Justice (11 page)

Sure enough, the sound of gunfire exploded through the air. I didn’t know what side had fired, but it meant the Clan hadn’t surrendered.

The kids were quicker than I expected. In under five minutes they were in front of me dressed in warm clothes and tennis shoes. Some of them clutched little bags, the older kids had packs on their back. I had grabbed mine, stuffed with the food I had been stashing. If this succeeded and we got out, it wouldn’t be only me now. It would be me and eighteen kids. I didn’t want to think about those implications.
 

I led them to the back door and held my hand up for them to wait. I went to the door and kicked it hard. The door shook, but held. I kicked it again and it still held. Two more kicks and the door shook in its frame and finally busted open. It was early morning, maybe four or five. The sun had not risen over the horizon, only a slight lightening of the sky indicated it was in the early hours of morning.

The crack of gunfire ricocheted through the air again. It was the clackety, clackety, clack of automatic gun fire. I knew the Clan didn’t have automatic weapons. The most we had were a couple of rifles from the National Guardsmen, which could only shoot semi-automatic fire. This was a bigger, deadlier sound.
 

“We’re going to run across the parking lot into the houses across the street,” I said in a low voice, loud enough so all the kids could hear.
 

“We’ll hole up in the houses until it’s all clear,” I said. “Then we’ll find a safe place, okay?” Their small heads nodded.
 

“What about my mommy?” Tina, the youngest, sniffled.
 

“Your mom will be fine, it’s the Army, they protect women and children,” I said to reassure them. I hoped to God it was true. But it made me pause. What about the women?
 
I was going to take their children into the unknown.
 
Leaving could put everyone at risk.
Was it a chance I was willing to take?
 

SEVENTEEN | Down Girl

Shots rang out again as Romeo raced across the parking lot to the access ladder on the side of the building. I fired suppressive fire in the direction of the roof where I had seen the telltale flash of muzzle fire. Romeo and Chaillot were quick. They crossed the lot and were climbing the side of the building in a flash. The two were dressed from head to toe in black, and Romeo pulled his mask into place before he went in, so all you saw were his eyes.
 

Gun fire erupted the moment he threw his leg over the side of the roof and I held my breath and fired in the direction of the shooter again. I couldn’t spot the sniper, so my firing was to make the shooter take cover.

Two more shots and then Romeo’s voice over the com, “Shooter is down.”
 

“Good job, we’re going in. Drouet and Lambert, get up to the roof with Romeo. Find the access hole into the women’s room and go in that way,” Poche ordered.
 

Team One raced across the parking lot, Blake in the lead. They spread out around the door and then motioned for our team to follow them in. I ran across the parking lot and joined my team as we fell into a half circle pattern around the door. I pulled my mask down over my face and adjusted my weapon. I would be switching to a handgun if things got dicey inside, but right now I needed the rifle.
 

“One, two…” Zach’s voice counted over the com and in real life. On three, I emptied a few rounds into the glass door and it shattered. As the door crashed down into a million pieces, I fell back out of the line of fire.
 

Shots erupted from inside. They were firing at us.

Zach threw a tear gas canister through the door. From the plans Lex had drawn, this door opened to a long corridor that ascended upward into the main room. The corridor was surrounded by high walls and had a steep grade. The bikers would be able to fire down on us, it could be deadly.
 

Gun shots erupted again, but I heard a few distinctive coughs and gags coming from inside the room. Zach followed up the tear gas with a flash bang. With our goggles and masks in place we were immune to it. We entered the building ready to shoot anything that moved.
 

Everything slowed down as we crossed the threshold. The room was filled with smoke, a few bikers were in the corridor coughing, their eyes tearing up from the gas, but they still raised their weapons as we ascended into the building. I made sure to flank Alexis who insisted on going in with all of us. She and Duke were the only non-military or police allowed on the frontline. Duke would be coming in with Ito from the West side of the complex, so all I had to worry about was Lex.
 

The place was dark and rancid. I fired at the first biker I saw, his hand was raised to fire. He fell and I rushed to his side and planted one in his forehead. Just in case.
 

The next biker I found took one look at me, dropped his weapon and raised his hands into the air.
 

“I give up!” he choked out. His face was aflame and snot poured out of his nose.
 
I pushed him to his knees, keeping my gun trained on him as I pulled out zip ties and restrained him at the wrists and ankles. Poche had a large stock of the double restraint zip ties that the MPs liked to use. It made my job much easier.
 

Once I had him on his side and fully restrained, I patted him down, taking all of his weapons and depositing them in my pockets. When I was satisfied he was harmless, I stood up, paranoid over how exposed I had been during this takedown. This could have been a trap.
 

“You can’t leave me like this,” he called as I stepped over him.
 

“Fuck you,” I called back.
 

Four more dead bikers lay in my path as I pushed deeper into the dark room. I switched the torch on my rifle on; the room was dark and filled with smoke. The bikers had cut all the lights to give them the advantage.
 

Something hit me hard from the side when I crested the landing into the main room. A biker had been hiding behind some shelving. He was a big fucker and I went down under him. He rose up, a knife in his hand, and attacked. I had to drop my M4. It clattered across the floor and the light went out suddenly, plunging us into darkness.
 
I used my small size to my advantage, and hit him hard with my forearm. It connected with his nose and there was the nice sound of crunching cartilage.
 

He grunted and fell to the side slightly, enough that I could bring my knee up to my chest, more space between our bodies was a good thing. I dragged my combat boot down his leg and then brought it up hard into his dick. He screamed like a fucking girl and I got out from under him. I drew and fired in one quick motion. I hit him in the leg. Enough to hurt, but not to take him down.
 

I fired and hit him again in the shoulder, and this time he fell back. I scrambled to my feet and took him out with a shot to the head. I didn’t see my M4 anywhere, so I went on without it. I couldn’t waste time. I had plenty of clips for my nine, but I was now without a light.

I saw another light in the distance and followed it. When I caught up to it, I saw it was Lex. She was standing over a biker and kicking the shit out of him.
 

“Where the fuck is Junior? He hiding in the back like the fucking pussy he is?” she yelled.
 

“Lex,” I said and I touched her arm. She spun on me, and her eyes were crazy in the light of her torch, her cheeks flushed from the adrenaline.
 
“Down, girl,” I said quietly.
 

“Fuck you, you cunt bitch,” the man at our feet spat and surged to his feet. He pulled
 
a gun from his boot. Lex must not have patted him down. I fired and took him out before he could use his weapon. He didn’t have his hands up, or his face planted at my feet. Oops.

“I need to find Junior,” she said to me.
 

“We’ll find him, come on.” I pulled at Alexis and we went deeper into the shit. I smelled smoke. Something was burning and that wasn’t good. If they burned this place to the ground while we were in it, we’d all be fucked.
 

EIGHTEEN | Do or Die

It sounded like a war zone outside. Gun fire was a constant background noise. A lot of it was coming from the parking lot I needed to get these kids to cross. I was torn. We couldn’t stay here, but we couldn’t leave.
 

If we left the safety of this room, we ran the risk of running into whoever was firing on the place, or one of the bikers who would view our leaving as treason.
 

I made a split decision and pushed the door wide. Poking my head out, I saw nothing in the parking lot. It was time to go.
 

“Let’s get out of here.” I held the door open and motioned for the older kids to go out first.
 

“Across the lot to the big yellow house. Fast, now,”
 
I said in a low voice, but loud enough so all the kids could hear.
 

“Tina, come here.” She was the littlest, so I moved my pack in front of me and bent down so she could climb onto my back. “Hold on to my straps. I can’t hold on to you, I’ll need my hands free,” I said.
 

It was a do or die situation. Time to get the hell out of here.
 

NINETEEN | Being Civilized

Alexis and I took out four more targets and I had two more in zip ties and on the floor in a matter of minutes. I left the bikers that surrendered on the filthy floor in the dark, not caring about their fate. They deserved what they got, even if they did give up, there was no question about it. We had the back and front entrances guarded, this was probably the safest place for them.
 

“Area one is clear,” Blake’s voice came over the com.
 

“What about two?” Alexis asked, referring to the former coffee shop and the leader’s room which was located at the west side of the big building.
 

“We’re going in now,” Zach answered. Alexis took off running across the room, skidding to a stop when she neared a group of shelving set up for the sleeping berths.
 

“The main area is right around this berth,” she said in a whisper to me as I approached.
 
We both held our guns tight to our bodies and rounded the corner, on alert. Zach and Blake were already there with another trooper I didn’t recognize. Blake motioned for us to stay back, but Alexis wasn’t having any of it. She shook her head and pointed at the door to the room that was once an employee only area. It was surrounded by a high counter littered with alcohol bottles and beer cans.