Mysterious strangers are never a good thing, particularly if you have a secret to keep. Just use the door can't you ?
"We have to get close to the door ?" asked Dan, watching Tom's movements.
"I'm afraid so," said Tom.
"Well, we had to do it sooner or later," said Dan. "Come on !"
The four MI High agents carefully made their way back up the car park, dodging behind vehicles to avoid being spotted. They had nearly reached the entrance when they heard a shout. "There they are !" yelled a KORPS agent. "Get them !"
The nearest group of KORPS agents rounded the lorry behind which the team had taken cover. Aneisha had her slow motion bomb in her hand. She hurled it towards the group of three KORPS agents who were already raising their weapons ready to fire. The bomb hit the ground and the three men instantly slowed to a crawl. Their faces registered frustration as they tried and failed to fire on the four teens. "Come on !" yelled Dan, grabbing Keri's arm. She was standing watching the effects of the bomb in fascination. "They can still shoot !" he hissed, dragging her round the corner after the others.
They hadn't got very far when another round of gunshots banged into the vehicles around them. "Ow !" screamed Aneisha, clutching her arm. "I'm OK !" she whimpered. "It's just a graze," she added. Tom's face was white as he watched the red trickle of blood from Aneisha's arm. Dan ripped a sleeve from his chameleon suit and tied it round Aneisha's arm as tightly as he dared.
"You'll be OK," Dan promised Aneisha. "Stick close to Tom, all right ?" he asked. Aneisha nodded. Tom put a protective arm around her. Dan looked to Keri. "Have you got any more of those slow motion bombs ?" he asked her.
"Just the one," she said.
"Can I have it ?" Dan asked her. Keri shrugged and handed him the bomb. "OK. Once I've thrown this, get ready to run," said Dan. Everyone nodded tensely.
Dan glanced around the side of the lorry they were hiding behind. A bullet whizzed past, just missing his head. Taking a deep breath he leapt to his feet and charged around the corner. As he turned the corner he threw himself to the ground in a forward roll. Gunshots rang out but they all flew over the top of him. In the pause of gunfire that followed he leapt to his feet and flung the bomb with all his strength at the large group of KORPS agents who were standing together firing at them. "Now !" yelled Dan, as he sprinted towards the exit. He didn't stop to see if the others had followed. He hoped that he would draw the gunfire away from them. He had to keep moving or he would be shot. A brief glance over his shoulder showed him the group of KORPS agents frozen in mid shout, slowly pulling their weapons up into firing position. He didn't have quite enough time to reach the exit and get out of sight.
Tom pulled Aneisha along with him, and Keri ran on Aneisha's other side, in an attempt to protect her injured friend. They saw Dan ahead, looking back into the car park. "Just keep going !" snapped Tom. "Whatever happens, don't stop." Keri glanced at him in surprise. She had never heard Tom sound so determined. Maybe it was because of Aneisha's injury.
"You two get out first. I need to help Dan," said Keri and she peeled away towards Dan.
Dan winced as a bullet finally flew past the back of his head. He flung himself to the left in an attempt to avoid the next bullet. This worked, but jarred his aching ribs again and made him gasp for breath. "Dan ! Head for the ramp !" yelled Keri's voice. Dan looked to his right and saw the exit was a ramp up into daylight. He twisted desperately to the right to head towards it.
A bullet ricocheted off the side of an armoured vehicle near to Dan. Nobody noticed the spark which flew to the ground. They did notice the flame which shot up in the air, racing across the car park floor towards the fuel tank of a large van. A bullet had pierced the side of the fuel tank and a trail of petrol had trickled its way along the cracks and ridges of the concrete floor.
"Oh no !" murmured Tom. "Fire ! Run !" he screamed.
"Take cover !" screamed one of the KORPS agents. Dan looked over his shoulder, still running for the exit. He looked across to the others. Keri had turned and was heading back towards Tom and Aneisha who were now at the side of the exit ramp. The KORPS agents were all running away and diving for cover. This was his best chance to get out. He was about 20 metres behind the others. Gritting his teeth, Dan raced for the exit. He had nearly made it when the shockwave and blast of sound hit him, knocking him from his feet and propelling him forwards uncontrollably. A wave of heat followed, feeling like it would burn the hair on the back of his head.
Dan felt like he was in a dream. Everything seemed to slow down. He twisted in the air, looking to his side to see Tom, Aneisha and Keri crouched over at the side of the exit ramp, arms wrapped around one another for protection. They were going to be OK weren't they ? Looking forward, Dan saw the concrete of the ramp coming up to meet him. He wrapped his arms around his head for protection and curled up ready to roll. The ground seemed to slam into his body far more quickly than he had anticipated. He felt, rather than saw, a sheet of flame roar above him. Then the world spun and twisted, as he bumped and jarred across the ground.
Tom clung to Aneisha as if his life depended on it. The sheet of flame from the explosion roared out of the building behind them, but missed their position by a few metres. He noticed Dan flying through the air, and thought for a moment that he would be able to land and roll in one of his typical parkour moves. Instead he saw Dan landing badly, arms and leg flailing around as he was thrown uncontrollably across the rising concrete of the exit ramp before coming to a halt near the opposite side. Tom's ears were ringing from the explosion. He looked to Keri, crouched wide-eyed next to him. Her mouth was moving but he couldn't hear her. It looked like she was saying, "Dan." She got up to run across, but Tom grabbed her arm and pointed up the ramp.
An MI9 SWAT team, accompanied by Frank were running down the ramp towards them, firing into the garage area behind them. Frank shouted something to Tom, but he couldn't hear. Tom shook his head and pointed to his ears. Frank nodded, then spotted Dan slumped on the other side of the ramp. Frank waved the three teens to get up and go. Keri wanted to go to Dan, but Frank wouldn't let her. Instead a couple of MI9 agents went to help him.
It was several minutes before any of them could hear anything. They were all sitting together outside the KORPS base. Frank came up to speak to them. Every so often they would hear a large explosion from the underground car park as another burst fuel tank exploded.
"Is every vehicle in there going to explode ?" asked Tom.
"Very likely," said Frank. He crouched next to Aneisha and checked her arm.
"Who tied this ?" asked Frank.
"Dan," said Aneisha.
Frank looked impressed. "Good effort," he said. "Dan ? Can you hear me yet ?" he asked.
Dan was sitting against a wall looking exhausted and sore. He had bruises and scratches on his face and was clutching one of his arms which had taken most of the impact of his fall. "Yeah, I can hear you," said Dan. "Can we go home now ?" he asked, in a rather dazed voice.
Frank patted Dan sympathetically on the shoulder. "Soon Dan," he promised soothingly. "We'll let the doctors check you all out first I think," he added gently.
Later that day, Tom was sitting with Keri in the MI9 medical unit waiting to hear the news about the others. Frank sat down beside them. "Did they get the Crime Minister ?" asked Tom.
"No, as usual, she got away," said Frank through gritted teeth. "We've got most of the KORPS agents in the base though. We had all the exits covered. I can't work out how that infernal woman always gets away !" he complained.
"I guess she leaves the instant there's any trouble," guessed Keri with a shrug. "Have you heard anything about Aneisha and Dan ?" she asked.
Frank was about to answer when a door along the corridor opened and Dan came out with his wrist strapped up in a bandage. He looked a lot more alert than he had at the KORPS base and gave them a rueful smile. "Sprained wrist," he said, throwing himself into a seat next to Tom.
Tom looked at Dan's scratched and bruised face. "You look terrible," he said. "How are you going to explain it to Mrs. King ?"
"You could say you attempted a back flip," suggested Frank helpfully.
Dan gave Frank a hard stare. "Don't even think about it !" said Dan firmly. "I'll never hear the end of it !"
"You got pushed down some stairs," suggested Keri. "Not that far away from the truth," she added.
Dan nodded. "That'll do," he agreed, giving her a quick smile.
Another door along the corridor opened and Aneisha came out, also with her arm bandaged. "All sorted," she said with a tired smile. "Just a scratch." Tom leapt up and gave her a careful hug so as not to hurt her arm.
"What happened to Strang ?" asked Tom curiously.
"Oh, he's agreed to work for MI9," said Frank, "starting with replicating his Chameleon suit. He's going to try to adapt it to take on the appearance of particular individuals, which would make it much more useful to us," he explained before standing up. "Come on, I'll take you home. I think you should take the rest of the day off and get some rest. You've earned it."
THE END
Thanks for all the reviews. It's not always easy to find something to say about a long story, but I do read them all and I'm grateful that you take the time.