Chapter 10

Inside the fortress

The men walked around to the trunk of the car and opened it up. They each took out their weapons and put them in their holsters. Tony closed the trunk and looked at the men standing in the pouring rain, a smile came across his face as he looked at the men he was with.

"Gentlemen, lets make our contractor smile. Lets roll!"

The men headed out to their positions. Tony, Brian and Dieter headed to a stone cliff face a few feet away. Frank crouched low and hurried around to the front of the building. Frank ran up to the front corner of the building and pressed against the building. He peered around the corner, no one was there. He crept around keeping his pistol level just incase. He kept low to avoid being detected by the cameras and to avoid being spotted. He heard voices coming from beyond a bend and ducked for cover in some bushes.

Tony, Brian and Dieter walked up to the cliff face and looked up. Brian pulled out a gun with a large coil of rope on top of it. He aimed it up at the top of the face and fired. The cable unwound as the spike flew up towards the surface. The spike stuck into the surface at the top, Brian tugged on the rope to make sure it was safe. He gave Tony the thumbs up. He grabbed the rope and began to propel himself up the face of the cliff. Tony followed his lead and began to climb up the face of the cliff. Dieter followed and looked back at the ground as he climbed higher. He pulled himself over the ledge and sat down next to Brian and Tony. They looked out at the sprawling facility on the ground below them. Tony pulled out a pair of binoculars and looked down at the building; he could see Frank emerging from his hiding spot in the bushes.

Frank emerged from the bushes and crept behind one of the guards facing away from him. He reached down and pulled his knife out from its ankle strap. He held it out in front of him as he crept behind the guard. He stood up behind the guard and grabbed his head and tilted it back. Before the guard could say anything he took the knife and slit the guards throat. The guard grasped his throat and dropped to his knees in the mud. Frank looked at him and kicked him in the face. The guard fell over in the puddle of mud and lay motionless. Frank slid the knife into its holster and bent over the body; he picked it up and threw it over his shoulders. He walked towards a large patch of bushes and threw the guard in the bushes. He walked away from the bushes and crouched down again and pressed up against the rock wall.

Tony looked through the binoculars at the large shed that Frank was advancing to. There were two guards stationed outside the door and one walking around the shed. Frank advanced slowly towards the shed, creping along the rock wall. He reached into his side holster and pulled out his pistol. He added the silencer and headed towards the shed. Tony looked out of the binoculars and looked down with his eyes at what was happening. He handed the binoculars to Brian who looked through them at the shed and scanned the rooftops. He noticed a crouched man on the roof with a long rifle pointed at Frank. He dropped the binoculars and reached for his rifle. He swung the rifle around and looked through the scope on the rifle. He zoomed in on the crouched sniper on the roof. He flipped on the night vision and could see the clear outline of the sniper. He flipped the safety off and picked his mark. He pulled the trigger and barley a noise was made as the bullet left the gun and entered the mans neck. He could see blood fly from it as he looked through the scope.

"Got him." Brian said.

"Who?" Tony asked.

"Sniper on the roof."

"Well, pick off those men around the shed for Frank."

Brian nodded and looked back into the scope and moved the rifle so it pointed at the shed. He zoomed in on one of the guards standing by the door. He lifted his head up from the scope and looked down. He could barley make out the outline of Frank Creeping behind the man walking around the shed. He looked through the scope as Frank again slit the mans throat and dragged him to some bushes. He moved back to the guards at the door, He zoomed in on one of the men's' head. He smiled and pulled the trigger. Brain matter and blood sprayed all over the front of the shed. Before the second guard could react Brian put a bullet into his head. He looked as Frank looked at the dead bodies and gave him thumbs up.

Frank reached into the guards pockets and fished around until he found a tiny key card. He took the key card and slit it into the slot by the door. The light above flashed green and Frank pulled out his pistol and opened the door. Inside the small shed was a man at a computer busily working on something. Frank walked up behind him and pointed the gun at the base of his neck. He pulled the trigger and blood spewed all over the monitor as the mans head dropped to the desk. He walked away from the bloodied corpse and walked over to a circuit breaker. He opened the metal door and looked at the switches, He pulled out a screw driver and unscrewed the metal plate that held all the switches on. He let that dangle as he pulled out wires and twisted them around. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the timer. He slid it on top of two wires and sealed the plate back up. He closed the circuit breaker and walked out of the shed.

He gave the thumbs up and headed around to the front of the building. Brian got up and swung his rifle around his shoulder and tapped Tony and Dieter on the shoulder. The men got up and walked around the ledge until they came to where the building meets the mountain. Tony peered over the ledge; it was a slight drop then a slope onto the roof. He grabbed his rifle and jumped down onto the slope and slid onto the roof. He stood up and signaled it was clear for Brian and Dieter. Both men did the same and the stood on the rain soaked roof. They walked over to a large air duct and ducked behind it. Tony gabbed his NVG's and looked around at the illuminated scenery around them. He stood up and walked towards the large glass dome that was the atrium's skylight.

He walked over to the large glass structure and peered into the darkness. He flipped the goggles on and looked down; he could see guards bustling about trying to figure out what happened. He gave the thumbs up and pulled a cable from a side pocket and attached it to the metal poll that ran the distance of the dome. He opened the glass hatch and crawled inside. He held the metal pole tightly and looked down; the guards had not yet noticed the hatch was open. The other men opened the other hatches and all hung on the ceiling looking down on the guards. Tony looked at Brian and Dieter, both had their NVG's on and were poised to go. He nodded and they slowly descended into the lobby. He pointed his pistol at the closest guard and waiting as he slowly entered the building. Finally, he stopped with a sharp tug on the rope, there was a jerk as he pulled the rope. He kept the gun pointed at the guard and fired. The guard dropped to the ground quietly and lay there; Brian and Dieter did the same with the other guards in the lobby. They looked around and made sure the lobby was secure and dropped to the tile floor. They unhooked the rope and crouched and looked around though their goggles, it was clear. They walked to the door where Frank was waiting at and opened the door; he looked at them through his goggles.

"What took you so long?" he said as he came in from the rain.

The men laughed and walked away from the door and around to the front desk. Tony sat down in the chair and looked at the black monitors, the power was clearly off. Now, they had to find Umberto and get the money. He got up from the chair and walked towards a set of double glass doors. He peered through the darkness with his goggles and could see 3 guards walking around clueless as to what was around them. He used a hand signal to bring the other men to him. They all looked through the glass at the disoriented men. Brian pulled out a pen looking device and set it on the glass, he pulled out a side of the device and extended it out as far as it would. He pressed the top button and the extension began to swing around the central unit drawing a circle on the glass. The extension stopped and he picked up the pen and put it back. He reached out and pushed the glass, it shattered to the floor leaving a large circle, big enough to crawl through.

"Hey that's kind of nifty, how'd you do that?" Dieter asked.

Brian looked at him then back at the glass, he crawled through the opening and stood on the other side. The other men crawled through and they all stood in a circle around the glass opening. They peered out into the darkness with their goggles; the guards had not been alerted by the noise of the breaking glass. The group crept slowly and quietly down the hallway. The doors on either side of the hall were shut and locked; Tony peered into one of the rooms and found a large portion of gold laying on a desk. He bent back down and crept with everyone else. They crept past all the guards and opened the door on the far end of the hallway and slid into another large room.

They entered the large room and looked around, in the far corner there was a tall man standing there oblivious to everything going on. Tony stood up and walked over to the man, he looked at his name tag "Umberto". Tony walked around behind him and pulled out his knife and rubbed it on the man's cheek. As he did he whispered in his ear.

"Umberto, we're here on Mr. Blacks requests, now please, show us to the vault. If you do this quickly I won't have to kill you, yet." Tony said as he slid the side of the knife across his cheek.

The man walked through the room towards a glowing keypad on the far side of the room. He pulled out his ID badge and slid it into the card reader. The machine beeped as it read the barcode on the card. Umberto punched in a code and the doors hissed open. He stepped back and ran to the far side of the room. He ducked under a desk and hid there. The men looked back at the coward and turned back to the door. They proceeded through the doorway and into a large vault room. The room was very large and had cages on either side filled with gold and packages of bills. Tony walked over to one of the cage doors and ran his hand over it and pulled on it. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a tiny black bag. He opened it up and pulled out little coin size devices. He tossed some to the other men and they put them on the doors. The men walked out of the room and pressed up against the wall outside. Tony looked at his watch and pushed a button on the side. The devices exploded and smoke billowed out of the room. Tony walked over to the doorway and walked inside the room. The doors were blown off their hinges leaving the cages open.

"Lets go move! We don't have much time to waste. Get these bags filled and let's get out of here." He said as he signaled for the other men to enter the vault.

The men entered and went to different cages and knelt down by the stacks of money. They pulled out bags and set them on the ground and began to load money into the bags. The men filled up the bags with the money and began to leave the vault. Franks watch began to beep and he looked down. It said 9:00. He stared in shock then looked up at the other men. They stared at him curiously; he picked up a bag at his feet and ran out of the building.

"What's going on?" Tony asked just as the lights turned on.

The men looked around at the illuminated room around them. The bright lights flashed their NVG's and they flipped them over their heads and looked around. Everything was illuminated and they could hear the rumble of feet entering the building. Brian looked at Tony and the bags in the vault.

"Shit! He set us up! He fucking set us up! That little prick!" Brian yelled at armed guards came into view as he looked out the doorway and down the long hallway.

The men looked at the desks in front of them and flipped them over and ducked behind them as the S.W.A.T team began to fire into the room. The bullets struck the wall above the over turned desks and struck the desks. The sound of splintering wood and breaking tile could be heard. Tony leaned out and looked at the team holding their position a few yards short of the door. He could see one of the men picking up a can shaped grenade and releasing the pin. Tear gas! Damnit! He thought as the guard lobbed the can into the room.

"Gas! Masks on now!" he yelled to the other men as the canister hit the floor and the thick white gas began to spray from inside it.

The men put their masks on the were able to see around without the effects of the gas. They loaded their guns and looked at each other. Tony gave the thumbs up as he leaned over the desk and aimed at where the team was. He began to fire rounds at the area in the smoke. The other men did so as well, they could hear the sound of bullets striking bodies and men falling to the ground. The men dropped behind the desks and waited for the gas to subside.

The gas finally subsided and Tony peered out from behind the desk, he could see some of the members of the team lying on the ground, some dead and some clutching their limbs in agony. Tony signaled for Dieter to get the bags from the vault. Dieter got up and ran over to the vault. He picked up the bags and crept back to the desks. The men got up and began to walk down the hallway the SWAT team just came down. More footsteps could be heard as they marched down the hallway. Tony and Brian ran ahead and pressed up against the wall at the far end of the hallway. Tony peered around the corner and saw another team coming at them from the atrium. He pulled the magazine out of his gun and slid another one in and cocked it. The footsteps got closer and closer then stopped. Tony peered nervously at the corner of the wall. They're right behind the wall. It's their move, what are they going to do? I have to stop them, we must make it out of here alive and catch Frank. He thought as finally one of the men walked around the corner.

He released a stream of bullets into the poor mans torso. The man fell limp and fell to the floor. Two more men emerged and Brian and Tony fired at them and they both dropped to the ground. Brian and Tony nodded for dieter to come up and wait behind them. Dieter picked up the three bags and ran towards them. He pressed up against the wall and stood there. Tony leaned out and could see no guards in the area. He ran out into the atrium and Brian and Dieter followed. They hid behind the front desk as more SWAT men dropped in from the skylight above. Tony pulled out his pistol and began to shoot the men as they dropped down from their ropes. The men who he shot fell to the ground with a loud thud. He ducked back behind the counter and reloaded. Brian did so as well, and they stood up and began to fire at any men that were in the atrium. Tony could hear some men coming from outside and he looked over just as one of them squeezed off a round that hit Brian right in the left shoulder. One of the bullets made its way into his right thigh, Brian dropped his gun and sank below the counter.

"Ah god, ah they got me." He said in pain as he clutched his shoulder and his thigh, blood dripping through his fingers.

Tony fired at the guards and they both hid behind the side of the building as Tony fired. He dropped behind the counter and reloaded his gun. He could hear the men running into the atrium as their feet smashed the broken glass on the floor. Tony picked up his assault rifle and cocked it, he stood up and opened fire on the men. Bullets sprayed out of his gun and struck the marble walls sending pieces of marble spraying everywhere in the atrium. One of the men was struck in the stomach and fell to the ground clutching his stomach. The other tried to dive into the little hallway but was shot 3 times in the back as he jumped through the air. Tony let his finger off the trigger as the magazine emptied.

He could hear the roar of SWAT vans and helicopters converging on the building. He looked over the counter and outside, he could see the faint lights of the vans approaching. He knelt back down and looked at the injured Brian and at Dieter. He took the empty magazine out of the gun and put a new one in. Dieter looked at him with a pale face.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"SWAT is on the way, we have more guests. I need you to help me. We have to destroy the entrance of the building. We have to keep them outside."

"How are we going to do that?"

"SEMTEX, you have some, give me it." Tony said as he pointed to a little pack on Dieters chest.

Dieter picked it up and tossed it to Tony. Tony opened the package and pulled out two blocks of SEMTEX high explosives. He ran over to the door, he stopped and looked outside; there were over a dozen SWAT vans and multiple other police cars heading their way. He quickly placed the bricks on the sides of the door frame. He ran back to the counter and ducked behind it. He pulled out a remote control from a pocket and pulled the antenna out. He peered back over the counter and looked as SWAT members began to run towards the building.

"Now or never." He said as he pushed the switch on the control.

The explosion ripped through the lobby. Debris were sent flying through the air. The explosion caused a rush of heat that melted the leather on the chair as it flew through the air. The roof of the lobby around the door began to collapse, and fell on the open doors and created a mound of concrete and steel. Tony coughed as he inhaled dust from the explosion. He brushed dust off his face and stood up and looked at the large pile of concrete that blocked the doorway.

"Score!" he yelled.

Tony and Dieter picked up Brian and walked back down to the vault. Brian laid down on a desk that was not overturned, he clutched his wound and stared at the ceiling. Tony pulled out the blue prints of the building and laid them across Brian and looked at them. He studied the blue prints and looked up at Brian who was in sheer agony. He looked back down at the blue prints and smiled.

"Ha-I found a way out of here."

"What, how?" Dieter asked.

"The maintenance shed back in the back, well there's a tunnel, a service tunnel on the far end of the complex that leads us to the shed. We just have to get there and we can get out of here."

"Well, what are we waiting for, lets go!" Brian muttered through the pain in his arm.

Tony picked Brian up off the table and walked back to the hallway that leads to the lobby. They stopped before they got to the lobby and took a left down another long hallway. They continued through the hallway and entered into a large printing area. The large printing machines had continued to run through everything that was going on and dollar bills continued to print. The men made their way through the maze of large printing machines and to the door at the far end of the room.

"This should be it. It should lead us down to the tunnels." Tony said as he opened the door.

The door opened and a steel stair case lead down to a large tunnel. The men made their way slowly down the stairs to the tunnel. At the base of the tunnel on the stone walls was a cabinet with a pad lock on it. Tony pulled out his pistol and shot the lock off. He opened the cabinet and pulled out some flashlights. He handed one flashlight to Dieter who turned it on and pointed it down the ends of the tunnel.

"Which way?" He asked.

"Uh, that way." Tony said as he pointed straight ahead.

The men began to walk down the dark tunnel running their flashlights along the walls. They got no more than 20 feet down the tunnel when a large explosion shook the tunnel. The men turned around and looked at the door. They knew what had happened; they blew through the make-shift blockade and were on the way to capturing them. They pressed on as voices could be heard behind them, coming nearer to the tunnel. Finally they reached the ladder that lead up into the maintenance shed.

"Right up the ladder, quickly, we don't have much time." Tony said as he opened the hatch at the top of the ladder.

Brian pulled himself up with the help of Tony and Dieter. They emerged in the brightly lit shed and looked around. The shed was filled with computer equipment and screens. The guard at the desk was lying there, dead. Tony walked over to a monitor and looked at it; no guards were in the vicinity. He walked over to the door and opened it a sliver, he looked out into the rainy night, no one. He opened the door more and stepped down the steps and waited outside the shed. Dieter helped Brian down the steps and they stood at the base of the shed.

Tony pulled two grenades off their gondolier around his shoulder and pulled the pins out. He tossed them into the shed and picked Brian up and ran over to bushed against the side of the mountain. The shed exploded in a bright fireball, the fireball lit up the whole rear end of the complex. The men ducked as pieces of the shed flew all about the open area. The flames billowed high into the air and a few trees surrounding the building caught on fire. The SWAT teams came running around the building to the burning shed, they searched the area, and Tony, Dieter and Brian crept along the back wall and headed into the open area around the front of the building.

Tony peered out into the area, the SWAT vans crowded the front of the building. There were about a half a dozen men standing around the front of the building sifting through the rubble trying to find the members of their team that were buried in the explosion. Tony creped out into the road and looked at the front of the building, the men didn't seem to notice him. He signaled for Dieter and Brian to follow.

They ran across the dirt road and hid behind a parked SWAT van. Tony peered out the side; the men still seemed to be busy with the rubble. He signaled for the men to follow and they ran over to the black car hidden in the bushes. Dieter opened the trunk and dropped the bags in and turned back to the building. The guards seemed to notice something going on now. They moved away from the building and began to move towards them. Dieter pulled out a large machine gun from the trunk and pointed it at the men. Brian opened the back door and dropped on the seats still clutching his shoulder. The bleeding had gotten worse and he was in severe pain.

The men moved closer and Tony moved around to the far side of the car and pulled out a shotgun. Tony and Dieter kept their guns pointed at the men as they moved closer. One of the men began to yell and point in their direction, it didn't take a genius to realize that they had been spotted. Dieter opened fire on the men and they all fell to the ground. The other SWAT men ran around from behind the building and began to open fire on the car. Bullets struck the black car leaving dents in the side and cracking the windows. Dieter fired at the men as the dove behind cop cars parked in the area. Dieter walked away from the car and stood in the middle of the road, he pointed the large gun at a police car and opened fire. The car exploded in a ball of flames that sent officers flying through the air. Tony ran out and crouched next to him and picked off SWAT officers with his shotgun.

"Ah! Take that pigs!" Dieter yelled as he released a hail of bullets into the SWAT van.

Tony ran back to the car and picked up some shotgun shells and loaded them into the gun and cocked it. He started to run back to Dieter as he saw a SWAT officer pop up and aim at him. He pointed the gun and fired; the man flew back as the shells struck his torso and ripped it apart. Dieter looked over, then back at the vans and continued to fire. His gun clicked as it ran out of ammo.

"I need a mag!" he yelled to Tony who stood by the trunk.

Tony reached into the trunk and pulled out a large mag and tossed it to Dieter. He caught it and slid it into the gun. He cocked the gun and began to open fire again. Tony crept back to the driver door and opened it up. He turned back as a bullet struck Dieter in the leg. He dropped to his knees and continued to fire. More bullets struck his chest and sent blood flying out his back. Then a bullet entered his head and he fell to the mud and laid there. Tony looked back at the car and got in. He looked back at Brian who was bleeding heavily in the back seat. He started the car up and turned around and headed right at the barrier of cars. The SWAT officers opened fire as the car sped towards them, bullets ricocheted off the car as he sped towards them. The officers jumped as the car smashed through the cars and down the cliff road. The officers got up and continued to fire at the car.

Tony sped down the winding mountain road that led back to the city. He could feel as bullets bounced off the car from the officers behind him. In the distance in the city below he could see police cars converging on the entrance to the mountain road. Tony sped up and buckled his seat belt. He looked at the blockade set up at the base of the road and then to Brian who was bleeding in the backseat.

"Hold on Brian, this will get a little rough." Tony said as he sped up and smashed through the barricade. Police cars smashed up as the speeding car smashed right through them.

Tony sped down the long street, he looked in the rear mirror and saw cops converging on him. He sped up and turned town a narrow side street. He slid across the wet pavement almost smacking a light post. He looked back just as a cop smacked the light post, the cop car spun out and hit the front end of another cop car. The second car flipped and landed upside down in the middle of the street. Tony turned onto another side street, the cops still giving chase. In the distance he could see cop cars coming right at him. He pressed on the gas and headed right at them, he was playing a game of chicken. The cop car swerved to the right and side swiped the side of another car sending it veering into a tree. The car exploded and the tree caught fire, Tony sped through the police cars as the ones behind him swerved and crashed into one another.

Tony turned down a street into a park, he swerved along the winding park roads. He slid on the pavement and almost hit a play structure, the car kicked up woodchips as it slid across them. He turned the car and drove out of the park on the grass. He emerged in another industrial district.

Tony steered down tight alley ways trying to elude the cop cars giving chase, but he could not do so. He flew out of one alley onto a large street and slid on the wet road as he landed. He sharply turned the car and he drove down a tiny small street that led through a subdivision. The cops gave chase shooting out the windows of their car.

Tony looked out the window and fired back at the lead cars tire. He hit the tire with the first shot and the car front flipped in the air, cars traveled under it but not fast enough as the car landed on the top of some other cop cars. He could hear the sound of smashing metal behind him. He looked back and saw the cars explode in a large ball of light. He looked back at Brian who was barley alive.

"Hold on Brian were almost at the drop point." Tony said as he turned back to the road.

The car sped down the long lone road until it reached a tiny dirt path that led through a thicket of woods. Tony drove through the path and ended up at a tiny dock where he was greeted by Mr. Black in a black navigator with Frank next to him. Tony got out of the car and opened the trunk and picked up the bags. Mr. Black got out and walked over to him. Tony set the bags at Mr. Blacks feet in the mud. Mr. Black looked down at the bags then at Tony.

"Only you survived?"

"No, Brian did too. But thanks to you setting us up, he's going to die soon."

"Yes, well in business these things happen. There's no stopping it, I'm sorry."

Frank walked out of the car and picked the bags up. He walked over to the trunk of the SUV and threw the bags in the back. He looked and Tony and smiled. Tony reached for his gun and pulled it out, when he looked back, Mr. Blacks was pointed right at his face.

"Tony, don't do it. You can walk away from this right now alive, or you can leave dead. Which one do you want?"

"Alive" Tony said as he slid the pistol back into its holster.

"Brian needs medical attention you said, bring him here, I'll take him to a hospital." Mr. Black said pointing to the car.

Tony walked over and opened the door, blood covered the back seat and Brian. Tony picked him up and swung his arm around his head and dragged him to Mr. Black. They stopped in front of Mr. Black who eyes Brian curiously. Then, he pulled his gun out and shot Brian 3 times in the chest. His body fell to the ground, Tony looked at Mr. Black stunned. Mr. Black smiled.

"It's just business Tony." He said as he fired two rounds into Tony's chest. Tony dropped to the ground and laid there. Fido picked up Brian's body and through it into the river behind them. The body landed with a quiet splash and floated on the top of the water before it was dragged down. He walked back over to Tony and picked his body up, Tony was still alive but barley, Fido smiled at Tony as he slid his body into the river. Fido walked back over to the M5 and put a rock on the pedal. The car drove into the river and sunk to the bottom. Fido hopped into the truck and Fido and Mr. Black drove off with the money.

Tony's body floated down the river, Tony could barley see what was going on, he'd be shot twice at point blank and was dying. He let the current carry him to a bank down by a little shack. He landed on the hard shore and moaned. He heard the footsteps of a man coming towards him. The man looked at Tony, he looked at his wounds and ran inside his house and called 9-1-1. He ran back out and looked at Tony.

"Don't worry, the paramedics will be here soon. Just stay with me."

As the man said that Tony slipped into a coma and closed his eyes.