Page 30 of Fight
However, they obviously don’t conceal it very well because, the two guards at the front door spot us and start yelling, and then without asking what we’re doing or if we’re a threat, they open fire.
Rome covers me as I move to the boulder next to us, which gives me a better angle, these two are going to have to be taken out, and there’s no chance of us sneaking in, at least not this way. Hopefully, the others are having better luck than we are on that front, at least. Although, I have to admit I’m having fun already.
Once I’m in place, I take my shot, firing in rapid succession and taking them both out. We waste no time in moving forward quickly, our guns raised as we walk through the front door. Movement to my left has me ducking just in time to avoid taking a bullet to the head; while I’m down, I take my shot, hitting the guy in the chest as he drops to the floor, and Rome takes out another two.
“Coming in from your right!” Mason calls out, which is the only way that we have right now to communicate and something that we need to fix for the future. It’s never been a problem for me before because I’ve always worked alone in the past or on more straightforward missions that didn’t require any communication between me and whoever I happened to be working with at the time.
“Clear the downstairs,” Rome orders.
We all work together to clear the rest of the downstairs, splitting up to cover more ground and taking out several more members of the security.
Opening the door to the last room that I need to check down this hallway, I come face to face with a room full of staff, all looking scared as hell and huddled right at the back of the room.
“It’s okay, I’m not here to hurt you,” I try to reassure them, “are you all okay?”
“We’re fine,” one of them speaks up and then adds, “Well, as fine as we can be considering that we’re practically being held hostage by a madman.”
“Jesse, be careful. You don’t know who she is; it could be a trick,” someone in the back warns.
“I can promise you it's no trick. Stay here and do not move. I don’t want any of you to get caught in the crosshairs,” I order them, not having any time to explain anything else because while I’m here talking to them, my men are in potential danger and may need my help or backup.
Once they all nod, I close the door again and wish I had some way to secure them in the room, one to make sure that no one can get to them and hurt them but also to make sure that none of them can decide to gain favor with Daniel and come after us and cause issues. Unfortunately, a quick glance of the hallway shows that there really isn’t anything that I can use to keep them in there, and I’m just going to have to hope that they’re scared enough to stay put and no one wants to play hero or rather anti-hero.
Moving to the end of the hallway, I run into Mal and Rome, as Rome says, “All clear. Time to head up.”
As a team, we all keep our weapons drawn and cover our backs as we head back toward the front of the house; we meet Mase and Malory coming from the other side of the house, and they nod in confirmation that their side of the house is clear, although they’re both sporting some bruises. Surprisingly the stairs seem to be clear. We know where Daniel has decided to hunker down up here, and hopefully, by now, Ace and Rip have gotten to him and injected him with the stuff that Demelza said would knock him out for a few hours, definitely long enough that we can store him in Rome’s basement and then transport him to the edge of town where Atlas, Alaric, and Rage can then take over.
Mason, Malachi, and Malory all head in one direction, while Rome and I head in the other direction. We need to clear this floor and make sure that the house is completely safe before we can extract Daniel, make sure the domestic staff is okay, and allow the sibling's grandparents to come back.
As we round the corner, we come face to face with three armed and mad as hell looking security, clearly on the way downstairs to give back up to their fallen comrades, although that’s a rather pointless endeavor now since they’re all dead or at least the ones that I took out are, since there wasn’t much choice, it was either kill or be killed.
They’re close enough that instead of shooting, I try to disarm them and use hand-to-hand combat in order to take them down without dropping any more bodies. I really did want to do this without too much death. However, if there’s a choice between my life or theirs, I’ll always choose mine.
Wrestling the weapon away from my attacker, I send it far enough down the hallway that none of the others can reach it and use it to their advantage, while I’m doing this, the guy takes the opportunity and strikes out, his fist hitting my jaw as pain explodes across the side of my face and lip, and I realise that he’s managed to split my lip too. I shake off the pain, there’s no time to dwell on it now anyway, and I swing my leg around, striking out at him as he grabs my foot and slams me into the wall. Thankfully not hard enough for me to lose my breath, but shit, that hurt. Using my leverage against the wall at my back and his grip on my leg, I lift my other one and strike out at him, causing him to back up enough that he lets go of my leg and gives me a bit of breathing room.
I am aware that while I’m fighting this one attacker, Rome is taking on two, but I also know that he can handle it and that I can’t afford any distractions especially as the guy I’m fighting pulls out a knife.
We circle each other as he grins viciously, clearly thinking that he has the upper hand and before I can pull out my own knife, he lunges forward, slashing at me. Using my forearm, I block the strike and counter with my own hit, giving him a jab to his ribs, and he grunts in pain, although it doesn’t slow down his attack. He slashes out again, catching me on the arm as I don’t quite move fast enough. The pain is barely a blip on my radar at this point, my adrenaline running too high as I strike out again, aiming for his stomach with my left and then when he tries to block it, catching him with my right and dazing him.
I use that to my advantage and grab the hand wielding the knife, slamming his hand on the wall beside us and hoping that I can make him drop the knife. He’s fucking strong though, and he recovers from my hit before I can get him to drop the knife, his grip tightening around it again. We end up wrestling and I end up in the worst possible position I could find myself in with a bigger and stronger opponent, on the floor. This is not a good place for me to be, and the last thing I need is for him to end up on top of me. If that happens, I’m fucking done for; his sheer size will make sure of that.
Doubling my efforts, I elbow him as hard as I can in the side of the head before I hook my leg around him, flipping him around so that instead of trying to get the upper hand on one another and being side by side, I’m now on top, I pull my knife free, finally being able to use it and as he bucks beneath me slashing out I plunge my knife into his chest. His movements slow as the life drains from his eyes, leaving behind an empty shell.
Getting up quickly and pulling my knife free because I never leave one of my weapons behind if I can help it, I glance around the hallway seeing Rome taking on two of the attackers and holding his own until one of them manages to get a hold of a gun that Rome has clearly already disarmed from them.
Chapter Eleven
Not taking a moment to question it or hesitate, I pull my gun, shooting him in the back of the head, the shock of the bang in the hallway makes the other man falter in his attack, and Rome takes him down quickly, disarming him and knocking him out cold before pulling some cable ties from his pocket and securing him.
That’s one that we’ve managed not to kill.
In my defense, I’m not used to leaving people alive, I'm called in when people need to be taken out of the equation permanently.
“Are you okay?” Rome asks me, looking concerned and angry as hell when he sees the state my face is in. To be honest, until he looked at me like that, I had completely forgotten that the fucker I was fighting managed to get in a lucky hit, and my face took the brunt of it.
I grin, aware that there’s dried blood on my chin from my lip and that the whole side of my face is most likely coming up in a lovely bruise already. Still, I reply, “I’m awesome; let’s finish clearing this branch of the corridor, and then, if the others haven’t caught up with us by the time we’ve finished, we can go and check in with them and make sure that they don't need any help. You haven’t got an emergency phone call, so I assume that Ace and Rip are good and don’t need assistance.”
“I fucking hope so,” Rome replies, still frowning as he looks at my face before he shakes his head and turns back around, heading down the hallway and opening doors as he does, clearing rooms.