This chapter is going to be the start of a whole new plot twist that I think you're going to enjoy and hate in equal measure…
…
Archer had calculated how long it would take him and Sam to reach the back of the fort perfectly, as no one saw them duck into the large shadow being cast at the back of the fort and wrench open the cargo hatch. Sam soon discovered Archer wasn't kidding about the squeeze, as even she had trouble slithering through the tiny gap despite being slightly smaller than Archer, who made it through with great difficulty.
"What did you use this for?" Sam asked through deep breaths.
"We used to get small weapons delivered by that hatch, handguns and such, but that was about it." Archer replied as he, too, struggled to get his breath back.
"Where are we?"
Sam squinted into the dim light and was just about able to make out that they were standing at the end of a corridor. Archer pulled the hatch shut above them after feeling around the walls for a light switch and pressing it. As the strip lighting flickered to life, illuminating the corridor one section at a time, Sam was able to see that there was a definite upward incline to the underground area they found themselves in.
"We're underneath the main compound." Archer replied.
"Why aren't there rebels down here?" Sam asked as Archer began walking up the sloped corridor.
"Because the entrance to this place from the main compound is covered by one of the sofas in the meeting room. We thought it best to keep this place hidden in case we were attacked, seeing as there is a whole stash of weapons down here, so we placed a sofa over the top of the hatch and turned the room into a meeting and logistics room." Archer replied as they continued their walk.
"There are weapons down here?" Sam asked, just as a doorway came into view.
"Yep. In here." Archer said tonelessly as he led her into a room with more handguns, rifles and machine guns than she had ever seen in her life.
…
Try as he might, Tom couldn't find a way to get the two soldiers who were tasked with guarding him to let him go after Sam.
"She's going to get herself killed!" He implored, struggling against the man who had placed a hand on his good shoulder.
"Sergeant Trent won't let that happen." The solider said simply.
Tom let out a hollow laugh. "Have you ever met Sam Nicholls?"
"No…" The soldier said slowly.
"Well she's headstrong. And Reckless. Combine that with a desire for revenge and we have a big, potentially lethal, problem on our hands in the form of a woman who will most likely do anything to kill the man who killed her brother and get herself at the very least injured in the process."
The soldier was about to reply when Sergeant Trent's voice started coming out of his walkie talkie. He stepped outside, nodding at the other soldier to keep control of Tom while he was gone. Tom rested his head back down angrily in the meantime and waited with an ever increasing sense of dread to hear the message the Sergeant had for the soldier.
When the soldier stepped back in his face was solemn.
"Sam is in the base with Archer Miller. They're attempting a takedown from the inside."
…
Fifteen minutes later and Sam was fully debriefed and ready for action, even though she had no intention of sticking with the plan Archer had some up with. He wanted her to hang back behind him the whole way once they got up there and make sure no one was sneaking up on them while he searched out the leader. Sam's plan was to keep an eye out for the leader also and shoot him as soon as he came within firing range.
"Ok. Let's move out." Archer said heading for the large wooden hatch a few metres away from the doorway.
When Sam immediately noticed that the inside of that sofa was hollow, and that they could hear everything that was going on in the room without having to expose themselves. There was enough room in the hollowed out sofa for both Sam and Archer to fit inside, and so they silently closed the hatch and listened intently for any signs of life in the meeting room. Unfortunately there was a significant distraction that was leading their attention away from that room in particular.
They could hear the machine gun fire and ricocheting bullets, along with the screams and cries of men who were hit, making it sound as though there was a war going on inside the room they were in.
"I don't think there is anyone in this room." Archer said, apparently more adept at judging how far away the sounds were than Sam.
All the same he still crawled out from under the sofa with baited breath, expecting a bullet between the shoulder blades with every movement he took. Sam followed quickly after him, and they both rolled instinctively away from full view of the exit and behind the nearest object large enough to hide their forms.
After a few tense seconds Archer began repeatedly sticking his head out and checking who was around before signalling to Sam that there were two men standing by the door facing away from them, most likely tying to avoid the fighting. Sam was ready to stick a bullet in each of them if it came to that but Archer appeared to have a better idea, sneaking up behind them and rather comically grabbing their attention with a tap on the shoulder then punching them both in the temple, knocking them out.
"Well that was easy." Archer commented as he and Sam dragged their snoring bodies out of the view of the doorway.
"Easier than I thought…" Sam replied, "But where do we go now?"
"Wherever the big boss is." Archer replied simply.
With that they both started heading out of the corridor, weapons primed, Sam walking slightly behind Archer and checking back behind them for any sneak attacks.
They managed to traverse down several corridors with relative ease before things started getting difficult. Sam was too busy looking behind her to notice the two heavy built men running full pelt towards Archer with their intimidating large guns readied and aimed and their heads. Sam's lack of attention caused Archer to awkwardly tackle both men to the ground by sending one crashing into the other, but his plan when slightly awry when one of the men grabbed him around the chest and pulled him into the mass of limbs as well.
Sam was about to jump in and wrestle Archer out of the writhing mass of people when a very familiar chill turned her blood cold in an instant.
There he was, standing not five metres way watching the fight with a twisted smile on his lips. His jet black hair was combed back away from his gaunt features, and a dusty business suit hung on his thin frame like rags, with a rip in the left arm and a gash on his knee. Sam saw red.
She lurched towards him, ignoring Archer's cries for her to stop, and followed him with her gun raised down a corridor and into a room. The room was clearly an office, with a mahogany desk sitting in the middle of it with filing cabinets lining the walls, but there was no sign of her target.
At that exact moment the door swing close behind her and she swung around, coming face to face with her nemesis.
She was trapped, but that wasn't the worst truth to make itself known. The man unbuttoned his blazer and shirt to reveal a bomb strapped to his chest. If he killed him she would kill herself.
…
It had taken Tom a further ten minutes to persuade the soldiers into allowing him to at least get within sight distance of the battlefield after the soldier had been contacted by Trent, and several more minutes of them supporting his weakened body out of the camp and onto one of their jeeps. Clearly the fever had taken more of a toll on him that he had first thought.
When he saw the battlefield that was formerly known as a base his heart skipped a beat. Machine guns were being fired, men were falling left, right and centre and Tom had no idea who was on what side- it was too difficult to tell from this far away.
All he could think was Sam was somewhere in there.
…
Sam stared at him with an expression that could have meant one of two things. The first meant pure malice and was the physical definition of what she felt for this man while the second was extreme fear. She didn't want to die.
"Sam Nicholls." He acknowledged, "How nostalgic this situation feels."
"Nostalgia?" Sam repeated with a frown that made her brow furrow further than it already had.
"Yes. Nostalgia. Don't tell me you've forgotten out last altercation." He said in a tone which sent a cold shiver down Sam's spine.
"If I don't then it can't be that important to me." Sam said as evenly as she could.
"Hmm." He said simply, "Are you under the impression I simply let you leave when I held you captive the last time? You see, Sam, when I let you go I kept up with UK news, and with your life."
"You had people following me?" Sam asked, narrowing her eyes as he moved towards the desk after locking the door.
"Oh Sam. Did you become naïve when you hit your head? I orchestrated all of this. The car crash which led a man to such pain he decided to take revenge on the hospital by blowing it up, and detective Sam and the lowly lab tech searching out the truth hidden in a veil of secrets. Max works for me. That man was driven mad by me. I did all of this in the hopes that you would die without me having to raise a finger. But alas, even the most meticulously thought out plans go awry"
"You're the reason the hospital blew up? You killed that man's family and max- no. He was my friend. He-"
"Is too kind to get involved with someone like me? He is related to me and was more than willing to change is accent and his entire life to bring you down once I informed him of who your brother was. That massive cash sum he received was going to be very handy."
"And who was my brother to you?" Sam asked as she raised her weapon.
"You really haven't worked that out already? Tut tut." He said with a twisted smile. "Unfortunately it appears you will never get the information you seek."
"And why's that? You are far too self absorbed to ever use that thing." Sam said nodding at the bomb strapped to his chest.
"True… True.."He said slowly. "Under normal circumstances I would be. But your army friends have forced me into a corner to say the least. My men are outside currently getting slaughtered, I am trapped in here with a woman who would kill me and I have no means of escape. This is the end of the line, so why should I die alone or at the hands of some pompous idiot with a gun? I want the last member of your wretched family to die at my hand- right along with me!"
Sam knew it. This was the end. In a matter of seconds she would be ripped to pieces. There was no way out. She directed her last thoughts to Tom, and hoped that he had gotten her letter and understood that every word on that page was true, especially the part about her loving him.
"Good bye, Sam Nicholls." Said the crazy man before her before adding, "I hope we meet again."
He hit the detonation button and Sam felt something collide with her head.
Everything went black.
…
A soon as he heard the explosion and saw the thick black smoke, Tom felt something die inside him.
…
How's that for a cliffhanger?
I didn't name this story Explosions for nothing! ;)