Judith sat in one of the chairs and picked up an old magazine from the floor.
"When you two Einsteins figure out a sure-fail plan for how to get out of this impossible situation, be sure to let me know. I do have a lab managers' meeting in the morning, and I really should try and get to bed early tonight." Judith crossed her legs and flipped through the magazine.
Alex leveled his gun at her, and replied, "Maybe we just shoot the bitch here, and throw her corpse into the hall. That would convince them that we're serious, and maybe they'll back off. They've got plenty of lab rats down there. I'm sure they'd get by just fine without this one."
Chaz reached over to Alex's weapon and lowered it. "That's not a bad idea, but it might work better if we changed it up a bit."
Judith looked up from her magazine. "You can't be serious. They'll kill all three of you if you hurt me. Don't overestimate her value in any of this. She may be important to you and me, but the general and his monkeys are a whole different level of stupid. You should have left her where she was. You've not only endangered your lives by going this far, but now you've put hers in jeopardy."
Chaz raised his weapon, pointing it at Judith's forehead. Judith's eyes widened. Then, just before he pulled the trigger, he flicked his wrist right and two bullets whizzed past her ear.
Judith was silent and shaking. Chaz began to speak.
"You're probably having a hard time hearing me with that ear, so you better listen carefully with your good one. I want you to understand exactly what it is you're up against. We're incredibly desperate people, and you shouldn't overestimate your value in this situation. We're barely smarter than the general's monkeys, and who knows what we might try next. If we get any more desperate, we may just decide to dispose of any extra baggage and make a mad dash for the exit. Offering helpful suggestions may get all of us out of here in one piece."
Desperate Moves
The sergeant spoke through his microphone. "Did you hear that, General? There were two shots fired in the room. Should we move in?"
"Yes, Sergeant, I heard the shots. I'm well aware of the situation. Hold your ground. They're trapped and they know it. It's just a matter of time before they surrender."
"Yes, sir."
Chaz sat directly across from Judith. "So, Doctor ... things don't look so good for you, surrounded by a few desperate men and a little girl. Any grand ideas for getting yourself out of this little mess?"
Judith remain silent, while Alex paced around the small room.
Eventually Chaz said, "Alex, sit down. You're not helping. There's always a solution, usually more than one. The trick is picking the one that doesn't make things worse."
Alex reluctantly took a seat. Christa took the seat next to him, wrapped her arm around his and looked up at him. Alex acknowledged her, but had nothing to say. For a few minutes, no one said anything. Finally, Chaz spoke to Judith again.
"So, Doc, all those years of higher education don't seem to be helping you out of this situation. I only have to assume from your silence that you've got nothing. I've got three ideas in my head. Do you care to hear what they are?" Judith threw her magazine on the table and looked away. "Well, since you're not interested, I guess I'll just go with option two. It's my favorite, but it is painful. Painful just for you though. Hmmm, maybe that's why it's my favorite."
Chaz gave the doctor a little smile, raised his pistol, and shot her in the leg, just a few inches above the knee. Judith screamed in pain, grabbing her leg, but managed not to pass out.
Chaz looked at her and said, "That stings a bit, doesn't it? Don't worry, it won't last long. The stinging should go away once you go numb from blood loss. I think I missed the major bones, so if you manage to get out of this fiasco alive, you'll be up puttering around your test tubes in no time. You're welcome."
Judith looked up at Chaz. "You goddam son of a bitch. What the hell is wrong with you?"
"That's not helpful dialog there, Doctor, and I'm sorry again for what I'm about to do now."
Chaz stood up, raised the butt of his pistol this time, and brought it down hard on the back of Judith's head. She started to reach for the back of her head, then lost consciousness, and fell in a heap to the floor. Chaz looked to Alex. "Give me a hand here with her, will you? Christa, can you get the door for us please? We're just going to toss her out before the smell gets too bad."
As Christa held open the door, Alex and Chaz heaved Judith's still breathing, but bleeding body into the hallway. Chaz held the door open as the other two took a seat, both looking confused as to what was going on. Chaz stood in the door and yelled loud enough for all the soldiers to hear him.
"Don't worry, guys, she's not dead. We're not heartless bastards. She just passed out from the pain, it seems. She is however bleeding really badly, and I'm not too sure how much longer she has till she bleeds out. I would have patched her up myself, but we don't seem to have any medical supplies in here at the moment." Chaz waited a few moments. There was no response from either end of the hallway. "Oh, and don't worry about the kid. She's fine."
Chaz went back inside and closed the door. "I don't think I hit a major artery, so I figure the doctor has about fifteen minutes before she dies." Chaz raised his palms up. "I'm not an expert though, so I could be wrong on that. I think we'll have an answer pretty quick."
Chaz opened the door just enough to see Judith.
Alex finally spoke up. "So, now what? If she dies out there, that can't be good for us. Are you sure she's got fifteen minutes?"
"Well, I can't be sure about the fifteen minutes, but I agree: it won’t be good for us if she dies. I was betting they really want her alive. Either they try and save her right there in the hallway and we pick them off one by one, or they clear a path and let us go. We should know their decision pretty quick.
"That's a big gamble, Chaz."
"I agree, but it's a much better bet than the other two options I had. Trust me, you don't want to know what they were."
They waited a few minutes in silence, but nothing happened. The soldiers held their posts, but nothing came from the sergeant.
Chaz finally broke the silence. "Looks like it's time to force their hand. Alex, Christa, start ripping all those magazines up and put them in the waste basket. Pull the tissues out of that box as well, and throw them in."
Soon, they had a rather large wastebasket full of crumpled magazine pages.
"Alright, here's what's going on. We're heading for the front door, but we're going to need some cover. They're not showing it, but they’re panicking about the doctor, so let's force their hand. We're going to move all this furniture between the doctor and the soldiers that came up behind us. That should cover us as we move down the hallway. Then, we're going to light that waste can on fire for a smokescreen. Stay low and move quickly. They won't risk putting another bullet in the doctor or hitting Christa. Once we get around the next corner, we'll be in the lobby. Then, it's just a matter of walking out the front door and putting distance between us and them."
Alex gave Chaz a sideways glance, then looked away. "Don't forget what's outside that front door, Colonel. It ain't your friendly neighborhood welcoming wagon."
Out The Front Door
Christa held the door open while Alex and Chaz built a barrier of furniture behind a semi-conscious Judith Montgomery. Soldiers at both ends of the hall poked their heads around the corners alternately. Nobody fired a weapon. Christa let the door close, and all that was left in the room was the three of them and a few tacky pictures of Tennessee mountains.
"Alright, guys, here's where we go. As soon as that fire starts smoking, it's going out into the hall. Christa, stay close. Alex, get out your lighter and sprinkle a bit from your water bottle into the basket. Let's get those papers damp; we want lots of smoke."
"My water bottle's empty, Chaz. We'll just have to light it dry."
"Geez, son, do I have to do everything myself? Christa, turn around."
Chaz moved the waste
basket to the corner and unzipped his trousers. Turning his back on the other two, Chaz urinated judiciously over the papers in the basket.
"Jesus, Chaz, is that really necessary? That's gonna smell horrible once we light it."
"I don't hear any great plans coming out of your mouth, boy. If this all works, we'll be well away from the smell, and only Judith will be left to enjoy a little aromatherapy." Zipping himself back up, he turned to Alex. "Light the damn fire."
Within a few seconds, the oversized waste can was a urine-reeking ball of fire and smoke. Chaz pushed the can out into the open, right next to Judith. Semi-conscious now, she rolled away from the heat and smell.
Chaz ordered the others. "Let's go. There's enough smoke to partially fill the hall, but it won't last long."
Chaz led the way, followed by Christa, then Alex. Three abreast, they moved down the narrow hallway. Alex and Chaz took turns firing their weapons at the ends of the hall to keep the soldiers pinned down. The smoke blocked enough of the view from behind so that no shots were fired from behind. The soldiers in front of them weren't so accommodating. Every second that Alex and Chaz couldn't fill the smoky hallway with gunfire, the soldiers fired at them. Trying hard not to hit the doctor veiled in smoke, or Christa, they only managed to graze Alex's shoulder. Pumped with adrenaline, Alex barely noticed the flesh wound. They advanced far enough to force the soldiers to retreat behind desks and tables in the lobby. Now, Chaz and Alex had the luxury of cover behind the corners.
"Alex, we can't stay here long, our smoke screen is dissipating. Once they get to the doctor, there'll be no protection from behind. I'll cover you while you make for the desk across the way. We've got to keep pressing. I can see the door from here."
Chaz sprayed the lobby with a hail of bullets long enough to allow Alex to get behind a post. Alex then returned the favor by laying down enough gunfire to allow Chaz and Christa to move behind a stone pedestal. Seeing they were losing the advantage, the soldiers started to fall back further down the far hallway. Chaz took out a soldier with a shot to the leg. His partner grabbed him by the shoulder, dragging him to safety. Everyone stopped firing. Chaz and Alex now had a clear view of the front doors.
Two soldiers were out of the game down the hallway, but Chaz couldn't be sure if there were others hiding in the lobby. Chaz and Alex moved swiftly and systematically across the room, alternating between covering each other and moving to the next position capable of hiding an enemy. Christa stayed close, hiding behind Chaz as they moved. Finally, there were only a few steps separating them from the front doors.
Alex looked at Chaz, then at Christa, and back to Chaz.
"We're sure about this, right? You know what's out there. There are ten times as many of those freaks as when we came in. We have no idea how they're going to react to her. We may not make it past the front steps."
"We passed the point of no return a while ago, son. Besides, I only have three options in mind, and they all start with us walking out that front door. Christa, what do you think?"
"Guys, I'm with the grumpy old bastard on this one. There's no way I'm going back into the laboratory dungeon. I need to know what I am, and the only way to find out for me is outside those doors."
The three of them stood and walked to the exit doors. Chaz and Alex both made sure their clips were full. Alex unlocked the door and pulled on the handle. Looking to Christa, he held out his hand and said, "Ladies first."
Right According To Plan
The general looked down at Judith as the medic wrapped her leg. "It smells like piss in here. What the hell happened in that room, Doctor?"
"Those jackasses happened is what. Where the hell were you and your men? You’re supposed to be keeping this place secure. How did you manage to let two men under your command run amok and damn near kill me?"
"I suppose, Doctor, since you’re co-commander then you're also responsible for this mess. It seems you've lost your primary test subject. I suppose that puts your research at a standstill and gives you another excuse to miss your next deadline."
"Hell, no. Jesus, my leg hurts like hell. We have enough research data to synthesize a solution. The girl had to be released into the wild at some point anyways. The mutation has to be free to spread. I would have liked another battery of tests over the next few weeks for confirmation. Now that you've botched things we'll just have to go with what we have."
"Science and combat aren't so different after all, Doctor. Neither is an exact science. You have your setbacks, and I have mine. We'll talk again when you've regained your composure."
The general turned and headed back down the hallway to the elevators, followed by the sergeant. "Sergeant."
"Yes, sir."
"Did all three make it out the front door yet?"
"They're just about to, sir."
"Any casualties on our side?"
"No, sir, just a few wounded. They'll recover."
"Excellent. Keep a camera on them the entire time they're outside. I want everything recorded. I'll need evidence of how far they actually get."
Find out when the next book releases here: http://NormanChristof.com
Also by Norman Christof
Parables From The Apocalypse
Endings
Revealed
Mutation
Awakening
Rising
Mutation: Parables From The Apocalypse - Dystopian Fiction Page 11