“Grab what you can and go. Ten minutes max. Plan F.”
Les’s words rang heavy. Andy saluted and jumped into action. He and Mikey grabbed packs and stuffed various remaining items from their workstations. No matter how much preplanning had gone into this turn of events, a sense of frenzy still hung in the air.
Alex stood, mesmerized by the sudden flurry of urgent activity. Had all gone as planned, they’d have already escaped to the safety of the truck. What now? What do I do? She blinked at Les as he handed her several loaded mags for her pistol. She stowed them in pockets. “What’s plan F?”
Andy ran by them just as she’d asked the question. “It’s when everything is fucked!” He sprinted to the supply room and disappeared through the door.
She turned back to Les, who gave her an affirming nod.
A volley of shots rattled the outer hallway.
“Everything’s transferred and deleted,” Mikey called over from the computers. “I’ll leave the cams up. Just shoot it when you’re done.”
Les acknowledged. “Go. I’ll contact you guys later. You know the drill.” He looked at Alex. “Go with them. They’ll get you out.”
“But…?” Alex’s stomach felt lodged in her throat, and she could barely form a clear thought. No! How do I do this? A burning crushed her chest. She couldn’t just leave… Aaron wasn’t back!
Gunfire cracked again from the hallway. Loud banging on the armored steel door.
Mikey checked the camera. “It’s him. And he’s got company.”
Mikey keyed the release, and the door crashed open. Aaron scooted inside and backed against it, slamming it closed against the thwacks of a good dozen or so rounds. Mikey keyed the lock to buy time, but it wouldn’t hold long.
Aaron holstered his pistol and jogged over to Alex and Les. Mikey took one last look at the computer screen. The hall video showed three men with assault rifles approaching through smoke before one aimed and took out the camera.
“So much for that,” Mikey muttered. He went to join Andy by the storage room door.
Alex grabbed Aaron in a hug, which he returned with a crushing embrace. Gunpowder, blood, and sweat, chest heaving to regain breath. The extended physical exertion was taking its toll. She half expected him to collapse in her arms.
“You gotta go,” he whispered in her ear. He squeezed her hard and stepped back.
“Aaron, I—”
“Don’t.” He cut her off. “Me too. But tell me later.”
His brow wrinkled and a flash of suffering crossed his face as he brushed his hand across her bruised cheek. Inside and out of the cold now, the wound throbbed. It would swell more soon. She nodded, blinking wetness from her eyes as he stared into them.
“Go with them now. We’ll handle the rest.” He grabbed her again, held her tight, and kissed her forehead before releasing her. “Follow the plan. We’ll meet you after.”
A hidden tunnel at the rear of the supply and weapons room formed their way out. Along with another that Les and Aaron would follow in time, the long, narrow underground passage led almost a quarter mile out, away from the complex. The two were intersected by another shorter one to provide multiple exit options if needed.
Mikey, Andy, and Alex moved at a jog. Not far along their route, a loud thump pounded the corridor, followed by a magnifying low rumble.
“Shit! Look out!”
A growing fissure breached the ceiling above them. Alex, walking just ahead of Mikey, paused and turned back at his shout. Right underneath! He shoved her hard to push her from danger.
Andy’s attention jerked to the widening crevasse. He grabbed his friend by the collar. The unexpected yank tangled Mikey’s footing and he tripped. His pack flew from his grasp. He stumbled backward against Andy, and the two fell to the floor in a jumble of limbs. The pack containing the detonator and spare radio flopped to the ground.
The chasm expanded. Pebbles and sand transformed to a choking avalanche of roaring debris, and they all scrambled for safety. The ceiling rocked the ground as it collapsed in a thunderous crash.
“How did that happen?” Andy coughed and waved as dust settled.
Mikey sat stunned for a moment. “Dunno. Somebody probably blew something up.” He crawled closer to the rubble in front of them, which now formed a complete blockade of the corridor. “Alex!” he screamed. Could she hear? Was she buried? Or was she alive and well on the other side? “Alex!”
She called out, “I’m here! I’m okay!”
“Good!” Mikey shouted back. They could just make out her voice. He yelled louder. “Do you see the bag?”
“No!”
“Shit.” Mikey looked at Andy. Without the detonator, they couldn’t trigger the explosion set. And with the forces closing in when they’d left, Les and Aaron wouldn’t stand a chance without it. Andy started to search on their side, but Mikey stopped him. “It was way closer to her.”
Alex coughed and pushed a chunk of cement off her leg. Dirty and bruised but no serious injuries. Just a stinging cut on her right ankle. She rotated the foot and pressed it against the floor. Only a minor ache. Good. Walkable. And Mikey and Andy were alive! Thank God.
She scanned around and pushed at the bottom of the pile, clawing aside dust and smaller debris as she continued to dig. Rocks. Cement. Rebar. Shards cut her hands as she shoved pieces aside. Oh God, help me. This is hopeless. Her finger snagged a dirty strap. She pushed and dug faster. The top of the backpack emerged.
“No, wait! I see it! Hold on!” She yanked a couple of times, and the strap broke. A rock was pinning it fast. She sat back and kicked. The rock shifted. She scrambled back in and clenched her fingers into the canvas. Another couple of hard pulls and the bag came free. “I’ve got it!”
Mikey told her what to look for and what she would need to do. She dove in, rummaged through, and came up with a sweatshirt. Wrapped in the middle, the detonator and radio.
Andy hollered through rubble. “Channel’s already set! We can’t do any good now! We’ll let them know!”
“There’s no time. If we had another hour, maybe a little less… but if we don’t blow it soon, Essex gets away. And you know he’ll go after them. Just because.”
Les’s statement, though truthful, hurt all the same. Mere minutes after Mikey, Andy, and Alex had made their escape into the passage, an unexplained blast leveled nearly half the main building. A good portion of the exit corridor collapsed around Aaron and Les, leaving them trapped in a small space halfway to the outer door. They struggled with debris for around twenty minutes, coming to the agonizing conclusion that heavy equipment or some miracle could provide their only hope of escape. Les nodded and Aaron returned it. They wouldn’t make it out, but at least the other three would.
Aaron kicked hard at a piece of cement block, leaned his head against the wall behind him, and stared at the broken ceiling. So fucking unfair! He closed his eyes.
Alex, smiling and happy on the ship, laughing at his stupid jokes. That adorable shyness she’d tried hard to suppress the first time they’d talked and now whenever he caught her watching him. Daydreaming. The way her lips pouted when she lined up a shot. The peculiar electric yet comforting soft touch of her skin against his, delicate fingers entwined in his hair, kisses that reached into his very soul. Shared experiences, a depth of connectedness that no words could truly describe; a heaven he’d never dared dream existed in this world for him.
Heart-shattering intimacy. How she curled up to him at night, long lashes nestled on flushed cheeks, her soft breath caressing his face. Gentle curves of her body illuminated in subtle sheen in their darkened room. Being with her burned away all that was before. All the pain. All others. Nothing existed but her. His peace. He would build a life with her. A future…
Her fierce and protective strength that would surface in the presence of danger, especially when it came to defense of him. Her curiosity and softness as she pointed out the intricacies of wildflower blossoms. Their shared love of the nat
ural world. Watching her blow on hot coffee as they relaxed together on her favorite rock, those mornings when weather permitted, just meters from where he now sat trapped. She never could drink it too hot.
Sitting with her on the front porch of a future home. Crisp mountain air, fresh and clean, scented with pine, the cold making her snuggle deeper into his arms. Good coffee. Warm blanket. Watching the snow fall. Together. The promise of a new life.
That unforgiving knife of regret wrenched at the pit of his stomach. Why does it have to end like this? Right when it’s just getting started! Was this the price he had to pay, a reckoning for the horrors of a previous violent life? To lose this beauty and joy, the providence of truth and goodness that had finally found him? He pressed the back of his skull and shoulders to the crumbling wall behind him. Jagged points of broken block knifed against his back and head. He dug in his heels and pushed harder. Fingers contracted into closed fists, so constricted the fingernails cut into his palms. No physical pain could ever surpass the sensation of loss that tore at him now.
Oblivious to the passage of time in that moment, he was roused by Les’s hand on his shoulder. Aaron opened his eyes, an acknowledging nod to his friend all he could produce as an answer. Those beautiful visions and the heartache that flashed through his being disintegrated into present reality. Dragging out his walkie to confirm the location of the others, he started when it crackled first.
“Care Bear? It’s Gamer. You guys read? Psycho?” Aaron looked over at Les, keyed it to answer.
Andy relayed their current predicament. “We all still got ways out, and she knows what to do. See you on the other side, guys.”
Andy keyed out, Alex remaining on her radio with Aaron. His voice came raspy from dust and trauma as he spoke to her. “Follow the plan. Don’t worry about us.” He glanced over at Les again, seeing the resolve in the other man’s eyes. “It’ll be okay. We’re right where we need to be, right where we planned.” He winced as he lied to her. “Set your timer. Blow it in exactly fifteen, then get out. Just like we planned.”
“Promise me you’ll be okay.”
The clear crack of anguish in her voice sounded through the static of the transmission. Aaron swallowed hard. Meeting Les’s gaze and trying to keep his own voice steady, he keyed his radio. “Promise.”
Alex brushed the back of her hand across damp cheeks. Waiting. So close now, she could practically feel it in her bones. This would all be over soon. She checked her watch. She trusted they were all in position… Now.
The small switch clicked under her thumb. Seconds ticked. A thump and rumble. The first distant blast. Another and another. As successive thumps reached her ears, she rushed into motion, crawling through the debris of the damaged tunnel toward the light at the end.
Concussion from the second staged blast rocked damaged walls, raining chunks of cement block and grit down on them. More fell from the ruined ceiling near the collapse. Dust swirled in eerie waves around the one emergency bulb that had survived and lit their small tomb. Shadows danced. Blackness presided near the top of the debris pile. An illusion? Its shape remained steady. Aaron squinted. An opening.
He met Les’s gaze with determination. “This ain’t over.”
They scrambled up the pile, hands and feet digging, sliding, grappling their way to the top.
“It’s not big enough!” Les yanked at obstructions that blocked their escape, ignoring the sharp edges cutting into his hands.
“Here, back up.”
Les moved away as Aaron wedged his back against a large portion of broken wall and kicked hard at a mass near the hole. It tilted. He struck it again. A third time and it took a sharp shift. They struggled and shoved to topple it on over, then pulled themselves through one at a time.
Rough sliding down the heap on the other side. They reached the floor and ran to the end of the corridor. The now-damaged door stood half-open to the space beyond, heavy black smoke and red-tinged embers trailing across outside in a hellish cloud.
Automatic-weapons fire thrashed the ground near their feet as they ran before a deafening explosion took care of that. They sprinted to the far side of the complex and behind the last building there. Pressed flat to the back wall, they leaned heavily into the coolness of the block. A small respite. Though way behind schedule, a brief window remained.
“Think we can make it?” Les asked, attempting to catch his breath.
“No one can say we didn’t try.” Aaron offered half a smile.
They ran.
Alex clawed her way out into sparkling snow, spots of dust dotting impressions left by her hands and knees. She brushed herself off as she stood. Hours of suppressed fear swept to the surface and joined with intense relief that this horrible mess of violence and destruction neared its end.
Dirt formed a light mud film on her knuckles as she rubbed tears away. She wiped them on her pants. Would things ever go back to any semblance of normal? Not a chance. But at least they could start a more peaceful life.
A small smile lightened her features as she trudged her way toward nearby fencing to watch. Just to make sure. A few bits of snow still clung to the broken barbed wire. She brushed off one icy section with a finger. A chuckle escaped tight lips. The weather-beaten and twisted metal of that fence reflected the current state of her insides. Her vision lifted. Uphill from the compound, she had a clear view of the mayhem and devastation below.
Essex and two more of his henchmen stood huddled, trapped on the roof. His perceived high ground. Walls of fire grew around them. Did he still intend to escape? One man held the recovered rocket launcher. Well, that explains the explosion that screwed up the tunnel.
No sign of Aaron and Les. Good. No Andy or Mikey either, but of course they continued well on their way out the alternate tunnel. That passage supplied the only hidden escape for Aaron and Les too, a much better option than fighting their way out the front. It all depended on perfect timing. Everything set into motion now could not be stopped. The explosions built on themselves and would soon consume the entire complex.
Motion caught her attention and nearly stopped her heart. No! Not where they should be. Not where they said they would be!
Why are you guys still down there! She tracked Aaron and Les across to one of the only remaining outer buildings yet untouched by the blasts. As they disappeared behind it, her sight was drawn back to Essex. He too had spied them. He snatched the rocket launcher from the man next to him, hoisted it to his shoulder, took aim…
Seconds later, the building he targeted exploded…
That detonation paralyzed Alex in place. The following explosion brought the ultimate end to Essex and his men. Ejected several yards into the sky, their arms and legs flailed helplessly as the three cartwheeled in cartoonish fashion. Slow motion, falling, back to the conflagration. Consumed. Gone. Two more blasts, the last one shaking the ground enough that it chased Alex farther away.
Slipping and scrambling through snow, she stumbled her way clear of any perceived danger and turned back. The entire block of remaining buildings erupted into orange-and-crimson carnage. Rabid white-yellow flame transformed to angry black clouds hundreds of feet high, bits and pieces of construction rent to streamers cascading from devilish smoke. The inferno raged before her, heat driving her back even farther…
Alex screamed, dropping to her knees in the snow, her anguished cry drowning out sounds of explosions that still reached her ears. She sank forward into icy flakes, silently sobbing, the frozen crystals melting to her face and hands doing nothing to diminish the agony that constricted her soul.
Strong hands lifting her, pulling her, half dragging her.
Soft powder.
Truck.
Alex curled in the seat, weeping into folded arms until sleep overtook her at last.
Alex went home. To Lou’s home. With events still too raw, she couldn’t share details, just left it as her trip had not gone as planned. Lou held space for her to cry and unburden what she could fro
m her troubled mind. Unable and unwilling to talk about most of it just yet, she didn’t contact her brother or other friends. They needn’t worry—there was nothing to be said until she knew everything for sure.
The plan to eliminate Essex had worked to perfection, if only in that the man and his mercenaries were gone. Zero chance of their survival. They would never harm anyone again. Andy and Mikey got Alex to the truck, and after driving for several hours, stowed it and changed to another vehicle for the remainder of their journey back.
Desperate to get in touch with Mikey again, she still had to wait a week to retrieve the key. Time would provide an extra barrier to any unsavory characters making a connection and tracking her down. Not that any remained with reason to, but the delay had been set up as precaution nonetheless.
That week had stretched an agonizing span into oblivion.
“Good morning!” The hotel desk clerk greeted Alex as she approached. “How may I help you?”
“Hi.” Alex’s heart pounded as she returned the greeting, faking a relaxed smile. “Do you have a package for MaryAnna Sommers?”
The slender, red-haired girl flashed a bright smile. “Let me go see.” She turned, heels clicking to the end of her counter, and disappeared through a door.
Would it be here? Alex tapped her foot, halted it midway up, and shifted stance. She wrung her hands, wiped damp palms on jeans-covered thighs, and leaned forward on the counter, gripping her elbows. Wow, the nerves… Calm down! But what if there’s nothing here?
The girl reappeared in the doorway, speaking as cheerfully as before as she click-click-clicked her way back over to Alex. “Right here. Here you go.”
Off the Deep End Page 29