Muster

by Christoff Orr

  “Miguel,” Dave quickly called out, his hand and his words stretched out towards the man.

  Miguel freed himself from Daves grasped and shucked his words off, quickly stood up and ran out to the center of the hallway. His words spawned a scream from one of the visitors passing by.

  “Miguel! You're alive!” Dr. Amy squealed and quickly ran towards him, as she embraced her old friend in a clinging hug.

  Dr. Klaus was more confused than happy. “Miguel? What, what are you doing here? How did you even get here?”

  Before Miguel could answer, the rest of the strike team reviled themselves, their weapons drawn as they approached the trio rapidly. There was no screaming but in very assertive tones the Commander and Thumper both commanded that Dr. Amy and Dr. Klaus raise their hands and stay absolutely still. With weapons trained on them, Dave approached and began to pat them down.

  “What’s going on Miguel?” Dr. Amy asked, her hands up, her eyes darting from Miguel to Dave and back again.

  “I’m sorry, there’s no time to explain right now,” Miguel started then immediately stopped as a thought popped into his head. “Can you get us into the server room overhear?” Miguel asked as he turned towards the doorway they had just emerged from.

  “What?” Dr. Amy asked, her hands now lowered after having been checked over by Dave. Then after a moment to think she half mumbled out, “Um, yeah, I should be able to.” Her words were confused and hastily pushed together.

  “Miguel! I must know, what are you doing here?” Dr. Klaus asked again, this time throwing his words forcefully towards Miguel.

  Dave instantly planted a firm grasp upon Dr. Klaus’s shoulder. He tightened his grip, digging his fingers into Dr. Klaus as he muttered out, “I suggest you calm down.”

  Dr. Amy looked accusingly at Dr. Klaus, then back to Miguel. “I would be happy to,” she said to answer the question. Then before she headed to the server room, she looked back at Dr. Klaus, who was rubbing his shoulder where Dave had forcefully grabbed him. “I told you, I’m done. I’m helping them and then I’m getting out of here,” She said as triumphantly smashed the words in the face of Dr. Klaus.

  The group quickly turned and followed Dr. Amy, her high heels clicking once again upon the polished floor. She stopped momentarily at the door, punched in the six-digit code and pressed enter. The lock gave three cheerful chimes before a green light blinked followed by the sounds of the lock disengaging. She opened the door and entered the elongated room.

  Instantly upon entering, motion sensor lights clicked on, illuminating three rows of servers. Each row ran twenty feet long and were stacked eight feet high. The refrigerated air hummed as it was pushed the cooled out before it was reprocessed by the fans in the ceiling of the room. Multicolored lights blinked in a sporadic pattern on the front of the servers. Once inside Dr. Amy stepped aside and allowed all the others to enter. “What are you looking for?”

  Miguel stood there a moment as he looked towards the shelves of servers, listening to them hum in unison. He watched as Thumper quickly entered, pulled out the piece of paper again and motioned towards the Commander. Miguel finally turned back to Dr. Amy and answered, “There is a server here, that has everything needed to expose the King. To show the world what he did to shut the power off, to kill all those people for his own gain. So we are taking it, we are going to show the world, and start a new revolution to regain America. He is going to pay for what he has done to this country, to its people. To my son…” Miguel paused, as the emotion of the moment reached up and snatched the words from his lips.

  “No!” Dr. Klaus quickly yelled out, then instantly regretted it as Dave started to walk towards him. He immediately raised both hands, fear of retribution getting the better of him. “Sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell.” He now turned his attention back toward Miguel. “Please, you can’t. We are so close. I know it doesn’t look like it, but we are almost there.”

  Anger rushed unabated into Miguel, it flowed through his veins, pounded within his head and strangled his heart. His words came out in a low growl, smashed and crumpled together, “My son died, my son!” Each word said individually and with purpose.

  “And I’m sorry for that, but, honestly does it really matter?” Dr. Klaus asked, coldly and to the point. “We are talking about our future, about making our mark on history. What we are working on hear will…”

  The shot was deafening in the confined space of the server room. The sound caromed off of one wall onto another and another. Each time it passed it assaulted the ears of everyone within the space. Everyone that was, except Miguel, who stood there, his right arm extended. At the tip of his arm, placed comfortably within his grasp was Dave’s .357 Blackhawk revolver, smoke still leaking out of the end of the barrel. He stood there, still, stiff, determined. He looked down at the deceased corpse of the once revered Doctor Klaus.

  Dr. Klaus’s eyes were still open, locked in an expression of shock and arrogance. Dark crimson blood ran warmly out the back of his head, as it corrupted the lustrous flooring. His arms laid calmly at his side, the left hand open and calm, the right curled up, clinched. A red light blinked, shoving its way out of his clenched fist. In a smooth cadence, it delivered a ominous warning. They were out of time.

  “Amy,” Miguel said, as he slowly lowered the pistol. He watched confused as Dr. Amy backed up against the wall as tears slowly started to escape down her cheek. “I’m not going to hurt you. Please come with us, I know you don’t want this, you were never like him.”

  Realizing her life wasn’t in immediate danger, she relaxed a second as she used the back of her hand to wipe away some of the tears. “I’m sorry about your son Miguel. If I would have known what all of this would lead to, I…” She trailed off as she looked down at the lifeless body of her former partner. That fear that had just released her quickly returned with a vengeance. It not only returned but engulfed her, smothered her. “We have to go.”

  “Yes, as soon as they get the server,” Miguel calmly replied.

  “NO! NOW!” Dr. Amy yelled back, her finger accusingly pointed to the red light that was blinking in the dead man's hand. “They know you are here. They will be here in force any second now.”

  “Commander!” Dave shouted out towards the Commander and Thumper. “We have to go now.” Dave took a step towards Miguel, as he calmly reached out, “I’ll take that.” He said as he retained the pistol, and placed it back into the holster.

  “Got it!” Thumper yelled as he hurriedly disconnected wiring and pulled the server free.

  “We got company,” Conall said as he rushed in from the hallway where he had been standing watch. He looked down and stepped over the body which laid accusingly on the floor. He shut the door behind him, closing in everyone within the confined room. He looked towards Dr. Amy, who was standing there rigid, her gaze locked on the pool of blood which continued its expanse. “Doc, is there another way out? Doc!”

  “What?” Dr. Amy asked, her eyes now on Conall but her thoughts still lingered in the pool of blood.

  “Amy,” Miguel started, as he laid a soft hand upon her arm. “We need to get out of here, fast. Is there another way out?”

  She numbly shook her head. Her mouth moved, and her lips formed words, but nothing came out. She tried again and again, finally, some sort of audible dialect was formed as she simply said, “No.” It was hallowed and empty, and hung there, a breath away from her lips. Her gaze once again fell, landing back into the now stagnant crimson pool of liquid, as silence enveloped the room. Only the sound of the ever-present servers resided.

  The silence didn’t last long as a sudden pounding on the door shook the walls and inserted itself. The thundering knock was followed by a giggle of the handle. Then just like that, nothing, silence once again took center stage. It all happened so quickly, like a lightly strike in a clear sky, one-second it was there and next, nothing.

  Dr. Amy stepped over the body of her fallen college. The very man whom she
was so determined to defy just a few minutes ago, she now looked at longingly. The fiery determination to end this adventure and to leave had left her, it had been drained from her body, just as his blood had been from his. It was one thing to demand change, to make threats, it was a completely different aspect to die for those resolves. Now, being faced with that very dilemma, she no longer had the drive to pursue such gambit. She placed her hand on the doorknob, and without looking back she quietly said, “I’m going back to work now.”

  She gripped the knob firmly and began to turn it open. She hadn’t even completed the rotation when three sharp snaps could be heard. The metal door creaked as three holes suddenly appeared in the center of it. The grouping of the three holes were so concise that they could all fit within the circumference of a half dollar.

  She looked at the holes, then down at her sunshine yellow blouse. In the center of it, between her breasts, three dark circular holes now resided. They were blacked around the edges and empty in the center, but not for long. Before she could even say anything, they quickly grew in size, and turned her happy yellow blouse into a dark, almost purple color. She had a sudden need to catch her breath as if she had just completed a marathon. She tried to inhale, to fill up her lungs with the needed oxygen, but nothing happened. There was an appearance of the coppery taste which started to form on her tongue. It soon filled her mouth, as she uncontrollably let out a cough, spewing a fine mist of blood all over the door.

  She went to turn around, but her feet refused to respond, they seemed to be permanently attached to the cement floor. Her hips swayed one way then another, till the weight of her body buckled her knees and she fell into a sitting position. She extended her right hand to stabilize her self, but only managed to leave a partially bloodied hand smear on the door as she slid down. There, sitting in the blood of her lover, companion, and partner, her life ended. The rounds fired from an unseen foe, completed what she couldn’t at the end of a rope all that time ago.

  As soon as her body slumped, the Commander and Thumper returned the favor, as each emptied a magazine into the door. Once the rounds were complete, Dave reached over, grabbed the color of Dr. Amy’s lab coat and quickly pulled the dead body out of the way. With the doorway cleared, Conall quickly flung the door open as the Commander and Thumper each tossed a grenades out into the alcove.

  “Frag out!” Conall yelled as he slammed the door shut and ducked out of the way.

  Even with the door closed the sound of the ensuing explosions was thunderous. For those out in the hallway, it was deadly. The restrictive surroundings of the cinderblock walls and cement floors multiplied the effectiveness of the explosive device.

  Conall reached over, yanked the door open, as Dave, now upright weapon ready, emerged. Directly in front of him was the body of one of the security team members, supposedly the one that had knocked on the door. The black uniform was wet, as blood continued to be pumped out of the body through the multiple holes punched into the flesh.

  Dave moved cautiously, keeping close to the wall, till he reached the end of the truncated entryway. He crouched down low, as he peaked around one corner, where two more bodies laid sprawled out. To use the word as bodies, was an oversimplification of their description, when in reality, they were twisted and mangled pieces of meat, flesh, that once resembled a human being. Now only resembled the tattered remnants of mortality and a very vivid reminder of explosions within confined spaces. He pulled his head back, waited a second then scanned the other direction. This time there was only one body, face down, the back of the victim was shredded as meat and blood stretched outward. He stood up slowly and used his right hand to move the rest of the team forward.

  The Commander and Dave quickly exited, weapons ready. As Thumper began to leave, he handed Miguel the server, “Keep this safe!” He said before he too pulled his weapon up and close.

  Once out in the hallway, the team lined up and got ready to head back the way they had come. The Commander looked momentarily at the bodies that decorated the flooring. “This can’t be all they have. I’m guessing these poor fools were the ones assigned on this floor. More will be coming and they will be coming soon. How much time till Michigan sends its payload?” He asked as he looked at Thumper.

  Thumper who kept his weapon pointing downrange, focused on the double doors at the far end, quickly raised his left wrist and looked at the watch. He was shocked to see that they only had seventeen minutes left till the launch would be called in. “Not long boss, seventeen minutes.”

  “Will we be safe once we get in the service tunnels?” Dave quickly asked, he too was shocked by how little time they had left.

  Thumper shook his head back and forth, “Don’t know man. Never had to experience a Tomahawk coming in on my pos.”

  “Well, whether we can or can’t is pretty much irrelevant if we stay here debating it.” The Commander barked out. He did a quick look around at everyone and then spoke up once again, “Everyone protects the package, and just to be clear, Miguel and the server IS the package.” He paused for a moment before he continued, “Heading out, Thumper you take lead, then Dave, Miguel next, then my self and Conall you got the six. Everyone good?”

  The team agreed to the alignment, then double checked their weapons. They also made sure that everyone knew where to go to get back to the service tunnel. Finally, they turned and quickly started making their way back to the door they had first entered when arriving on this floor.

  Thumper grasped the knob, turned it and pulled, to his pleasant surprise it opened without any hesitation. As soon as he took his first step into the stairwell, leading to their escape. A dozen shots could be heard ricocheting down the hallway as the double doors at both ends of the hallway, nearly exploded in gunfire.

  Thumper was pushed into the confines of the stairwell, as Dave rushed in, Miguel being pulled along with him. Still, in the hallway, the Commander was down on one knee returning fire in one direction, while Conall on one knee as well, returned fire in the opposite direction. Fortunately for the strike team, they were able to at escape the server room, for the more traversable stairwell. However, even though their location improved their situation had drastically gotten worse.

  “CHANGING!” The Commander yelled out, dumped his empty mag and quickly replaced it with a fully loaded one.

  Conall, winced as splintering cinderblock showered his face and hands. He methodically picked his targets and squeezed the trigger with intent. The accuracy of his firing helped to keep the approaching assault team at bay, for now. He reached to his chest, where a smoke grenade was attached to his plate carrier. He quickly removed it, bit down on the pin, yanked it out and tossed the canister down the hallway towards the propped open double doors. “Smoke!”

  The Commander quickly followed suit as he too tossed a smoke grenade down the hallway in his direction of fire. “Smoke out!” The Commander replied.

  The canisters made a metallic clank as the each bounced once then rolled on the mirrored cement floor. A second later a hissing noise could be heard from them as thick white smoke started to be expelled from their housing. As soon as the vail of smoke filled up the space between the Command and Conall from their aggressors, they both stood up and turned towards the door. The assault teams down the hallways fired a few shots in their direction, but more out of anger than any real hopes of hitting anything. The Commander had just entered the stairwell, and Conall had just begun to enter when one of those random shots happened to find its mark.

  Conall let out an audible grunt, as his knees buckled for a moment, before he righted himself. He quickly turned and slammed the door shut before looking for something to secure it. He released his grip on his weapon, allowing it to hang freely from the single point harness, as he lowered his right hand to his right hip. There just above his hip and a quarter of an inch below his plate carrier, blood had already started to make itself known. “They shot me!” He yelled through gritted teeth.

  “Let me see,” The
Commander insisted as he tried to pull the clothing out of the way to inspect the wound. “It doesn’t look bad, but I don’t see an exit.” He stood back upright and look at his friend, “Can you walk?”

  The pain had already started to run its fingers through Conall, as his face began to twist under its grasp, “Do I have a choice?” He asked back.

  They could hear the others, still making their way up the stairwell towards the main floor, where they would once again find the storage room, and their way out. Neither the Commander nor Conall knew how much time was left, but they knew they didn’t have much to the waist. Unable to find any type of rope to secure the door, they did the next best thing. Taking two more fragmentation grenades, they used some duck tape, they taped them to the handrails that lined the inner portion of the stairs. They then got a piece of 550 paracord rope, ran one end through both of the pins of the taped grenades, then the other end around the doorknob. Thus creating an improvised tripwire of sorts.