G Hopf - Driver 8 - A Post-Apocalyptic Novel

Cal didn’t move.

“What are you doing? Go get me what I need!” Kyle barked.

Cal walked over to Eric’s dead body, reached inside of his jacket and removed a few items and held them up. Will these work?”

Kyle stood up and walked over to Cal, he looked at the items and said, “You had a smoke grenade, a CS grenade and flash bangs?”

“Eric was a demo guy, I suddenly thought he might have something on him.”

Kyle smiled and asked, “We’re in business.” He grabbed the flash bangs and walked to the door where a two inch opening was left from him trying to enter before. He pulled the pin on the flash bang and pushed it through the door.

Hollering came from inside the room followed by a loud explosion.

“What was that?” Cal asked.

“That my friend is a flash bang or stun grenade,” Kyle laughed. “Where the hell did Eric get those?”

“I have no idea,” Cal answered.

Moans came from the other side.

“Let’s do another for good measure,” Kyle said pulling the pin on the grenade. He pushed against the door giving him another inch of space and tossed it inside. “Oh, they’re going to fucking hate that one. A double fucking whammy.”

Screams and groans came from the room.

“Time to go in,” Kyle said as he started to push. “Help me.”

Cal got next to him and shoved hard. Slowly the door opened. With a foot opening, Kyle climbed over the dresser that blocked the door and into the room. On the floor he found Cisco rolling around in pain, blood coming from his lower abdomen. He picked up his weapons and asked, “Where’s Barry?”

Cisco pointed towards the bathroom.

“Thanks,” Kyle said then struck him in the head with the butt of his rifle knocking him out. He didn’t want him killed until he was sure Barry had the information he needed.

Cal made his way into the room and saw where Cisco pointed, he was on his way there with Kyle just behind him.

They reached the door, “Hello, Barry, its Driver Eight…”

Bullets ripped through the door missing them both.

“Barry, I’ve got a fucking real grenade here, I’m going to blast you out of there, now tell me where you sent my wife,” Kyle said, lying about the real grenade but anything to get Barry to come out.

“Fuck you,” Barry answered and shot again until he ran out of rounds. “Shit,” he cried out when he noticed he was out of magazines.

“Barry, I’m giving you one last chance. Just tell me, I won’t kill you, in fact I need you alive in order to get out of here,” Kyle said making an offer he wasn’t supposed to make.

Cal scowled at Kyle, “That wasn’t part of the deal.”

“Well, the deal has changed,” Kyle said.

No response from Barry.

“Barry, we’ve killed your people, your guards, no one is coming for you,” Kyle lied. It was a bad lie because Tommy was still miraculously holding off the guards from the doorway.

“I still hear the gunfire,” Barry hollered.

“Fine, you leave me no choice,” Kyle said taking a step back and raising the rifle.

Cal smiled hoping Barry would get struck by a bullet.

A thought came to Kyle. Why hasn’t he shot back? He let that simmer for a second and made a rash decision thinking he was out of ammunition. He lowered the rifle and kicked the door. It burst open.

Barry jumped into the shower.

Kyle raced into the room with Cal just behind. He ran up on the shower, raised his rifle and said, “Got ya’.”

“Don’t shoot, I’ll tell you where she went, just don’t shoot.”

“Tell me now!” Kyle yelled.

“No, then you’ll kill me.”

“I told you I need you to get out of here,” Kyle replied.

“No.”

Kyle grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him out of the shower.

“That wasn’t part of the deal. Any second longer he’s alive is another second he has a chance of escaping. I won’t risk that.”

“He’s our bargaining chip on getting out of here,” Kyle said pulling Barry along with him.

“Kyle!” Tommy yelled.

“Coming,” Kyle hollered back.

They exited the bathroom. Kyle looked over and said, “Check on Cisco.”

“Will do.”

Kyle and Barry exited the room to find Tommy still engaged with guards but using on one arm. “You alright?” Kyle asked.

“I got fucking shot, twice, my left arm if totally fucked.”

Cal emerged from the room, “Cisco is dead. He had a bad wound to his stomach.”

“He’s a brave man, he jumped on that last grenade you threw in,” Barry said.

“Shit, looks like you’re my only source. You can’t die, you hear me,” Kyle said to Barry. “Hold him, let me check on Tommy,” Kyle ordered Cal.

Cal happily took Barry.

“What can I do?” Kyle asked reaching Tommy just as a few shots smashed into the door above their heads.

“Get us the hell out of here,” Tommy answered.

“I think we use Barry as a bargaining chip,” Kyle said.

“Hey, Driver Eight!” Cal called out.

Kyle turned to see Cal holding a pistol to Barry’s head.

“What the hell are you doing?” Kyle asked walking towards Cal his arm out motioning for him to lower the pistol.

“If he kills me you’ll never know where I sent your wife,” Barry cried out knowing his life was hanging in the balance.

“Cal put the pistol down. I need to know where my wife is, we made a deal.”

“What did you say? Well, the deal has changed,” Cal snarled then pulled the trigger of his Glock 17. A single nine millimeter round struck Barry in the temple, traveled through his brain and exited out the other side, taking parts of his skull and brain with it.

Barry dropped to the floor dead.

“No!” Kyle cried out. He looked at Barry on the floor, the blood pouring out and pooling around him. With Barry dead so was the chance on knowing exactly where Portia could be.

“Your turn,” Cal said turning the pistol on Kyle.

A shot rang out behind Kyle and struck Cal in the chest followed by a second, then a third. Cal recoiled and fell to the ground. He clawed at the three wounds in his chest.

Kyle walked over to Cal and hovered above him. “You took the one chance I had to save my wife.”

“Payback,” Cal said referring to Dana.

Tommy ran over, “Kyle we have to go, I can’t hold them off anymore.”

Kyle looked at the large plate glass window. “Are you afraid of heights?”

“Only spiders and tight places and right now this place is getting a bit tight.”

“We have one major problem, how the hell are we getting five floors down?”

“Then we need to go out into the hall, to the left at the far end is a stairwell. No one has come up it but I don’t know why?”

“Maybe it’s locked,” Kyle said.

Tommy looked to the door, “Bro, we can’t stand here talking, we need to go, now.”

Kyle looked down at the two remaining grenades on his belt. “We go for the door now,” he said running to the suite entrance. He peeked around the corner and saw seven guards slowly maneuvering down towards them. One took a shot when they saw him poke his head out.

Tommy came up behind him and said, “How’s it look?”

“Seven.”

“My lucky number,” Tommy said and grunted in pain when he shifted to get ready to run. The entire left side of his shirt was soaked in blood.

Kyle pulled the pin on the smoke grenade, stepped out and threw it. The spoon flew and the grenade popped. Smoke immediately began to pour out of it. He took the CS grenade, did the same thing and threw it. With the smoke providing cover and the gas grenade immobilizing the guards they sprinted from the door towards the stairwell entrance.

Tommy took several steps and tripped over something lying in the hall.