by J. P. Sumner
The guy stood next to him looked over at his comrade and shouted something as his body crumpled to the ground, then took a few steps forward into the bar, fanning his bullets left and right.
Clara looked back over as she reloaded. She was down to her last mag, and I wasn’t far behind.
‘Josh, whatever you’re doing, do it faster!’ I yelled, as another burst hit the table I was behind.
‘Got it,’ he shouted down my ear. ‘I tracked your location from the GPS in your phone. I’ve pulled up the blueprints of the bar you’re in from the City Records. The door to the right of the bar leads to a storeroom of some kind. There’s an entrance there to a cellar, as well as a fire exit leading out back.’
‘Thanks.’
I hung up and looked at Clara.
‘We’re leaving,’ I said. ‘Follow me.’
She didn’t need asking twice. She crouched low and ran to my cover, firing blind as she did. When she slid next to me, I pointed at the door and counted down from three on my left hand.
We both ran, firing blind in the enemy’s direction. We barged through the door, knowing it would be mere seconds before the gunmen followed us inside.
The fire exit was ahead of us to the left, and the entrance to the cellar was on the right, halfway down the corridor.
‘There’s got to be a way in and out through the cellar,’ she said. ‘That’s where they load in the barrels from the delivery trucks out back.’
I nodded.
‘Okay, you take the cellar, I’ll go out back. If we can split them up, we stand more chance of surviving this thing. Meet back at my hotel room, okay?’
‘Okay,’ she said. ‘Be careful, Adrian.’
I smiled.
‘You too.’
With that, she opened up the cellar doors and descended into the darkness below. I shut them behind her just as our attackers appeared in the doorway behind us. I fired at them as I ran for the fire exit. I burst through the door and out into the small parking lot at the back, then stopped in my tracks.
‘Freeze!’ someone shouted.
There were three police cars, each other two officers stood behind their open doors, guns aimed at me.
Oh, you have got to be kidding me?
TWENTY-SEVEN
The next three seconds felt like hours. I had my arms out to my sides. My gun was in my right hand, and my left was open, to show it was empty.
‘Drop it, now!’ another officer yelled.
‘Guys, you’ve caught me at a really bad time here,’ I said.
Bullets exploded into the door behind me, and I instinctively ducked down and dived to my left. It never crossed my mind that the police could shoot me when I moved. I just knew that the bad guys would definitely shoot me if I didn’t.
I looked over, and the police had ducked down behind their car doors for cover when the bullets started flying.
They had their guns trained on the fire exit. One officer shouted over to me.
‘Stay where you are!’
There was another burst of gunfire, and door exploded open.
‘Screw you,’ I shouted back. ‘I know what’s coming through that door!’
Two of the gunmen stepped out and stood in front of the police, holding their assault rifles in front of them. They were AK-47s, which made sense, given Dark Rain was run by a mad Russian. Then Natalia Salikov stepped out and walked in between the two guys. She had two Heckler and Koch MP7 submachine guns, one in each hand. There were designated as Personal Defense Weapons, and were mostly used out in Afghanistan. They were some serious pieces of hardware.
She was dressed in leather, like Clara had been when I first met her. But Natalia’s outfit looked different. Almost as if it was armored in some way. Padding over vital organs and limbs. I reckon she’d survive a stray bullet at least.
I was off to the left, crouched down, gun out in front of me, ready to fire. They knew I was there, but they had six armed police officers pointing guns at them, so I probably wasn’t their main concern right now.
I watched the scene unfold for a minute or two.
Natalia stepped forward. She had bright, flame-colored red hair and dark eye make-up. She looked over at me. She had the brightest blue eyes I’ve ever seen. They were accentuated by the dark eye-liner, so they looked like searchlights. I stared back at her. There was something in her eyes. Something dark. I recognized it from the times I used to look in the mirror and think about shooting myself. This woman had serious issues.
She looked back at the police officers, who hadn’t said anything. They were exchanging glances, and they looked terrified.
Without saying anything, Natalia and the gunmen leveled their guns and emptied their clips at the police.
The loud clunking noise of bullets hitting metal filled the air, and the officers scattered, not even bothering to return fire. The cars were about sixty feet in front of the Dark Rain assault team, and it didn’t take long for the middle of the three cars to explode.
The noise was deafening, and left an eerie silence in my ears, broken only by a constant ringing. The gunmen seemed unfazed by it, despite their close proximity to the blast. The force had shifted the other police cars out a good twenty feet or so.
I couldn’t see where the officers had run off to. As the firing stopped, and they turned toward me, I realized I’d been stood there like an idiot instead of running for cover. One gunman turned away and ran off to the right, presumably going after Clara, who I hoped had managed to get a decent head-start.
As the remaining gunman raised his gun toward me, I re-focused on the situation and like a reflex, I aimed my gun and unloaded three bullets into him, dead center, square in the chest. He fell to the ground as my gun clicked empty.
I looked at Natalia, who was smiling and raising her guns at me.
‘Oh, shit,’ I said, as I turned and ran around the corner of the building, narrowly avoiding a burst of gunfire that chipped the brick just behind me.
I’d turned into an alleyway that led back to the main street. As I emerged onto the street, I saw the broken glass all over the floor. The Humvee parked hurriedly at an angle in front of the bar. The bar itself was destroyed. The front looked like a bomb had gone off.
All over the street there were bodies. Some dead, some alive but injured. There was screaming, and in the distance there was a symphony of sirens heading our way. A crowd of onlookers had congregated a short distance away. People were either talking excitedly into their phones or videoing the scene for YouTube.
I couldn’t go that way, because I was pretty convinced by now that Natalia wouldn’t think twice about firing at the crowd of bystanders.
I ran quickly over to the Humvee and put my last two bullets into each of the front tires, then sprinted away to the right, down the street. As I passed the alleyway again, Natalia was just turning into view, and was preparing to fire.
My bluetooth earpiece was still in, so I quickly dialed Josh as I was running.
‘Josh,’ I said, wincing in pain. I was still hurting from chasing Marcus Jones down, and I was breathing heavily yet again after coming under attack from Dark Rain. My cracked ribs weren’t happy about it. ‘Google Maps, now. Quickest way to my hotel. Avoid main roads where possible.’
‘On it,’ he said.
I chanced a look behind me, but couldn’t see Natalia. I thought of Clara, and hoped she’d got away alright.
‘Right,’ said Josh. ‘Take the next left up ahead. On the right is an alleyway that cuts through the block and brings you out two streets over from your hotel, but approaching from the back. That’s the best I’ve got.’
‘You’re the man, thanks Josh.’
I sprinted off the way he told me. As I emerged from the alleyway, two police cars sped past me, sirens blaring. I slowed to a walk so as not to draw attention to myself. When they were out of sight, I jogged over to the back of my hotel.
I walked around to the front and went inside, having a look around to m
ake sure I’d not been followed. I walked down the hallway toward my room.
The door was open.
I took my gun out. It was empty, but whoever might be in my room wouldn’t know that. Clara would’ve shut the door, which means they’ve found out where I’m staying. I pushed the door open gently and went in, dropping to one knee and raising my gun.
My room had been trashed. Two things caught my attention.
My mattress wasn’t on the bed frame, which means whoever did this now has the deeds to the uranium mine.
And Clara was face down on the floor in a pool of blood.
TWENTY-EIGHT
‘Clara?’ I said.
No response. Shit.
I resisted the urge to immediately run over to her. I did a quick sweep of the room, to make sure we were alone, then knelt next to her body, being careful not to step in any blood.
I felt for a pulse. There was one, but it was weak.
‘Clara?’ I said again.
Still nothing.
I did a quick assessment and determined there were no broken bones. The blood was coming from underneath her, and I couldn’t see any exit wounds on her back, which means if she was shot, the bullet was still in there.
I grabbed her right shoulder and rolled her toward me. She’d been shot in the left shoulder, just below her collarbone and to the left of her breast. It wasn’t a fatal wound, but she’d lost a lot of blood and needed urgent medical attention.
Shit.
I looked back over at the bed. Whoever did this now has the deeds to the uranium deposit. If this was Dark Rain, then I’ve seriously underestimated them. They managed to track me down and nearly kill me before I’d barely heard of them.
For a split second, I questioned whether Clara had really turned her back on them. But she’d been with me pretty much the whole time, so she couldn’t have told them where I was staying. Plus, you can’t fake being attacked by a hit squad and shot like this. She was just as much an enemy to them now as I was.
I took the gun back that I leant her, then cleaned the room of any sign that I’d ever been there. The room was under a fake name, and I’d paid cash up front, so nothing could be traced back to me. I grabbed my shoulder bag and jacket - which had thankfully not been taken as well - checked the room one last time, then left.
After a couple of minutes on foot, I rang for an ambulance. Part of me felt bad, because I was putting Clara in a bad position. She was going to be questioned, and she could find herself in a lot of trouble. On the other hand, she needed medical attention, and she’d be safer in a hospital than with me right now.
I made a mental note to ask Josh to track her progress once she’s admitted. I’m sure he can hack his way into the hospital databases without too much trouble. I need to stay clear of any kind of authority for now. After the attack at the bar, and the police being there, I’m probably close to the top of everyone’s priority list now.
First thing I needed to do was find a new place to stay. I kept to the back streets and alleyways where possible, and slowly navigated my way into the city center. I took my time to make sure I wasn’t being followed, either by police or operatives from Dark Rain.
I detoured through a park which was situated just off the main stretch of road that ran through the center of town. It had been a long day, and I needed time to get my head straight. Since waking up on my hotel room floor and finding Clara in my shower a few hours ago, I’d chased a courier in a car and on foot, I’d been shot at by Dark Rain, almost arrested by the Heaven’s Valley Police Department and found Clara unconscious and shot on my hotel room floor. On top of all that, my back and ribs were still killing me from last night’s excursion to The Pit and my run-in with Pick Axe. Not that I envisioned getting any R and R any time soon. But five minutes sat down in a quiet park would work wonders.
I picked a bench near a group of nicely colored flower beds and a water fountain, in the center of the park. I had a good look around and made sure I was alone before sitting down. It felt so good to not move, I could’ve been asleep in an instant.
I took out my phone and dialed Josh.
‘You made it then?’ he said as he answered.
‘Just about, yeah,’ I replied. ‘Clara wasn’t so lucky though.’
‘What happened?’
‘I found her unconscious on my hotel room floor, shot.’
‘Oh, man. I’m sorry, Adrian.’
‘Thanks. It gets worse though.’
‘Doesn’t it always?’
‘Whoever broke in and shot her took the deeds to the uranium deposit.’
‘Shit!’
‘That’s what I said.’
‘You need to be careful, Adrian, seriously. Dark Rain is two steps ahead of you here, and you’re alone in a town where everyone seems to wanna shoot at you as soon as they see you.’
‘I’ll cross those bridges when I get to them. Right now, I need you to find out which hospital Clara has been taken to, and find out what condition she’s in.’
‘I’m on it.’
‘Also, we believe Dark Rain have kidnapped a scientist, who they’re holding somewhere in the city. They intend to make them process the uranium into weapons-grade material.’
‘Jesus, these guys are relentless, aren’t they?’
‘Tell me about it. Can you look into any well-known and respected scientists that haven’t been seen lately? See what comes up.’
‘Yeah, I’m on that too.’
The line went silent for a few moments.
‘What’s the matter, Josh?’ I asked.
‘I’ve just searched all hospital databases within a twenty mile radius.’
‘That was fast.’
‘It’s not a difficult thing to do, Adrian.’
‘Alright, show-off. So, what’s with the silence?’
‘No-one has been admitted today fitting Clara’s description. No Jane Does, no gunshot wounds, nothing.’
‘I rang the ambulance. There’s no way they didn’t get to her.’
I was worried. After everything that’s happened, for Clara to disappear after being shot and left for dead in my hotel room is the last thing I need to be dealing with. Could Dark Rain have got to her before the ambulance arrived? I checked the area before I left, but if they found my room and took the deeds, it’s feasible they were hiding somewhere nearby.
Shit!
‘Adrian, you alright?’ asked Josh. I realized I’d been quiet for a while.
‘Yeah, I’m alright,’ I said. ‘Goddammit! I shouldn’t have left her.’
‘You did the right thing, don’t blame yourself.’
‘I’ve got to find her. You focus on finding this scientist, alright?’
‘Will do. What are you thinking?’
‘I’m going to head back to my hotel, see if I can find anything that might indicate what happened to her.’
‘Take care, man.’
I hung up, took another minute to relax and focus and then made my way out of the park and into the city center.
It was evening and most of the stores had closed. The sun was on its way down and the bars and restaurants were starting to fill up for the night. There was a street vendor on the corner, selling hot dogs and burgers out of his cart. I headed over. He was an older man, probably mid-sixties. He was dark-skinned with gray hair and dark eyes. He was whistling to himself, and I instantly got the impression his cart had been on this street corner for many, many years.
‘Hey, can I get a cheeseburger please?’ I asked.
The guy looked at me and his eyes widened slightly.
‘Oh, man, you look like shit!’ he exclaimed. ‘You alright?’
I was in no mood for small talk.
‘I’ll be better when I’ve eaten.’
‘I heard that,’ he said with a smile. He produced a cheeseburger and I paid him for it. I set off walking, tucking into my food as I went. It wasn’t the best I’ve ever eaten, but it’s the only food I’ve had all day and I’m
not complaining.
Back in the day, when we were on a mission somewhere, you could easily go a couple of days without the opportunity for food. You soon learn to eat all you can, whenever you can - you never know when or where your next meal will be.
I was about to cross over the road, when a black limousine pulled up at the side of me. The window buzzed down and Jimmy Manhattan leaned out of the window.
‘Get in.’ he said.
TWENTY-NINE
He’s lucky I’d just finished my cheeseburger. Nothing pisses me off more than someone interrupting me while I’m eating.
‘That’s a little forward, don’t you think?’ I replied.
The driver’s door opened. I looked over to see my old friend, Stan, get out. He pulled his jacket apart, showing me the gun he had holstered at his side. I looked back at Jimmy, who was smiling.
‘Get in,’ he said again.
He opened the door and gestured to the seat in front of him. I took a quick look around before climbing inside.
I didn’t like that I had my back to the driver’s seat, but figured if anything was going to happen to me, it’d be Manhattan who attempted it.
‘I think we have some things to discuss, don’t you?’ he said as the car pulled away and drove off.
He produced a gun from inside his jacket and aimed it at me. I said nothing. I just stared at him, smiling.
‘Under the circumstances, I don’t see how you have much to be happy about,’ he said.
I was smiling, because just before I got in the car I saw a black, leather-clad figure on a blue and white motorcycle parked on the other side of the road. I couldn’t tell for sure that they were looking at me, because of the helmet, but I recognized Natalia Salikov immediately. I also heard her bike start up as we set off.