Chapter Twelve: Siege
Logan watched as those around him automatically assumed positions for maximum defense with minimal effort. Zach and Tinga moved forward side by side and Kito and Tima flanked the two of them, all with weapons raised. Logan hung back, unable to make himself move.
His eyes moved out to the faceless mass of soldiers surrounding them. It was an intimidation factor he knew, as well as a protective measure. It sure was intimidating him. After a moment he forced himself to move forward just to the outside of Tima. He saw Tima glance his direction nodding imperceptibly in approval. That bolstered him a bit, and he brought his gun up to match the ones pointed at them.
The tension was nearly a physical thing as one side waited for the other to make a move. Logan could feel it building inside him, a palpable sensation of impending danger, growing more insistent the longer they faced off. It was a gift that Max had given him but she had not seemed to posses for herself, none of the Manticores he did knew did, and he had often wondered why. It was a feeling, like a combination of butterflies and nausea and the intensity told him just when something was about to happen. He'd felt it too many times in recent years, to not know what it meant, and he had honed to a fine skill just how to interpret the feeling. Since realizing what it was, it had always gave him a reactive edge.
It came to just under the point of breaking when Logan yelled, "Now!"
Around them all hell broke loose as Tinga and Kito both lobbed grenades into the tightly packed contingent of soldiers as the rest of them began firing into the crowd. The first line of soldiers went down to the volley as the two grenades tore through about a dozen more at the back. Those soldiers behind the first line began to move in closing the distance between them. Logan watched as Zach and Tinga were hit in the flack jackets and knocked back. Kito and Tima leapt over the line dividing the soldiers attention as they took to close in combat.
Logan sidled over to Tinga and helped her to her feet, shooting blindly, not so smart a move and moving behind a small outcropping in the barrier that they had erected to trap them. She was coughing and trying to catch her breath, and looking at her jacket Logan saw that she had caught the bullet about waist level, it hadn't penetrated but it had knocked the wind out of her. He looked back to see Zach jumping to his feet and retreating toward them. He joined them shortly, looking at Logan meaningfully, "They knew we were coming," Zach said tersely, firing into the mass of riot gear that was the remaining soldiers.
"You were expecting anything else?" Logan replied, still steadying Tinga, "I personally thought there were going to be more."
Zach smiled broadly, "Yeah me too. You feeling anything else coming?"
Logan shook his head negatively, "No, but where are the four other Manticore's?" Zach's smile faded at the realization that they were only dealing with grunts.
"They're probably in reserve nearer where Max is being held," Zach said shrugging, "Patience, my friend. One thing at a time," He turned and headed back for the melee of soldiers still battling with Tima and Kito. Logan watched a moment as Zach took out two soldiers in less than thirty seconds, seeming to relish his job.
Logan looked back and Tinga nodded to let him know that she was OK. Logan straightened sighing as he looked at the siege before him. Logan and Tinga moved side by side back into the battle continuing to pick off the soldiers moving their direction. All too soon the two forces joined, black on black uniforms surrounded them, friend and foe alike. Their guns were now useless. Determining who was with and who was against them was hard, and Logan was hesitant to strike lest it be one of their extraction team.
Logan paused watching Tinga as she began fighting hand to hand in a blur of continuous motion. All around him Manticore's were fighting for his cause and yet here he stood just watching. What was wrong with him? If he wasn't willing to smash a few heads to get Max back what was he doing here? This was all about "kill or be killed."
Out of the corner of his eye he saw one soldier rushing in and something snapped to life inside him. Reacting rather than thinking he stepped quickly back, spun, and threw an elbow at the soldier's throat. It was relatively unprotected and the man went down fast, gurgling in an attempt to get air into his lungs. He skipped forward two steps kicking out and catching the next soldier in the gut, as the man doubled over Logan moved in cracking him in the back of his neck with the butt of his shotgun and sending him to the deck.
There was a brief respite in the action and Logan glanced at Tinga who was watching him closely. She smiled thinly and nodded silently impressed. Around her were three or four other soldiers crumpled in fleshy heaps. They moved forward watching as the other soldiers started to break rank and retreat.
Kito, Tima, and Zach paused allowing Logan and Tinga to catch up before they resumed their previous positions and started down the corridor toward Building 241. All around them as they moved, were the broken and bleeding bodies of about thirty of the original fifty they had faced. They moved quickly and cautiously, pausing only when they came to the junction. Pressing close to the wall Kito waited for them to catch up.
"Which way?" Zach asked Kito as they gathered together.
"Left," Kito said, "About thirty meters down there is a right hand passage. It's only about ten feet from there to the storage room of building 241."
Zach nodded and cautiously peeked around the corner. He caught a glimpse of a soldier rounding the corner of the passage they were ultimately headed for. He signaled Tinga forward and relayed the plan of attack. He signaled Kito to cover the hall opposite the direction they needed to go. He moved out sweeping with his weapon for signs of resistance then positioned himself where he could cover the hall. He signaled all clear. That done Zach nodded at Tinga. She slipped past him and into the adjacent hall and they all peered around the corner to watch as she crossed the hall hugging the far wall. She paused a moment crossing her arms over her chest coming away with a grenade in each hand. She sidestepped to the next junction her back braced on the wall. She neatly pulled the pins with her thumbs pausing a moment before twisting and lobbing them down the hallway.
The group heard the faint tinkling of the grenades rolling down the hall and the curses of soldiers trying frantically to get out of the way before they went off. Several came toward Tinga's position and she mowed them down with her automatic rifle. She quickly retreated to a safer distance as the grenades went off almost simultaneously. As the echo of the explosion died the rest of them joined up with Tinga and they all rounded the corner into the still smoky hallway. Several of the injured soldiers still offered sporadic resistance as they moved toward the lift into the Storage area of Building 241 and had to be dispatched.
They paused again there below the lift long enough to assess their injuries before moving on to the next phase of their mission. Surprisingly they were minor. Tima had a burn mark on her cheek where a bullet had grazed her cheek and Kito's previous wound had begun to bleed again but that was it.
Logan had been amazed to find that he was uninjured, being the least experienced fighter in this group. He said a silent thanks to whatever angel was watching over him tonight.
They stepped onto the lift in a semi circle, just knowing what was waiting at the top for them.
Kito's anxiety went up exponentially as the lift slowly came to their floor, this mission was not going to get easier, and he remembered like a picture in his head just how vulnerable a position they would be in once they reached the top. They all crouched down in the open lift as it rose allowing as much lee time as they could before having to respond to enemy fire. Sure as the rain in Washington there was another group of soldiers waiting for them at the top. And Zach hit the emergency stop before it reached the top, allowing them a small amount of cover. The only disadvantage being the possibility of having to defend both levels at once. Tima and Tinga stayed low providing cover from the floor below them while Zach, Kito, and Logan defended the storage room. The fight didn't last long, the soldiers retreating behind the stacks of boxes in the storage room, and Zach reset the lift sealing them off from attack from below.
They moved through the storage room relatively easily pushing back what ended up being a very small group. Before they knew it they were in the maze of halls. Kito took the point again his body in overdrive and expecting resistance at every corner, he retraced his path from before toward their objective. The resistance was minimal at best, just small pockets of soldiers there seemingly more to slow them down than do any real kind of fighting. That scared Kito, it meant without a doubt that something major was set up for them either where Max was being held or something else.
He said as much to Zach when they paused the next time. Zach looked around them, "They may be cutting us off. Sucking us in here and then hitting us hard when we have very little in the way of options."
Kito nodded, "I was thinking the same thing."
"Well we've come too far to stop now," Tima said resolutely, "We have to get Max out of here."
"I agree," Logan and Zach said in unison.
Logan looked at Kito, "Lead on McDuff," waving Kito forward.
Kito looked at Logan like he was insane before standing and taking the point yet again.
As they came nearer, Logan whispered, "Zach!" Kito looked back at the sound of Logan's voice.
Zach paused a moment looking at Logan and Logan gave him a signal that Kito didn't recognize. Zach nodded grimly and Kito knew it must not be good news. Zach moved back up toward Kito, whispering, "They're just around the corner, and there's a lot of them."
"How do you know?" Kito whispered confused.
"I don't," Zach said as if it made him unhappy. He thumbed toward Logan, "He does."