Men with tanned brown skin, black beards and turban head wraps paced back and forth in front of them, randomly hitting one of the kneeling hostages with the butt of their rifle. Natalie’s heart pounded in her chest. They’d already shot and killed four people on the opposite end of the line; if they decided to change course and start from her end, she’d be second to die with the young child being first. She couldn’t remember the last time she prayed, but she couldn’t think of anything else to do in the moment. She squeezed her eyes shut and began whispering a prayer to herself in an attempt to calm her racing heart.
One of the men abruptly stopped in front of her. “What do you think you’re doing, bitch?” he snarled. Although he was dressed like the others, in jeans, a flannel shirt and heavy black boots, his accent sounded local.
Natalie kept her eyes on the floor as she shook her head. “Nothing,” she said, her voice cracking.
The man squatted in front of her and grabbed her face, forcing him to look at him. “The only God you should be praying to is Allah. And pretty soon, you’ll all be meeting him when our work here is done,” he spat, drops of spittle flying from his mouth as he spoke. He pushed her away and continued pacing, leaving Natalie shaken and terrified. Did they truly plan to kill everyone in here? What was it that they wanted?
Her attention snapped to the end of the line when she heard the rifle cock. One of the men began yelling in Arabic and gesturing toward the ceiling as he spoke, the other men around him repeating certain phrases as the leader spoke. He positioned the barrel of the rifle at the chest of a middle-aged man as the man cried and pleaded.
“Please! I have a wife and daughter! Don’t do this!”
His cries went ignored as the man pulled the trigger, causing everyone to scream in shock. The man’s body slumped forward, blood pooling from his wound hidden under his business suit. Bile rose in Natalie’s throat and she forced herself to swallow down the urge to vomit. The masked terrorist moved to the next person, a woman, and stared at her for a few moments before shooting her without warning. She screamed and doubled over, a slow blood stain growing on the front of her cream dress. The woman’s screams of agony echoed in Natalie’s mind as she shut her eyes tight. She wished she were in a nightmare, wanting Cameron to be there to hold her when she woke up. But she was trapped here along with these other poor hostages and Cameron wasn’t here. He said he’d come; she prayed he wouldn’t let her down.
The man moved down the line, cocking his gun. Hot metal, blood and despair in the air choked her until she felt as if she were suffocating. The young girl next to her cried for her mother. Natalie scooted a little closer to her and tried to give her a comforting nudge to let her know she was there. The plastic zip ties rubbed against her skin.
“Hey, sweetie, look at me,” she whispered. The girl looked up at her with wet eyes and hiccupped, trying to calm her sobs. “Everything’s going to be okay. We have to be brave.”
“But my mommy!” she wailed, grabbing the attention of one of the men.
“You! Shut up right now before I make you regret it!” he threatened, which only made her cry more. The man stomped over and raised his hand to strike her.
“No!” Natalie screamed. He paused and glared at her.
“You stupid whore,” he snarled and punched her in the face.
Throbbing pain took over the right side of her face, her eyes blinded by tears. The man yanked her up onto her feet by her hair and dragged her along to a supply closet, throwing her in it. “I’ll deal with you in a minute,” he growled and slammed the door. She pulled against her plastic restraints, wincing as they burned against her raw skin.
Helplessness washed over her as the darkness consumed her. The closet smelled of cleaning chemicals and paint, the scent giving her a headache. The only light in the closet was the sliver coming in from under the door. Screams and cries echoed on the other side of the door, another gunshot going off. Her heart pounded in her chest. Please hurry, Cam.
She thought of his words last night. You were supposed to be my wife. A tear rolled down her cheek. She didn’t even know if she was going to make it out of here alive, let alone marry anyone. She wished she could rewind time back to when she was in Cameron’s arms. She longed for his touch, for him to tell her everything would okay.
“It’ll be okay,” she told herself. “He’s coming to get me and everything will be okay. Everything will be okay. It’s okay—”
Three gunshots sounded on the outside of the door, causing her to jump.
“Motion detected on the roof. Get to the exits!” a voice bellowed. Natalie’s heart quickened at the words. He’s here.
Her heart swelled with hope but was immediately deflated when someone screamed and another shot rang out. Cameron and his team had better hurry or else Gate H would become a river of blood.
A loud explosion went off. What sounded like a shelf rattled, objects falling off of it and around her. She squeaked when a heavy, solid can hit her shoulder. Pain traveled down her arm and up her neck as she tried to move over, just as another explosion went off. More objects fell, hitting different parts of her body. Ammonia filled the air as cool liquid seeped onto her jeans. The smell became overwhelming, burning her lungs with each breath. She needed to get out of here or at least open the door for ventilation or she’d suffocate in here. She pushed herself up on her knees, accidentally knocking the shelf near her. A heavy object fell and hit her on the head and everything around her went quiet.
Chapter Fourteen
“Shit,” Savage grunted, stumbling a bit as a second explosion went off. His heart pounded in his chest. He hoped he still had time to get to Natalie. He refused to lose her again.
He leaned against a turbine vent as he pushed a full magazine into his M4 Carbine. “How are we looking?” he asked into his headset.
“Camera feeds should be coming through in a few seconds,” Wolf said in his ear. Wolf, Sam “Mozart” Reed, and John “Tex” Keegan waited two blocks from the airport in a black SUV. Tex hacked into the security feed and transferred it to a tablet Ghost held.
“Feed secured,” Ghost said. “Looks like there’s two coming up the east stairwell to the roof and…they’re manning the exits.
“Bullseye, you in position?” Savage asked.
“Ready and waiting. My trigger finger is itchy.”
“Targets approaching door. Take the shot when you can,” Ghost said. Joker and Bullseye were posted up against two other turbine vents, able to see the targets as soon as they came out of the door. One man burst through the door and looked around, taking cautious steps around the roof. Savage met Joker’s eyes and nodded. A gunshot sounded followed by a thud.
“Target down,” Joker said into his mic.
“Other one is still in the stairwell. Seems to be talking on a walkie talkie,” Ghost noted.
“Can you see the gates where the hostages are?” Savage asked.
“Yeah. Looks like seven DOAs and nine still alive. I’m sure we’ll find more when we get inside.” Ghost sighed. “They’re turning it into a blood bath in there,” he said.
Savage’s heart raced in his chest. “Can you see Natalie anywhere? She was wearing a white t-shirt and jeans,” he said.
“No, not with the other hostages,” Ghost answered.
Savage swallowed the lump forming in his throat. Had she been killed in the bathroom stall?
“Second target approaching. Take shot when you’re ready,” Ghost said, grabbing his attention. Bullseye kneeled with his rifle cocked, looking through the scope with a steady hand. No sooner than the target pushed the door open, Bullseye took the shot, hitting him in the center of the head.
“Nice,” Savage complimented.
“You all don’t call me Bullseye for no reason,” he boasted. “You’re all clear, boss.”
“Good deal. Let’s move,” Savage ordered with a wave of his hand. The men went through the door and quickly made their way down the stairs.
“Host
ages should be on the second floor at Gate H according to this camera,” Ghost murmured. Savage could see a guy pacing in front of the door with a long barrel shotgun, looking around nervously.
He turned to his team. “I’ll wait until he paces left away from the door and come up behind him. Because I can’t see much further down the hall right now, it’ll be a quick knife attack. No shots. Clear?”
They all nodded and flattened themselves against the wall. Savage watched as the man paced right and turned back around to pace left. He drew his blade from his left hip and held the handle in one hand while his other gripped the doorknob. As soon as he had a clear opening, he opened the door, slipped through and grabbed the target from behind, slitting his throat before he could make a sound.
After looking up and down the hallway, he motioned toward his team through the small window glass. “All clear,” he said through his mic.
They stepped out into the hall with their guns drawn, looking both ways as they hustled down the hallway. They pushed open another door leading out to the gates, all of which on this end were empty. Savage’s heart hammered in his chest as they heard yelling becoming louder as they got closer to the hostages.
“Another target incoming on your right, Joker,” Ghost whispered through his mic.
A gunshot sounded and the man fell. The yelling stopped.
“Shit, they’re coming this way. Be aware of the civilians when taking shots,” Ghost said, stuffing the tablet in his vest and grabbing his gun.
Two men dropped at the same time, both down from a shot to the head. Good ol’ Bullseye. Three men ducked behind a row of chairs and began shooting in their direction, bullets whizzing past them.
“I don’t have a clear shot from where I am. That last one is too close to that little girl,” Joker said over his speaker.
Savage peeked around the pillar he stood behind and positioned his gun. He took a breath to steady his hands and fired, catching one of the men in the neck.
“I think I can get a shot,” Bullseye said over the mic.
“Make sure you’re clear of any civilians,” Savage warned.
“All clear,” Bullseye said and took the shot.
“Any of you see Natalie anywhere?” Savage asked.
“Not from where I am,” Joker answered.
“I don’t even remember what she looks like,” Bullseye said.
“Where did she call you from?” Ghost asked.
“The bathroom,” Savage said and swallowed.
Ghost looked around. “Joker, the ladies’ bathroom is twenty meters from you. Case it out,” he said.
“On it,” Joker said into his mic and hustled into the bathroom. Savage’s chest constricted with worry as he waited. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if Joker delivered bad news.
“There’s four bodies in here, but she’s not here,” Joker finally said. Savage released the breath he hadn’t realized he held and nodded.
A bullet whizzed by, snapping him back into kill mode. Ghost kneeled and took a shot, hitting a masked man in the chest.
“Shit,” Ghost said. “He’s down, but it just alerted others. They’re coming out of the woodwork now.”
Fuck. One mention of their presence to the hostage negotiator and their mission would be over, whether or not they secured Natalie. He wasn’t leaving without her.
“Okay, here’s the plan. Bullseye and I will clear the floor. Joker, move the civilians. Clear?”
“Hooyah!”
Savage waved his hand at Bullseye and they both moved forward. It was show time.
Chapter Fifteen
Savage and Bullseye moved forward, shooting each man that jumped out in front of them. A man wearing an airport security uniform stepped out from behind a pillar with his gun pointed.
“Shit’s about to get tricky. They have airport personnel and people who look like civilians,” Bullseye said.
Savage shook his head. He wasn’t taking any chances. “If they’re shooting, take them down,” he ordered, firing a shot at the security guard. He could see Joker and Ghost ushering the civilians against the large floor-to-ceiling windows along the walls in his peripheral as he moved, but he still hadn’t seen Natalie. The air was heavy with terror and death, the scent of blood making him nauseous and angry at the same time. He needed to find his girl.
“All clear,” Bullseye finally said, lowering his gun. Savage made his way over to the hostages. They all winced and cowered away from him, eyeing his gun.
He pulled his cellphone from his pocket and opened the picture of Natalie and him that he’d sent to himself hours before. “Have any of you seen this woman?” he asked them, holding the phone out in front of him.
No one moved or said a word. He walked over to a crying woman and squatted before her. “Have you seen her?” he asked, his tone low.
She looked at him with terrified eyes and then looked at the picture. “N-n-no.”
“She was at this gate. This was the gate for the Philadelphia flight, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but if she was here, she wasn’t on my end. Someone further down may know,” she stated, her voice shaky. He stood and moved to the last person sitting in the line, a distraught young girl trembling against the window.
“Hey sweetie,” Savage murmured and gestured toward his phone screen. “Have you seen this lady?”
The girl looked away from him and whimpered. He sighed. “I really need your help. We need to find her in case she’s hurt.”
She cut her eyes to the picture briefly before they widened with recognition. “That’s the lady who saved me,” she whispered.
Savage’s heart beat a little faster. “Do you know where she is?”
She looked somewhere over his shoulder. “They threw her in the closet when she tried to protect me.”
“Do you know which closet?”
“The one where the guy with the gun is standing,” she said. Savage looked over his shoulder to see Ghost pacing back and forth in front of a wooden door.
“Ghost, check that closet right there,” Savage said into his mic. He turned his attention back to the girl. “Thanks for your help. We’re going to get you guys out of here, okay?”
“She’s in here, Sav, but she’s hurt bad,” Ghost said. “Fuck, it smells terrible in here. I can’t even breathe.” He coughed and turned his head away from the closet. Savage jumped to his feet and dashed across the room to the closet, his heart in his throat. The closet smelled strongly of toxic cleaning chemicals and paint, most of it spilled on the floor and on Natalie. She laid unconscious on the floor, a small pool of blood near her head. Her blue jeans now had white bleach stains where they were wet and her t-shirt was torn at the shoulder, revealing a deep purple bruise. The right side of her face was slightly swollen, bruising appearing there as well.
Ghost kneeled and placed two fingers on her neck. “She barely has a pulse. We gotta move,” he said. Savage pulled his knife from his hip and cut the zip tie around her wrists and scooped her up in his arms. She was limp and cool to the touch, which made him nervous. Yelling could be heard in the distance.
“We gotta get out of here, man. Police are making their way through here,” Joker warned through the mic.
“Okay, Bullseye, I need you in front. Ghost and Joker, cover my back. Let’s move,” Savage said.
They all raced back to the stairwell, Joker clearing through the door just as the police stormed the gate. Savage looked down at Natalie. Her skin was so pale and her chest barely rose as she struggled to breathe. He hadn’t completely thought out their extraction in the event that she was hurt. With the bruising on her shoulder, he knew he’d need to be careful in case anything was broken.
“How are we going to do this?” Ghost asked when they reached the roof.
“Here, tie her to your back to get her down the ladder,” Bullseye said, pulling his rope from his waist.
“But her injuries—”
“She’ll be dead if we don’t get her to Mozart,” Bullse
ye interrupted.
“Whatever we’re doing, we gotta be fast. Cops are making their way toward the staircase,” Ghost warned, his eyes fixed on the tablet.
“Fuck,” Savage muttered, looking to Joker. “Help me position her so Bullseye can secure her.”
Savage propped Natalie up against the wall and turned his back to her, draping her arms over his shoulders. He leaned up, allowing Natalie’s limp weight onto his back as Bullseye tightly wound the rope around their chest and tied it.
“You’re good. Let’s go,” he said and headed for the side of the building. Savage quickly followed behind his team, trying to be careful with Natalie. Once they hit the ground, they took off through the tall grass toward the waiting SUV two blocks away.
“Wolf, we’re on route. Get the backseats down; she’s hurt pretty bad,” Savage said into his mic.
“Roger that,” Wolf answered.
Savage intertwined his fingers with Natalie’s limp ones and kissed her hand gently. “We’re almost there, baby. Stay with me.”
Chapter Sixteen
Five days.
She’d been asleep for five days and it drove him mad. He paced back and forth in her hospital room, watching as she rested. The blow to the head had given her a concussion, but breathing in the toxic fumes from the chemicals irritated her lungs and caused her airways to swell. She’d been intubated up until yesterday afternoon and aside from her broken shoulder, she was quickly improving by leaps and bounds. But she still hadn’t woken up.
He pulled a chair up to her bedside and sat down, taking her hand in his. He kissed it gently and looked up at her. “I’d do anything to take your place,” he murmured with a sigh. No sooner than the words left his mouth, the door burst open and her frantic parents as well as a stocky man with brown hair stormed in.
Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Surviving Savage (Kindle Worlds Novella) (SEALed Brotherhood Book 1) Page 6