Thursday night
Sub-level two
I dove at the two frightened girls, dragging them to the floor and covering them with my body.
Across the room, Mist was doing the same with the boy. Kick-Ass was going wild; he shot two of the men with his suppressed Glock before throwing himself at the next man, smashing him against the wall. The fourth man, Thompson, had run for it.
There was an ominous cracking sound. It had come from the wall that Kick-Ass had driven the man against, maybe a little too hard. I grabbed up the two girls and shoved them towards the doorway, but bricks and other shit fell before we could get there. I turned and pushed the girls towards the other doorway, but felt something heavy land on my right shoulder blade and it hurt, knocking me down to the floor.
Then a green arm reached out and a gauntlet seized my arm dragging me out from under the fallen masonry. I seized hold of one girl as I was dragged past and saw that Kick-Ass had the other girl under his other arm.
I could not see Mist.
Friday morning
Sub-level one
I looked at the clock that sat at the top right of the HUD in my NVGs.
It was just minutes after midnight when I felt a disturbing vibration and worse, I heard the collapsing masonry.
"Fusion, check in!" I called instantly.
"Shadow up!"
"Jackal up!"
"This is Battle Guy; I've lost markers for Kick-Ass, Mist and Petra!"
For a moment I just stood there before galvanising myself into action.
"Shadow, Jackal, the exit is just ahead; let's get these kids to safety..."
I was cut off by a louder and much closer rumbling sound.
On the surface
"Holy fuck!"
I watched, appalled, as part of the building seemed to implode on itself. I turned and looked at Olinsky, who just stood there before running towards the collapsing building. Dawson and Lindsay were already there and staring into a pit that went down two storeys.
Fusion were down there and so were the kids. Nobody else in CPD believed that the kids were down there, but I trusted Hit Girl and if she said that they were down there; then they were down there...
Sub-level one
Our exit was blocked, completely.
The only way out was to go back, then down to the second or third sub-levels, and then I hoped to find a route back to the surface. The kids were scared and choking on the brick dust. We did our best to reassure them, but I was worried.
"We're gonna die!" One boy shouted.
I span around.
I moved towards the boy I had illuminated in my flashlight beam.
"If you think you're gonna die, one thing is certain – you are going to die," I said. "Say to me: 'I am not going to die'!"
The boy hesitated. I repeated the line again and the boy responded.
"I am not going to die!"
"Repeat it!" I demanded.
"I am not going to die!"
"All of you!"
Everybody was saying the same line repeatedly and I even saw some smiles. I started moving away from the fallen masonry and deeper into the basement followed by the kids, teacher, driver and then Shadow and Jackal.
Sub-level two
I could hear coughing, once the noise of falling masonry had ceased.
That was good – dead people did not cough!
"Sound off!" It was Kick-Ass.
"Petra, here!" I called.
"Mist, here!" I heard from a short distance away.
"Kids?"
"Err, Katie, here!"
"Philip, here!"
"Lauren, here, Kick-Ass!"
"Good, now we've been introduced, is everybody okay?" Kick-Ass asked.
After hearing five 'yes, Kick-Ass', I dug through the rubble and found my flashlight. It still worked! I illuminated each person in turn. First was the boy, Philip. He looked scared, but he was still in one piece. The first girl, Katie, was shivering and I could see cuts and bruises on her pale skin. The girl smiled a little as I moved over to the last girl. Lauren grimaced from a bruise on her left shoulder, but seemed in one piece nonetheless.
I could hear Kick-Ass calling over the comms, but there was no answer. I tried and so did Mist; still nothing. I checked my belt – the comms package was badly dented, but seemed intact. I went forward to see what the route was like and found a body – it was breathing and it was Thompson. My rage returned and I hauled the unconscious form out of the rubble and sat him upright. His eyes flicked open.
"Give me the name of the ship," I asked simply.
"Never!"
I picked up a brick and brought it down onto the man's left knee, smashing it. He shrieked with the pain.
"I will break every fucking bone in your body – you fucking worthless piece of shit!"
Well, at least we were no longer in the custody of those dead bastards!
However, we now seemed to be trapped underground, which was not exactly a huge improvement. Anyway, we were all still, breathing so I could not complain. Petra had wandered off into the darkness and Mist was talking to us, keeping our spirits up.
"Bet you never thought you'd be trapped with three vigilantes, did ya?"
"To be honest, no!" I admitted and actually laughed. "I just can't believe I've been face to face with Kick-Ass, Mist and Petra!"
"Oh dear," Kick-Ass said. "Fan girl time!"
The three of us all laughed at that. I was a huge fan of the vigilantes and rather strangely, I felt awed at being in their presence. I heard a loud scream and turned towards the doorway, there was another scream. I looked at Kick-Ass.
"Petra has found the fourth man," he said simply.
I felt nothing, which surprised me. The man who had kidnapped us was being tortured. Did I care? Not really and that surprised me, too!
Several minutes later, Petra reappeared and I could see fresh blood glistening on her armour. I looked up at her as she sat down beside me.
"Thank you," I said.
Petra turned to Kick-Ass.
"I think we have a route to the surface – there is a gap in the masonry about a hundred yards down the passageway."
"Let's go – lead on Petra!" Kick-Ass ordered.
Sub-level three
We had made our way downwards and the level we were on seemed relatively intact.
The going was slow, but we managed to find another staircase that led back upwards towards the surface. We spent almost an hour and a half clearing rubble, which was hard going in combat suits, but we had no choice. I was uncertain when we could be able to escape, but we had to keep moving. The moral in the kids was at a good level and I intended to keep it that way.
Shadow and Jackal were telling jokes to try to keep the kids' spirits up as much as possible and it seemed to be working. We were still in communication with Safehouse F and Battle Guy was doing what he could to help us get around obstacles. However, there was still nothing from Kick-Ass, Mist and Petra.
I was worried about them, but I had no time to dwell on that.
Sub-level one
We made our way down a long corridor before turning at yet another pile of rubble.
Suddenly Petra raised her fist and we all went quiet. Somebody was coming. We moved into a sheltered position, with the kids behind us. I stood between Mist and Petra, waiting for whatever was coming towards us.
"We have activity ahead!"
At Jackal's warning, Shadow and I stopped the kids and moved in front of them.
"Go check, Jackal!" I ordered.
I watched as Jackal moved forward, his suppressed Five-seveN raised in front of him.
"I have multiple heat signatures!" Jackal reported.
Then I heard a suppressed pistol shot, followed by a loud exclamation.
"You fucking bastard, Jackal – that hurt!"
I rubbed my chest and glared back at Jackal as he shrugged and holstered his pistol. As I walked past him, I cracked him around the back of the head.
"Fucking ow!" Jackal exclaimed and I heard Lauren laugh.
I was very pleased to see Hit Girl and Shadow – not so much Jackal!
"Hi!" Hit Girl whispered as I reached out to touch her.
"You were actually worried about me!" I teased as she looked up at me.
"Nah – you usually turn up!" She replied, however I knew her too well and could tell by her body language that she had been worried about me.
I watched as the kids met up and welcomed each other. Now we had only to get ourselves out of there.
Easier said than done!
Dawn
Kick-Ass pushed through the final layer of bricks and daylight flooded down into the sub-level.
Within a minute, the light was blocked and I recognised the voice of Hank Voight.
"Stay out of sight – there's a shoot to kill order on you. Snipers!"
Nothing changed in Chicago!
"Fuck that!" Kick-Ass growled and I heard Voight laugh. "The kids first!"
Voight's team widened the hole and the first girl was passed up. Slowly, the kids were passed out, one by one, into the growing sunshine. They all held their hands over their eyes. Having been in semi-darkness for so long, none was ready for the bright onslaught that met their tired eyes.
However, the screams of joy were only to be heard by the fourteen children, their teacher and their driver.
I turned to look back into the hole, to thank Kick-Ass and Hit Girl, gut the vigilantes had vanished from sight.
A Detective helped me out of the crater and passed me a blanket as I was still in my underwear. I had heard the other Cop's warning to Kick-Ass and I felt rage against the idiots that tried to hunt down the vigilantes. Without them, I would be dead. I owed them and I wanted to be one of them.
Ambulances began to descend on the site along with more Cops. A Paramedic checked me over and pronounced me healthy after she had cleaned and dressed my cuts. After an hour, parents began to arrive, including my own.
"How did you escape?" I was asked.
"It was Hit Girl and Kick-Ass, with their team; they saved our lives..."
"What happened to your kidnappers," the Police Officer pushed.
"Them?" I replied without emotion. "Those fuckers are dead!"
Safehouse K
We watched from one of the upper levels of the Safehouse.
Despite being amazed that we had escaped, I was overjoyed as I watched the kids smiling and crying as they were reunited with their parents. We were still the hunted, nothing new there, but I was happy with that if we were able to bring so much happiness to the families of Chicago. As we turned away from the scene, in the crowd below us, a man shouted for all to hear.
"Thank you, Fusion!"
"Fusion! Fusion! Fusion!"
The chant could be heard for quite a distance as we all climbed into the back of Mathilda's SUV. She took us away from the area and dropped us off close to Safehouse F. Once there, I thanked Marty, Abby, Cathy and Curtis.
They all went home, as did Dave and I, once we had showered.
West Ridge
It was a little after six in the morning when Dave and I arrived home.
Paige was asleep in our bed and as I looked into the bedroom, Anne-Marie opened her eyes and smiled at me.
"Hi, kid," I said with a smile of my own.
Anne-Marie scrambled out of the bed and ran over to me, giving me a big hug while smiling up at Dave. I was very tired, but it was almost time to get the kids ready for school, so I sat and chatted to Anne-Marie while Dave woke up Danny. Paige also woke up and headed home with our thanks.
During breakfast, Danny called us both through to the living room where there was a 'breaking news' story concerning fourteen missing kids and two adults. Apparently, the CPD, so said the Superintendent, was able to track down the kids and save them. There was no mention of Fusion at all.
I smiled at Dave – it was nothing new.
Friday night
'The Vigilante'
There was one more task to perform.
The suspect vessel was flying under the flag of Canada, which we knew was fake; she was US registered. Our job was to ensure that nobody escaped as the US Coastguard boarded from the shore to take possession.
After a few hours' sleep, Dave and I had headed down to Safehouse W and once darkness had fallen, we had headed out onto Lake Michigan. Along the way, we had picked up Petra and Mist. We had passed on the name of the ship, which Petra had obtained from that bastard. She was the 'MV Wolf' and as we watched from the darkness, the US Coastguard boarded the vessel.
As expected, we saw activity off the starboard side of the vessel as several men ran down a boarding ladder and down into a twin-engine RIB. For reasons unknown to us, no Coastguard boats were available. It was up to us to find out the ultimate destination of the 'MV Wolf' and which ship she was meeting up with on the high seas.
Once the RIB had moved away from the ship, Kick-Ass advanced the throttles and 'The Vigilante' accelerated in pursuit of the fleeing RIB. We were racing northeast at over thirty knots and gaining on the RIB.
The feeling human traffickers had no idea that they were being pursued as we closed to less than one hundred yards.
The RIB
The man peered into the darkness behind the boat.
Something was out there; he could see the flash of white that could only be a bow-wave. Nothing could be heard over the roar of the twin outboard engines. The man leaned forward and whispered into the ear of the man in front. The message was passed down the line of six men to the driver.
The driver looked astern and his eyes widened as he saw the bow of another vessel not more than two feet from his stern. Just as he made a move to advance the twin throttles fully forward, there was a pair of explosions as the two outboards stopped dead and the RIB drifted violently to a stop.
The other vessel came alongside and the driver raised his hands, as did the other men at the sight of three sub-machine guns aimed at their heads.
While Kick-Ass rigged the RIB with explosives, us girls had some questioning to complete.
The men were handcuffed and made to kneel along the starboard side of 'The Vigilante'.
"I need information, gentlemen. The first to give up the name of the ship you were to rendezvous with will live longer than the others," Petra growled.
Nobody said a word, so Petra moved alongside the first man.
"I am now going to show you what we think of men who traffic kids!" She growled and pulled out a six-inch blade from her belt.
She hauled the man's head back with his hair and placed a knee into his back between the shoulder blades.
"You heard the word 'enucleation', cunt?" Petra asked without feeling.
The man shook his head.
"Neither had I, till the other day. Let me show you..."
In a swift movement, Petra stabbed her blade into the man's right eye, flicking the organ into the sea. Blood spurted from the empty eye socket and the man screamed. He wrestled with the cuffs that held his wrists together behind his back but to no avail.
The horrified looks on the other men made me grin. Petra stepped to the next man in line. She leaned forwards and cut the man's belt, then with the help of Mist pulled his trousers down. The man was starting to sob as Petra seized his manhood and deftly removed it with her knife. The man screamed in agony and fell to the deck beside his enucleated friend.
The next man was beyond horrified as Mist pulled his head back and forced his mouth open. Petra then crammed the other man's genitals into the open mouth and shoved the jaw closed and held it. The man choked and then swallowed involuntarily. He collapsed to the deck.
"Now, who is brave and who is not?" Petra demanded of the remaining men.
There were times that Petra's ruthlessness concerned me, but I knew that she had demons in her past that she had not talked to me about yet. However, it was nice to have somebody who did not baulk at extreme methods.
"Atlantic Trader, Atlantic Trader – please!" A man begged.
I looked towards the bridge and two minutes later, I saw Kick-Ass raise a thumb. Battle Guy had confirmed the name. I raised my Glock and shot the first three men, Mist finished off the next three and then Petra seized the final man.
"See you in hell!" She growled as she slit his throat and threw him backwards into the RIB.
The other six bodies followed and we backed off two-dozen-yards before Kick-Ass pressed a button on the console of 'The Vigilante'. There was a bright flash as the RIB settled in the water and slowly sank, taking the men to their watery graves. I quickly sent a coded signal on a certain satellite channel, before finally relaxing. Our part of the action was over.
Kick-Ass span the wheel and turned 'The Vigilante' back towards shore, advancing the throttle to full power.