Logan, Dash, and Spirit all vaulted off the helicopter and aimed their MP-7's squarely at Alvarez's face.
Alvarez never fired. He would have, but his LMG rested in the sand.
Blanco never fired. His gun lay next to Alvarez's.
Benitez never fired. He was placing Torres's body among the others.
Mendoza never fired. There was something in Dash's eyes, stark against his dark skin.
Corby, Jast, Perceval and Kevers never fired. The helicopter was weaponless, and none of them had a decent angle.
Dash never fired. The tears rolling down Blanco's face changed his mind.
Spirit never fired. There was something about Alvarez that reminded him of Stephen Brickman.
Logan never fired.
His gun jammed.
They stared at each other for what might have been a lifetime, before Mendoza said, "Shit, it's the Ghost kid!"
Benitez threw his hands in the air. "Listen, Logan, Logan! Rorke's gone mental, he's gonna blow up North America with the death satellite! Please, you gotta-"
Logan's face opened in shock, and said, "Okay, Elias has gone mental and he's gonna blow up South America with the death satellite. Truce?"
Benitez shrugged and shook his hand.
"Again with the sitting and talking!" shouted Jast. "World's gonna end in, like, five minutes! Run!"
They ran for the steps of the facility.
Elias, Wraith, Merrick and David loaded into the lift, one of three leading to the underground facility. "Underton, Volker, stay here and guard the place. Nobody else comes down here, understand?"
Both men nodded, and just as Parsons stepped into the lift his blood sprayed onto the buttons. He stumbled forwards one more step before collapsing, twitching spastically. Rorke stood at the end of the corridor, a LMG in his hands.
"Shit!" screamed Elias, slamming his closed fist onto the button that swiftly sent them to the lowest level.
Rorke slid into an intersecting corridor as Munoz was cut down by Volker's line of bullets. Gil tried desperately to follow Rorke, his wild and inaccurate bursts hitting Underton in the chest, sending him flying against the already closed lift.
He scrambled to Rorke, him pulling Gil behind the corridor.
"Watch and learn, kid," he said, stepping out of cover and casually riddling Volker with bullets. He twitched spastically and shuddered under the impact, before falling limp.
Logan, Dash and Spirit speeded up the steps to the facility, the hastily formed coalition of soldiers following behind. Jast broke ahead of all of them, reaching the top just before Logan; his neck exploded in a splash of blood. He remained motionless for one final instant, before collapsing down the stairs, crimson trailing down with him.
"Shit! Jast!" screamed Perceval, kneeling beside him and jamming his hand on his neck. Logan didn't look back; he flooded the corridor with suppressive fire, and he saw Rorke and one of his goons run for the lift, dragging a heavily bleeding comrade with them.
The injured one- Munoz, Alvarez identified him as- rested in a heap in the corner. Rorke's last ditch attempt at buying time.
He did not duck the oncoming fire. Not only did he have nothing to fear, he had nowhere to move to. Alvarez released a burst of gunfire, and Munoz slumped downwards.
Dash reached the lift first, maybe a few seconds before Alvarez and Kevers did. Spirit, Corby, Benitez, Mendoza and Logan crowded in, and Kevers mashed the button with his massive fist.
The lift stopped in a corridor that stretched for half a mile before reaching the final control room. It was planned for guards to be posted all along the hallway; Elias pulled a few strings and made sure his killing of American soldiers were kept to a minimum beforehand.
"Wraith, Stuart, stay here and make sure nobody makes it through."
Both men nodded; Wraith without a trace of emotion, Stuart shaking nervously. Elias, David and Merrick disappeared into the distance.
Stuart had his gun trained on the second lift, Wraith on the third.
The second opened suddenly, and it revealed Gil hanging desperately from the light fitting.
"Oh, shit, Rorke, pull me u-"
Wraith fired while Stuart hesitated, and Gil fell onto the lift in a screaming lump. Wraith grabbed a grenade from his belt and was about to throw it at Gil when Logan's lift arrived.