This is one of the most action packed chapters I have ever written... There will be one more chapter to it which will conclude everything... The identity of the Scorpia man... the final fight... everything...
Showdown
The 'special forces' van braked, the tires squealed and the back of the car span round. A group of heavily armed men piled out of the back and the van accelerated off back up the street, the two doors on the back swinging wildly in the wind. The other two white vans full of Scorpia men were not looking so professional, they were differently dressed and were holding different weapons, some had AK rifles and there was two men holding Mac10s, there was about five or six of them. At least the fight would be more or less fair.
Alex Rider and Alan Blunt were sitting inside of the limousine when the men opened fire. The driver didn't stand a chance, his body would be recovered later, riddled with over a hundred bullets. His body was unrecognisable, even to his family… they were attacked by a swarm of bullets that never seemed to end. The bullets broke nearly every window and huge holes were beginning to form in the car, Alex dived forward and he felt Alan slam down next to him. Alex reached out for the door handle and he pulled it down, he pushed the door and it swung open, he slipped out into the tarmac on the street, followed closely by Blunt. The special forces unit had taken posts up on either side of the street, they were crouching beside bins and walls, occasionally leaning around or standing up to shoot, they were too far away to be able to do much damage though. Alex held the gun close to him and waited for a short break in gunfire. It was a never ending stream of hell, people were running from the havoc that had broken out in the street which had just been so peaceful… normal… unlike everything aspect of Alex's life. There was a pause and Alex sprung up and fired. Unfortunately, one of the men had thrown a grenade just as Alex sprung up; the good news was that one of the bullets Alex fired hit the grenade mid-air. It exploded, sending a ball of flame in all directions, one of the enemies was caught in the blast and he was thrown backwards. The man who deserved a slower death slammed into a wall, there was a terrible-sounding crack and the man crashed to the floor, the back of his head oozing blood, his clothes were blackened and burning. Alex kept firing until he heard a click, he killed another enemy with a shot to the head; he ducked back down to find Alan holding out another cartridge for him. Alex pressed the release button and the empty cartridge escaped from the gun and hit the floor, he slid the new one into it and pulled back the hammer… ready to face them once again.
The special unit exchanged rapid gunfire with the Scorpia assailants. A man wearing a vest stood up and started firing but a member of the team took him out swiftly with a quick burst of machine gun fire. His body forming red spots along his chest. The team sprinted forward and ducked down beside a group of large bins, one man - who seemed to be the leader - pointed to another member of the force and then he pointed upwards, the man nodded and ran to a nearby stairwell. He jogged up, his feet thumping a steady rhythm into the metal steps, the pack on his back jumping up and down quickly. The team-leader made a few more gestures and they resumed firing at the opponents. Each mans face showed grim-determination and hatred, at both the people they were killing, and the fact that they were killing them…
The member of Special Forces had taken a position on the roof, he pulled a long-barrelled rifle from his pack and held it in front of him, he leaned into the eyepiece and put his eye against the scope. He manoeuvred it and he saw Alan Blunt and Alex Rider crouching beside a derelict car. The man, who we will now call James, heard a burst of static in his radio and he pressed his ear against it, "Our mission objectives have been changed, our first objective is to kill the man inside of one of the white vans. His description is still unconfirmed, but intelligence says he has dark hair and is wearing a suit of some sort. Our secondary objective is to secure the two MI6 agents who are someone in the area. I repeat, kill the man inside one of the white vans and secure the two friendly agents," There was a short click and then silence. James pressed his finger against the button the on the radio and spoke into the receiver. "I have located the two MI6 agents, they are pinned-down with gunfire beside a black limousine, which is slightly further from your current position, be warned, the area is under constant attack from adversaries." He released the button and awaited a reply; he was not disappointed.
"Thanks, the MI6 agents have now been spotted, we are unable to-" There was a loud explosion and the man was cut off, James pivoted the scope in time to see two special-forces agents get blasted by a grenade. James peered through the scope and poised the target over an enemy, his eyes creased and his teeth were bared. He squeezed the trigger…
Alex had watched from a gap in the car as the two agents were blown apart. His hopes of survival were diminishing with every second that passed, and he wanted a bigger gun, they had machine guns and grenade while he sat here with a small… thing!
"Hey Alex," Blunt muttered, this was the first time Alex had ever heard any emotion in the mans voice, it was kind of scary actually. "On three…?" Alex nodded, gripped the black handle of the gun and took a deep breath…
There were only two members of the Special Forces team remaining. There was one lying on the roof, away from the danger, with the barrel of a snipe rifle beneath him, and there was one who had just being metres away from his friends who had just been blown to pieces. He was clutching his gun to his chest and his other hand was squeezing a cross, which hung around his neck. He was paralysed with fear. He was twenty-five years old, with a wife, two kids and a mortgage.
"Three," Blunt took a deep breath and exhaled through his mouth, he glanced at Alex.
"Two," Alex crouched beside the car, his eyes open and alert, getting ready to spring up and kill.
"One," Blunt and Alex looked at each other…
"Go!" They shouted in unison. They sprung up and both began firing their weapons. James, the sniper fired at anything that move near the enemies vans, his finger becoming a blue on the trigger, the religious Special Forces agent span around and opened fire on the attackers, his gun vibrating and pulsing with pure hatred and anger. Alex climbed onto the roof of the limousine and cried out as he fired his weapon repeatedly. He ran forward, still firing and shouting… and then he ran out of ammo. He gun clicked and he stopped, staring in disbelief at the gun. An enemy jumped up wielding an AK rifle and aimed his gun at Alex. The sniper on the roof squeezed his trigger and the AK wielding maniac's head exploded. James smiled with satisfaction and reloaded…
Nothing moved… nothing made a sound… everything ceased to exist.
"You blew it Alex!" A voice cried out from nowhere, "you had your chance, but you didn't take it, Jack's dead my friend, DEAD!" An engine started and one of the white vans accelerated forward into the street, a man that Alex recognised only by his mysteriousness behind the wheel. Alex ran forward, his foot crunched down on a walkie-talkie that lay on the ground, the same walkie-talkie that the man with the hidden identity had shown Alex in the hospital room. The MI6 hero kicked a hole in the remaining van's window and reached in, scraping his arm on the jagged glass, pain meant little to him, whereas his friend's safety meant the world. He pulled the lock and climbed inside, the keys were still in the ignition and he twisted them. He felt the van shudder as the engine started. He pressed his foot down on the accelerator and barrelled down the road after the Scorpia man. A Mac10 hand-held machine gun lay on the next seat. He closed his fingers around it… he had to save Jack, he had to reach her before the man with the hidden identity did… he couldn't fail… he refused to fail…
It had to end here.