving every way she could to try and avoid the contact of those torturous little points. But it was a futile effort, she simply didn't have anywhere to go, held tight to the frame and able to move only an inch or two in any direction. Her head came back, looking straight up at the window, her eyes closed, mouth open wide in a combination of laugh and scream.
Unconsciously my hands were flexing, and there was a slight click as the knife slid down into place. I found myself unable to take my gaze from the scene before me, and without realizing it had moved into position to hurl myself through the glass. Just in time I came to my senses and with a tremendous effort that left me physically shaking managed to rip my eyes off the scene and sink back to the floor, eyes closed as I tried to calm myself down. What the hell was wrong with me? I'd seen far worse than this during my short time prowling through this city, and yet here I was ready to get myself killed over, over what? It wasn't pleasant to watch, and I'm sure it was hell for the victim but she wasn't in any immediate physical danger, so why was I willing to disregard my training and all common sense for the second time that night to save her immediately?
I paused, reluctant to look at this again, but I really had no choice. Carefully I eased myself back into position just in time to see the red head press a second button on the console and hold it down. The feathers paused and Rachel was asked another question. For a long moment she hung motionless, then one quick, violent shake of the head. The red head laughed, lent down and whispered something to the poor girl then stood up and released the button. Immediately the feathers started up again, and the rack moved down, until the victim was completely surrounded by them. The Dragon moved forward and tapped the red head on the shoulder, then motioned back up towards the window as they left the room.
They had to be coming in here to watch this display! I moved fast, heading back into the shadows behind the door, knife out and ready, checked the pistol and waited. There was a click and the door swung open, the woman walking through first followed by the tapping of the cane as The Dragon entered. As the door swung shut I darted forward, locking my left arm around his throat, the right moving forward to cut off any chance the man had of breathing. In the second or two it took for the situation to sink in it was already too late, as I felt him start to panic, gasping for air. Once I was sure he was winded enough not to try anything stupid I relaxed my grip and addressed the woman.
“Over there, against the wall, facing me. Do it now or he's dead.”
She simply smiled and walked over to the wall, resting her hands flat against it, seemingly totally at east with the situation. I quickly switched my grip on the Dragon, pulling his arms behind him and tying his wrists together with a pair of zip cuffs. A quick check revealed a Glock 40 pistol tucked into a shoulder holster under that black jacket, and a knife of similar design to mine, only steel rather than the far more expensive and fragile ceramic blade, on his left arm. I pulled the clip from the gun and stored it in my coat along with the blade, throwing the gun itself into a corner.
“Now” I said, a firm grip on the Dragon's arms as I pulled him in front of me, “we're going to walk right out of that door, down the hall and get the girl. Then we're all going to go downstairs, take a car and pay a visit to the nearest police station. Got it?”
“You, you're crazy!” gasped the Dragon, still trying to get air through his bruised throat. “I've got over 50 guys in this building, there's no way you're getting out of here in anything other than a body bag.”
“Even if they've got to shoot through you?”
The Dragon fell silent for a moment, then: “Tell you what, take the girl, leave us here and I'll let you walk out of here.”
“No chance, something big is going on, and you know exactly what it is. You could tell me know, but somehow I'd be happier getting the details somewhere a little more friendly. Now move!” So saying I shoved him hard into the wall, wrenched the door open and shoved him out into the corridor, pistol in my left hand pointing over his shoulder, the right hand with the knife held ready for an attack from behind. No guards were around, I guess they really weren't expecting trouble from this direction after all. I motioned to the woman and she calmly walked out and moved a couple of steps in front of the Dragon as we walked down the corridor.
Thirty steps took us to a cross corridor and as we came round the corner I dropped the two guards I'd seen earlier. This was going to be hard enough without having two armed thugs at my back to worry about. The woman walked calmly up to the door and keyed in a combination on the pad beside it. The door swung open silently and I moved up, positioning the Dragon in the doorway facing out, myself tucked in behind him so that I could see out into the corridor but still use him as a shield if need be. The laughter immediately washed over us and I glanced back to see Rachel entombed in feathers, every muscle straining for escape as she fought the sensations being forced upon her. Without being told the red head walked over to the console and hit a large blue button, causing the rack to move upwards and swing upright. The woman moved forward and released Rachel's restraints, passing her a light green jumpsuit that looked like it would offer little warmth or comfort other than preserving her modesty. Still it was better than nothing.
I saw Rachel look up at me, and knew we didn't have time for the long version of the explanation. “Miss, I'm a police office, we're going to get you out of here but you've got to come with me now, understand?”
Rachel trembled and looked like she was ready to collapse, but somehow managed to stay on her feet as she nodded. “Who, who are you?” she asked, her voice little more than a croaked whisper.
“Ever heard of the bloodhounds?” I asked. Her eyes went wide and she nodded, moving forward to stand behind me, drawing a deep breath.
“I thought so.” came a voice from behind me. I spun to find the red head looking at me intensely, as if cataloging a rare book or antique. “You're one of the 03 series aren't you?”
“Yes.” I replied, somewhat surprised by the quick identification as our codename wasn't widely known. “Why, and how do you know...”
“Oh, I know more about you than you'd guess, how is that scar on your back, training accident with a sai wasn't it?”
“What? How could you possibly”
“Ah, as much as I'd love to catch up on old times, I think you're just about out of time my dear. You see pressing that blue button sends an alert to the guard station and as no-one's checked in you're about to have a lot of company. Another time perhaps?”
I heard booted feet in the corridor outside and knew she was right. “Count on it.” I snapped, throwing the Dragon out and to the left, grabbing Rachel's hand and dragging her out to the right. We raced around the corner and down the corridor, heading for what looked like the entry to a stairwell. I hit the door hard and it swung open to a large thud sound. Someone must have been standing guard behind it and I slashed around the wooden frame with the knife at what I thought was chest hight. I felt the blade hit something and kept right on running. Rachel was right behind me as we raced down the stairs, she had to be flying on fear and adrenaline right now but all she had to do was stay upright for another minute or two.
I barreled through the door out of the stairwell and threw myself to the ground. Overhead I heard the sharp crack of gunfire as the two guards who'd been standing either side of the door reacted a half second too slowly. Two thuds from my right showed who had been the better shot and I pivoted quickly to drop the two on the left. Scrambling back up to my feet I pulled the steel blade I'd taken from the Dragon inside my coat and threw it down the corridor, shorting the control box on the doors separating us from the outside world.
We sprinted together down the narrow corridor as I tried to check both in front and behind at the same time. We were within ten feet of freedom when two guards burst through the stairwell door behind us at the same time as two more appeared from a guard station in front of the main door. The two in front I dropped immediately, but there was no way I was going to outdraw four people and the two behind managed to get a shot off each before I managed to drop them. The first flew off overhead and took out a strip light, showering glass down into the corridor. The second was far better aimed and hit me straight in the back, the impact throwing me to the ground as my body armor absorbed the brunt of the shot.
Gasping I staggered back to my feet, put on a burst of speed and shoved my way through the main doors. A quick check showed no-one in immediate view and I holstered the pistol in one motion, turned and swept Rachel off her feet and into my arms before charging down the road. I ducked into an alley just in time, as a sniper bullet hit the wall not an inch from my head as I concentrated on putting as much distance between us and them as possible, taking routes they couldn't possibly follow in cars or on bikes. I ran on, finally arriving at the police station the first girl had been taken to not two hours earlier. Passing Rachel over to the medical team I sank wearily into a chair, wincing as I felt the now tender area on my back where that bullet had hit.
A straight run through the city would have taken me about ten minutes, but would have been far too conspicuous. Instead I stuck to the alleys, ducking in and out of the shadows as best I could. I wasn't worried about running into any major trouble, but right then I couldn't afford even a slight chance of getting hurt. The more convoluted route almost tripled the time it took to reach the Dragon's headquarters but at least it made sure I got there undetected. Once again I took to the rooftops, checking out the target for any signs of security.
The building had at one time been a row of Victorian town houses but had since been converted into a single block of narrow corridors and a warren of rooms and hidden passageways designed to hold up any force that tried to take the place. A quick glance at the roof was all I needed to know that going in that way was a one-way ticket to alerting every guard in the place. The man may not be the biggest or brightest shark in the sea but even the smallest of gangs were posting lookouts on the roofs these days. Their absence here pointed out the presence of bobby traps as well as a large neon sign. The street in front of me was a good twenty foot across, too far to jump and I was sure that whatever surprises waited on top of that building were also in place on the ones to either side.
Stepping back from the edge I reached into my coat and pulled out both my pistol and a thin metal pole, about thirty centimeters long. Removing the clip from the pistol and emptying the chamber I slid the pole into the barrel of the gun and put a special clip back into the hand grip. Taking aim I picked a point about six foot under below the roof and fired. The pole shot from the barrel and I heard the faint clink of metal meeting brick as the pole embedded itself in the wall. It was a simple enough design, a small explosive charge in the front of the pole detonated on impact to make a small hole in the target, and a fraction of a second later a second charge drove a ring of spikes outward into the edge of the hole. Coupled with the thinnest wire I'd ever seen it made one hell of a useful grappling hook, and was going to be made standard issue to the army within a few months.
Quickly I moved back to the edge and fired a second shot from the pistol, this time aimed at a point just behind the raised parapet of the roof. The back end of the pole was fired out of the gun and repeated the same anchoring trick the front had done, providing a solid base for the line that ran between them. Swapping back to a clip of normal ammunition I flipped a small metal clasp over my fingers and gripped the wire, making sure the wire itself was running straight and true over the metal runner. I'd seen what happened if you tried to slide down one of these using flesh and even covered in gloves it wasn't something you ever wanted to do, at least not if you liked having a full set of fingers.
A deep breath, a quick drop and a few seconds of suspense as I waited for someone to spot me sliding over the street, then I hit the wall on the target building. Hanging from the wire I checked around quickly for any signs that a guard had spotted me, but I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. I edged over to my right, checking through the window for any sign of life. When nothing came up on either night vision or thermal I flicked the knife out of its wrist holster and gently popped the lock on the window, sliding through and letting it close gently behind me, leaving no trace I was ever there.
Looking around I realized this wasn't what I'd been expecting. Instead of a normal room, this seemed to be some sort of private viewing area, a large glass window at one area covered with blackout curtains, several armchairs arranged in front of it along with a set of speakers that had to be hooked up to whatever lay beyond. Moving quickly I went over to the Window and could just make out a single heat source on the other side, probably quite a way from the glass judging by the faintness of the reading. Moving to one side I eased the curtain back and slid forward until I could see through the glass.
With the curtain gone I could see a shape outlined in shades of green and red, hanging from a dark blue X frame of what I assumed was some sort of metal, barely picking up enough residual heat from the victim to show up against the background. I could make out enough detail to know that whoever it was was female, and started looking for a way to get in and out of that room quickly, if I could grab her before anyone came in we could be out before anyone knew there was a problem.
Too late. Lights blazed out from beyond the glass and I ducked back down, scanning the room to see if anyone was coming in, but no, this seemed to just be a check on the girl. I risked another look through the glass and realised that any sort of quick entry and exit strategy wasn't going to work. The walls were made of steel, and judging by the size of the bolts holding them together had to be at least a foot thick. The glass looked to be bulletproof and I could now make out the hair-fine lines of the wire mesh running through it, there was no way I was going to break through that, not without coming out the other side as sushi anyway. There was only one way into that room that I could see, and that was currently being guarded by a couple of typical street thugs, though these at least looked like they had enough intelligence to know which way round a key went without having to try it twice.
My eyes were drawn to the victim on the rack, and I realized the machine was the same as the one I'd seen at Parsons Street, down to the color of the feathers waiting beneath it. The young woman strapped to it hung loosely in her bonds, eyes closed as her body twitched seemingly uncontrollably. She was striking, blond, tall and pretty and I recognized her as one of the first victims to be taken. My mind provided the name almost as soon as I saw her face, Rachel Larkin, one of the two taken whose families had some serious financial clout behind them who were just waiting for a ransom demand. Suddenly two figures entered through the open door, one was easy enough, six foot and a bit tall, dressed all in black and walking with the aid of a thin cane The Dragon was one of the more noticeable of the city's criminal leaders, and that was probably going to be the reason he didn't get much higher than her already was. The other newcomer though stopped me cold.
I'd never seen her before, I remember every face I've ever seen and I couldn't place hers, yet I knew her somehow. Almost as tall as The Dragon with long flame red hair and wearing a blood red jumpsuit she'd have been the center of attention at any club in the country, but something about her was calling me, something that definitely wasn't anything to do with her looks. She stood in front of their victim and I could see her asking what looked like three questions, but the glass was so thick it was cutting out all sounds from the room. I saw Rachel shake her head to each question in a show of defiance, but it was obvious even from here that she was worn out, exhausted and close to breaking. The woman reached out and touched a button on the control panel, causing the frame to rotate downwards, moving Rachel ever closer to the waiting feathers beneath her.
As the rack tilted she didn't seem to even notice the movement, her head hanging limply forward, letting the restraints carry her body weight without protest. The instant the feathers hit her skin however she became a thing possessed, thrashing her head and moving every way she could to try and avoid the contact of those torturous little points. But it was a futile effort, she simply didn't have anywhere to go, held tight to the frame and able to move only an inch or two in any direction. Her head came back, looking straight up at the window, her eyes closed, mouth open wide in a combination of laugh and scream.
Unconsciously my hands were flexing, and there was a slight click as the knife slid down into place. I found myself unable to take my gaze from the scene before me, and without realizing it had moved into position to hurl myself through the glass. Just in time I came to my senses and with a tremendous effort that left me physically shaking managed to rip my eyes off the scene and sink back to the floor, eyes closed as I tried to calm myself down. What the hell was wrong with me? I'd seen far worse than this during my short time prowling through this city, and yet here I was ready to get myself killed over, over what? It wasn't pleasant to watch, and I'm sure it was hell for the victim but she wasn't in any immediate physical danger, so why was I willing to disregard my training and all common sense for the second time that night to save her immediately?
I paused, reluctant to look at this again, but I really had no choice. Carefully I eased myself back into position just in time to see the red head press a second button on the console and hold it down. The feathers paused and Rachel was asked another question. For a long moment she hung motionless, then one quick, violent shake of the head. The red head laughed, lent down and whispered something to the poor girl then stood up and released the button. Immediately the feathers started up again, and the rack moved down, until the victim was completely surrounded by them. The Dragon moved forward and tapped the red head on the shoulder, then motioned back up towards the window as they left the room.
They had to be coming in here to watch this display! I moved fast, heading back into the shadows behind the door, knife out and ready, checked the pistol and waited. There was a click and the door swung open, the woman walking through first followed by the tapping of the cane as The Dragon entered. As the door swung shut I darted forward, locking my left arm around his throat, the right moving forward to cut off any chance the man had of breathing. In the second or two it took for the situation to sink in it was already too late, as I felt him start to panic, gasping for air. Once I was sure he was winded enough not to try anything stupid I relaxed my grip and addressed the woman.
“Over there, against the wall, facing me. Do it now or he's dead.”
She simply smiled and walked over to the wall, resting her hands flat against it, seemingly totally at east with the situation. I quickly switched my grip on the Dragon, pulling his arms behind him and tying his wrists together with a pair of zip cuffs. A quick check revealed a Glock 40 pistol tucked into a shoulder holster under that black jacket, and a knife of similar design to mine, only steel rather than the far more expensive and fragile ceramic blade, on his left arm. I pulled the clip from the gun and stored it in my coat along with the blade, throwing the gun itself into a corner.
“Now” I said, a firm grip on the Dragon's arms as I pulled him in front of me, “we're going to walk right out of that door, down the hall and get the girl. Then we're all going to go downstairs, take a car and pay a visit to the nearest police station. Got it?”
“You, you're crazy!” gasped the Dragon, still trying to get air through his bruised throat. “I've got over 50 guys in this building, there's no way you're getting out of here in anything other than a body bag.”
“Even if they've got to shoot through you?”
The Dragon fell silent for a moment, then: “Tell you what, take the girl, leave us here and I'll let you walk out of here.”
“No chance, something big is going on, and you know exactly what it is. You could tell me know, but somehow I'd be happier getting the details somewhere a little more friendly. Now move!” So saying I shoved him hard into the wall, wrenched the door open and shoved him out into the corridor, pistol in my left hand pointing over his shoulder, the right hand with the knife held ready for an attack from behind. No guards were around, I guess they really weren't expecting trouble from this direction after all. I motioned to the woman and she calmly walked out and moved a couple of steps in front of the Dragon as we walked down the corridor.
Thirty steps took us to a cross corridor and as we came round the corner I dropped the two guards I'd seen earlier. This was going to be hard enough without having two armed thugs at my back to worry about. The woman walked calmly up to the door and keyed in a combination on the pad beside it. The door swung open silently and I moved up, positioning the Dragon in the doorway facing out, myself tucked in behind him so that I could see out into the corridor but still use him as a shield if need be. The laughter immediately washed over us and I glanced back to see Rachel entombed in feathers, every muscle straining for escape as she fought the sensations being forced upon her. Without being told the red head walked over to the console and hit a large blue button, causing the rack to move upwards and swing upright. The woman moved forward and released Rachel's restraints, passing her a light green jumpsuit that looked like it would offer little warmth or comfort other than preserving her modesty. Still it was better than nothing.
I saw Rachel look up at me, and knew we didn't have time for the long version of the explanation. “Miss, I'm a police office, we're going to get you out of here but you've got to come with me now, understand?”
Rachel trembled and looked like she was ready to collapse, but somehow managed to stay on her feet as she nodded. “Who, who are you?” she asked, her voice little more than a croaked whisper.
“Ever heard of the bloodhounds?” I asked. Her eyes went wide and she nodded, moving forward to stand behind me, drawing a deep breath.
“I thought so.” came a voice from behind me. I spun to find the red head looking at me intensely, as if cataloging a rare book or antique. “You're one of the 03 series aren't you?”
“Yes.” I replied, somewhat surprised by the quick identification as our codename wasn't widely known. “Why, and how do you know...”
“Oh, I know more about you than you'd guess, how is that scar on your back, training accident with a sai wasn't it?”
“What? How could you possibly”
“Ah, as much as I'd love to catch up on old times, I think you're just about out of time my dear. You see pressing that blue button sends an alert to the guard station and as no-one's checked in you're about to have a lot of company. Another time perhaps?”
I heard booted feet in the corridor outside and knew she was right. “Count on it.” I snapped, throwing the Dragon out and to the left, grabbing Rachel's hand and dragging her out to the right. We raced around the corner and down the corridor, heading for what looked like the entry to a stairwell. I hit the door hard and it swung open to a large thud sound. Someone must have been standing guard behind it and I slashed around the wooden frame with the knife at what I thought was chest hight. I felt the blade hit something and kept right on running. Rachel was right behind me as we raced down the stairs, she had to be flying on fear and adrenaline right now but all she had to do was stay upright for another minute or two.
I barreled through the door out of the stairwell and threw myself to the ground. Overhead I heard the sharp crack of gunfire as the two guards who'd been standing either side of the door reacted a half second too slowly. Two thuds from my right showed who had been the better shot and I pivoted quickly to drop the two on the left. Scrambling back up to my feet I pulled the steel blade I'd taken from the Dragon inside my coat and threw it down the corridor, shorting the control box on the doors separating us from the outside world.
We sprinted together down the narrow corridor as I tried to check both in front and behind at the same time. We were within ten feet of freedom when two guards burst through the stairwell door behind us at the same time as two more appeared from a guard station in front of the main door. The two in front I dropped immediately, but there was no way I was going to outdraw four people and the two behind managed to get a shot off each before I managed to drop them. The first flew off overhead and took out a strip light, showering glass down into the corridor. The second was far better aimed and hit me straight in the back, the impact throwing me to the ground as my body armor absorbed the brunt of the shot.
Gasping I staggered back to my feet, put on a burst of speed and shoved my way through the main doors. A quick check showed no-one in immediate view and I holstered the pistol in one motion, turned and swept Rachel off her feet and into my arms before charging down the road. I ducked into an alley just in time, as a sniper bullet hit the wall not an inch from my head as I concentrated on putting as much distance between us and them as possible, taking routes they couldn't possibly follow in cars or on bikes. I ran on, finally arriving at the police station the first girl had been taken to not two hours earlier. Passing Rachel over to the medical team I sank wearily into a chair, wincing as I felt the now tender area on my back where that bullet had hit.
