CHAPTER 8: The Final Draw.
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Alex walked confidently into Blunt's office, nodding at Mrs. Jones as he passed her. Then he stood in front of the desk, his arms crossed.
"How did your contact in Moscow know about the change of location?" Alan Blunt demanded.
Alex smirked. "You're not even going to welcome me home?" he asked. He could see it in the grim man's eyes the moment Blunt realized he was in trouble, realized what a mistake they had made with Alex Rider.
He caught Mrs. Jones moving toward the door in his peripheral vision. He whipped out his arm and she was dead before she could so much as take in the gun in his hand. He turned to Alan Blunt, aiming.
"Your mistake was putting out the hit on Jack. By taking her away, you took away almost everything I had to live for," Alex snarled.
"You'll never make it out of this building, Alex. Someone else will just replace me," Blunt replied confidently.
Alex nodded. "I know." And fired. He could hear people running outside the office, but took a moment to download the virus into the computer. Then he placed another brick of C4 on the desk. Much more effective than bombs, he thought. He was glad Yassen had reluctantly parted with his entire supply. Being in love with a well connected assassin had it's privileges, after all.
He looked out the glass doors, watching as agents swarmed toward him, guns drawn. It was as if he were watching it in slow motion. Making his decision, he dropped his duffle bag, and brought out his other gun.
Bullets came through the glass, breaking it, whizzing past Alex as he moved to dodge them. Firing, he ran straight at them. He knew they couldn't afford to circle him. They would run the risk of shooting at each other, and without their Heads to guide them, at this point they were just trying to either stop him or kill him.
Alex moved forward with a speed he didn't know he was capable of. Bullets brushed passed him, but he didn't care, not did he slow when several left scores across his jacket and skin. One even managed to lodge itself in his shoulder, but he didn't care.
His guns were firing three rapid succession bullets compared to their one, and he was taking out three times as many with each shot, significantly thinning the crowd. It wasn't until he had reached the elevator and looked back that he realized he'd made it through. Looking back, he saw the floor littered with bodies.
He quickly reloaded his gun and took the elevator up. They would be waiting for him once the doors opened, so he moved quickly. Hitting the stop button, he opened the access hatch on the ceiling, climbing up on the hand rails inside. He pulled himself up through it, and grabbed a solid hold on one of the cables. Taking careful aim, he shot the panel inside the car.
He almost lost his hold on his gun when he jerked as the cable pulled him up while the elevator plummeted. The cable was moving faster than he had anticipated. Well, this had been well thought out, what was he going to do now?
Then he saw the emergency door lever beside the floors as he sped by them. He holstered his gun and took off his belt, looping it. The end of the pulley was advancing quickly. As he passed he swung out his belt, the momentum from the cable giving him enough weight to pull up the level. His belt caught, pulling him down the upward moving cable. He grimaced as the skin was rubbed off of his hand until the belt broke, but ignored it. The doors had opened, just enough for him to fit through if he aimed right.
Taking a deep breath, he swung his body backward, then let go of the cable, falling down toward the doors he had opened. His momentum wasn't enough, and he past it. Reaching out, he just barely managed to grab a hold the edge of the doorway. Crying out as it jerked his wounded shoulder, Alex forced himself to pull upward, slowly getting himself over the lip of the door.
Looking around, he discovered he was on the second floor of the main bank. He crouched and peeked over the half wall of frosted glass that served as a wall for the second floor. He could see agents standing in front of the elevator, waiting for him to appear.
He ran along half bent over until he was able to get into one of the offices. The woman working there startled, surprised to see him, but couldn't do more than that as his bullet took out her left eye. He looked around, at saw the window.
Looking down, he gauged the height of the jump. The awning from the first floor would break most of his fall, but it was still going to hurt. Well, considering he hadn't really expected to escape at all, it wasn't a bad trade off. He opened the window and jumped. The awning caught him, and he rolled off of it, landing hard on the ground. He gritted his teeth against the pain as suddenly he felt every scratch, bruise and bullet wound. Still, he wasn't finished. He pushed himself up, thankful he had landed in an alley way.
He walked away quickly, making sure he was at least two streets over. His phone rang suddenly, surprising him. Flipping it open, he grinned. "Hello?"
"Alex, what have you done?"
"Are you testing that watch of yours yet?" Alex asked.
"What? No, I-"
"You've got to the count of five to get into that room, Smithers. I suggest you use it wisely," Alex interrupted, flipping shut the phone.
As promised, he counted until he reached five. Then he brought the phone back up to his lips. "Dead" he stated, throwing the phone as far from him as he could. It flashed and smoked as it hit the ground.
Five seconds later he heard the explosion. It was massive and far greater than he'd expected, but it had done it's work, nonetheless. Everyone inside MI6 was dead. His mission was complete. He turned and walked away, not even bothering to wonder if Smithers had made it clear in time.
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