CHAPTER 9

LETS GET OUT OF HERE!!

Chasing Mike down the hallway, I didn't know where he was going. I don't think he knew where he was going, either. But out of the corner of my eye, I spotted something. A wall plaque, detailing the layout of the floor.

"Mike, stop! There's a map here!"

"Oh crap, and I ran right past it."

"Good thing someone's paying attention around here."

"Okay, so where are we?"

I traced my finger along the map until I found the two lifts.

"There we are, right there."

"Didn't Daniel say he was trapped in a lecture theatre?"

"He was trying to get Brett and Buffy out of a lecture theatre."

"But which one?"

"The one by the fire escape, that's how he got there."

"Think we should go get them?"

"Larry and Phil already said they were heading that way."

"Okay, next idea."

"Matt said he wanted some protection in the computer room."

"Right… now where's that?"

He was staring intently at the map, but didn't have a clue what he was looking at. I burst out laughing.

"Typical male, not being able to read a map. Let's see… we've got three computer rooms… one just down the hall… two on the far side. Hey Matt, you read me?"

"Loud and clear, Bec."

"You got any idea which of these three computer rooms you're in?"

"It's not the one near the lifts, I know that much."

"Okay. We're on our way there now. Still need our help?"

He grumbled. I giggled.

"Well, I don't need your help, but I'm pretty vulnerable here with my back facing the door. I'd like some protection, and quite frankly I'm surprised I haven't been blown to bits yet."

"Give us two minutes, and we'll be there."

We crept through the building, navigating through endless stark white hallways with offices branching out. Every so often I had a brief glimpse of someone hurrying away from us, and I heard a couple of people call out to each other. Everything combined together was eerie, was really creeping me out.

The first computer room was open, and empty. We were just getting our bearings to head for the other room when we heard shouts from down the hall. I crept to the door, peeked out.

"Oh man, there's gotta be a dozen of 'em out there, all converging on the other room!"

"What?? Shit, this doesn't sound good."

"Matt! Matt! Get ready for a fight!"

"Will do, I'm armed and ready."

Still peeking out, I saw one soldier kick in the computer room door, and they all hurried into the room. Gunfire erupted from within.

"Uh, Bec? Mike? Where the hell are you?? Back me up here, dammit!"

"That's our cue. Let's go!"

Grabbing Mike's arm, we ran out of the room and down the hall.

It was a small-scale war in the second computer room. Peeking in the doorway, I saw Matt pinned behind a terminal, in the far corner of the room. Soldiers were firing at him from all around, the computer he had been using was completely destroyed. Our break came in the fact that all the soldiers were positioned around the room, all facing the corner, and no-one saw us standing in the doorway.

The situation was steadily getting worse. Matt was firing haphazardly around the room, hoping to hit anyone, anything, to scare the guys off. I whispered into my microphone.

"Auto-aim."

"What?"

"Auto-aim. Use it, dammit!"

"Oh… of course!"

That always helped to stack the odds in our favour.

I took a shooting stance outside the doorway, and opened fire on the half-dozen soldiers closest to me. Without so much as a sound, three of them went down. Beside me, Mike took aim at another four or five, and several of them slithered to the floor in a pool of blood.

The soldiers that we had missed turned around and started firing at us. Quick as a flash, we ducked back out of the doorway, and bullets started peppering the wall opposite us.

"Got any bright ideas on what to do now, Mike?"
"Nope, I'm fresh out."

"Bec, Mike, two of them are coming after you!"

"Oh great, not more physical combat. I hate this stuff."

"Don't you 7A guys believe in down-and-dirty fighting or something?"

"Yeah, we do, but we've never had to do it. Get ready, here they come."

I took a step back, and readied myself. One of the men had obviously done his homework, because he cautiously stuck his neck out of the door, below head height, about level with my chest. He turned and saw me, and his eyes widened, but he didn't get the chance to retreat. Crouched down, within leg reach of the man, I kicked upwards with all my force. I heard his neck snap in two, and he crumpled to the floor.

As the man lay dying, Mike snatched up my P229 and charged into the room, both guns blazing. The three remaining soldiers in the room didn't stand a chance, with Mike and Matt both up and firing at them. I stayed crouched outside the door, and listened as they finished off the men.

"That was too close for comfort."

"You're telling me."

"Let's get out of here."

"Wait, before we go, I was copying stuff onto a CD, and I dropped it over here, where I was standing."

"Where?"

"Here."

He held up a CD in a paper case covered in dirty footprints.

"Accidentally step on it, did you?"

"Shut up, I was getting shot at, alright?"

"Hope it's still good."

"Someone'll be able to get it working."

I took a deep breath and began speaking into my microphone.

"Larry, all the hostiles are down. Repeat, they're all down, we have eleven dead. And Matt's got a CD that he copied, apparently it's got some good stuff on it."

"Are you guys hurt at all?"

"Nope, no injuries whatsoever."

He whistled softly.

"Nice work then."

"Thanks. What should we do now?"

"Well, me and Phil have just managed to get Daniel, Buffy and Brett out of the damned lecture theatre. That wasn't any fun, but we're not hurt, other than bumps and bruises. I'm guessing there's still no sign of Graham."

"Nope."

"Shit, I hope he's alright."

"Me too."

"Do I hear two people talking about my welfare?"

Relief filled me as I heard Graham's cheeky voice.

"Yeah, we were talking about you, because no-one's heard a word from you in a while."

"Well, you see, I was kinda being chased by these soldier guys, and my microphone fell off, I mustn't have put it on properly. When I ditched them, I went back to look for it, and I just found it now and put it back on. Miraculously, it still works."

"It's good to hear you're okay, Graham."

"Yeah, I'm glad to still be in the land of the living too."

"You didn't run into any trouble?"

"Only the two assholes that were chasing me, and they got what was coming to them."

"Well it's all good then. And where's Tamara?"

"I'm here."

"What have you been up to, Tam?"

"Nothing, I've been hearing shouts and screams and gunfire, but I haven't seen a single person while we've been here."

"For real?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that's ten present and accounted for. Before we get into any more conflicts, let's get out of here, shall we?"

"That sounds like a mighty good plan."

"You guys know what to do. We'll meet outside in five. See you all then."

Five minutes later

Matt, Mike and I were lounging around outside, waiting for the others to arrive. Actually, correction, we were all ready to go, sitting in Matt's white Magna. From shadows around the side of the building, Graham emerged, all dirty.

"Take the long way around, did you?"

"Yeah, I ended up scaling half the damn building on the outside."

"At least you made it in one piece."

About a second after he had jumped into the car, Tamara appeared from a side entrance to the building. While we were all slightly messy from gunfire and combat, she looked as pristine as she had when we arrived.

"Well, wasn't that exciting?"

"For the rest of us, it was rather eventful, yeah."

"I was bored out of my brain, good thing I found a vending machine to keep me busy."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Uh, no."

I rolled my eyes. She was a real piece of work sometimes.

Suddenly, the glass doors at the front of the building burst open, and the glass in them shattered into a million pieces. In a hail of gunfire, Larry, Phil, Brett, Daniel and Buffy sprinted out of the building, closely pursued by a small army of soldiers.

"Shit, they're in trouble again."

"When are they not in trouble?"

"Good point."

Lowering the window, I started firing at the front of the oncoming wave of hostiles. Surprised, they slowed down, before turning and firing back.

"Uh, Matt, I suggest you start moving before they turn this thing into a sieve."

"You don't have to tell me twice. Everyone, hold on!"

And Matt planted his foot on the accelerator. We sped down the street, going at least eighty before we turned the corner. Not far behind us was the rest of the group, piled into Graham's Ford.

"Think they're going to follow us?"

"They can't. We're gone."