The following day
Sunday
Safehouse A
I was awoken by the alarm sounding, in our bedroom.
"Who set the fucking alarm?" I growled. "It's a goddamn Sunday morning!"
Then I realised, with a sharp jolt, what the alarm was. It was not the alarm clock: it was the perimeter alarm; somebody was trying to break into the Safehouse. I was instantly awake and punched Dave, who was about to complain, when he himself registered the alarm and shot out of bed and grabbed his clothes and boots, before punching a code into the gun cabinet beside the bed. I grabbed some clothes and my shoes, then ran along to ensure that Chloe was awake. It had just been the three of us in the Safehouse that night. I dragged her out of bed and clamped a hand over her mouth.
"Get dressed fast! We're under attack!" I growled and a confused Chloe pulled herself away from me and started getting dressed.
I returned to the bedroom to find that Dave was dressed and strapping on body armour. He threw me a set and I strapped it on, once I had finished getting dressed. I was inserting a magazine into a G36C, when Chloe appeared and grabbed another set of body armour and a P90. Dave already had a G36C ready to go.
"What's going on?" Chloe asked, strapping on her armour.
"I don't know! The perimeter alarm went off and that's all I fucking know!" I replied.
..._...
It had only been about five minutes since the alarm had been triggered.
What was happening downstairs? We were secure up here, but we needed to escape and preferably with our combat suits and weapons. Hopefully it was just some idiot trying to force an exterior door downstairs! This was the first time that the Safehouse had even been threatened.
Dave went first and I followed, while Chloe stayed upstairs. We all had basic comms headsets and NVGs. All lights were off, both upstairs and down. Dave and I emerged into the main Safehouse; nothing was visible on the NVGs. Beast and the two motorcycles were as they had been, when we had gone to bed the night before.
We checked that the briefing room and the armoury were still secure. I then punched up the CCTV footage and found that there were men outside the side door, one of whom was fiddling with the lock on the door. I hoped that he was having fun; it was not a conventional lock! We should have almost ten minutes, unless they moved to unconventional means, such as explosives.
Who were they and why were they here? Did they know they were attacking a Fusion Safehouse? By the heavy weapons that were in evidence, the answer seemed to be: yes! How could they have found out the location of the Safehouse? That, and many other questions, would be for later...
Right now, I needed to work out a plan. Should we gear up, leave and avoid a fight, or stay and risk injury, or worse? If they attacked and captured us, then our identities would be forfeit.
"Let's get Beast loaded; we have only minutes!" I had opted for the safe option; the Safehouse was expendable, we were not!
Chloe thundered down the stairs and we grabbed the combat suits and costumes from the armoury, while Dave reversed Beast up to the armoury door. We each pulled on our masks, to protect our identities from the attackers. The outer door to the Safehouse flew open and the men entered the small area between the inner and outer doors. This inner door was stronger and had multiple locking mechanisms, but was not infallible.
"Chloe, you drive Beast and we'll take the motorcycles," I said and Chloe nodded.
Thankfully, the three new Multistrada motorcycles were still at Safehouse D.
We loaded as many weapons and as much ammunition as possible, into Beast, before I armed the various Thermate demolition charges that were scattered throughout the Safehouse and slaved them to a remote trigger that I then clipped to my vest. The entire Safehouse would be destroyed, actually annihilated would be a better word, to protect our secrets. Nothing would remain that could betray us.
..._...
The final door exploded inwards and the attackers poured through.
Dave was ready and opened fire with his newest toy, the AA-12 automatic shotgun, dropping the attackers. Chloe and I were behind Beast and fired from cover. Dave's vest was hit by several rounds, but he continued firing, before backing towards us.
I saw no evidence of any identification on the men's equipment, so they were not Cops, but they were definitely professional and highly organised. I pushed Chloe into Beast and she climbed over to the driver's seat and started the engine. I covered Dave, while he started the Fat Boy and edged forward. Dave then covered me, while I mounted and started the Ducati. I hit the remote for the main door and accelerated out, followed by Dave. Chloe went last, covering our exposed backs with Beast's bulk.
Once clear of the main mesh gate, I pressed the remote detonator…
…_...
Safehouse A came apart... In a carefully planned sequence.
The armoury and all of its remaining equipment was destroyed, as the room imploded and everything inside was incinerated. Marty's computer systems were melted by a dedicated Thermate demolition charge, safeguarding all of our computer data; a copy of which was held elsewhere, so nothing would be permanently lost.
I had attached additional demolition charges to anything that I deemed a security risk and these went next, before the upper floor collapsed into the briefing room and armoury, adding to the conflagration. Several of the attackers were enveloped in searing flames from the Thermate charges that burned at over two thousand degrees.
…_...
As I accelerated away, I took a final look behind me and was just in time to see the roof of Safehouse A collapse inwards and the flames roaring into the sky. I felt intense emotions at losing yet another Safehouse; not just another Safehouse, but another Safehouse A, burnt to the fucking ground!
"You doing okay, Chloe!" I called.
"Never better!" Chloe replied nervously; this was her first time driving Beast and she was doing quite well.
Now another question: where were we going? And another: were the other Safehouses still safe?
I checked the time: three-forty in the morning.
I called Marty.
Lawndale
My cell rang.
It was Mindy and it was three-forty in the morning; this had better be something major!
"Mindy, this had better be good!" I said in greeting.
"No time, Marty! I need to know if the other Safehouses are secure… Safehouse A is fucking gone!" Mindy replied.
"When? By whom?" I asked.
"Just fucking now, by fucking me… We were attacked… Dave and I escaped, with Chloe and Beast, we're both on two wheels and we need a secure location and fast!"
"Okay, I'm checking… Call you back in five minutes!"
I jumped out of bed and dived for my computers.
Western Chicago
We all stopped in a dark alley, several miles west of Safehouse A and awaited Marty's call. I wanted to head for Safehouse D; at least that was off the grid and we could hide Beast and the motorcycles. Marty came back as promised.
"Mindy, all the other Safehouses are okay and there is no evidence of surveillance or watchers."
"We're heading for D and then home," I advised. "Call Josh and let him know what's happened."
Safehouse D
We pulled up inside the Safehouse and checked the perimeter for any problems.
We found none.
"Damn it to fuck!" Mindy shouted, as she pulled off her mask and comms.
I saw Chloe climb down from Beast, remove her mask and start to say something.
"Don't bother, Chloe… Just let her blow off a little steam. I've seen her pissed like this before and we may have a few nuclear explosions before she's done, but it's safest to stay well away!" I cautioned.
We left Mindy turning the air blue and generally ranting and raving.
"How did you like driving Beast?" I asked, as I was putting the coffee on.
"It's a big… Beast!" Chloe replied. "It was fun, but under the circumstances…"
"Yeah, I know!"
Two hours later
Safehouse D
Mindy had calmed down, slightly, and was resting in a bunk, muttering foul obscenities under her breath.
That was when Marcus called.
"Hi Dave!"
"Hi Marcus! How are you doing this fine Sunday morning?" I asked.
"I'm roasting marshmallows down at a certain Safehouse! What the fuck happened?" Marcus asked with a very concerned tone.
"We were attacked… Professionals… We escaped with our lives, just!" I explained. "Anything left?"
"Not a thing! Mindy likes her Thermate, doesn't she?" Marcus commented dryly. "Is she pissed?"
"Oh we've had a tantrum, or two!" I replied, with a chuckle.
A steaming Mindy appeared at my shoulder.
"Give me the fucking phone, cunt!"
"Morning Marcus!" Mindy said, without any warmth.
"You seem a little bit grumpy this morning!" Marcus chuckled.
"So would you be, if you just blew up your own fucking Safehouse, asshole!" I growled and then instantly regretted it. "Sorry."
"Just winding you up, girl! Look, I'm sorry about the Safehouse; I know what they mean to you. Okay, we have bodies: some blown apart, some shot and some, well, melted! Now melted is a first, for me, but then you are kinda creative sometimes!"
I felt myself blushing.
"Thermate was going cheap a few months ago; vigilantes just love a sale!" I quipped in a poor attempt at humour.
"I can only imagine!" Marcus replied dryly. "We're trying to identify this stir fry and once we have, I'll let you know. You destroyed things so well that nobody but me knows that this place is linked to you guys."
"Thanks Marcus. We'll be home in an hour or two."
..._...
"You've calmed down a bit," Chloe commented, coming over.
"Sorry about that guys - I was just pissed."
"We had kinda noticed!" Chloe laughed.
"Come on, let's get Beast unloaded and then we can go home."
Dave went to reverse Beast nearer the armoury.
"Hey, short-ass!" He called, as he opened the driver's door.
Chloe and I both turned to Dave.
"Shadow! When you drive Beast, could you move the goddamn seat back, once you've finished! We're not all four foot tall!" Dave said.
"I am not four fucking feet tall, asshole!" Chloe retorted.
Later that morning
West Ridge
We caught a cab home, but got out a couple of blocks short and walked the rest of the way.
When I opened the door, I was first met by Sophia and then I was very surprised to see Cathy, Curtis and Josh.
"You all okay?" Cathy asked, concern in her face, as Josh went to hug Chloe.
"We're all fine," I replied. "I'm just pissed off about yet another destroyed Safehouse.
"Hey! This one was not my fault!" Josh said defensively. "I was nowhere near the damn place!"
"I know!" I laughed weakly.
"Marty is keeping a close eye on the other Safehouses, with Abby's help," Cathy said.
"Do you know who was behind the attack?" Josh asked.
"No, but when I do…" I replied dangerously and let it hang.
..._...
"You guys okay? Marcus just told us what happened," Paige exclaimed, as she came into the kitchen.
"We're okay, Paige!" I said. "We just had a couple of problems!"
"That's not quite how Marcus put it!" Paige replied. "Thermate!"
"Mom! I told you they'd be okay; she's Hit Girl for fuck's sake!" Megan exclaimed. "Jeez!"
I had to laugh at Megan; she always had the ultimate faith in my abilities!