Andy McNab - DropZone

‘It’s easy…’ Ethan had almost convinced himself. ‘You take this side of the hangar; I’ll sneak round the back and come up the other side. That’ll give me a chance to check the back doors are locked so they can’t escape.’

‘Used to trapping criminals in the act, are you?’ said Johnny.

‘When you see me at the other hangar door,’ continued Ethan, ‘wait for my signal.’

‘Ooh, a signal!’ said Johnny. ‘How James Bond!’

Ethan smiled. ‘I’ll raise my hand. You wave back to indicate you’ve seen me. Then we push the doors together – fast! – and shut them in. OK?’

‘Just like that?’ said Johnny.

‘Just like that,’ repeated Ethan. ‘Ready?’

Johnny nodded.

With a deep breath, Ethan scooted along the side of the hangar. There were two doors at the back and one more on the other side. All were still securely padlocked. Soon he was round at the front of the hangar again. He heard Jake laugh. It was a sound that made him want to punch him hard.

He looked across the doorway. Johnny was just visible on the other side. Ethan raised his hand and Johnny waved back.

Shoulder hunched against the door, Ethan pushed it hard. His heart pounded as he drove it along, willing it shut with everything he had. It screeched loudly in the night as he heaved it across.

Inside, a shout went up: ‘The doors are shutting!’

Ethan heard footfalls approaching, but that simply made him go at it even harder. He wasn’t going to let Jake win. With a loud yell, he gave the door a final push and saw Johnny do the same.

Then, just inches from closing, something stopped the doors in their tracks.

‘Shit!’ panted Johnny. ‘They’re on the other side!’

‘Then shut up and keep pushing!’ cried Ethan. ‘Push!’

Ethan could feel someone shoving the door the other way. His feet were slipping, his muscles were hurting now, and he’d already split his knuckles on the door. But he heaved again. He was so close…

Suddenly he felt his door give way, heard Johnny yell, and saw him flung backwards hard onto the ground.

Jake’s companions rushed through the gap and hurled themselves at Johnny.

Ethan abandoned the door and ran to help his friend, but Johnny was already on his feet and ready for them.

The one with the blond hair reached him first, but Johnny dodged to the left, crashing his elbow into the side of the man’s head as he moved. Mr Blond stumbled and fell head-first into a wall. Johnny immediately whipped round as the other, dark-haired man came at him. This time, he stepped right and used his left leg to sweep Mr Black’s legs from under him. The guy landed hard and face-first on the ground. Ethan winced.

Johnny turned to Ethan. ‘Get out of here! Now!’

Ethan shook his head and ran towards Johnny, keeping a careful watch on the two men, who were now pulling themselves to their feet. He was ready to pile in, despite the size of Mr Blond and Mr Black. Johnny was a mate, and to Ethan, that mattered more than anything.

‘I mean it,’ said Johnny. ‘Sam’ll be here in a minute. I can handle this!’

‘Two against one?’ said Ethan, guessing Jake was leaving the rough stuff to these two gorillas. ‘No chance!’

The men were on their feet now and making for Johnny.

He was turning, ready for another attack. But they were approaching him more cautiously this time, and Ethan didn’t blame them. Having seen the way Johnny had taken them both down, he made a mental note not to get on the wrong side of him. It was obvious that he knew how to fight, and was used to handling himself when things got out of hand. This wasn’t the light-hearted Johnny that Ethan was used to. He was seeing a whole new, darker side he had never guessed existed.

‘I said get out of here!’ Johnny shouted, but before Ethan had a chance to respond, the two men launched themselves at him. This time they were prepared. Johnny’s blows didn’t seem to make a dent. Mr Black reached in, grabbed him and threw him to the ground. Then they both laid into him, feet first.

As Ethan ran into the fight, he heard the kicks making contact, saw Johnny hunch into a ball on the ground.

The men were too busy kicking three levels of shit out of Johnny to see Ethan bursting out of the dark. He went for Mr Blond first, hoping the weight and momentum of his body would throw the guy to the floor. It didn’t. In fact, it felt like running into a brick wall. The man half turned towards Ethan, paused mid-kick, spat, then smacked him across the face with the back of his hand, dropping him to the floor with a broken lip, his cheek stinging like hell. Then Mr Blond turned back to Johnny as if Ethan was of no account. But Ethan’s attack had bought his friend some time. Now he was up on his feet again, tackling Mr Black. Ethan knew Johnny had a good chance one on one, so he immediately launched himself at Mr Blond once more, dragging himself up onto his back.

The guy spun round, trying to shake Ethan loose, but Ethan had locked his arms around his neck. Mr Blond swung left and right, but Ethan hung on, frantically trying to work out what his next move should be. He caught sight of Johnny ducking a punch from Mr Black and swinging back with a kick to his stomach. This wasn’t the movies, this was real, Ethan realized, and if he let this gorilla get the advantage, he was screwed. The man was heavier and stronger and would probably rip his head off quite happily before attacking Johnny again. So he couldn’t let Mr Blond get the upper hand. He wasn’t one for fighting dirty, but under the circumstances, he reckoned ‘dirty’ was his only option. There were no rules here, no referee to call foul. All that mattered was survival.

He figured his best option was to hang on and try to do some damage at the same time. And that meant going for the face. Ethan could feel adrenaline burning through him as he clawed upwards with his hands, found an eye-socket, and pushed a thumb in hard.

The man staggered backwards with an agonized yell. Ethan pushed harder and then stretched across to reach the other eye.

Mr Blond twisted and turned, reaching round for Ethan, but Ethan knew what would happen to him if he let go, so he just dug in harder and scrambled higher.

As Mr Blond continued to try and prise Ethan off his back, Ethan felt the damp warmth of blood on his hands. He held on for as long as he could, but with his hands now wet with blood, he finally slipped and fell to the ground.

Mr Blond bellowed with anger, but Ethan was up super-fast and onto his back again, this time reaching for his ears and twisting as hard as he could. The man stumbled left and right, screaming, swearing and clutching the sides of his head as blood poured down from his damaged ears. Ethan scrabbled for the face again – but with the weight on his back, Mr Blond finally stumbled, lost his footing and fell.

Ethan’s world went dark as the man landed on him, slamming the air out of his lungs like he was a burst bag of crisps.

Then there were lights. Stars bursting everywhere. Blinding him.

Ethan was trapped under Mr Blond and gasping for air. The weight of the man was ridiculous – like he was made of lead. Ethan tried to wriggle out from under him, but he couldn’t budge, so he grabbed his ears again and hoped that would be enough to get him to move. Mr Blond bellowed and Ethan pulled harder. The man clawed at Ethan’s hands and swore.

Ethan tried to crane his head round to see Johnny. Unfortunately Mr Black seemed to have his friend pinned in the dirt, arms pulled out to the sides and trapped under his attacker’s knees. As Ethan watched, the man raised his head and brought it down with a crack on the side of Johnny’s forehead. Johnny struggled no more and Ethan knew he was out cold.