Brandon

The car ride was quiet as Big Luke drove, David took a power-nap in the back, and I was studying the layout of the target building and those surrounding it. This gave me something to focus on other than Big Luke's chaotic driving. KATE's tires skidded around corners and the tachometer bouncing as the engine hit top end. I was starting to worry about the amount of ammunition we had. Even though we practically swept the entire Kill House for every last primer or shell casing or even individual grains of gun power, we ate through most of it during the fight. If we played it smart and avoided long firefights, we might be able to scrape by.

Time was still at a idle, which was helpful. If we had to make a hasty exfil, we wouldn't want to get stuck in rush hour traffic. That also meant no cops to chase us. Of course, Big Luke had outran arresting forces more than a few times. After all, he had been doing it since he was sixteen.

Big Luke parked in an alley close to the target building.

"KATE, is there any way you can scan that first floor to tell us who's there?" I asked.

"My scanners are unable to penetrate that far. They may have been damaged while I had been flipped over." KATE wasn't going to be of much help to us.

"That makes things harder." David had woken up in the back seat.

"Wait in the car." Big Luke just stepped out of the car and walked to the edge of the alley way. I watched him peak around the corner and scan for a few seconds. He turned back in our direction and held up one finger, signaling for us to hold fast. Then he darted diagonally across the street.

I turned around in the seat to talk to David. "You wanna go after him?"

"Fuck no! He scared the shit out of me last time I went against orders and went in after him!" David replied. "My ass is staying in the car until he tells me otherwise."

"Pussy," I mumbled before stepping out of the car.

I stalked up to the edge and peaked around the corner. Before I could really do anything to help, Big Luke was heading back with one of the enemy PMC bound by the wrists. They walked back and moved towards KATE's hood.

"I told you to stay in the car," Big Luke mumbled as he stepped passed me.

He slammed the guy's face onto KATE's hood. I walked over and held my hands behind my back. I never played good cop/bad cop before.

"Here's the deal you worthless piece of shit: You're going to answer all of my questions truthfully, or at least to the best of your knowledge. If you lie to me, your death will be so unbearably painful that you'll wish that the devil stuck his pitchfork up your ass before you were even born. Got me?" Big Luke asked.

The man nodded against the high-tech ceramic coating that was KATE's skin. I could see the submersed terror in his eyes.

"Wonderful. Now, where are they holding the girl?" was Big Luke's first question.

"First floor. In the garage. She's bound to a chair and held at gun point at all times," the man replied.

I guess he wasn't really a man. Probably closer to a boy, no older than Big Luke for sure. They probably sent him out as bait. They didn't consider him any more than cannon fodder. Was Big Luke really going to kill this guy?

"You're doing good so far," Big Luke told him.

I took this opportunity to play the good cop since Big Luke had him pinned against the car. "What's your name?"

"Bobby," he lied. That name was so typical it made me want to puke.

"How many of us have you killed?" I asked him. Big Luke was just giving me this look like What the fuck, Dude? I just nodded at him like I knew what I was doing.

"I tried not to keep track," he lied again. I could tell that he was lying because he squinted every time he answered one of my questions. I still acted as if I believed every word.

"How many guys you got in there?" Big Luke asked him, putting his forearm on the back of the guy's neck. Threatening to break his neck under his weight.

"Arg! Maybe five?" he answered.

"Do you want to die?!" Big Luke questioned further, reaching down to his 1911 with his right hand.

"It's not super high on my priorities list. No!" not-Bobby replied.

"Then you need to answer that last question honestly," Big Luke threatened, pulling his 1911 and placing the muzzle against the guy's knee.

I looked towards David who was watching from the back seat still. The last thing I wanted to see was Big Luke put a .45 slug through some kid's knee. So I turned back towards the guy on KATE's hood and squatted down.

"Look, Bobby," I choked out. "Do you know what they call this guy?"

He just shook his head.

"They call him 'the Animal'." None of this was completely true, but "Bobby" didn't have to know that. "He's got this thing inside him, some kind of advanced killer instinct, that he unlatches at will. This thing takes over him and he tears shit up when somebody fucks with the people he loves. In just about any other situation, he would've killed you already. He's fucking crazy. So, if you want to continue walking correctly, don't tempt him."

"Bobby" still had Big Luke's gun to his knee cap. "OK, maybe it was closer to fifteen. They're waiting for you on the first floor."

No squint this time. That was good.

"Thank you." Big Luke slammed his elbow on the back of "Bobby's" head, knocking him out cold. "and good night."

KATE popped the trunk and we got to work loading magazines and placing them in their respective pouches. All six of my rifle mags were fully loaded and weighing me down. My hydration carrier on my back was empty so the rig was off balance quite a bit. It was more of a nuisance than anything. I was starting to look like Big Luke's plate carrier when we had first met him; spots of blood had dried over time and the stitching was starting to fray in places.

The whole team was starting to look war-torn, too. The pigment of our skin lightened slightly and our gazes were getting harder. Big Luke hadn't shaved in a while so he had a little five o'clock shadow going on. David had sweated off all his hair gel so it just matted against his head. I was sore all over and I'm sure they were too.

The only good news was that David and I were both starting to walk right again after the ambrosia treatment we got. Other than we still had bullets in our guns and air in our lungs, we didn't have much to hold on to left.

We strapped up our helmets and headed out. The plan was simple; but we hoped it would be effective. The piece of the fire escape was cut off all the way to the third floor of the building. At the very bottom of KATE's trunk is a compact, fold-able ladder that Big Luke would use to get into the building. He would then fight or sneak his way down to the second floor where he would blow a hole into the first floor.

Now, I know what you're thinking: One guy against roughly fifteen opposition? That's suicide! We thought that through as well. KATE's scanners may have been on the fritz lately but her jammer was still working well enough. David and I were to be posted up outside the garage doors and when they enemy sprang their trap on Big Luke (surrounding him and trying to get him to surrender), KATE would spring the garage door open and David and I would get the drop on the people surrounding Big Luke.

Just as planned, Big Luke broke off towards the fire escape with the four-foot section of ladder. David and I stacked up on either side of the dual garage doors. Over the years, I found myself getting less and less antsy whenever I was about to breach. More or less than three summers of doing this and almost 100 missions. Depending on who you ask, all of which were successful but one. That overwatch mission at Westover Hall was the only one that really went south, and I wasn't even there. I could only justify this record by excluding me getting shot last summer, Craig killing himself, and false intelligence in the Swiss Alps. Big Luke had never seen that same way.

Currently I had the wall on my left shoulder, David had the wall up against his right shoulder. We were a good fifteen yards apart. Too far to try and communicate with each other without our radios, but close enough that we could still read hand signals. I check my watch for only the second time: 5:15. But that wasn't the actual time. The actual time was set to a crawl. Five minutes was more like ten hours. However, my stopwatch function was working perfectly.

BOOM! We heard Big Luke's explosion from the second to the first floor. I could imagine the dust from the insulation and years of dirt accumulation filling the room. Making it hard to see and probably breath. Big Luke probably bent his knees as he landed on the concrete floor. We heard a couple gunshots as Big Luke dropped a couple of the opposition before they could shoot at him, thinning out the herd. Then I could imagine him pointing the muzzle right at his step-brother's face.

"Give it up, Kyle," I heard Big Luke's voice through the garage door. "It's over."

"That's where you're wrong, Jon Luke," Kyle's voice filtered through the door as well. He heard a pop, like the snap of the fingers and then more footsteps out of the corners. "Maybe, you're not as smart as I thought, Jon Luke?"

"Think again, Kyle." that was our que.

KATE automatically threw the garage door open and David and I popped out from cover. Two bodies lay near Brittany who was tied to a chair like "Bobby" said she would be. Kyle stood behind Brittany with his HK45 next to her head. Big Luke was facing away from us at an angle with his rifle pointed at Kyle's face. Dust and debris was floating down to the floor. It was starting to look like the plan was starting to work. We might just get away with only firing two shots.

"Wrong again, Jon Luke." That's when I heard a click right behind my head, like the sound of the hammer being pulled back on a handgun.

I turned around only to see the business end of another HK45. The gun was so big, it covered the man's face behind it.

"Move," the man ordered.

I stepped backwards into the canter where Big Luke was. David was forced to do the same. Now the three of us had around fifteen guns pointed at us. We were ordered to lay down our guns. We just let them hang from our slings and put our hands in the air. We were so outgunned and so not in a good position that drawing our sidearms or picking up our rifles would only get us killed, and probably Brittany as well. That whole "... or die trying" thing that Big Luke said was poking at my brain.

Some one that Big Luke recognized pushed his way to stand next to Kyle. He had a neutral expression on his face and his eyes were cold. His salt and pepper hair was short and looked to be more salt than pepper.

"Jon Luke," the man greeted.

"John," Big Luke countered. "Figured you were around here somewhere."

"You still want me dead?"

Big Luke just nodded.

"Well, unfortunately, I need you to do something for me first," John started, his tone was low and level. He wasn't angry or excited in any way. "Our boss told us to fall back and take your girl hostage, knowin' that you would come back for her. If we lost the battle at the Empire State Buildin', we were to call you and threaten her life. You pretty much know the rest, but now we need you to get in that speedy car of yours and deliver something back to the Empire State building. If you complete the mission, I will let the girl go. Shouldn't be too hard after runnin' shine back in the day."

"What's the cargo?" Big Luke asked.

"It's not a concern to you! Just do as we ask and we will spare your girl's life!" Kyle yelled in retort.

"Kyle, go cool off!" John yelled at his son. Kyle then kicked the wall and stormed out. "He's been wantin' to take you on, just one-on-one. Wants to finish this beef we got."

"For once we agree on somethin'," Big Luke replied. "Now... what's the cargo?"

"Somethin' that will ensure that our people will win the war," John answered.

"A bomb," I jetted in. "You want us to blow up the Empire State Building. Killing everyone there and around it."

Brittany's jaw dropped and her gaze moved towards Big Luke. "Don't do it, Jon Luke. I'm not worth it."

"He'll do it," John told her but he was looking at Big Luke. "Cause he already promised your brother. I've known Jon Luke for a long time, he always does his best to keep his promises."

Big Luke glared at his step-dad. "How did you know that?"

"We've been watchin' you for a while, Jon Luke. Ever since you left on you're road trip, we've had you in our scopes. We saw you in Roswell. We saw you in Billings. We lost you for a little bit around Bonneville but eventually found you again. We even saw you on that river bank with your ex-girlfriend. We had you-"

"Wait. Ex-girlfriend?!" Brittany was glaring at Big Luke now. He never mentioned him ever having an ex-girlfriend. "You told me you never dated anybody."

"Well, there was this one girl back home that I dated before I joined the Marines-" Jon Luke was scratching the back of his head when Brittany interrupted him.

"You lied to me!" Brittany was pissed. "Do you still have feelings for her?"

"Bo-"

"Don't 'Bo' me! Do you still have feelings for this girl?"

"Could you guys please discus this later?" John but in.

"Yes," Big Luke mumbled.

"No!" Brittany yelled.

"Go get your car, Jon Luke."

Big Luke ran out of the garage like a lion was chasing him. Apparently, Brittany was that scary to him. I knew how he felt because while he was gone, Brittany turned her rage on David and I.

"Did you two know about this?!"

"Uh...-"

"Shut up," she ordered, not letting me finish with "no".

A couple of guys left to go retrieve the bomb. Of course, we couldn't let it go off, but Big Luke was going to need our help to defuse it. Big Luke eventually came back driving the Charger. He backed up to the garage entrance. Then the trunk was popped before Big Luke climbed out.

The bomb was pretty big. It was all chrome with a couple sickly green rod in the center. Wires decorated the outside like cob webs. It was heavy enough that it took two guys to carry it. They set it in the trunk delicately like if it was, well... if it was a bomb.

Outside, we could hear the sound of a helicopter and the rotor wash pushed my pants against my legs.

"Rules," John started. "No slower than 60, or else we blow it up and kill the girl. No detours. No funny business. Don't leave the sight of the chopper. Got it?"

Big Luke just nodded. He was looking at Brittany though. "I'm sorry."

She wouldn't meet his eyes.

The Strike Team loaded up and we headed for the Empire State building with a bomb in our trunk and a helicopter tracking our every corner. Big Luke kept it over 60 miles per hour as he slid us around corners.

"KATE, scan that bomb and figure out a way to defuse it. No way are we blowing up downtown New York," Big Luke ordered.