Dead Six (50 page)

“
Yeah, chief. It’s all-weather capable
.”

“I need you to be my eyes. I’m at the east wall, by the old brig, uh, Building Six.”

“
Lots of heat blooms from the explosions. Wait. I see you
.”

I had to get out of here. The army was bottlenecked with that APC blocking the hole in the wall and a tank burning in the main gate. As long as they kept trickling through, Dead Six could hold them, but I didn’t want to be out here in the open when either side started getting desperate. Dead Six personnel had moved out of the dorm to hold the gates, so they should be empty. “I’m going to take cover back inside the apartments. Let me know when I’ve got company.” Both sides of this battle would kill me, so it was time to do what I do best in situations like this.
Hide.

Slipping through the rapidly growing puddles, I had just reached the dorm when I was forced to dodge into a doorway to hide. Some more Dead Six men ran past, guns held high, faces grim. Once they were gone, I ran up the stairs, sprinted down the hall, and ducked back into the Valentine’s room. At least it was familiar, and I really didn’t want to participate in the war unfolding outside.

“Reaper, status?”

“
Dead Six is fighting like crazy, but more Zubarans are inside. You better think of something fast, boss, because they’re coming in force now
.”

Plan.
I needed a plan. The rain drumming the roof was louder than the gunfire. My eye landed on the bug-out bag filled with
my
money.

VALENTINE

I looked at my cell phone like I’d never seen one before as it beeped and buzzed in my hand. Tailor was calling.

“Hello?” I said awkwardly, pressing the talk button.

“Where the
fuck
are you?” Tailor screamed in my ear.

“I’m in the admin building,” I hissed, trying not to make too much noise. “I found Sarah. Hunter, too. Hunter’s dead.”

Tailor swore. “You have to get back here, right now!”

“Get back
where?”
I asked, exasperated.

“The north side of the supply building. We’ve . . . shit, choppers inbound! I’ll call you back!” The line went dead.

“What is it?” Sarah asked. As if to answer her question, a Zubaran Army Mi-17 helicopter came in low over the compound. It slowed and came to a hover between the admin building and the dormitory. It was so close I could see up into the open back door. I pushed Sarah to the floor and lay on top of her, hoping the troops in the back of the helicopter couldn’t see down into the window.

“Stay down,” I told Sarah over the roar of the chopper’s rotor. I poked the top of my head over the bottom of the shattered window frame so I could see. The door gunner on the left side was constantly firing. The chopper’s hull was pinged and dinged by bullets as my teammates returned fire.

Ropes dropped from the chopper’s open back door. Zubaran Special Forces soldiers, clad in their distinctive blue camouflage fatigues, began to fast-rope to the ground. They were inserting them right in the middle of the compound.

Four soldiers had reached the ground when an RPG rocket punched into the chopper’s front-left quarter, right behind the cockpit, and exploded. The chopper spun wildly once, flinging a soldier out the back door, before going nose down and slamming into the dirt. Pieces of the chopper’s rotor shot across the compound as it landed right on top of the troops it had just inserted.

My phone buzzed again, and I ducked back down. “Tailor!” I said, pushing it to my ear.

“Listen,” Tailor said. “You have to get to the north side of the supply building. We wired up the west wall with explosives. As soon as it blows, we’re going to make a break for it. We’ve got those two trucks, the Army ones. We can’t wait. Another APC just came in through the hole they breached. The chopper wreck will hold up the armor for a minute, but they’ll get around it.” The Zubaran vehicles had to go up the narrow corridor between the admin and supply buildings and the dormitory. The west side of the compound was blocked by the remains of an old stone wall that was part of the original British fort.

“Okay, we’re moving,” I said.

“Val, we can’t wait,” Tailor repeated. “If you’re not here in a couple minutes . . .”

“Leave without me. If I’m not there in a minute, it means I’m dead. Good luck, bro.”

“Good luck.”

Stashing the phone, I quickly outlined the plan to Sarah.

“That’s crazy!”

I agreed. “But it’s the only chance we’ve got. Come on, we have to go. It’s not far.” We had one shot, and we were going to take it. I checked out the window. The Zubarans were still advancing. It was too risky to go back the way I’d come in. Cautiously, I led the way as we entered the stairwell, hoping we could make it to the first floor unnoticed. The admin building only had one set of stairs, and they landed on the first floor right by the east-side door.

We were on the landing between the first and second floors. I held my hand up, signaling Sarah to stop, and peered around the corner. The ground-floor landing appeared to be clear but was illuminated from the outside. Problem was, a squad of Zubaran soldiers had hunkered down by that door to shoot at my comrades.

The door was still open to the outside. There was no way we’d get by unnoticed.
Shit.

“Hang on,” I whispered to Sarah. “Cover your ears.” I pulled a grenade from my vest and grasped it tightly in my hand. I peeked around the corner again and, sure enough, saw movement and shadows. The enemy troops were still there. I pulled the pin, leaned around the corner, and tossed the grenade down the stairs.

BOOM!
The concussion was deafening as the grenade detonated. We had no time to waste. I slapped Sarah on the shoulder and quickly made my way down the stairs.

On the ground-floor landing was a dead solider. As I came down the stairs, another man entered the building, G3 rifle held at the hip. I snapped off a shot at point-blank range, aiming high so my shot would clear his body armor. The bullet tore through the soldier’s throat. Before he hit the floor, I was on the landing. Just outside the door was another wounded soldier. Two of his comrades were leaning over him, tending to his wounds. One was looking up at me as I appeared in the doorway. I shot him in the face, shifted over, and shot the other before he could react. I left the unconscious Zubaran alone and rounded the corner, heading deeper into the admin building.

We entered the operations center. It had been gutted, with all of the valuable equipment removed or destroyed. Crossing the ops center, we cleared its back door and entered the short hallway that lead to the north door. Sarah watched our backs. With the noise of the battle going on outside, I couldn’t hear very well. For all I knew another squad of Zubarans was parked just outside. I decided to crack the door as quietly as I could and take a peek.

The door was stuck. I swore aloud.

“Mike, they’re coming!” Sarah said. She had the door to the ops center cracked and was watching the way we’d come in. Before I could say anything she stuck the muzzle of her carbine through the door and fired off a long burst. “I got one!” she shouted.

“Get down!” I screamed as bullets punched through the metal doors and zipped down the hall. Sarah ducked to the floor, stuck her carbine through the door again, and fired off the rest of her magazine on full auto.

She looked over at me. “What are you waiting for?”

“Reload, reload!” I shouted. “The door is stuck! I can’t get it open!”

“
Kick it or something!” Sarah yelled, fumbling as she tried to insert another magazine into her weapon. “I’ll hold ‘em off!”

“Short, controlled bursts!” I shouted, then turned back to the door. I kicked it as hard as I could. It budged a little. More shots punched through the door and came down the hallway. One buzzed right past my ear. “Fuck this,” I said to no one in particular. I backed up, stuck my right shoulder out, and charged at the door, yelling like a madman as I went barreling down the hallway. I hit the door, and it popped wide open. I flew out into the rain, tripped, and landed face-first in the mud, right on top of my weapon.

I grunted and pushed myself up. A Zubaran militiaman stood behind me, to my left. He was standing against the wall of the admin building, rain drizzling off of the mask he wore. He was pounding on his M16 in a vain attempt to clear a jam. He looked up at me, eyes wide. It was too late for him. I rolled to my right and yanked my revolver out of its holster. Extending my arm, I snapped off a shot. The .44 roared in the narrow alley. Blood splattered on the wall behind the militiaman and he crumpled to the mud in a wet heap.

I reholstered my gun and pushed myself off the ground as Sarah came running out the door. “Mike, they’re coming!” she warned, pressing herself up against the wall. “Are you okay?”

“Good to go!” Swinging my rifle around, I leaned around the door frame and popped off four or five shots down the hallway, scattering the Zubaran troops advancing through the ops center. The door at the end of the hall was open. My middle finger moved to the trigger of my under-slung grenade launcher and squeezed. The weapon bucked under my arm, launching a 40mm high-explosive round with a loud
POOT!
Before I could finish ducking out of the way, the round exploded in the ops center, right in the middle of the cluster of enemy soldiers.

“Watch the door, watch the door!” She shouldered her weapon and covered the hallway as she crossed. It was clear. “Let’s go!” I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her close to me. Sarah covered to the east while I risked a look round the west corner.

“Shit!” I said, pulling back just in time. Several rounds snapped past me. Maybe a dozen Zubaran regulars were creeping up the side of the admin building. “We can’t go this way.”

“Over here!” Sarah said, pointing to the chopper wreck with her carbine. I removed my last hand grenade from my vest and lobbed it around the corner, up the west side of the building. Sarah and I bolted for the chopper. The grenade detonated behind us a few seconds later.

We dashed into the open, running past dazed, wounded, and surprised Zubaran troops around the wreck of the Mi-17. We turned north and ran alongside the supply building. It wasn’t that far. I could feel my heart pounding in my ears as I sprinted with sixty pounds of gear on. Thunder crashed again. The rain was pouring harder than ever. Tracers flashed by, but we kept running. There were bullets buzzing from every direction. Rounds splattered into the muddy ground ahead, barely missing Sarah’s legs.
Smack!
My leg came out from under me. I stumbled and fell into the mud. It burned. Blood leaked from a gash in my calf. I grunted in pain.

“Mike!” Sarah cried, looking back. She stopped running and turned around.

“No, Sarah, don’t stop!” I screamed. “Keep going!”

But she didn’t listen. She started toward me. A hole was torn in her vest as a bullet punched right through it. A second bullet hit her a little lower, in the stomach. A third went into her side. Sarah’s face went blank. She collapsed to the muddy ground.

“
Sarah!
” I screamed. My voice sounded like it was coming from far away. I couldn’t feel my wounded leg anymore. I pushed myself up off the ground. Bullets zipped past me as I limped to her. My left leg buckled. Every time I put weight on it, I began to fall. The wind was knocked out of me as a bullet struck me in the back, cratering on the ceramic plate in my vest. It felt like I’d been hit with a sledgehammer. I fell again.

I crawled through the mud, bleeding, dragging my weapon on its sling. On my hands and knees, I reached Sarah and lifted her head up. She was completely limp, nothing but dead weight. Her pupils were dilated. Her beautiful face was smeared with mud. I held her body close to me as blood poured from her vest. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. The rain poured down relentlessly. Sounds began to fade out. Everything sounded muffled, like I was underwater, except for my own ragged breathing and the pounding of my heart.

I was being shot at. I ignored it. The strange key I’d given Sarah was hanging around her neck, drenched in blood. I grasped it in my hand. There was a concussion. Then everything went black.

My eyes opened. I don’t know how long I was out. I was lying on my back, staring up into the rain. Sarah’s key was still in my hand. My ears were ringing, and I could barely feel anything. I couldn’t see out of my right eye. Warm blood, my blood, was pouring down my face.

I saw Sarah out of the corner of my eye. She was just a few feet away, but out of my reach. I couldn’t sit up. I was bleeding badly. I was about to die. Holding my last breath, I stretched my hand out and reached for her.

Then she was out of reach altogether. My last conscious thought was the realization that I was being dragged away.

LORENZO

“Squad of soldiers is heading right for your building. Eight of them.”

Carl’s voice now. He had a laptop in the van and could watch the videos, too. “The dorm’s a good position for them to take. Gives them cover and elevation against Dead Six. They’ll use the windows on the west-facing rooms.” Carl knew, because that’s exactly what he would have done in this situation, and he had a lot of experience leading infantry in combat. Unfortunately, that was the building I’d picked to hide in.

I grabbed the bag of money. I’d slip out the north stairs. I’d just reached them when a sudden rhythmic beating rocked across the compound. “What’s that?” I shouted.

“
Helicopter incoming!
” Reaper answered. “
Where’d that come from
?”

The stairs were exposed to the open air. Suddenly a chopper appeared through the rain, slowing to a hover thirty feet off the ground, rotating as the door gunners blasted the living hell out of Building One with belt-fed machine guns. Ropes spilled from the open doors, and blue-camouflaged Zubaran Special Forces started fast-roping down. These guys were everywhere.

Then there was a terrible bang, like a clap of thunder. The side of the helicopter seemed to collapse into itself, belching smoke and launching one of the soldiers out the open rear door. The chopper fell from the sky. The rotors hit, hammering the mud into a circular plume before fragmenting into thousands of lethal bits. Fire, blood, oil, and flesh sprayed in every direction. I ducked as a chunk of the broken rotor screamed past and hit the stairwell just over my head.