Brett Battles - Exit 9

As she pulled herself back up, she could feel heat coming from somewhere in the house.

Fire!

With renewed horror, she scrambled to the break in the roof and climbed outside. She couldn’t see the fire, but she could smell it now. There was an unfamiliar tang to it that was repulsive. She gagged and nearly threw up as she slid down the slope of the roof to the eaves. The second she got there, she took a quick look at the ground and jumped.

Safely away from the house now, she glanced back. Smoke had begun to billow out of cracks in the building, but that was nothing compared to the heat. It almost felt like she was walking on the sun.

Run , the voice ordered. Run. Run!

Patricia ran.

I.D. MINUS 7 DAYS

Richard Heath heard shoes echoing off the concrete floor, heading in his direction. As much as he wished it was another member of the depot’s security team, he knew it wasn’t. No, it was one of them. Because, unless he was completely mistaken, he was the last one of NB328’s detail left alive.

What he couldn’t understand was how the attackers had snuck into the facility without sounding any alarms. It shouldn’t have been possible, and yet it had happened.

Initially, he and his colleagues had thought it was simply some kind of raid to steal whatever could be grabbed. That was the type of incursion the security team had prepared for and been told by those above them in the Project to expect, but it quickly became clear that this wasn’t a group of local thugs just looking for something they could sell. The people who snuck in were professionals who worked silently, and they had eliminated most of the security detail with single shots from sound-suppressed weapons.

Heath had no idea why he was still alive.

Luck? Not hardly.

If he’d been lucky, he’d already be dead. One against God-knew-how-many? He didn’t have a chance. He checked his gun. Only five shots left. The way he figured it, that meant four for them, and the last for himself.

Dammit! Who the hell were these people?

The steps were much closer now. Surprisingly, he realized it was only a single pair. Did they not know he was here? Or did they think he was already dead? Whatever the case, the person walking in his direction didn’t seem to be concerned that he might put a bullet through their head.

He leaned against the crate closest to the end of the aisle, and wrapped both his hands around the butt of his gun. A little closer , he thought as he listened. Just a little closer, and at least I can take out one of you.

The warehouse was as big as an American football field, and, full or not, the sounds inside were deceiving. Though the steps were still headed in his direction, he couldn’t be sure if they were thirty feet away or seventy. He should be able to hit the target at both distances, but he wanted to ensure that he didn’t miss, so the closer the other person was, the better.

With a suddenness that surprised him, the steps ceased.

Fifty feet for sure, maybe closer . He breathed deeply, trying to psych himself up. Just do it. Just roll out and take the-

“Hello. You hiding back there. I know you can hear me.” The voice was female, coming from where the steps had stopped. “I’m sure you realize there’s no way you’re getting out of here, so I’m guessing you’re probably trying to figure out how you can do the most damage while you have an opportunity. It’s the way I’d be thinking, anyway. I should tell you, though, no matter what you try, you won’t succeed.”

The hell I won’t!

Knowing it was now or never, the guard twisted out from the cover of the crate, and brought the barrel of his gun around to point at the spot where he knew the woman would be. His first shot left the chamber before he registered what he was seeing.

Rather, what he was not seeing. Where the woman should have been standing was…nothing.

He swung the gun left and right, looking for her, ready to pull the trigger at the slightest movement.

“Sorry to disappoint,” she said, far closer than he expected.

Even before he could respond to her voice, something hit him in the chest, and his whole body seized in uncontrollable spasms. His gun flew from his hand as he fell writhing to the floor.

Finally, the source of the pain stopped.

A Taser, he realized, his mind able to focus again.

He lay panting on the floor, every muscle weak and tingling from the massive jolt of electricity. Though his mind was screaming at him to get up, he knew that was impossible.

He heard movement, then footsteps walking right up to him.

Clack, clack, clack.

It was over. His end was coming. He trembled as the woman stopped beside him. She had short blonde hair, and what he would have called an Eastern European face-high cheekbones, slightly Asiatic eyes, and full lips. He had never seen her before.

“Go ahead. Do it,” he said, his eyes glancing quickly at the gun in her hand.

She leaned down and touched something near his waist. When she stood again, she was holding his security badge.

“Good. You have full access.” She smiled at him. “Relax. It’s not time for you to die yet.”

“Sir, we’ve received a message I wanted to make you aware of.”

The DOP looked up from this computer. Major Ross had entered the conference room at the back of the Cradle, and was standing just inside the door. “What is it?”

“An emergency signal from NB328.”

“What kind of emergency?”

“A break-in, sir.”

The DOP frowned. “Verified?”

“No, sir. It was the automated signal. We haven’t been able to reach the security team there yet.”

“Where is NB328?” While the DOP was familiar with their storage depot locations, he didn’t even try to remember what each had been designated.

“Costa Rica. Outside Carrizal.”

Carrizal. A basic storage depot if he wasn’t mistaken: food, clothing, fuel, some vehicles, and the standard weapons cache. Nothing particularly special about it.

“How long have they been out of contact?”

“We just received the message. I came straight here.”

The DOP considered their options. If they weren’t so close to Implementation Day, he would have automatically said they should just wait for someone at NB328 to check in, but time was one thing they no longer had. “How quickly can you get someone down there to check?”

“There’s a team in Monterrey, Mexico, but they’d have to fly commercial, so it would be at least four or five hours. There is another option.”

“Yes?”

“Perez, in South America. He finished up with the job in Argentina last night, and is flying to Colombia as we speak. He should be landing in thirty minutes. He could refuel and be in Costa Rica in under two hours. The drawback, of course, is that he’s alone.”

“Send him, and get the Monterrey team moving, too. Perez can scope out the situation, and if it’s more than he can handle on his own, the team will be there soon enough.”

“Very good, sir.” Ross turned to leave.

“Major?”

“Yes?”

“Keep me in the loop. I want to know everything that’s going on.”

“Yes, sir.” Ross left.

The DOP returned his attention to his computer terminal, but instead of continuing what he was doing before, he brought up the specs on NB328. It was just as he recalled-a basic depot.

Potential raids on the warehouses had always been a possibility. The world was a violent place, and stores of goods were vulnerable. Because of this, the security had been beefed up at all the depots in anticipation of Implementation Day, so he was confident the team at NB328 could deal with whatever the problem was. If they ran into problems and losses were incurred, it would be unfortunate, but negligible when it came to its effect on the Project as a whole.